Chapter 112 (continued)

Everyone in the village knew that Qing Mengzhu had started a company and that he would collect pests and diseased seedlings, so no one found it strange.

Qing Mengzhu was happy that everyone misunderstood.

The grayish-white aggregated spheres look very much like insect eggs, and from a distance, it's really hard to tell what they are.

There were more agglomerated spheres in the field than Qing Mengzhu had imagined. He spent most of the day picking up a small bucketful, which weighed about five or six pounds.

Ming Chunxi came over to help after work and saw so many aggregate balls. "There are more than I expected."

Qing Mengzhu: "The pollution might be quite serious? I don't know if new polymer balls will precipitate out in the future; it will probably take some time to collect them."

Ming Chunxi: "If we can extract them all, that would be a good thing. What's inside these aggregated spheres?"

Qing Mengzhu looked at the aggregated spheres. "They're probably pesticides, sulfides, fluorides, heavy metals, and petroleum hydrocarbons from the soil—common agricultural pollutants."

Ming Chunxi and Qing Mengzhu sat shoulder to shoulder. "The knowledge from the Elementary Soil Science skills book?"

Qing Mengzhu also whispered, "Not entirely. I specifically scanned it with the Mall Assistant. This is the analysis the Mall Assistant gave me. Even with my relevant knowledge, I couldn't tell the difference with the naked eye."

Ming Chunxi nodded. "What should we do with these pollutants?"

"I'm still considering whether to send it for testing or have the Interstellar Mall recycle it directly." Qing Mengzhu frowned slightly. "If the Interstellar Mall recycles it, it will cost eighty Star Coins to process one pound, which is too expensive."

Ming Chunxi patted the back of his head. "It is very expensive. But I prefer to let the Interstellar Mall handle it. It's easy for us to expose ourselves if we handle it ourselves, and it's also easy for us not to handle it completely."

Qing Mengzhu: "Yes, for now we can only turn to the Interstellar Mall. We'll see if we have the capacity to handle this kind of pollutant once our company has grown."

Ming Chunxi: "We'll study the principle behind how the Soil Fertility Restoration Agent causes these pollutants to aggregate later."

Qing Mengzhu: "Okay, we'll see if we can replicate it later."

There were quite a few pollutant aggregates leached from the soil, Qing Mengzhu went to collect them every day for a whole week.

He even bought a fine net specifically for catching the agglomerates in the pond.

After using the Soil Fertility Restoration Agent, the quality of the soil in both fields and ponds visibly improved.

These soils are softer and finer, look more fertile, and even have a slightly different smell.

Qing Mengzhu was very pleased; the Soil Fertility Restoration Agent had indeed been effective.

It would be even better if there weren't so many aggregated contamination orbs, so he wouldn't have to spend thousands of Star Coins specifically to deal with these contaminants.

The pollutants were released for a period of time, and then the amount decreased.

Qing Mengzhu would check during her daily patrols, and if she saw anything, she would pick it up and have it recycled by the Interstellar Mall.

That day, he went up the mountain to dig for bamboo shoots and made a special trip to check out the area where Soil Fertility Restoration Agent had been used.

In winter, bamboo grows slower, and there are fewer shoots. Most of the shoots are still hidden under the soil, and you have to dig up the soil to see the yellow winter shoots.

Qing Mengzhu was quite experienced in digging bamboo shoots, and even though bamboo shoots were hard to find these days, he still managed to find several.

He didn't bring a chainsaw up today, so he just dug with a hoe.

Fortunately, after using the Soil Fertility Restoration Agent, the soil here became very loose and easy to dig.

He dug a few times, and the winter bamboo shoots underneath were revealed.

He used his hands to twist the winter bamboo shoots that were growing on the bamboo rhizome.

This bamboo shoot wasn't much thicker than his upper arm. Because it was buried in the soil, its overall color was a very beautiful light yellow, and it looked delicious.

He weighed the bamboo shoot in his hand, intending to throw it into the bucket.

At this moment, he felt that this bamboo shoot was heavier than a winter bamboo shoot of the same volume, about one-third heavier.

He's been selling so many bamboo shoots lately that he immediately noticed the weight difference; a third more was a significant increase.

Qing Mengzhu suspected there was something inside the bamboo shoot; otherwise, why would it be so heavy?

