Ch 4: The Regent’s Farmer Husband

【Heard from a classmate that this streamer can make things appear out of thin air?】

【I just came to see what this “time-traveled to ancient times” title was about. How can someone act this well?】

【Was watching a movie when my roommate said the streamer’s bound to some “system”? What kind of system?】

【Scripts for short videos were one thing, but now even live streams are going this far? Damn, this plot could rival a novel.】

【Time-traveled to ancient times? For real?】

【My friend told me this guy isn’t even from our planet—or our timeline.】

【That’s insane. I’ve got to see if it’s true.】

The sudden influx of viewers told Jiang Ji that someone must’ve shared his stream link.

Beaming, he looked at his reward screen. “Thanks, everyone, for spreading the word!”

Then he announced cheerfully, “Brothers, just now we hit 100 viewers! That completed my second system task—reward: one jin of pork! The second donation item is unlocked too—go wild!”

【A reward, huh? Then show us! Make the pork appear!】
【Yeah, let’s see the pork trick!】
【Wait, is this “system” thing actually real?】
【Whoa, there really is a second donation item—it’s peanuts!】
【What the heck, this stream’s donation items are totally different from everyone else’s!】
【Rice and peanuts? Everyone else gets little hearts, planes, yachts, rockets! What’s up with that?】
【Streamer, why’s your interface so different?】

As more people poured in, Jiang Ji walked and retold his story about crossing over.

“…and as for the weird donation items, it’s because I’m using a system, you know? Like the golden-finger systems in novels! Not an ordinary livestream platform, so my interface looks different. I told you, I’m in ancient times, got a system—but you all didn’t believe me!”

【My god, I’m speechless.】
【Did he really make rice appear earlier?】
【He did! He’s still holding it!】
【Yeah, I watched it appear right in his hand. I still can’t wrap my head around it!】
【Streamer, claim that pork reward already!】
【I wanna see too!】
【Same here +1】

The chat buzzed with excitement. Jiang Ji glanced at the comments and said, “I’ll claim the pork when I get home. If I pull it out now, I’ll have to carry it myself—it’s a hassle.”

“I said I’m in ancient times, you didn’t believe me. Said I’ve got a system, still didn’t believe me. We’ve walked through how many villages now? Still not enough proof?”

【Keep going!】
【Walk more!】
【I wanna see the pork appear! Now!】
【Go on, I still think it’s a studio lot!】

Jiang Ji sighed dramatically. “Alright, guess you people won’t believe till you hit a wall. Fine, let’s go! I’ll make your jaws drop so hard you’ll hear it!”

The viewers were mischievous too—they refused to let him stick to the main path. Every time they came to a fork, they demanded he take the side road instead, purely for the unpredictability.

The narrow dirt trails between villages twisted endlessly—left, right, back again—until Jiang Ji completely lost his bearings.

“You guys better be remembering the route,” he said. “If I get lost, I’m screwed. The original owner never came this far, so I’ve got no map in my head.”

【Don’t worry, we’ll watch the replay.】
【Not gonna lie, still haven’t seen a single modern thing. Everyone’s in old-time clothes.】
【Damn, maybe this guy really is in ancient times.】

“I told you already! It’s ancient times! Believe me now? I’ve been walking for over two hours… wait, hold up—let me rest. I’m dead tired.”

He sat by the roadside, took off his shoes, and shook the dust out. “I’ve never walked this far in my life! Look at these shoes—what a mess. And I only had a palm-sized bran cake for lunch. It’s long gone. Ugh, so hungry.”

“Brothers, I can’t keep going. My head’s still injured, and it gets dark early here. I’ve gotta turn back—there might be wolves out here.”

【If it’s a film set, two hours isn’t nearly enough to see it all.】
【Why stop now?】
【Wolves? Come on, there aren’t any wolves left anywhere.】

“I told you, I’m in ancient times! No cars here, no lights. You guys just don’t get it. Anyway, I’m heading back. I’ll show you more tomorrow.”

