Chapter 64

Everyone greeted Qing Mengzhu when they saw him.

Qing Pingdun said, "Brother Mengzhu, I'll deliver the chili peppers to your house now."

Qing Mengzhu nodded. "Ming Chunxi is home, just tell him."

Qing Pingdun: "Okay, I'll come over to pick up the lotus pods after I deliver the chili peppers."

Qing Mengzhu's family has a lot of lotus pods lately, so it's not very convenient to have the village elders come over to peel them. After all, he and Ming Chunxi are a same-sex couple, and if they spend a lot of time together, there will inevitably be some gossip.

Just to be on the safe side, Qing Mengzhu made arrangements with the people at the village's small supermarket. The lotus pods would be transported to the supermarket, and anyone who wanted to peel them could do so directly at the supermarket entrance. The supermarket staff would help watch over the process and keep records.

The village's small supermarket caters to acquaintances; many elderly people often gather there to chat, making it a popular meeting point for the village.

It was convenient for Qing Mengzhu to deliver the lotus pods there, and the people at the small supermarket were also happy to earn more commission, so both sides hit it off immediately.

Qing Pingdun would be coming over to collect the lotus pods soon, Qing Mengzhu quickly went into the pond to pick them.

As he walked along the dam, he made a point of looking around and saw Zhao Hexi fishing on the riverbank not far away.

The Dharma Protector and his Guard chased the geese away. With nothing else to do, they squatted down on either side of Zhao Hexi to keep him company while he fished.

Red foxes and otters were also there, but they were hidden in more concealed places. Qing Mengzhu could see the red fox fur peeking out from the grass.

Qing Mengzhu smiled, seeing that they were getting along well, but she didn't expect that she would hear Zhao Hexi's scream after picking lotus pods for a while.

"What's wrong?" Qing Mengzhu was startled. She raised her voice to ask, then quickly rowed the boat towards the shore and rushed over. "What happened?"

Zhao Hexi turned to look at Qing Mengzhu, who was rushing towards him, and cleared his throat. "It's nothing, I was just startled by the otter."

Qing Mengzhu asked in bewilderment, "What's wrong with the otters? Are those three mischievous otters here again?"

Zhao Hexi showed Qing Mengzhu a fish, his tone complicated. "No, it's your good friend, the otter. It saw that I couldn't catch any fish, so it suddenly jumped out of the water and threw me a fish."

Qing Mengzhu looked at the large, plump, and lively fish in his hand. "..."

The otter popped its head out of the river, its big, round eyes looking at them innocently. "Eek?"

Author's Note:

Good Friend Otter: Why are humans so bad at this? Not only can they not catch fish, but they also get scared so easily?

Chapter 64

Qing Mengzhu looked at the scene before her and found it somewhat amusing.

The otter seemed a little shy, and it shrank back underwater.

Seeing this, Qing Mengzhu found it very amusing. She reached out and made a "me too" gesture, saying, "I want fish too! You can't just give it to him and not give it to me!"

The otter didn't quite understand and just floated on the surface of the water, staring blankly at him.

Qing Mengzhu pointed directly to the water, then to the fish Zhao Hexi was holding. "I want fish too."

The otter then understood his purpose. It circled in the water, its body as supple as liquid, and slipped into the water to catch fish for Qing Mengzhu.

Zhao Hexi was already feeling conflicted, and hearing Qing Mengzhu's words only made her feel more conflicted. "How could you even bully an otter?"

Qing Mengzhu said happily, "It's so rare to be given fish by otters! It's not about scarcity but about unfairness, I want some too!"

The Dharma Protector and Guard beside him barked, "Woof! Woof!"

Qing Mengzhu patted the dog's head with her hand. "See, even the Dharma Protector and Guard agree with me."

Zhao Hexi: "The Dharma Protector and Guard are just your lackeys."

As they were talking, an otter emerged from the water carrying a large black fish in its mouth.

The big blackfish was fat and large, weighing at least four or five pounds, and it was struggling desperately in the otter's mouth.

The otter swam up to Qing Mengzhu, gesturing for Qing Mengzhu to quickly take the fish, and made a muffled sound, "Eek."

