Chapter 84

Even though it's already this season, the chilies from his farm are still thick and long, with a pure spiciness, thin skin, thick flesh, and a sweet aftertaste. They taste just as good as chilies from summer, and in some ways even better.

Zhou Yan's catering group no longer uses chili peppers from other places, only those from Qing Mengzhu's family, and they estimate they can use them for another month or two.

Qing Mengzhu laughed, "My family's chili peppers are really good. Brother Di Xing even said he'd buy as many as you have, he can eat them all."

Zhou Yan: "How about Xinfei? Have they had any success cultivating your chili peppers?"

Qing Mengzhu shook her head. "It seems not for now. They say it's not fundamentally different from other 'Tengjin 01' chili peppers; the genes are all the same. Even if they plant them, they won't be able to produce the same results as my chili peppers for the time being."

Qing Mengzhu now suspects that either the chili pepper variety has mutated, or his family is using good fertilizer and water.

It's probably the same reason why the villagers who took his tomato seeds couldn't grow tomatoes of the same quality.

The seeds are the same, but different people use completely different management methods and fertilizers, so the tomatoes they grow will naturally be different as well.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yan exclaimed, "Your vegetables are truly exceptional, far surpassing all others. I've seen so many chili peppers across the country, and none of them are as good as yours."

Qing Mengzhu blinked. "Brother Zhou, if you keep praising me like that, I'll raise the price next year!"

Zhou Yan: "Up, up, up! Our group is loaded, let's squeeze as much as possible."

Qing Mengzhu: "I'll take another look next year."

Zhou Yan: "Honestly, you should consider raising your prices next year. Those big brands of chili peppers are three times more expensive than yours, and their quality isn't even as good."

Qing Mengzhu: "The main problem is that we didn't build a good reputation this year, so naturally we couldn't get a good price. Next year should be better."

Zhao Hexi chimed in enthusiastically, "It'll definitely work next year. If not, we'll find another buyer. I know so many people now."

Qing Mengzhu loudly. "Let's have a drink, wishing us prosperity next year!"

Chapter 84

It's been raining for the past two days, and everything outside is damp.

Qing Mengzhu and the others had a relatively comfortable time working in the fields, as long as they wore raincoats, rain boots, gloves, and hats, they wouldn't get too wet or cold.

But it's different up in the mountains. If they just bump into any tree, the rainwater on the branches will cling to them, then run down their bodies and collect in their shoes.

When it rains, bamboo shoots sprout up in the bamboo forest, and bamboo worms are forced out by the rain. If you don't go up the mountain, you'll miss out on a lot of good things.

To keep warm, Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi both gave up their soft raincoats and opted for heavy, thick waterproof pants.

It's not cold going up the mountain like this, but it's not very comfortable to be bundled up, and your feet can easily slip.

Qing Mengzhu, panting, said, "I never thought that having too many bamboo shoots could be a problem."

Ming Chunxi: "Just pile the bamboo shoots that the Interstellar Mall has finished sucking up on the mountain. Tomorrow I'll bring some more EM bacteria up and sprinkle them on top; they should rot quickly."

Qing Mengzhu: "It's fine if they don't rot. If anyone asks, I'll just say that these bamboo shoots were eaten by insects and can only be left on the mountain as fertilizer."

Ming Chunxi nodded. "This approach works too."

It's too much work to transport bamboo shoots down the mountain on rainy days, so they sell them to the Interstellar Mall on the spot. After selling them, they cut the bamboo shoots into pieces and pile them on top of the bamboo roots, making it look like soil for mulching the bamboo.

They piled the bamboo shoots they dug up under the bamboo stalks onto those stalks as organic fertilizer. Since there weren't many shoots, they weren't worried about burning the roots.

After selling the bamboo shoots to the Interstellar Mall once again, Qing Mengzhu turned to Ming Chunxi and said, "Let's not sell the rest of the bamboo shoots. Let's take them home and stir-fry them with meat."

Zhou Yan brought over the dry-aged beef they had bought. Qing Mengzhu had been looking forward to the stir-fried beef with bamboo shoots ever since she woke up, and now she wanted to take the bamboo shoots back and stir-fry them.

Today is Sunday, Ming Chunxi doesn't have to go to work. They went up the mountain without having breakfast, and they'll make breakfast when they come down later, like braised bamboo shoots and beef noodles or something.

