Farming and Raising a Scholar in Ancient Times

Song Qing, who had devoted his whole life to farming, died and arrived in the Great Ping Dynasty, a world with three genders: men, women, and ge'er. He brought along a space in his mind.

Under Great Ping law, men, women, and ge'er could all sit the imperial examinations and serve as officials.

So, in addition to getting rich through farming, Song Qing gained a new task: supporting his bargain husband through school and the examinations!

Growing mushrooms, upgrading facilities, opening little shops...

At last, his bargain husband Shen Zhizhou passed the highest imperial examination and became the top scholar of the dynasty!

The first person in the dynasty's history to take first place in all three examinations! The very first! He'd never even dared to dream of it!

The couple obtained the emperor's permission to return to their hometown, where they could build an academy and improve people's livelihoods.

Officials and wealthy merchants with good connections wasted no time sending their children to Top Scholar Shen's academy.

The young masters and ladies thought their parents had exiled them to some remote backwater, until...

Th-this car has only three wheels, no ox, horse, or mule pulling it, and it moves on its own?!

"To Master Runner's Orchard! Get on, we're leaving!"

"Yucang Academy! Five coins a seat, get on!"

The young masters and ladies stood there dumbfounded. They understood every word, so why did the whole thing make no sense together?!

Just then, a tall, muscular man skidded to a perfect stop on a two-wheeled vehicle (!) and shouted:

"Anyone heading to the academy without luggage? Hop on!"

Seeing the group standing there in a daze, the other drivers grew impatient on their behalf. "Hurry up and get on! You can't catch a ride with Little Boss Song every day!"

Upcoming farming novel, launching March 18: After Marrying a Bandit Husband, I Made a Fortune Farming

Shen Chuan, a wood-element ability user, had farmed for eight years before suddenly transmigrating into the body of a bandit chief.

Being the boss? That had potential.

But the first job the bandits of Laoya Mountain took left Shen Chuan speechless.

A wealthy landlord's servant swung his arms and landed two solid blows, knocking the "ruthless" bandit underlings to the ground. They couldn't get back up for ages.

Shen Chuan: ...What potential? I'm out of here.

He'd be better off quietly farming.

That very night, he grabbed his bundle and ran.

But just as he reached the foot of the mountain, after more than twenty years as a widower, he came across a young widower with a child in tow.

The third-in-command shoved the young widower into Shen Chuan's arms. "Big Brother, what are you doing? Did you hear that your third brother kidnapped a husband for you, and come down the mountain in the middle of the night to welcome your new spouse back to the stronghold?"

The young widower eyed him warily. His long, phoenix-shaped eyes were aloof and proud, coolly beautiful and dignified. One look was enough to set Shen Chuan's heart racing.

His heart pounding, Shen Chuan berated himself: Alkyl octanitrogen! How am I any different from Cao Cao?

He immediately threw down his bundle in indignation. "Third Brother is right!"

After all, nobody said bandits had to rob and pillage. His frail underlings were useless in a fight, so he would be a breath of fresh air among bandits: open up the mountains, farm, and do business.

He was going to marry this bandit husband, no matter what!

No land? Impossible. Shen Chuan led his underlings to clear the wilderness across several nearby mountains, with Laoya Mountain at the center. They swung their hoes until smoke practically rose from them.

The newly cleared land couldn't produce enough? Not a chance. He had an incredible wood-element ability, a natural-born farming genius. He waved his hand, and the harvest shot up.

Rice, corn, potatoes, sugarcane, tea, rapeseed, grapes, waxberries, red-fleshed pomelos... Not only did the native crops yield bountiful harvests, he even cultivated all sorts of new varieties, keeping his underlings so busy their feet sparked.

They had to get the business going, too: popping popcorn, frying potato chips, shaking milk tea, baking little cakes, pressing rapeseed oil, brewing fruit wine and vinegar... Within a hundred miles, there wasn't a single city without one of his restaurants or workshops.

Unethical business rivals were green-eyed with envy. They hired people to spread slander, stole recipes, threatened monopolies... All sorts of malicious tactics kept appearing. They were like toads dressing up as frogs: ugly, but full of tricks.

Shen Chuan rolled up his sleeves. "A bandit choosing not to fight doesn't mean you can treat me like a pushover!"

His underlings chimed in. "Exactly! You think our boss is a pushover?"

His sulky bandit husband: "Aren't you?"

Shen Chuan grabbed him and kissed him hard. "I only put up with your sulking. Who does that guy think he is?"

* No favoritism toward either partner, and no trying to please both sides. Fans who are particular about this, please avoid.

* The author is an old-fashioned and stubborn person with outdated ideas from the last century. I do not accept any form of tutoring or writing advice.

Theme: Help more people live better lives within your means.