Author Archives: Thandar

Ch 37: The Regent’s Farmer Husband

After lunch, the villagers all gathered at Jiang Ji’s house to watch them cut the potatoes.

In the courtyard, Jiang Ji set up a wooden board, placing a pile of potatoes on one side and an empty basket on the other. As he sliced the potatoes, he put each finished piece into the basket. Zhao Ru and Jiang Yan then took the potato chunks, dipped them in wood ash, and laid them under the eaves to dry.

“Just like this—it’s simple,” Jiang Ji explained as he worked. “Make sure each piece has a sprout eye, and don’t cut them too small. Two to three pieces per potato is ideal.”

“It’s really that easy?” one villager asked.

Jiang Ji nodded. “Yes, that’s all there is to it. Don’t stack them too high when you pile them up, or the ones at the bottom won’t sprout properly. Once they start sprouting, leave them in the sun for another two days, and then they’ll be ready for planting. Make sure your fields are prepared beforehand.”

“Alright, alright, we’re already drying the soil—then we’ll build the ridges.”

Jiang Ji reminded them, “I told you before—sprouted potatoes are poisonous, you can’t eat them. They’ve all started sprouting now, so don’t eat any.”

“Who’d eat them now? We’re all saving them for planting.”

“Yeah, if we eat them, we’ll have nothing to plant. No one’s touching the seed potatoes. I’ll go home and start cutting mine too.”

That afternoon, every household in the village began cutting their potatoes, keeping pace with Jiang Ji’s family.

The Jiang family was planting two mu of potatoes and needed several baskets’ worth of seed pieces, but the three of them finished their work quickly.

Afterward, Zhao Ru led the cow out and went with Jiang Ji to turn compost again, while Jiang Yan stayed home to continue copying manuscripts.

Jiang Ji had gotten into the habit of writing every evening. He had already filled two notebooks. Writing with a brush was slow, so Jiang Yan couldn’t keep up. And sometimes, Jiang Ji’s handwriting was so cursive that Jiang Yan couldn’t read it; he’d just leave those spots blank and wait for Jiang Ji to come back so he could ask.

…

After dinner, two tables—one big and one small—were lit with tung oil lamps in the main hall.

At the large table, Jiang Ji was writing about planting methods. There were so many types of vegetables and fruits that he wanted to record all their growing techniques.

Jiang Yan was copying the notes, and Jiang Xia was doing her homework and practicing calligraphy.

At the small table sat Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei, each on one side, working on their schoolwork. Zhao Ru sat beside them with her sewing basket, making undergarments.

The tailor shop’s Shopkeeper Sun had just returned from the prefectural city and told Zhao Ru and Aunt Xiufang to keep supplying them with clothes. So, Zhao Ru and Aunt Xiufang worked whenever they had time, and even Jiang Xia helped after finishing her studies. They had managed to earn quite a bit of silver that way.

Everyone in the family was busy with their own work, chatting occasionally. The warm yellow lamplight swayed gently, filling the room with quiet comfort and contentment.

…

The next day, Steward Lin Fu from the Lin household came by to say that the manor was ready.

Jiang Ji immediately went with Jiang Yan to inspect it.

The manor was located between their home and the county town—less than half an hour’s walk away. They arrived quickly.

At the gate, a man of about fifty was waiting. When he saw Lin Fu, he opened the door and handed over the key.

Jiang Ji looked around. The manor was surrounded by farmland, with only one road leading in and out. It was the only estate in the area, and the nearest village was about two li away.

Being far from the other villages made Jiang Ji very satisfied.

“This is the place,” Lin Fu said, leading them inside. “We’ve already had all the rooms cleaned and prepared.”

The manor was large—right past the entrance was a wide courtyard, and the living quarters were further in the back.

“Wow, it’s so spacious,” Jiang Ji couldn’t help but exclaim.

Lin Fu smiled. “This manor used to house the workers who managed the Lin family’s farmland. This open space here is the drying yard—we spread the rice out here during harvest season.”

“All those fields outside belong to your estate?” Jiang Ji asked.

“That’s right.”

No wonder there were no other houses around.

The three crossed the drying yard, and Lin Fu showed them around. “This is the main hall. Since you’ll be storing seeds here, I had them clear the space completely—just left a few tables and benches.”

Jiang Ji looked around. Only a few sets of tables and chairs remained in the center, and both sides were cleared out. He smiled brightly. “Perfect! Steward Lin, you really thought of everything.”

Flattered, Lin Fu smiled. “The side rooms have all been emptied. Two of them still have bedding—you can stay overnight here if you need to. This one over here holds all the blankets; if you need any, just take them. And there are two storerooms in the back—I’ll show you.”

“Alright, thank you.”

The side rooms had belonged to the manor’s workers, now tidied up. The two storerooms in the back were also quite large.

“These storerooms used to hold grain,” Lin Fu explained. “There was still some left, but our master was afraid you wouldn’t have enough space, so he had it moved out overnight.”

“Please thank Master Lin on my behalf,” Jiang Ji said sincerely. “Once everything’s settled, I’ll visit personally to express my gratitude.”

“Brother Jiang Ji, no need to be so polite. My master is glad to be of help.”

Lin Fu then led them to the back courtyard. “Here’s the kitchen. Since you’ll be staying for several days, you can cook for yourselves. There’s firewood in that shed—you’re welcome to use it.”

“That’s great, thank you, Steward Lin.”

After the full inspection, Jiang Ji was very pleased. He looked over at Jiang Yan, who nodded in agreement.

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Ji said, “Steward Lin, could you ask that older gentleman from earlier to guard the place for one more day? We’ll come tomorrow morning.”

“Of course,” Lin Fu replied. “I’ll tell him to hand you the key directly. The gate’s a bit far from the main hall—do you want him to stay and keep watch?”

“No need. The magistrate will be sending someone to help guard.”

“Alright then.”

After settling the details, Jiang Ji and Jiang Yan returned home.

The next morning, after breakfast, they packed two sets of clothes, their washing items, and Jiang Yan brought his brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. Then they moved into the manor.

Zhao Ru worried about their meals. “Should I bring food to you?”

“No need, Mother, it’s too far. Three meals a day would be too much trouble for you.” Jiang Ji patted his chest confidently. “I can cook. We won’t starve. It’s just for two days—come visit after that.”

Zhao Ru still packed them some vegetables and rice, which Jiang Ji carried on his back.

Halfway there, Jiang Yan suddenly spoke quietly. “Someone’s following us. Don’t stop—keep walking.”

Jiang Ji stiffened but didn’t slow down. Covering his mouth with one hand, he whispered, “How many?”

“One.”

“One?” Jiang Ji’s eyes lit up. “Should we capture him?”

“Don’t you want to know who he’s with?” Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow.

Jiang Ji grinned. “If we catch him and question him, won’t we find out?”

Jiang Yan said flatly, “…What if he lies?”

“…” Jiang Ji had to admit that was possible. “Then what do you plan to do?”

“We’ll head there first,” Jiang Yan said. “In the afternoon, you’ll go out toward town. He’ll probably follow you. Once you’re in town, wander near an inn or teahouse, then lose him. I’ll trail him afterward and see which house he reports to.”

Jiang Ji looked at him with admiration. This “white-cut-black” man really was calculating beneath the calm. His eyes lit up. “Alright, let’s do it that way.”

When they reached the manor, the gatekeeper handed Jiang Ji the key and left.

Everyone in the village knew the two would be gone for a couple of days—they’d said they were going to meet traders to arrange seed distribution.

In truth, they had nothing of the sort to do. They sat face-to-face in the main hall of the manor, continuing to write planting instructions.

Around noon, Jiang Yan looked up. “It’s midday.”

“Hm? You hungry?” Jiang Ji glanced outside at the sun and set his brush down. “Then let’s make lunch.”

As they walked toward the kitchen, Jiang Yan asked, “Do you even know how to cook?”

“Of course,” Jiang Ji said confidently. “Cooking’s easy.”

Jiang Yan gave him a look. “I’ve never seen you cook at home.”

“Uh…” Jiang Ji hesitated. “I probably can… I think.”

Jiang Yan stopped walking. “You can’t cook?”

Jiang Ji stopped too. “I’ll figure it out! Come on, you won’t starve.”

“…Alright.”

In the kitchen, Jiang Ji rinsed the rice and lit the fire. “Watch the fire, don’t let it go out.”

“I know.”

Jiang Ji took out the salt, oil, and other seasonings he’d brought, plus a piece of pork Zhao Ru had packed. He thought for a moment. “Let’s make braised pork with potatoes. Should be simple—I saw Mother make it before. Just fry the meat first, then add the potatoes and stew them together.”

“Fine, as long as it’s edible,” Jiang Yan said. Seeing the fire burn steadily, he went over to wash the vegetables.

Jiang Ji raised an eyebrow, washing the meat. “Don’t underestimate me. I’ve never cooked, but I’ve watched.”

“Mm, I know.” Jiang Yan peeled the potatoes while speaking. “Be careful not to cut yourself.”

“Got it.” Jiang Ji tilted his head to glance at him. Jiang Yan’s movements were smooth and precise, the potato skins coming off in thin, perfect curls. “Jiang Yan, you handle a kitchen knife pretty well. Don’t tell me you’ve cooked before?”

Jiang Yan paused, staring down at the kitchen knife in his hand with a hint of confusion. “Maybe I did.”

“I’ve always found you kind of contradictory,” Jiang Ji said, studying him. “Look at you—you’ve got the air of a young master from some wealthy family, all scholarly and refined, yet you know how to handle a kitchen knife? And your body—come on, eight-pack abs?” He clicked his tongue in amazement. “That’s not something an ordinary scholar gets from reading books.”

Jiang Yan glanced at him. “Abs?”

“Yeah, abdominal muscles—you’ve got eight of them, don’t you?”

Jiang Yan hesitated for a moment. “So you’ve been looking at that.”

“Of course! When I was checking your injuries, I couldn’t exactly not see it.” Jiang Ji finished slicing the meat and put it into a bowl. “Anyway, your build doesn’t look like a scholar’s. Maybe you practiced martial arts before.”

“The potatoes are ready,” Jiang Yan said as he peeled two, washed them, and put them in a bowl. “It’s possible I did.”

Jiang Ji froze and turned to him. “How do you know?”

“After my wounds healed, my body felt light and strong,” Jiang Yan said slowly. “There’s a sort of energy inside—like a force running through me.”

Jiang Ji’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Wow, is it internal energy?”

Jiang Yan shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t remember, and I don’t know how to use it.”

“Oh, that’s a shame.” Jiang Ji blinked, then nudged his arm playfully. “Don’t worry, you’ll remember eventually.”

“Mm.” Jiang Yan took a cabbage from the basket and began washing it.

Once the ingredients were ready, Jiang Ji tried to recall what he’d seen his mother do and began cooking. Jiang Yan tended the fire.

The wok heated up; Jiang Ji poured in some oil. When it was hot enough, he tossed in the meat to fry until it released some fat, then added slices of ginger to stir-fry.

“Should I add water and stew it now?” Jiang Ji muttered to himself, staring into the pot.

“Go ahead,” Jiang Yan replied.

“Yeah, as long as it’s cooked, that’s all that matters.” Jiang Ji poured in two bowls of water and tossed in a star anise. “Let it simmer for a bit, then add the potatoes.”

After adding the potatoes, he felt there wasn’t enough liquid, so he poured in a bit more water, covered the pot, and let it stew.

“Did you add salt?” Jiang Yan asked after a while.

Jiang Ji blinked. “Ah! I knew I was forgetting something.”

He lifted the lid, added two spoonfuls of salt and a bit of soy sauce, then covered it again. After a short wait, he uncovered the pot, peered inside, and said, “Should be done now, right?”

“Try it.”

Jiang Ji picked up a piece of potato with his chopsticks and tasted it. “Potatoes are cooked.”

“And the meat?”

“After simmering this long? It must be cooked too. The broth’s almost gone—it’s done.”

He dished out the braised potatoes and pork, then stir-fried the cabbage.

“All done—time to eat!” Jiang Ji said happily, looking at the two dishes on the table, one meat and one vegetable. “See? I told you I wouldn’t let you go hungry. Look at that—not burnt, and fully cooked!”

Jiang Yan picked up a piece of meat and tasted it. Jiang Ji watched eagerly. “How’s it taste?”

Jiang Yan looked at him, chewed, swallowed, and said, “Not bad.”

Jiang Ji’s face brightened, and he took a bite himself. After just two chews, his brows furrowed. “Why’s the meat so tough? It’s been stewing forever—my mother’s never turns out like this.”

“No idea. Ask her when we’re back,” Jiang Yan said calmly, eating without even a frown. “The potatoes are good, though.”

Jiang Ji glanced at him and smirked. “Looks like I really need to learn proper cooking skills.”

In the system’s mission list, there was a cooking skill—and special tasks related to it. Jiang Ji decided then and there to unlock it. He couldn’t let his stomach suffer like this again.

After the meal, they cleaned up and went out according to plan.

Jiang Ji headed toward town alone. Not long after he left the manor, Jiang Yan noticed a man in gray slip out from the bushes and follow him—keeping neither too close nor too far. Jiang Yan quietly trailed behind them.

Jiang Ji trusted Jiang Yan completely and didn’t look back. When he reached the tea house on East Main Street, he quickened his pace, slipped inside through the front door, then exited through the back, zigzagging through alleys until he lost the follower.

By evening, he was back at the manor, cooking while waiting for Jiang Yan’s return.

Jiang Yan didn’t come back until nightfall. As soon as he walked in, Jiang Ji hurried over. “Well? Was it Master Zhang’s people?”

Jiang Yan took a sip of water. “No. That man was from the Sun household.”

“The Sun family?” Jiang Ji blinked, picturing the older Master Sun in his fifties. “Them? Aren’t they in the jewelry trade?”

“Yes. I saw him go through the Sun family’s gate,” Jiang Yan said, frowning slightly. “But when I got back, I noticed another person watching the manor.”

“The same one?”

“No. Different build. Probably another man—hiding behind the tree outside. Must’ve followed you back.”

Jiang Ji frowned. “…Who cares whose family he’s from. Let’s eat first, then go out and teach them a lesson.”

“Alright.”

“Think there might be more than one?”

“Then we’ll clear them all out.”

After dinner, both grabbed wooden sticks and went out the back door, circling around to the front. Sure enough, there were two men—one crouching in the grass, and another behind a tree on the other side of the gate.

They exchanged a look and divided the work—one each.

Jiang Ji took the one in the grass. When he saw Jiang Yan quietly circle behind the one near the tree, he rushed forward and whacked the man in the grass with his stick.

“Ah! Who’s there?!” the man yelped, springing up in shock.

Almost at the same moment, another cry came from the tree. “Who hit me?!”

Both spies froze in confusion—had they been discovered?

They turned to flee, but Jiang Ji and Jiang Yan had no intention of letting them escape.

Jiang Ji had learned some martial arts in his past life, and Jiang Yan moved with remarkable agility. Like catching petty thieves, the two quickly subdued the spies and beat them until they were rolling on the ground.

Before long, both men were captured, tied up, and dragged into the main hall.

The two lookouts glanced at each other—stunned that they’d been caught so easily.

Jiang Yan’s voice was cold. “So you know each other? Perfect. Then tell me—who sent you?”

Jiang Ji stayed silent, letting Jiang Yan take charge. He was far better at interrogations than he was.

The two spies said nothing.

“No answer?”

Without another word, Jiang Yan grabbed one of the men by the collar and dragged him into the next room. Moments later, a piercing scream echoed through the wall.

The man still in the hall flinched in terror. “Y-you’re using torture! That’s against the law!”

Jiang Ji smiled pleasantly. “Well, there’s no one around to see. The nearest village is two li away. If you both disappeared here today… no one would ever know.”

“D-disappeared?” The man trembled. “K-killing is a crime!”

Jiang Ji crouched down in front of him. “We can let you go. You just have to tell us who you are and who sent you.”

The man’s eyes darted back and forth before he stammered, “I—I’m from the Lin household. My master sent me. I can go now, right?”

Jiang Ji smiled. “Oh? And what about the one next door? Whose man is he?”

“You said you’d let me go!”

“I will,” Jiang Ji said softly. He leaned closer, lowering his voice. “Listen, brother, think about it. We caught you sneaking around—if you go back like this, how are you going to explain yourself to your master?”

“Uh…”

“So here’s your chance to make up for it. You’ve been caught, sure—but the other guy’s been caught too. If someone from another house takes the fall, your master will be pleased, right? He’ll think you helped expose a rival’s spy. Maybe he’ll even forgive you this time. Don’t you think so?”

“Ah—!” Another scream came from the next room.

The man’s whole body jerked at the sound. Shaking, he finally said, “He—he’s from the Tian household.”

“The Tian family?”

“Yes, he’s the cook’s son. I’ve seen him before.”

“Ah!”

Another shriek followed from the other room. The sound was enough to make one’s skin crawl. Trembling, the man pleaded, “I’m telling the truth! You said you’d let me go!”

“I will.” Jiang Ji untied the ropes around his wrists. The man hurried to free his own legs and bolted out as fast as he could.

Then Jiang Ji walked into the other room.

Inside, he saw Jiang Yan standing with one boot pressing down on the other spy’s back. Jiang Yan tilted his chin toward him. “See that? The other one left. You know why he got to walk out?”

“Because,” Jiang Ji crouched beside the man, “he gave you up.”

The man on the ground froze, his pupils shrinking. Then Jiang Ji said, “You’re the Tian cook’s son, aren’t you?”

“Bastards!” the man roared, eyes wide. He hadn’t expected this kind of interrogation—they hadn’t asked him who he was, but who the other one was.

Since they were from different households, why should he suffer for someone else’s sake?

Jiang Ji grinned. That reaction said everything—it was true.

“Your turn,” he said smoothly. “He’s already given you up. No point keeping his secret. Tell us who he is, and you can go too.”

The man squeezed his eyes shut and muttered, “He’s from the Zhang household—the steward’s youngest son. His name’s Zhang Gui.”

“Good. You can go.”

Jiang Yan lifted his boot and untied the ropes. The man limped out but ran off as fast as he could.

Jiang Ji went to close the courtyard gate, clapped his hands, and said cheerfully, “All done!”

🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾

Ch 36: The Regent’s Farmer Husband

When Jiang Ji and Jiang Yan got home, it was already near dusk. Zhao Ru had gone out to graze the cattle, so only the two of them were there.

Jiang Yan noticed that Jiang Ji was walking a little awkwardly and asked, “Do we have any ointment for bruises at home?”

“No,” Jiang Ji shook his head.

“Then I’ll go find a doctor and ask for something to put on it.”

“Hey, hey, no need.” Jiang Ji grabbed his arm. “It’s not that bad. For the first day you ice it, then apply heat tomorrow. It’ll heal in a few days.”

Jiang Yan frowned. “Ice it?”

“Yeah, ice it.” Jiang Ji went into the kitchen for a drink of water, took his washcloth, and walked to the front hall. “Jiang Yan, bring the long bench out for me. I’m going to sit by the door and get some sun.”

Jiang Yan quickly carried out the long bench. When he came back out, Jiang Ji’s towel was already wrapped around something, damp and leaving wet marks.

It was ice — actual ice, something that had never existed in their house before.

Jiang Yan: …

He didn’t ask further. He placed the long bench behind Jiang Ji. Jiang Ji sat down under the eaves, stretched out his legs, rolled up his pant cuffs, and revealed two clear bruises on his knees, each about the size of an egg.

Jiang Ji put his left leg up on the bench and pressed the ice onto his left knee.

“Hiss—” Jiang Ji shivered at the cold and muttered, “Still a bit chilly.”

Jiang Yan frowned as he watched. “You’re sure you’re supposed to ice it?”

“Mm. For fresh bruises, you ice first to keep it from spreading. Heals faster that way,” Jiang Ji explained, seeing Jiang Yan’s skepticism. “That’s what the doctor says.”

When he was in school before, he’d been very active and often bumped into things — he already had experience with this.

Jiang Yan brought over another small stool, sat beside him, and took the towel from his hand. “Let me do it.”

Jiang Ji wanted to finish quickly. “Then why don’t you grab another long bench and my face towel too? I’ll ice both legs at once — faster that way.”

Jiang Yan went to fetch the bench and towel. While he was in the kitchen, Jiang Ji quietly produced another large block of ice.

Jiang Yan looked at the neatly cut, square ice blocks sitting on the bench, each about the size of a fist. “…”

So he really wasn’t even trying to hide it anymore. Jiang Yan gave Jiang Ji a look and handed him the towel.

Jiang Ji wrapped the ice and placed his right leg on the other bench, icing it too.

“How long should you do it?” Jiang Yan asked, holding the ice on the left knee.

“Twenty—uh, about one to two quarters of an hour,” Jiang Ji said, almost biting his tongue. He still wasn’t used to the ancient way of telling time and always had to translate it in his head.

Jiang Yan looked at his knees, then pressed a finger against one of the bruises.

“Hiss—” Jiang Ji’s eyes widened. “What are you doing?”

“Does it hurt a lot?” Jiang Yan frowned. “You sure you didn’t hurt the bone?”

Jiang Ji shook his head. “Didn’t hit the bone. Doesn’t hurt that bad, just kind of sore and swollen. Don’t poke it again.”

“Okay,” Jiang Yan said.

“Move the ice around a bit,” Jiang Ji reminded. “You’ve got to cover the whole area.”

Following his instructions, Jiang Yan shifted the ice now and then and used the dry end of the towel to wipe away the moisture on Jiang Ji’s legs. “That Zhang merchant—you’ll need to be careful around him.”

Jiang Ji nodded. “Yeah, I think he’s figured out that we plan to start a weaving workshop. We avoided it today, but that might only make him more suspicious.”

“What do you plan to do?” Jiang Yan asked.

“I don’t know. We’ve got no background, no power like his family, and no experience. If he wants to make trouble, we definitely can’t win.” Jiang Ji thought for a moment. “The only things we can rely on are our seeds—and Magistrate Xu. Magistrate Xu said he’s already submitted a memorial, right? That has to go up level by level, doesn’t it?”

Jiang Yan shook his head. “I don’t remember exactly, but probably.”

