After the Salted Fish Transmigrated into a Book, He Discovered the Whole Family were Villains - Chapter 1

Jian Chengxi woke up with a splitting headache.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a dilapidated ceiling, covered with dead branches and cobwebs. The air was thick with dust and the smell of rotting wood hit him in the face. For a moment, he thought he had arrived in hell.

【Host, you’re finally awake.】

Jian Chengxi’s eyes widened abruptly. The voice in his mind made him sit up with a jolt, nearly falling out of bed. “Ow…”

A sharp pain shot through his brain, and the piercing sound of the horn from the moment of the car crash still echoed in his mind. He remembered being flung a great distance—there was no way anyone could survive something like that.

【Host, congratulations on being chosen as the lucky one to enter this world on the verge of collapse.】

Jian Chengxi was stunned. “What do you mean? I didn’t die?”

He sat up and began to examine his surroundings, only to realize that many things in the room defied logic. For instance, a cabinet not far away was floating in mid-air. Beneath him was a stone bed. Outside the window, the sky was twisted like a torn-apart vortex. A wave-like protective shield covered the entire atmosphere, enclosing the world. In the distance, enormous cities floated in the sky.

Jian Chengxi stared in shock. Standing by the window, he muttered blankly, “Where… is this place?”

【This is no longer Earth. It’s a world inside a Book of Fate, commonly referred to as the ‘Inner World.’】

Jian Chengxi couldn’t believe it. “Book of Fate? Is that like a novel? Did I transmigrate into a novel? Am I the main character? Wait, don’t say anything yet—let me think. Doesn’t the main character usually have some kind of mission, like saving the world or something?”

“……”

His words left the system speechless again.

It had handled many hosts before, but one as carefree as Jian Chengxi was a first.

Maybe that was a good thing.

After all, this world has seen countless taskers fail over and over. Who knows—maybe sending in an airhead would actually work.

Jian Chengxi was still chattering non-stop.

Suddenly—

Just as he and the system were going on and on, there was a soft knock at the door outside.

Jian Chengxi was thrilled. “Is it really about saving the world? What’s my identity? Has the key figure to my new life finally appeared?”

As he spoke, he opened the door and his voice cut off abruptly.

Standing outside were two scrawny, raggedly dressed children. The little girl with a bun had tear streaks on her face.

Jian Chengxi froze, hesitating. “You two are…”

Before he could even finish his question—

The little girl’s tears suddenly spilled over, and she cried out, “Daddy!”

Jian Chengxi’s eyes widened. Under his gaze, the little girl’s steps faltered. She was supporting the boy, crying so hard she could barely catch her breath. “Gege’s leg injury is getting worse.”

As they walked, her tiny body seemed to reach its limit, and the two children were about to collapse onto the filthy ground.

Jian Chengxi instinctively lunged forward. “Careful!”

He threw himself at them with all his strength, catching them just before they hit the ground. The cost was that he ended up crashing down too, cushioning their fall with his own body. The pain made him grimace and bare his teeth.

The little girl cried even harder, her thin arms clutching him tightly. “Daddy, Daddy, are you okay?”

Jian Chengxi was in so much pain he nearly passed out, but the little girl’s childish sobs still rang in his ears. Forcing a smile, he instinctively reached out to wipe the tears from her face. “I’m okay.”

The impact must have jolted the unconscious boy awake.

The boy had a delicate face, though it was smeared with dirt and ash. He slowly opened his eyes, his face pale and bloodless. The pain from his broken leg made his breathing uneven.

The little girl immediately threw herself at him, crying, “Gege, we’re home now. Daddy will fix your leg. It won’t hurt anymore.”

The boy’s clothes were torn, and he looked like he was using every ounce of strength just to stay conscious. Even after waking, he didn’t spare a glance at the man he was supposed to call father. Instead, he looked at his sister and said weakly, “Suisui, stop crying. Don’t count on Daddy. He doesn’t care if I live or die…”

The little girl cried even harder.

The boy, as if completely drained, passed out again after speaking.

Jian Chengxi stared in shock at the scene. Who were they calling Daddy? Could they possibly mean him?!

In his last life, he hadn’t even held a girl’s hand, let alone had kids! Now he had gotten into a car accident and transmigrated—only to become a father?!

