Chapter 135

I read online that stir-fried bamboo fungus with meat is quite delicious, and you don't necessarily have to make a soup with it.

Let's save these hazel grouse for summer; hopefully, they'll breed another batch of baby hazel grouse.

Zhao Hexi was very enthusiastic about eating and agreed without the slightest hesitation, "Do you want me to bring you anything?"

Qing Mengzhu: "No need, we have everything at home. Just bring your mouth."

Zhao Hexi: "Then I'll drive back now."

When Zhao Hexi arrived, they hadn't finished cooking yet.

Originally, only Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi were busy in the kitchen, Zhao Hexi squeezed in between them after she arrived.

After finding out that there were many weeds on the mountain and that they would need to go up the mountain to pull weeds in the next few days, Zhao Hexi said it was no problem and that she would make arrangements when she got back.

Zhao Hexi: "We were going to hire a batch of temporary workers to do the work in the spring, and there are a lot of weeds in the fields that need to be pulled."

Qing Mengzhu nodded. "The main problem is that some wild rehmannia has somehow gotten mixed in with the weeds on the mountain, so we can't use a weed cutter to remove them all at once. Otherwise, I would have used the weed cutter."

Zhao Hexi casually stole a piece of sliced radish and stuffed it into his mouth. "Weeds in the field can be mowed with a lawnmower, but unfortunately it doesn't cut them cleanly, and they just grow back after being cut, which also wastes fertilizer. We might as well just hire someone to pull them out. When we loosen the soil, we can sift it again to filter out as many weed seeds as possible."

Some weed seeds are so small that they can't be filtered out at all, while others, like four-leaf clover seeds, are much larger and can be filtered out perfectly.

Spring has arrived, and weeds are growing wildly. They are following an organic approach, which means they can't use pesticides, so they can only use this laborious method to pull the weeds out little by little.

Actually, hiring workers isn't very expensive these days. Hiring a couple more workers can actually contribute to local employment.

After the dishes were cooked, the three of them carried them to the dining table to eat.

Qing Mengzhu fed the two dogs first, and when she went to the dining table, Ming Chunxi had already served the food. After Qing Mengzhu arrived, the three of them officially began their meal.

They first tried the bamboo fungus. Wild, fresh bamboo fungus is delicious, especially since it was growing in their bamboo forest, which had been treated with Soil Fertility Restoration Agent.

Fresh bamboo fungus is crisp and crunchy, and when combined with the flavor of beef, it makes for a very appetizing dish.

Qing Mengzhu took a big bite, and it was so hot that she was panting heavily.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much bamboo fungus left; it was gone after just a couple of bites. So he turned to beef—beef stir-fried with bamboo fungus was also delicious, with a unique and fresh flavor.

Zhao Hexi's face was also filled with regret. "Bamboo fungus is so delicious, can it be cultivated artificially?"

Qing Mengzhu: "There are projects that cultivate bamboo fungus, but it's very troublesome to grow and requires a lot of manpower. We probably won't have the time, so we'll just have to eat wild ones for now."

Zhao Hexi: "If we could cultivate it, bamboo fungus could probably bring us a good income."

Qing Mengzhu: "We have too many things bringing us profits right now, so let's focus on stabilizing the crops we already have."

Zhao Hexi nodded. "That makes sense. If we don't grow bamboo fungus, what about the cattle? Do you want to raise them? There are so many weeds now, the geese can't possibly eat them all. Our weeds are actually good grass grown with organic fertilizer, it's a bit of a waste not to feed them to the cattle."

Chapter 135

Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi exchanged a glance; they had indeed considered raising cattle.

If we raise our own cows, we won't have to worry about milk anymore.

Zhao Hexi could tell from their expressions that things were looking promising, "Go ahead and raise them. It's just a matter of building another cowshed. If you're worried about not being able to take care of them, just raise a couple less. Cows don't eat much grass anyway."

Qing Mengzhu: "Let's think about which kind of cattle to raise."

Zhao Hexi had previously inquired, "There are only two types of cattle in this area: yellow cattle and water buffalo. Water buffalo are used for plowing, while yellow cattle are mostly used for meat and milk production. If you're interested, I can help you inquire about them."

