Chapter 66

Qing Mengzhu's family lived in a rather remote area; there were indeed few other houses nearby, only a few large ponds.

If his home weren't in such a remote location, the red fox and otter wouldn't have moved here.

Qing Mengzhu originally just wanted to apply to dig a small compost pit.

Now that Qing Yukai had reminded him, Qing Mengzhu immediately realized that his plan was much better than he had originally thought.

After Qing Mengzhu said he would go back and ask about it.

Qing Yukai saw Qing Mengzhu out, adding that if the pond owner disagreed, he could help persuade him.

As soon as Qing Mengzhu returned home, he immediately contacted several pond owners through the village's large online group and inquired about renting a pond.

Upon asking, a family who had moved away and taken their parents to live out their retirement immediately agreed to rent the large pond to him, but for several more years, after which the pond would be restored to its original state.

Qing Mengzhu readily agreed and arranged a rent of one thousand yuan per year with the family, renting for ten years straight.

Thus, Qing Mengzhu easily obtained the right to use a pond of more than 600 square meters.

The owners of the other ponds wanted to wait and see and negotiate the price, but they didn't expect that person to act so quickly.

By the time others came to ask, Qing Mengzhu had already transferred the money to the pond's owner.

Others could only sigh in regret.

Qing Mengzhu couldn't handle the task of composting the pond by himself, so he asked Tan Wenlei, Qing Changhong, and a few others for help.

Everyone was wearing waterproof pants and carrying shovels to get to work.

Qing Mengzhu has already drained the pond; there's still some silt and residual water at the bottom, but we don't need to worry about that.

All they had to do was shovel the droppings of hazel grouse, ducks, and geese, along with the mud, into the pond. In addition, the leftover scraps of vegetables such as chili peppers, eggplants, and sweet potatoes, which Qing Mengzhu had bought from the Interstellar Mall, as well as some lotus leaves, lotus seedpods, and weeds, were also piled into the pond.

Sprinkle EM bacteria on top and mix, then cover with a waterproof cloth to block odors and prevent rain.

These are all physically demanding jobs, and they're quite tiring to do.

Qing Mengzhu worked alongside everyone, chatting as they went.

Tan Wenlei asked, "Mengzhu, how much did you pay to rent this pond?"

Qing Mengzhu: "One thousand a year, for a total of ten years."

Qing Changhong was quite surprised. "How can it be so cheap? The ponds in the fields cost more than this, don't they?"

Tan Wenlei: "Not only that, the ponds in the fields will double in number, but the village ponds are not as easy to manage, and the fish raised there are not as good, so the price is a bit cheaper."

Qing Changhong thought about it and agreed, "People must often come and catch fish from these ponds, right?"

Tan Wenlei: "Both fish were caught by catching and fishing. Wasn't Ban Ying's pond robbed before? They released several hundred yuan worth of fish fry in the spring, and when they came back in winter to catch the fish, they couldn't even find any scales."

Farmers aren't entirely honest either. Some families have the whole family working outside the village, and whatever they grow or raise in the village will basically be looted clean.

The family that rented the pond to Qing Mengzhu was in the same situation. Their whole family lived away from the village and rarely came back, even once every few years. They couldn't keep the fish in the pond; they would all be stolen as soon as they tried.

Rather than leave the pond to grow waste, that family preferred to rent it out and pay some money back.

Tan Wenlei: "A thousand a year isn't a small amount. If it were me, I'd just pile the fertilizer up by the field; no one would say anything then."

Qing Mengzhu, "The manure pile is too far from the edge of the field, and we have a lot of fertilizer. Piling it up in the field would take up farmland, so it's not worth it."

Looking at the mixed fertilizer, Qing Changhong said, "I must say, your fertilizer is really well-made; it's much better than the chicken manure I just ferment at home."

Qing Mengzhu: "My family doesn't have much fertilizer, so we have to make it more refined."

Qing Mengzhu is not yet a large-scale grower, but her consumption of fertilizer is astonishing.

Just the crops in his farmland alone require hundreds of kilograms of organic fertilizer per acre every month, not to mention his plans to develop two mountains, which will require even more fertilizer.

Although the fertilizer produced by the fertilizer fermentation powder is effective, it cannot fully meet his family's fertilizer needs.