He peeked at the viewer count—228.

Jiang Ji: !

Two hundred twenty-eight people! That meant 2 points—enough to trade for two jin of rice!

After resting a bit, he stood and started the walk back.

“Brothers, do me a favor—share the stream! The next goal’s 500 viewers!”

【You won’t show the pork, won’t keep walking, but still want us to promote you?】
【He’s done enough walking for today, give him a break.】
【Those shoes do look legit though—no way to fake that kind of wear.】
【Why’s he quiet now?】

“I’m exhausted, man. Tired, hungry, thirsty. I don’t even know if I can make it back.”

His energy drained, Jiang Ji barely spoke. He stopped at a nearby village and begged for some water.

“Brothers, toss me a few peanuts, I’m starving here.”

【Peanuts cost a full dollar though.】
【Rice costs ten cents, peanuts a dollar—what’s the next reward item, I wonder?】
【You look pitiful, fine, here’s a tip.】

A burst of effects rained across the screen—a handful of cartoon peanuts with tiny smiling faces tumbled down.

【Oh my god, even the effects are peanuts! I’m dying.】
【Different from normal livestreams, but kinda adorable.】
【If we tip pork next time, will the whole screen be filled with meat?】
【Haha, maybe a flying pig instead!】
【Why didn’t the rice have effects though?】
【It does! Just not for ten-cent ones—you need to send a dollar’s worth.】
【Wow, even the donations have class divisions now.】

“Thanks to Nan Feng, Mouthful of Dust, and Brother MadTalk! You guys are awesome!”

Several viewers had each tipped ten peanuts, and a few others sent rice or smaller combos. Jiang Ji thanked each one.

Then he asked, “2977, can I claim the peanuts now?”

【Yes.】

Jiang Ji crouched again. “Alright, brothers, didn’t you say you wanted to see another reward? Here we go—claiming the peanuts, watch closely!”

【Alright, alright, do it!】
【Quiet, everyone! I wanna see this!】
【Wait—let me turn off the chat bubbles first so they don’t block the view.】

The barrage of comments suddenly stilled—everyone waited.

Jiang Ji spread his hands, tapped the invisible interface—and in the next second, a small cloth pouch materialized in his left hand.

【！！】
【Holy shit, it’s real!】
【I swear I didn’t blink—it just appeared!】
【Oh my god! It really materialized!】

The chat exploded in disbelief.

Jiang Ji untied the pouch—inside was a handful of roasted peanuts.

【It’s actually peanuts!】
【Damn, he really has a system!】
【This has to be some kind of sorcery!】

【Is this really live? Not pre-recorded? Not edited?】

Jiang Ji got up, ignoring the comments, and started eating happily.

The peanuts were sun-dried, unroasted, unsalted—just plain, natural peanuts with a faint sweetness.

Back in his old life, Jiang Ji had never liked peanuts unless they were fried or roasted with salt. He wouldn’t even look at raw ones like these.

But right now, that light sweetness filled his mouth, warming his empty stomach in a way he’d never appreciated before.

“2977, how much is one peanut reward worth? And what about the rice?”

The system’s mechanical voice replied: 【One peanut reward equals 50 grams. One rice reward equals 5 grams.】

“Only 5 grams? That’s it?” Jiang Ji muttered.

【Wait—what did you just say, streamer?】
【And who’s 2977?】

“2977’s my system’s ID,” Jiang Ji explained. “It just told me—one peanut reward gives 50 grams, one rice reward gives only 5 grams.”

【No wonder the rice item’s so cheap—only ten cents each, and just 5 grams.】
【Actually, that’s not cheap! Do the math—500 grams would cost ten bucks! Real rice’s like four bucks a jin at most.】
【Come on, it’s a donation item, not an actual store price.】

After finishing the small handful of peanuts, Jiang Ji felt re-energized.

By the time he trudged back to the village, the sky was dark.

“Damn, I’m exhausted! Finally back!” He leaned against a big tree at the village entrance, panting.

