We all rushed towards her, and Lari was the first to see what she was pointing at. “A pure white fairy…”

Kharli peered down at it. “You scared me, I thought you meant a real ghost!”

“It looks like a beautiful spirit, doesn’t it? Imagine this fluttering around the plants at night.” With her head tilted, Mo's expression was one of thoughtful delight, her gaze sparkling with curiosity, and a gentle smile playing on her lips. She must’ve been teasing us with her dramatics earlier.

“Gosh.” I stood watching the insect for a while.

In the dappled sunlight of the garden, the white insect, a moth, if I wasn’t mistaken, drifted like a specter, its ghostly pallor stark against the dark brown of the [Growing Medium]. With each delicate flutter of its wings, it seemed to shimmer and scatter silver dust around it that cast an eerie glow as it moved through the air despite the brightness of day.

“I’ll go fetch Haoran, he’ll know what type of bug this is!” Kharli hastily shook off the dirt from her sleeves and then ran off to the house.

The rest of us continued watering while keeping an eye on the white moth.

When Haoran, one of Deming’s assistants, arrived, he seemed quite pleased that we were consulting him about the insect. He was a good-looking youth of around twenty years old, with a square face and a large nose.

After examining the insect, he bowed to me and said, “My lady, this is a moth. I’m sorry, I don’t know the exact name for it. They say there are over a million different types of insects.”

“Is it a spirit insect? Does it look harmful?” I asked him.

“No, it’s just a regular insect without any spirituality. Adult moths are not generally harmful to plants, but the caterpillars might eat leaves and such.”

“Should we leave this one alone?”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Okay. Thank you for your help.”

He bowed again. “It was my pleasure.”

Haoran left, and I said to the others, “Let’s finish up and take a break. The moth is harmless and very pretty, so we’ll allow it to stay in the garden.”

“I thought for sure it was a spirit insect. Look at how white it is. It even seems like it's glowing,” said Mo.

I smiled. “Well, a lot of regular animals are beautiful and strange. Things don’t have to be demons or spirit animals to be lovely.”

“Let’s call it ‘ghost moth’ since that’s what Mo called it,” said Lari.

Kharli shook her head and took out her watering can. “I’ll get back to work. I can’t believe Mo scared me like that.”

Lari stepped behind her and made eerie sounds. “I’m a ghost, the ghost of… lost socks! You’ll never find a matching pair again.”

Mo and I burst out laughing while Kharli rolled her eyes.

***

During the next few days, we took care of the crops and herbs during the morning and rested during the afternoons. I forbade outdoor activities and indoor crafting for the meantime since we were all exhausted and needed a long break.

Nonetheless, we still started our day before the sun rose.

From the window of my [Ranch House], I watched a new day dawn over the farm while I drank a cup of coffee. The sun cast its golden rays across the fields of rice and tea, its warm glow spreading over every blade of grass and leaf. It was as if the world itself was waking up and stretching its arms out wide.

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I emerged from my cozy house in great spirits, taking deep breaths to fill my lungs with the fresh air that was full of the earthy scent of tilled soil and the herbal aroma of dewy morning grass. With a contented smile, I waved to my apprentices who were likewise making their way to tend to the crops.

The nearest rice field was a vast expanse of freshly turned earth. The soil was a rich, deep brown that was full of life, and the newly sprouted rice plants were emerging from the ground in long, straight rows. Drops of morning dew still clung to them, glistening like clear jewels. I knelt and placed a hand on the ground beside a plant, closing my eyes to try to feel the pulse of the energy that ran beneath the ground. Today, I didn’t feel anything, but that was okay. I normally sensed it when the plants were more mature.

Fengying said that I was most likely feeling the energy channels or “tiger veins” running beneath our land. This was quite amusing to me since there was a similar idea on Earth, but they were called “dragon veins.” Since I couldn’t sense anything outside the farm, this was probably related to the System.

Perhaps there was an ebb and flow of energy, and it was stronger during harvest season.

