Ch 47: The Regent’s Farmer Husband

“2977, since there’s a task that grants a Primary Skill Learning Blueprint, doesn’t that mean there are also Intermediate and Advanced ones?” There were too many tasks, and Jiang Ji was too lazy to look through them one by one, so he asked directly.

【Special Task 122: Completing it grants an Intermediate Skill Learning Blueprint. Special Task 164: Completing it grants an Advanced Skill Learning Blueprint.】

Jiang Ji flipped to 【Special Task 122】: Educate your family about gender equality—girls can also study, do business, and hold official positions. Women should have independent and self-reliant ways of thinking.

【Special Task 164】: Educate your family about the concept of monogamy.

Jiang Ji raised his eyebrows. For Task 122, in this era, the idea of women holding office was out of reach—the imperial court wasn’t that open-minded, and he couldn’t make that happen now. But as for the other parts, those were completely doable.

As for monogamy, what other families did wasn’t his concern, but within his own household, he could at least promote it.

Besides, the system only required him to spread the idea, not necessarily realize it.

These two tasks were simple.

Jiang Ji then looked at the other tasks. Among the regular ones, as planting across the various counties had been completed, he had already finished quite a few. He had been so busy lately that he hadn’t even had time to collect many of the rewards.

The three rice promotion tasks were complete, corresponding to the Primary, Intermediate, and Advanced Textile Skills.

The three cotton promotion tasks—1,000 mu, 10,000 mu, and 50,000 mu—were also completed, corresponding to blueprints for a cotton ginning machine, spinning machine, and weaving machine.

As for sweet potatoes, the 50,000 mu task hadn’t started yet since the cuttings hadn’t been planted. Only the first 1,000 mu task had been completed, with the reward being the Primary Cooking Skill.

For potatoes, the largest task of 50,000 mu hadn’t been completed yet. The 1,000 and 10,000 mu milestones were done, rewarding two improved blueprints for a rake and a winnowing machine. Over 20,000 mu still remained.

Corn could be intercropped with soybeans and peanuts, so many people bought the seeds. But in later counties, Jiang Ji hadn’t sold much corn seed. Across seven counties combined, over 41,000 mu had been planted, granting him two farm tool blueprints, both related to rice harvesting—two types of paddy bed blueprints.

He checked the reward for the 50,000 mu corn task—it was the blueprint for a foot-operated threshing machine.

A threshing machine—Jiang Ji’s eyes lit up. That was an essential tool for harvesting rice.

Right now, they harvested rice mostly by hand or by beating it manually—inefficient and exhausting.

Jiang Ji checked his points. His live broadcasts now drew over ten million viewers daily. If a stream made it onto the trending list, like yesterday’s matchmaking discussion, viewership could exceed thirty million. That meant at least two to three hundred thousand points a day.

He had previously used up all his points, but since returning, he’d accumulated quite a bit again.

There were nearly 9,000 mu of corn left—enough to buy seeds. The remaining points he’d save for purchasing second-season rice seeds.

He claimed all his pending rewards, plowed the fields in the morning, and in the afternoon, went to the county office to find Lord Chen, who had been working there recently.

“My lord, I can still prepare seeds for another 10,000 mu of corn. If we plant them by May at the latest, it’ll still be fine. Please lend me a warehouse for two days so that buyers from other counties can come purchase them. First come, first served.”

Lord Chen was delighted and immediately arranged it.

*

That evening after dinner, the Jiang family gathered in the main hall again—some doing homework, some sewing clothes.

Jiang Yan continued copying down planting methods, while Jiang Ji took out pencils and an eraser to draw blueprints of farming tools according to the system’s diagrams.

Jiang Yan glanced over and asked, “What are you drawing?”

“A paddy bed—it’s used for threshing rice,” Jiang Ji replied.

Jiang Yan frowned. “We don’t already have something like that at home?”

“We do, a grain tub—but it’s too simple. The one I’m drawing can be used inside it and will work better. There’s an even more efficient version I’ll have soon.”