【Why stop? Keep walking all the way home!】
【He can’t even see the road now.】
【Lost for real, haha.】
【You jinxed yourself, man.】

“Hey, that’s unfair! You’re the ones who told me to take random turns—of course I got lost!” Jiang Ji sat at the tree root. “Anyway, time to claim my rice and pork.”

He opened the system stats panel. Thanks to all the viewers’ shares, the stream had gained over 400 more views during his return trip. Including earlier traffic, total view count now stood at 776—completing his third system task.

That task’s reward was a Basic Farming Skill, but Jiang Ji wasn’t too interested in that for now.

He first claimed his second reward—a jin of pork—and saw that his total view count had converted into 7.76 points.

In the system store, 1 point could buy a jin of rice, 3 points a jin of pork, and vegetables like radishes or cabbages cost 0.3 points per jin.

Jiang Ji thought for a moment. One jin of pork wasn’t much—five people could barely split it.

So he traded for 4 jin of rice, 1 more jin of pork, and 2 white radishes—spending all his points.

He also claimed the rice and peanuts viewers had tipped—about one jin of rice and another jin of peanuts.

In front of him, several small cloth bags appeared out of thin air. Old viewers had seen this before, but new ones gasped in shock, filling the chat with excitement.

【Still crazy even after seeing it again!】
【He’s got quite the haul now.】
【Okay, I actually believe he has a system.】
【This is straight-up magic!】

Jiang Ji carried more than six jin of rice in his left hand, two jin of pork in his right, plus radishes and peanuts, heading home.

It was fully dark now. Every household had lamps lit—warm yellow light spilling from windows, smoke curling from chimneys, and the smell of dinner in the air.

“Once I get home, I won’t be able to chat much,” he told the viewers. “Just watch, okay?”

【Got it.】
【Go on, you’ve walked enough for one day.】
【It really does look ancient—every house is lived in. No way that’s staged.】
【Yeah, I’m starting to think he’s actually in ancient times.】

Jiang Ji didn’t bother explaining anymore. When he neared home, he saw two small figures waiting by the door.

“Brother! You’re back!” Jiang Nan’s voice called out from afar. In moments, the boy came running.

“Mother! Second Sister! Big Brother’s back!” Jiang Bei shouted toward the courtyard before running up too.

“Brother, you’re finally home! We were so worried.”

Jiang Nan stopped in front of him, eyeing the bags curiously. “Brother, what’s all that?”

Jiang Bei ran up beside him. “Yeah! Where’d you go this afternoon? What did you bring back?”

“You’ll see soon,” Jiang Ji said mysteriously, leading the two little rascals inside.

“Mother, Xia’er, I’m home.”

Zhao Ru and Jiang Xia were waiting at the kitchen door. Seeing him, Zhao Ru asked anxiously, “Where have you been all afternoon? You’re still injured!”

“I’m fine, Mother—just tired.” Jiang Ji lifted his arms to show the bags. “Look, Mother—I brought rice and vegetables!”

“Rice? Vegetables?”

They all stared as he set the bags on the table and opened them one by one.

Jiang Bei gasped. “It’s really rice! And so much of it!”

“Peanuts!” Jiang Xia said in delight. “And radishes!”

“Whoa, meat! There’s meat!” Jiang Nan’s eyes went wide. “We get to eat meat!”

Zhao Ru stared in shock at the food, then asked, “Xiao Ji, where did you get money for all this?”

Jiang Ji had already prepared his story on the way home. “I saw a broken carriage on the main road this afternoon. The man was hauling goods, so I helped him deliver everything. This is what he gave me as payment.”

“That’s… a lot of payment,” Zhao Ru said, still doubtful.

“He’s from a wealthy household—very generous,” Jiang Ji said without blinking. “They’re holding a banquet tomorrow, short on helpers, so the steward asked me to come. I agreed.”

