Chapter 82

Upon hearing the commotion of Qing Mengzhu's return, all five pairs of eyes simultaneously looked up.

Zhao Hexi sighed, holding a melon, "Ah, this radiant little face, being in love is so wonderful."

Qing Mengzhu smiled and said, "Shall we talk? I'll sponsor you some money for our date."

Zhao Hexi: "Forget it, focusing on my career is better than dating."

Qing Mengzhu: "Where's your goddess? Why don't you confess your feelings?"

Zhao Hexi was already depressed, and hearing this made her even more depressed. "I tried, but I was politely rejected."

Fate cannot be forced. Qing Mengzhu patted his shoulder sympathetically. "Then focus on your career first. You have to reap the rewards of either love or career."

Zhao Hexi: "It's in progress. Have you seen the report? Our white fungus and lotus seed soup is already making almost a million in profit."

Qing Mengzhu was busy with her romance and hadn't really dealt with much work. "So much?!"

Zhao Hexi: "Yes, the lotus seeds are good. Once word got out, they sold out quickly. I didn't even have to do much to attract customers."

Qing Mengzhu: "I'll take a look later. We can make New Year's Day gift boxes next."

Zhao Hexi: "We don't have many lotus seeds left, so we can't make many."

Qing Mengzhu calculated the number of lotus seeds and said with great regret, "We'll have to plant more next year."

With Qing Mengzhu achieving success in both love and career, she suddenly had the motivation to work.

Seeing that the hazel grouse had grown a bit, he decided not to delay any longer and, on a sunny day, moved them to the bamboo forest with Ming Chunxi.

They had erected a fence and a simple shed in advance to provide shelter from the wind and rain and a place for the hazel grouse to rest.

Hazel grouse would probably be more suited to bamboo forests.

Qing Mengzhu thought about it for a while, but was still worried, so she called the red fox and the two dogs over for a meeting, "Now that the hazel grove is in the bamboo forest, keep an eye on it when you have time."

The two dogs wagged their tails. "Woof woof!"

Red Fox: "Eek."

Qing Mengzhu rubbed her head one by one. "If you encounter other wild animals and are in danger, you can call me."

The three little creatures responded in unison, with the Dharma Protector puffing out its chest especially high and barking loudly twice, as if telling Qing Mengzhu it understood and that she could rest assured.

Seeing their confident expressions, Qing Mengzhu said, "I'm entrusting the hazel grouse to you. If not a single one is taken by other wild animals, you'll be rewarded with jerky this evening!"

Author's Note:

See you this afternoon!

Chapter 82

I don't know if it's because the environment in the bamboo forest is better, or if the hazel grouse has grown a bit bigger and is physically stronger.

After Qing Mengzhu released them into the bamboo forest, none of the chicks died for several days in a row.

The hazel grouse has grown a bit and its appetite has increased.

Qing Mengzhu instructed Feng Ningxiang and the others to leave some old leaves or leaves that had been infested by insects when they picked vegetables every morning, to crush them, mix them with rice bran, and feed them to the hazel grouse.

Hazel grouse will forage for grass seeds and insects in the bamboo forest, so they don't need as much food as before, making them easier to feed.

However, the lotus leaves in the lotus pond have mostly withered, depriving the shrimp of some food. Qing Mengzhu need to supplement their diet manually to meet the shrimp's daily needs.

The increased food demand of the prawns is not entirely due to the withering of the lotus leaves; their growing size is also a contributing factor.

The shrimp in the pond are now generally five or six centimeters long. Judging from their growth rate and the number of times they molt, Qing Mengzhu feels that they can still grow a little longer, maybe even eight or nine centimeters.

I wonder how big they'll actually be when they're fully mature. It's quite something to look forward to.

In the morning, Qing Mengzhu drove his car to the bamboo forest to feed the hazel grove with scraps of vegetables and rice bran, accompanied by two dogs.

He even brought a bucket so that after feeding the hazel grouse, he could catch bamboo worms for two hours and also patrol the bamboo forest.

He went to see the hazel grouse first.

The hazel grouse have already come out to play. The adult hazel grouse are leading their chicks around in the bamboo forest, their little beaks constantly pecking at the grass and soil, looking very lively.

