After Being Reborn, I Used Porcelain-Making to Lift My Whole Family

My other novel, I Became the Son of a Minister Convicted of Treason Who Was Switched at Birth, is now available. Come check it out!

Kang Qian, once handsome and carefree, was reborn as a sickly old man.

The old man had been widowed for over a year. His children and grandchildren had swindled him out of all his property. On a rainy night, he went to his late wife's grave to lament his lot, but slipped on a landslide along the mountain path and died.

The old man had three sons and a daughter. His daughter was the only one willing to lend him a hand. All three sons were utterly unfilial. They thought he was broke and useless, and wouldn't even give him a room. They abandoned him in a dilapidated shack to fend for himself, and life was so hard he nearly had to beg for food.

After Kang Qian arrived, he clapped his hands, feeling unburdened and free. The ideal life for someone ready to be single: no children or grandchildren weighing him down, and in his spare time he could help his only daughter. With a little effort, life could still be good.

So he found an abandoned kiln and decided to continue the work he had done in his previous life: firing porcelain.

His peaceful life began with the first kiln firing. People came one after another to appraise and buy his porcelain, along with a steady stream of unfilial sons regretting their past and trying to pluck the fruit from his tree. This infuriated Kang Qian, and his life became a roller coaster of chaos and family drama.

The old man had once been softhearted, letting his sons mold him however they pleased. But now Kang Qian was in charge. If he could settle things with his fists, he wouldn't waste words. After a few rounds, his unfilial sons finally realized their father's heart was as hard as iron. Suddenly, they saw him as a towering figure, so capable that he could be their patron. They came crawling back, all meek and eager to win his favor.

Kang Qian: ...

Life was a headache, but Kang Qian wasn't worried at all. There were advantages to being old. No one dared question his porcelain-making talent or say he had no real experience. With a face weathered by hardship, everything he said became the standard for pioneers in the porcelain industry. People flocked to him, and his life began to prosper.

With a good attitude, life flourished. People praised and fawned over him, and Kang Qian and his daughter's family began living a life others envied. Youthful vigor nourished his body, and he became the most desirable uncle in town, looking younger by the day.

The Porcelain Industry Association even sent him an invitation, asking him to bring his heirloom Ge kiln celadon teapot and represent the country.

Kang Qian became famous, appeared on China Central Television, and became an inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of imitation Song dynasty imperial ware.

Meanwhile, the person who had harmed him back then came to cozy up to him, wearing the face of an eager scholar, hoping to get the rights to represent his heirloom Ge kiln wares.

Kang Qian sneered. "So this is where you ended up? Let's see if I can't ruin you."

P.S. The information about celadon comes from Baidu and the author's limited, possibly mistaken understanding. This story is not written with academic rigor. No matter how much you argue, you're right. The author apologizes for having such limited knowledge and begs you to go easy. Read for fun and to pass the time. Let's play a word game that goes for the gut, not the heart (not really). A grateful bow!

Well, to give the story more room to unfold (and make things easier for the author), please treat it as a fictional setting!

Coming soon: I Became the Son of a Minister Convicted of Treason Who Was Switched at Birth. Please add it to your reading list!

[Blurb]

Ling Yi had barely had time to enjoy his life of luxury when his father and older brother bundled him up and turned him into the grandson of a tutor to the crown prince, a family sentenced to exile.

The crown prince plotted treason, and his tutor was executed. Later, the officials knelt for days outside the Meridian Gate, but in the end, only the old, the young, the women, and the children of the family were spared. All the adult men were executed. Ling Yi was pulled out of a life of luxury, wrapped in mourning clothes, and made the young, underage concubine-born grandson of the Grand Tutor's family.

A three-year-old child shouldn't remember anything, but Ling Yi was an adult who had transmigrated. He had spent over a decade undercover at the border, and just as he was helping his side close in and capture their targets, he was hit by a stray bullet. When he opened his eyes, he had become the youngest legitimate son of the eldest branch of the Great Zheng's Pillar of State Marquis household.

The carefree life he had imagined was out of reach. People died every day in the place of exile, so to survive, he had no choice but to pick up the skills from his previous life: organizing refugees to build infrastructure, recruiting bandits to fight foreign enemies, and taking charge of both livelihoods and national defense. He became the lord of the border city.

Once life improved, troublemakers came along. An imperial decree arrived from the Great Zheng palace, and the man who had taken his place and enjoyed a life of luxury came with a grand show of imperial favor to claim the fruits of Ling Yi's labor.

Ling Yi shrugged. "You want to take my rewards? Fine. Go ahead, if you can."

The people of the border city were tough. They didn't care about your this or that, or whose decree it was. Nothing mattered more than eating well, sleeping well, and living well. The lord of the border city wasn't just a title.

The princes turned on each other, and the Great Zheng dynasty caught fire on all sides. As chaos loomed, Ling Yi sat firmly in his border city, only to be ordered to lead troops and put down the rebellion.

Ling Yi: ...

When military power is handed to him, how could he possibly refuse?

Coming soon: The Old Man Is Dashing and Imposing

Ever since Cui Lu realized that life was just a play, he cast aside all his worries and did whatever he pleased, as if he had no one in the world.

It was all going to end with him being punished and his home confiscated anyway. He might as well eat, drink, and spend to his heart's content. Why amass a fortune or hoard valuables, only to leave them to someone else? Better to let his own family enjoy them first.

So his married daughters stared in bewilderment at the extra dowries they received, his grown sons looked at the banknotes in their hands, and his daughters-in-law found themselves with much more private money. Even the children who were still growing up received assets of their own.

Cui Lu stroked his beard and nodded, then waved his hand grandly. "Take it all and spend it! If you need more, I've still got plenty. Spend! Go on, spend!"

But while he always felt he had too little money when he was saving it, no matter how much he handed out for his descendants to spend, it never seemed to run out. Cui Lu was frustrated.

Was it all still going to end up benefiting outsiders?

No way. Absolutely not. If one family couldn't spend it all, then ten families would spend it together. He would bring in his in-laws, neighbors, and everyone around them. They had to spend every last bit.

Ten years later, Cui Lu sat on a raised platform beneath a high, hanging mirror. Before him, his descendants, relatives, and old friends knelt in reverence. Even an imperial envoy was there. Everyone gazed at him with tear-filled eyes, wishing him longevity and lasting blessings.

Cui Lu: This can't be right! Today is supposed to be the day they confiscate my home. Did the imperial envoy bring the wrong decree?

Oh dear, what am I supposed to do now?

Theme: Contribute what we can to the preservation of intangible cultural heritage and let everyone experience the charm of our national treasures.