The rest of the harvest season was much the same. I had fun using the [Combine] in the morning and enjoyed a life of newlywed bliss with my husband during the afternoon and night.

  The [Rice], and assorted crops were a joy to behold, and this summer’s [Tea] was delightfully fresh-tasting, with a richer and sweeter taste than normal, which I greatly enjoyed. I liked it so much I started drinking less coffee and more tea.

  I thought the [Fairy Cabbage] would sell for more, but Shuye sent word back that it wasn’t in much demand. On the other hand, the [Silverleaf] turned out to be quite precious, which was nice.

  Since I had leveled up Farming and hence had more energy, we finished harvesting everything three days ahead of time. We decided to spend those days completing a small quest and tilling the land in preparation for the upcoming fall planting season.

  “I can never get tired of using this beast.” I patted the side of the [Combine] fondly. “Watch as I remove the harvester attachment and replace it with the mechanical plow.”

  This was as easy as clicking on some buttons in the System’s farm equipment tab. A bright yellow light enveloped the [Combine], flashing thrice, then disappearing. The [Combine] now had a tiller attached to it.

  “Aw, I wish I could use it, too,” said Mo.

  “It’s okay, I, for one, am satisfied with using the [Lawn Master 9000],” said Kharli.

  “Hats on, people,” I said.

  We put on our favorite headgear. Mine was a cute bonnet with pretty pink silk flowers decorating it. Lari put on a plain conical hat woven from straw, while Kharli and Mo wore wide-brimmed, round hats with a high crown, which were currently in fashion in Anwei. According to the origin of the hat’s fashion, one of the city lords saw scholars in his outer courtyard standing under the hot sun. He ordered his servants to give them wide-brimmed hats to protect them from the sun. Thus, these hats became all the rage this year.

  I got on the machine and whistled merrily as I drove it around the field. The plow attachment’s blades were just for show. Though they looked solid enough, they actually never touched the soil as the real work was done via System magic, or, in other words, my own personal magic, which was guided by the System. It all felt very natural as the soil obediently turned itself over, my energy bar slowly depleting as I drove the [Combine].

  “Done!” I said to the others as I climbed out of the vehicle and put it back in my inventory. “I’ll pave the path while I wait for you guys to finish.”

  Many of the paths in the farm were planted with creeping grasses to form living walkways, but there were certain parts that needed to be paved because they were too muddy when it rained or because the carts needed to pass by that way. I used the [Fire Stone Path] bricks to create a level road for this field.

  [Fire Stone Path:

  Place on the ground in your farm to create a heated path that will remain warm and dry even in winter.]

  I made it so that the paths were wide enough to accommodate two carts side by side. All I had to do was mentally click on the tiles in my inventory and then click on the place where I wanted them to go. The System automatically buried the tiles in the ground for me, but sometimes I needed to use the [Build] tab to raise the level of parts of the road I was making. It was super fun to do, especially since the tiles made a loud thumping sound whenever I placed them. When I finished, I spread out a picnic blanket and drank some lemonade while I waited for the kids to complete their task and join me.

  “I can’t believe planting gives less exp compared to harvesting.” Lari yawned. Now that the crops were all harvested, he was free to enjoy his free time as he wished, and he had stayed up all night yesterday playing dice with the kitchen staff. “We only need to cut or uproot the crops to harvest them, but to plant crops we have to till the soil, fertilize it, plant the seeds, and water them. Shouldn’t that be worth more exp?”

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “No.” Kharli took a bite of her cookie. “Just think, if planting gave more exp, farmers could ignore the crops afterwards instead of taking care of the plants properly, so they could get the most exp during harvest season.”

  “But I would like more exp for planting…” said Mo.

  “Exp is great.” I yawned, too, because I had also stayed up late with Prince Baiyu last night.

  We chatted about exp a bit more, and then after our break, we went to the [Greenhouse] to start the quest. Most of the floor area of the building was taken up by pots and plants, but we had a cozy little nook in one sunny corner with a small table and four chairs. We sat down, and I took out the things we would need for the quest.