Thinking this, Qing Mengzhu took out a small knife from her pocket and peeled off the bamboo shoot husks layer by layer.

To his surprise, the bamboo shoot flesh inside the husk was white and tender, and looked perfectly normal, except that it was much heavier.

He cut the bamboo shoot in half and examined it carefully.

The bamboo shoots, when cut open, are very crisp and tender, but they are very closely spaced.

The bamboo shoots have virtually no gaps in the middle; all the shoot flesh is tightly packed together, crisp, plump, and heavy—clearly of excellent quality.

Qing Mengzhu looked up at the bamboo beside her and immediately realized that the bamboo shoot had grown from the mother bamboo.

When he bought Cloud Mirror Bamboo, he only bought one bamboo, which was the mother bamboo of this bamboo forest.

The transplanted Cloud Mirror Bamboo were all grown from the branches and shoots of the mother bamboo, and their quality was not as good as that of the mother bamboo.

However, after the mother bamboo was treated with Growth Liquid and a large number of bamboo branches were transplanted, the quality of the bamboo declined, dropping directly from "Superior Grade" to "Superior Grade- ". The quality of the newly grown bamboo even dropped to "Fine Grade+".

Looking at the bamboo now, Qing Mengzhu immediately realized that the soil quality of this bamboo forest had improved, and the quality of the bamboo and bamboo shoots had also increased, probably because of the addition of Soil Fertility Restoration Agent.

I wonder what level it has reached now?

Qing Mengzhu's heart was pounding.

He took out his phone, opened the Mall Assistant, and scanned the mother bamboo – "Superior Grade".

The quality of the mother bamboo has truly returned to "Superior Grade"!

A surge of joy welled up in Qing Mengzhu's heart, and she cherished the smooth outer skin of the mother bamboo with her hand.

After scanning the mother bamboo, Qing Mengzhu then scanned the bamboo shoots.

The bamboo shoots are rated "Superior Grade- ", which is not as good as the "Superior Grade of the mother bamboo, but much better than the " Fine Grade+ " grade bamboo shoots we recently harvested.

The quality has improved by a whole new level!

Qing Mengzhu was very excited. She wandered around in the bamboo forest, digging up bamboo shoots while scanning the bamboo and bamboo shoots.

He made such a big commotion that the owl that had pooped in front of his house poked its head out of its nest and looked at him with its red eyes seemingly full of curiosity.

Qing Mengzhu waved to the owl in a very good mood.

The owl swooped back its head, as if startled, and hooted twice.

Qing Mengzhu couldn't help but laugh.

Perhaps because the soil quality has only recently improved, the bamboo and bamboo shoots have not accumulated much material yet. When Qing Mengzhu scanned the bamboo, he found that apart from the mother bamboo and the bamboo shoots produced by the mother bamboo, the quality of other bamboo and bamboo shoots remained unchanged.

Based on the prices offered by the Interstellar Mall, Qing Mengzhu judged that the quality of other bamboo and bamboo shoots should have also improved, but the improvement was not significant enough to directly upgrade them to a higher grade.

In a good mood, Qing Mengzhu dug up a large pile of bamboo shoots, sold all the bamboo shoots except the mother bamboo shoot to the Interstellar Mall, then carried the mother bamboo shoot and the bamboo worms she had caught. On her way down the mountain, she also caught a large hazel grouse, planning to go home and cook dinner.

When he returned, Ming Chunxi had already come back.

Ming Chunxi asked, "Why are you in such a good mood today?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Because the soil treated with the Soil Fertility Restoration Agent is starting to work."

Qing Mengzhu recounted the bamboo incident to Ming Chunxi, adding that the soil in the fields and ponds must have changed as well, and he would go and check it out.

Ming Chunxi went with him.

Because of the water in the pond, it wasn't very clear.

The soil in the field has indeed changed; its color, smell, and texture are all slightly different from before.

Qing Mengzhu grabbed a handful of soil, kneaded it in her palm, and said to Ming Chunxi, "We can use this soil now."

Ming Chunxi: "What do you want to plant?"

Qing Mengzhu's eyes shone brightly. "I want to use it for seedling cultivation, so I'll plant tomatoes and peppers. The tomatoes will be planted in a third batch, and the peppers in a second batch. Then I can compare them with the existing tomatoes and peppers."

Ming Chunxi: "Okay, let's give it a try."