Chapter 146 (continued)

When Ming Chunxi returned home, she found the house unusually lively.

Seeing his expression, Qing Mengzhu explained, "When Brother Zhou came to see me today, he noticed that the asparagus had sprouted, so he specially brought some beef to stir-fry with it."

The asparagus has been growing for several days, but it's only now that it's thickened. Ming Chunxi nodded, "I'll go wash my hands."

Hearing the noise in the kitchen, Zhou Yan poked his head out and said, "My dishes are almost ready too. You guys prepare food for the little ones first. I made them a special meal with minimal seasoning."

Whether the Dharma Protector understood or not, it instantly became enthusiastic, jumping up and down a few times before barking, "Woof woof!"

Zhou Yan refused the Dharma Protector's enthusiasm. "Dharma Protector, don't bump into me, and Guard, don't shout either."

Qing Mengzhu came over with a smile to prepare dinner for the little ones, "They're always so eager for good food. If you came out, Brother Zhou, they'd practically want to give you a couple of kisses."

Zhou Yan: "I'd appreciate it, but I need to cook. The food's almost burnt."

Zhou Yan had a very precise control over the heat; the dishes were still steaming hot when they were served.

He cooked six dishes and a soup for four people, and each dish was delicious and visually appealing, making everyone's mouths water.

Qing Mengzhu took a deep breath. "It smells so good."

Zhou Yan said regretfully, "It's a pity your rice is a bit lacking. I'll send over a bag of rice in a couple of days."

Qing Mengzhu: "There's nothing we can do. It's already hard to buy good rice on the market, and it's even harder to buy healthy, good rice. We'll grow some ourselves in a while."

He wanted to become Intermediate Grower, which required improving his Rice cultivation skills, and now he could conveniently grow some rice to satisfy his own appetite.

They usually plant Rice in April, so it's still early; they have to wait until the fields are cleared out before planting.

Upon hearing that he wanted to grow Rice, Zhou Yan immediately became very interested and said, "Then you should grow a lot, and leave some for me when it's harvested."

Qing Mengzhu: "Okay, I'll plant three mu, keep two mu for my own consumption, and give some of the rest to everyone."

Zhao Hexi stuffed food into her mouth. "Me too!"

Qing Mengzhu: "Don't worry, you definitely won't be shortchanged. This beef and asparagus stir-fry is really delicious, fragrant, tender, and so crunchy."

Zhou Yan said with a touch of pride, "Springtime is all about enjoying fresh food like this."

Qing Mengzhu agreed, "Indeed. In a couple of days, we'll go up the mountain to dig for bamboo shoots; they're delicious too."

Zhou Yan's skill is undeniable; all the dishes today were delicious, especially the radish and fish soup, which was particularly flavorful.

After finishing all the fish soup, everyone was so full they didn't want to move.

They moved a chair to the yard to sit and digest their food. Qing Mengzhu took out her phone. "Let me see how the members are reacting now?"

Zhao Hexi immediately followed, "Let me see too. Some people should have already finished eating by now."

So, all four of them started scrolling through their phones.

Qing Mengzhu and the others sent out the vegetable package before 10 a. m. this morning, using the fastest local courier service.

Most of their members live in Vine City, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, they should all have received their packages and are now unpacking their groceries and enjoying dinner.

Qing Mengzhu and the others were right.

Of their 38,000 members, the vast majority were already having dinner.

For example, the family of Qing Guozhi, the third son of Qing Xun.

Min Yunfei, who rarely eats dinner, surprisingly finished half a bowl of mixed grain rice but didn't leave the table. Instead, she picked up some dry-pot cauliflower and ate it while praising it.

Min Yunfei said regretfully, "I didn't expect the food at Mengzhu's house to be so delicious. What a pity."

Qing Xun: "It's not like I haven't eaten their food before. My dad has always said their food is good."

Min Yunfei: "Yes, I've eaten it before. When Dad used to send their food over, the taste wasn't this good, and the presentation wasn't this good either."

