Chapter 100

Qing Mengzhu: "What kind of business cooperation?"

Zhao Hexi: "I sounded out that they probably want to buy fresh bamboo sap from us."

Zhao Hexi: "Their point is that if we can offer a relatively favorable price, they can announce the cooperation. With their years of reputation backing us, the reputation of our Xianzhuli can be further enhanced."

Qing Mengzhu was surprised that a reputable pharmacy had approached her for cooperation so quickly. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Forget it, no need. We don't need any authoritative institution to prove it. The medicinal effects of the fresh bamboo juice itself are enough to convince customers."

Zhao Hexi nodded. "I knew you would say that."

Qing Mengzhu smiled and said, "It really is a good product. We use it ourselves, so we have nothing to hide. Besides, our main purpose isn't to make money by brewing fresh bamboo sap. If we're not in a hurry to make money, we naturally won't be anxious."

They boiled fresh bamboo sap as a side effect; their main purpose was to dry distill bamboo vinegar.

After New Year's Day, they have more than 400 acres of land to plant. With so much land, the seeds definitely need to be properly treated.

They dry distill bamboo vinegar mainly to make seed treatment agents. Any surplus bamboo vinegar can also be used as a high-penetration agent for pesticides, so they won't lose money no matter what.

Zhao Hexi had never seen the effects of soaking seeds in bamboo vinegar, so she couldn't help but wonder, "Does soaking seeds in bamboo vinegar really work?"

Qing Mengzhu nodded. "Very useful. Besides improving germination rate and disease resistance, it can also induce mutations. You'll see when the time comes."

Zhao Hexi: "Okay, I'll wait then. By the way, I've finished the planting plan you asked me to make, and I've attached a list of seed types suitable for our area, as well as information on major seed companies. You can take a look when you have time."

Qing Mengzhu: "Okay, send it to me. I'll take a look first, and then we'll have a meeting to discuss what crops to plant in the first quarter, taking into account the customers' needs."

Zhao Hexi: "No problem, we'll revise it according to the plan later."

The two reached a consensus and couldn't help but smile at each other.

My career is about to officially begin, which is quite exciting.

Qing Mengzhu remembered. "Oh right, we have enough bamboo vinegar, so we won't boil any more fresh bamboo sap. Have someone post an announcement on various platforms to let us know."

Their company now has dedicated personnel to manage media affairs, and they have official accounts on various platforms, so posting announcements isn't too much trouble.

Zhao Hexi nodded. "I'll have someone draft the announcement."

Zhao Hexi is very efficient; he spoke in the morning, and the announcement was posted by the afternoon.

Then, their already popular fresh bamboo juice sold out in seconds, a speed that surprised Zhao Hexi.

It seems there are quite a few discerning people among them.

Chapter 100

Qing Mengzhu and the others have been cleaning the eight large ponds they rented these past few days.

Before they rented the large ponds, these ponds were filled with fish. During this time, the original owners of the ponds took the opportunity to catch the fish before handing them over to Qing Mengzhu and his company.

Before planting began, Qing Mengzhu and his team had an excavator come in to remove some of the silt from the bottom of the pond and build up the dam. Only after the area was cleared could they proceed with further processing.

Looking at the construction drawings, Zhao Hexi asked, "Are you sure we don't need to dig up the dam in the middle?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Let's not do it for now. If we dig up all eight ponds and connect them, it will be too big, and it will be difficult to transport the harvested produce later."

Zhao Hexi thought about it and felt it made sense, "Okay, we can fix it if it doesn't work well later."

Qing Mengzhu: "That's exactly what I meant."

Zhao Hexi: "After digging the pond, shouldn't we use tea seed cake to clean it?"

Qing Mengzhu hesitated, "I haven't decided whether to plant lotus in there yet, but if we're not raising shrimp in it, we probably won't need to."

Their lotus roots are growing very well this year, but the newly sprouted lotus shoots are definitely not enough to fill all eight large ponds.

If lotus seeds are used as the growing medium, the resulting lotus plants are prone to degeneration.

Furthermore, Qing Mengzhu consulted Professor Ji Qinglin of the Agricultural University, who also advised against using lotus seeds for planting.

