Name: I Inherited a Monster Plant Nursery, So I Lie Flat and Get Rich
Author: Cat Belly

Synopsis

[A genre mash-up: a touch of ensemble cast, light infrastructure-building, farming and business management, a slow variety show, and a warm, healing atmosphere]

[Work is wearing me out, everyone. I'll try to work six days and rest one, with Thursdays off for sure. If I don't update on another day, I'll post a leave notice. Anti-piracy rate: 70%, 24 hours. If you want to skip chapters, you can buy them a day later.]

At 30, Shen Nian'an had achieved nothing. Unemployed and heartbroken, he was planning to return to his old country house and lie flat.

Instead, he unexpectedly discovered that the dry well in his backyard connected to a magical botanical garden, where a group of strange little spirits lived.

Seeing what the spirits could produce, the money-loving Shen Nian'an decided he could get back to grinding!

*

The red-haired young man Dan Qi had a fiery temper, but his leg hair smelled great.

All he wanted was an electric guitar.

Shen Nian'an didn't even lift his eyelids. "I have no money."

The red-haired young man pouted, brought over a plate, and began plucking out his hair. When he was done, he handed it to Shen Nian'an. "Take it and trade it for money."

Shen Nian'an grimaced. "Ew."

After red tea went on sale, Shen Nian'an's shop received a comment: This is imperial tribute-grade red tea! In the past, we could get at most two liang a year. Do you have any left, shopkeeper? I'll take it all.

Once the electric guitar was bought, Shen Nian'an pinned Dan Qi down in the livestream room. "Stream yourself playing guitar for four hours every day. If you don't hit your faith-point target, you can't end the stream!"

Dan Qi pouted. Humans really are awful!

The pale, delicate young man Su Wusong spoke in a sweet, affected voice. "Big brother, I want a DSLR camera. I heard every artsy young person needs one."

Shen Nian'an pointed at Dan Qi's electric guitar. "Yours costs more than his."

Su Wusong took out a glass and began spitting into it.

Shen Nian'an broke down. "What's wrong with you people?"

A few days later, Shen Nian'an's shop put out a new product: genuine tea tree essential oil, perfect for reducing inflammation and clearing acne. Even a pimple the size of a fingertip could flatten overnight.

A top-tier star posted furiously from her main account: I have less than half a bottle left, and I feel so insecure! There are so few, I can't get any no matter how hard I try. Please restock!

Once Su Wusong got his full DSLR kit, Shen Nian'an assigned him a new task. "You're in charge of running the company's account now."

"One photo-and-text post a day, one vlog a week, and aim to make one post go viral every month. Once the guesthouse opens, keep up the same schedule."

Su Wusong rolled his eyes behind Shen Nian'an's back. "Even a slave driver doesn't squeeze people as hard as you do!"

The high-ponytailed boy Duofu came out holding a handful of little red berries. "Big brother, big brother, I've grown seeds~ My seeds are super powerful."

Shen Nian'an thought the little red berries looked cute, picked one up, popped it into his mouth, and crunched it.

Duofu stretched out his arm like a melodramatic TV heroine. "Don't! If you eat my seed, then, cough cough, you'll get pregnant."

Shen Nian'an gulped and swallowed.

Duofu: ...

Shen Nian'an said mournfully, "Forget it. It's not like I'll necessarily get the chance in this lifetime."

Duofu: "Then I want a computer just for gaming."

Shen Nian'an outfitted him with an RTX 4090 and a full set of high-end peripherals. "Play hard. Train ten hours a day, try to get results within two years, join a professional team, and reach the peak of your demon life!"

After a week of training, Duofu suddenly didn't want to play games anymore. He wanted to go to school!

*

By making the spirits work hard, Shen Nian'an built a lakeside villa, opened a cliffside inn, and even launched his own brand.

His life was perfect, with money and a career, but he was missing a handsome human companion.

Unexpectedly, a landslide in the mountains swept an old acquaintance his way.

Shen Nian'an took one look and thought, Oh! Isn't that the little CEO who knew nothing, yet singled him out as a negative example in front of the entire staff and fired him?

Now this little CEO was eating his food, drinking his drinks, and living under his roof. Shen Nian'an was going to make him pay dearly before he left!

But one night, Shen Nian'an got drunk. The next morning, he nervously tugged at Duofu and asked, "If a man eats your seed, will he... get pregnant too?"

The boy was engrossed in a game and didn't even look up. "Of course. The seeds from my Hundred-Child Gourd work regardless of gender!"

----Reader's Guide----

1. [Greedy, lustful, sharp-tongued, married uke (older) x rich, handsome, frustrated glutton seme (younger)]

2. Updates follow the rankings before the paid chapters begin, then daily afterward. This time, Teacher D picked the auspicious time, so updates usually come at 3:00 p.m. If there's no update, I'll post a leave notice.

3. One-on-one, both sexually inexperienced.

4. Contains pregnancy and childbirth.

5. My writing is average, but I'm pretty reliable about finishing what I start.

6. Chapter comments are open. Have fun!

Here's my next upcoming novel.

Yu Caixing opened his eyes to find himself lying in a mass grave.

He knew nothing of what came before and remembered nothing of the past. All he had was a pain that gnawed into his bones, urging him to claw his way out of hell and return to the mortal world, with paper for bones.

He hid at the end of Feihua Alley and opened a small paper effigy shop. Its doors stayed locked by day and only opened after night fell.

Of course, his customers weren't human.

They came to him, seeking exoneration and justice in this world.

And in helping them, he hoped to recover his past, his memories, and the desires of his heart and mind.

He also wanted to turn over the sky, so thick with dark clouds.

*

Shen Dengxu, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, was born with an extra bone behind his ear, which gave him the ability to discern every sound in the world. He despised talk of ghosts and gods above all else.

But every case he investigated lately was beyond the power of ordinary people.

The honest, upright Minister Chen was gnawed to death by a giant rat in his own bed before his wedding.

A noblewoman who had just been made a consort had her head severed by silk thread before the palace banquet.

Human skin hung out to dry in an apothecary.

A baby's cries echoed through the dense fog in the mountains.

And a city of lights lay on the riverbed.

In the end, they all led to that little paper effigy shop.

-

Shen Dengxu didn't want to see Yu Caixing.

Every time they met, he could hear the man whispering in his ear.

He said nothing but nonsense.

Shen Dengxu glanced over. Yu Caixing was eight zhang away, his blood-red lips pressed lightly together, utterly still.