Zhao Ru came over when she heard the term “paddy bed.” “This goes inside the grain tub?”

“Yes, it’ll work a bit faster than the one we use now.”

“Then we should make it now, so it’ll be ready for harvest time.”

“Exactly, we need to prepare early.”

While Jiang Nan and the others were doing homework, the conversation shifted back to Jiang Ji’s matchmaking incident. Their friends had already heard about it and kept asking Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei about it.

Jiang Nan, holding a brush with ink-stained fingers, scrawled a crooked character and said, “Not just our village—other villages know too. That kid Xiaosong from the next village even asked us what kind of girl our brother likes. He said his big sister is fifteen already and could become our sister-in-law.”

Jiang Ji was speechless. From the side, Jiang Yan asked, “Who’s Xiaosong?”

Zhao Ru paused her sewing and replied, “The family at the head of the next village—you can see their house from ours. They have three daughters. The second one was divorced by her husband last summer. He said she couldn’t give him a son and wouldn’t let him take a concubine, and that she was disrespectful to her in-laws. In truth, he was just finding an excuse to get rid of her. Sigh, she threw herself into the river after coming home. None of her brothers went to demand justice from her husband’s family. Luckily, she was rescued, but now she doesn’t dare go out, afraid of gossip.”

Jiang Yan: “…”

Jiang Ji grew angry hearing that. “Not being able to give birth to a son isn’t her fault—it’s a matter of probability, and it’s actually the man’s issue.”

“Huh?” Zhao Ru looked up, surprised. “It’s the man’s issue?”

Everyone turned to stare at Jiang Ji, including Jiang Yan.

In this society, whenever a couple couldn’t conceive, the woman was blamed. If a son wasn’t born, it was also the woman’s fault. Everyone took that as common sense.

Jiang Ji looked up at them, thought for a moment, and explained seriously, “The immortals have studied this clearly. When a couple can’t have children, it might be because of the man’s body, or it might be the woman’s. But whether a child is a boy or a girl—that’s decided by the man, not the woman.”

Everyone was hearing this explanation for the first time and looked at him in shock.

Jiang Yan asked curiously, “But what about those families where the wife can’t give birth to a son, yet the concubine does? How do you explain that?”

“This still has nothing to do with the woman. Let me think of how to explain it.” Jiang Ji thought for a moment, then said, “Come here, I’ll draw you a picture so you’ll understand.”

Everyone gathered around the big table, and Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei leaned in as well.

Jiang Ji picked up his notebook, flipped to a blank page, and wrote the characters for male and female. “The reason we humans have two sexes—male and female—is because of what’s called sex chromosomes in our bodies.”

“What body?” Jiang Xia asked, confused.

“Sex chromosomes. You don’t need to understand the details, just know what they are.” Jiang Ji wrote XY under male and XX under female. “Males are this, females are this. Can you see the difference?”

Even Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei could tell. Jiang Bei pointed at the paper and said, “These two are the same, but this one is different.”

“Right,” Jiang Ji nodded. “That little fork-shaped part that’s different is what decides whether a baby is a boy or a girl. Males have two different sex chromosomes, while females only have one type, X.”

He drew a line under the Y and continued explaining, “When a man and a woman come together, the man’s sperm enters the woman’s body. When it meets her egg cell and fertilization happens, a child is conceived.”

Zhao Ru and Jiang Xia blushed but kept watching. Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei were simply curious and didn’t understand much, while Jiang Yan stayed composed, even showing a bit of scholarly interest.

Jiang Ji glanced around at everyone and went on, “During fertilization, a man’s sperm can carry either an X or a Y chromosome.” He separated the XY below and wrote X and Y as two letters. “These go to meet the woman’s X chromosome.”

“If the man’s X meets the woman’s X, a girl is born. If the little fork-shaped Y meets her X, a boy is born. Got it?”

He drew a few lines to demonstrate the process.

Jiang Yan looked at the two resulting combinations on the paper, compared them with the XY and XX above, and thought for a moment. “So, are there equal amounts of the fork-shaped ones and the cross-shaped ones?”