Zhao Hexi: "Then let's go back and think about it some more, no rush."

Qing Mengzhu: "Hmm, let's consider this later."

The main problem was that he couldn't find lotus seeds in the Interstellar Mall. If he had, he wouldn't be so conflicted.

Qing Mengzhu carefully saved the memo and said to Zhao Hexi, "Come to our house for dinner tonight?"

Zhao Hexi: "Oh, why are you suddenly calling me to dinner? Is something good happening?"

Qing Mengzhu smiled faintly, "Little Otter brought up a big bream this morning. We checked, it's edible, and tastes delicious..."

Before Qing Mengzhu could finish speaking, Zhao Hexi exclaimed, "Wait, is it the croaker I know? The croaker, one of the four freshwater delicacies?"

Qing Mengzhu: "It should be."

Zhao Hexi: "How come the Little Otter can catch everything? I've been fishing for so long and I've never caught a takoyaki!"

Qing Mengzhu chuckled, "You've been fishing for so long, but you haven't caught many fish."

Zhao Hexi snorted, "Saying things like that will make you lose all your friends."

Qing Mengzhu: "Are you coming or not?"

Zhao Hexi: "Come on!"

Zhao Hexi was thinking about the fish at Qing Mengzhu's house, so she finished her work early and went to his house to see the fish.

Qing Mengzhu temporarily kept the fish in a large basin. To keep the fish alive, he specially brought back pond water to raise them.

The fish's mouth is still opening and closing, and it looks like it won't be flipping over belly-up anytime soon.

Zhao Hexi clicked his tongue in amazement. "Let me check again to make sure it's not a protected animal?"

Qing Mengzhu: "No."

Zhao Hexi: "I'm going to post this on my WeChat Moments. This Little Otter is amazing! Wait, where's the scale? Have you guys weighed it? How many kilograms does this fish weigh in total?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Why call it that if you have nothing better to do?"

Zhao Hexi's eyes widened. "These are Little Otter's achievements! How can you not mention them?"

Qing Mengzhu said lazily, "Then go get the scale and weigh yourself."

Zhao Hexi cheerfully brought out the scales and weighed the fish. "8.24 jin, wow, this fish is really heavy. How much does Little Otter weigh now?"

Qing Mengzhu: "I haven't weighed myself recently, but I'm probably still around twenty pounds."

Zhao Hexi: "That's still impressive. The pufferfish is a ferocious fish, incredibly strong in the water. It's remarkable that the Little Otter was able to catch it and drag it ashore."

Qing Mengzhu: "Its hunting skills have always been quite good."

Zhao Hexi: "Yes, the Little Otter looks a bit dull, but it's actually quite clever. Wow, this fish is really big and fat, it looks so appealing. I'm posting it on my WeChat Moments."

Qing Mengzhu: "Send it."

Zhao Hexi walked around the yard twice, then asked, "Why didn't Little Otter come over? If it were here, we'd definitely make it take a picture with the fish."

Qing Mengzhu: "Calm down, why are you so excited?"

Zhao Hexi: "This is a pufferfish! Do you know where Little Otter caught this fish? I'll go fishing and see if I can catch the same one."

Qing Mengzhu: "It's near my pond, why don't you give it a try? It's not dinner time yet anyway."

Zhao Hexi couldn't help but say, "I'll go home and get my fishing rod first."

As Zhao Hexi walked around, the two dogs followed him, and the Dharma Protector even tried to lick him.

In her excitement, Zhao Hexi didn't notice the two dogs at all and excitedly opened the door and ran out.

The two dogs looked at his retreating figure, then turned back to look at Qing Mengzhu, appearing somewhat aggrieved. "Woof woof!"

Qing Mengzhu stroked the dog's head. "Don't bother with a fisherman."

The Guard licked Qing Mengzhu's hand, while the Dharma Protector, unconvinced, barked at Zhao Hexi's retreating figure, "Woof woof!"

Zhao Hexi didn't hear her at all and walked away excitedly.

Zhao Hexi went to the river to fish, and after several hours, he only caught two small crucian carp.