Chapter 65 (continued)

The next sentence Qing Mengzhu spoke to Ming Chunxi was in response to Ming Chunxi's reply, "It's alright, it's freshly made and doesn't smell too bad."

Zhao Hexi was already looking forward to it. "I saw that there are snails in your pond too. The bamboo shoots have just come out, and the snails are about the same size now."

Small fish, shrimp, snails, and the like are unavoidable as long as there is water in the pond. No matter how tightly the protective netting is installed, water birds can still bring these small creatures over.

Qing Mengzhu naturally knew there were small snails in the pond, but since they were still small, she didn't pay much attention to them.

Qing Mengzhu: "You've already made the arrangements."

Zhao Hexi: "That's right, the water in your pond is so clear, the snails you raise there must be very delicious."

Qing Mengzhu: "It will take several more years. We'll have to wait until the bamboo grows into a bamboo grove before we can dig up the bamboo shoots."

That's what she said, but Qing Mengzhu thought of the Growth Liquid on the Interstellar Mall.

The Growth Liquid is a product of the cultivation world. The ingredient list says that it contains spirit stone extract, which can promote plant growth.

He wasn't eligible to buy Growth Liquid before, but once he becomes a junior member of the Interstellar Mall, buying it won't be a problem.

If there were Growth Liquid, these bamboos might sprout bamboo shoots in one or two years, instead of three to five years.

Qing Mengzhu was a little absent-minded again.

The dogs, impatient with their conversation, had already run ahead and started barking, clearly having made a discovery.

Zhao Hexi immediately abandoned Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi, and ran ahead with her basket on her back to check.

The dogs found mushrooms, just common cereal fungi.

Mushrooms grown in grains are quite delicious, and there's a good amount of them.

Zhao Hexi picked the ripe mushrooms and put them into his basket, quickly covering the bottom of the basket. These mushrooms were enough to make a dish for lunch.

Ming Chunxi remained where she was, looking at Qing Mengzhu with a troubled expression, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Qing Mengzhu had already decided to get the basic membership for the Interstellar Mall. Hearing this, she looked up at him and said, "I want to expand my planting scale, so I might be quite busy for a while."

Ming Chunxi: "What a coincidence, I won't be so busy for a while, so I can do logistical work."

Qing Mengzhu didn't expect him to say that, and reached out to scratch his palm. "Really?"

Ming Chunxi felt ticklish from the tickling and grabbed his hand to stop him from moving. "There's a ton of work going on over there. If I'm busy and still slack off, you'll hear all sorts of bosses calling me."

Qing Mengzhu: "Then we can complement each other perfectly. I'll be busy for a while to see how it goes, and I shouldn't be so busy in winter."

Zhao Hexi and his two dogs had already run far away. Hearing them still talking, he couldn't help but shout, "Why aren't you coming over? Mengzhu, there are so many fungi growing on your gastrodia elata!"

Qing Mengzhu: "Really?"

Zhao Hexi: "Why would I lie to you? You planted mycelium, right? Lots of hazel mushrooms have sprouted here, some are already dried and rotten, and some have been eaten by insects and birds."

He described it in such detail that it sounded like the truth.

Qing Mengzhu pulled Ming Chunxi and ran over to see. "Let me see."

The Gastrodia elata that was planted earlier has already sprouted; they are long and thin, and look a bit like ferns.

The Gastrodia elata was surrounded by rings of hazel mushrooms, at least several dozen of them.

Qing Mengzhu one look and said, "It really is."

Zhao Hexi showed them her basket. "I've already picked some, it's a pity I didn't come to check before, so much wasted."

Ming Chunxi: "It's not a pity. As they rot in place, they leave behind new spores, which are then eaten by insects and birds, spreading the spores to farther places."

Zhao Hexi quickly picked mushrooms. "If that's the case, this entire mountain belongs to the Mengzhu family. No matter where they grow, they're definitely not at a loss."

Qing Mengzhu: "That's right. Once I patrol the mountain more often and figure out how often to go up the mountain, I'll know roughly how often to go up."

Zhao Hexi: "I also saw a lot of plump, dark myrtle berries. Let's go pick some later."

Qing Mengzhu didn't notice: "Where?"

