The World's No. 1 Farm

The evening Qing Mengzhu got fired, he went drinking with a buddy to drown his sorrows.

Halfway through venting, a ding rang out in his mind, followed by a flat electronic voice:

Congratulations on linking to the Interstellar Marketplace and obtaining a coveted interstellar seller slot. This slot is nontransferable and will become void upon expiration...

After sobering up, Qing Mengzhu discovered that this windfall was real-he had an Interstellar Marketplace filled with wonderful things like spirit spring water, genetic medicine, and soil fertility restoratives!

Once he confirmed his status as an "Agriculture and Livestock Seller," he decisively returned to his hometown. Starting with lotus roots, he went on to raise shrimp, grow bamboo, cultivate all kinds of crops, and establish a farm-

After years of hard work, his farm became increasingly famous. Countless people in agriculture hoped to make a "pilgrimage" there, hailing it as the world's number one farm.

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 persevering through countless days of hard work.

*

Qing Mengzhu had a secret.

At some point, without realizing it, he had fallen for his older stepbrother, Ming Chunxi.

That day, he jolted awake from a dream, drenched in sweat, his pants and bedding a mess. In the dimness, the boy's fair skin seemed to glow as he lay there, gasping in alarm.

He wanted to deny it, ignore it, suppress it. But his ever-deepening feelings were driving him to the brink of madness.

He wanted to confess, to change their relationship, but a voice inside him whispered that rather than risk everything, he should enjoy what little closeness their status as stepbrothers allowed him.

Until one day, after Qing Mengzhu jumped into a river to save someone, Ming Chunxi rushed back, travel-worn and weary. Standing at the courtyard gate, he pleaded in a hoarse voice, "Mengzhu, will you be with me?"

Only then did he realize that they had spent their youth secretly loving each other.

Note: The top and bottom are not related by blood and are not registered in the same household.

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Please bookmark my upcoming novels, Xenotransplantation and The Mountain God in the Cyber Age [Farming]! Click through to my author page to find them!

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The Mountain God in the Cyber Age [Farming] - Synopsis:

In 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 his mountain, long devoid of incense offerings, still stands too, now a cultural relic of the town.

One day, a tall man arrives with a little orange kitten and presses its tiny paw print in front of the mountain god's temple.

"There, you've left your print at the mountain god's temple. The mountain god will protect you from now on," the man says.

According to legend, when a kitten or puppy leaves a paw print in front of the mountain god's temple, it is officially registered.

If it gets lost, the mountain god must help bring it home.

Ying Kongtu digs this memory out of some dusty corner of his mind. Watching the man and kitten leave, he feels rather touched.

Or he would have, if he hadn't had to return the kitten to the man eight times in a single month.

After this painful lesson, Ying Kongtu resolves to keep the little orange kitten within his territory, carrying it around day and night.

Later, Ying Kongtu and Bian Wuwu grow very close.

He takes Bian Wuwu to see the magnificent mountains and rivers. With a wave of his hand, countless points of light awaken within shrines hidden across the landscape. Fluffy creatures, now nothing but spirits, fly over and gather around him.

Ying Kongtu says earnestly, "All the fluffy little ones I care for are here. I've never lost a single one. You don't need to follow me."

Bian Wuwu says, "I'm not following the cat. I'm following you."

Ying Kongtu: "..."

Theme: In life, there is always a path forward.