“Yes, equal amounts,” Jiang Ji nodded. “So whether a child is a boy or a girl has nothing to do with the woman. It’s determined by the man’s fork-shaped chromosome—it’s just a matter of probability, a fifty-fifty chance.”

Jiang Yan looked from the paper to Jiang Ji, thoughtful.
Where had he learned all this? Could it really be knowledge from the immortals?

Zhao Ru then asked, “Then why are there some people who can’t have children at all?”

Jiang Ji scratched his head. “That depends on the body—many possible reasons. The immortals didn’t tell me the details. But look, the little crosses or fork-shaped ones have to successfully combine with the woman’s cross for a baby to be conceived. If it doesn’t happen, it means the combination failed—so one or both people’s bodies have some kind of problem.”

Jiang Xia suddenly understood. “Then in Xiaosong’s family, his second aunt not being able to have a son wasn’t her fault!”

“Right—it was just luck,” Jiang Ji nodded.

【Congratulations to the host for completing Special Task 48. Reward: Primary Knitting Skill.】

The electronic voice of 2977 sounded in his mind. Jiang Ji raised his brows.

Huh? He had coincidentally completed another task?

A knitting skill? That would actually be useful in the winter.

Suddenly, he became quite interested in these science education tasks—they were much easier than exhausting himself promoting new seeds.

Thinking about the rewards for the Intermediate and Advanced Learning Blueprints, Jiang Ji decided to finish those two tasks tonight.

“Mother, just now you said Xiaosong’s second aunt’s husband wanted to take a concubine?”

Zhao Ru nodded. “Yes, she’d been married for seven or eight years without having a son. Her husband’s family got anxious, afraid their family line would end, so they wanted him to take a concubine.”

“Girls can carry on the family line too,” Jiang Ji snorted. “From now on, in our family, no one is allowed to take concubines. You must marry someone you love to be happy. If the marriage doesn’t work out, you can divorce—and after that, you can remarry—but no concubines. Jiang Nan, Jiang Bei, did you hear that?”

Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei were still too young to understand, but to them, whatever their eldest brother said was right. They nodded together. “Got it.”

Zhao Ru glanced at her son. As a woman, she naturally knew how unfair concubinage was, but in this world, men who were truly devoted to one woman were rare. Most poor men didn’t take concubines only because they couldn’t afford it. Among the wealthy, almost none refrained—they were full of scheming hearts.

She sighed. “You can tell them that now, but when they grow up, who knows what they’ll do.”

“Then we’ll write it into the family rules,” Jiang Ji said seriously. “Anyone who takes a concubine will be kicked out of this family. Live on your own—don’t bother anyone else.”

The whole family was stunned. Even Jiang Yan looked up in surprise.

Zhao Ru froze for a moment. “Do you really need to be that strict?”

“Yes,” Jiang Ji said firmly. “As the saying goes, a harmonious family prospers. Having multiple wives and concubines only causes conflict. Everyone has selfish desires—how could the house stay peaceful like that? You’d end up arguing every day, plotting against each other until it drives everyone mad. If a family isn’t peaceful, how can anyone be happy? I can’t control other families, but ours will be like this.”

Zhao Ru frowned slightly. “But what if there are no children?”

“Then adopt or have someone carry on the name,” Jiang Ji said, unconcerned about the idea of heirs. “Besides, it’s not like Xia, Nan, and Bei will all end up childless.”

Jiang Yan glanced at him. He didn’t even mention himself—he’d neatly excluded his own case.

Zhao Ru: “…”

Jiang Xia, however, looked at her eldest brother with bright eyes full of admiration.

Jiang Ji turned to her and said seriously, “Xia’er, remember this. If you marry someday and your husband ever wants to take a concubine, never wrong yourself for him. Such a man isn’t worth your feelings or your life. Don’t be afraid—divorce him and come home. Your family will always be your support.”

A warmth welled up in Jiang Xia’s heart. She nodded earnestly. “Okay, I understand.”

