Chapter 1

"Global Farm TOP1" by Yueji Yanyu [Complete, with extras]

Synopsis:

On the day Qing Mengzhu was fired, he went out drinking that evening to vent to a buddy.

Halfway through his complaints, a ding sounded in his head, followed by a flat electronic voice: "Congratulations on binding to the

Interstellar

Mall and obtaining a precious interstellar seller slot. This slot is nontransferable and will become void upon expiration..."

After sobering up, Qing Mengzhu discovered that the windfall was real—he had an Interstellar Mall, full of good things like spirit spring water, genetic potions, and soil fertility restorers!

Once he confirmed that he had obtained the status of an "agricultural and pastoral area seller," he promptly 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 several years of hard work, his farm became increasingly famous. Countless agricultural workers hoped to make a "pilgrimage" to his farm, calling it the number one farm in the world.

Standing at the top, Qing Mengzhu was grateful for the "windfall" that had landed on him back then, but even more grateful to himself for gritting his teeth and working hard through countless days.

Qing Mengzhu had a secret.

He didn't know when he had fallen for his stepbrother, Ming Chunxi.

That day, he jolted awake from a dream, drenched in sweat. His pants and bedding were a mess, leaving the young man, his skin glowing white, gasping in the dim light.

He wanted to deny it, ignore it, and suppress it, but his increasingly strong feelings weighed on him until he was nearly driven mad.

He wanted to confess and change their relationship, but a voice inside him told him that rather than risk everything, he should enjoy what little intimacy their status as stepbrothers afforded them.

Then one day, Qing Mengzhu jumped into a river to save someone. Ming Chunxi hurried over, travel-worn, and stood at the courtyard gate, his voice hoarse as he asked, "Mengzhu, will you be with me?"

Only then did he learn that their youth had been a time of mutual

secret love.

Note: The gong and shou are not related by blood and are not on the same household registration.

Content tags: fantasy

space

farming

fiction

food

feel-good fiction

management, growth

Main characters: Qing Mengzhu, Ming Chunxi

One-line synopsis: The whole world craves the vegetables he grows.

Theme: There is always a path through life that will lead somewhere.

Chapter 1

April nights were a little cold, and a jacket was still needed in the evening.

Qing Mengzhu didn't know whether his griping or the alcohol had warmed him up, but he had taken off his jacket and hung it over the back of the chair beside him. His two exposed, slender arms were as white as reflective strips.

Qing Mengzhu had spent the whole evening cursing his former direct supervisor. Now he had run out of things to say and drunk his fill, so he sat silently in his chair, staring into space.

The light hanging beneath the barbecue restaurant's eaves shone on him, making him look like a handsome sculpture.

Beside him, Zhao Hexi picked up his beer bottle and gently clinked it against his. "You got your compensation, so don't dwell on it. What do you want to do next? Go traveling, or stay home and play games for a while to unwind?"

It took Qing Mengzhu two seconds to respond. "I'll go back to my hometown first. My family rented out our land before, but the tenants aren't renting it this year. I need to go back and deal with it."

Zhao Hexi had been his classmate since middle school. Hearing that, he asked, "Isn't your family local?"

Qing Mengzhu said, "We're from the countryside over in the west district. It's a fifty-something-minute drive."

Zhao Hexi laughed and clinked his bottle against his again. "Oh, so you're a landlord?"

Qing Mengzhu tipped his head back and drained the last of his beer. "It's land in the countryside. It doesn't bring in much."

As he spoke, Qing Mengzhu looked around. Seeing that the servers were all busy, he stood up unsteadily. "I'll go get two more beers."

Zhao Hexi asked, "Want to get something else?"

Qing Mengzhu said, "No. If I really get drunk, I'll be the one feeling awful. Let's just have two more beers."

The instant Qing Mengzhu stepped forward to head out, his head buzzed, as though something had hit it, complete with an echo.

He staggered and nearly fell to the ground. Fortunately, he caught himself on the table with both hands in time and steadied himself.

The table shook violently, and the beer bottles nearly fell to the floor.