Zhao Hexi pointed and said, "It's over there, a huge patch of it. I bet you didn't pick any of last year's myrtle; they're all dried up on the branches, dry and hard."

Qing Mengzhu: "It's alright, we'll pick the dried ones and throw them away later. When we come back next year, the branches will be full of fresh fruit."

The two mountains belonging to the Qing Mengzhu family are both small hills, but they are truly rich in resources.

Besides mushrooms, wild fruits, and wild vegetables, there are also some Chinese medicinal herbs such as wild lilies, wild Solomon's seal, and five-finger peach, which Qing Mengzhu recognized when she grew up in the village.

They took a walk in the mountains and gained a lot.

Once home, Qing Mengzhu started thinking about setting aside some vegetables to sell to the Interstellar Mall.

There are still plenty of lotus pods left, and the prices offered by the Interstellar Mall are quite good, so we can set aside some of them to sell.

Selling chili peppers is profitable; the Interstellar Mall gives 2.68 Star Coins per pound. He can move dozens or even hundreds of pounds every day without making a fuss. He can also tell others that he picked out the less good chili peppers and only sold the Fine Grade.

If all else fails, he still has fertilizer. If he can't make up the 10,000 Star Coins by the end of the month, he'll use fertilizer to cover it.

With that in mind, Qing Mengzhu signed a contract with the Interstellar Mall, deciding to choose the option of selling goods worth more than 10,000 Star Coins to the Interstellar Mall every month for three consecutive months.

As soon as the contract was signed, the Interstellar Mall immediately granted him the benefits of a basic member.

Basic members earn points for selling items, which can be used to redeem goods and participate in prize draws.

Upon seeing the rules regarding the lottery, Qing Mengzhu couldn't help but wonder which civilization developed the Interstellar Mall. It seems that civilization really loves lotteries.

After signing the contract, Qing Mengzhu began selling more vegetables to the Interstellar Mall.

The Interstellar Mall doesn't take all parts of the vegetables; it only takes certain substances from them.

The vegetables that had been absorbed by the Interstellar Mall were no longer edible, and even Qing Mengzhu was worried that the poultry wouldn't get enough nutrition from them. Therefore, this batch of vegetables could only be used for composting.

Previously, he sold relatively few vegetables, so he could simply compost them in the compost bins. Now that he sells more vegetables, the compost bins are no longer sufficient.

Qing Mengzhu had no choice but to put the long-planned composting facility on the agenda.

After discussing it with Ming Chunxi, Qing Mengzhu decided to dig a compost pit in the backyard.

Since any changes to the house needed to be reported to the village, Qing Mengzhu went to see the village secretary Qing Yukai.

Qing Yukai made him some tea, sat down, and asked, "Your backyard isn't very big anymore, is it? I see you already have a chicken coop, a duck coop, and a goose coop, so you can't dig a very large compost pit."

Qing Mengzhu: "Yes. But I checked and found out that compost pits can't be dug in fields; damaging farmland is illegal, so I can only dig one in my backyard."

Qing Yukai: "I remember you dug a compost pit to pile up chicken, duck, and goose droppings, as well as old and rotten vegetables?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Pretty much, it's basically just waste anyway."

Qing Yukai thought for a moment, "If that's the case, then these can all be considered organic matter, right? They're just byproducts of agricultural production, so they don't really pollute the environment?"

Qing Mengzhu sensed the hidden meaning in his words and laughed, "Just say what you want to say; we're not strangers."

Qing Yukai laughed, "I was just thinking, you don't need to dig a proper compost pit. Digging a pit in the backyard requires hardening, which is quite difficult. Besides, even if you manage it well, the waste piled up in the backyard will still have some odor. You Brother Chunxi have kept the yard so tidy, digging a waste pit would be a bit of a eyesore."

Qing Mengzhu nodded. "There's no other way; these wastes always have to be disposed of."

Qing Yukai: "Aren't there several ponds near your house? None of them are used for raising fish. Why don't you ask which pond you can rent?"

Qing Mengzhu was surprised by this turn of events, and an expression of astonishment appeared on her face.

Qing Yukai: "You're just using it for composting, nothing more. Once the lease expires, you can clean it up and reuse the pond. If you ask properly, most people would probably agree."