Jiang Ji frowned again. “Or better yet, you could find a husband to join our family. That way, you’ll stay right under my watch, and no one will ever dare bully you.”

Zhao Ru: “…You child, talking nonsense about things that haven’t even happened.”

“I’m just preventing trouble before it starts,” Jiang Ji said.

Jiang Xia couldn’t help smiling brightly, and Zhao Ru felt comforted seeing her like that.

The world was far too harsh toward women. A woman’s greatest fear was marrying the wrong man—unable to divorce, or even if she did, she would be scorned by society, pointed at behind her back. Many women endured misery for a lifetime. Even their own families often despised daughters who were divorced, believing such daughters brought shame upon them.

But what her son had said truly touched Zhao Ru’s heart.

In a few years, Xia’er would also have to marry. As a mother, Zhao Ru’s greatest fear was her daughter marrying poorly and being mistreated by her in-laws. Now that Xiao Ji had spoken so firmly, she felt reassured. Even if her daughter were wronged, she could still return home—at least her brother wouldn’t despise her.

Jiang Ji took a sip of water and continued, “Do you know? In the world of immortals, they all practice monogamy. Taking concubines is not allowed.”

Jiang Xia’s eyes widened. “Really? That’s amazing!”

“Yes,” Jiang Ji nodded. “Monogamy is written into their laws. Anyone who dares to take a concubine is breaking the law and will be punished.”

…The world of immortals?

Jiang Yan gave Jiang Ji a glance but didn’t interrupt him. Everything Jiang Ji said tonight was completely new to him—utterly fascinating.

Jiang Ji went on, “And not only monogamy. In that world, women and men have equal rights. Women can study, run businesses, and serve as officials. Anything a man can do, a woman can also do.”

Jiang Xia was shocked. “Women can be officials too?”

“Yes. Women can hold up half the sky. Some become teachers to educate others. Some love plants and open flower shops or work as gardeners. Some design buildings as architects. Some serve the people as officials. Some love making pastries and open their own shops… In short, there are countless professions, and women can be seen in every one of them.”

Jiang Xia’s eyes sparkled. “That really is the world of immortals! It sounds wonderful!”

“Mm. So, Xia’er,” Jiang Ji said, looking at his sister, “even though you’re a girl, our family doesn’t follow those outdated ‘three obediences and four virtues.’ You don’t have to stay confined in the women’s quarters. Whatever you want to learn, go learn it. Whatever you want to do, go do it. Your brother will support you.”

Jiang Xia nodded vigorously. “I want to be like Shopkeeper Sun.”

“Shopkeeper Sun?” Jiang Ji thought for a moment, then remembered—it was the woman who ran the clothing shop. “You want to be a shopkeeper, Xia’er?”

Jiang Xia’s cheeks flushed pink as she nodded. “Mm-hmm.”

“Then study hard. You’ll need to learn arithmetic, accounting, and management. When you’ve mastered them, once we open a cloth store, I’ll give you a shop of your own to manage.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“Brother, I’ll study really hard!”

Jiang Nan suddenly piped up, “Brother, I want to be a shopkeeper too!”

Jiang Ji looked at Jiang Nan, stroked his chin, and said, “It’s not impossible, but you’ll need the skills for it. You’ll have to study hard.”

“I am studying hard!” Jiang Nan said, holding up his hand. “See? I’ve written so much my hand’s gone black with ink!”

Jiang Ji nodded. “Good. Keep at it. Work harder, and you’ll become a shopkeeper someday.”

“Okay! I’ll go write more right now!” Jiang Nan jumped off the stool and went back to his homework.

Jiang Ji then turned to Jiang Bei. “Jiang Bei, what do you want to do in the future?”

Jiang Bei smiled softly, his lips curling up, and said in a small voice, “I want to be the top scholar.”

“What?” Jiang Ji rubbed his ear. “Speak up, I didn’t hear you.”

Jiang Bei clenched his fists and shouted, “I said—I want to be the top scholar!”

