Chapter 92

Ming Chunxi: "Thank you for the fate that brought us together to eat stir-fried snails."

They clinked glasses and continued eating.

Stir-fried snails are fragrant, spicy, and slightly sour, making them incredibly satisfying to eat.

This dish is perfect for enjoying while chatting, with a sip of wine or a cold beverage occasionally – it's incredibly pleasant.

Just as the group was chatting happily, a strange noise suddenly came from the backyard.

Hearing this, Qing Mengzhu put down the snail she was holding. "What's that noise?"

Ming Chunxi also pricked up his ears to listen. "There's a dog barking. Is that the Dharma Protector and the Guard barking?"

They all put down what they were doing and listened carefully, and soon they heard barking and growling.

Qing Mengzhu couldn't sit still any longer and went to the backyard to check.

The others followed him, and there they saw otters waging a battle to protect their snails.

Otter: "Waaah!"

Two dogs. "Woof! Woof!"

Red Fox: "Eek! Eek! Eek!"

The otter, outnumbered by three, used its paws to protect the snails and appeared to be completely outmatched.

The two dogs and the red fox didn't directly try to snatch it; instead, they barked at the otter, seemingly accusing it of being disloyal.

Hearing the humans approaching, the little creatures all turned to look.

Now, the two dogs stopped barking at the otter and ran to Qing Mengzhu, barking at him.

Judging from that angry shout, the cursing must have been quite vulgar.

Qing Mengzhu was both amused and exasperated. "I'm not being biased by not giving you any; it's just that the puppy and the red fox can't digest the snail shells, so they can't eat them."

Two dogs. "Woof woof!"

After barking, the Dharma Protector suddenly turned around, snatched a snail from under the otter's paw, and, in front of the humans, crunched it to pieces. Then it picked out the meat and ate it. "Woof woof!"

A slightly agitated Zhao Hexi, who had been drinking, translated for the Dharma Protector: "It says it can crush bones, let alone a tiny snail?"

Qing Mengzhu said to Zhao Hexi, "Go away! Don't add fuel to the fire."

The Dharma Protector and Guard chased after Qing Mengzhu, barking, "Woof! Woof! Woof!"

The red fox, unusually, also rushed up and blocked Qing Mengzhu, sobbing, "Waaah!"

Ming Chunxi was protecting Qing Mengzhu until they were almost at the main courtyard when the little ones were still chasing after him, their cries sounding so aggrieved.

Having been chased relentlessly by them, Qing Mengzhu had no choice but to say, "Alright, I'll give you all a share, is that alright?"

The snails at home are already stir-fried.

Qing Mengzhu had no choice but to take a portion of the snails meant for human consumption, blanch them in boiling water, remove the seasonings, mix them with the otter snails, and then divide them equally among the four little creatures.

This time, the weights were used to divide the grain, and the distribution was very fair.

The little ones stopped crying after they had all received their share.

Qing Mengzhu was worried that the little ones wouldn't know how to eat snails, so she stayed behind to observe them.

The other three were with him.

Soon, everyone realized they had worried for nothing.

All four little ones can eat snails, and each of them has their own unique way of eating them.

The two dogs took the simplest and most direct approach: they just snapped the snails in half with a "crunch" and then picked out the meat to eat.

Otters suck out the meat, just like humans do. They first suck the tail of the snail, then the mouth. They can suck out most of the meat. If they can't suck it out, they smash it with a stone.

The red fox had the hardest time eating, sometimes mimicking a dog, sometimes an otter, biting and smashing, and it took quite a while before it could get any meat.

Seeing how much fun they were having eating, Zhao Hexi said, "I need to go catch a handful of snails so I can watch them eat."

Qing Mengzhu grabbed Zhao Hexi by the back of his collar. "Come on, you want to see an animal show too?"

Zhao Hexi: "Hahaha, watch for a while, it's so much fun!"

Zhou Yan laughed, "Looks like it'll be hard for you to fool your pets anymore. Next time you have something, why don't you just bring it to my place to eat?"

Zhao Hexi raised her hand. "You can take it to my place too."

