Chapter 75 (continued)

After Gu Benshu returned home, Qing Mengzhu specifically brought up the matter at the dinner table that evening.

Ming Chunxi had read about it in a book before, but Zhao Hexi's eyes lit up and she immediately thought of business.

Zhao Hexi said, "Does that mean the uses of bamboo have increased again? First, you can boil fresh bamboo sap, then send it for dry distillation to make bamboo vinegar. The bamboo charcoal produced from the dry distillation also seems to be marketable. I've seen many bamboo charcoal toothpastes and bamboo charcoal face masks on the market. It shouldn't be hard to find buyers if you really want to."

Qing Mengzhu: "I think so too. Bamboo vinegar and bamboo charcoal are byproducts of boiling fresh bamboo sap. We can develop that. Whether we use them ourselves or sell them, we shouldn't lose money."

Zhao Hexi: "Yes, yes, that's exactly what I meant—saving costs, increasing profits, and protecting the environment."

Seeing that they all agreed, Ming Chunxi said, "Let's check it out later."

So, after dinner, the three of them huddled together in front of the computer to look at information about bamboo vinegar.

Bamboo vinegar has become quite popular in recent years, and there are many related research papers.

Zhao Hexi looked at the information. "Improving soil, improving water quality, treating skin diseases... does this refer to the antibacterial effect of bamboo vinegar?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Yes."

Zhao Hexi muttered, "It says it can regulate plant growth, it sounds like a cure-all, but I wonder if it's really effective?"

Qing Mengzhu: "You'll know once you try."

Qing Mengzhu spoke, she turned and exchanged a glance with Ming Chunxi.

If bamboo vinegar is truly that magical, then bamboo vinegar distilled from Cloud Mirror Bamboo will only be more magical than bamboo vinegar available on the market.

If bamboo vinegar is just a gimmick, they can also use it to cover up other fertilizers, elixirs, and pesticides they obtained from the Interstellar Mall, leading outsiders to believe that the good growth of their crops is all due to the bamboo vinegar.

You won't lose money no matter what.

Zhao Hexi, sitting at the front, muttered, "I'll go see if I can find a factory to do some dry distillation for us in the next couple of days."

Ming Chunxi: "The factory's dry distillation machine is usually used for the dry distillation of other products, so it probably can't separate pure bamboo vinegar. Let's just buy the equipment directly."

Zhao Hexi was taken aback. "Wouldn't that be a bit too high a cost?"

Qing Mengzhu: "I don't think small distillation machines are that expensive. Spending a few thousand to buy one would save me the trouble of running around negotiating partnerships."

Zhao Hexi had no objection. "That's fine. We have plenty of agricultural products, and many places should be able to use them in the future."

The logistics here are very fast; they placed the order the night before, and the distillation machine was delivered the next day.

They bought a horizontal distillation machine, not a particularly high-end machine, but it was sufficient for distilling bamboo, wood, and the like.

Qing Mengzhu and Zhao Hexi cut the bamboo that had been used to make fresh bamboo sap a couple of days ago into appropriately sized sections, then neatly arranged them into the dry distillation machine and turned it on.

Zhao Hexi was a little doubtful. "Is this all you need?"

Qing Mengzhu: "It should be fine now, we just need to wait for the results."

Zhao Hexi sat in the yard eating a bowl of salted peanuts. "I never imagined bamboo had so many uses. What are your plans for the other empty mountain? Will you plant other fruit trees? Or will you just plant bamboo there?"

Qing Mengzhu grabbed a handful of leaves. "I didn't think of that either. Let's just plant bamboo. We haven't seen any particularly suitable fruit trees. Once you find some, we can contract other mountains. It's not expensive anyway."

Zhao Hexi: "Tsk, Qing Mengzhu, you're talking so boldly now, 'Anyway, it's not expensive'--"

Qing Mengzhu laughed, "Stop being sarcastic. It's all about making money. If you can earn money, you won't feel it's expensive."

They waited in the yard all afternoon. Midway through, the two dogs came back and lay down at their feet to nuzzle them.

They played with the dogs and fed them jerky and canned food.

By evening, the bamboo had finally finished its dry distillation.

The bamboo charcoal inside is still very hot, so it cannot be taken out and used directly.

The bamboo vinegar in the jar next to me is ready.