“I just don’t know what kind of people the prefect and governor are,” Jiang Ji said worriedly. “If they’re corrupt, then we’ll still have problems. I forgot to ask Magistrate Xu about that today.”

“Didn’t you promise to deliver sweet potatoes to the other three families tomorrow? Ask him again when you see him.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that.”

Jiang Yan added, “Send another sack to the Lin household too.”

Jiang Ji looked up at him.

Jiang Yan reminded him, “The adviser said the Zhangs and Lins don’t get along.”

“Right, he did.” Jiang Ji paused, then his eyes lit up. “You mean…?”

Jiang Ji nodded. “Since they’re rivals, they’ll definitely keep watch on each other. As the saying goes, the one who knows you best is often your opponent. Both families live in town, so their news is definitely better than ours. If we build good relations with the Lins, maybe they’ll help us if the Zhangs try anything. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

“Jiang Yan, you’re too smart!” Jiang Ji’s eyes shone as he smacked Jiang Yan on the shoulder. “You’re a white-cut-black!”

Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow. “A what?”

“Hehe, means you look innocent but you’re actually clever,” Jiang Ji said, trying to brush it off.

Jiang Yan’s brow arched slightly. “…Doesn’t sound like a compliment.”

“No, no, it means you’re smart,” Jiang Ji rubbed his nose and changed the subject. “By the way, does it still hurt where you got hit earlier?”

Jiang Yan: “…”

When he didn’t answer, Jiang Ji frowned and tilted his head. “It’s not still hurting, right? Don’t tell me you’ve got a bruise too. Want to check in the room? If it’s bruised, you should ice it too.”

Jiang Yan looked at him silently.

Jiang Ji felt uneasy under his gaze. “What?”

Jiang Yan said calmly, “It doesn’t hurt anymore. Don’t worry.”

“Oh, that’s good.” Jiang Ji patted his chest in relief. “As long as it still works, that’s what matters.”

Jiang Yan: “…”

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Jiang Ji saw Jiang Yan’s speechless expression and said, “That part’s very important for a man, you know. If it stopped working, wouldn’t that make me a sinner?”

Jiang Yan: …

“And besides,” Jiang Ji went on, his imagination already running wild, “what if you’re not married yet, haven’t had kids, and you’re the only son in your family? Wouldn’t I be cutting off your family line? Your whole family would come after me!”

Seeing him getting more and more ridiculous, Jiang Yan asked evenly, “And if that really happened, what would you do?”

Jiang Ji sighed. “What else could I do? Cut mine off and give it to you?”

Jiang Yan: …

“Hahaha, kidding! You’re fine, aren’t you?” Jiang Ji slapped his shoulder, sighing in relief. “Good thing you’re okay—and still usable.”

Jiang Yan glanced at him, then lowered his eyes and poked his bruised knee.

“Ah!” Jiang Ji yelped, clutching his knee and staring at Jiang Yan in disbelief. “What was that for?”

Jiang Yan looked up, his face expressionless. “Accident.”

“Yeah, right! You did that on purpose! Petty bastard!”

“Mm. I’m petty. So be careful.” Without even moving his eyebrows, Jiang Yan poked the bruise again.

“Ah! Damn it! You—” Jiang Ji almost jumped up, glaring and pulling his leg back. “Forget it, forget it! I can do it myself.”

Jiang Yan pressed down on his calf with one hand, his thumb firm and clearly threatening. He looked up at him and said quietly, “Don’t move. I told you—I’m very petty.”

“…You even admit it with such a straight face,” Jiang Ji complained inwardly, but obediently apologized out loud. “Brother, I was wrong.”

Jiang Yan’s voice was cool. “What were you wrong about?”

“…I shouldn’t have said you can’t… Ow ow ow! Don’t poke, it hurts!”

Jiang Yan’s thumb pressed against the bruise, rubbing slightly. “Who can’t?”

“I can’t, I can’t!” Jiang Ji’s eyes were watering; the ache and pressure were unbearable. “Brother, you can! You’re the best—pillar of heaven, three days and nights without rest!”

Jiang Yan frowned. “What nonsense are you spouting?”

“No nonsense, I’m complimenting you.”

A faint smile flickered in Jiang Yan’s eyes as he eased up, finally sparing the pitiful man.

Jiang Ji came back to life, muttering under his breath, “Say you can’t, you get mad. Say you can, still not okay. So hard to please.”

Jiang Yan shot him a glance but ignored the muttering. He put his palm on Jiang Ji’s knee. “Feels like it’d get better if I rubbed it out.”

“Stop, stop!” Jiang Ji quickly grabbed his hand to stop him. “Brother—Yan, my good brother—please don’t rub it! You can only do that tomorrow night.”

Jiang Yan’s left hand slid down to hold his calf while the right hand pressed the ice on again. He looked at him and said in a low tone, “Say it again.”

“Huh? Say what?” Jiang Ji looked up, puzzled.

The sun was setting, bathing Jiang Ji in orange light. The glow painted his face with soft gold warmth. His eyes glistened faintly with moisture, reflecting light like glass—fragile yet resilient, vivid and alive.

In that shimmer, Jiang Yan thought he saw his own reflection. He lowered his gaze and asked, “What did you just call me?”

“Just now?” Jiang Ji frowned, thinking. “Brother? Or Yan, or Brother Yan?”

Jiang Yan’s lips curved slightly. “Mm. Keep calling me that from now on.”

Jiang Ji: “…”

It wasn’t a big deal to call him brother—Jiang Yan was indeed older—but something about it felt off.

He looked down at Jiang Yan’s faintly curved mouth corners.

Huh?

Jiang Ji looked intrigued, as if discovering a new continent. “You actually like it when I call you ge (brother)?”

He’d always just called him Jiang Yan before.

“I am older than you,” Jiang Yan said calmly, lifting his gaze. “Shouldn’t you call me brother?”

Jiang Ji: “…”

He blinked and studied Jiang Yan’s face for a while—so long that Jiang Yan looked away first.

Jiang Ji tilted his head, the corners of his mouth lifting. “Brother?” he called softly.

“Mm.” The reply was quiet, but his lips were smiling.

Jiang Ji’s eyes curved with amusement; he opened his mouth again. “Brother Yan?”

“Hm?” Jiang Yan looked up—right into a pair of bright, laughing eyes.

“Hahaha! You really do like it when people call you brother!” Jiang Ji laughed aloud, finding it unbelievable.

This stoic, stone-faced Jiang Yan actually had such a quirk.

Jiang Yan: …

He reached out and poked Jiang Ji’s knee again.

“Ahhh—!” Jiang Ji screamed like a slaughtered pig. “Ow ow ow! Brother! Brother Yan! Stop poking!”

Jiang Yan stopped and asked calmly, “It’s been about a quarter of an hour. Do you still need to keep icing?”

“So petty,” Jiang Ji grumbled.

“Hmm?”

“No no, nothing! Let’s ice a bit longer.”

“Mm.” Jiang Yan continued to hold the ice in place. “Tomorrow I’ll deliver the sweet potatoes. You stay home and rest.”

“It’s fine, it doesn’t hurt that much. I’ll come too—we still need to see the magistrate, and I want to hear what he says.”

Jiang Yan gave him a look. “What if that Merchant Zhang questions you again?”

“We’ll drop off the sweet potatoes and leave right away. Won’t see him.”

“Alright.”

Thinking about the Zhang and Lin families, Jiang Ji said, “Hey, do you think we should give the Lin family a bit more benefit?”

Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”

“Like… give them a different new seed? Vegetable seeds, just for them. What do you think?”

Jiang Yan thought for a moment. “Not a good idea.”

Jiang Ji asked, “What do you mean?”

Jiang Yan explained, “We met with four families yesterday. If you only give the Lin household something, that’ll be too obvious. The other three will definitely have opinions about it. We don’t expect Master Zhang’s family to be kind, but there’s no need to make the others unhappy and offend them. We still don’t know how the Zhangs will act. Before they actually make a move against us, it’s best to stay on good terms with all four families.”

“That makes sense.” Jiang Ji nodded, then frowned in thought. “But how do we build a good relationship with the Lins? They did lend us their manor. We should repay that somehow.”

“Oh, that actually gives us a perfect excuse.” Jiang Yan looked at him. “We can give them some vegetable seeds, but not too much—just enough for one mu of land. We’ll call it a thank-you gift for letting us use their place.”

“Alright. Let me think about what kind.” Jiang Ji thought for a moment. “Lettuce, maybe. We’ll grow some, and let them grow some too.”

Just then, Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei came home from school and stared wide-eyed at Jiang Ji’s knees.

Jiang Nan asked, “Brother, did you fall?”

“Does it hurt?” Jiang Bei squatted down and blew softly on the bruise. “I’ll blow on it for you.”

Jiang Xia asked, “Brother, how did you fall like that? Did you kneel?”

Jiang Ji: “…” You guessed right.

He patted Jiang Bei’s head. “It’s fine, just a fall. It’ll heal in a few days. Go do your homework.”

At the mention of homework, Jiang Nan immediately looked pained. “Uh… I just saw Mother—I’ll go help her bring the cows back.”

Jiang Ji grabbed him by the strap of his schoolbag and hauled him back. “Go do your homework with Jiang Bei.”

“Brother, I’ll just help Mother with the cows first, then I’ll do it. I swear!” Jiang Nan raised a hand solemnly.

Jiang Ji arched an eyebrow. “You planning to stay up past midnight again? Mother doesn’t need your help. Go on—half of it needs to be done before dinner. Jiang Bei, keep an eye on him.”

Jiang Bei nodded obediently. “Okay, big brother.”

Jiang Nan drooped his head and trudged off to do his work.

Jiang Ji sighed. “See? What’s so great about being the older brother? You have to supervise their homework.”

Jiang Yan glanced at him but said nothing.

When Jiang Ji finished his cold compress, Zhao Ru came back, driving the cows, carrying a basket and a grass rake.

“Mother, were you out turning compost?” Jiang Ji went over, led the cows into the pen, took off their ropes, and shut the gate.

Zhao Ru shook her head. “No, I was just raking some dry leaves and grass.”

“Oh, alright.” Jiang Ji checked the potatoes under the window ledge inside the house—they had already begun to sprout. “Mother, tomorrow morning Jiang Yan and I have to go into town again. I’ll cut the potatoes into seed pieces after I get back in the afternoon.”

Zhao Ru came over to look. “They’re ready to be cut?”

“Mm. They’ve started sprouting. This is the best time—won’t damage the buds.” Jiang Ji stepped outside. “I’ll go check on the other families’ potatoes.”

He first went to Uncle Tu Gen’s house—they looked about the same as his own—then checked a few others. Everyone’s progress was about the same.

Next, he went to the village head’s house and asked him to let everyone know that they could start cutting tomorrow.

“I’ll be back in the afternoon. If anyone’s unsure how to cut them, wait for me to show you. After lunch, have everyone boil their knives in hot water and let them cool, and get some wood ash ready.”

“Got it.”

…

The next day, Jiang Ji and Jiang Yan hauled four sacks of sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn to town. They also brought along the cotton-planting contract.

They first went to the county yamen to ask the magistrate about his superiors.

“Sir,” Jiang Ji asked, “the memorials you send—those go from the county to the prefecture, then to the provincial office, and finally get presented all together at the capital, right?”

“Yes, they’re reported layer by layer,” Magistrate Xu nodded. “Why do you ask?”

Jiang Ji probed carefully, “Sir, I was wondering… about the prefect and the provincial governor—would they perhaps…”

He didn’t finish, but Magistrate Xu understood.

After thinking a moment, Magistrate Xu said, “You’re thinking ahead, but that’s just how the process works.”

“So you mean… they’re not exactly honest men?” Jiang Ji asked nervously. “Will that cause us trouble?”

Jiang Yan frowned slightly. “Sir, you said the court values agriculture. With these new crops and high-yield rice strains, this should be a matter of national importance. They wouldn’t dare block it, right?”

“They wouldn’t block it,” Magistrate Xu said, shaking his head. “It’s a major achievement—they wouldn’t stop it. But the prefect… does have a fondness for money.”

Jiang Ji and Jiang Yan exchanged a glance—they understood immediately.

“No way. You mean he might want to profit off this? Steal my money?” Jiang Ji was shocked.

“…Hard to say,” Magistrate Xu said, stroking his beard.

Jiang Yan asked, “And what about the governor?”

“The governor cares a lot about his reputation,” said Magistrate Xu. “From what I know, he wants to return to the capital.”

Jiang Ji’s eyes lit up. “Then, Sir, could you send the report directly to the governor yourself?”

Magistrate Xu stroked his beard and smiled. “Already done. Don’t worry.”

“Sir, you’re truly meticulous!” Jiang Ji gave him a thumbs up. “That puts our minds at ease.”

Magistrate Xu tapped his forehead lightly, smiling. “Just make sure you handle this matter well.”

“Understood.” Jiang Ji pulled out the planting contract and handed it over. “Sir, could you stamp this for me too?”

Magistrate Xu stared. “…You really treat my office like a printing shop?”

“It’s too expensive outside! I can pay the cost—I won’t make the yamen cover it,” Jiang Ji said with a grin.

Magistrate Xu glared. “Why are you so stingy?”

“Sir, it’s not easy making money. Every coin saved counts.”

“…Fine, I’ll stamp it for you,” Magistrate Xu muttered.

“Hehe, thank you, Sir.”

After taking their leave, the two went to deliver the sweet potatoes and potatoes to the Sun, Zhang, and Tian families, and finally arrived at the Lin household.

When the gatekeeper heard they were bringing sweet potatoes, he hurried to tell the steward. Steward Lin Fu came out to welcome them in.

Master Lin was already waiting for them in the main hall. When he saw the two arrive, he laughed heartily. “Come in, come in! Steward Lin Fu told me you brought me more sweet potatoes. Thank you, Brother Jiang Ji.”

Jiang Ji cupped his hands and smiled. “We promised all of you yesterday, after all.”

“Oh, I thought you meant just the other three households! I didn’t expect you to bring me another sack. Haha, once they find out, they’ll be green with envy.”

Master Lin was slightly plump, and his laughter was booming and full of energy.

Jiang Ji laughed along with him for a bit before saying, “To be honest, we also came today to thank you for lending us your manor.”

“Ah, lending it for a few days is nothing worth mentioning.” Master Lin waved his hand dismissively. “The magistrate already told me—you’re using it to store seeds. This is a matter of great importance for our county. Of course I should help. If we can successfully cultivate these seeds, our county’s grain harvests will increase. That’s a good thing.”

“Thank you, Master Lin.” Jiang Ji took a small cloth pouch from his chest and placed it on the table. “This is lettuce seed from the south—a green leafy vegetable. There isn’t much of it. My family kept some, and the rest is here. But this year, only our family is planting it; we haven’t given it to anyone else. These are enough for about one mu of land. I was wondering if you’d like to try growing them too?”

Master Lin’s eyes lit up at once. He picked up the pouch, opened it, and looked inside. Indeed, they were vegetable seeds. “No one else has these?”

“Right. Only my family has them, and we’ll plant about the same amount.”

“Then of course, let’s plant them together!” Master Lin looked delighted as he examined the seeds. “Do you also have the planting instructions written down?”

Jiang Ji nodded. “Yes. We’ll organize the notes later—you can send someone over to copy them. It’s a pretty simple method.”

“Excellent, excellent. Just let me know when it’s ready. I’ll have Lin Fu send someone over.”

“Alright.”

The three chatted for a while longer. When Master Lin heard that they’d be cutting potatoes to sprout seedlings that afternoon, he asked, “Would it be alright if I sent someone from my estate to observe?”

“Of course,” Jiang Ji said. “Just have them come to my house.”

“Good. I’ll send someone over after lunch then.” Master Lin added, “That manor should be fully cleaned up by tomorrow. The day after, Lin Fu will take you to inspect it.”

“Alright, thank you very much, Master Lin.”

Once the conversation ended, Jiang Ji and Jiang Yan took their leave.

Jiang Yan pulled the empty handcart and asked, “How’s your knee? Want to sit on the cart? I’ll pull you back.”

“Sure!”

Jiang Ji’s knee was still aching dully, so he climbed onto the cart without hesitation.

“Hold on tight.”

“Got it.”

Seeing him sitting properly, facing away and gripping the sides, Jiang Yan started pulling the cart home. To keep him comfortable and from sliding back, he made sure to keep the cart level as he moved.

“Hey, Jiang Yan, you’re too good,” Jiang Ji said from the cart, moved. “So thoughtful.”

“Call me brother.”

Jiang Ji immediately complied, sweet as honey. “Brother Yan, thanks!”

Jiang Yan’s lips curved faintly as he strode forward.

🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾

Ch 35: The Regent’s Farmer Husband

The day of the county office meeting arrived quickly.

That morning, after breakfast, Jiang Ji and Jiang Yan got ready to head out.

“Mother, wait for me to come back this afternoon before you go turn the compost—don’t do it alone, alright?”

They had been piling compost every few days and already had several heaps ready.

The family’s ox had gotten used to the place and could now work the fields. Yesterday, Jiang Ji had already plowed a large plot for potatoes, which would be planted in a few days.

“Alright, I’ll wait for you. Go on now—don’t keep the magistrate waiting.”

Jiang Ji and Jiang Yan set off, pulling a cart full of sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, and rice.

Changping County had 136 villages under its jurisdiction. That day, every village chief came to the county office for the meeting, each bringing along two clan elders.

By the time Jiang Ji and Jiang Yan arrived, the courtyard of the county office was filled with benches, and every seat was occupied.

Jiang Ji glanced around. There were also quite a few men in long robes—clearly people of higher standing.

The magistrate’s secretary came over to lead them to the magistrate. Jiang Ji first handed over a sack of sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, and rice. The secretary immediately arranged for someone to take it away to be steamed and cooked.

“Sir,” Jiang Ji asked as they walked, “how many villages does our county have? There are so many people here.”

The secretary led them toward another building while explaining, “The magistrate also invited landowners from the towns to attend—so you wouldn’t have to give another separate talk later.”

Aside from the wealthy households, many townsfolk also owned farmland outside the city. Some rented it out, while others farmed it themselves.

Jiang Ji said with a smile, “The magistrate really thinks ahead.”

The secretary added, “You’d asked the magistrate to invite those gentry families too—he’s arranged it. After your talk, you’ll have tea with them.”

Jiang Ji’s eyes brightened. “That’s wonderful. Please thank the magistrate for me.”

The secretary brought the two to a side room and quietly said outside the door, “Inside are a few of the most prominent heads of families in Changping County. They’re talking with the magistrate right now. It’ll be a bit before the meeting starts, so you should go in and greet them first.”

“Oh, and one more thing,” the secretary reminded him, “the magistrate told me to warn you—there’s a certain Master Zhang in there. His family runs a textile business—they own their own spinning and weaving workshop, quite a large one. You already know the Lin family—they mainly run a grain and oil shop. The Lin and Zhang families don’t get along.”

“The other two—Master Sun, who deals in gold and silver jewelry, and Master Tian, whose family runs a mixed business. They own a pawnshop, a clothing store, a cosmetics shop, and a spice shop—anything that makes money, really. Oh, and they also own a restaurant. These four are the wealthiest and most land-rich families in the county.”

Jiang Ji and Jiang Yan exchanged a look, and Jiang Ji sincerely said, “Thank you for the reminder, sir.”

The secretary led them inside. “Sir, Jiang Ji and Jiang Yan have arrived.”

“Just the people we were talking about—come in,” Magistrate Xu called out with a smile.

Inside, the magistrate sat at the head seat. On either side sat four men: one in his fifties, two around forty, and one about thirty years old. All wore fine silk garments.

Jiang Ji and Jiang Yan stepped forward, bent slightly, and greeted, “Sir.”

“No need for formality. Sit down.”

The two took seats at the side. Though dressed in coarse linen clothes, their bearing was calm and self-assured, showing no hint of awkwardness.

Magistrate Xu gave a small approving nod.

After servants brought tea, the magistrate introduced them to the others. “Gentlemen, these are the two Jiang brothers I told you about—Jiang Ji and Jiang Yan.”

He then introduced each man in turn.

The one in his fifties was Master Sun of the Sun family; the heavier man in his forties was Master Lin of the Lin family; the lean one with a goatee was Master Zhang of the Zhang family; and the youngest, about thirty, was Master Tian of the Tian family.

Jiang Ji and Jiang Yan both stood and cupped their fists in greeting to each of the wealthy landowners.

The four gentrymen had been quietly observing the two young men from the moment they entered.

Master Lin laughed heartily. “Lin Fu told me the two Jiang brothers were quite the handsome pair. I didn’t believe him at first, but now I see it’s true! Hahaha!”

Jiang Ji smiled. “Master Lin flatters us.”

The younger Master Tian asked curiously, “Uncle Lin, so your steward Lin Fu already knows these two?”

Master Lin chuckled. “A few days ago, when they held their village meeting, one of my servants overheard talk of it. I sent Lin Fu to take a look—that’s how they met. Young Jiang here even sent back a sack of sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn. I’ve tried them myself—they’re truly delicious! My wife and children all loved them.”

He then bowed slightly toward Jiang Ji. “Thank you, young man, for letting us have an early taste.”

Jiang Ji smiled. “You’re too kind, Master Lin. I’m glad your household liked them.”

“Liked them? We loved them! Hahaha!”

Master Lin’s booming laughter filled the room. Across from him, Master Zhang sneered coldly.

Master Lin caught the look and glared back, still smiling, secretly amused—let’s see if you’ll still be laughing later, he thought.

Master Tian, having heard about the gift of sweet potatoes, turned to Jiang Ji with a grin. “I heard the magistrate mention you brought back new crops from the south. Didn’t expect Uncle Lin to get the first taste already. Jiang Ji, we’re waiting our turn too.”

Jiang Ji answered easily, “No problem, I won’t let Master Tian be disappointed. I came out in a hurry today, but tomorrow I’ll send each of you a bag as well—please let your families taste them.”

Master Tian smiled. “Much appreciated.”

“You’re very welcome.”

After a few more polite exchanges, the magistrate’s secretary came in and said, “Sir, everyone’s arrived—it’s about time.”

Magistrate Xu stood. “Let’s begin, then.”