Zhao Ru was convinced by his reasonable explanation. “You’re right to go. All this food is worth at least two days of wages. But your head…”

“My head’s fine, Mother. I’ll go early tomorrow.” Jiang Ji rubbed his stomach. “Mother, let’s cook rice tonight, and stir-fry the pork. That family lived pretty far—I walked for hours. I’m starving.”

At the mention of rice and stir-fried pork, Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei’s eyes lit up instantly. Even Jiang Xia, usually the most sensible and undemanding, looked at their mother with quiet anticipation.

Zhao Ru looked at the small bag of rice. “I’ve already boiled wild vegetable soup… maybe we should make porridge instead?”

That way, it would last for more meals.

They usually had nothing but wild vegetable soup at night—not even rice bran.

Jiang Ji protested, “Mother, I’ll bring back more rice tomorrow. We didn’t even eat rice at New Year’s! It’s been over two months since we last had rice or meat.”

Jiang Nan tugged her sleeve. “Mother, I want to eat rice too.”

Jiang Bei and Jiang Xia said nothing, but their hopeful eyes spoke for them.

Zhao Ru looked at her four thin-faced children and their eager expressions. Her heart softened. “Alright, tonight we’ll eat white rice and cook the meat.”

“Yay! Rice!”

“And meat! I want meat!”

Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei cheered, bouncing with excitement. Jiang Xia broke into a grin. “I’ll rinse the rice and cook it.”

“I’ll start the fire!” Jiang Bei volunteered.

Jiang Nan picked up a white radish. “Then I’ll wash the radish!”

Zhao Ru didn’t stop them. Smiling, she patted Jiang Nan’s head. “Wash it clean.”

“I know, Mother.” Jiang Nan ran off with the radish and a wooden basin.

“Xiao Ji, sit and rest,” Zhao Ru told her eldest. “Dinner will be ready soon.”

“Alright.” Jiang Ji couldn’t cook anyway. He washed his hands, drank some water, and sat near the stove to rest.

He had been walking all afternoon and was truly exhausted. Thankfully, his new body was used to labor and could still handle the strain.

As he massaged his sore calves, he looked up and saw Jiang Xia carefully saving the rice-washing water into another bowl.

“Xia’er, why are you keeping that?” he asked.

“This rice is really clean, not a speck of dust,” she replied. “We can pour the water into the wild vegetable soup tomorrow morning—it’ll make it richer.”

Jiang Ji opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Jiang Xia continued, “Brother, this must be what rich families eat. Look—no broken grains, and the aroma’s so strong! The cooked rice will definitely taste amazing.”

“Of course,” Zhao Ru said with a smile. “Everything rich families eat is refined.”

Jiang Xia set the pot on the small stove.

Jiang Bei added firewood. “I can handle it, Second Sister.”

“I’m worried you’ll make the fire too big or too small,” Jiang Xia said. “If you ruin the rice, that’d be such a waste.”

Jiang Bei thought about it and nodded. “You’re right.” He handed her the fire stick.

The little girl skillfully tended the fire. Watching her, Jiang Ji felt a pang of embarrassment—he didn’t even know how to do that.

Meanwhile, Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei stood beside their mother as she cut the meat.

A bag of peanuts still sat on the table. Jiang Nan kept glancing at it until he couldn’t resist. “Mother, can I eat one peanut?”

“Go ahead, but don’t spill them,” Zhao Ru said. “You can only eat three at most. We’ll save the rest for planting.”

“Okay.”

Jiang Ji overheard and wanted to tell her not to worry—he could get more peanuts from the system—but decided to stay quiet. Tomorrow, once he exchanged more rewards, they could eat freely without concern.

Jiang Nan carefully opened the bag and popped a peanut into his mouth.

Crunch. Crunch.

“Is it good?” Jiang Bei asked eagerly.

“Try one.” Jiang Nan handed him another. “Well?”

Jiang Bei chewed, his eyes narrowing with delight. “It’s good.”

The two brothers smiled at each other, simple and happy.