  [Quest Available: The Crucible of Cloning - Learning How to Use Plant Potions]

  I clicked the [Accept] button and checked the quest information.

  [The Crucible of Cloning: Learning How to Use Plant Potions:

  Potions aren’t just for players! They can also help clone valuable plants.

  Cut a plant just below a node, which is the part of the plant where a leaf or stem is attached.

  Dip the bottom part of the cutting in the Rooting Potion.

  Plant the cutting in a Propagation Pot with a lid.

  Water the pot.

  Optional: Use a Shooting Potion on an upper node of the cutting.

  Reward: Farming Exp]

  [Rooting Potion:

  A shimmering potion that smells of earth and grass. When applied to plant cuttings, it coaxes its spark of life to awaken, forming roots with surprising speed and vigor. It’s the farmer’s secret weapon for producing unlimited copies of rare and exotic plants.]

  [Shooting Potion:

  No, this doesn’t enhance your archery! A thick, almost gel-like potion with a subtle, sweet scent. When applied to the nodes of a plant, it encourages the formation of new shoots or stems. An advanced tool for multiplying your most prized specimens.]

  “The quest seems simple enough,” I said after reading the text out loud to them. “We just need to apply these to some cuttings.”

  I pointed at the potions on the table. There were plenty of valuable plants in the [Herb Garden], but I chose the rarest flower instead, the [Swaddled Baby Orchid], whose blooms looked like a baby wrapped in a swaddle.

  I mean, yes, I had 2,147,483,647 of them, but they were considered rare in this world, and I figured having a floral infant would be good luck in my current condition. Also, the flower was super cute, with pure white outer petals that were wrapped around the inner blue petals that looked like a tiny baby.

  “I’ve chosen this rare plant for today’s quest. It’s a rare flower from the northern mountains. Any questions?” I asked the others.

  “The clan members made cuttings from the trees in the desert farm, right? Did they use potions, too?” Mo frowned down at the potions. She couldn’t touch them or the orchid since they were bound to me.

  “I doubt they have these particular potions. Besides, these potions are optional. You can grow plants from cuttings without using them,” I said. “Shall we start?”

  “Yes, Teacher,” they chorused.

  “I’ll make three cuttings and use the potion on them. You guys can plant them in the [Propagation Pots]. By the way, the lid is to keep the moisture in. Apparently, new cuttings shouldn’t be allowed to dry out, so you guys need to remember to water them every day.”

  While specific items like potions were bound to me, regular farm supplies like the pots were not.

  I took out a pair of pruning shears from my System toolbelt and carefully cut a few stems just below a node. Then we followed the quest instructions.

  “My dears, I think I’m going to level up again,” I said.

  I had gotten two more levels during the harvest season, which meant this would be my third.

  [The Crucible of Cloning - Learning How to Use Plant Potions: Quest Complete]

  Reward: Farming Exp]

  Illusory fireworks exploded around me, and a System notification popped up.

  [Congratulations, you just advanced a Farming level!]

  [Your Farming level is now 44.]

  I jumped up from my chair and high-fived the others. Kharli, Mo, and I hooked our arms together and twirled around to celebrate. Lari, who wanted to pretend to be too grown-up and mature to do a dance of joy with us, couldn’t resist the temptation and joined in after a bit.

  “Yes, I’m one step closer to my goal!” I said breathlessly after the dance. “I think I’ll get level 50 this fall.”

  “Congratulations,” they all said to me.

  We put the [Propagation Pots] on a shelf with indirect sunlight before going back to the main house.

  The next day, we checked the cuttings, but, to our collective shock, we found that the cuttings had grown more than just roots and new shoots.

  “Monsters!” Mo screamed as she pointed at the cuttings.

  Sorry, everyone, the author dun goofed, this chapter was accidentally skipped! A reader told me I had skipped something, but I thought they were wrong since I checked my original. It turns out that my original had two chapter 274s!!!!!!! So the original was the one with the error, hence I never noticed the wrong chapter here.

  *Note - I've currently placed this at the end of the story for people to see it easier, but I will return it to its proper place tomorrow.