Zhao Hexi hurriedly caught him and asked what was wrong, and whether he was drunk.

Bottles and bowls clattered together, tables and chairs rattled, and quite a few people around them looked over.

Qing Mengzhu stood where he was. He had just heard a ding, followed by a flat electronic voice: "Congratulations on binding to the Interstellar Mall and obtaining a precious interstellar seller slot. This slot is nontransferable and will become void upon expiration..."

Qing Mengzhu raised his eyes and looked blankly at Zhao Hexi. "Did you hear something?"

Zhao Hexi turned to look around. "What sound?"

Qing Mengzhu raised a hand and pressed his temple. "It sounded like a game."

The voice had stopped now.

Zhao Hexi held him steady. "Maybe someone nearby is playing a game. Forget it, let's stop drinking. Any more and you'll fall over. I'll call a designated driver, and we can go home."

Qing Mengzhu sat back down and surveyed his surroundings, frowning slightly.

Qing Mengzhu lived alone in a rented two-bedroom apartment.

He worked at an advertising company. His boss was awful, but his income was decent, and his rented apartment was nice.

Seeing that he wasn't quite right, Zhao Hexi went straight back to the apartment with him and stayed in the guest room.

Before falling asleep, Zhao Hexi thought that, after all, this had been Qing Mengzhu's first job since graduation. He had been fired, and although he had received compensation, he was bound to feel somewhat dejected. Would he feel better after a couple of days?

It was only Wednesday, and Zhao Hexi's company was a bit far from Qing Mengzhu's place, so he got up early and left for work.

Qing Mengzhu also woke up a little after seven. After years of working, his body clock was set very reliably, and even though he no longer had to go to work, he still woke up right on time.

He had only had a few beers the night before, nowhere near enough to black out.

The moment he opened his eyes, he remembered what had happened the night before. Without even getting out of bed, he lay there and called softly, "Interstellar Mall?"

After calling out, he waited two seconds, but nothing happened around him.

He really had been drunk. He had thought something had actually hit him the night before, making his head buzz.

How old was he, still having such unrealistic dreams?

Qing Mengzhu let out a self-mocking sound and dragged his exhausted body out of bed, intending to wash up.

Just then, his head buzzed again. After the dizziness passed, he "saw" a mall with a bright red border in his mind. The interface looked quite familiar, just like the shopping apps he had downloaded on his phone.

No way. There's a delay, too?

Qing Mengzhu pulled his foot back and sat cross-legged on the bed, concentrating on "looking" at the mall in his mind.

Soon, the mall brought up a

friendly

notice. It looked like the kind of risk notice that popped up when opening a new app, except the subject of the notice had become the "Interstellar Mall," the regulations had become interstellar law, and there was a bunch of content he wasn't very familiar with.

This is too bizarre.

Qing Mengzhu stared at the thing in his mind. If it hadn't been inside his head, he would definitely have taken a screenshot and saved it for careful study.

Qing Mengzhu read it word by word, tried hard to remember the various notices, and tapped "agree" and "continue" several times—he wasn't sure how he had tapped them, but he managed to get in and finally became an interstellar seller in an agricultural and pastoral area.

He checked several times. He really was a seller, though he could also buy things on it.

The final notice told him that the Interstellar Mall would appear in a format familiar to the user and asked whether he wanted to attach it to his phone for easier use. Without his consent, the Interstellar Mall could not be detected by Earth's technology, nor could anyone else see it.

Qing Mengzhu tapped confirm right away. Operating it in his mind was too tiring.

Soon, Qing Mengzhu saw the "Interstellar Mall" app on his phone. Its border was bright red, making it look even more like the other shopping apps on his phone.

Following the

system's

guidance, he browsed from the homepage to his personal center. His status was that of a seller, but he sold to the mall rather than to customers.

According to the system's recommendation, he could use the app's scanning function to determine whether an item could be sold, and payment would be made in interstellar coins.

Sitting on the bed, Qing Mengzhu looked at the bright sunshine outside the window, then opened his mouth and bit his own wrist—it didn't hurt much, but it didn't seem like he was dreaming, either.