My apprentices knew what to do, so we each worked on our own, silently and methodically moving between the rows to tend to the young crops with practiced hands. Carefully watering each tender rice shoot and diligently plucking weeds, I inspected the emerald stalks for any worrying signs like discoloration, spots, or pests.

I paused for a moment to wipe the sweat from my forehead, enjoying the warm summer breeze playing across my face and lifting the hair from the back of my neck. I took out a wide-brimmed hat from my inventory and waved it at the others to let them know they should put on some headgear to protect themselves from the sun, too.

We finished tending to the rice and went on to the tea fields.

On Emberstone Farm, the fields were bordered by old trees which served as great windbreaks and were aesthetically pleasing because I didn’t want my land to be just open fields. Since it was now midmorning, I made sure to walk on the tree-lined paths to avoid the worst of the sun’s heat.

I stopped under a majestic oak tree to rest for a minute and drink some water. When I looked up, I saw that there was a nest made of dried grasses and leaves hanging from a tall branch. Iridescent orange and black feathers peeked out of the nest’s interior as a pair of orioles flitted about, tending to their soon-to-be hatchlings.

It seems we weren’t the only ones who were busy today.

There were two tea fields, so we separated into two groups to tend to them. Kharli and Mo went to the farther one, while Lari and I worked on the one nearer the house. Like the rice fields, the tea fields were full of tiny green shoots no thicker than a toothpick emerging from the soil.

“Lovely day, isn’t it?” I said to Lari as we started working.

“Hot, but not too bad,” he said.

The work was simple but satisfying, and when we were done, I waved to the others and left. This was our daily routine, and I didn’t need to tell them that I was going back to my house to freshen up and change my clothes. My boots were caked in mud and my robes were stained with sweat.

Now that the farm layout was more or less permanent, I had laid down a gravel path from my [Ranch House] house to the main house, but that lasted less than a day. Though the gravel looked more natural, I replaced the paving with proper tiles when I slipped and fell in the wet gravel, badly bruising my elbow and knee. The most expensive outdoor paving material in the Cash Shop, the [Galaxy Tiles], were not just pretty, with a lovely design of swirls of multicolored stars in a dark gray background, but they were also safer to walk on even when wet.

[Galaxy Tiles:

Colorful and elegant anti-slip outdoor tiles engineered to enhance safety and style in your outdoor spaces. Crafted with advanced grip technology, these tiles provide unparalleled traction, even in wet conditions, reducing the risk of slips and falls.]

I took Mr. Bear from my pocket and made him big enough to hold an umbrella over us. It would’ve been great to have my puppet use a cute parasol, but the only one big enough to cover both of us was a large, ungainly-looking patio umbrella. It was an unconventional yet effective solution. I removed my hat and made my way back to my house, my boots tracking mud over the pretty tiles. Once I entered the gate, I took off my dirty boots and sweaty socks, storing them in my inventory for cleaning later. Barefoot, I crossed the grass of my lawn and sighed gratefully as I entered my air-conditioned haven.

After a long, hot shower to rinse off the grime and sweat, I slipped into a pretty little cotton sundress with dainty spaghetti straps and a playful strawberry print. I fixed myself a tall glass of lemonade and ice cubes and slowly sipped it as I relaxed and put my feet up on my lounge chair. I picked up a history book about the Northern clans, but only read bits and pieces of it, spending most of the time daydreaming. At noon, I changed into a more demure dress and watered the plants in the [Herb Garden] with the others before going to the main house for lunch.

Since it was hot outside, we had the meal in the indoor dining room with the air conditioner on. The sour, spicy cold noodles were amazingly refreshing, and they went nicely with the hearty braised beef and vegetable side dishes. We still hadn’t gotten tired of the peaches from Peach Blossom Isle, so we all had crêpes with caramelized peaches.

I had just gotten up from the dining table when Fengying announced a visitor. “My lady, Scholar Wu is here with her staff.”