Chapter 146

Qing Mengzhu, who had been keeping this in mind, said upon hearing this, "Pack them all, with more of the high-yield vegetables and less of the low-yield vegetables."

Zhao Hexi: "So that's twelve kinds of vegetables plus strawberries? Let me double-check, radishes, shepherd's purse, cabbage, cauliflower, potatoes, peas, green beans, purple cabbage, tomatoes, scallions, cilantro, celery, and strawberries, all in the vegetable bag?"

Qing Mengzhu nodded.

The tomatoes were planted later, and now the fruits are gradually ripening. Although the yield isn't very high, it's enough to fit two tomatoes in a vegetable bag.

Qing Mengzhu carefully examined the plan submitted by Zhao Hexi: "These vegetables will be harvested over two days. The ones that are easier to preserve should be harvested on the first day, and we'll see if we can work overtime on the second day, starting to harvest in the early morning, and try to send them out by express delivery before 10 a. m.

Zhao Hexi stroked his chin. "Then we'll need to hire more people. After picking them, we'll have to send them for selection and quality inspection, which will take some time. We're already selling them at such high prices, we can't just cut corners."

Qing Mengzhu: "Please, the members have already spent a lot of money, we can't be stingy with small amounts."

Zhao Hexi: "Then I'll make the arrangements."

Qing Mengzhu then said, "Take two people with me and let's take a look. We'll pick out the substandard vegetables first."

Even with so many vegetables they grow, there are bound to be some defective ones.

For example, some vegetables may not be properly managed, with too much or too little fertilizer or water, resulting in deformed and cracked vegetables; some vegetables may be severely damaged by insects, with many wormholes on them; and some vegetables may have different growth rhythms, resulting in insufficient accumulation of flavor substances, making this batch unsuitable for shipment.

Qing Mengzhu led a group of people to personally inspect the fields.

He checked the vegetables and labeled them as he went, knowing exactly which ones could still grow and which ones were no longer usable.

Some vegetables, upon seeing them, Qing Mengzhu decided that the entire vegetable patch was unusable, making Zhao Hexi heartbroken and clicking her tongue in dismay.

Looking at the field of green beans in front of him, Zhao Hexi asked in bewilderment, "What's different about these green beans compared to the others? Why can't we keep them?"

Qing Mengzhu, who was taking notes on her tablet, looked up and said, "Perhaps when we built the greenhouse, it was too stuffy and didn't get enough sunlight, and the temperature difference between day and night wasn't significant enough, so the quality isn't very good."

The green bean plants in the surrounding plots are all of "Good Grade+" quality, but the green beans in this plot are only "Good Grade," and some of the plants even produce "Good Grade- ". Under these circumstances, it's definitely not worth buying.

Zhao Hexi: "Then I'll have someone turn the soil over and bury the green beans directly?"

Qing Mengzhu shook her head, disagreeing. "If we turn this patch of green beans into the soil, the soil quality here will be slightly higher than the surrounding soil. Then, the quality of the crops planted next time will likely be different. Let's just pull them up and send them to the compost."

The company now also has a dedicated composting area, where various weeds, vegetable leaves, and discarded vegetables are piled up with EM bacteria and earthworms to form compost heaps.

Although these fertilizers are not as effective as the Qing Mengzhu's house, they are still very good. They are genuine organic fertilizers and are very useful for farming.

Unfortunately, the Interstellar Mall doesn't recognize vegetables grown by the company. Otherwise, Qing Mengzhu could have sold these discarded vegetables directly to the Interstellar Mall and made a profit. Over time, she could have accumulated more than 100,000 Star Coins a year.

As Qing Mengzhu pondered this, she continued walking forward, and soon another abandoned radish field appeared.

This patch of radishes may have been over-fertilized, resulting in rapid growth, more cracks, and insufficient accumulation of flavor compounds, making it inferior in quality to the surrounding radishes.

Radishes are cheap to begin with, so we definitely can't give the members any that aren't of good quality.

Qing Mengzhu was ruthless when discarding vegetables, Zhao Hexi sighed beside her, "That's too strict. Look at this radish, I ate it raw and didn't notice any difference between the two sides."

Qing Mengzhu glanced at him. "That's because your sense of taste isn't sensitive. There's no shortage of people with sensitive tastes in this world. Once you've fooled someone, your reputation is ruined, and you can never get it back."