The whole family was stunned. Jiang Ji said, “Didn’t expect that—the one with the biggest dream in this family is Jiang Bei. Impressive.”

Everyone laughed and looked at Jiang Bei fondly.

Jiang Bei blushed with embarrassment. Jiang Ji patted his head encouragingly. “Go for it, Jiang Bei. You can do it. We all believe in you!”

Jiang Bei looked up at his brother, his little face serious. “I’ll study hard and bring home the top scholar title for our family!”

Jiang Ji nodded. “Good. I believe you. You can do it!”

Jiang Bei grinned widely, slid off his stool, and ran back to his small desk to continue writing.

Jiang Nan glanced at his twin brother and whispered, “Jiang Bei, are you stupid?”

Jiang Bei looked puzzled. “Why would I be stupid?”

“Our teacher hasn’t even become a top scholar,” Jiang Nan said. “Couldn’t you say you’ll become a scholar or something more realistic?”

“But I want to be the top scholar,” Jiang Bei insisted.

Jiang Nan sighed like a little old man. “Ugh, you little bookworm. You’ve only been studying for a few days, and you’re already bragging. Do you think becoming a top scholar is that easy? What if you don’t pass later, huh?”

Jiang Bei: “…I will be the top scholar! I definitely will!”

Jiang Nan nearly fainted from his little brother’s stubbornness. “Fine, fine, go ahead and take the exam then.”

The adults around the table all laughed warmly at the twins’ banter.

【Congratulations to the host for completing Special Tasks 122 and 164, and receiving the Intermediate Skill Learning Blueprint and the Advanced Skill Learning Blueprint, respectively.】

The voice of 2977 sounded in Jiang Ji’s mind. His eyes lit up—completed!

Doing science education tasks like this was really too easy. It seemed he could take on more of these and earn extra rewards.

After all, having more skills never hurt anyone.

…

The next day, Lord Chen sent word that he had arranged a warehouse for Jiang Ji on the outskirts of the city.

The following morning, Jiang Ji took Jiang Yan there to organize the seeds.

Pingnan County was the closest one to them. Previously, only about half the households there had managed to buy corn seed, and many others hadn’t been able to get any.

When they heard there were more seeds available, the county magistrate personally came with his men to buy some, taking away over half of the stock. Later, a second county came and bought up the rest.

Jiang Yan asked curiously, “Why didn’t you sell them before? Why suddenly sell enough for ten thousand mu now?”

“I didn’t have that much before when I went to their area. Now that I do, I might as well sell it,” Jiang Ji replied.

A few days later, the corn 50,000-mu milestone lit up, and Jiang Ji immediately claimed the reward—the blueprint for the threshing machine.

That evening, he took a blank sheet of paper and began to draw. Jiang Yan came over to look. “What’s this one?”

“A threshing machine—for processing rice.”

“Didn’t you already draw the paddy bed?”

Over the past few nights, Jiang Ji had been sketching several blueprints—paddy beds, winnowing machines, and other farm tools.

“This one’s even better. Once I finish drawing it, you’ll understand.”

Half an hour later, Jiang Ji put down his brush. “Done.”

Jiang Yan took the drawing, studied it, and his eyes gradually brightened. “This part here—it can spin, right?”

“Smart!” Jiang Ji said with a grin.

Zhao Ru and Jiang Xia also leaned in to look.

Jiang Ji smiled and explained, “This is called a foot-pedal threshing machine. You step on this pedal, which turns this wheel. The wheel drives the rollers inside to spin rapidly, and when you feed the rice in, it threshes the grains very quickly.”

Zhao Ru and Jiang Xia were still trying to picture how it moved, but Jiang Yan already understood. “Not bad. Are you planning to make and sell these?”

“I’ll definitely make one, but I don’t have enough time to build it myself. And I don’t completely trust working with others.”

Jiang Ji scratched his head and said, “I’m thinking of giving all these blueprints to Magistrate Xu. If he makes them public for free, it’ll count as a contribution to the people. If he partners with carpenters to produce them, they can be sold cheaply, which helps spread them faster to other places. In that case, we could take a small profit—say, ten or twenty percent. What do you think?”

