Chapter 123 (continued)

Qing Mengzhu was startled. "How much?!"

Zhao Hexi clearly repeated the number, "36733."

Qing Mengzhu: "This is too much. Let me calculate whether we can produce enough."

Zhao Hexi: "We've already calculated it, and it should be fine. We have 450 mu of land, enough to produce 50,000 vegetable packages. It's just that the number of people needed is a bit large; the town leaders even spoke with me about it."

Qing Mengzhu: "When did this happen?"

Zhao Hexi: "Just yesterday, the leaders were quite concerned and attentive, saying that with so many people, we need to make sure they are well taken care of."

Qing Mengzhu touched her chest. "This is all thanks to the weighty trust I've placed in you."

Zhao Hexi: "Who says otherwise?"

So many people signed up for Zhuxi Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd.. that they capped their recruitment at 38,000 people.

They always need to leave themselves some leeway, otherwise the pressure would be too great.

The pressure is already quite high.

With so many members and having received the first quarter's membership fees, their entire company was up and running.

Gu Benshu and Li Ba selected the varieties that tasted best and were also suitable for their local area.

Qing Mengzhu led the production department staff to hurry up and plant all kinds of vegetables.

The company owns a total of 450 acres of land, but with just a dozen or so employees, it's impossible for them to cultivate that much land.

They also hired many temporary workers from outside to help grow vegetables.

While they were busy, Zhao Hexi found Qing Mengzhu and said, "Mengzhu, there's something I need to tell you."

Qing Mengzhu gestured with her eyes and said, "What?"

Zhao Hexi: "Recently, many members have asked if they can come over on weekends to experience planting vegetables and visit our farmland."

Qing Mengzhu blinked. "Now?"

Zhao Hexi: "Yes, we're growing vegetables now, aren't we? The members heard about it and wanted to come and visit."

After a pause, Zhao Hexi added, "Other community agriculture programs have this step, organizing visits for members. I think we can do it too. Our management is quite standardized, so organizing visits should be a plus."

Qing Mengzhu nodded. "Then let's organize it, but we need to communicate well to prevent any members from causing trouble."

Zhao Hexi: "It should be fine. Our fees are so high, and our members are all influential people; they shouldn't cause any trouble."

Zhao Hexi made the arrangements quickly.

On Saturday, a small group of 30 members came to their farmland.

The members were all dressed in casual clothes, and most of them seemed very excited when they arrived at the farmland, especially the children, whose eyes lit up.

"Wow, our fields are so big?!"

Wow, fields, vegetables, people, sunshine and wind—what a vibrant scene!

"This field is wonderful, the soil is so fertile, it feels like I've arrived in Northeast China."

After chatting away, Zhao Hexi and the other members clapped their hands and said, "Friends, I'll give you a tour first, and afterwards there will be a vegetable-growing experience."

Members: "Great!"

Zhao Hexi led the members through the fields, pointing out the vegetables in each area.

While looking at the vegetables, someone noticed the tomatoes and peppers at Qing Mengzhu's house and asked, "Are these the tomatoes and peppers grown by the owner?"

Zhao Hexi: "Yes!"

One member was tempted. "Can I buy some? I heard the owner's tomatoes and peppers are especially delicious, but unfortunately they're hard to get online."

Qing Mengzhu was opening the greenhouse for ventilation when he heard the member's words. He smiled and said, "We already have buyers for our vegetables. If all goes well, we can invite everyone to have a taste at noon."

The members cheered, "That's awesome!"

The members toured the area and soon began planting vegetables, with experienced growers like Feng Ningxiang providing guidance.

The members here are indeed of high caliber; even the children they brought were very attentive.

There were no surprises when everyone was planting vegetables; everyone did quite well, even the children. The key was that they were not only willing to listen but also willing to make corrections. When they encountered areas that didn't grow well, they would replant without much complaint.

Zhao Hexi never expected that their members could actually be used as labor, especially some of the adult members, who were quite diligent in their work.

Around noon, Zhao Hexi led the members to Qing Mengzhu's field to pick tomatoes, peppers, cabbages, scallions, and other vegetables. They then took these to Zhou Yan's restaurant in the village and asked the chefs to cook lunch for them on the spot.

Besides the vegetables from Qing Mengzhu's family, Zhou Yan served them cold-water fish from a mountain pond, free-range chickens from Qing Changhong's family, and local pork from the mountains.

The members were amazed by the food and said they would come back to eat here whenever they had time.

Zhao Hexi accompanied him with a smile, and was in a good mood as well.

He had originally set aside funds specifically to entertain the members, but after calculating, he found that the work done by the members was just enough to cover the expenses. In the end, he not only didn't spend any money, but actually made a small profit.

It seems that organizing members to come and visit our work is something we can continue to develop.

After lunch, the members strolled around the village for a while, enjoying the scenery, before driving home.

Back home, many extroverted members were still posting various pictures they had taken that day in the group chat.

Other members who were unavailable expressed their envy after seeing the pictures:

Did you guys have a great time today?

[So beautiful! @ Cheng Cheng ×, you three even wore Hanfu? That's so funny!]

[So much fun! The weather was amazing today, perfect for taking lots of photos!]

[This meal is far too lavish. @Zhao Hexi, Manager Zhao, are you sure you're not losing money by serving this?]

[Zhao Hexi, Manager Zhao, can we organize another event next week? I'd like to see the same photos and dishes, but I'm shy. JPG]

Their members' group already had a lot of chatters, and once the event photos were released, even more people started chatting.

The number of chats in each group reached "999+", and everyone was calling for Zhao Hexi to organize more activities.

Zhao Hexi asked Qing Mengzhu, "So, how about it? Are we part of the organization?"

Qing Mengzhu: "If it's not too much trouble, let's organize it. Next week we can do things like weeding, mulching, and watering; it doesn't require any special skills."

Zhao Hexi: "Alright, I'll go scam some more labor!"

Qing Mengzhu laughed, "Speaking of which, you should hire an assistant, otherwise you'll be too busy to handle everything."

Zhao Hexi also realized the necessity of finding an assistant. "Let's find one."

While they were busy, their vegetables started to grow first.

Despite the cold weather and the fact that it wasn't spring yet, the vegetables were growing exceptionally well, lush and green, a stark contrast to the barren land around them.

After Qing Mengzhu and the others planted the vegetables, they began to plant lotus roots.

Zhuxi Company rented a total of eight ponds. For better management, the original pond dams were retained, and the ponds were still divided into eight sections.

Now, when planting lotus roots, except for one pond where the "Sacrificial Lord root seeds were purchased from Qing Mengzhu's family, the other seven ponds are planted with local lotus roots.

Qing Mengzhu mainly wanted to test Sacrificial Lord "Sacrificial Lord would degenerate if it was grown using ordinary fertilizers and ordinary planting methods.

If they don't know how, they can cultivate this lotus root seed and promote it to other regions.

In addition to growing lotus roots in the pond, they also plan to raise freshwater shrimp in the pond and add the shrimp to their vegetable packages.

However, that's all for the future.

Now that more vegetables are being grown, more wild animals are being attracted, especially various kinds of birds.

In winter, most farmland is relatively barren, and birds have nowhere to find food. They just plunder the farmland of these people, with all kinds of sparrows, crows, geese, and ducks, as if they were having a buffet.

Qing Mengzhu had a headache and had no choice but to discuss a solution to the bird problem with Zhao Hexi.

Zhao Hexi also sighed, "How can we solve this? They're not afraid of scarecrows, and people can't stay in the fields all day to chase them away. Geese, Little Otter, and Little Fox can scare away some birds, but our farmland is too large for them to handle."