They all headed to the front courtyard. The gentrymen took seats in the front rows while Magistrate Xu himself stepped forward to open the assembly.

Standing atop the steps, he raised his voice. “Fellow townsmen, you’ve all seen the county notice, haven’t you?”

The crowd responded, “We have!”

“Good,” the magistrate said. “Then you should already have some idea of today’s purpose. We’re here to discuss the new rice strain and other new crops mentioned in the notice. I’ll now invite Jiang Ji from Shanqian Village to explain these new seeds.”

The magistrate stepped aside and took a seat while Jiang Ji walked up the steps to begin his talk.

He had already given this presentation twice before and was now well-practiced. As before, he introduced the new rice, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn—explaining their advantages, calculating the profits, and teaching how to plant for the best yield. He covered intercropping, mixed planting, and crop rotation in simple, clear terms.

He also displayed several printed booklets and assured everyone that full planting instructions were already available.

Meanwhile, the food—sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, and rice—had been steamed and distributed for tasting.

The villagers’ reactions were the same as before—genuine surprise and delight. Seeing and tasting the crops for themselves made them fully believe.

Then Jiang Ji brought up the matter of cotton seeds and the planting contract.

He explained that, based on current registrations, the combined cotton fields from several villages totaled nearly three hundred mu. The Lin family alone had registered one hundred mu under contract, bringing the total to four hundred mu—but he still hoped to recruit another two hundred.

“There are two hundred mu worth of planting contracts still available,” Jiang Ji announced. “If you’re interested in joining, please contact us soon—it’s first come, first served. Once those are filled, you can still buy the seeds and plant on your own.”

“I’ve said enough for now. If anyone has questions, please go ahead and ask.”

The villagers did indeed have many questions, which Jiang Ji patiently answered one by one.

Master Lin stroked his beard with a pleased smile as he watched Master Zhang deep in thought.

Heh—wondering what Jiang Ji plans to do with all that cotton, aren’t you?

Master Tian, sitting beside him, noticed his grin and asked, “Uncle Lin, you look very pleased—already signed up for seeds?”

“I did,” said Master Lin, “but that’s not why I’m happy.”

“Oh? Then why?”

Master Lin glanced at the sky. “Good weather today. That’s all.”

Master Tian glanced at Master Zhang—and understood.

When everyone’s questions were finally addressed, Jiang Ji said, “Thank you, uncles and elders, for taking the time to come. Please share what you’ve learned with your villages when you return. I’ll give each village chief a sample—one sweet potato, one potato, one corn cob, and a small handful of rice—to bring back for demonstration.”

“And for those planning to buy seeds, please have your village chiefs compile a list of each household’s requested quantity. The prices and seed amounts were already included in the notice. I hope we can have all the totals within three days so distribution can start quickly—sweet potatoes and potatoes are ready for sprouting, and the others soon will be. We can’t delay.”

“As for the planting manuals, the magistrate said the county office is printing them now. Each village will receive a free copy. Everything is written clearly—just follow it. If you have any trouble, you can come to Shanqian Village and find me.”

When he finished, Jiang Ji asked the constables to help distribute the sample seeds to each village chief. It was nearly noon by the time all the villagers had left.

Finally done, Jiang Ji let out a long breath.

Jiang Yan, holding a teapot and two cups, handed him one. “You’ve worked hard.”

Jiang Ji drank four cups in a row. “Finally done!”

“Gentlemen, the magistrate requests your presence,” the secretary came to say.

Magistrate Xu was waiting in his carriage. “Come on, we’re having lunch with the gentry.”

Jiang Ji and Jiang Yan climbed aboard.

On the way, the magistrate told Jiang Ji, “The estate you wanted has been found. It’s between your village and the town. You can use it for ten days—it has about ten empty rooms and two storehouses. Should be enough, right?”

Jiang Ji’s eyes lit up. “That should be enough! As long as it doesn’t rain, I can even store some under the eaves. Thank you, sir.”

After a pause, he asked, “Sir, may I ask who owns the estate?”

“It belongs to the Lin family,” Magistrate Xu replied, glancing at him. “Their business mainly deals in grain and oil. These crops you’re promoting will benefit them the most, so I spoke to them first. When they learned it was for you, they agreed to vacate one of their estates for your use.”

Jiang Ji blinked. “I understand. Thank you, sir.”

“They’ll need two days to clear the place,” Magistrate Xu continued. “That works out well since the villages still need time to prepare. Once everything’s ready, Lin Fu will come find you and take you there to inspect it.”

“Alright, thank you, sir.” Jiang Ji thought for a moment, then added, “Oh—also, sir, when the seeds are distributed, could we organize it by region? Otherwise it’ll be chaotic. Maybe divide it into east, south, west, and north sectors, one at a time—that’ll make things easier for me to manage. Would that be alright?”

“Fine,” said the magistrate. “Once you’ve set the schedule, I’ll have notices sent to each village about their pickup times.”

“Perfect. Thank you, sir.”

After settling that, their carriage arrived at the restaurant.

They entered through the back door, and Jiang Ji asked, “Sir, which restaurant is this?”

“Xiangmanlou—it belongs to the Tian family.”

A servant met them at the back and led them into a private room.

It was spacious inside, and the gentry were already waiting.

After they all sat down, tea was served and casual conversation followed. Most of it was the landowners asking Jiang Ji about the new crops. Jiang Ji answered what he could, careful not to reveal too much.

Everyone was curious where he had gotten the seeds. Jiang Ji gave the same story he’d told Lin Fu—that a traveling merchant had brought them from the south but never said exactly where.

After a few rounds of subtle probing, his answers remained watertight. The men realized they wouldn’t get anything more out of him, and their regard for this seemingly simple villager rose a little.

Once the wine was served, the conversation grew livelier. Jiang Ji wasn’t sure how well this body could hold liquor, so he was cautious, but even then he drank a bit too much and started feeling dizzy.

Just then, Master Zhang, the one in the textile trade, asked casually, “So, Brother Jiang—what do you plan to do with all that cotton you’re buying? Sell it yourself, or…?”

If Jiang Ji planned to sell raw cotton, it wouldn’t matter. But if he intended to spin and weave it himself—then that would make him a competitor.

Jiang Ji’s head was spinning, but his mind stayed sharp. He knew that the Zhang family specialized in textiles, and saying anything now would be dangerous.

If he claimed he was keeping it for personal use, the Zhangs would see him as a threat; if he said he’d sell it, he’d expose himself later when he didn’t.

So he simply leaned into his drunken act. “Cot—cot—cotton…” he mumbled—and then collapsed face-first onto the table.

Jiang Yan: …

Magistrate Xu: …

Everyone: …

Jiang Yan wasn’t much of a talker, so Jiang Ji had done most of the chatting. He’d drunk quite a bit himself but was still clear-headed. Seeing Jiang Ji like that, he decided to play along.

“Jiang—Jiang Ji…” He patted Jiang Ji’s shoulder, then his cheek, before standing and bowing unsteadily to the table. “S-sir, esteemed gentlemen, my brother’s had t-too much to drink. I’ll just… take him home…”

Magistrate Xu rose. “You’ve had plenty yourself. Come to my place first—rest there until you’re sober, then go home.”

He turned to the others. “That’s all for today, gentlemen. Get some rest.”

A waiter came in to help lift Jiang Ji into the carriage, and the magistrate departed with them.

Inside, the gentry exchanged glances. Master Lin stood first. “I’ll take my leave.”

“Uncle Lin, wait,” Master Tian said, stopping him. “What do you think of those two brothers?”

“What do I think?” said Master Lin. “They’ve got seeds that increase yields and exclusive new crops. Once the harvests are sold to other counties, everyone profits. What more is there to think about?”

The others each had their own thoughts. Master Lin waved them off. “You can think for yourselves. I’m going home.”

The rest lingered a bit, then left too. Master Sun and Master Tian were calm enough, but Master Zhang went home frowning, worry etched across his face.

The carriage rocked gently along the street. Jiang Ji leaned on Jiang Yan’s shoulder, eyes closed.

Magistrate Xu reached over and tapped him. “Alright, stop pretending.”

Jiang Ji didn’t move.

The magistrate looked at Jiang Yan, who also tapped Jiang Ji’s shoulder. “Jiang Ji?”

Still no response.

Jiang Yan looked down. His breathing was steady, his eyes shut tight, and even through his dark complexion, his face was flushed red.

“He’s asleep,” Jiang Yan said.

“…His alcohol tolerance is that low?”

“Maybe he’s never drunk before,” Jiang Yan replied.

Having lived in the village a while, Jiang Yan knew the Jiang family’s situation—so poor they could barely eat, let alone afford wine. Things had only improved recently, after he’d been rescued.

When they arrived at the magistrate’s residence, Jiang Ji woke briefly, then drifted off again, sleeping another half hour before stirring.

Blinking at the unfamiliar room, he asked groggily, “Where is this?”

“Magistrate Xu’s house. You got drunk,” Jiang Yan said.

Jiang Ji sat up, rubbing his temples. “Ugh… dizzy.”

Jiang Yan poured him a cup of tea. “Drink—lots of it.”

Jiang Ji gulped down three cups. “No more—I need the latrine.”

Jiang Yan took him there, then they sat outside in the courtyard for a bit. When Jiang Ji finally felt clearer, he tugged Jiang Yan’s sleeve. “Where’s the magistrate? We said we’d ask him about the Regent.”

Led by a servant, they soon found Magistrate Xu, who was in his study working through official papers.

When he saw them enter, he looked up. “Awake now?”

“Mhm, thank you, sir, for letting us stay here,” Jiang Ji said a little sheepishly.

“I’ll have someone escort you two home.”

“Thank you, sir, but—ah, before that, there’s something we’d like to ask you.”

“Oh? What is it? Sit down.”

The two sat. Jiang Ji began, “Sir, you mentioned before that the court values agriculture highly and sometimes issues new planting methods and policies. I remember that during last year’s great drought, the court reduced the peasants’ taxes—that was by order of the Regent, wasn’t it?”

Magistrate Xu looked at him and nodded. “Yes, by the Regent’s command. Why do you ask?”

“I just wanted to know more about the Regent. I’ve heard he’s quite remarkable?” Jiang Ji asked, half-curious, half-probing.

“The Regent is indeed a most extraordinary man,” Magistrate Xu said with a faint smile. His gaze drifted toward the door, distant with admiration. “He became the top scholar in the imperial exams at only seventeen—personally favored by the late emperor.”

Jiang Ji’s eyes widened. “Seventeen? He topped the exams at seventeen?”

“That’s right. He won first place at all three levels—unheard of brilliance. The late emperor had wanted him to stay in the capital to serve, but suddenly there was war at the northern border. Guess what he did?”

“What?” Jiang Ji leaned forward.

“He volunteered to escort the grain supply to the frontier,” the magistrate said, smiling. “He stayed there two years—offering strategies, assisting the Marquis Zhenbei in quelling the rebellion. He even led troops into battle himself. Brave and resourceful—master of both pen and sword. That’s why, when the late emperor passed, he named him Regent to assist our young emperor in governing.”

Jiang Ji gaped. “He can fight too? But isn’t he a scholar?”

“Ah, you don’t know,” the magistrate chuckled. “His mother’s family has been a line of generals for generations. He trained in martial arts under his grandfather from childhood, while his father insisted he study literature. The two families quarreled endlessly over whether he should pursue arms or letters—until the young Regent said, ‘What’s the point of arguing? I’ll study both.’”

Jiang Ji exclaimed, “Heavens—where did he find the time? Most people couldn’t reach that level in a lifetime.”

“Indeed,” the magistrate sighed, “but that’s what makes him extraordinary—he truly mastered both.”

Jiang Ji gave a thumbs-up. “Impressive!”

The magistrate smiled. “When he first took power, many officials refused to accept him. But within just three years, he punished corrupt ministers, cleansed the court, and restored order. Now everyone, from nobles to commoners, admires him.”

He clasped his hands toward the north and then turned back. “But why are you asking about the Regent?”

Jiang Ji glanced at Jiang Yan, who was frowning slightly, deep in thought.

“Oh,” Jiang Ji said lightly, “he just sounds like a wise and benevolent man. If our new rice and sweet potatoes could gain his support, I think they’d spread across the country much faster.”

Magistrate Xu nodded. “Naturally. I’ve already written a memorial to the court. If the Regent reads it, he’ll surely support your efforts.”

“I hope so,” Jiang Ji said with a grin.

After their conversation, the magistrate, worried Jiang Ji might still be tipsy, ordered a carriage to take them home.

On the ride, Jiang Ji and Jiang Yan sat opposite each other, legs stretched out wide.

“Did you remember anything?” Jiang Ji nudged his knee.

Jiang Yan shook his head. “Still just… feels familiar. But nothing concrete.”

Jiang Ji thought for a moment. “Maybe you need some kind of special trigger—something to jolt your memory.”

The carriage jolted violently as it hit a pothole—thud! Jiang Ji was thrown forward by momentum, his knees slamming into the floor as he toppled straight into Jiang Yan’s lap.

“Holy—!” Jiang Ji yelped. His knees hit hard, and tears sprang to his eyes from the pain.

“Hh—!” Jiang Yan gasped sharply, his legs jerking inward.

Jiang Ji had landed kneeling between his legs, his forehead colliding squarely with Jiang Yan’s lower abdomen.

Hearing the pained noise, Jiang Ji grimaced and asked through gritted teeth, “What’s wrong?”

Jiang Yan: “…”

He patted Jiang Ji’s shoulder, voice strained. “…Just—just get up first.”

“My knees hurt. Give me a second.”

“You alright?” Jiang Yan asked tightly, brows drawn.

Jiang Ji shook his head. “Not bad… just hurts like hell.”

“Then stand up,” Jiang Yan said, still wincing. “I’m hurting too.”

“…Wait,” Jiang Ji froze, finally realizing how awkward their position looked. “Did I—hit you?”

“Get up,” Jiang Yan said through clenched teeth.

“Uh… help me a bit?”

Jiang Yan reached out, helped him by the arm, and Jiang Ji finally managed to stand.

Jiang Yan steadied him onto the bench. “Sit properly this time—so you don’t fall again.”

“…Okay.” Jiang Ji sat down obediently, glanced toward Jiang Yan’s abdomen, and saw the other’s legs tightly closed, brow furrowed. “You sure you’re alright? Looks… painful.”

Jiang Yan shot him a glare. “You want to try it?”

“Nope, no need,” Jiang Ji said quickly, waving his hands and trying not to laugh. “No point in us hurting each other.”

“…”

“Let me see your knees,” Jiang Yan muttered, changing the subject.

Jiang Ji rolled up his pant legs—both knees were bruised. He rubbed them, bent and stretched his legs. “Doesn’t feel broken. I’ll rub some liniment when we get home.”

Seeing Jiang Yan still wincing, Jiang Ji said apologetically, “Sorry about that—the road’s terrible. You looked like it really hurt though. Want me to check later? Just in case something’s damaged?”

“No need.”

“Hey, don’t ignore injuries. That part’s important, you know—it’d be bad if something really broke.”

Jiang Yan gritted his teeth. “I said I’m fine.”

Jiang Ji sighed. “Alright. But if you feel any discomfort, tell me, okay? I’ll figure out how to fix it.”

Jiang Yan: “…”

🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾

Ch 34: The Regent’s Farmer Husband

Once the five representatives from the other villages had each finished copying one book, Jiang Ji stopped them from continuing.

The men were puzzled.

“But we haven’t finished copying!” one of them said anxiously. “Our village chief said we have to take a full copy back.”

Another man, still holding his brush, also looked flustered. “Yeah, why won’t you let us finish? You said we could copy them!”

Jiang Ji smiled. “Don’t worry. Copying like this is too slow. There are still many more books to make, and lots of other villages that’ll need them. At this rate, how long do you think it’ll take to finish? I’m taking these to the town this afternoon to have them printed. When they’re ready, your village can just pay a little for the printing cost to get copies. Or, if you’ve got time, you can borrow from one another later—since you’re all copying different sections anyway.”

Hearing that there would be printed versions, the men lost their enthusiasm for copying. It was a tedious task, and none of them had studied much—among them, they were simply the least illiterate ones in their villages, and their handwriting wasn’t exactly elegant.

After getting approval from their village chiefs, everyone went home to wait for the printed versions. When they came out, each household could just pay a few coins to buy one.

After the villagers left, another man hurried in—it was the village chief from Tupo Village, several li away.

As soon as he saw Jiang Ji, he asked, “I’m the village chief from Tupo Village. I heard you’ve got new rice seeds and sweet potatoes and all that. Do you still have any left? Can you sell some to my villagers?”

These villages were all connected through marriages and kinship, so news spread fast. Not only this chief—several villagers from other nearby settlements had already come to ask.

Jiang Ji smiled. “No need to worry, Uncle. There will be. The county office will be notifying all the village chiefs to come for a meeting the day after tomorrow. They’ll announce everything there, so just be sure to attend.”

“So that means we’ll be able to buy the high-yield rice seeds too?”

“Yes. There’s plenty of rice seed. You’ll see when you come.”

“Good, good, I’ll be there on time.”

After sending off the village chief, Jiang Yan took a sheet from the stack of registration lists on the table and handed it to Jiang Ji.

“This was delivered by Steward Lin from the Lin estate this morning. Take a look.”

Jiang Ji accepted it, a little surprised. “Steward Lin came in person?”

“Yes.”

“Did he say anything?”

Jiang Yan shook his head. “Not much. Just chatted a bit. Said that his master and mistress really liked the sweet potatoes and the other foods. Since you weren’t home, he just dropped off the order and left.”

Jiang Ji nodded and looked over the list.

Standing beside him, Jiang Yan said, “Based on the quantities they ordered, it’s enough to plant close to eight hundred mu of farmland.”

Jiang Ji looked up at him in surprise. “Eight hundred mu? That much? Steward Lin said yesterday their estate had only a few hundred mu of land—are they planning to plant every bit of it?”

“It could be an overestimate,” Jiang Yan said, “or it could even be an understatement. Hard to say which.”

Jiang Ji frowned slightly as he looked down at the order list. Jiang Yan asked, “What’s wrong? Worried?”

“Worried about what?”

“Jealousy.”

“There’ll definitely be jealousy,” Jiang Ji said with a raised brow. “But that’s fine—we’ve got Magistrate Xu backing us. I’m just thinking about something else.”

“What is it?” Jiang Yan asked.

Jiang Ji looked at him thoughtfully. “Do you think we should open a shop in town—one with a big warehouse—to sell seeds? The house here’s too small. When it’s time to distribute the seeds, there won’t be enough space, and with people coming and going through the village, it’s not ideal.”

Jiang Yan, who knew full well that no one was actually delivering seeds, reminded him, “But there are even more people in town—and more eyes watching.”

Jiang Ji scratched his head. “Yeah, there are more people, but still… we don’t have enough space here. Look, the Lin estate alone ordered that much seed.”

He stopped what he was doing, glanced at Jiang Yan, and blinked. “You…”

He trailed off. He had almost asked whether Jiang Yan already knew that he was somehow conjuring these seeds out of thin air, but after a second thought, he kept quiet.

Jiang Yan waited for him to finish, then raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Jiang Ji shook his head. “Nothing. I’ll tell you later.”

After a brief pause, Jiang Yan said, “We don’t need to rent a shop. Those are expensive anyway. And don’t go into town. Let’s look around the outskirts instead—see if we can rent a large warehouse or a small manor, somewhere more remote and less crowded.”

“When all the seeds are ready, we’ll store them in the warehouse first, and then tell the magistrate. That way, everything goes straight from there—no one in town will know how much you’re moving. We can just sell the seeds at the warehouse itself. Hold a few concentrated sale days so no one can guess how much stock we really have. I’ll go with you, and at night, we can ask the magistrate to send a few constables to stand guard. I’m sure he’ll agree.”

Jiang Ji’s eyes lit up. He clapped Jiang Yan on the shoulder, delighted. “Jiang Yan, you’re brilliant!”

The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. “Alright. Once the village meetings are done and the numbers are in, we’ll find a big warehouse or a small manor and handle everything there. That’ll lower the risk.”

“Mm.” Jiang Yan nodded. “Only problem is, it might be hard to find that kind of manor.”

“We’ll look anyway. Maybe someone’s selling one. I’ll stop by the broker’s office when I go to town later. If I can’t find one, I’ll ask the magistrate if any of his acquaintances have a spare estate we could borrow.”

After settling that, Jiang Yan opened the book on rice cultivation to the last page and asked, “What’s this part about two different kinds of rice seeds?”

“What do you mean?”

Jiang Ji took a look. The page read: Hybrid rice has high yield but unstable traits; saving its seed will lead to reduced yield the following year. Seeds must be repurchased annually. Conventional rice yields less than hybrid rice but can be self-saved.

This was a note Jiang Ji had written for himself as a reminder.

“Why’d you copy this part too?” he asked.

Jiang Yan frowned. “Was I not supposed to include it? Should I tear out the page and rewrite it?”

“No, it’s fine to include.” Jiang Ji waved a hand.

Jiang Yan pointed to the line about hybrid rice. “What does it mean that you can’t save the seed?”

Jiang Ji scratched his head, trying to explain. “Well, hybrid rice is—well, hybrid. You know what hybrid means, right? Like a mule—it’s a cross between a horse and a donkey, but it can’t reproduce. Hybrid rice is kind of like that. The first year, it yields really well, but if the farmer keeps the seeds to replant, the yield drops the next year, and keeps dropping the more it’s replanted. So you have to buy fresh seed each year.”

Jiang Yan nodded. “And this other one isn’t hybrid, so you can save the seed yourself?”

“Exactly.”

“How much does the regular rice yield per mu?”

“Compared to what people get now, it’s about double.”

Jiang Yan looked thoughtful. “So which type have you been telling everyone about?”

“Both are fine,” Jiang Ji said seriously. “For promoting it nationwide, we’re selling the conventional rice. But honestly, if they can afford it, hybrid rice gives the best yield.”

He had thought of this at the last minute when he was setting up the reward items, hurriedly changing the hybrid rice seeds to conventional ones so the distribution could spread faster.

Fortunately, he had also overestimated the required planting amount earlier, which conveniently covered this gap now.

The system’s seeds were of top quality, with guaranteed germination rates.

