Reborn as a Widowed Man, Destined to Charm the World

Zhu Mingyue, a seventeen-year-old modern youth from a financially ruined family, survives a desert expedition that turns fatal when his companions perish from thirst and heat. Upon regaining consciousness, he finds himself in the Can Dynasty, having physically traveled through time to a refugee group fleeing war-torn lands. Rescued by a kind woman named Aunt Hua and her son Cui Jian, Zhu Mingyue realizes he is in a historical setting with no technology or modern safety nets. The group travels to Kangyang County, where Zhu Mingyue must navigate a harsh new reality. He secures a job as a cook at a river construction site, a position that pays meager wages but provides food and shelter. During this time, he forms a close bond with Cui Jian, who reveals himself to be a man of hidden status and education, teaching Zhu Mingyue to read and write. Cui Jian eventually departs north with Aunt Hua, leaving Zhu Mingyue alone in the county town.

While living independently, Zhu Mingyue is targeted by two local thugs, Wang Huzi and Yellow Teeth, who had previously harassed him. They kidnap him while he is walking through an alley and sell him to Nanfeng House, a prestigious male entertainment brothel, for seventy taels of silver. The madam of the house recognizes his exceptional beauty and intends to train him as the top performer. Zhu Mingyue is placed under the supervision of Xu Linguang, the current star of the establishment, who is tasked with teaching him the arts of service. Zhu Mingyue, terrified of his fate, devises a desperate escape plan. He reveals to Xu Linguang that he suffers from a severe almond allergy, which causes life-threatening symptoms including swelling and rashes. He proposes that he ingest almonds to simulate an epidemic disease, forcing the brothel to either burn him or return him to his sellers to avoid government shutdown.

Xu Linguang agrees to the plan, recognizing that Zhu Mingyue’s desperation mirrors his own trapped existence within the brothel. Zhu Mingyue eats almond cakes and deliberately triggers a severe allergic reaction, covering his body in red welts and making it appear as though he is suffering from a contagious plague. The brothel manager, fearing the loss of his business and reputation, initially considers burning Zhu Mingyue alive. However, Xu Linguang intervenes, suggesting that returning the boy to the sellers is the only way to recover the seventy-tael investment without admitting fault. The manager agrees, and Zhu Mingyue is drugged and prepared for transport back to the kidnappers. As he is carried out, Xu Linguang watches silently, having secured Zhu Mingyue’s freedom through a dangerous gamble. The story concludes with Zhu Mingyue being returned to Wang Huzi and Yellow Teeth, unaware of the political undercurrents surrounding Cui Jian’s past or the true nature of his own survival in this alien world.