Seed Breeding in Ancient Times

[A true farming story about farming, with no household rivalries or terrible people]

Cheng Mei, a graduate student in agricultural science, transmigrates into a book.

The good news: She has a seed-breeding golden finger.

The bad news: Her family has disowned her and reported her dead, and she's destined to be deceived by a scumbag into becoming his concubine and dying in misery.

Faced with this opening, Cheng Mei decisively cuts her losses and chooses to make her own way.

She wears a fake pregnancy belly and pretends to be a widow, hires a little boy to play her brother-in-law, then buys a house, rents some land, and takes up farming.

"That land is too barren to support anyone. Neither Cheng-niangzi nor her brother-in-law knows how to farm. What can they possibly do there?"

"Young people don't know when to stop. It's such a waste to plant all that good grain in the ground! If they harvest even half of it next year, it'll be a gift from Heaven..."

Nobody thinks she has a chance on the saline-alkali land at the border.

With seven years of agricultural experience and seed-breeding skills at her fingertips, Cheng Mei isn't daunted in the least.

If the soil is barren, she'll improve it. If the seeds won't sprout, she'll switch to different ones.

The abandoned fields that had been sold off become fertile in her hands, their salt and alkali washed away. Grain yields climb steadily, from one or two dou per mu to one or two shi, then four or five shi...

Beyond Yanmen Pass, everyone says she's the incarnation of the Earth Goddess.

It's just that the obedient puppy somehow turned into a wolf lurking in the shadows. How dare he harbor those kinds of feelings for her?

After his parents died, someone tried to kill him. He left home and struck back, then ended up living with a strange young woman.

She can grow any kind of seed without soil and seems to have some sort of divine power, but she can't tell that he's a man.

It doesn't matter. He can pretend to be a man and protect her. They each get what they need, that's all.

Their peaceful life ends when his body begins to change. Unable to control his urges, he finds himself harboring forbidden feelings for the woman who is nominally his sister-in-law.

In his confusion, he leaves to join the army.

When he returns, he is honored, strong, and handsome, no longer the delicate beauty whose gender was hard to tell.

Later...

Taking advantage of his drunkenness, he lifts her onto the desk and leans in close. "Sister-in-law, you have feelings for me too, don't you?"

[Read before plowing]

1. The setting resembles the late Ming dynasty. Potatoes and corn have been introduced, and a Little Ice Age is underway. The farming and seedling cultivation don't involve the imperial court, and there are no household rivalries. The original novel is just background. The female lead's name is Cheng Mei (Mei).

2. A house in town, land in the countryside, and everyday farming life. Raising children and growing crops. The romance comes late and isn't a major focus. The male lead grows over time, and the younger man she raised eventually turns the tables on her.

3. The whole story is already written, so feel free to dive in.

[Next book: A Match Made in Heaven. A sweet and gentle noblewoman x a fierce, rugged general. Married first, love later. Starts in October.]

Xu Shaojun, the only daughter of the Imperial College's libationer, is beautiful as a jade-skinned flower and the most talented woman in the capital. She is betrothed to Han Gun, a rising star at court.

Raised in a top-ranking noble family from the previous dynasty, she never imagined she'd marry a peasant, a man of the sword.

The mighty, wild, and rugged general, for his part, has no liking for women who are full of rules and arguments.

Yet the two of them are bound together all the same.

At first, Han Gun doesn't care about the marriage. It was the emperor's command, after all, and he has no say in the matter.

So when he heads north to put down the remnants of the previous dynasty, help the families of fallen soldiers, and hunt down spies and assassins, he gives the marriage no thought at all.

His new bride is passably attractive, but her sharp tongue and relentless arguments make him want to avoid her.

That is, until he discovers her meeting her old flame at a teahouse.

"You don't care for me, my lord, yet you expect me to be completely devoted to you?"

They first meet on their wedding day. Broad-shouldered and thick-chested, with muscles straining against his wedding robes, his gaze is sharp and his presence imposing.

Xu Shaojun: ...A savage.

She only wants to do her best and give him nothing to criticize, then spend two years living together with mutual respect. All her grievances and humiliations will be bargaining chips when she asks for a divorce.

She doesn't know when he begins to change.

Night, damp and feverish, after their lovemaking.

Han Gun holds Xu Shaojun from behind, his chin resting in the hollow of her shoulder.

"Where's the divorce guide?"

He opens a black-covered book, places a pen in her hand, then holds her hand and crosses out a line.

"Aren't you the one who cares most about reason, hmm?"

Xu Shaojun droops against him, too weak to speak.

· Sweet newlywed fluff, with a lighthearted, everyday feel

· A beauty meets a beast, with no prior acquaintance and no secret crushes

· Height difference, ten-year age gap, both virgins, one-on-one romance

Theme: As long as you don't lose your way, there are always more solutions than difficulties.