Jiang Yan understood his reasoning. “I see.”

Then Jiang Ji asked, “Jiang Yan, do you think the wealthy households would be interested in planting hybrid rice? It’s a little pricier, but they’re not short on money.”

“That depends on whether they want to sell rice or sell seeds,” Jiang Yan replied. “But you can just ask them—let them choose.”

“Alright, I’ll bring it up with them.” Jiang Ji nodded, though he still looked uneasy. “I just worry that if someone gets greedy later and starts selling hybrid rice grains as seed, that’ll hurt people.”

Seed grain would naturally sell for more money.

Seeing his concern, Jiang Yan said, “If you’re worried, then hold off for a couple of years. Once everyone has their own seed reserves, they’ll only be able to sell rice anyway.”

Jiang Ji smiled. “Fair enough.”

After lunch, he hurried off to town again, taking with him several finished crop cultivation manuals for printing—while Jiang Yan stayed behind, still copying out the others.

He first went to the bookstore to ask about the cost of printing, then headed to the county office to see Magistrate Xu.

Magistrate Xu looked up in surprise. “Back again already? What is it this time?”

Jiang Ji placed several bound booklets from his bundle onto the magistrate’s desk. “They’re copying way too slowly, so printing would be faster. Sir, could your office take this job?”

The magistrate paused, speechless. “This is the county office, not a printing house.”

Jiang Ji blinked. “Oh, but printing at the bookstore is really expensive. These are only a few volumes now, but there’ll be many more later. The villagers would have to pay a lot extra, and they’ll need the books soon.”

The magistrate raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you say you were teaching everyone for free?”

“I am—it’s free!” Jiang Ji nodded earnestly, then added, “But surely I’m not expected to pay for the paper and ink myself, right?”

The magistrate stared at him for a moment, sighed, and said, “Fine, I’ll have them printed. We’ll issue them through the county office. The county will purchase your planting manuals. How much do you want per copy?”

“For our county, it can be distributed for free,” Jiang Ji said, then tilted his head. “But what about other counties and prefectures later?”

The magistrate looked at him. “You actually plan to make money from this too?”

“Why not?”

Magistrate Xu stroked his beard, half amused, half exasperated. “If your planting methods prove effective, I’ll submit them to the court. The imperial regulations say that such manuals are to be printed and distributed nationwide by the government, free of charge. So I’ll purchase the rights from you under the county’s name.”

“The imperial court distributes them for free?”

“Yes.”

Jiang Ji opened his mouth, then sighed. “So I can’t make money from other counties, huh? There are so many counties and villages in the whole country…”

Magistrate Xu tapped him lightly on the head. “Stop thinking only about money.”

“I just thought maybe we could earn the county office a little profit,” Jiang Ji said with a sheepish grin.

“Alright then,” the magistrate said, resigned. “How much do you want per book?”

Jiang Ji thought for a moment, then raised one finger.

The magistrate frowned. “Ten taels a book?”

Jiang Ji blinked. “No, one tael.”

The magistrate looked genuinely surprised. “One tael? Weren’t you just trying to make money?”

“I’m willing to present the planting methods to the court for free. The one tael is just for Jiang Yan’s hard work—he copied them all by hand. Oh, and after you’re done with these booklets, I’ll need them back. I plan to take them home.”

“Alright,” the magistrate agreed.

Then Jiang Ji’s eyes lit up as he remembered something. “Oh, right—sir, could you help me find a large warehouse or an estate west of the city? My house is too small. I need a place to store the seeds for a few days while selling them. I don’t have any connections, but I can pay rent if needed.”

The magistrate asked, “Why not sell in town?”

“The town’s too crowded, and transportation’s inconvenient,” Jiang Ji explained.

The magistrate thought of Jiang Ji’s small house—it really was cramped and impractical for trade. “Where are your seeds stored now?”

Jiang Ji blinked innocently. “The merchant hasn’t delivered them yet. They’ll arrive in about seven or eight days.” That was about when the villages would have their registrations finished.

“…” The magistrate asked, “How large an estate do you need?”

“Big enough to hold all the seeds for the county. Sweet potatoes and potatoes take up a lot of space, so it needs multiple rooms.”

After a brief pause, the magistrate nodded. “Alright. I’ll have someone find one for you.”

Jiang Ji didn’t stop there. “Oh, and sir, could I borrow a few constables to help maintain order and watch the place?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll come by to check on things myself.”

Jiang Ji shook his head. “I mean at night too—just in case.”

“Fine,” the magistrate agreed. He didn’t want anything happening to the seeds either.

Hearing that, Jiang Ji broke into a wide grin. “Thank you so much, sir!”

The magistrate gave him a helpless look. “Anything else? Say it all at once.”

Jiang Ji thought for a bit. “That’s all for now.”

“…Go on, then.” The magistrate wrote out a note and waved him off. “Take it to the accountant and collect your payment, then go home.”

“Got it, sir. See you later.”

Grinning ear to ear, Jiang Ji took the silver and went home, feeling quite pleased that the warehouse problem was now in the magistrate’s hands.

When he got back, he handed the silver to Jiang Yan.

Jiang Yan looked puzzled. “What’s this?”

“Your copying fee! I gave the planting manuals to the magistrate, so I asked for a little compensation for your hard work.”

Jiang Yan said quietly, “You should keep it.”

Jiang Ji shoved the silver into his hand, beaming. “Jiang Yan, we don’t need to search for a warehouse anymore—the magistrate’s helping us.”

“What do you mean?” Jiang Yan asked. “What did you two discuss?”

Jiang Ji told him everything that had happened, then added with some amazement, “Turns out the imperial court actually distributes agricultural manuals for free.”

“You sound disappointed,” Jiang Yan remarked, raising an eyebrow.

Jiang Ji shook his head. “No, not really. I wasn’t planning to make money off it anyway. I just didn’t realize the court took farming this seriously.”

“As they should,” Jiang Yan said calmly. “Food is the people’s heaven.”

“True. I just hope the regent stays this wise.”

“The regent?” Jiang Yan frowned slightly.

Seeing his confusion, Jiang Ji remembered his amnesia and explained, “Oh, right—you don’t remember. The current emperor was only seven when he ascended the throne, and he’s still just ten now. So, before the late emperor passed, he appointed a regent to govern on the young emperor’s behalf. They say the Regent, Lu Huaizhou, is extremely capable—both scholarly and martial. In just three years, he’s cleaned up the entire court. Quite remarkable, really.”

All this Jiang Ji had learned from the memories of his body’s original owner. When the young emperor ascended, an imperial edict had been posted across the land—and the name Lu Huaizhou had spread everywhere along with it.

The regent—what a powerful figure!

To even catch a glimpse of him once would make this whole journey through time worthwhile.

Jiang Yan’s brows furrowed. For some reason, when Jiang Ji mentioned the regent, something stirred in his mind, as if he had heard that name before.

Seeing his strange expression, Jiang Ji grew concerned. “Jiang Yan, what’s wrong?”

Jiang Yan lifted his gaze, hesitated, and said, “I feel like I’ve heard of the regent before.”

Jiang Ji blinked. “Everyone in the country’s heard of him. It’s not strange that you have.”

Jiang Yan thought for a moment. “True.”

“But still,” Jiang Ji said, looking at him curiously, “you actually feel a sense of familiarity? Do you get that with other things—when you write or draw, do you ever get a feeling like you’ve done it before?”

Jiang Yan shook his head. “No.”

Jiang Ji rubbed his chin. “That’s odd. Maybe writing and drawing are too ordinary, or too familiar to trigger anything. But how come hearing ‘the regent’ makes you feel that way?”

Jiang Yan couldn’t explain it either.

“Did any image flash through your mind?” Jiang Ji guided him. “Even just a glimpse?”

“No. I just felt… those three words were familiar.”

“…” Jiang Ji thought for a bit, then smacked his thigh. “Wait—maybe you were a little fan of the regent! Why else would hearing his name feel so familiar?”

“A little what?” Jiang Yan looked confused.

Jiang Ji explained, “I mean, the regent’s such an impressive person. Maybe you really admired him before—worshipped him, even. The impression was so deep that now, when you hear his name, it feels familiar.”

Jiang Yan frowned. “That can’t be it… can it?”

“Of course it can! You don’t know how powerful the pull of an idol can be,” Jiang Ji said excitedly. “Otherwise how do you explain it?”

Jiang Yan had no answer.

Jiang Ji suggested, “When we go to the county office the day after tomorrow, after the meeting, let’s ask the magistrate a bit about the regent. Maybe it’ll trigger your memory.”

Jiang Yan nodded. “Alright.”

🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾

Ch 33: The Regent’s Farmer Husband

The steward of the Lin family was named Lin Fu. Seeing two men standing at the entrance of Jiang Ji’s courtyard—and the county yamen’s carriage parked nearby—he immediately recognized it. Those two must be county officials.

He had just listened to Jiang Ji’s public talk and asked some of the Shanqian villagers about the situation before coming. He hadn’t expected that the magistrate himself would still be here; clearly, this matter was of great importance to him.

Lin Fu quietly pondered how best to present himself when he went inside.

Jiang Ji came out and saw a middle-aged man of about forty, dressed in the manner of a steward, standing beside a carriage. Smiling, he said, “Hello, are you the steward of Master Lin’s household?”

Lin Fu returned the smile. “Yes, my name is Lin Fu. My master heard that your family is selling new rice seeds and sweet potatoes. He happened to mention it today and sent me to learn more, to discuss purchasing some seeds with you.”

“Steward Lin, please come in. Let’s sit and talk—it just so happens Magistrate Xu is here too. We were discussing seeds.”

Lin Fu hesitated for a moment, then said, “Of course. Since the magistrate is present, it’s only proper to pay my respects.”

The two entered the house. Lin Fu greeted the magistrate formally, then took a seat on a low wooden bench near the side.

Jiang Ji’s home had only one square table with four long benches around it—and at the moment, all the seats were taken.

Jiang Ji poured water for Lin Fu, and as he did, Magistrate Xu asked, “Steward Lin, is your master also interested in these new seeds?”

Lin Fu rose and bowed. “Yes. Yesterday, one of our servants heard from relatives that new seeds were being sold here. My master sent me to take a look.”

“Sit, sit. No need to stand,” Magistrate Xu said, gesturing for him to take a seat. “So, you heard what Jiang Ji said earlier?”

Lin Fu sat down properly and replied, “I did. I came to discuss matters with this young man.”

“Oh, then you two go ahead.” Magistrate Xu took a sip of water.

Lin Fu hesitated—how was he supposed to negotiate with the magistrate right there?

After a brief pause, he asked, “Young man, I heard you say these seeds were brought from the south?”

“That’s right,” Jiang Ji replied.

“From which part of the south? I hear the south produces many fine goods—must have been difficult hauling them such a long way.”

Jiang Ji looked at him and smiled. “I don’t know exactly where. I contacted a traveling merchant, but he didn’t tell me the exact source. Probably afraid I’d go fetch them myself.”

Lin Fu: “…”
Magistrate Xu: “…”
Everyone else: “…”

While most people would circle around their intentions, hiding their motives, Jiang Ji simply laid everything bare without hesitation.

Off to the side, Jiang Yan’s eyes twitched with amusement.

Jiang Ji asked bluntly, “So, Steward Lin, which seeds are you interested in buying?”

“All of them.”

“How much?”

Glancing briefly at the magistrate, Lin Fu ventured, “However much you have, the Lin estate can take it all.”

“All of it?”

“Yes.”

Jiang Ji blinked, exchanged a quick glance with Jiang Yan, then met Magistrate Xu’s eyes.

Lin Fu, watching closely, sensed something subtle in their reactions and began wondering what the magistrate was thinking.

“Well then, Steward Lin,” Jiang Ji asked tactfully, “how much land does your master own?”

Lin Fu didn’t give an exact number. “Several hundred mu.”

Jiang Ji smiled. “And does your master plan to plant it all himself—or buy up all my seeds to, say, resell them… exclusively?”

Lin Fu froze. That was exactly his master’s plan—to buy up the supply, plant some, and sell the rest at a marked-up price. Ideally, he’d also find out the source of the seeds.

But this young man was sharp. He’d sidestepped every trap and even seen through the Lin family’s little scheme.

Surprised, Lin Fu took a good look at Jiang Ji. A bright-faced young man, tanned from labor but full of spirit, smiling mildly yet with eyes that seemed to see right through him.

Lin Fu glanced at the magistrate again—Magistrate Xu didn’t look his way. Realizing it was unwise to expose such intentions in front of the county official, Lin Fu carefully chose his words.

“Of course, we intend to plant them ourselves.”

He had already asked around. Every household in Shanqian Village had pre-ordered seeds, and Jiang Ji had promised to supply them.

With over eighty households there—and Jiang Ji’s own forty mu of farmland—the remaining seeds couldn’t be much.

And with several other villages coming today, the total acreage was no small matter. If he delayed, everything might be claimed by the villagers.

Lin Fu asked, “Young man, how many seeds do you have left? Our Lin estate is willing to buy them all. Price is negotiable.”

When Magistrate Xu turned his gaze toward him, Lin Fu quickly added, “I see so many villagers wanting to buy—I’m just worried there won’t be enough for us to plant.”

The magistrate and his aides remained silent, listening. Magistrate Xu didn’t know exactly how much seed Jiang Ji had, but he was slightly worried—if Jiang Ji sold everything to the Lin family, what would the other villages do?

Still, he wanted to hear how Jiang Ji would respond.

After a short pause, Jiang Ji said, “Don’t worry. If the Lin estate intends to plant all its fields with the new seeds, there’s enough.”

Lin Fu relaxed a little. “That’s good to hear.”

Jiang Ji smiled and took a sheet of paper from the table, handing it to him. “Steward Lin, I can sell you enough for all your estate’s fields. Here’s a price list for each type of seed, with how much you need per acre. Calculate what you’ll need and send someone with the payment. I’ll reserve the amount for you.”

Lin Fu read through it carefully, then asked, “Can we also buy cotton seeds?”

“Of course,” Jiang Ji replied. “We’ll just need to sign a planting contract—whatever you grow, you’ll sell to me afterward.”

Lin Fu frowned slightly. “…And if we don’t sign?”

“Then I’m sorry, not for now,” Jiang Ji said. “But if you buy a large quantity of other seeds, I can give you a two-wen discount per type. Two wen might mean nothing to the Lin estate, but to us, it’s a big sum. Please tell your master—it’s my gesture of goodwill.”

The Lin family didn’t care about such a small amount, so Lin Fu nodded. “You said ‘not for now.’ Does that mean later we can?”

“Yes—once I’ve signed enough planting contracts with the farmers, you can buy normally.”

“How much is ‘enough’?”

“A few hundred mu’s worth.”

Lin Fu was taken aback. So much cotton? At the yield he’d claimed earlier—fifty to sixty jin per acre—Jiang Ji would have hundreds of mu worth of cotton to process. Was he planning to sell it elsewhere?

But at market price, wouldn’t that mean no profit?

Suppressing his doubts, Lin Fu nodded. “If you ever have excess seed, please contact us. The Lin estate is willing to buy it all.”

“Alright,” Jiang Ji agreed readily. “But I doubt there’ll be any left—many villagers will need some too.”

The meaning was clear enough, and Lin Fu understood. He rose to his feet. “Alright, it’s getting late. I’ll take my leave.”

“Why not stay for lunch before you go?”

“No need, no need. I have to return and report this matter to my master.”

“Alright then, please wait a moment.”

Jiang Ji went into his room and exchanged a bag of sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, and rice from the system. Bringing the bag out, he handed it to Lin Fu.

“Steward Lin, please take this back to Master Lin so he can try the new crops. Just steam them over water for two quarters of an hour. The potatoes can also be cut into chunks and stewed with meat, or sliced thin and stir-fried with a bit of vinegar—just peel them first. The taste is pretty good.”

Lin Fu smiled broadly as he accepted the bag. “You’re very thoughtful, young man. Thank you.”

After bidding farewell to the magistrate, Lin Fu climbed onto the carriage and left.

Jiang Ji returned to the main room and asked Magistrate Xu, “Sir, does the Lin estate do textile or fabric business?”

“I recall they have a cloth shop,” said the magistrate.

Magistrate Xu glanced at the clerk, who nodded. “Yes, their family mainly deals in grain, oil, and tea. They also opened one cloth shop.”

“No spinning, dyeing, or weaving workshops?”

The clerk shook his head. “None.”

Jiang Ji exhaled in relief. “Good.”

Magistrate Xu chuckled. “What’s this? You seemed quite bold just now.”

“Well, that’s only because you were here, sir. You give me confidence,” Jiang Ji said with a sheepish grin.

The magistrate smiled faintly but said nothing more.

Jiang Ji poured him another cup of water and asked, “Sir, could I borrow a few men?”

“For what purpose?”

“I want to make some flyers—to send around the villages. They’ll explain that there are new seeds for sale in Shanqian Village west of town, list the benefits of each crop, the potential yield, and details about the cotton-planting contract. But I can’t reach all the villages on foot, and I’m not familiar with every area. If you could help me gather the village chiefs and elders for a meeting, that would work too.”

It had been a surprise that the magistrate came today, and since he clearly cared about this matter, Jiang Ji thought it would be smart to use the county’s authority for help. Otherwise, traveling to give speeches one by one would exhaust him.

If the village heads and elders came to hear him, they could spread the message much faster.

Magistrate Xu considered, then nodded. “Alright. But do you have enough seed? Enough for the whole county?”

Jiang Ji had already thought it through. “There’s enough rice seed for the entire county. As for cotton—you know I’m having farmers sign contracts. Once I reach the required amount, if there’s any left, I’ll sell the rest. Sweet potatoes can go in stages: I’ll sell the first batch now, then when the vines grow, others can buy cuttings to plant. You can keep planting through May, so it’ll spread countywide. For potatoes and corn, I’ll sell as much as possible.”

He added, “Besides, sir, as you know—most people won’t switch completely to new seeds in the first year. They’re cautious and like to test small plots first. The demand won’t be overwhelming right away.”

The magistrate nodded, already aware of that. Still, he looked surprised. “So you have enough seed for the whole county?”

“Yes.”

Hearing that, Magistrate Xu immediately agreed. “Alright, I’ll gather the village heads. Once your flyer is ready, let me know.”

“Will do, thank you, sir.” Jiang Ji cupped his hands in gratitude.

After lunch, the magistrate and his men left, promising to arrange a meeting with the county’s wealthy landowners once Jiang Ji was prepared.

When they were gone, Jiang Ji rushed back inside and grabbed Jiang Yan. “Jiang Yan, quick, help me write the flyer.”

Having overheard their conversation, Jiang Yan asked, “What should it say?”

“Let’s think. We’ll introduce the advantages—what benefits each seed brings, the expected yields—and then put the price list at the end. Let’s draft it first.”

Jiang Ji took out his notebook, and the two discussed while writing. Eventually, they settled on a final version, and Jiang Yan copied it neatly.

Meanwhile, Lin Fu returned home and reported everything to Master Lin. Since Jiang Ji had said quite a lot, Lin Fu only repeated the key points he remembered.

Master Lin looked at the bag Lin Fu had brought back, picked up a sweet potato, and asked, “So this is it? You’re saying this can really be eaten?”

“It can, truly. I tried a piece myself—it’s good.”

Master Lin said, “Have someone cook it. I’ll taste it myself.”

Lin Fu called a servant over and explained how to prepare it. The servant took the bag away.

“You said that boy, Jiang Ji, is asking villagers to plant cotton and sign some kind of contract?”

“Yes, a planting contract. He sets the price before planting, and says that if the yield is under twenty jin per acre, he’ll compensate them three taels of silver.”

Master Lin drummed his fingers on the table, frowning. “He’s that confident? Then the cotton must really yield well. Where did that poor boy get his methods?”

“He wouldn’t say. And with the magistrate sitting there, I couldn’t push further,” Lin Fu said, then suggested cautiously, “Perhaps we could meet him privately again? Use a bit of pressure—he’ll talk.”

Master Lin shot him a sharp look. “He already announced he’s selling seeds under the magistrate’s eye. If we seize his supply and resell it, it’d be like banging a gong to tell everyone we stole his business. How would we explain that to the magistrate?”

“But sir, you and the magistrate are on decent terms, aren’t you?”

“The magistrate keeps good relations with all the county’s major families. All of them. Which means—none of us are special.”

Lin Fu: “…”

Master Lin shook his head. “No. This concerns the county’s food supply. If it succeeds, it’ll be a real political achievement. The magistrate might even earn a promotion. He won’t allow anyone to sabotage it.”

Lin Fu said, “Then what if another household tries to snatch the idea?”

“The clever ones,” Master Lin said calmly, “won’t try.”

Lin Fu said, “…So we’re just leaving it at that?”

“We’re not getting involved,” Master Lin nodded. “By the way, he’s collecting that much cotton—does he plan to sell it elsewhere?”

“He didn’t say, but he’s buying it at the current market price. If he ships it out to sell, he’d lose money.”

Master Lin thought for a moment, then looked up at his steward. “Could it be that he plans to spin and weave the cotton himself?”

“With that much cotton? Could he even handle it? Most of the thread and cloth in town are made by the Zhang family. The rest are all brought in from outside.”

Master Lin gave a cold laugh. “If that Jiang Ji really is planning to spin and weave it himself, then that’s perfect.”

The Lin and Zhang families had been at odds for generations. If someone came along to compete with the Zhangs, Master Lin would be delighted.

Lin Fu hesitated. “But he’s just a peasant from a small village. Could he really manage that much?”

“Who cares, as long as he doesn’t compete with us.”

“You’re right, Master.”

The master and servant looked at each other and laughed.

The next morning, Jiang Ji took the flyer Jiang Yan had written and went to the county office to see the magistrate.

The magistrate read it through once and found no issue with it, then ordered the staff to print copies. The county yamen regularly issued notices to villages and had a full set of movable-type printing blocks.

“They’ll distribute them all today and tomorrow. I’ll have the village heads come the day after tomorrow. You come that morning.”

“Alright,” Jiang Ji said with a smile. “Thank you, sir.”

He left behind two large bags of sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes. “For the brothers going out to the villages—let them have a taste.”