When Zhuxi Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd.. launched its community agriculture project, Qing Xun immediately applied for a membership and also applied for one for Qing Guozhi and his parents-in-law.

The Qing Guozhi man accepted it, but the father-in-law and mother-in-law, who were used to being frugal, refused to accept it when they heard that vegetables and fruits alone would cost two thousand yuan a month.

The elderly couple felt sorry for their daughter and son-in-law, who worked hard to earn money, and didn't want to waste it.

Upon hearing this, Qing Xun said, "Mengzhu and her team's dishes are indeed reasonably priced, delicious, and reasonably priced. I suspect quite a few people will regret it."

Min Yunfei: "Who says otherwise? Look in the group, see if anyone wants to transfer their membership, we can snag a bargain."

Qing Xun took out his phone. "I don't think so. Anyone who can join the group shouldn't be short of money."

Min Yunfei: "Let's see, maybe there will be an unexpected surprise?"

Qing Xun glanced at the membership group he belonged to, then showed his phone. "I told you I didn't. Look, everyone's regretting not buying a vegetable package for their families too."

When Min Yunfei looked, she found it was true; the group chat was full of positive reviews of the vegetable packs and voices of regret.

[If I had known that all the delivered vegetables were this quality, I would have bought two more portions.]

[Ten pounds of vegetables a week, plus meat, should be enough for a family of three, right?]

[Our family of five, plus the nanny, really isn't enough to eat.]

[My family is the same. There are four of us plus our nanny. When we ordered groceries, I thought that eating the same dishes every day would get boring eventually, so I decided to order one set and supplement with takeout. Who would have thought the quality difference between the different dishes would be so huge?]

[I made five dishes today, four of which were from their company, and the last one was lettuce bought from outside. The quality was so bad that nobody ate it.]

[@Customer Service Xiao Li, can I still become a member? You can start delivering from next week; no need to restock this week's vegetable pack.]

[Same question, is it too late to regret it now?]

[I asked, and they said they're temporarily not adding new members to ensure the quality of the vegetables.]

[Crying uncontrollably. JPG]

Min Yunfei swiped her phone screen slightly and saw several people regretting not ordering an extra copy, which they couldn't do now, making her feel a little frustrated.

Seeing this, Qing Xun comforted her, "Let's bring some vegetables to visit Mom and Dad tomorrow, so they can try some too."

Min Yunfei: "Next time we'll definitely book as early as possible!"

Qing Xun: "Okay, if all else fails, we'll see if we can buy some more through my dad's connections."

Min Yunfei: "Yes, yes, ask Dad if we can buy some more. Not from the company, but directly from Mengzhu's farm would be good too; their vegetables are delicious."

Qing Xun: "I'm afraid that won't work. I heard they just bought a new farm and are planning to open a private kitchen. They've already dug the land and are just waiting to complete the paperwork."

Min Yunfei exclaimed in surprise, "Are they trying to build a vegetable empire?"

Qing Xun joked, "You really can't say for sure."

Qing Mengzhu and the others were all scrolling through their phones, with Zhao Hexi being the busiest.

Countless people messaged him privately, asking if they could buy an extra membership, or if they could buy groceries directly from their company.

As the actual manager, Zhao Hexi has always had close interactions with customers, and now she wishes she had eight arms to reply to all the messages that needed to be replied to.

After replying to another message, Zhao Hexi looked up at Qing Mengzhu and said, "A customer here asked if we can sell radishes separately?"

Qing Mengzhu peeked over. "The customer wants to buy radishes?"

Zhao Hexi showed him her phone screen. "Yes, this customer is from the south. He said he wants to buy some radishes to make dried radish."

Qing Mengzhu glanced at the screen; it was filled with praise for their dishes, especially their radishes. The enthusiasm in the words was so palpable that even Qing Mengzhu could sense the other person's fondness for their radishes.

Qing Mengzhu asked, "Who is this?"

Zhao Hexi mentioned the name of a rather famous wealthy man. "He also liked our company."

Zhou Yan chimed in from the side, "I've heard of him. He's a famous gourmet. He's eaten here a few times and he really loves all the good ingredients."