The Farmer's Bountiful Life

In her previous life, Qianxi was a woman plagued by bad luck, always falling just short of success. Just when she thought she’d finally caught a lucky break, she was dropped into a barren wasteland.

Being poor was bad enough, but she was married off as soon as she arrived. And as if that weren’t enough, she fainted dead away on her wedding night when her husband’s ghostly face scared the life out of her!

So her ugly husband said, “If you think I’m ugly, that’s fine. Just wait a few years. My younger brother will grow up soon.”

She rolled her eyes. What did his younger brother growing up have to do with her? Was he expecting his brother to marry his sister-in-law? Besides, the brother looked like he was mentally disabled, yet her husband spoke as if he were somehow a cut above him!

Apparently, his eldest brother had become a monk, so he was bald.

Another brother was a handsome charmer, but he’d been adopted by relatives when he was little!

Great, the whole family was a basket of bad apples!

&

But as the saying goes, marry a chicken and follow the chicken, marry a dog and follow the dog, marry a carrying pole and let it carry you wherever it goes.

Her husband might be ugly, but he could fight on the battlefield and cook in the kitchen. He was an excellent hunter, had an off-the-charts emotional quotient, was responsible and sincere, and even had a six-pack!

She must have saved the galaxy in her past life to end up with such a useful man!

What good is being handsome? In the end, even a pawn can take you out!

Putting her modern intelligence to work, she leased a pond to raise fish and planted vegetables. She cleared the hillside to hunt and plant trees. Hadn’t they said that the way to make the countryside rich was to have fewer children and plant more trees? And the way to keep it from being poor was to have fewer children and feed the bears. Feed. The. Bears!

When a field lies fallow, everyone wants it once it’s plowed. Sure enough, just as the young couple’s life was starting to prosper, the brother who’d been adopted by relatives suddenly returned. He gazed at her lasciviously and said, “The view really is better on this side.”

As if that weren’t enough, a band of bandits ransacked the temple, forcing her eldest brother-in-law to leave the monastery. He clutched his scriptures and declared solemnly, “I will be true to both Buddha and you.”

Qianxi was left reeling. What happened to having any shame?

She’d been fooled!

&

Scene:

“Your Majesty, with Children’s Day coming up, can I make a wish?” The little one puffed out his cheeks and gave her a coquettish, world-weary look.

“Granted.” Qianxi, wearing an apron with her sleeves rolled up, busily stir-fried the food.

“A little sister,” the little one said, counting on his fingers. “Zaxi has a little sister, and Suolang has a little sister…”

Qianxi pursed her lips. “Hasn’t Mother taught you that having fewer children and planting more trees is how you get rich?”

The little one pouted stubbornly. “Father says if we get rich, we can have children.”

Qianxi raised an eyebrow.

“Father also says the more children you have, the more money you can earn…”

Qianxi’s expression twitched. She waved her long arm. “You want to earn money, huh? Go chop some firewood!”