The little girl sobbed, her cries tugging at his heart. “Daddy, is Gege going to die…”

Jian Chengxi saw her lying on the ground crying, both frail children sprawled on the cold floor. In the end, he couldn’t bear it. He walked over and said, “The floor’s cold. Don’t cry right now. Let’s get him onto the bed first.”

The little girl obediently stepped aside with her thin, delicate frame.

Jian Chengxi picked the boy up and was surprised by how incredibly light he was. Even though he was a boy, he was so thin it felt like lifting a sheet of paper.

The bed was a hard stone slab, but in this case, it was just right since the boy’s leg was injured, lying flat on the stone surface helped keep it stable. Jian Chengxi lifted the boy’s pant leg and was immediately met with a horrifying sight. The wound on his calf had split open, revealing a large, raw gash that was already starting to fester with pus. If it wasn’t treated soon, the boy would definitely develop a high fever by tonight.

The little girl had also walked up to the stone bed. Her tiny body leaned helplessly against it, and when she saw how bad her brother’s injury was, she turned to Jian Chengxi. Her eyes were swollen from crying, and her voice trembled with sobs. “Daddy, please save Gege. I don’t want him to die…”

Jian Chengxi found himself stunned for a moment as he looked at her.

If—

If the original body’s owner really was their father, then why would a child use the word please, with such humility and caution, to ask their father for help? What had the original host done to them?

…

In his past life, Jian Chengxi had been a doctor. He simply couldn’t stand by and watch someone die. He reached out and gently patted the little girl’s head. “Don’t worry. I’ll definitely save him. But his injuries are too serious, and there’s no disinfectant or medicine in this room. We need to go out and find a doctor.”

The little girl nodded, and for the first time, a glimmer of hope appeared in her eyes. “Okay!”

Jian Chengxi decided to head out immediately with the boy on his back, but just then, a voice rang out in his mind:

【Host, are you planning to see a doctor without bringing any money?】

His movements paused. Right—his memory was so bad, he had nearly forgotten. He patted himself down and didn’t find a single coin. Looking around the room, he realized he had no idea where the original host might’ve kept any money—he had just transmigrated, after all.

“Uh… Suisui?” Jian Chengxi remembered that’s what the boy had called the little girl. He crouched down with a smile. “Do you know where the money is?”

The girl instinctively curled up in fear, her voice timid and cautious. “Daddy, I didn’t take the money.”

Jian Chengxi froze.

“Suisui really didn’t.” Her eyes were red as she backed up to the stone bed beside her brother, as if trying to seek protection. Her whole body trembled in fear. “The money I got from trading fruit—I gave it all to Daddy. Please don’t hit me.”

“???”

Jian Chengxi was completely stunned.

He looked at the little girl in front of him. She was so small, dressed in clothes that were faded and fraying at the seams. Her underdeveloped body wasn’t even tall enough to reach the height of the stone bed. Curled up into a tiny ball, she looked no more than three years old—the kind of age when a child should be cherished in their parents’ arms. Yet she had to go out and gather fruit to exchange for money and hand it over to him?

The original body’s owner—a grown man—actually made his young child work for money and beat her if she didn’t?

Was he even human?

Was there any justice left in this world?!

Jian Chengxi took a deep breath and spoke gently to reassure her. “It’s okay, Suisui. I… Daddy didn’t mean to hit you. It’s just that we need money to help your brother. Do you know where Daddy usually keeps it?”

The little girl seemed to be carefully trying to tell whether Jian Chengxi was telling the truth.

But she was still so young so how could she possibly distinguish an adult’s intentions so easily. In the end, she could only say, “It’s in the drawer over there.”

Jian Chengxi immediately got up and began rummaging through everything.

Jian Chengxi rummaged through the cabinet for a long time but found nothing. Seeing the boy on the bed in increasing pain, he started to panic. “There’s nothing here! Where’s the money? Isn’t it supposed to be in this cabinet?”

【Host, the money was indeed kept in that cabinet.】

Jian Chengxi felt a flicker of hope and quickly asked in his mind, “Really? Then why didn’t I see it?”

【There was still a bit left, but the original host spent every last coin just yesterday.】

Jian Chengxi froze. His hand gripping the cabinet trembled slightly. A fire began to burn in his chest, and his anger toward the original host reached its peak in an instant. “He let the kids end up like this—what the hell did he spend the money on?!”