Lin Yan, a modern-day overworked office worker, transmigrates into the body of a lonely boy in Shiwa Village during the Great Yu dynasty. A string of disasters strikes in quick succession: a severe drought dries up the rivers in early summer, black frost destroys the fields in late autumn, and winter brings freezing hunger. Plague and flash floods follow, driving the villagers to the brink of despair.
At this critical moment, the Disaster-Year Stockpiling System activates. By stockpiling meat, Lin Yan unlocks a preservation warehouse. Completing tasks to stockpile, distribute, and defend earns him meat, upgrades his storage space, and unlocks tools and skills. At first, he trades a “family heirloom fire striker” for wild boar meat to secretly stockpile, quietly helps an elderly person living alone, and brings injured villagers broth mixed with meat. He also reaches a tacit agreement to keep their secret with Su Qinghe, who knows herbal medicine.
When winter arrives, Lin Yan publicly distributes meat under the pretense of a “secret mountain storehouse,” uniting the whole village through labor-based rationing. He later joins forces with Su Qinghe to fight the plague and build defenses, repel bandits, take in refugees, and form an alliance with three other villages called the Shiwa Alliance. They recruit former bandits, unlock the System shop, and trade for modern farming tools to boost productivity.
An imperial inspection team sees that he has set an example for surviving disaster years and appoints Lin Yan as magistrate of Shiwa Township. He is later promoted to prefect and then governor. He establishes village schools and clinics, and promotes the “Shiwa approach.” After completing the System’s ultimate mission, he earns a permanent bond. Given the choice to return to the modern era, Lin Yan chooses to stay and use the System to protect the people in his care.
This is the legend of a man who went from stockpiling meat for himself to protecting a prosperous age. It captures the warmth of human kindness amid natural disasters and tells how ordinary people use opportunity and wisdom to save themselves and others.