Then Jiang Nan took another peanut, ran to his mother, and offered it. “Mother, you have one too.”

Zhao Ru looked at him and chuckled. “Give it to your brother and sister.”

“You eat,” he insisted, raising his small hand. “Jiang Bei already gave some to them.”

Zhao Ru turned to check, then smiled and ate the peanut.

“Is it good, Mother?” Jiang Nan asked, face upturned.

“It’s delicious,” Zhao Ru said warmly.

Nearby, Jiang Ji and Jiang Xia were also enjoying the peanuts Jiang Bei had shared.

The twins stopped after three each, as told, and waited for the real feast.

“Xia, start the big pot,” Zhao Ru said briskly. She chopped the radish into slices, washed the meat, and cut the fat and lean parts separately.

When the fire was ready, she tossed the fat into the pot.

The sizzle of rendering fat filled the kitchen, and soon the rich aroma of pork wafted through the air.

“Smells so good~”

Jiang Nan stood by the stove, staring into the pot and swallowing hard.

Beside him, Jiang Bei sniffed the air greedily. “So good…”

Jiang Xia, tending the fire, peeked into the pot too.

Jiang Ji looked at his siblings, who hadn’t tasted meat in months, and sighed inwardly. They were so pitiful.

When the fat had crisped into golden cracklings, Zhao Ru scooped them out, saving the oil. She poured the rendered oil into a jar, left a little in the pot, and stir-fried the lean pork with salt. Half went on the table, half saved for tomorrow.

The radish stew took a bit longer. By the time it was done, the rice was ready too.

On the small wooden table sat two bowls of stir-fried pork with radish, along with a pot of wild vegetable soup.

The whole family gathered around, each with a bowl of steaming white rice.

“All right, let’s eat,” Zhao Ru said, serving everyone rice and placing a piece of meat in each child’s bowl.

Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei immediately bit into their pieces—the savory fried pork cracklings soaked in gravy filled their mouths with rich flavor.

“Mother, it’s so good!” Jiang Nan said, his eyes sparkling.

Smiling, Zhao Ru nodded and added a slice of radish to his bowl. “Eat the radish and rice too.”

“Mhm!” Jiang Nan scooped up a big mouthful of rice, followed it with a piece of radish, chewed, and said through his full mouth, “The rice and radish are so good too!”

Jiang Bei nodded in agreement. “It’s so good I could cry.”

The whole family laughed.

Zhao Ru savored a bite of white rice, swallowed, and said, “Xiao Ji, this rice tastes much better than what we grow ourselves—it’s so fragrant.”

“Maybe it’s a new variety from another region?” Jiang Xia guessed.

Zhao Ru thought for a moment. “Xiao Ji, ask that steward tomorrow where they bought it. If possible, we should try to get some of those rice seeds.”

Jiang Ji glanced at his mother—quick thinker. But this rice came from the system, modern high-grade rice, far better than anything grown in this era.

“Alright, I’ll ask tomorrow,” he said.

He truly liked this rice too: plump and glossy grains, soft and slightly sticky, smooth in texture, and fragrant beyond compare.

The system would eventually unlock seeds; with steady streaming, he could plant them later.

It was the family’s first proper meal in a long time—fluffy white rice, tender radish soaked with meat juices, and the savory aroma of fried pork.

Each of them ate two bowls. The large pot of rice was soon scraped clean, every last bit of food gone—even the gravy at the bottom was mixed with rice and eaten.

When they finished, everyone leaned back, hands on full bellies, sighing in satisfaction.

It was so delicious.

Seeing their smiling faces, Jiang Ji felt a strange rush of accomplishment—a deep, warm satisfaction.

This was the first meal he had earned for them through his own effort.

While they were eating, his livestream had been running the entire time. After the meal, he finally checked—and was stunned to see nearly 1,000 viewers watching live.

Even more shocking, the tip counter had exploded: over 12,593 rice icons and more than 600 peanuts—and still climbing.

Jiang Ji blinked. “What the… what just happened?”

🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