“Take them back, take them back. Save them for the villagers to plant,” Magistrate Xu refused.

Jiang Ji scratched his head. “Then how about this—after the meeting the day after tomorrow, I’ll treat everyone to food and wine. That’ll be fine, right?”

The magistrate gave him a sidelong glance but said nothing. “Do as you see fit.”

Jiang Ji understood and left with a grin.

When he returned home, several village chiefs were in the main room, along with a few representatives from different villages copying down the planting instructions at the table.

“Uncles, are you here to register, or do you still have questions?”

One of the village chiefs laughed. “I came to deliver the registration list. I’ve already filled it out just as you said.”

“So fast?”

Jiang Ji was a little surprised. He took the list and glanced over it—sure enough, it was densely filled in. Besides rice and sweet potatoes, quite a few people had signed up for cotton as well.

“This is only half. People were worried the seeds would run out, so they pushed me to bring this first batch right away. I’ll bring the rest tomorrow.”

Jiang Ji smiled. “Alright. Please let everyone know that when we sell the cotton seeds, we’ll also sign the planting contracts.”

His own village chief was there too, and Jiang Ji asked, “Has everyone registered?”

The village chief nodded with a cheerful grin. “Every household has.”

Jiang Ji raised his brows—not too surprised.

Watching the people copying at the table, he suddenly thought of something.

These handwritten planting guides were far too slow to copy one by one. He could have them printed and sell them to the villages instead—especially since he’d eventually be promoting this nationwide.

He wondered if the magistrate would be willing to take that job.

He’d ask him about it the day after tomorrow.

🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾

Ch 32: The Regent’s Farmer Husband

Going village by village would be far too slow, so Jiang Ji decided to hold a single talk for three to five villages at once—it would save time and effort.

Besides, he didn’t want to go door to door himself. The right way was to contact each village chief and have them inform their people of the meeting time.

He even asked Uncle Tu Gen to go into town and notify the county magistrate that there would be a seed promotion meeting tomorrow. If the magistrate was interested, he could come and see for himself.

The commotion from his own village’s seed purchase had been quite noticeable, and the neighboring villages had all heard about it. Many had asked around and were envious that his village had access to these new seeds.

Rumors, at times like this, were incredibly useful.

Carrying a basket filled with sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, as well as rice seeds and cotton seeds, Jiang Ji first went to the next village down the road—the one where Jiang Nan and the others went to school.

This village was close by, and the news about Shanqian Village’s “new crops” had already spread. A few households here had even bought sweet potatoes and potatoes from them and seen the results themselves. They’d all heard bits and pieces about the seeds but had no way to get any.

Some people had already come to Jiang Ji’s house asking before, and he’d told them to wait. Now, at last, they were hearing that he was ready to sell seeds.

When the local chief learned of Jiang Ji’s visit, he immediately called in several village elders.

Jiang Ji personally showed them the new crops—sweet potatoes, rice seeds, and cotton seeds.

“Tomorrow, around mid-morning, I’ll be giving a talk in front of our ancestral hall,” he said. “Please spread the word—anyone interested in learning about the new crops or buying seeds is welcome to come.”

The village chief was excited. “So every household can buy some?”

“As long as they’re willing to plant with me, there’s enough for everyone,” Jiang Ji replied. “We’ll also introduce a few new cooperation options so people can choose what suits them.”

“Good, good! I’ll notify everyone right away so they can come listen to you tomorrow.”

“If your relatives or friends are interested, they’re welcome too. Anyone who wants seeds can come.”

At this point in time, word of mouth was the best advertisement. Starting from his own village and spreading outward, bit by bit—that was his ideal plan.

After finishing with the first three villages, Jiang Ji and the chief visited two more behind the hills. By the time they’d made the rounds, the sun was already setting.

They returned home, and Jiang Ji invited the chief to stay for dinner so they could discuss a few details.

The chief and the elders had previously been told by the magistrate to fully support Jiang Ji’s crop promotion, so the chief was happy to help—but he still had a small worry.

“If too many people start planting,” he asked, “won’t the prices for sweet potatoes and corn drop later?”

“Don’t worry, Chief,” Jiang Ji reassured him. “It won’t just be our county buying—neighboring counties will too. No one needs to fear losing buyers or dropping prices, at least not this year.”

That eased the chief’s mind.

Jiang Ji also asked him to remind their own villagers to attend tomorrow’s meeting—he would be talking about both rice and cotton seeds. The chief agreed.

That night, Jiang Ji and Jiang Yan drew up the planting contracts. He even showed them to his livestream audience—some of whom studied law—and they helped him patch up several loopholes in the wording.

The next morning, Jiang Ji’s household steamed a big pot of sweet potatoes, corn, and rice. With so many people coming, it would be impossible for everyone to get a full serving like before in his own village, but the point was simply to show that the new crops were edible—and tasty.

He wasn’t worried about attendance anyway. The promise of high-yield rice and sweet potatoes was lure enough; people would come.

After breakfast, villagers from the other villages began arriving at Shanqian Village in groups—some even brought their own stools. Once they found out where the ancestral hall was, they headed that way.

Jiang Ji’s courtyard couldn’t possibly hold that many people, so he and the village chief arranged to use the open space in front of the ancestral hall, where village meetings were normally held.

Three tables were set up in front, and Jiang Ji, the chief, and several young men helped organize the crowd, seating them by village to keep order. Each of the five village chiefs oversaw their own people.

By the time the meeting was about to begin, the clearing was packed. Those with stools sat; others stood or simply squatted on the ground.

Suddenly, a stir ran through the crowd. A group of strong young men were escorting several middle-aged men in long robes—the kind only worn by people of status.

“Who are they? Such a big entourage?”

“Are they landlords?”

“It’s not—wait, the man in the middle… isn’t that the county magistrate?”

“What? The magistrate? That can’t be right—why would he come here?”

“I heard from folks in their village that the magistrate visited a few days ago, went to Jiang Ji’s house to see their sweet potato seedlings.”

Hearing the commotion behind him, Jiang Ji turned and spotted the county magistrate among the crowd—along with the assistant magistrate and the clerk. Overjoyed, he hurried to call the village chief and went up to greet them.

“Honorable sirs, you’ve come. This humble one—”

He was just about to bow deeply when the magistrate quickly reached out to stop him. “We came today in plain clothes, not in our official robes. There’s no need for such formalities.”

Jiang Ji straightened up with a smile. “Understood, then please, this way.”

He led the officials to the front and seated them. The village chiefs and elders, realizing the county officials were present, all came forward to pay their respects and stayed by their side.

The villagers behind were buzzing with excitement.

“It really is the magistrate!”
“The magistrate actually came here!”
“Why would he come?”

Everyone was curious.

When the time came to start, Jiang Ji stepped forward to speak.

With so many people, those in the back might not hear him clearly, so he rolled up a piece of stiff paper into a makeshift megaphone and began.

“Uncles, aunts, and fellow villagers—my name is Jiang Ji, from Shanqian Village. Today’s gathering was arranged with the help of the village chiefs. As they’ve told you, I’m here to talk about new high-yield rice seeds and other new crops.”

At the mention of high-yield rice and new varieties, the crowd began murmuring with interest.

Jiang Ji clapped his hands to draw attention and continued, “As you’ve probably seen, our honorable Magistrate Xu truly cares for the people and has taken great interest in crop improvement. He, Assistant Magistrate Zhou, and Clerk Wu are all here with us today.”

The crowd turned toward the front, staring in awe at the officials.

Magistrate Xu smiled and shook his head, recognizing that Jiang Ji was borrowing his name for credibility—but he didn’t mind. He had expected as much. Rising to his feet, he faced the villagers; the assistant magistrate and clerk followed his lead.

As the crowd began to kneel, Magistrate Xu raised his hand and called out, “Good people, there’s no need for ceremony. Please, everyone, sit. We’re here today to observe the promotion of these new seeds. If you have questions later, you may ask Jiang Ji directly.”

Hearing this, the villagers felt reassured and sat back down, their confidence in the project greatly strengthened.

If the magistrate himself had come, then it had to be real.

Jiang Ji smiled. “I believe everyone has heard by now about our village buying sweet potatoes and potatoes, yes?”

He gestured to the table. “Here, you can see them—sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn. I obtained them from southern merchants…”

He then began introducing the crops just as he had done in his own village—explaining their yields and uses, and inviting representatives from each village to come up and taste them: some tried the sweet potatoes, others the corn, and so on.

“Well? How do they taste?”

“They’re delicious! You can really eat these sweet potatoes!”
“This rice tastes better than what we grow now!”
“The corn’s a little sweet—not bad at all.”
“And this thing called ‘potato,’ it’s edible too! That’s what matters!”

After everyone had sampled the food, Jiang Ji explained each crop’s benefits and potential profits.

“In short,” he said, “you don’t have to worry about not knowing how to plant them. I’ve already written down the full cultivation methods. Each village can send someone to copy a set, and when it’s time for sowing and seedling care, you can send people to learn. If you run into problems, you can come to me.”

After a round of murmured discussion, he took a sip of water and continued, “That covers sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, and rice. Now, let’s talk about cotton.”

The crowd quieted, all eyes turning toward him.

“Right now, not many of us grow cotton, and even those who do only plant a little. Can anyone tell me why?”

Someone called out, “Because the yield’s too low. A whole acre barely gives any cotton—it’s not worth it.”

“Yeah, we can’t even fill our stomachs, who’s got land to waste on cotton?”

Jiang Ji chuckled. “That’s because the seeds we use are poor, and we haven’t mastered the right methods. That’s why yields are so low. But actually, cotton sells for a high price. Doesn’t anyone here want to plant it?”

The villagers looked at each other. One man finally said, “If the yield were higher, of course we’d want to! Who doesn’t want to earn more money, right everyone?”

“Right—but the cotton just doesn’t form bolls properly. You might plant a big field and harvest only a few baskets. And since it’s light, you don’t earn much—less than planting other crops.”

Jiang Ji smiled. “The seeds I brought can yield at least fifty to sixty jin of cotton per acre—some fields can reach seventy to eighty jin. Do you believe that?”

“At least fifty or sixty jin? No way!”
“I heard the best farmer around only gets twenty jin per acre, and he’s been growing for years!”
“Is that really possible?”
“You’re not tricking us, are you?”

Even Magistrate Xu looked surprised. He thought to himself, If what this young man says is true, the people could not only eat well but also keep warm.

The fifty-to-eighty-jin yield Jiang Ji mentioned was already his conservative estimate, considering they lacked fertilizer and pesticides here.

He raised his hand to quiet the crowd again. “So, you don’t believe me?”

“Not really.”
“Hard to believe without trying.”

Jiang Ji expected that. He lifted his voice. “Alright then—if anyone is willing to plant cotton with me this year, you can buy the seeds on credit. And I’ll sign a contract with you to guarantee it.”

“What kind of contract?”

“A cotton-planting contract,” Jiang Ji explained. “I’ll loan you the cotton seeds first and teach you the cultivation methods. You’ll plant according to my instructions. When harvest time comes, I’ll buy all your cotton at the market price—three hundred twenty wen per jin.”

“I guarantee that each acre will yield at least twenty jin of cotton. If it doesn’t, I’ll compensate you three taels of silver per acre, and the cotton will still belong to me. If it does, you’ll earn at least six taels of silver per acre. Isn’t that a good deal?”

“But,” he added, “you must sell all the cotton to me. You can’t sell it to anyone else.”

The crowd was stunned—including the two officials and the clerk.

Someone asked, “You mean we haven’t even planted yet, and you want us to sign a contract promising to sell all the cotton to you later?”

Jiang Ji nodded. “Exactly. We sign in advance, so you won’t have to worry about finding buyers later. If you fail to harvest twenty jin per acre, I’ll pay you three taels of silver as compensation. Normally, even a good vegetable plot might only earn three taels per acre, right? So you won’t lose anything.”

“This…”

“Is that really true?”

“Three taels per acre is already a lot—you can’t get that much selling vegetables.”

When the discussion grew noisy, Jiang Ji clapped his hands and said, “Let me remind everyone—this offer and price are only valid this year. Next year, they won’t be.”

“Huh? Why only this year?”

“Yeah, why’s that?”

Jiang Ji smiled. “Because I’ll be promoting cotton throughout the whole county. Next year, there’ll be more cotton, so the price will naturally drop—not just here, but across the whole prefecture, even the entire country.”

“Uncles and aunties, whether it’s sweet potatoes, corn, potatoes, cotton, or rice, I’m going to spread them all far and wide. This year will definitely be the most profitable year. As more people start planting, prices will fall. Whether you seize the chance to make money this year—that’s up to you.”

The villagers were stunned. No one had expected Jiang Ji to propose such a contract. They all began discussing whether it was worth it, firing off questions one after another, which Jiang Ji patiently answered.

Finally, he announced, “Anyone interested in buying seeds, go register with your village chief. Each chief has the prices listed. And cotton seeds will only be sold to those willing to sign the planting contract with me. This is a deal where you absolutely can’t lose—first come, first served.”

His words hit the villagers like a hammer. Even if their cotton yield didn’t reach twenty jin per acre, they’d still get three taels of silver; and if it did, at three hundred twenty wen per jin, they could earn six taels per acre.

Six taels!

Everyone began calculating in their heads.

By noon, the meeting was over and the villagers dispersed. Jiang Ji invited the officials home for lunch.

Magistrate Xu asked curiously, “Jiang Ji, isn’t this cotton contract of yours a bit ambitious? Are you sure you won’t lose money?”

Jiang Ji replied confidently, “As long as they follow my planting methods, I won’t lose a thing.”

“You plan to use all that cotton for weaving—or sell it elsewhere?”

“For my own use,” Jiang Ji said, meeting his gaze. “I want to open a textile workshop. It’ll provide plenty of jobs for the common folk.”

Even if the workshop couldn’t use it all, he could always sell the extra elsewhere.

He explained his full plan—cotton planting, textile production, and fabric sales—and how it could boost Changping County’s economy.

Magistrate Xu’s eyes brightened. “That’s a fine idea. If it works, it’ll be a great boon to the people.”

Jiang Ji took the opportunity to add, “Then, Sir, may I ask a favor?”

“Go ahead.”

“I’d like to invite a few wealthy landowners from the county to meet and discuss cooperation. Could I ask you to attend as well?”

The magistrate gave him a knowing smile. “So you’re trying to rope me in too, eh?”

“Yes, I hope you’ll lend a hand.”

After a brief thought, Magistrate Xu nodded. “Alright, I’ll make an appearance.”

“That’s wonderful!”

Just then, Jiang Nan came running in. “Brother! There’s someone outside—a steward from a certain Lin family in town—he says he wants to see you.”

“Oh?” Magistrate Xu perked up at that. “There’s only one Lin family in town with that surname, and I happen to know them. They own a great deal of land.”

Jiang Ji’s eyes lit up. “Please, invite him in.”

🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾

Ch 31: The Regent’s Farmer Husband

Jiang Ji moved a table over, planning to hammer four nails into the wall of the main hall to hang up the scroll.

Just as he was about to climb onto the table, Jiang Yan stopped him. “I’ll do it. You just direct me.”

Jiang Ji didn’t argue and handed him the nails and hammer.

Standing on the table, Jiang Yan positioned the first nail and asked, “Here, is this spot okay?”

Jiang Ji stood below, guiding him left and right. “A little higher… higher… okay, right there.”

Once all four nails were in, they hung the scroll. Jiang Ji crossed his arms, admiring the result from below.

“Looks great!”

Just then, the village chief came by—he’d heard Jiang Ji was back and wanted to ask about sprouting the potato seedlings. Spotting the scroll hanging in the center of the hall, he exclaimed, “Oh! ‘Wealth and Prosperity Arrives,’ that’s wonderful!”

“Hahaha, isn’t it nice? Jiang Yan wrote it!” Jiang Ji patted Jiang Yan’s shoulder, full of genuine praise. “Even the owner of the calligraphy shop couldn’t stop complimenting it.”

Jiang Yan glanced at him and smiled without saying anything, putting the hammer away.

The village chief nodded approvingly. “It’s really fine work.”

After they admired it for a bit, Jiang Ji said, “By the way, Village Chief, can you call everyone over? I want to explain the potato sprouting process.”

“I was just coming to ask you about that. Alright, I’ll go gather the folks.”

When the chief went out to round people up, Jiang Ji turned to Jiang Yan. “Oh, by the way—the calligraphy shop owner asked if you’d write him a piece. He said the price is negotiable. Want to do it?”

Jiang Yan shook his head. “No.”

Jiang Ji raised an eyebrow. “It’s paid work.”

“I’m not short on money right now,” Jiang Yan said calmly.

Jiang Ji shrugged. “Alright, I’ll let him know.”

Then he bumped Jiang Yan’s shoulder playfully. “But you’ve written two pieces for me already.”

“What I wrote for you was a favor, not a commission,” Jiang Yan said with a faint smile. “Why, are you planning to pay me now?”

“Come on, we’re friends—no need to ruin it by talking about money.” Jiang Ji chuckled, then hoisted a sack of potatoes from the corner. “Time to sprout the seedlings!”

Jiang Yan watched his back as he walked out, the corners of his mouth softening into a small smile.

The villagers soon arrived, and Jiang Yan carried out two bags of potatoes.

Jiang Ji began explaining, “You don’t need to go to the fields for this. We’ll start at home. First, lay the potatoes out to dry for two days—this wakes them from winter dormancy. Make sure to turn them so both sides get sunlight. The sun helps kill bacteria and mold on the surface—kind of like disinfecting them. Just spread them out like this.”

“After two days of drying, move them under the eaves. When you start to see sprouts forming—like these small eyes—you can cut them into pieces.”

He took out a chopping board and a knife. “Make sure the knife’s clean—boil it in water and let it cool first. Then cut like this. For potatoes this size, you can make two or three pieces. Each piece should have at least one sprout eye, preferably two. See these little dots? Those are sprout eyes—the shoots will grow from here. Got it?”

“After cutting, coat the cut surface with wood ash, like this, and set it aside.”

“When all the pieces are coated, lay them under the eaves in layers—two or three layers is fine. Sprinkle some ash between layers. At night, cover them with straw. In the morning, remove the straw so they can get sunlight. Once they sprout and the shoots turn thick and green, they’re ready to plant.”

“Before planting, loosen and dry the soil, then ridge it up.” Jiang Ji looked around the group. “That’s basically it. If anyone forgets, come ask me. I’ll have the village chief call everyone again at each next step so you can see. Today’s weather’s perfect—start drying your seed potatoes right away. Let’s all do it together.”

The villagers asked a few questions, got their answers, and went home to start laying out their potatoes.

By then it was noon. Zhao Ru went to prepare lunch while Jiang Ji and Jiang Yan spread their own potatoes out in a sunny patch of yard, carefully laying them one by one.

When they were done, both washed their hands. Jiang Ji said, “Let me take a look at your wound—it should be about time to remove the stitches.”

“Alright.”

“Sit down, I’ll bring the small table.”

As Jiang Yan went back into the room, Jiang Ji quickly turned to his livestream.

“Hey folks, any surgeons online? Help me check whether Jiang Yan’s wound looks ready for stitch removal.”

Jiang Yan’s injuries had been deep. Jiang Ji had checked before—they were healing well, though slower in the cold and under primitive conditions. Still, it had been eleven days now.

【Perfect timing—it’s lunchtime, I’ll go call my uncle!】
【My high school classmate’s a surgeon, I’ll get him!】

“Thanks, everyone. Once the doctor’s here, please keep quiet so I don’t miss any of his instructions.”

Jiang Ji carried the small table inside. Jiang Yan was already seated by the window where the light was good, his outer robe removed, dressed only in his inner clothes.

Jiang Ji set the table down and brought over the medical kit. He gestured with his chin. “Take it off.”

Jiang Yan slipped off his inner shirt. Jiang Ji rubbed disinfectant between his palms, sanitizing his hands before removing the bandages.

Jiang Yan had four or five deep wounds across his body. The cuts had healed, leaving narrow scars where blades had once struck. The skin around them was faintly yellow-stained from the medicine and disinfectant.

Jiang Ji examined each wound carefully. He glanced at the livestream but didn’t dare ask directly. “They’ve healed pretty well,” he said aloud.

【Recovery looks good. You can remove the stitches.】
【Open the suture removal kit. Take out the scissors, tweezers, and gauze, place them on the wrapper. Keep only the cotton balls inside the box. Pour some iodine on a cotton ball, disinfect the wound and surrounding area twice. Use tweezers to lift the knot slightly, snip one side of the thread with scissors, then pull the stitch out with tweezers. After removing all the stitches, disinfect again with iodine and rebandage.】
【Don’t let the wound get wet afterward. If it turns red or swollen, apply ointment. If not, you can bathe after three to five days.】

Jiang Ji checked the commenter’s name—it was the same doctor who had once taught him suturing.

“Removing stitches stings a bit. Bear with it,” Jiang Ji warned.

Jiang Yan nodded. “It’s fine.”

Jiang Ji knew exactly how much pain he could take. In all these days of healing, he hadn’t heard Jiang Yan complain once—at most, he’d frown slightly.

Jiang Ji pulled on gloves, opened the suture removal kit, disinfected his hands again, and followed the doctor’s step-by-step instructions. He laid out the tools neatly, disinfected the wound with iodine, and, holding tweezers in his left hand and scissors in his right, cut each stitch and pulled it free one by one. Then he disinfected again, placed clean gauze, and wrapped the wound.

None of the wounds were red or inflamed—only the one on his arm was slightly irritated, probably because Jiang Yan used that arm frequently. Jiang Ji applied some ointment and bandaged it carefully.

The whole process took nearly half an hour.

Removing his gloves, Jiang Ji cleaned up and said while packing away the tools, “Don’t let the wounds get wet these next few days. Your arm’s still a little inflamed, so don’t strain it. Give it three to five days. Keep taking the medicine for now.”

“Alright. Thank you.” Jiang Yan dressed himself layer by layer.

Jiang Ji disinfected the tweezers, scissors, and tray with a cloth. Later, he’d boil them to sterilize so they could be reused.

When they came out, Zhao Ru immediately asked, “How’s Jiang Yan’s wound? All healed?”

“Yeah, it’s doing well. Stitches are out—he’ll be moving normally in a few days,” Jiang Ji replied.