Jiang Yan thought for a moment. “If you partner with others, you could ask for a higher share. Don’t you want to make money?”

Jiang Ji said, “These are farm tools—farmers don’t have much money to begin with. Look at this foot-pedal threshing machine—it’s probably only affordable for landlords. Ordinary villagers could only buy something simple like a paddy bed. Anyone with a bit of carpentry skill could even make one themselves.”

“We don’t need to squeeze money out of the farmers. They’re already too poor. Aside from selling them seeds, we won’t profit from them. I’ve got other ways to earn from the wealthy in town—their pockets are where the real profits are.”

Hearing that, Jiang Yan looked at him thoughtfully. If what he said was true, Jiang Ji was helping farmers make money while planning to profit from the rich—a clever balance.

“Alright, let’s do it your way,” Jiang Yan said.

…

The next day, Jiang Ji took his drawings to see Magistrate Xu and handed over all the blueprints he’d made over the past few days.

Coincidentally, Lord Chen was also there. Both men’s eyes lit up as they looked through the drawings.

Not only had Jiang Ji drawn the designs for multiple tools, but he had also detailed the construction process, measurements, and proportions.

Lord Chen asked in astonishment, “You came up with all of this yourself?”

Jiang Ji nodded, pointing to the papers. “Some of these are based on existing simple designs that I improved. This winnowing machine I also modified. This one here is called the Archimedean screw pump—it’s used for irrigation, to lift water from lower ground to higher ground. It should be buildable. And this, the foot-pedal threshing machine, is for harvesting rice—it can quickly remove grains from stalks. The structure’s a little complicated, but it works great. My lords, you could have carpenters try making them.”

Magistrate Xu nodded. “I’ll immediately summon the best carpenters in town.”

Lord Chen looked at Jiang Ji and asked, “You’re just giving us these blueprints? You don’t plan to make money from them?”

Jiang Ji smiled. “My lords, if you make them public and let everyone use them freely, I’ll count it as a contribution to the people. If you cooperate with craftsmen to sell them, I’ll take a twenty-percent share. As for how to use the designs, that’s for you to decide.”

Lord Chen and Magistrate Xu exchanged glances and smiled.

“Oh, right—one condition,” Jiang Ji added.

Magistrate Xu said, “Go on.”

Jiang Ji blinked. “If these machines are successfully built, gift me one winnowing machine, two foot-pedal threshers, and two water pumps. Our village has some high land that water can’t reach—we’ve been carrying buckets uphill, and it’s exhausting.”

Lord Chen immediately nodded. “Deal. You have my word.”

“Then, Lord Chen, Magistrate Xu, take your time studying how to use them. I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave.”

After leaving the county office, Jiang Ji went to the market, bought some meat and vegetables, and started heading home.

On the road, he chatted with his livestream audience.

【Why don’t you ask them to help you make the cotton gin and spinning machines too?】
【Doesn’t he not have the blueprints yet? He hasn’t drawn them.】
【He does, doesn’t he? They’re related to the cotton promotion tasks.】

Jiang Ji strolled leisurely, replying, “Even if I have the blueprints, I won’t give them away. Have you all forgotten? I’m planning to open a factory. The cotton gin, the improved spinning machine, and the loom—those are part of my core competitive edge. If I give them to Magistrate Xu now and they get spread around, I’ll lose my advantage. I’ll hold off for a couple of years. Once my factory is up and running and firmly established, we can talk about it again.”

【I thought you were really that selfless.】

【Hahaha, he already said it—he’s going to make money off the rich.】

【If you’re opening a textile factory, the machines alone aren’t the most important thing. The real core is making better-quality cloth!】

“I know. I already have the textile technology in my head. I’m just waiting for those three machines to be built.”

【What are those three machines related to?】

【You haven’t drawn the blueprints yet, right?】

“They’re tied to the cotton promotion tasks. I’ve already completed them, and I have the blueprints—I just haven’t drawn them out yet.”

