Chapter 74

Qing Mengzhu: "It shouldn't be necessary. The temperature won't drop until October. We'll see then."

Zhao Hexi imagined for a moment. "If we raised hazel groves in the bamboo forest, we could raise tens of thousands, right? Then we wouldn't have to worry about food anymore."

Qing Mengzhu: "Tens of thousands is too high a density. Let's start with a few thousand to test. I'm afraid that if we scale up, any disease outbreak could wipe them all out."

While they were chatting, Ming Chunxi came home from work.

Seeing the two sitting at a long table, each with a notebook in front of them and a cup of tea brewing on the corner of the table, he walked over and casually put his arm around Qing Mengzhu's shoulder, glancing at the notebook in front of him. "What are you discussing?"

Qing Mengzhu reached out and touched Ming Chunxi's face. "Let's talk about raising hazel grouse on the mountain. I plan to release the hazel grouse on the mountain and let them become truly free-range hazel grouse, simulating the wild environment."

Ming Chunxi looked at the entry he had written, "There isn't enough food on the mountain, so we'll have to feed them artificially, right?"

Qing Mengzhu: "A little, but they should get enough exercise."

Zhao Hexi: "Anyway, it's better than it is now. Letting them move around more will make them taste even better."

Qing Mengzhu: "That's roughly the idea."

After a brief chat, Ming Chunxi said, "When I came back just now, I saw the Sixteenth Grandpa coming this way from afar. I wonder if he has something to say?"

Sixteenth Grandpa is Qing Guozhi, Ming Chunxi calls him that following Qing Mengzhu's seniority.

Qing Mengzhu stood up. "I'll go check, it should be there."

Qing Mengzhu walked to the door and opened it. Qing Guozhi was just about to knock when he saw him and said, "Are you going out?"

Qing Mengzhu her head. "I'll come out and open the door for you."

The old man chuckled and handed him the crabs he was carrying, "You knew I was coming? Someone gave me some big crabs, so I brought them over for you to try."

Qing Mengzhu: "What a huge crab!"

Zhao Hexi also came out. "Isn't it the season for eating hairy crabs now?"

The old man said, "It's almost there; in a few more days, the yellow color will be even fuller."

Qing Mengzhu: "Then we'll cook crab tonight, would you like to stay and have dinner with us?"

The old man said, "Great. I see you've finished planting the bamboo on your mountain, haven't you?"

Qing Mengzhu: "We've finished planting for now. Let's see how it goes next year. If the bamboo grows well, we'll plant it on the other mountain too."

Although the mountain belonging to Qing Mengzhu's family is only a small hill, it would still be a difficult task to plant it all.

They don't have that many bamboo plants, so they can only let them grow longer and then consider transplanting them next year.

The old man said, "I think you've planted your bamboo very well; the bamboo groves are almost becoming a scenic view."

Qing Mengzhu said with a hint of smugness, "See? All our hard work wasn't in vain. You came to see us, is there something you need?"

The old man didn't beat around the bush. "I came to ask you for two bamboo stalks, just the top part, no need for the roots. I want to make some fresh bamboo sap."

Qing Mengzhu: "Fresh bamboo sap?"

The old man sighed, "Yes, it's the change of seasons, and my third son has been coughing a lot lately. I was thinking of making him some fresh bamboo sap to soothe his lungs."

Author's Note:

See you this afternoon!

Chapter 74

Qing Mengzhu drank fresh bamboo juice when she was a child.

When he was a child, he lived with his grandparents for a period of time. In the winter, when he had a fever and cough, his grandparents would go up the mountain to cut bamboo and make fresh bamboo sap for him.

I felt much better after drinking the piping hot fresh bamboo juice.

As he grew up, he remembered the medicinal effects of fresh bamboo juice, but his family was gone, and he made do with what he had. He didn't care whether taking medicine would harm his health. When he had a cold or cough, he would buy some medicine to suppress it. He hadn't drunk fresh bamboo juice for many years.

Hearing the old man say that, Qing Mengzhu was momentarily dazed.

Zhao Hexi, who was standing nearby, was also surprised by how attentive the old man was to his son, and asked, "Are you cooking this for your uncle yourself?"

The old man chuckled. "I didn't have much to do, so I just brewed some."

Then, the old man said to Qing Mengzhu, "I don't know if your bamboo can be cut. If you can, I'll cut two stalks for you. If not, that's okay, I'll ask other people."