Qing Mengzhu took out oven-safe gloves, put them on, removed the jar, and poured out about half of the bamboo vinegar liquid inside.

The freshly distilled bamboo vinegar is tea-colored and quite dark, probably because it is only a crude product and has not yet undergone a series of processes such as sedimentation, filtration, and removal of impurities.

The bamboo vinegar also smells strange, with a sour, smoky aroma.

Zhao Hexi sniffed it and said, "Why does it smell a bit like rainwater?"

Qing Mengzhu couldn't help but ask, "You've even tasted rainwater?"

Zhao Hexi snorted, "When I was little, I didn't know any better. I tried it, and it tasted like chimney water. It really does taste a bit like this."

Qing Mengzhu: "It's a miracle that you've lived this long and healthy."

Zhao Hexi: "Anyway, that's the taste. Now, what should we do with the bamboo vinegar? Let it settle first, or what?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Let's mix it with pesticides and see if it really reduces the amount of pesticides we need. Aren't there a few plots of land we rented that have a lot of insects? Let's try it first."

Zhao Hexi rubbed his hands together. "Let's try it tomorrow morning."

Pesticides are usually sprayed in the morning or evening. Qing Mengzhu originally wanted to wait until tomorrow evening to spray, but seeing Zhao Hexi's condition, she had no choice but to postpone the spraying plan to tomorrow morning.

Qing Mengzhu had never used bamboo vinegar before, so she specifically consulted Gu Benshu.

Gu Benshu was surprised by their efficiency; they said they wanted to dry distill bamboo vinegar, and they did it immediately.

Gu Benshu personally drove over to inspect their dry-distilled bamboo vinegar, and immediately said, "This is the kind of bamboo vinegar I've used before."

After observing for a while, Gu Benshu said again, "The quality of this jar of bamboo vinegar is decent; the effect should be good."

Qing Mengzhu: "Is it necessary to refine it?"

Gu Benshu stated bluntly, "It depends on what the refined product will be used for. If it's just for mixing pesticides, I don't think it's necessary."

Qing Mengzhu: "Then let's use it like this. What's the ratio for mixing the pesticide? I read in the information that you should add one or two hundred milliliters of bamboo vinegar to each liter of prepared pesticide solution?"

Gu Benshu: "Yes, there are no strict requirements for the proportions, just get close enough."

Under Gu Benshu's guidance, Qing Mengzhu and his team sprayed the same pesticide in the fields with and without bamboo vinegar to kill insects.

The pesticide with bamboo vinegar added was sprayed on the left field, and the pesticide without bamboo vinegar added was sprayed on the right field, with a field in between that was not sprayed with any pesticide, to prevent the pesticides from affecting each other.

Gu Benshu and the others, wearing masks, goggles, and protective suits, stood on the edge of the field to watch.

Spraying pesticides already requires relatively strict protection, and now with the addition of bamboo vinegar, a high-penetration synergist, it is easier for the pesticide to penetrate the human body barrier, so even better protection is needed.

Qing Mengzhu and Zhao Hexi personally sprayed the pesticide, and their spraying technique was quite standardized.

Gu Benshu observed for a while, and when they returned, he said, "The effect of pest control might not be so obvious. If you spray herbicide, it should be more obvious. You can see at a glance which weeds wither first, turn more yellow, and are killed more thoroughly."

Qing Mengzhu had been busy with pest control lately and had actually forgotten about weeding. She immediately said, "That makes sense. While we still have our equipment, I'll go buy some herbicide to spray."

Tan Wenlei and his group were watching from a distance when they heard this and shouted, "You want to buy herbicide, right? Let's go!"

Qing Mengzhu: "Buy glyphosate, nothing else."

Tan Wenlei: "Okay! I'll ride my motorcycle to buy it! Wait for me."

Deng Linjia and the others standing to the side were also excited and wanted to go together.

They grow organic vegetables, and after planting them, they generally don't spray herbicides. Otherwise, the vegetables would be killed along with the weeds, and the pesticide residues would easily exceed the safe limit.

Before planting, herbicides can be sprayed uniformly to kill weeds and seeds, reducing the difficulty of weeding during planting.

Wearing a mask, Qing Mengzhu said to Zhao Hexi in a muffled voice, "Let's take a break."