As the last remnants of heavy snow melted away, the weather turned warmer with each passing day. The river shed its icy coat, tree buds burst into vibrant green, and the black and yellow ground gradually became speckled with tender new growth.

Farmers had always been synonymous with diligence, and for good reason. Farming left no room for laziness. Shedding a few less drops of sweat could mean the family would have to eat a few less meals. Who dared to joke about their family’s food supply?

Qinghe Village had few lazy souls. They started preparing for spring plowing early on. The Xia family, blessed with ample land, rented out most of it to other villagers to farm but also kept a few mu to cultivate themselves.

The Xia family was more lenient compared to the Tian family who rented out all their land at exorbitant rates.

Whenever the harvest was poor, the Tian family’s tenants always had to be replaced, as after paying taxes and rent, there was barely any food left for their own families. It was not uncommon for a few unfortunate souls to starve to death.

With the adults of the family occupied, Xia Chen enjoyed more freedom. After recovering from his illness, he had developed a habit of taking a “nap” after lunch.

The elders in the family, believing him to be weak, were happy for him to rest more. Xia Chen seized this opportunity to enter the space and work diligently to gain experience and level up, striving to achieve automation as soon as possible.

At this moment, Xia Chen squatted in the system space, holding the small shovel his father had specially made for him while feeling troubled. “Tongban, I feel like you’re making things difficult for me.”

This matter began with the seeds his father gave him. Most of the seeds from his mother were vegetable seeds with very few varieties. In contrast, his father provided a much wider array, including all kinds of grain seeds—rice, wheat, sorghum, millet, yellow rice, soybeans, and more. Each type offered more experience than vegetable seeds, which was how he gained a level’s worth of experience.

Qinghe Village, situated at the junction of the north and south, consumed both rice and noodles. For many poor families, their staple food consisted more of the latter few types. 

Xia Chen had never eaten sorghum rice in his previous life, but he had tasted millet porridge. When carefully prepared by a master chef, who would have thought this humble grain could also be steamed into rice and eaten as a staple food?

Moreover, crop yields at this time were dismally low. In China, thanks to a certain Yan Shennong^[1]Divine Farmer Yan, before he transmigrated, the highest rice yield per mu had reached an impressive 1,000 kilograms. But now, in the An Dynasty? He had asked his father and his answer was, in a year blessed with good weather, the rice yield per mu barely reached 300 kilograms.

Xia Chen never expected that he would trigger a random task simply by lamenting “the yield is really low” while harvesting.

Random tasks did not appear on the task scroll. Once triggered, one could choose whether to accept them or not. If accepted, they would manifest on the task scroll.

Due to the meager rewards for novice tasks, Xia Chen was too lazy to deliberately grind them. Of course, it was also because he was stuck on the eighth one, which required him to possess and read an agricultural book. The family didn’t have it, but the mall did. One book cost three taels of silver. 

Xia Chen’s account balance was just a smidge over three taels. Buying a book would send him back to pre-liberation poverty overnight. He couldn’t bear it.

However, without completing the novice tasks, he couldn’t access the main storyline tasks. The daily tasks were only partially unlocked according to his level, consisting of simple planting and harvesting, providing him with meager experience and a few copper coins every day.

So, Xia Chen was quite happy to have a new task to tackle. Most tasks involved farming anyway. He was going to farm even without tasks. With an extra task, he could get double the experience. Moreover, the rewards for this kind of randomly triggered task were usually quite generous.

And generous they were indeed! Xia Chen was stunned. The money alone amounted to fifteen gold, enough for him to do ten draws with a guarantee! There were also bountiful experience rewards and a small booklet. He felt it resembled the skill book he got from gift packs.

Dazzled by the generous rewards, Xia Chen accepted the task without even carefully reading the content. Anyway, even though his system was a pit, it wouldn’t leave him with no way out. However, when he finished celebrating and turned back to look, his smile gradually faded.

[Random Task: Cultivate Excellent Rice Varieties

Reward: XX (the above)

Requirement: The cultivated rice variety must have a yield of over 400 kilograms per mu.

Time Limit: One year.

Note: When this task is not completed, other random tasks cannot be accepted.]

Xia Chen: “……”

His worldview was refreshed today. He had never seen anyone shameless enough to put the rewards upfront, with illustrations, and even with a glow effect. He was so dazzled by the golden glow of the gold that he didn’t even see the task name!

To be fair, compared to hybrid rice, a yield of 400 kilograms per mu wasn’t too high, but he couldn’t compare himself to Yan Shennong! That guy was already the Divine Farmer, while he was just a farmer apprentice who only knew how to dig holes and water plants.

He didn’t know if it was because they had been together for a long time, but Xia Chen felt that Xia Tongban seemed to have developed some of its own emotions and was very happy to poke at him: [The tasks issued by this system do not have situations where they cannot be completed. If they are not completed, please look for problems within yourself, Host.]

Xia Chen: “……” One day, he would be angered to death by this trash system!

Fortunately, Xia Chen was adept at regulating his own emotions. His experiences from a young age told him that the more difficult the situation, the more he needed to stay calm. Only by staying calm could he think and find a way out.

“Actually, this task is beneficial to me,” Xia Chen pondered. His family as a small landlord could greatly benefit from cultivating excellent rice varieties. On a small scale, his own family could enjoy more income. On a larger scale, who knew what benefits he could exchange it for? He could give this to his father to handle.

Having figured it out, Xia Chen’s anger dissipated. He took out a cucumber from the warehouse and munched on it while organizing his inventory.

The produce from the space was truly extraordinary. Xia Chen didn’t know about other things since he hadn’t tried them, but just talking about this cucumber, it was crisp and refreshing, with an abundance of juice and a strong fruity aroma. It was incomparably more delicious than any cucumbers he had eaten before.

Unfortunately, his planting experience wasn’t high. Tongban said it was because he didn’t provide a trellis for the cucumber, so although it grew, it was like the malnourished radish he first grew. It only bore one or two each time, most of which Xia Chen ate himself.

Xia Chen’s current savings mostly came from gift packs and achievements. The loose change less than a tael of silver was earned by him painstakingly grinding doing daily tasks. Moreover, he was still in debt.

Poverty made the little rich man Xia Chen become as stingy as Xia Tongban. He looked at the mall every day but was reluctant to buy anything, which was really quite miserable.

But today, he was a bit shaken after being stimulated by the generous rewards of the random task. He wanted to finish the novice tasks and start the main storyline early.

He clicked open the mall. Just in time, an agricultural book had refreshed at noon today. Xia Chen stared at the little silver ingot icon below it, his finger hovering over the purchase button while feeling like his heart was bleeding.

After hesitating for a while, Xia Chen regretted it again. Forget it, he’d get his father to help buy a book. It couldn’t possibly be more expensive than buying it in the space. But he was illiterate, so it was hard to find an excuse. Moreover, books weren’t easy to buy in this era, and he didn’t know if their small county town had agricultural books.

Just as Xia Chen was going back and forth in indecision, Xia Tongban suddenly spoke up: [Someone is coming.]

With a slip of his hand, Xia Chen directly pressed down. Without having time to feel distressed about his disappearing little money, he casually shoved the book into the warehouse. Xia Chen then quickly returned outside and lay on his bed, pretending to sleep.

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