【So the blueprints already exist, huh?】

【But if you ask someone else to build the cotton gin and all that, won’t the carpenter also learn how to make them? He’d definitely sell them to others.】

【Yeah, once the carpenter figures it out, he’ll definitely start selling them too.】

“I’ll make them myself.”

【You know carpentry?】

【He made that bamboo sprayer and the toilet trough, remember?】

【That was simple—barely counts as carpentry. I watched it once and could make it myself.】

Jiang Ji: “…I have a secret weapon.”

【What secret weapon?】

“Not telling you. You’ll find out later.”

【Ah, I get it! It must be a reward from one of those special tasks—like those learning blueprints, right?】

Jiang Ji: “…” You’ve got a good memory.

【I’m more curious about how you’re going to make money from the rich.】

【Yeah, how exactly are you planning to do that?】

“Not telling you yet.”

When he got home, he happened to run into Wu Er and the others delivering manure before heading back. Jiang Ji stopped them and renewed their manure delivery contract for another year.

…

After dinner that evening, Jiang Ji discussed plans with his family. “Once our new house is finished, we’ll still have about ten mu of empty land next to it. We won’t need it right away, so I’m thinking of planting fruit trees. We can also plant some in the yard. What fruits do you all want to eat?”

Jiang Nan raised his hand. “Watermelon!”

Jiang Ji flicked his forehead. “Watermelons go in the fields.”

Jiang Bei raised his hand. “Persimmons!”

Jiang Xia thought for a moment. “Oranges? Dates?”

Jiang Ji shook his head helplessly. They had eaten so few fruits in their lives—mostly wild ones from the mountains—so he decided to redeem some fruits from the system.

He exchanged for small baskets of grapes, peaches, apples, pears, oranges, loquats, pomelos, kiwis, and lychees.

“Try them all. Tell me which ones you like best—we’ll try planting those. But you’ll have to wait at least two or three years before we can eat them.”

The whole family was dazzled by the colorful table of fruit and started tasting them eagerly.

“Xiao Ji, what’s this one?” “Grapes.”

“This peach is delicious—it’s so sweet.” “That’s a honey peach.”

“Brother, what’s this? It’s good.” “Kiwi. But I think it’s better suited for growing on the mountain.”

Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei kept asking nonstop, and Jiang Ji answered between bites. He glanced over and saw Jiang Yan eating quietly, brows slightly furrowed.

“What’s wrong? You don’t like it?”

“No, it’s good,” Jiang Yan said, shaking his head. He swallowed a grape and spat out the seed. “It’s just… I feel like I’ve eaten these grapes before. And these lychees too—they seem familiar.”

Zhao Ru’s eyes widened. “Your family must be a rich household then. Only the wealthy can afford such fruits.”

Jiang Ji gave Jiang Yan a look but shook his head. “Not just rich households. Lychees, for instance—you can’t buy them here, even if you have money.”

“That’s true. I’ve never even seen anything called ‘lychee’ in the market,” Zhao Ru said.

Jiang Yan looked at Jiang Ji. “What do you mean?”

Jiang Ji explained, “Lychees come from the southern regions. Down there, they’re not that expensive—anyone with money can eat them. But they spoil quickly, within just a few days after being picked. That’s why you can’t find them around here.”

He glanced at Jiang Yan and continued, “If someone could eat them here, they must have been specially transported in ice. That kind is usually a tribute to the imperial court.”

Zhao Ru and Jiang Xia were stunned. Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei didn’t quite understand. Jiang Bei asked curiously, “Big brother, what’s a ‘tribute’? Is it the stuff we offer when we worship our ancestors?”

“Not that kind of ‘offering.’ This ‘tribute’ means things that are especially rare or valuable in certain places—offered to the royal family. The emperor eats them himself or gives them as rewards to his officials.”

Jiang Nan looked half-comprehending. “So if we grow them ourselves, would that make them tributes too? Would we have to send them to the emperor? Then we wouldn’t get to eat any!”