“That’s good, that’s good.” Zhao Ru let out a relieved sigh.

After lunch, they rested for a bit. Then Jiang Ji went to flip the drying potatoes. Outside, someone knocked on the gate.

“Excuse me, is this Jiang Ji’s house?”

Jiang Ji looked up—it was Liu Dalang from the livestock yard, the man who hauled manure for him.

“Brother Liu! Yeah, over here,” Jiang Ji called, walking to the gate. “You brought it?”

“Yep, three wagonloads in total. Like you said—pig and cow manure in one, horse and sheep manure in another, separated by boards.”

Behind Liu Dalang stood a woman and a young man—his wife and son, most likely.

“Good.” Jiang Ji went to check. Each large barrel was full. “Come with me—I’ll need your help getting it to the fields. From now on, you can dump it directly over there.”

He called into the house, “Mother, I’m heading to the fields to pile compost!”

“Alright, go on, I’ll be there in a bit!”

Jiang Yan came out and asked, “Need help?”

“No, you finish writing out the planting methods—we’ll need them soon. Once you’re done with potatoes, write cotton next, then corn and rice.”

Jiang Yan nodded. “Got it.”

Jiang Ji picked up a shovel, a hay rake, a basket, and a chopping knife, plus a bucket for irrigation, then led Liu Dalang’s family to the fields. Together, they unloaded the manure barrels, stacking pig, cow, horse, and sheep waste separately near the compost pit.

After paying them, the group left with their carts, and Jiang Ji headed into the woods to collect fallen leaves and dry grass.

Zhao Ru soon came, carrying a hoe and a hatchet.

“Mother, you hang the leaves—I’ll chop this batch.”

Every day, Wu Er delivered a load of manure, and the cleaners at the market sent spoiled vegetable leaves, chicken manure, duck manure, and other waste. After several days, a large pile had formed beside the compost pit.

Zhao Ru went deeper into the woods to gather leaves while Jiang Ji put on the medical gloves he’d used earlier for the suture removal—washed and disinfected, they were perfect for this job.

He chopped the vegetable scraps into short pieces two to three inches long, then cut the leaves and dry grass the same way—ready for composting.

Once the materials were prepared, Zhao Ru took over chopping while Jiang Ji dug out a layer of humus from the forest floor.

Then he dug several crisscrossed trenches on the ground for airflow, spread a layer of leaves and grass, sprinkled a thin layer of humus, added the chopped vegetable waste, covered it with a bit of soil, poured over a layer of manure, then another of forest humus, and finally doused it all with water.

The compost heap was complete—it would now slowly ferment. In twenty days, he’d turn it over once, then let it ferment for another month or so before using it.

By the time he made two piles, the afternoon had slipped away.

Their field wasn’t far from the village, so several villagers passing by spotted Jiang Ji and Zhao Ru working hard and came closer, curious.

“Jiang Ji, what’re you doing over there?”

“Composting.”

Seeing the large heap he’d built, someone asked, “You’re using tree leaves? And grass? And rotten veggies… plus manure?”

“Yes,” Jiang Ji said, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “We don’t have enough manure at home, so we can only make some of our own. Uncle, you should pile some too—it makes great fertilizer.”

Someone pointed at the pit nearby. “Isn’t that manure over there?”

“That’s the batch I bought from town,” Jiang Ji explained. “The pig and cow dung too—I bought those as well.”

“What? You bought manure?”

“Sure did.”

“How much did that cost?”

“About twenty-something coins per cart.”

“So expensive!”

Jiang Ji sighed. “Can’t help it. We have a lot of land, and no fertilizer means no crops. But if your family has a latrine and raises pigs or chickens, you should have enough on your own without buying any.”

The onlookers exhaled in relief. “Good thing! I’d feel sick spending money on manure. Imagine having to buy the stuff.”

Jiang Ji added, “Still, if you’ve got spare money, buy a little. It makes the soil richer.”

The crowd fell silent—no one there had that kind of spare money.

“Uncle, you should also start a compost pile. Just manure alone isn’t enough. Use my method—it’ll make more fertilizer. Dig some channels for air flow, lay leaves and grass at the bottom…” He went through the whole composting process again. “After two months, it’ll be ready. Just in time to use as topdressing for the fields.”

“Alright, I’ll start piling some tomorrow.”

“We’ve got pig dung at home—I’ll make a pile too.”

And so, by the next day, everyone who had heard about it was out in the hills gathering fallen leaves.

Others found it odd—until they asked and heard it was Jiang Ji’s idea to make compost. Word spread fast. Soon, after the village had just finished building new outhouses, a new wave started—now every household was in the mountains collecting leaves and grass for compost.

In the following days, aside from composting, Jiang Ji focused on thinking about cotton.

He copied down all the system tasks related to it and studied them carefully.

Basic weaving technology required spreading rice seeds across ten thousand mu; intermediate level needed fifty thousand mu; and advanced level, one hundred thousand mu.

That rice-seed promotion task was relatively easy.

Next came the blueprints for improved machines—the cotton gin, the spinning machine, and the loom. He’d need to obtain the blueprints first, then build the machines himself.

Each machine blueprint required expanding cotton cultivation—one thousand mu, ten thousand mu, and fifty thousand mu respectively.

The weather would soon warm enough for cotton planting, so he had to hurry.

“Mother,” he asked one day, “how much does cotton sell for at the market now?”

Zhao Ru thought about it. They hadn’t bought cotton in a long while. “About three hundred coins a jin, I think.”

Jiang Ji’s eyes widened. “That expensive?”

“Cotton’s scarce now, of course it’s expensive,” Zhao Ru sighed. “We used to plant a whole mu of it and barely got a little yield.”

Jiang Ji thought to himself—that was because no one had mastered proper cultivation yet, and the seeds were poor.

At that price, pushing for fifty thousand mu of cotton shouldn’t be too hard.

Still, he knew most farmers would focus on filling their bellies first.

After pondering it for two days, he shared his thoughts with his audience on the way to town to pick up the seal and scroll.

“What do you all think? Does it sound doable?”

【Sure, but you need to explain clearly how much profit they’ll make.】
【Or you could do this—sign contracts for cotton planting, and give discounted rice seeds. Like, one coin off per mu—two mu, two coins off.】
【Just show them the math. Compare how much one mu of sweet potatoes earns versus one mu of cotton. They’ll see it themselves.】
【Sweet potatoes are new and will fetch a good price too. Compare it to vegetable prices.】
【I think getting everyone to plant cotton only isn’t realistic, but if each household grows one or two mu, that still adds up. Little by little works too.】
【Large-scale farming might not be realistic yet, at least not in the first year. People are still focused on food. Wait till they see cotton’s profits next year—then you can scale up.】
【If you want large-scale, talk to the landlords—they’ve got the land.】
【Careful though. Dealing with landlords is risky. If they back out or decide to sell to someone else, there’s little you can do. Even if you get compensation, they might just undercut you.】
【Safer to deal with the small farmers. They’re more honest.】
【Or just work with both—it’s not mutually exclusive.】

Then came a golden rain of reward notifications:

—— Xiao Xuehai sent Rice Seed x100

【Xiao Xuehai: Build a good relationship with the magistrate. If you sign contracts with landlords, have the magistrate appear as a witness—it’ll show them you’ve got strong backing.

Those landlords need your new seeds too. When negotiating, you can offer small concessions—not too much. People respect confidence; don’t let them think you’re easy to push around just because you’re a villager. You’re negotiating cooperation, not begging.

If you’re planning to open a textile workshop in the county, you should start building connections now. Good relations with those landlords will help later and prevent them from causing you trouble down the line.】

Jiang Ji immediately spotted the golden comment floating across the screen—his eyes lit up. Xiao Xuehai was a successful businessman; the perfect mentor right here in his chat.

He said, “Thanks for all the advice—and thank you, President Xiao. I wanted to ask: what do you think about linking the cotton contracts with seed discounts, like cheaper rice, sweet potato, or corn seeds?”

【Xiao Xuehai: That’s feasible—but you’ll need to calculate your textile workshop’s future profit margins. How much will your net earnings be? If you discount too heavily, will you take a loss? Of course, it’s normal to lose a bit in the first year, but remember—once you set the price, it’s hard to raise it later. So don’t sell the seeds at a loss.】

Jiang Ji nodded. “I understand. I’ll go back and calculate it carefully.”

Since President Xiao was still around, Jiang Ji took the opportunity to ask him a whole bunch of questions. Before transmigrating, he’d only been a college sophomore—there was a lot he didn’t know. Having a successful entrepreneur right there, he seized the chance to learn everything he could.

President Xiao Xuehai was generous and patient. He shared his own business experiences, analyzed the pros and cons of different approaches, and pointed out many things Jiang Ji hadn’t considered. Hearing it all made everything suddenly clear.

Jiang Ji was thrilled, listening intently. President Xiao covered so many topics that he couldn’t remember them all, so he immediately exchanged for a notebook and pen and began taking notes right there on the road.

During their “conversation,” the livestream chat went quiet—most viewers were listening seriously. After all, it wasn’t every day they got to hear a business magnate share his wisdom.

【We’re so lucky today—free masterclass from President Xiao!】
【He really has that sharp insight—straight to the point every time.】
【Feels like sitting in one of my business case lectures.】
【Worth every minute.】
【It’s like I’m back in class.】
【Our host’s such a good student.】

They walked and talked, stopping occasionally for Jiang Ji to jot something down. Normally the walk to town took an hour, but this time it took him two.

“A single conversation with a wise man is worth ten years of study. President Xiao, thank you.”

When he arrived at the calligraphy and painting shop, Jiang Ji picked up the “Sea Embraces a Hundred Rivers” scroll for President Xiao. He unrolled it carefully—everything looked perfect.

Then he tried out Jiang Yan’s new seal by pressing it into the ink paste. The imprint was clean and well-cut. Satisfied, he paid the remaining balance.

The shopkeeper asked, “So, did you ask him? Did he agree to sell?”

Jiang Ji shook his head. “He said he doesn’t sell his calligraphy.”

The shopkeeper sighed regretfully. “Ah, I see. Did you tell him I’m willing to pay a high price?”

“He said he’s not short on money.”

“Understood,” said the shopkeeper, still disappointed.

Jiang Ji smiled. “By the way, you sell ink paste here, right?”

“Yes, on the back shelf. I can show you—”

“No need, I’ll find it myself.”

Jiang Ji went to the shelf, picked a high-quality ink paste, and then quietly asked, “President Xiao, Jiang Yan’s seal is ready—would you like me to stamp it on your scroll for you?”

—— Xiao Xuehai sent Rice Seed x100.
—— Xiao Xuehai sent Rice Seed x100.

【Xiao Xuehai: Please do. Thank you.】

“Alright. It’s fitting—this will be Jiang Yan’s first official seal impression. I’ll ask him when I get home before I stamp it, but I’m sure he won’t mind. Give me about an hour.”

【Xiao Xuehai: Alright.】

As Jiang Ji went to pay, he noticed a stand of scroll tubes beside the counter. He looked through them one by one and asked softly, “President Xiao, there are scroll cases here for storing paintings and calligraphy. Which one do you like? I’ll gift it to you as thanks for your help.”

—— Xiao Xuehai sent Rice Seed x100.
—— Xiao Xuehai sent Rice Seed x100.

【Xiao Xuehai: The light blue one.】

Jiang Ji picked out the pale blue tube with cloud patterns. “This one?”

【Xiao Xuehai: Yes.】

“Alright.”

He paid for the ink paste and scroll tube, then rolled up the calligraphy and placed it neatly inside.

【Ahhh, even a scroll tube! It looks amazing!】
【So vintage—it really feels ancient.】
【That scroll case alone is a collectible!】
【The host is so thoughtful.】
【Can it be transmitted too?】
【Yeah, does the scroll tube count as a separate item?】

Jiang Ji paused, ducking into a quiet corner before whispering, “2977, the scroll tube can be transmitted too, right? It’s part of the artwork set—it’s packaging, an essential accessory. That should count, shouldn’t it?”

2977: 【Yes, it counts.】

Jiang Ji let out a relieved breath and told the viewers, “All good! 2977 says it’s allowed.”

【Phew, great!】
【Ahhh, why didn’t mine come with a scroll tube?】

It was the guy who had won the grand prize earlier.

Jiang Ji chuckled. “Back then, I didn’t even have any scroll tubes at home. And this one’s a special thank-you gift for President Xiao.”

【…I could teach you programming as thanks.】

Jiang Ji was speechless. “Brother, even if I learned programming—what would I run it on here?”

【…】
【Hahahahaha, that’s gold.】
【Yeah, there aren’t even computers or phones—what’s he gonna program on?】

After buying some xuan paper next door, Jiang Ji also stopped by a cotton shop to confirm prices—cotton was three hundred twenty coins per jin. He checked prices for cotton thread and cloth too, jotting everything in his notebook before heading home.

On the way back, he continued asking President Xiao for advice.

Xiao Xuehai seemed to be waiting in the livestream for the finished calligraphy. He was patient and answered every question. Jiang Ji learned a great deal.

When he got home, Jiang Ji handed Jiang Yan the seal. “Jiang Yan, your seal’s finished. Look—it came out really nice.”

He set down the ink paste. Jiang Yan tested the seal on paper. “Hmm. Not bad.”

Jiang Ji unrolled Sea Embraces a Hundred Rivers and asked, “Can you stamp it here?”

Jiang Yan nodded and pressed the red seal just below his name.

With that bright red mark, the work was finally complete.

“Looks great. Let’s stamp ours too.”

Jiang Ji climbed onto the table, took down Wealth and Prosperity Arrives, and had Jiang Yan add his seal to that one as well. Once the ink dried, he hung it back up.

“Oh, and I got you some large sheets of xuan paper—you can use them for writing big characters or painting. Whatever you like.” Jiang Ji took out the bundle and placed it on the table.

Jiang Yan glanced at it. “Thank you.”

“No need to thank me.”

Jiang Ji admired the calligraphy for a moment, then carefully rolled up Sea Embraces a Hundred Rivers and placed it inside the scroll tube before returning to his room.

“President Xiao, all set—I’m about to transmit the scroll tube to you.”

【Xiao Xuehai: Ready.】

Jiang Ji set the scroll tube on the bed, watched as it was scanned into the system, then clicked Send Reward. In the next second, the tube vanished.

Moments later—

—— Xiao Xuehai sent Rice Seed x100.
—— Xiao Xuehai sent Rice Seed x100.
……
【Xiao Xuehai: Received, thank you!】

The businessman was clearly delighted; he immediately tipped another million rice seeds in total.

As golden effects shimmered across the screen, Jiang Ji’s lips curved upward. So generous! He’d just made another two hundred thousand today.

Feeling cheerful, he left the room with his notebook and pen, sat down across from Jiang Yan, and began reviewing the notes he had taken. After reading through them once, he started doing calculations.

He spent the entire afternoon working through the numbers, and with help from his online viewers, finally sorted everything out—he even drafted a preliminary plan.

The next day, Jiang Ji sought out the village chief and asked him to visit a few nearby villages together to contact their chiefs.

It was time for him to start promoting cotton planting on his own.

🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾

Ch 30: The Regent’s Farmer Husband

Jiang Yan looked at Jiang Ji clinging to him, completely confused. “What does my calligraphy have to do with rice seed gifts?”

Jiang Ji blinked innocently. “I just remembered—my seed supplier said before that he really loves calligraphy and painting. He’ll definitely like your writing! Let’s give him a piece of your calligraphy so he’ll send us more seeds.”

Jiang Yan: … His skill at making things up with a straight face was getting disturbingly natural.

Jiang Ji patted him hard on the back and dragged him toward the table. “Don’t worry about the details, just write it for me. Come on, I’ll grind the ink for you.”

He even poured clean water and started grinding the ink himself.

Jiang Yan sighed helplessly, rolled up his sleeves, spread the paper flat, and weighed it down with an inkstone. “What should I write this time?”

Jiang Ji had already decided. “Hai Na Bai Chuan—‘The sea embraces a hundred rivers!’”

The boss would definitely like that.

Jiang Yan fetched the tung-oil lamp from the room, brightening the space considerably.

As Jiang Ji ground the ink, he said, “Write this one however you like—something bold and full of momentum. Make it horizontal; it’ll look better hanging that way.”

“Alright.”

Once the ink was ready, Jiang Yan lifted the brush. The tip had a few loose hairs; he plucked one away, dipped the brush into the ink, and began.

“This brush isn’t very good, huh?” Jiang Ji noticed and asked.

“It tends to split a little, but it’ll do,” Jiang Yan replied.

After a brief pause to think, his wrist moved fluidly—his strokes strong, flowing, and unbroken.

“Wow!” Jiang Ji couldn’t hold back his admiration. He gave Jiang Yan a big thumbs-up. “Vigorous, powerful, majestic—absolutely beautiful!”

At that, a faint smile curved Jiang Yan’s lips.

“Quick, sign your name!” Jiang Ji urged.

Jiang Yan added the date and his signature. Jiang Ji nodded repeatedly, completely satisfied.

“Ah, it’s so good, I almost don’t want to give it away.”

【Hahaha, host, don’t you dare—】
【President Xiao’s waiting, don’t you back out now】
【He’s probably staring at the screen, scared to remind you in case you change your mind】

— Xiao Xuehai sent 100 Rice Seeds.
— Xiao Xuehai sent 100 Rice Seeds.
— Xiao Xuehai sent 100 Rice Seeds.

…

Jiang Ji admired the piece for a while longer, tracing his fingers over the bold characters as if studying how the strokes were made.

When he finally looked back at the livestream, his eyes were nearly dazzled by another flood of golden rice-seed effects.

He squinted at the chat and finally realized what everyone was saying. Even President Xiao seemed a little anxious by now.

Stepping into the courtyard, Jiang Ji lowered his voice and said, “Don’t worry, I’m not going back on my word. I said it’s for President Xiao, and it’ll go to President Xiao.”

“Do you guys understand what these four characters mean? Hai Na Bai Chuan—‘The sea embraces all rivers, therefore it becomes vast; a man with tolerance achieves greatness.’ It’s a famous saying in our country. I wonder if 2977’s translation is accurate.”

【We know, we know】
【Hai Na Bai Chuan!】
【We kinda get it. The system probably translates it for us anyway, should be close enough.】

“As long as you understand. Actually, it’s part of a longer phrase with sixteen characters, but these four are the most well-known. They’re often hung in studies or offices—it fits President Xiao perfectly, I think. Wonder if he likes it?”

— Xiao Xuehai sent 100 Rice Seeds.
— Xiao Xuehai sent 100 Rice Seeds.
— Xiao Xuehai sent 100 Rice Seeds.

【Xiao Xuehai: I like it very much. Thank you.】

Jiang Ji grinned. “By the way, President Xiao, would you like me to have it mounted for you, or will you handle it yourself?”

“Here, we usually mount it as a horizontal scroll. You can check one of my earlier streams—about two or three days ago—where I had one of Jiang Yan’s works mounted. The shop in town makes those elegant scrolls, though they’re a bit fragile and don’t keep as long. If I handle it here, it’ll take about three days before it’s ready to send.”

— Xiao Xuehai sent 100 Rice Seeds.
— Xiao Xuehai sent 100 Rice Seeds.
— Xiao Xuehai sent 100 Rice Seeds.

【Xiao Xuehai: Please have it mounted for me. Thank you.】

He even paid the mounting fee. Jiang Ji’s eyes curved into happy crescents. “Perfect! I’ll take it to town tomorrow.”

At the kitchen doorway, Jiang Yan was washing his brush. From time to time, he looked out into the courtyard—Jiang Ji was muttering to himself again, as if talking to invisible people. It was hard not to think there was something strange about him.

Jiang Yan sighed softly. Was the boy growing more and more careless around him? Trusting someone this easily… wasn’t always a good thing.

Meanwhile, in the courtyard, Jiang Ji was in high spirits, chatting and laughing with his viewers, reviewing the day’s achievements.

In the first week after he’d started streaming, the audience had been small, and he’d earned almost no points at all.

Only within the past week had Jiang Ji’s viewer count really taken off—millions tuning in daily. The system awarded one point per hundred unique views, so he was now earning tens of thousands of points a day.

But today was something else entirely. Between the trending searches, the homepage recommendation, and the irresistible lure of the lottery feature, his viewership had stayed in the tens of millions.

During the courthouse stream that morning, the peak had hit over twenty million; it dipped afterward, but the moment he announced a prize draw that night, a flood of people came pouring back in.

At its height, the audience had again surpassed twenty million.

The system counted total visits, not simultaneous viewers—each entry, even a repeat, counted once. By the end of the day, the total added up to nearly six hundred thousand points.

The system’s points followed their own mysterious internal exchange logic. Jiang Ji didn’t know exactly how much one point was worth in his previous life’s currency, but there was a simple reference: one point could be exchanged for one jin of rice.

Sweet potatoes and potatoes could both be used directly as seed tubers, so their price matched that of food in the system’s store—relatively cheap.

But because the amount of seed tubers needed per acre was massive, it had cost him forty to fifty thousand points just to exchange enough for the whole village.

The other crop seeds in the system—high-quality cotton, rice, and wheat—were much more expensive.

Rice was especially costly and required in large quantities: fifteen points for a single jin of premium hybrid rice seed.

If he wanted to promote rice cultivation widely, he would need a mountain of points.

Today, however, Xiao Xuehai’s enormous donation—over twenty-two million yuan’s worth of rice-seed props—had solved a huge part of that problem.

The rice-seed prop was the most expensive gift in the livestream: each one cost the viewer a thousand yuan and yielded a hundred jin of real rice seed when redeemed. That made it far cheaper than buying directly through the system’s store.

The small gifts—the one-yuan, five-yuan, ten-yuan kinds—were more common, but the food obtained through them matched the store’s prices, no advantage there.

Only this thousand-yuan prop offered such a generous exchange.

Jiang Ji wondered: maybe the system figured that big spenders were rare, so it rewarded such donations with extra value?

He didn’t really understand the designer’s logic—but he wasn’t about to complain. This windfall had solved a major seed shortage.

More importantly, it gave him a new idea.