Qing Mengzhu left the food where it was, but before she could move away, the hazel grouse, seeing it, came running over quickly on its short legs, squawking and scrambling for it.

Seeing that the hazel grouse were doing well, he watched them for a while, then took his two dogs, carrying a bucket, and headed deeper into the bamboo forest.

Both dogs really enjoyed catching bamboo worms; they probably thought they were both delicious and fun.

The Dharma Protector was especially excited, running around Qing Mengzhu, barking, "Woof woof woof!"

Climbing the mountain was tiring enough, but having a lively dog with you made it even more exhausting. Qing Mengzhu had to pull on the Dharma Protector's collar. "Don't bark, you're scaring away all the bamboo worms."

The Dharma Protector wagged its tail and whispered, "Woof woof!"

While catching bamboo worms, Qing Mengzhu would also check on the growth of the bamboo shoots.

As the weather gets cooler, the bamboo shoots aren't growing as fast anymore. They used to dig them up once a day, but now they only dig them up once every two or three days.

Every day when he comes to catch bamboo worms, he checks the condition of the bamboo shoots. If there are many bamboo shoots, he brings a small chainsaw to dig them up; if there are few bamboo shoots, he comes back the next day.

There weren't many bamboo shoots today, but there were quite a lot of bamboo worms flying around.

Qing Mengzhu walked through the bamboo forest and soon caught half a bucket.

"Woof woof!" The Dharma Protector ran ahead and then ran back, wagging its tail and barking at Qing Mengzhu, indicating that there were more ahead.

Qing Mengzhu: "I know there's more ahead, don't worry."

As an impatient dog, the Dharma Protector could not help but be anxious.

Seeing that Qing Mengzhu was climbing the mountain too slowly and had to stop and rest every now and then, the Dharma Protector couldn't stand it any longer. He ran up behind Qing Mengzhu and nudged him in the lower back and buttocks with his dog head. "Woof woof!"

Qing Mengzhu turned to look at it. "Hey!"

The Dharma Protector's tail wagged wildly. "Woof!"

Qing Mengzhu grabbed the dog's collar and smacked it on the head. "Stupid dog! Don't push!"

Dharma Protector: "Woof woof!"

The Guard got excited too, jumping around and barking, "Woof woof!"

I don't know if they were making too much noise, but while they were arguing, a sound suddenly came from behind – "Coo! Coo-cheep!"

The sound was deep and drawn out, blending strangely with the sound of the wind.

Qing Mengzhu grabbed the dog's collar and stopped what she was doing.

He stared at the two dogs. The Guard looked somewhat bewildered. The Dharma Protector turned his head and looked around. Suddenly, he turned and broke free from Qing Mengzhu's hand, running and jumping ahead.

After running for more than ten meters, the Dharma Protector barked at the top of a bamboo stalk, "Woof! Woof woof!"

Qing Mengzhu led her Guard over and saw that a large bird's nest had appeared on top of the bamboo tree at some point.

As the Dharma Protector called out, a large bird with big, round eyes peeked out from the nest.

Qing Mengzhu looked up at the large bird. "When did an owl arrive?"

Neither the owl nor the two dogs could speak, so they naturally couldn't answer his question.

When the Dharma Protector saw the owl peek out, it called even louder, "Woof woof!"

Qing Mengzhu quickly stopped it. "Don't bark."

The owl also chirped, "Coo-coo-choo!"

A dog and an owl started arguing right in front of Qing Mengzhu.

The Guard and Dharma Protector barked loudly, and soon they joined in, barking loudly, making Qing Mengzhu's ears hurt.

The owl looked at the two dogs below and hooted louder and louder.

Seeing that it was still barking, the Dharma Protector, very indignant, rushed up and headbutted the bamboo, even trying to bite it with its mouth.

The bamboo swayed, and the owl took flight, circling around the bamboo.

This owl is small and flies slowly; it looks easy to bully.

Both dogs tried to chase it, and they seemed to be getting more and more excited.

Qing Mengzhu couldn't stand it anymore and forcefully pulled the Dharma Protector back. "Alright, stop arguing!"

Dharma Protector: "Woof woof!"

Qing Mengzhu: "I've noticed you've been acting really unruly lately!"