After Crossing Over, I Just Want to Live Well – Chapter 2

Ch 2: She Crossed Over

It was a message from Shi Yichen.

[Shi Yichen: Duoduo, are you really coming to Imperial Star?]

[Shi Yichen: When will you arrive? I’ll come pick you up!]

[Yu Duoduo: It’s true. Big Brother Leng bought me a starship ticket for tomorrow. It’ll probably take seven days to get there.]

[Shi Yichen: Great, I’m looking forward to seeing you!]

…

That’s right— the current Yu Duoduo wasn’t the original Yu Duoduo born and raised here. That little Duoduo had already died when she was abandoned on Garbage Star, and then came Yu Duoduo, a 21st-century Master of Traditional Chinese Medicine who had crossed over.

The 21st-century Yu Duoduo had been exceptionally bright from a young age, mastering anything she set her mind to with just a glance. Because of this, she not only studied Traditional Chinese Medicine under her grandfather’s guidance since childhood,

but also used her free time to learn other subjects that piqued her interest— like growing flowers and plants, playing musical instruments, calligraphy, painting, and especially the wisdom of her ancestors, which fascinated her deeply.

She had always been the child other parents envied. By the age of 20, she had achieved remarkable success in the medical field, earning the title of Little Miracle Doctor.

Finally taking a rare break for herself, she never expected that saving someone would lead to her being hit and killed by a truck. And so, she arrived in this interstellar world thousands of years into the future.

Yu Duoduo crossed into this body just as it was being stuffed into an escape pod and hurled toward Garbage Star.

During the descent, Yu Duoduo absorbed all the memories of this body.

The original little Duoduo, three years old, was the second child born to her mother and her primary husband.

This world had far more men than women, with a female-to-male ratio of 1:1000. To ensure the continuation of the species, the interstellar society enforced a system of one wife with multiple husbands.

Little Duoduo lived in the Jimo Empire, where every woman, within three months of reaching adulthood, was required to marry at least seven husbands.

Little Duoduo’s mother and father were bound by a family alliance marriage, but her father wasn’t favored by her mother. Naturally, the children he sired weren’t liked by her either.

At three years old, little Duoduo underwent a talent test and was found to have neither mental power nor any potential to awaken a planting space.

The family decided to abandon her, but her father refused to give up. He tirelessly sought out methods to awaken her talent and mental power.

At last, he found a glimmer of hope and, without delay, arranged family affairs to pursue it. But the only news that came back was of his tragic death in an accident.

Her older brother, serving in the military, heard this news and resolutely joined an exploration team on a mission— not just to find that glimmer of hope for his sister, but also to recover their father’s remains.

Unfortunately, a month later, the military reported that the entire exploration team had lost contact.

The very next day after receiving this news, her mother packed little Duoduo up, put her on a spaceship, and had her dumped on the remote Garbage Star.

When Yu Duoduo first took over this body, a voice kept echoing in her mind: “You little wretch, do you still think your mother will come save you? That’s impossible— it was your dear mother who gave the order to throw you onto Garbage Star.”

After absorbing little Duoduo’s memories, Yu Duoduo understood clearly: the original little Duoduo had been devastated, resigned to death, yet still clung to a faint thread of unwillingness and hope.

What a pitiful child.

The moment the escape pod crash-landed, Yu Duoduo was knocked unconscious. When she awoke, she found herself lying on a simple metal bed.

The room she was in was extremely bare— aside from the 1.2-meter bed beneath her, there was nothing else.

Yu Duoduo recalled what had happened before. Shouldn’t she still be inside the escape pod? Had she crossed over again?

Raising her hand, she saw her tiny little fingers. Once again, she’d crossed into a child’s body. Fortunately, this time the situation seemed stable— she probably wouldn’t face the same brutal start as last time, where she’d nearly been finished off right away.

Just as Yu Duoduo naively pondered her circumstances, a blond boy who looked about thirteen or fourteen entered the room, holding a potion in his hand.

Seeing that Yu Duoduo was awake, he happily dashed over to her bedside.

“You’re awake? That’s great! This is the last healing potion I traded for with your escape pod. If you hadn’t woken up, I’d have been out of options.”

“Escape pod?” Yu Duoduo spoke, noticing her voice was soft and milky, with a hint of hoarseness.

“Yeah, I’m the one who pulled you out of the escape pod. You were badly hurt, so I traded it to a scavenger merchant for a few healing potions. You don’t mind, do you? Well, even if you do, it’s already done!”

“Did you run into a star beast or something? You’re pretty lucky, though— falling from the sky like that and still surviving.”

Hearing this, Yu Duoduo could only manage an awkward smile. Truthfully, she wanted to say she’d rather have died— maybe then she could’ve gone back.

“My name’s Shi Yichen. I was abandoned here on Garbage Star by my family when I was little. Can you contact anyone from your family? Tell them to come pick you up quick— this place isn’t suitable for a kid as young as you.”

“I’m Yu Duoduo. I don’t think I can go back— they threw me away.” Perhaps it was little Duoduo’s lingering emotions at work, but as Yu Duoduo spoke, tears began streaming down her face uncontrollably.

Shi Yichen fumbled to wipe her tears away. “Hey, don’t cry! If you can’t go back, then you can’t— it’s fine. Actually, there are lots of kids your age here. We get by pretty well. From now on, I’ll protect you, okay?”

“Look how free we are here, how carefree— no parents bossing us around, no one forcing us to study. We can go wherever we want, and nobody cares, right?”

“They abandoned you, and they’ll definitely regret it later.”

“Here, drink this potion. Once you’ve had it, you’ll feel better. Then I’ll take you scavenging with me. I’ve got great luck— I always find treasures others can’t!”

“But when we go out, you absolutely can’t tell anyone you’re a girl. This place isn’t kind to girls at all.”

“Got it?”

“Yeah, I got it. Thank you, big brother!”

Over the next few days, Yu Duoduo came to realize just how hard Shi Yichen worked to take care of her.

Later, she learned that Shi Yichen had also been abandoned by his family— at ten years old.

That day, Shi Yichen had spotted a large object falling from the sky from far away. He’d initially thought it might be something valuable, but when it landed, he realized it was an escape pod.

Seeing Yu Duoduo lying motionless inside, he assumed she was dead. His plan was to bury her after pulling her out and then sell the escape pod.

But after struggling with all his might to open it, he discovered she’d only fainted— and thankfully, she was still breathing.

At first, he hadn’t wanted to get involved. Yet seeing Yu Duoduo reminded him of himself— abandoned so heartlessly on Garbage Star by his family, wishing desperately back then that someone would reach out to help him.

And so, fifteen-year-old Shi Yichen took three-year-old Yu Duoduo home, caring for her meticulously and even giving up his only bed for her to sleep on.

For this, Yu Duoduo was deeply grateful.

After drinking the last healing potion, Yu Duoduo’s body recovered significantly. She began following Shi Yichen every day to scavenge through the trash.

That day, while rummaging through a pile of garbage, Yu Duoduo picked up a piece of red metal that looked like a book. Why did it feel so familiar?