This kind of donation prop was way too cost-effective. If other wealthy collectors showed up wanting antiques, calligraphy, or paintings from his world, he could just tell them to use this one-thousand-yuan gift. So much simpler!

He opened the task panel again to see if there were more missions like the one with Xiao Xuehai.

When he found Special Task 188, it was now greyed out—marked Completed. Only the “Send Reward” button was still lit, showing he hadn’t delivered the prize yet.

The grey text meant it was a one-time task—once completed, it vanished.

Jiang Ji: …

He scrolled further down and finally found a similar one—but this time, the condition was a single-day donation of fifty million.

Jiang Ji: …

So the system knew how to raise the stakes.

He decided not to tell his audience about this yet and looked through the rest of the task list.

There were two categories: regular tasks and special tasks.

The regular ones mostly involved reaching certain viewer counts—either daily or cumulative—and Jiang Ji had already completed quite a few.

After that came the agricultural promotion tasks: spreading crops like rice, corn, and sweet potatoes to a set number of households—at least a thousand each.

The special tasks, though… those were absurd.

There were ones he hadn’t even noticed before, like “Reveal the system’s existence to your family.” And others like “Explain menstruation to your relatives” or “Teach that the planet is round.”

Apparently, the system wanted him to be a walking encyclopedia.

And some were downright impossible—“Cook a meal personally for the Emperor,” “Go fishing with the Emperor.”

Jiang Ji: …

“I don’t even know who the Emperor is, and you want me to cook for him? Go fishing with him?”

He was dumbfounded. “2977, don’t you think this is getting ridiculous?”

【What happened? What’s ridiculous? Tell us!】
【Yeah, come on, let us laugh too!】

Jiang Ji sighed. “Do you guys know what kind of special missions this system gives me? I just saw one that says I have to cook for the Emperor—and go fishing with him!”

【Hahahaha! Well, dream big, you never know!】
【As expected from a system—delusional perfection.】
【That’s like one of us cooking for the president and then inviting him fishing! Hahaha!】

“No, listen,” Jiang Ji said. “For you, maybe that’s doable. But this is a feudal empire! Ordinary people never even see the Emperor, not once in their life! We don’t even know what he looks like! At least you know what your leaders look like, right?”

【Fair point. That’s… yeah, pretty much impossible.】
【That’s why it’s called a special task—high difficulty!】

“Sigh… this system’s a total scam.” Jiang Ji sighed and kept scrolling.

The task rewards matched the difficulty. Early ones unlocked new donation props—he could open up to ten “slots” for them—and then there were rewards like food and skill books.

Later rewards focused on new skills and blueprints, each skill ranked beginner, intermediate, or advanced.

He’d even seen skills like fishing, cooking, basket weaving, textile work—pretty much anything imaginable.

Apparently, the system thought of everything.

It was even considerate enough to include cooking skills—probably to prepare him for that ridiculous “cook for the Emperor” mission someday.

Then Jiang Ji discovered that the system actually came with an entire chain of linked missions and rewards.

For example, completing one task might reward him with a loom blueprint, which would then unlock a new mission—build a loom. Once the loom was made, the next mission would be to promote loom use.

And of course, if he wanted to promote textile production, he’d need raw materials—cotton, hemp, wool, and silk.

That meant he’d have to start by planting cotton and hemp, and raising silkworms and sheep before spreading those industries further.

Jiang Ji: …

How considerate. The system had basically mapped out his entire path to wealth.

In short—as long as he completed the tasks, the skills would come.

After washing up and lying down, Jiang Ji couldn’t fall asleep right away. Having read through all those missions and rewards, his mind was racing with ideas.

“Jiang Yan, are you asleep?”

Jiang Yan opened his eyes, surprised. “You can’t sleep?”

For someone who normally fell asleep within three breaths, lying awake for nearly fifteen minutes was unusual.

“Mm. I’m thinking about something.”

“What are you thinking about?”

Jiang Ji turned over to face him and whispered, “What if we sign contracts with the farmers—get them to plant only cotton on their land? Do you think that would work?”

“Why the sudden idea? Are you planning to buy all their harvests yourself? What would you even do with that much cotton?”

“I was thinking…” Jiang Ji said, “maybe start a textile workshop?”

“A textile workshop?”

“Yeah—a big one. We grow the cotton, spin the thread, weave the fabric—all in one chain. And then open a cloth shop to sell the finished bolts.”

Jiang Yan thought for a moment and asked, “I don’t know much about weaving… do you?”

“No,” Jiang Ji admitted, but quickly added, “but I can learn.”

Jiang Yan: …

In the dim light, Jiang Ji’s silhouette shifted as he spoke. “Once we spread the rice seeds to ten thousand households, I’ll have learned it.”

Jiang Yan frowned slightly. “What does rice seed promotion have to do with weaving?”

“Oh, uh, I mean—my mother knows how to weave. We used to have a loom at home before it got sold. Once I learn a bit from her, I can modify the spinning and weaving machines myself. That’ll work.”

Jiang Yan thought it over seriously. “It sounds possible when you put it that way. But convincing people to plant only cotton won’t be easy. They’ll want to fill their bellies first. Sweet potatoes and potatoes are safe crops—they can eat what they grow. If they plant cotton and you stop buying it later, they’ll have to find their own buyers. Cotton may sell well, but finding good buyers quickly isn’t easy. If prices fall, it’s the farmers who’ll suffer. To get them to follow you, you’ll need to give them guarantees.”

Jiang Ji nodded. “Right, that’s why we’ll sign purchase contracts. Fix the price beforehand. I’ll sell them high-yield cotton seeds, and when I buy back their cotton, they won’t have to worry about it not selling.”

“You can try,” Jiang Yan said. “But it’ll work best if they already trust you.”

Jiang Ji thought for a moment. “What if the magistrate acts as guarantor?”

Jiang Yan turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow. “The magistrate? You want an official to vouch for you? Are you dreaming?”

“How is that a dream?” Jiang Ji protested. “I think he’s a good man—cares about the people. Why wouldn’t he support something like this?”

“And how do you plan to convince him to be your guarantor?”

Jiang Ji said, “Public–private cooperation. Isn’t that a normal arrangement?”

Jiang Yan: …

Seeing his silence, Jiang Ji quickly explained, “No, not collusion. Cooperation. Don’t get it twisted.”

“…Then how exactly would that cooperation work?” Jiang Yan asked, genuinely curious.

Jiang Ji drew on memories from his previous life—what little he’d absorbed from his father’s news reports and business talk—and began explaining.

“Simply put, the government and merchants work together to grow the economy. The government supports it with policies, and merchants run the businesses—well, workshops—creating jobs for ordinary people. The people earn wages, merchants make profits and pay taxes, and the government benefits from those taxes. If the local government has money, the imperial court has money too.”

He paused, then went on, “Look, aside from maintaining order, the government’s main duty is to improve the people’s livelihood, right?”

Jiang Yan nodded. “That’s right.”

“So, say I promote cotton planting. Farmers grow cotton and sell it to me—they earn money. I take the cotton and run a textile workshop—hire workers who also earn money. Then I sell the fabric myself or to others—either way, I earn money. And when I make money, I pay taxes to the government, and they earn money too.

“If it becomes a stable cycle, my workshop will keep expanding, need more cotton, hire more workers. Our county could actually feed and clothe more people because of it, right?

“And later, if I develop new kinds of fabrics or patterns, sales won’t be a problem. If I open my own cloth shop and build a name, merchants from other counties and provinces will come to buy. That’ll bring more business to local inns, taverns, and restaurants, supporting even more people.”

He looked over at Jiang Yan and asked, “If you were the magistrate, would you support me?”

Jiang Yan thought deeply for a long while before answering, “If it were me—I would. But the magistrate… not necessarily.”

Jiang Ji scratched his face. “Then I’ll just try. I’ll work it out myself first, and if it doesn’t go well, I’ll talk to him directly. For now, I’m just brainstorming. I’ll think it through more carefully later.”

“Alright.”

Jiang Ji’s mind drifted back to his past life—to before his mother’s passing. His father used to come home every day in time for dinner, and as a kid, he’d often sit with him watching the evening news, listening to him talk about business. He’d learned a thing or two back then.

“Honestly,” he said softly, “focusing on agriculture first is right—farming is the foundation. With crop yields this low, the court’s policy of prioritizing farmers and restricting merchants makes sense for now. But once grain production improves, to truly develop the economy, they’ll have to promote commerce.

“In this era, the hierarchy is scholars, farmers, artisans, then merchants—traders rank the lowest. But ironically, it’s commerce that keeps the economy alive and improves people’s lives. The imperial court should really value merchants more.”

Jiang Yan grew thoughtful at those words.

“You saying you’d support me actually makes me happy,” Jiang Ji murmured with a yawn. “At least someone thinks it’s doable. Alright, it’s late—sleep well. Good night.”

He rolled over, lay flat, and within moments, drifted off to sleep.

Jiang Yan turned his head to look at him. The night was deep, the room dim, only the faint outline of Jiang Ji’s face visible.

He couldn’t help replaying the conversation in his mind. He hadn’t expected Jiang Ji to think so far ahead, or to have such an insightful understanding of agriculture and commerce. The boy’s grasp of economic logic was far deeper than he’d imagined.

Thinking about Jiang Ji’s idea—growing cotton, spinning thread, weaving cloth, and opening a cloth shop all in one seamless chain, creating jobs for the villagers along the way—Jiang Yan found himself quietly excited too.

“Farming as the foundation, cooperation between officials and merchants, valuing the role of commerce…” He turned those phrases over in his head until he too finally fell asleep.

…

The next morning, Jiang Ji got up early as usual to fetch water.

While waiting in line, someone grinned and called out to him, “Hey, Jiang Ji, my boy Xiaoshan came home yesterday saying little Jiang Nan told him your family’s sweet potatoes and potatoes came from an immortal! Hahaha…”

Jiang Ji paused, then burst out laughing too. “Haha, he’s just joking! The day we got that delivery, Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei were already asleep and didn’t see it. The next morning they saw the whole hall full of sweet potatoes and asked me where they came from. I teased them and said an immortal gave them to us—never thought they’d actually believe it! Ah, that’s kids for you. If there really were an immortal, I’d be asking for a mountain of gold, not sweet potatoes and tubers, don’t you think, Uncle?”

The people around laughed heartily.

“Exactly! Forget gold and silver, even a copper mountain would be enough for me to eat and drink for life.”

“If it were me, I wouldn’t even need a mountain—just a few gold ingots would make me laugh in my sleep.”

The first man who’d spoken chuckled. “Right? If you could ask an immortal for anything, who’d ask for potatoes? You’d still have to plant them yourself!”

“Hahaha, true enough. Kids will believe anything.”

Jiang Ji joined their laughter, then smoothly shifted the topic. “By the way, uncles, I’m heading to town this morning. When I’m back, I’ll teach everyone how to sprout the potato seedlings, alright? Make sure someone’s at home to listen for the village chief’s notice.”

“Got it. We’ll either be home or out in the fields—just shout and we’ll hear.”

“Good. Remember to call out a few times.”

…

After breakfast, Jiang Ji took the calligraphy Jiang Yan had written the night before and set off for town. Zhao Ru and Aunt Xiufang came along, bringing the children’s clothes they’d sewn these past few days to sell at the tailor’s shop.

Before leaving, Jiang Ji told Jiang Yan, “If Wu Er comes by to deliver fertilizer, help me check it over and settle the bill for him,” then started down the road.

When they arrived in town, the three split up. Jiang Ji headed straight for the book-and-art shop.

There weren’t many such shops in town; most sold both books and paintings and also took on mounting or seal-carving work.

When Jiang Ji arrived, the shopkeeper brought out the piece he’d sent earlier for mounting—it was ready, a horizontal scroll.

Jiang Ji unrolled it and smiled. “Wealth flows in from all directions.” Mounted, the calligraphy looked even more elegant and full of life.

“Shopkeeper, I have another piece I’d like you to mount the same way.” Jiang Ji handed over the rolled-up Hai Na Bai Chuan.

The shopkeeper unrolled it and couldn’t help exclaiming, “What fine calligraphy!”

“Right? I think so too,” Jiang Ji said cheerfully.

After admiring it for a while, the shopkeeper asked, “Customer, did you write this yourself?”

“No.”

“Was it written by the same person who wrote the last one?”

“Yes.”

The shopkeeper’s expression lit up. “May I ask who this calligrapher is?”

Jiang Ji raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Well,” the man stroked his beard, speaking with genuine admiration, “I’ve been running this shop for nearly thirty years, and this is the finest handwriting I’ve ever seen. I’d love to commission a piece—could you perhaps introduce me to the writer?”

Jiang Ji blinked. “I’ll ask him when I get back and let you know in a few days, how’s that?”

“Excellent, excellent! If he agrees, the price is negotiable.”

“Alright, I’ll ask for you.” Jiang Ji then pulled a folded paper from his sleeve. “By the way, you can carve seals here, right?”

“Certainly, sir. You want one made?”

“Yes. Please follow this design.”

The shopkeeper looked at the sketch—Jiang Ji’s own design. “Jiang Yan? Is this the same person who wrote the calligraphy?”

“That’s right.”

“Understood. What material would you like—wood or jade?”

Jiang Ji thought for a moment. “How much for jade?”

The shopkeeper opened a box of blank jade seal blocks, showing a range of quality. “This one’s two taels of silver, this one five, this one ten, and this one thirty.”

Even the thirty-tael piece wasn’t particularly fine. Jiang Ji shook his head. “Show me the wooden ones.”

The shopkeeper produced another box. “These plain wooden ones are five hundred coins. This one’s nanmu—one tael three qian. This one’s huanghuali—two taels. This purple sandalwood block here—five taels. Best quality.”

Jiang Ji picked up the small piece of sandalwood, examined it, and took a light sniff—its subtle fragrance confirmed it was genuine.

“This one, then.”

“Very well. It’ll be ready in three days.”

Jiang Ji paid the deposit, then wandered around the shop. The walls were covered with scrolls and paintings. He glanced over them all—none compared to Jiang Yan’s calligraphy.

No wonder the shopkeeper wanted a piece so badly.

With handwriting that good, who on earth had Jiang Yan been before all this?

Jiang Ji peeked at his livestream chat—his viewers were already discussing the scrolls.

【Every piece looks beautiful to me.】
【That landscape painting’s gorgeous.】
【I can’t read the calligraphy, but it feels beautiful.】

Jiang Ji murmured softly, “None of these are as good as Jiang Yan’s.”

【Hahaha, Jiang Ji, are you just bragging about your own goods like an old woman selling melons?】
【We can’t read it anyway, so sure, whatever you say.】
【Yeah, you say it’s good, then it’s good.】

“I’m serious, I’m not lying to you,” Jiang Ji said with a grin. “Didn’t you see? Even the shopkeeper wants to buy Jiang Yan’s calligraphy!”

“President Xiao, are you still here? This is what the mounted scroll looks like—what do you think?”

—— Xiao Xuehai sent a reward: Rice Seed x100
—— Xiao Xuehai sent a reward: Rice Seed x100
—— Xiao Xuehai sent a reward: Rice Seed x100

【Xiao Xuehai: Yes, looks great. Thank you.】

A real tycoon indeed—three donations in a row, three hundred thousand yuan just like that. Generous as always.

Jiang Ji smiled contentedly. “As long as President Xiao’s happy. I’ll pick it up in three days and deliver it to you right after.”

Leaving the calligraphy shop, Jiang Ji wandered next door to a stationery store. There, he bought two high-quality writing brushes for Jiang Yan before heading back to meet Zhao Ru and the others to go home.

When they returned, he handed the brushes to Jiang Yan. “For you.”

“What’s this?”

Jiang Yan opened the case. Inside lay two brushes of different sizes, both made of fine wolf hair—one smaller for copying text, the other larger for bold calligraphy. The bristles were smooth and glossy, far superior to the old ones he’d been using.

Jiang Yan gently ran his fingers over them, then looked up at Jiang Ji.

“Thank you.”

Jiang Ji smiled. “No need. They’re just brushes. Use these first—I’ll get you even better ones later.”

Jiang Yan’s lips curved faintly. “Alright.”

🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾

Ch 29: The Regent’s Farmer Husband

The audience had been waiting the entire day—just for Jiang Ji to finally say those words.

【Draw draw draw! Hurry up!】
【It’s happening! The raffle’s starting!】
【Finally caught it live!】
【Aaaaah pick me pick me!】

“Calm down,” Jiang Ji said, settling himself onto a tree stump. “Let me figure out how this works first—it’s my first time using it. Gotta study it a bit.”

He opened the raffle system. The interface was simple enough—just two fields: number of participants and the prize. Jiang Ji frowned slightly at the prize section; it required a physical item. He asked, “2977, for the prize, do I just take a photo of it and upload it?”

【Correct. Once the host uploads a picture, the system will deliver the prepared item directly to the winner’s location.】

The audience couldn’t hear 2977’s response and flooded the chat.

【What did the system say?】
【Do winners really get the item for real?】

Jiang Ji answered, “The system says the prize must be a real object from my side. Once I take a photo and upload it, it can deliver the item straight to the winner’s world.”

【Ohhh so it’s real! Come on, let’s go!】
【Draw already!】

Jiang Ji glanced toward the house, thinking about what he could give away. “So, what kind of prize do you all want? It has to be something I actually have here.”

【Anything! I just wanna see if it actually gets delivered!】
【I want the handkerchief your mother embroidered!】
【Then I want one of those sweet potatoes—we don’t have them here! I wanna taste it!】
【I want one of Jiang Yan’s calligraphy scrolls!】
【I want Jiang Nan, he’s so cute!】

Jiang Ji laughed. “What, no one wants me? Why don’t you take me to the modern world then?”

【No thanks, we only want Jiang Nan!】
【Then I’ll take Jiang Bei!】
【I want Jiang Yan!】
【I want Sister Xia’er!】

“Enough, enough! You’re getting out of hand,” Jiang Ji said, mock-offended. “So not one person wants me, huh?”

【What would we do with you, little tanned guy?】
【Yeah, you can’t compare to Jiang Yan’s looks.】
【He’s tall, rich, and handsome. What do you have—farming skills?】

Jiang Ji laughed helplessly. “I have the system!”

【…】
【Oh right, he does have the system.】
【You sure that thing would even work in our world?】
【Hahaha exactly! It’s a farming system—we’re not short on food here!】

“Fine, fine—you win,” Jiang Ji said, heading back toward the house. “Let’s see what I can find for prizes.”

He walked around inside, then came back out to the courtyard. “Okay, first time—let’s do a small test. I’ll pick eleven people total: one grand prize winner and ten regular ones. The grand prize will be one of Jiang Yan’s calligraphy works. The other ten will each get an ancient copper coin. You don’t have these in your world, and they can’t be replicated—they’re valuable collectibles. Deal?”

【Sounds good!】
【Come on, pick more!】
【Over ten million viewers and only eleven prizes?】

“There’ll be more raffles later, don’t worry,” he said. “Besides, rarity makes things valuable. The winners can sell them for a good price if they want.”

【…Fair point. Fine, let’s go then!】

“I’ll ask Jiang Yan to write something first. How about Fortune and Prosperity?” He didn’t wait for replies. “No objections? I’ll take silence as agreement.”

【…】
【I wanted Academic Success!】
【I want Promotion and Raise!】

Jiang Ji chuckled. “All that still comes down to money in the end, doesn’t it? Be realistic!”

【Then how about the previous one Jiang Yan wrote—Abundant Wealth?】
【The mounted one!】

“No can do. That one’s hanging in my hall, and it’s not even back yet.”

He entered the main room. Jiang Yan was bent over the table copying the cultivation manual—but when Jiang Ji leaned closer, he realized he was drawing.

“Huh? You’re sketching the sweet potato seedling process?”

On the paper was a detailed illustration of laying the base fertilizer into the pit. Jiang Yan was working on the next image—arranging the sweet potatoes.

Just a few strokes, yet the figures were vivid and precise.

“Didn’t know you could draw! It’s really good,” Jiang Ji said, impressed.

Jiang Yan looked up briefly. “It’s easier to understand with pictures.”

“Thoughtful,” Jiang Ji said with a thumbs-up. Then he added, “Since you’re already illustrating, maybe add some labels too.”

Jiang Yan asked, “Labels?”

“Yeah, like this—draw a fine line and mark the approximate depth of the pit, corresponding with the written text. Anything involving numbers, just mark it clearly.”

Jiang Yan nodded. “Understood.”

“You can finish that later. Jiang Yan, do me a favor first.”

“What is it?”

“Can you write a set of calligraphy for me?” Jiang Ji asked, blinking playfully.

Jiang Yan looked at him. “What words?”

‘Happiness and Good Health,’” Jiang Ji said.

【Wait, wasn’t it Fortune and Prosperity?】
【Why’d you change it?】
【I like Happiness and Good Health!】

Jiang Yan gave him a glance, then went to fetch a large sheet of paper and laid it flat on the table.

“What style do you want?”

Jiang Ji thought for a moment. “Something proper and steady—this one’s a gift, so it should look dignified and peaceful.”

Those words, he felt, shouldn’t be written in wild cursive; they should be neat and calm, giving a sense of harmony at first glance.

“Is it okay if I give it away?” Jiang Ji asked again.

Jiang Yan nodded. “Of course.”

Then, with steady focus, he began writing.

The four characters were bold and balanced, every stroke full and smooth. Just looking at them brought a quiet joy.

Jiang Ji pointed to the corner. “Sign it.”

Jiang Yan looked up. “Whose name should I sign?”

“Yours, of course,” Jiang Ji said, widening his eyes. “What, you planning to sign mine?”

Jiang Yan paused. “…You said you’re giving it away, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.” Jiang Ji nodded.

After a moment’s silence, Jiang Yan said quietly, “I thought you meant to give it away under your name.”

Jiang Ji froze for a second, then burst out laughing. “I’m giving it away under my name, yes—but you’re the one who wrote it, not me. No need to lie about that.”

Besides, with all the viewers watching, they’d instantly recognize his chicken-scratch handwriting anyway.

Hearing that, Jiang Yan said nothing more and neatly signed his own name in the lower left corner.

“So beautiful,” Jiang Ji said sincerely, admiration in his voice. Every time he saw Jiang Yan’s handwriting, he couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of awe and fondness.

