Ch 13: The Regent’s Farmer Husband

After lunch, Jiang Ji rested for a bit, then went out with Zhao Ru, pulling the handcart together.

They walked to the main road but didn’t go farther—instead, they turned onto a small path and exchanged another bed and quilt from the system.

Though Zhao Ru looked delicate, she was used to farm work and had plenty of strength. Together, they lifted the bed onto the cart, tied it down securely, and pulled it back home.

Once the new bed was set up, Jiang Ji took the borrowed door panel and bedding back to Aunt Xiufang’s house.

When he returned, he went to the kitchen to wash his hands and saw Zhao Ru squatting by the stove with her back to him, doing something he couldn’t quite see.

Curious, he walked over—only to find she was stuffing plant ash into a long narrow cloth bag.

“Mom, what are you doing with that ash?”

Startled, Zhao Ru jumped. She hadn’t expected him back so soon. In a hurry, she stuffed the cloth strip into her clothes. “N-nothing! You’re back already?”

Her guilty reaction was too obvious. Jiang Ji blinked in surprise but didn’t press. “Ah, I’m just washing my hands.”

He carried the water out to wash up, rubbing his hands as he thought to himself, Is she hiding something from me?

Just as he finished, intending to ask, Zhao Ru hurried into her room—and closed the door.

Jiang Ji was baffled. Once all the chores were done, he figured he could relax for a bit. He opened the livestream—but was instantly thrown off by the barrage of comments.

【Women in ancient times really had it hard】
【I can’t even imagine living like that—using ash, no way】
【That’s just how it was. No supplies, and even when they were sick, they couldn’t tell anyone】

“What are you all talking about?” Jiang Ji asked, confused.

【You’re finally reading the chat! Go exchange some sanitary pads for your mom】
【Your mom’s on her period—don’t let her use ash like that!】

“Sanitary… pads?” Jiang Ji froze. “What’s that got to do with ash?”

【Oh, you clueless child… In ancient times there were no pads! Women had to use plant ash stuffed into cloth as menstrual pads—the thing you just saw her making!】
【Yeah, back then, if you couldn’t afford fabric, you’d use ash as a pad.】
【Hurry up and use the system to exchange some for her!】

Jiang Ji stood there, stunned.

Ash? They used ash as sanitary pads?

That was filthy—and horribly unhygienic! Wouldn’t that cause infections?

But the system’s second batch of daily goods hadn’t been unlocked yet. He immediately called out, “2977, I need to exchange for some sanitary pads!”

The electronic voice responded: 【Sanitary pads are considered a post-era item and are not yet available for exchange. To unlock them, the host must complete a system task.】

“What task?”

【The host must personally till the plot of land beside the house.】

The plot next to their house was divided into two small sections—one with leeks, the other, which used to have cabbage, was empty after the last harvest, waiting for spring planting.

“Fine, just till the land. I’ll do it.”

Recalling how the original owner had done it, Jiang Ji grabbed a shovel and headed out.

Just as he reached the door, he ran into Zhao Ru. Seeing the shovel, she asked, “Xiaoji, where are you off to?”

“I’m going to turn the soil by the house. Let it dry a few days, then it’ll be ready for planting.”

Looking at his mother, Jiang Ji felt a pang of sympathy.

Women in ancient times really had it rough.

“Oh, alright. I’ll go buy a chicken.”

“Mm.”

Jiang Ji stepped out with his shovel. Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei were at the gate playing with a few village kids.

“Brother, where are you going?” Jiang Bei ran up to ask.

“Going to till the field. You two keep playing. Where’s Xia?”

“Second Sister went digging for wild onions after you got back. She said she’s making onion omelets tonight. Look—over there.”

Jiang Ji followed the direction of his finger and saw Jiang Xia’s figure in the distance.

The weather had been warming lately, spring growth everywhere—wild onions and greens sprouting fast. Many women were out in the fields digging them up.

“Oh, got it. You two remember to check on Jiang Yan later. See if he wants water or needs help with the chamber pot, alright?”

“Got it, Brother.”

Jiang Ji walked to the field. The leek patch, freshly weeded and watered that morning by Zhao Ru and Jiang Xia, was thriving—taller than a few days ago.