“No, the ones we grow are ours to eat.”

“Brother, then let’s plant some! I like the lychees.”

“Alright, we’ll plant them. But they take years to bear fruit—you might be grown up by the time we can eat them.”

“Then I’ll wait till they grow up.”

After chatting with Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei for a while, Jiang Ji glanced at Jiang Yan, who still hadn’t said anything, but didn’t press further.

In the end, the whole family agreed—they liked them all, so they’d plant them all.

Jiang Ji smiled. “Good. We’ve got plenty of space anyway, and we can put a few trees in the yard too. Tomorrow we’ll start sowing and growing the seedlings. Whether they bear fruit or not, we’ll see in time.”

Once everything was decided and everyone was full, Zhao Ru gathered the remaining fruit. Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei finished their homework, bathed, and went to bed.

Later, Jiang Ji saw Jiang Yan sitting alone in the courtyard, staring at the sky in thought. He grabbed a small stool and sat beside him.

“What are you thinking about?”

Jiang Yan turned and looked at him. “About what you just said.”

Jiang Ji was curious. “Tell me—what exactly does your family do? Are they officials?”

Jiang Yan looked at him and shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Then… is it possible you’re from the south?” Jiang Ji guessed.

Jiang Yan asked, “Are there grapes in the south?”

“There should be.”

Jiang Yan continued, “But when I eat sweet potatoes or corn, I don’t feel that sense of familiarity. If I were from the south, I should’ve eaten sweet potatoes and corn before, right?”

Jiang Ji had once said that sweet potatoes and corn were transported from the south.

“Uh, well,” Jiang Ji rubbed his nose, “Jiang Yan, actually, sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes—they didn’t come from the southern parts of our country. Our country doesn’t naturally have these three crops.”

Jiang Yan frowned. “What do you mean?”

Jiang Ji looked at him and said seriously, “Sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes all came from foreign countries.”

“Foreign countries?” Jiang Yan’s eyes widened slightly. “You mean, other nations?”

“Yes.”

Jiang Yan thought for a moment. “Do you mean the countries even further south than ours?”

“No.”

“Then where?” Jiang Yan was completely puzzled.

Jiang Ji leaned in and whispered, “It has to do with my secret. Anyway, these crops don’t come from our country, but not just from the nations south of us either. Just know they’re foreign foods—the exact place doesn’t matter.”

Jiang Yan: “…”

After a moment of silence, he nodded. “Alright, I understand.”

Jiang Ji nodded approvingly—this was one thing he liked about Jiang Yan. Then he patted his shoulder. “Jiang Yan, if you ever get rich and powerful, don’t forget about me.”

Jiang Yan: “…”

He gave a faint, amused look. “You might already be richer than my family. Officials probably don’t make money as fast as you do.”

Jiang Ji blinked and grinned. “That’s not how it works. In this society, no amount of money beats being an official. Anyway, if you ever regain your memory, whatever your background is, it’s definitely better than mine. You’ll have to look out for me then.”

Jiang Yan smiled and nodded. “Alright.”

They exchanged a quiet laugh.

After chatting for a while, Jiang Yan looked up at the moon. “What if I never remember anything for the rest of my life?”

“Then just stay with my family for the rest of your life.”

Jiang Yan turned to look at Jiang Ji, his calm gaze carrying a subtle ripple.

Jiang Ji met his eyes and raised a brow. “What, you don’t want to?”

Jiang Yan shook his head softly. “No. I’d like that.”

Their eyes met under the nearly full moon. The silver light poured down like water, illuminating their faces so clearly that each could see the other’s expression in detail.

For a brief moment, time seemed to stop—only the gentle moonlight surrounded them.

Jiang Ji was the first to look away. He blinked, stood up, and said, “It’s late. Go wash up and sleep.”

“Alright. You go first.”

Watching Jiang Ji’s figure disappear into the kitchen, Jiang Yan lowered his gaze, took out the jade pendant from his robe, stared at it for a long while, and then finally stood up and went back inside.

🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