The World’s No. 1 Farm

The night Qing Mengzhu was fired, he went drinking with a friend to pour out his troubles. Halfway through, a chime rang in his mind, followed by a flat electronic voice: “Congratulations, you have been linked to the Interstellar Mall and granted a precious spot as an interstellar seller. This spot is non-transferable and will expire if unused...” When he sobered up, Qing Mengzhu found that the windfall from the heavens was real: he now owned an interstellar mall stocked with wonderful products such as spirit spring water, gene-enhancing medicine, and soil-restoration agents! After confirming that he had been assigned the role of “rural seller,” he promptly returned to his hometown. He started by growing lotus roots, then raised shrimp, planted bamboo, cultivated all kinds of crops, and established a farm After years of hard work, his farm became increasingly famous. Countless agricultural experts hoped to make a pilgrimage to it, calling it the best farm in the world. Standing at the top, Qing Mengzhu was grateful for the “windfall” that had landed in his lap all those years ago, and even more grateful to himself for gritting his teeth and working hard through countless difficult days. * Qing Mengzhu had a secret. He didn't know when he had fallen in love with his stepbrother, Ming Chunxi. One day, he woke from a dream in a cold sweat, his pants and blankets in disarray. In the darkness, the pale, radiant young man could only gasp for breath, bewildered. He wanted to deny it, ignore it, push his feelings down, but they grew more intense until they were driving him mad. He wanted to confess and change their relationship, yet a voice inside him told him that instead of risking everything on one desperate gamble, he should take what little intimacy he could get from being stepbrothers. Until one day, Qing Mengzhu jumped into a river to save someone. Ming Chunxi came rushing over, travel-worn, and stood at the courtyard gate, his voice hoarse as he asked, “Mengzhu, will you be with me?” Only then did Qing Mengzhu realize that their youth had been a mutual crush all along. Note: The two leads are not related by blood and are not registered in the same household. Please add my upcoming novels, “Transplanting the Otherworldly” and “The Mountain God in the Cyber Age [Farming],” to your reading lists. Check out my author page! “The Mountain God in the Cyber Age [Farming],” blurb: It is the year 5018. Humanity has long since entered the cyber age and no longer believes in gods. Yet Ying Kongtu still exists as a mountain god. The little mountain god temple at the foot of the mountain, long abandoned by worshippers, still stands as a relic of the town. One day, a tall man brought a little orange cat to the temple and pressed a tiny paw print there. “Now that you’ve left your paw print in front of the temple, the mountain god will protect you from now on,” the man said. Legend has it that when a kitten or puppy leaves its paw print in front of the mountain god temple, it’s officially registered as part of the household. If it gets lost, the mountain god has to help bring it home. Ying Kongtu dug this memory out of the back of his mind and watched the man and cat leave, feeling rather touched. That is, until he had returned the cat to the man eight times in a single month. After much soul-searching, Ying Kongtu decided to keep the little orange cat in his territory and carry it around day and night. Later, Ying Kongtu and Bian Wuwu became very close. He took Bian Wuwu to admire the magnificent mountains and rivers. With a wave of his hand, countless points of light awoke in the shrines hidden throughout the land, and the fluffy spirits, now reduced to their souls, flew over and gathered around him. Ying Kongtu said earnestly, “All the fluffy ones I look after are here. None of them have ever gotten lost, so you don't need to follow me.” Bian Wuwu: “I'm not following the cats. I'm following you.” Ying Kongtu: “...” Theme: No matter what, there is always a path through life