Qing Mengzhu snapped out of her daze, "If others can't ask, but you can, then I definitely can. Are you in a hurry? If not, we can chop tomorrow; it'll be too late to climb the mountain."

The old man smiled and said, "No rush, no rush. I just came to deliver some hairy crabs to you. I was worried they would die if I delivered them tomorrow. Steam them quickly and eat them while they're still fresh."

That evening, the old man not only stayed for dinner, but also gave them a lot of advice on starting a company.

The old man was knowledgeable and had a deep understanding of the local situation, so his advice was very helpful.

Qing Mengzhu and Zhao Hexi gratefully wrote it down in their notebooks.

The old man came over early the next morning, and he was clearly very anxious.

Qing Mengzhu and the others originally wanted to go to the fields to take a look, but seeing the situation, they simply told Feng Ningxiang and asked her to take some people to deal with the vegetable garden, while they went up the mountain.

Now that they've started their own company and have plenty of manpower, things are actually easier than before.

The old man listened to Zhao Hexi talking to Feng Ningxiang and asked with great interest, "How does your company handle holidays now?"

Qing Mengzhu: "We have alternating weeks of 'long' and 'short' weeks, with six days off per month. You can apply for leave as you wish. When you're not busy, just let your team leader know which day you want to take off. When you're busy, you can only take leave after you've finished your work."

Agriculture is unlike other industries; it is highly dependent on the seasons, sometimes requiring rushing to plant and harvest, making it impossible to fix holidays.

The old man nodded in agreement. "That's good, your company offers excellent benefits."

Qing Mengzhu: "Anyway, we're not in a particular rush to make a profit, so let's take it slow."

Ming Chunxi, who only gets four days off a month and occasionally has to work overtime even on her days off, remarked from the side, "It's better than our company."

Qing Mengzhu laughed heartily, put his arm around Ming Chunxi's shoulder and draped it over his. "Once our agricultural company makes money, we'll properly open a technology company, and then you can decide how to take vacations."

They talked as they slowly made their way up the mountain.

The mountain, which was originally covered with miscellaneous trees, is now covered with bamboo, making it look serene and tidy.

Qing Mengzhu's company has been relatively quiet lately, Zhao Hexi led people up the mountain to bury a batch of organic fertilizer, which was all fermented sheep manure bought from outside.

When we were burying fertilizer, we turned over the soil and cleared away a lot of tree roots. Now the soil is loose and fertile, which is obviously very conducive to the growth of bamboo.

The old man couldn't help but say, "Your work is too meticulous; it's obvious you're trying to make something special out of bamboo."

Qing Mengzhu laughed, "Let's plant them first, plant the phoenix trees well, and then see what golden phoenixes will attract."

Anyway, the bamboo in his yard is Cloud Mirror Bamboo, so he can't possibly lose money no matter how he plants it.

The old man nodded repeatedly. "That's good. Whether it's selling bamboo, digging bamboo shoots, or doing something else, it won't be difficult."

Qing Mengzhu: "That's what we're thinking too. We might raise hazel grouse on the mountain, or grow bamboo fungus, raise bamboo worms, and so on. There are quite a few ways to make money from bamboo."

As they talked, they looked for the denser bamboo stalks, explaining that cutting down the overly dense bamboo would allow the bamboo forest to grow better.

Today, we cut down the bamboo at ground level. The remaining bamboo roots can be dug up, soaked in rooting hormone, and then transplanted to other places to form a new bamboo forest.

Previously, Qing Mengzhu secretly dripped Growth Liquid into the bamboo, which made the bamboo grow faster and produced more suitable bamboo.

Apart from the old man, the three of them each cut down five or six large bamboo stalks, bundled them together, and carried them down the mountain.

Raw bamboo is quite heavy, but fortunately, they are all young people, so carrying it wasn't too difficult for them.

There were many miscellaneous items in the yard, so they carried the bamboo to the open space in the backyard, built a separate stove with bricks, split the bamboo open, placed the bamboo skin side down, and roasted it over the fire.

The fire under the stove wasn't big, but the bamboo was being roasted, and bubbles were rising from both ends as water was heated out and dripped into the bowls they had placed under the bamboo.

The roasted bamboo contains moisture from its own body, rather than the moisture hidden in the bamboo nodes, so it has a yellowish color and a unique, fresh bamboo aroma.