Zhao Hexi looked at the big black fish, then at the grass carp he had received, and stared at the otter sourly, saying, "Hey little guy, aren't we friends anymore? Why are you treating him differently? The fish you gave him is bigger than the one I got!"

Qing Mengzhu held the fish by its gills and lifted it up. "You should be grateful the otter gave you a fish. If it didn't, you'd have come back empty-handed after fishing all morning."

Zhao Hexi retorted, "Who said they came out empty-handed? I have fish in my fish basket! Several crucian carp!"

Qing Mengzhu: "Hmm, small crucian carp."

Zhao Hexi: "Big crucian carp!"

The two dogs ignored their bickering and instead watched the otters in the water. One dog pawed at the ground and barked at the otter, "Woof woof woof!"

The otter understood now, and without a word, it dove underwater and went off to catch fish for the two dogs.

Soon, it caught two more large fish and gave one to each of the Dharma Protector and the Guard.

The Dharma Protector and his Guard, satisfied, carried the fish in their mouths, heads held high, tails wagging, and went home with Qing Mengzhu.

Many people on the road saw the Dharma Protector and Guard carrying fish and stopped to greet them.

They all lived in the same village, and everyone knew that the Dharma Protector and the Guard were very capable and spiritual; they would even help herd geese.

Now that everyone sees them carrying fish, they are curious about how they caught them and are amazed that dogs can catch fish.

The Dharma Protector and Guard cannot speak, but they can recognize human praise. Whenever they are praised, they puff out their chests and wag their tails.

Qing Mengzhu, watching from the side, found it amusing. "Are you all really that serious?"

These two guys seem to have really caught a big fish; they're fishing and they've circled their neighborhood three times.

Dharma Protector and Guard: "Woof woof!"

The two dogs were especially happy because they caught fish in the morning, Qing Mengzhu was also quite pleased.

They rushed home excitedly, eager to share the news with Ming Chunxi.

When they got home, Ming Chunxi had already started roasting chili peppers.

The air was filled with a spicy aroma. As soon as the two dogs entered the yard, they couldn't help but put down the fish and start sneezing uncontrollably. The Dharma Protector even scratched its nose with its front paws, looking remarkably like a human.

Qing Mengzhu patted its neck with amusement. "Go play, don't stay in the yard."

Dogs have a more acute sense of smell than humans, so the smell of chili peppers can be quite pungent.

Soon, Zhao Hexi returned with the fish.

Qing Mengzhu looked up and asked him, "Why didn't you fish a little longer?"

Zhao Hexi went inside and gulped down a large glass of water. "I'm not fishing anymore, the sun is too strong, the back of my neck is going to peel from the sun. The chili smells so good, with such a large chili production now, will they still be able to sell them all?"

Qing Mengzhu: "They're selling out. Di Xing has increased production, and I'm almost out of chili peppers. I even checked their official website before and found that their mushroom oil is selling very well; some orders are even delayed."

Thinking about the price of those mushroom oils, Zhao Hexi couldn't help but sigh, "Selling them at such a high price and still being able to expand production, there are so many rich people. Why can't I be one of them?"

The sales of Qing Mengzhu's agricultural products have been quite good recently. In addition to Di Caiyong coming to collect his vegetables every day, Zhou Yan's catering group has been purchasing fresh chili peppers from him, while Di Xing has been handling all the dried chili pepper purchases.

In addition, his lotus seeds are very popular, and even though they cost as much as 1,200 yuan per kilogram, there are always people buying them.

Qing Mengzhu didn't actively promote his business, but his lotus seeds still sold out pretty much.

His family's vegetables are so good that they've even gained some fame in Vine City.

Zhou Yan was particularly interested in his tomatoes and even asked if they could cooperate once the tomatoes ripened. Qing Mengzhu said they would wait until the tomatoes ripened to check the quality before discussing it. Zhou Yan also said he would come over to discuss the price with him once the tomatoes ripened.

Qing Mengzhu's family's agricultural products sell well in the real world, he rarely sells them in the Interstellar Mall.

The main reason is that he doesn't want anything on the Interstellar Mall anymore. After selling Interstellar Mall, he would have to deal with the agricultural products that had been absorbed by the Interstellar Mall, which adds an extra step, so he's a bit too lazy to do it.