Thinking of this, Qing Mengzhu's stomach rumbled, and she couldn't wait to go down the mountain.

Ming Chunxi had no objection. "Take the tender bamboo shoot tips."

Qing Mengzhu: "Yes, the tender bamboo shoot tips are the best. We can leave the older shoot tips in the woods to be used as compost."

As they talked, they cut off the tender bamboo shoot tips, then gathered the older shoot heads together, scanned them with the Interstellar Mall, and planned to sell them to the Interstellar Mall.

They had done this action countless times this morning, and the scanning was so smooth that Qing Mengzhu didn't notice anything wrong.

When the scan results came out, he glanced at the 35.2 Star Coins he had left in the Interstellar Mall and was stunned for a moment.

Ming Chunxi: "What's wrong?"

Qing Mengzhu showed him the page of the Interstellar Mall: "It seems that there is no difference between selling bamboo shoot heads and bamboo shoot tips, both are 1.8 Star Coins per pound."

The quality of their bamboo shoots is now better than before, and the price they fetch when sold to the Interstellar Mall has also increased.

Looking at the price, Ming Chunxi immediately realized, "The difference between tender bamboo shoot tips and bamboo shoot heads is only in the texture; the substances they contain should be the same?"

Qing Mengzhu: "I think it's because the Interstellar Mall includes a material judgment system, so it assumes that the price is the same for both bamboo shoot heads and bamboo shoot tips."

Bamboo shoot heads and bamboo shoot tips are the same to the Interstellar Mall, but very different to them.

Bamboo shoot tips are much more tender than bamboo shoot heads!

Qing Mengzhu was eager to try. "Do you think we could keep the bamboo shoot tips and only sell the tops to the Interstellar Mall?"

Ming Chunxi: "I think it's a good idea."

Qing Mengzhu pushed him, "Come on, let's look for more bamboo shoots and see if that works?"

They had already planned to go down the mountain, but after realizing they could separate the bamboo shoot heads from the tips, they went around the mountain again and dug up more than 60 kilograms of bamboo shoots.

The two kept the tenderest bamboo shoot tips and sold only the tops to the Interstellar Mall.

As expected, the prices offered by the Interstellar Mall were all the same, with no distinction between bamboo shoot tips and buds.

Qing Mengzhu said regretfully, "What a pity, we should have separated the bamboo shoot tips and sold them separately."

Ming Chunxi: "It's not too late now; we didn't sell many bamboo shoots before."

That's true. Their bamboo was only planted recently, so the bamboo shoots produced are limited.

Qing Mengzhu: "Let's go down the mountain, let's hurry home and stir-fry some bamboo shoots."

On their way down the mountain, they made a point of stopping by the chicken coop for a look.

When it rained, Qing Mengzhu was afraid the hazel grouse would catch a cold, so she kept them in cages and only let them out to eat in the morning and evening.

The chicken coop was covered with a thick felt blanket, which protected it from the wind and rain, and it was very warm inside.

When they passed by, the hazel grouse inside were huddled together for warmth and looked healthy, with no problems.

It seems we don't need to worry about hazelnuts for now.

As soon as Qing Mengzhu got home, she washed her hands, then took out the beef and bamboo shoots, preparing to stir-fry them and eat them with noodles.

The noodles are handmade wide noodles made by the townspeople. After they are made and dried, they are still very chewy when cooked, and you can still taste the aroma of flour.

Qing Mengzhu really likes this kind of noodle. After cooking, it is put into a broth and served with their own fried mushrooms and chili sauce, or with some pickled vegetables or sauerkraut. The taste is absolutely amazing.

Today's noodles, served with stir-fried beef and bamboo shoots, are simply unbeatable.

Qing Mengzhu ate until beads of sweat appeared on the tip of her nose, and her eyes shone brightly.

After finishing his meal, he drank the last drop of soup in his bowl, sighed contentedly, leaned back in his chair, and didn't want to move anymore.

Ming Chunxi rolled up her sleeves and calmly collected the dishes. She put the mushroom oil and side dishes back in the refrigerator, and cleaned the dishes and put them in the dishwasher.

Qing Mengzhu leaned back in her chair, her eyes following his retreating figure with admiration mixed with a hint of desire.

Ming Chunxi turned around and saw his expression, then reached out and ruffled his hair. "Aren't you full yet?"