Zhao Hexi said dejectedly, "Okay, you have a point."

Author's Note:

I missed a chapter yesterday, so I'll be giving away 88 small red envelopes as compensation!

See you tonight!

Chapter 146

On the day the vegetable packages were officially sent to members, Qing Mengzhu, who had been busy since 3 a. m., finally finished with her team around 1 p. m.

He ate a simple lunch, took a nap, and then lazily wandered around the house, tidying up the area in front of and behind the house.

As he was working in the backyard, he vaguely heard someone calling his name. He stood up and replied, "Who is it? I'm in the backyard."

The person followed the sound and came over; it was Zhou Yan.

Qing Mengzhu in surprise, "Brother Zhou, aren't you at work today?"

Zhou Yan resigned, but the resignation procedures were not completely completed. Today is a workday, and he should be at work by now.

Zhou Yan: "I just finished a busy period, and there's not much to do for now. With the rain, I doubt many customers will come, so I came out for a stroll. I've already told my staff to call me if anything comes up. What are you doing?"

Qing Mengzhu slightly raised her chin to indicate, "I'm looking at the newly grown asparagus."

Zhou Yan came over and took a look. He exclaimed, "Hey!" and praised, "Your asparagus is growing really well, plump, white, crisp, and tender. It really feels like springtime."

Qing Mengzhu: "Really? I was just planning to pick a few and stir-fry them tonight."

They planted the asparagus shrubs last year. When they used Growth Liquid the bamboo, they rinsed the bottle with water and poured it all over the asparagus shrubs. Otherwise, the asparagus shrubs wouldn't have sprouted so quickly, and they wouldn't have had any asparagus to eat.

Not only the Growth Liquid, but also various fertilizers were applied. When he returned carrying buckets, he poured the water from rinsing the buckets onto the asparagus plants.

After being carefully tended for half a year, this rock cypress only sprouted a few asparagus shoots; it would be hard for it not to thrive.

Zhou Yan, a connoisseur, eagerly asked, "How do you plan to cook it?"

Before Qing Mengzhu could answer, Zhou Yan continued, "Don't you like beef? We have some freshly marinated beef in the kitchen. I'll go get a plate of it in a bit."

Qing Mengzhu quickly stopped him. "Wouldn't that be inappropriate?"

Zhou Yan: "I haven't resigned yet. What's wrong with taking out some beef to test the dishes? Besides, I've spent my own money to smuggle good stuff into the kitchen. Just wait for me."

With that, Zhou Yan hopped on his electric scooter and rode off excitedly.

A dozen minutes later, he returned with a plate of beef.

Zhou Yan showed Qing Mengzhu the marinated beef. "This is a piece of 'diao long' beef that we brought from the market this morning. It's the only good piece of 'diao long' beef we have today."

The "diaolong" is a cut of beef that is perfect for stir-frying.

Qing Mengzhu looked at the evenly distributed marbling on the beef, the creamy yellow fat, and its glossy, tender texture—it was clearly very good beef. She couldn't help but exclaim, "We're in for a treat tonight!"

Zhou Yan didn't mince words. "If I make a move, you'll just have to wait and see."

Zhou Yan checked the asparagus he had just brought back, then looked at the other vegetables in Qing Mengzhu's house, and noticed a vegetable bag under the cabinet. "Did you send out the vegetables for the members today?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Yes, this is a sample. I haven't had time to open it yet. I plan to open it when I'm making dinner to see how it performs at room temperature."

Zhou Yan: "I'll use this vegetable packet to make a few dishes later."

Qing Mengzhu smiled and said, "Okay, then we'll wait to eat. I'll call He Xi over while I'm at it? The more the merrier."

Zhou Yan: "Go ahead and call out. I can do it myself."

When cooking in private, Zhou Yan doesn't like people helping him, but now that he has more time, Qing Mengzhu doesn't insist.

Soon, Zhou Yan was busy in the kitchen, and waves of delicious aromas wafted out.

Two dogs, a red fox, and an otter smelled the rich and familiar aroma and ran in from outside, squatting eagerly at the kitchen doorway.

Soon, Zhao Hexi arrived, smelled the rich aroma, and followed the little ones' example, going to wait at the kitchen door.