Next to it was the empty patch, about fifteen or sixteen meters long and one and a half meters wide.

Jiang Ji began turning the soil just like the original owner used to—pressing his foot on the shovel, pushing down, levering the handle, and flipping the soil over.

“2977 told me to finish tilling this plot,” Jiang Ji said to the livestream audience. “Heh, I thought it’d be tough—but it’s actually pretty easy.”

【You’re getting cocky now】
【Looks easy enough】
【Yeah, it’s just manual labor】

It was manual labor—no technique needed, but tiring all the same.

After about three meters, Jiang Ji stopped to catch his breath, leaning on the shovel. Sweat beaded on his forehead; he was already getting tired.

【Tired already?】
【Seems simple enough, huh】
【Come on, you got this!】

“You guys are all talk,” Jiang Ji grumbled. “It’s simple, sure—but it’s still exhausting! I’m human, not a machine.”

After a short rest, he got back to work.

“Farm work really is just pure muscle,” he said, chatting as he dug. “This is why I don’t want to be a farmer—bent over dirt all day, breaking your back.”

【Then what do you want to do?】
【Start a business maybe—anything’s better than farming】
【Problem is, what can you even do?】

“Ah, brother, you’ve hit me right where it hurts,” Jiang Ji admitted honestly. “I don’t really have any particular skills… but I can make money.”

【How are you going to make money?】

【Are you going to sell the goods you exchange from the system?】

“No, not exactly. The modern items I can exchange—I’ll study those later. Right now, the most urgent thing is spring plowing. You know, the crops here are incredibly limited, and the yields are pitifully low. There are so many things they don’t even have yet.”

Over the past few days, Jiang Ji had been thinking about this.

When he exchanged vegetables from the system, he noticed that this world had very few kinds of vegetables available in winter—only radishes, cabbage, leeks, carrots, celery, winter amaranth, and winter melon preserved from summer.

And it wasn’t just in winter—there were many missing crops in other seasons too.

From the original body’s memories, he knew that people here mostly lived on rice, millet, broomcorn, and wheat. The staple grains varied slightly between north and south, but either way, the yield was terribly low. A single mu of paddy field produced only about two to three hundred jin of rice, and wheat wasn’t much better.

After paying the imperial tax, there was hardly anything left. They still had to keep some grain for planting, and the remaining one or two hundred jin wasn’t nearly enough to feed a family.

For most farmers, surviving the winter was a struggle. Every year, many people starved to death.

And crops like sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes—those lifesaving staples from the modern world—didn’t exist here at all. The original body had never even heard of them.

If he could introduce crops like sweet potatoes—easy to grow, long-lasting, and filling—it could easily save half the population from starvation.

The farmers here lived such bitter, grinding lives that Jiang Ji couldn’t bear to just watch.

He had already made up his mind. Spring planting was about to start, and he would spread these valuable staple crops far and wide.

He shared his plan with his livestream audience. “When the time comes, I’ll use my points to exchange for modern seeds. I can sell them, promote new crop varieties, and earn some startup money—all at once. Two birds with one stone.”

【That’s a surprisingly noble goal】
【Agriculture was so primitive back then—it’s good that you want to help them】
【But if you sell modern seeds, you’ll have to teach people how to plant them. Otherwise, they won’t know what to do. What, are they supposed to figure it out themselves?】

Jiang Ji flipped another patch of soil and said confidently, “That’s not a problem. Remember that farming skill I haven’t claimed yet?”

【I think that’s only a basic skill, though】
【Are you sure basic farming skills include how to grow modern crops?】

“That skill is basically a summary of ancient agricultural techniques from my previous world,” Jiang Ji explained. “Sweet potatoes and other crops existed in ancient China. Plus, there’s an intermediate farming skill too. 2977 said the intermediate level is equivalent to modern agricultural knowledge.”

He opened the system interface. “Intermediate Farming Skill—unlocks when daily viewer count reaches five million.”

【Whoa, five million in one day!】
【That’s a steep requirement】

“Come on, brothers and sisters, I’m counting on you!” Jiang Ji grinned. “I believe in you all!”