Qing Mengzhu: "I asked before, and they said we should raise yellow cattle. Since oxen aren't used for plowing now, water buffaloes don't have much of an advantage."

Zhao Hexi: "Indeed, water buffaloes don't grow as fast as cattle. If you know this, I won't ask any more questions. If you really want to buy them, I'll have someone keep the grass that's been pulled up."

Qing Mengzhu nodded. "I'll go buy it tomorrow."

Qing Mengzhu is currently Junior Grower, but she has little experience in buying cattle and doesn't know how to distinguish which calves are better.

He found a local breeding farm in Vine City, picked out four females and one male calves that he liked, and temporarily kept them in the hazel grove in the backyard—the hazel groves were released into the bamboo forest.

The Dharma Protector and Guard were very excited about the arrival of five cows at their home, sniffing around and even trying to chase after the calves.

The calves were much more panicked than the dogs, huddled in a corner trembling, until Qing Mengzhu personally brought them hay to feed them. Only after eating the high-quality hay did they gradually calm down.

Qing Mengzhu pulled them again, they were willing to follow, unlike before when they huddled in a corner, too afraid to move.

Qing Mengzhu flicked the foreheads of the Dharma Protector and the Guard with her finger. "Don't bully the calves. From now on, we'll rely on them for milk, and your milk will also depend on them, understand?"

Dharma Protector and Guard: "Woof woof!"

Yellow cattle are generally docile, and the fodder at Qing Mengzhu's house is excellent.

Within two days, the oxen had successfully settled into their home, and the Dharma Protector and Guard no longer herded geese, but instead learned to herd cattle without any instruction.

Qing Mengzhu secretly breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this situation. He had never raised cattle before and had been worried that it might not go smoothly. Now that he was able to raise them successfully, it was truly wonderful.

After the Lunar New Year, the temperature rose considerably, especially when the sun came out, the daytime temperature could reach over ten degrees Celsius.

As the weather warms up, it becomes easier for humans and animals to move around, and there are also more weeds and insects in the fields.

Everyone was very worried about the insects. Feng Ningxiang even reported to Qing Mengzhu several times, fearing that if they weren't careful, the insects would eat all the leaves.

That day, Qing Mengzhu took a wide-mouthed bottle and was using tweezers to catch insects in the cauliflower patch.

When Zhao Hexi walked over, he saw that the glass bottle was already half full of insects, and goosebumps rose on his skin. He asked, "What are you doing? Are you manually catching insects to supplement the protein for your hazel grouse or ducks?"

Qing Mengzhu chuckled, "How much protein can you get by catching bugs like this? I'm calculating the number of bugs per square meter to estimate the insect population density in the vegetable field."

Zhao Hexi realized the seriousness of the situation and looked at the glass bottle in his hand. "These are insects caught within one square meter?"

Qing Mengzhu looked up and glanced at Zhao Hexi: "No."

Zhao Hexi breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could fully relax, Qing Mengzhu said, "This is at most the number of insects caught in half a square meter. The number of insects in a one-square-meter area would probably be double that."

Zhao Hexi's scalp tingled. "No way? So many bugs?!"

Qing Mengzhu: "That's all."

As she spoke, Qing Mengzhu frowned. "Our vegetables seem to have a special attraction for insects."

Qing Mengzhu is catching insects in the company's vegetable garden.

He could understand if there were so many insects in his vegetable garden, since he used a lot of good stuff in it.

He found it hard to accept that there were so many insects in the company's vegetable garden.

It's possible that before they rented the land last year, there were many insect eggs in the field, and these eggs hatched as soon as the weather warmed up.

Although they had already treated the insect eggs in the vegetable field when they took over, they hadn't sprayed many chemical pesticides, so the treatment might not have been completely thorough.

We need to hurry and deal with it, otherwise the insects will multiply rapidly and have several more generations, resulting in even more insects in their fields.

Zhao Hexi looked at Qing Mengzhu with a very serious expression, no longer joking, and asked, "Is this a cabbage worm? Can we use our Insect-Killing Bacillus to treat it?"

Qing Mengzhu: "It should be possible. However, I'm not entirely sure about this; it's the larva of the diamondback moth."

Zhao Hexi looked at the insect. "What's the difference between the two? Aren't they the same?"