Author's Note:

See you tomorrow!

Chapter 92

In the morning, Qing Mengzhu and the others were picking chili peppers and tomatoes in the field.

His family's chili peppers and tomatoes are in their peak production season, with each variety yielding several hundred kilograms, so they need many people to pick them every morning.

The peppers and tomatoes they picked also found their own uses.

Some of the fresh green and red peppers will be sent to Zhou Yan's catering group via express delivery, while the remaining fresh red peppers will be sent to the factory for sorting and drying. After quality inspection, they will be sold to Di Xing.

As for the tomatoes, they will send all the picked tomatoes to the factory.

After being sorted at the factory, tomatoes that are 90% ripe are soaked in a chitin coating preservative, then packaged and sent to customers via express delivery. The remaining tomatoes are sent to canneries to be made into tomato sauce and canned tomatoes.

All of these products will bear their company name, and their company's reputation will be officially established with each batch of products.

Now many local growers, catering companies, and agricultural companies recognize their name.

When they got tired from working, they would sit down and rest.

Qing Mengzhu allowed everyone to pick fresh vegetables from the field to eat, and whenever everyone was tired, they would pick tomatoes to eat.

As long as it's not wasteful, Qing Mengzhu doesn't mind.

Today was the same. After finishing the work, everyone picked the ripest tomatoes, washed them in the river, and planned to eat them while sitting on the edge of the field.

Qing Mengzhu also picked tomatoes, but he picked five.

Tan Wenlei walked beside him, looking at how many tomatoes he had picked. "Are you planning to go back?"

Qing Mengzhu: "What?"

Tan Wenlei gestured to the tomatoes in his hand. "Look how many you picked."

Qing Mengzhu glanced down and said, "No, pick them for the small animals."

Two dogs, a red fox, and an otter were resting nearby. As soon as Qing Mengzhu approached, all the little creatures that were looking at the otter turned to look at him.

Qing Mengzhu looked closely and realized that the otter was holding a piece of jerky and chewing on it.

This dried meat was given to it by Qing Mengzhu this morning as compensation for not eating dried meat with rice last night. Unexpectedly, it still hasn't finished eating it.

The dog and the red fox watched from the sidelines, practically drooling with envy.

Meeting the mournful gazes of the dogs and the red fox, Qing Mengzhu held up the tomato in her hand. "I've brought you tomatoes, want some?"

The Dharma Protector, "Woof!" which means "eat."

The little ones lined up and snatched the tomatoes from Qing Mengzhu's hands, then went to eat them.

They are all omnivores, and although tomatoes are not as tempting as dried meat, they are better than nothing.

After feeding the dogs, Qing Mengzhu sat down and overheard everyone talking about growing vegetables.

Upon seeing Qing Mengzhu return, someone asked, "Boss, what should we plant when the rented land is handed over to us next January?"

Qing Mengzhu: "That depends on what the guests want to eat at the time."

Their community-supported agriculture is already underway, with many customers signing contracts with them. When it comes to actually planting, they will definitely take the customers' wishes into consideration.

Then someone asked, "Boss, what do you grow on your land?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Just grow some ordinary vegetables, like radishes, cabbages, kale, and garlic."

The summer vegetables are almost all old now, and the quality of any new ones that grow is slightly lower, so we definitely have to pull them up and plant new ones.

Feng Ningxiang: "It's about time to plant them, it's almost November."

Qing Mengzhu nodded. "I'll take a look in the next few days."

Temperatures will drop further in November, and many crops will struggle to adapt to the temperature changes, so it's time to start planning.

They can grow quite a few winter vegetables here, such as spinach, lettuce, garland chrysanthemum, cilantro, garlic, cabbage, celery, onions, and scallions, all of which are good choices and quite popular in the market.

For a typical farmer, the seedlings would already be in place by now.

Qing Mengzhu doesn't particularly like several vegetables such as spinach, garland chrysanthemum, and celery. In addition, the yields of their sweet potato leaves, okra, and carrots are still quite good, so he hasn't put planting new vegetables on his agenda.