Just then, Jiang Xia came back with a half basket of wild onions. Seeing him still digging, she said, “Brother, take a rest if you’re tired. I’ll help in a bit.”

Jiang Ji quickly waved her off—he had to finish this plot alone for the system task.

“Hey, Xia’er, don’t bother. It’s almost done. I can handle it.”

“There’s still half left!”

“I’ll finish soon. Go help Mom with dinner instead.”

“Alright.”

【Such a considerate little sister】
【She’s been working nonstop this whole time】

Jiang Ji sighed. “Yeah, Xia’er’s a good kid. The original me was the same—always working. That’s why he got so tanned.”

He added, “Our family only had one mu of dry land and two mu of rice fields. The paddies have already been fully cultivated—no more to expand. So during the off-season, the original me went to reclaim wasteland at the mountain’s base. He already cleared three mu of new land.”

“But that wasteland’s still rough. The weeds grow like crazy. You pull them one day, and after one rain, they’re back. Even if the whole family works from dawn to dusk, the yield barely amounts to anything.”

He sighed again. “Life was really tough.”

【That’s how land reclamation works—it takes years for the soil to become fertile】
【Poor kid, really had a hard life】

Jiang Ji chatted with the audience as he worked, pausing now and then to rest. By the time the sun set, he finally finished the whole plot.

Excited, he ran home, washed his hands thoroughly, and pulled Zhao Ru into her room, closing the door behind them.

Seeing his secretive expression, Zhao Ru asked, “What’s going on?”

“Just wait a sec, Mom.” Jiang Ji opened the system interface and clicked “Claim Reward.”

In the next instant, three packages of sanitary pads appeared on the old dressing table.

“What’s this?” Zhao Ru asked curiously, picking one up and examining it, having no idea what it was for.

It was Jiang Ji’s first time holding sanitary pads too, and his face turned a little red. Still, he took a look—there seemed to be different kinds in each pack.

He read the instructions carefully and finally understood how they worked.

But another problem came to mind: ancient undergarments weren’t like modern ones. How was she supposed to attach it?

He turned to the livestream. “Hey, any ladies here? They don’t have underwear in this era—just long pants. How’s she supposed to use these? Should I exchange for some underwear too? But modern clothes aren’t unlocked yet.”

【You don’t need modern underwear】
【She can stick it onto her old menstrual cloth belt】
【Or you could just teach her to sew something similar to modern underwear】

“Ah? I see,” Jiang Ji said, scratching his head. “Got it.”

Zhao Ru looked at him in confusion. “Who are you talking to?”

“The immortals,” Jiang Ji said quickly. He took out one of the sanitary pads—his face a little hot, but his tone serious. “Mom, this is called a sanitary pad. It’s something you use during your monthly period. Please don’t use that plant ash anymore—it’s unsanitary and could make you sick.”

Zhao Ru’s face turned bright red. “You child, how do you even know about that?”

She hurriedly took the pad from his hands. “Don’t touch these things!”

Jiang Ji was a bit bewildered, but he pressed on earnestly. “Mom, the immortals told me to show you how to use it first.”

“Th-the immortals told me to use it?” Hearing that it was the immortals’ instruction, Zhao Ru hesitated slightly.

“Yes. The immortals said it’s made of cotton—it’s comfortable and hygienic.” Jiang Ji opened one of the sanitary pads. “Look, Mom, this is how you use it.”

His ears were burning red as he demonstrated the process step by step. “These two packs are for daytime use, and this longer one is for nighttime. You have to change them often. Once you’ve used one, throw it away—don’t reuse it. U-understood?”

“…Understood.” Hearing her son explain women’s matters like this, Zhao Ru felt awkward and embarrassed too.

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Ji added, “After dinner, I’ll show you how to make the undergarment part. That’ll make it easier to use.”

When he finished speaking, he quickly left the room.

Zhao Ru looked down at the thing in her hands—soft, thin, snow-white, and spotless. Even the paper backing was made of a material she had never seen before.

She took out a clean menstrual cloth belt and curiously tried using it as he’d shown.

An hour later, she quietly went back to check—no leaks, no stains.

She was astonished.

So this was truly a gift from the immortals—what an incredible invention!

If only we could make something like this ourselves…

🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