Jiang Yan’s eyes curved slightly as he smiled. He set the finished piece on the opposite side of the table to let the ink dry.

Jiang Ji stood beside him, admiring the work. “I’m heading to town tomorrow to pick up that other calligraphy. How about I get a seal made for you while I’m at it?”

Jiang Yan looked at him, a bit puzzled by the sudden idea.

“Don’t scholars all have personal seals? Your calligraphy’s gorgeous, and your drawings too. Having a seal on your work would make it look even better.” Jiang Ji’s tone was completely earnest. “See—right here under your name, one stamp and boom, instant refinement. And if you become famous later, you’ll need your own seal, won’t you?”

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. “How about it? Or do you want to wait until your memory returns and then use your real name for the seal?”

Jiang Yan’s expression softened. “The name Jiang Yan is good.”

“So we’ll use that one?”

“Yes.”

Jiang Ji’s eyes lit up. “Great! Then you write it yourself, and I’ll have the engraver carve it exactly as you do.”

Jiang Yan nodded. “All right.”

He immediately began designing the characters for his seal.

Jiang Ji watched for a while. When the ink on the calligraphy had dried, he picked up the finished piece and said, “I’m taking this with me.”

“Okay,” Jiang Yan agreed readily.

“Thanks.” Jiang Ji took a few steps, then stopped, curiosity getting the better of him. He turned back and asked, “Aren’t you going to ask who I’m giving it to?”

Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow. “Do you want to tell me?”

Jiang Ji grinned and pointed upward. “To the immortals.”

Jiang Yan: “…”

With that, Jiang Ji took the calligraphy into his room and shut the door.

Jiang Yan glanced at the closed door, then calmly returned to designing his seal.

Inside the room, Jiang Ji spread the calligraphy across his bed, then took out ten copper coins and laid them out one by one.

He was about to take a photo when it suddenly hit him. “2977, how am I supposed to take pictures?”

2977 replied: 【Host, open the “Upload Prize” function in the raffle menu, focus your gaze on the item, and press scan.】

“Oh…” Jiang Ji said aloud.

The audience, unable to hear the system, quickly asked: 【What did 2977 say?】

Jiang Ji answered, “It said I can just scan with my eyes.”

【Hahaha makes sense—since your livestream uses your eyes anyway!】
【Come on, scan already! We can’t wait!】

Jiang Ji opened the raffle panel, pressed the “Upload Prize” button, and a prompt appeared before his eyes.

Following the instructions, he focused his gaze on the calligraphy. Three seconds later, the prize slot on the system interface displayed the image of Jiang Yan’s “Happiness and Good Health.”

“Whoa—it actually worked!” Jiang Ji exclaimed.

【What? What happened? Did it work?】

“It worked! The calligraphy scanned successfully!”

He then scanned the ten copper coins one by one and set the number of winners.

“2977, should I send each prize immediately or all at once after the draw?”

【That’s up to the host.】

“Got it. All right, everyone—2977 says I can send them one by one or all together. Let’s do the drawing first, then send everything at once.”

【Quick, quick!】
【Draw now!】
【Ahhh the raffle screen popped up!】
【We can see it! Host, start the draw!】
【Pick me! Pick me!】

Jiang Ji glanced at the screen. Sure enough, half the livestream display was now filled with a bright red glowing frame labeled “Prize Draw.” At the top it read “First Prize – 10 Winners.” In the middle, a rolling panel flashed through usernames, and below it was a large golden “Start” button with a results list beside it.

“Alright, I’m starting! Everyone online has a chance. First, we’ll pick ten winners—for the copper coins!”

Jiang Ji rubbed his hands excitedly. He was just as eager as the viewers—he wanted to see if the system could really send something from his world to theirs.

He tapped the button lightly.

Instantly, the names began scrolling rapidly across the middle of the screen.

The chat beside it exploded with messages—“Pick me!” “Me! Me! Me!” filling the feed completely.

After ten seconds, the first winner appeared on screen—username: “PickMePickMePickMe.”

“Congratulations to ‘PickMePickMePickMe’—looks like your name worked! The system really felt your energy!” Jiang Ji laughed.

【Hahaha this guy’s hilarious】
【Lucky name choice!】
【No way, that’s me! I won!】
【Ughhh why not me!】

Suddenly, virtual sweet potatoes filled the screen as the lucky winner sent a 100-coin gift tip, their name glittering gold at the top for everyone to see.

“Congrats to our first winner—and thanks for the tip! Let’s move on, next winner coming right up!”

Every two seconds, another name popped up until all ten winners had been drawn.

Some cheered, some groaned.

【Noooo I didn’t win! I’m changing my username!】
【Crying… still nothing!】
【Hahaha I won! My luck’s insane today—I’m buying a lottery ticket!】
【Me too! I got one!】

The screen flooded with celebratory effects—flying potatoes, ears of corn, and rice sheaves bursting across the feed as the winners sent gifts back.

Jiang Ji laughed at the chaos. “Congrats to the ten winners! For everyone else—don’t be discouraged, there’s still the grand prize to go!”

“The grand prize—let me set it up real quick, then we’ll draw!”

As Jiang Ji spoke, he adjusted the raffle interface, and the display on the livestream shifted to show Grand Prize in large golden letters.

“Attention, everyone—the grand prize is coming up!”

He tapped the button, and the names began to whirl across the screen in a dazzling blur—so fast they couldn’t be read at all.

Ten seconds later, a crisp ding sounded, and the screen froze. One big name appeared in the center:

— The Host Has a Crush on Me.

“…” Jiang Ji stared for a moment, then burst out laughing. “Congratulations to ‘The Host Has a Crush on Me’ for winning the grand prize! But for the record, the host does not have a crush on you—if anything, it’s probably the other way around!”

【Oh my god, iconic.】
【AAAAAHHH it’s me! It’s really me!】

The winner, clearly thrilled, showered the chat with gifts—bags of seed props flying across the screen in a rainbow of effects. It was obvious they were over the moon.

“Alright, folks, raffle’s done—it’s time to send out the prizes!”

Jiang Ji was dying to see what would happen. “Winners, listen up. When I send the prizes, it’s best if you’re sitting at a table. The items might appear right in front of you—or even in your hands. Oh, and if you can, please turn on your camera and record it! I really wanna see what happens, and everyone else does too, right?”

【Yes yes yes, record it!】
【Send them already!】
【Winners, post it online later! We wanna see!】
【Or better—start a livestream!】
【Wait, I’m opening my camera now!】

“No no no, don’t start another stream—you’ll steal my viewers!” Jiang Ji protested immediately.

【Hahaha, as if you need to worry! Your viewer count’s back up to what it was this morning!】

“Every viewer counts! I still need points to exchange for more seeds! I spent a ton on sweet potatoes and potatoes earlier—my points are running low!”

“Everyone ready? I’m sending the prizes!”

【Ready!】
【Go!】
【I’ve got another phone set up to stream from my end—people can watch here too!】

“Alright, here we go.”

Jiang Ji opened the “Distribute Prizes” panel and pressed the glowing button.

Instantly, before his eyes, the calligraphy scroll and the ten neatly arranged copper coins vanished from the bed—completely gone.

“What the—!” Jiang Ji shouted in surprise. “They really disappeared!”

He hurriedly patted the sheets and even lifted the blanket—nothing. The items were truly gone.

【Holy crap, they’re actually gone!】
【They vanished!】
【First he conjured things out of thin air, now he’s making them disappear—this system is legit magic!】
【AAAAAA I just had the copper coin appear in my hand!!】
【Me too! It really showed up out of nowhere!】
【No pics, no proof—show us!】
【Hang on, I’m uploading photos!】
【Check my livestream, room 897867—I got it!!】

Within seconds, half of Jiang Ji’s viewers vanished from his stream.

“Hey! Don’t all run off!!”

【Be right back!】
【Bye host, going to check their stream!】
【We’ll come back later to tell you!】

Jiang Ji: …

Sigh. Fine.

He scratched his head. After all that talking, his throat was dry. Opening the door, he stepped out—only to see Jiang Yan standing there, looking at him quietly.

“You…” Jiang Yan began, then stopped.

“What about me?” Jiang Ji blinked innocently.

Jiang Yan pressed his lips together, then asked, “Why were you shouting so loudly?”

Jiang Ji froze for half a second, gauging Jiang Yan’s expression. “Nothing—just admiring your calligraphy. It was too beautiful, I couldn’t help but praise it out loud.”

“Is that so?” Jiang Yan’s gaze lingered on him, calm but sharp. “Then take that scroll tomorrow and have it mounted before you give it away.”

“…Haha, no need,” Jiang Ji said, rubbing his nose and forcing a laugh. “They’re not that picky. I’ll just give it as-is. I’m so thirsty—I’m gonna get some water.”

He slipped away before Jiang Yan could reply.

Jiang Yan watched him leave, then went into the room. He looked around—no sign of the calligraphy anywhere.

Although Jiang Ji had closed the door earlier, his voice hadn’t exactly been quiet. With his sharp hearing, Jiang Yan had caught bits and pieces, though not enough to make sense of what the other man was doing—some of the words were unfamiliar to him.

After a moment’s thought, he turned back to his desk and resumed his work.

Meanwhile, Jiang Ji downed a bowl of water in the kitchen, his throat finally soothed.

By now, it was near dusk. Zhao Ru was preparing dinner. After the two lavish tables of food at noon, everything had been eaten, so she planned something light for the evening.

“Xiao Ji, the sun’s about to set. Go see why Xia’er and the kids aren’t back yet,” she called.

“Alright.”

Jiang Ji stepped out of the courtyard and walked toward the village entrance. Along the path, many villagers were busy tending their sweet potato seedbeds.

Someone spotted him and called out, “Jiang Ji, when do we plant the potato seedlings?”

“Tomorrow after I get back from town—I’ll show you then. Let the potatoes dry for a couple of days first, no rush.”

“Got it! Don’t forget to call us!”

“Don’t worry, Auntie, I won’t miss anyone.”

When he reached the village gate, he saw Jiang Xia, Jiang Nan, Jiang Bei, and Aunt Xiufang’s son, Dazhu, walking back together.

“Xia’er, why are you all so late today?” he asked. They were at least half an hour behind their usual time.

“Brother!” Jiang Bei spotted him first and ran up, talking rapidly, “Brother, Jiang Nan got into trouble today!”

Jiang Ji froze for a second, then quickly asked, “What kind of trouble did he cause?”

He glanced at Jiang Nan, who had his head down and didn’t dare to meet his eyes.

Jiang Bei had been about to spill everything, but seeing Dazhu there, he said instead, “I’ll tell you when we get home.”

Jiang Ji looked toward Xia’er; she nodded. “Alright then, let’s get going—Mother’s worried sick about you all.”

Once they returned home and set down their school bags, Jiang Ji gathered the group in the kitchen. “Alright, speak up—what happened?”

Jiang Nan kept his head low and stayed silent. Jiang Ji raised an eyebrow. “Jiang Nan, you tell me yourself.”

Jiang Nan peeked up at his older brother, then quickly dropped his gaze again and mumbled, “Big Brother, I… I accidentally let out our secret.”

“Hm? What secret?” Jiang Ji saw the boy’s red, tearful eyes—clearly Xia’er and Jiang Bei had already scolded him on the way home.

Jiang Nan whispered, “The… the one about the Immortal.”

Zhao Ru, who was standing nearby, immediately smacked him on the backside. “You child! You told someone about that? Didn’t I say you must never mention it?”

Jiang Nan, already feeling guilty and scared, burst into tears, choking out, “I—I didn’t mean to!”

“Mother, let’s hear the whole story first,” Jiang Ji said, stopping her. He turned to Jiang Xia. “Xia’er, explain what happened.”

Jiang Xia glanced at Jiang Nan, sighed, and said helplessly, “After school, I was packing up, and Jiang Bei was waiting for Dazhu. Two other kids came over and asked Jiang Nan where our sweet potatoes and potatoes came from. Jiang Nan blurted out that they were given by an Immortal. They didn’t believe him, and he got stubborn and started arguing, insisting it was true. I finally had to knock him on the head to make him stop.”

“That’s it?” Jiang Ji raised an eyebrow.

Jiang Xia nodded. “Yes, just that. We already scolded him.”

Hearing this, Jiang Ji relaxed. Kids’ talk like that probably wouldn’t be taken seriously anyway—and saying “an Immortal gave them” made it sound even more far-fetched.

Still, he couldn’t let Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei think it was a small matter. Otherwise, they might start running their mouths about family matters again.

Kids were prone to slip-ups, so they needed to learn the importance of keeping quiet.

After a moment’s thought, Jiang Ji’s expression hardened. He frowned and said sternly, “Jiang Nan, lift your head and look at me.”

Jiang Nan’s small hands clutched the hem of his shirt. His eyes were red, tears hanging on his lashes.

As the eldest brother, Jiang Ji’s words carried weight—and when he got serious, he was genuinely intimidating.

Jiang Nan looked up nervously, eyes watery. “Big Brother, I know I was wrong.”

“What exactly was wrong?” Jiang Ji asked.

“I…” Jiang Nan broke down completely and started crying. “I shouldn’t have said it! And I shouldn’t have argued! Wuwuwu… Big Brother, do you think the Immortal will stop giving us treasures now?”

Now he remembered the “treasures.” Jiang Ji almost wanted to laugh, but he kept his face stern. “So you do know saying things like that could make us lose them?”

“I know,” Jiang Nan sobbed, nodding. “I just… forgot at the time…”

Jiang Ji: …

He waited until the boy’s crying quieted, then said coldly, “Have you cried enough?”

Jiang Nan flinched, startled by his tone. His sobs hiccuped to a stop, and he sniffled, whispering, “Y-yes… enough…”

Jiang Ji’s voice was calm but firm. “Do you know why we had thieves in the house last night?”

Jiang Nan nodded weakly. “Because… they saw we had money and came to steal it.”

“Exactly. Having money isn’t wrong—but you can’t be careless. Some people are greedy. When they see others doing well, they get jealous and try to take what’s not theirs. That’s why there’s an old saying: Don’t show off your wealth. It means we shouldn’t flaunt what we have, or we’ll attract those with bad intentions. Just like yesterday—selling some seeds earned us a few coins, and that alone brought thieves to our door.”

Jiang Nan frowned slightly. “So… we’re not allowed to earn money?”

“Of course you are,” Jiang Ji said, flicking the boy’s forehead lightly. “I’m telling you that when we do have money or treasures, we keep it to ourselves. Don’t brag, don’t tell others. Stay humble, so bad people won’t notice or target you. Got it?”

Jiang Nan rubbed his head and nodded obediently. “Got it.”

“So, our treasure—what we have—it must never be mentioned. I’ve told you before, remember?”

“I remember.”

“Good. Since you admit your mistake, your punishment is to copy today’s homework twenty extra times.” Jiang Ji turned to Jiang Xia. “You had homework today?”

“Yes. We learned new characters and need to write ten pages of large script.”

Jiang Ji nodded. “Then Jiang Nan, you’ll write twenty extra pages as punishment. Do you accept?”

Twenty extra pages?

Jiang Nan’s face crumpled instantly, but one look at his brother’s expression and he lowered his head again, mumbling, “I accept.”

“Alright then. Before it gets dark, go write. I’ll check it when you’re done.”

“Oh…”

Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei went to the main room to write.

Zhao Ru asked worriedly, “Xiao Ji, will anything happen because Jiang Nan talked?”

Jiang Ji shook his head. “It should be fine, Mother. Don’t worry. If anyone asks, just say it was nonsense from a child—that we were joking with Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei.”

Zhao Ru nodded. “Alright. Xia’er, remember that too—say the same if anyone asks.”

“I will,” Jiang Xia said.

“And watch those two at school. Don’t let them run their mouths again.”

“I know, Mother.”

Before dinner, Jiang Bei and Jiang Xia had already finished their ten pages of writing. Jiang Nan, who never liked studying or writing, struggled miserably. After dinner, he sat under the dim light of the tung-oil lamp and spent another full hour scribbling before he finally finished his punishment.

“Big Brother, I—I finished writing.”

Jiang Nan handed over the thirty sheets of large-character calligraphy he had written. His small hands were stained completely black with ink, and even the cloth sleeves Zhao Ru had made for him were blotched all over.

Jiang Ji took the papers, frowned at the first glance. He had just reviewed Jiang Bei and Jiang Xia’s handwriting earlier. Jiang Xia’s, of course, was neater—she was older, with better sense for structure and form—but even Jiang Bei’s was far superior to Jiang Nan’s.

Still, Jiang Ji restrained himself. He flipped through the sheets one by one. There were indeed thirty.

“Alright. Not bad—you finished it.”

Hearing that, Jiang Nan finally exhaled in relief.

But then he heard his brother add, “Jiang Nan, how about you go practice a bit more?”

Jiang Nan: …

Well, punishment complete at least. Big Brother didn’t seem angry anymore, and the ordeal had left a deep impression. Jiang Nan had learned his lesson: never show off your wealth, never talk about treasures.

Later that night, before going to bed, Jiang Ji remembered to check the livestream again.

He asked, “So, my friends, how did it go? Did everyone actually receive their prizes? Were they the same as what you saw in the stream?”

【It’s real! They really got the prizes!】
【This is unbelievable!】
【Exactly the same!】
【That guy who won the grand prize filmed a video—the calligraphy looks identical to what Jiang Yan wrote in your stream. No one here writes that kind of script!】
【I saw the comments—people are already offering big money to buy it.】
【Not just the calligraphy, even the copper coins—people are asking if they’re for sale!】

“Oh?” Jiang Ji’s interest was instantly piqued. “How much are we talking?”

【The calligraphy already has offers up to five million.】
【The copper coins are going for three million.】
【Someone claiming to be an antiquities expert wants to borrow one for research!】
【Breaking news—the calligraphy caught a collector’s eye. He just said he’s willing to pay ten million for it.】

Jiang Ji: “!”

“Ten million?” His eyes practically sparkled. “Quick, tell that collector to buy from me!”

【Haha, look at the host—eyes glowing like gold coins.】
【You can’t sell it though, can you? It was a raffle prize!】
【Yeah, you can’t just send it to whoever you want.】

Before Jiang Ji could reply, a cascade of flashy effects flooded the screen—fields of golden rice-seed props, each worth a thousand yuan.

At the top of the screen, a username glowed in gold letters:

— “Xiao Xuehai” has sent 100 Rice Seed gifts.

【Host, that’s him! The same tycoon who offered ten million!】
【Yeah, he’s a famous entrepreneur—huge collector of antiques!】
【Super rich!】

Jiang Ji straightened in excitement. “Thank you, President Xiao, for your generous gifts! I heard you really liked that calligraphy?”

— “Xiao Xuehai” sent 100 Rice Seeds.

— Xiao Xuehai: Yes. Is there any way I could get one?

“Hold on, let me ask.” Jiang Ji immediately turned to the system. “2977, can I send a prize to a specific person?”

2977 replied coldly: 【No.】

Jiang Ji: …

He quickly started scheming. “Hey, 2977, come on—this is a livestream system, right? Other platforms have features like that. Shouldn’t you, too? Look, the big sponsors are throwing in so many gifts—they’re funding our glorious farming enterprise! Don’t you think we should show a little appreciation? Maybe a special gift for our number-one supporter?”

2977 remained silent.

Jiang Ji pressed on. “Don’t let other systems outshine you. Check any major platform—they all give top supporters VIP treatment, right?”

After a long pause, 2977 finally responded: 【Prizes may be given, but only if certain conditions are met.】

“What conditions?”

【Special Task 188: A viewer who reaches 20 million in monthly donations may receive one prize of the host’s choice.】

“Huh? There’s a task like that?”

Jiang Ji immediately opened the task panel, scrolled through the “Special Tasks” section—and sure enough, there it was: “Special Task 188,” just as 2977 had said.

“This task is insane! No wonder it’s buried so deep.”

【What? What did it say?】
【Tell us!】

Jiang Ji scratched his head. “2977 says I can’t send prizes directly—but if someone completes a certain task, then I can.”

【What task?】
【Come on, spill it!】

Jiang Ji: “A viewer has to donate twenty million in one month.”

【!】
【Whoa, your system is savage!】
【Who could ever do that?!】
【Figures—it’s called a ‘special task’ for a reason. Way beyond us mortals.】

Just then, the livestream erupted again—endless rice-seed props fluttering across the screen like golden rain.

— “Xiao Xuehai” sent 100 Rice Seeds.
— “Xiao Xuehai” sent 100 Rice Seeds.
— “Xiao Xuehai” sent 100 Rice Seeds.

Line after line of dazzling golden notifications filled the top of the screen, completely burying the viewers’ comments beneath a storm of effects.

Jiang Ji: !

He glanced at the chat—all the viewers were just as stunned.

【Oh my god! President Xiao is the real deal!】
【Respect!】
【All hail President Xiao!】

Jiang Ji looked at the donation leaderboard—Xiao Xuehai’s name had shot straight to first place.

He switched to the backend view, watching as the total climbed—hundreds of thousands, millions, tens of millions—until finally, it hit twenty million flat.

The golden rain of rice seeds lasted a long time before fading. The whole stream was in uproar.

Jiang Ji raised an eyebrow, thinking, Looks like the guy really does love antiques.

He used to be rich himself; spending tens of millions—or even hundreds—on collectibles wasn’t unheard of.

“Thank you, President Xiao. So, you’d like a piece of Jiang Yan’s calligraphy?”

The tycoon sent another hundred rice seeds and replied:

— Xiao Xuehai: Yes.

“Alright then, what would you like him to write? Four characters or fewer, preferably.”

— Xiao Xuehai: Anything’s fine.

Jiang Ji: …

Nothing annoyed him more than people saying “anything’s fine.” How was he supposed to decide that?

He thought for a moment—big businessmen usually liked elegant or auspicious phrases. “Then I’ll pick one for you, how’s that?”

— Xiao Xuehai: Sure.

Jiang Ji immediately sprinted into the main hall. Jiang Yan had just finished washing up when Jiang Ji dashed in and threw his arms around him.

“Jiang Yan! Quick! Write another one for me—we’re about to strike it rich! The rice seeds are rolling in!”

Jiang Yan: “?”

🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