He set up this composting pit not only to dispose of various wastes and to prevent people from discovering that he had sold some of his vegetables to the Interstellar Mall, but also because fertilizer is truly a necessity for growers.

If he didn't really need fertilizer, he would have built a biogas digester, crushed up the fertilizer that the Interstellar Mall had absorbed, and stuffed it directly into the biogas digester. That would have been safer, but it would also have been harder to remove.

It took Qing Mengzhu and her team two days to finish dealing with the fertilizer.

It would take some time for the fertilizer to ferment, so he covered it with a waterproof cloth and left it for the time being.

With such a large pond, barring any unforeseen circumstances, he wouldn't have to worry about waste disposal for a long time, which put his mind at ease.

Having dealt with these miscellaneous matters, Qing Mengzhu began preparing to buy Growth Liquid.

The Interstellar Mall granted him access to purchase some items, but the prices remained unchanged.

Two hundred milliliters of Growth Liquid cost eight thousand Star Coins, so expensive that Qing Mengzhu suspected they were robbing people of Star Coins.

However, the instructions for the Growth Liquid were indeed very tempting, so he gritted his teeth and decided to buy it anyway.

After accumulating Star Coins for a period of time, and adding the Star Coins she had saved before, Qing Mengzhu finally saved up 8,000 Star Coins to buy Growth Liquid.

He chose a day when Ming Chunxi was at work, washed his hands with soap, and then reverently clicked the purchase button to buy the small bottle of Growth Liquid from the Interstellar Mall.

As soon as she got the Growth Liquid, Qing Mengzhu immediately closed the door and then proceeded with the extraction.

After a familiar light, a jade bottle appeared on the ground.

Qing Mengzhu reached out and picked up the jade bottle. Before she could even look at the Growth Liquid inside, her eyes were drawn to the jade bottle.

This jade bottle is pure white, as smooth as grease, and feels incredibly warm to the touch; it even seems to glow.

The jade bottle is also very beautiful in shape, smooth and full, and extremely exquisite. It is a small bottle that is hard to look away from at first glance.

Upon seeing this jade bottle, Qing Mengzhu was stunned—are the jade mines in your cultivation world of such high quality? Is the carving art so advanced? And you use such exquisite packaging for Growth Liquid worth eight thousand Star Coins?

Suddenly I understand what that person who bought the box and returned the pearl meant!

Qing Mengzhu subconsciously opened the Interstellar Mall, wanting to see if she could buy another bottle.

Putting everything else aside, this jade vase alone is worth it!

If even the jade bottles containing the Growth Liquid are of this quality, why would he need to sell vegetables in the real world? He could just sell all his vegetables to the Interstellar Mall, then resell the goods there and make a fortune!

Unfortunately, whether to prevent resale or because production capacity was inherently low, the Interstellar Mall only had one bottle of Growth Liquid available. Qing Mengzhu bought it, the Interstellar Mall showed it as unavailable.

This thwarted Qing Mengzhu's resale plan.

Qing Mengzhu regretfully withdrew her gaze, then touched the bottle containing the Growth Liquid with a touch of tenderness.

It's hard to imagine that someone would use such a jade bottle to store goods worth thousands of Star Coins.

We really missed out today!

Author's Note:

See you tomorrow!

Chapter 66

The Growth Liquid was bought to be used.

After studying the jade bottle, Qing Mengzhu immediately went to her personal center to read the user manual.

The instructions for using the Growth Liquid are very comprehensive. It says that it can be used on all plants. When using it, apply one to ten drops to the base of the plant, depending on the size of the plant. It can be used a maximum of six times a year, with an interval of at least fifteen days between each application, and an interval of at least two months between each application.

After carefully reviewing it, Qing Mengzhu felt that the method of use was reasonable and there shouldn't be any problems.

It was still early, Qing Mengzhu couldn't wait to drive to the city to buy droppers with rubber tips, planning to use them on the bamboo when she got back.

Even a single drop of Growth Liquid can be large or small; he was afraid he wouldn't be able to accurately determine the amount based solely on intuition.

Using a dropper is the safest option; it dispenses exactly one drop at a time, ensuring you won't make a mistake.