Chapter 156

I'll keep it for myself.

As Zhao Hexi spoke, she asked, "Aren't you going to pick chili peppers tomorrow?"

Qing Mengzhu: "I'm busy. I'm going up the mountain with Brother Zhou to cut bamboo tomorrow. Only I know which bamboo can be cut and which can't, so I have to take him there myself."

Zhao Hexi: "Cut bamboo to make new dishes?"

Qing Mengzhu: "It's a trial opening, so we need to make all the dishes on the menu now, and replace any that aren't suitable in time. Tomorrow we'll be making bamboo tube ribs and bamboo tube cakes, which will require cutting a lot of bamboo."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Hexi exclaimed, "Can you bring food back tomorrow? I want to eat bamboo tube ribs and bamboo tube cake!"

Qing Mengzhu readily agreed, "Yes, we'll take it! We've specially ordered a local pork; it'll be slaughtered and eaten fresh tomorrow. We'll only be serving the best ribs. Come early this afternoon."

Zhao Hexi: "Okay, I'll definitely be eager to eat!"

The next morning, Zhou Yan came and knocked on the door very early.

Qing Mengzhu had just crawled out of Ming Chunxi's bed, yawning as she said, "Brother Zhou, it's such a waste for you to go to work at this hour."

Zhou Yan replied enthusiastically, "What work? I'm here to try out my own dishes."

Qing Mengzhu: "Wait a moment, I'll go wash up first, then we'll eat something before going up the mountain."

Zhou Yan rolled up his sleeves. "What would you like to eat? How about stir-fried rice noodles? The chives you cut smell really good; they should be great for stir-frying rice noodles."

Qing Mengzhu: "Eat, eat, eat! Brother Zhou, we'll eat whatever you make!"

Ming Chunxi also got up and came out to greet Zhou Yan: "Good morning."

Zhou Yan hummed a song. "Good morning, hurry up, my rice noodles will be ready soon."

Qing Mengzhu and the others ate some delicious rice noodles for breakfast, but they didn't go up the mountain quickly— Qing Mengzhu wanted to drive the cattle up the mountain as well.

Zhou Yan: "Didn't you always let your cattle graze on the mountain? Why did you bring them back?"

Qing Mengzhu, "We should raise the grass on one mountain for a period of time, then let them graze in rotation. This will allow the grass on the mountain to grow properly, otherwise there won't be enough for them to eat."

Zhou Yan was also convinced. "I thought it would be quick this morning."

Qing Mengzhu chuckled, "Actually, it won't take much longer; we'll be fine once we get up the mountain."

After finally getting the cattle up the mountain, Qing Mengzhu let them roam freely, and then took Zhou Yan to cut bamboo.

Most of the bamboo on their two large mountains is of "Fine Grade+" quality. The bamboo planted on the land that has been treated with Soil Fertility Restoration Agent can reach "Superior Grade- " quality. However, Qing Mengzhu is reluctant to cut down those bamboos; they only want to cut down the bamboo on the outer edge of the bamboo forest.

Bamboo grows very quickly in spring, and there are many bamboo shoots in the bamboo forest.

Qing Mengzhu led Zhou Yan to wander around the bamboo forest, cutting bamboo, digging bamboo shoots, catching bamboo worms, and they could also freely dig up wild vegetables in the bamboo forest.

Zhou Yan immersed himself in these high-quality ingredients, thoroughly enjoying himself and no longer finding Qing Mengzhu's dawdling annoying.

While cutting bamboo, Zhou Yan said, "Your bamboo is a bit hard, much harder than last year's."

Qing Mengzhu: "That's normal. Older bamboo is harder than younger bamboo, but it also has a stronger bamboo aroma. I feel that older bamboo is more suitable for making things like bamboo tube ribs, but younger bamboo can be used to make bamboo tube cakes."

Zhou Yan agreed, "Then let's cut half of the old bamboo and half of the young bamboo."

They select bamboo not only based on its age but also on its shape, choosing those that are straight, slender, and jade-green in color.

Even after selecting the best of the best, they didn't finish cutting all the bamboo until after 10 a. m.

They needed to entertain guests at noon, and time was running out, so they hurried down the mountain, stepped on the gas, and rushed to the farm.

The rest of the chef team had already started work and had almost finished the preparations. When Zhou Yan and his team arrived, there wasn't much work left to do, so they weren't in a rush.

Qing Mengzhu is also at the farm today, keeping an eye on things and taking the opportunity to have lunch there.

Zhou Yan's cooking skills are superb. His bamboo tube pork ribs are tender and flavorful, with a strong bamboo aroma. The other dishes are also very fragrant and delicious.

Qing Mengzhu sampled the dishes, from cold appetizers to desserts, eating with great satisfaction, and even feeling a little guilty afterward.

He's been eating so much good food every day these past few days, looks like he needs to find some time to exercise, otherwise his abs will be ruined sooner or later.

Qing Mengzhu tasted all the dishes at noon and found them all very delicious.

He didn't particularly enjoy entertaining guests, so when Zhou Yan went to the private room to ask the diners for their opinions, he didn't go out; instead, he chatted with others in the kitchen.

When Zhao Linling came to invite him, he was a little puzzled. "Why are you inviting me? Bamboo tube cake? Bamboo tube cake is delicious, soft and rich, with a strong milky aroma while retaining the fragrance of bamboo. Aren't the customers satisfied?"

Zhao Linling smiled gently and explained, "The guests had some questions about bamboo, Brother Zhou didn't know much about it, so he asked us to invite you over."

Qing Mengzhu had no choice but to go out. "What doubts could there be about bamboo? Let me take a look."

Most of the people who came to eat today were members of their community agriculture group and were quite familiar with him. When they saw him come in, they all stood up to greet him.

Qing Mengzhu quickly greeted the people and inquired about the bamboo.

At this moment, a middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses said, "I have a question I'd like to ask you about bamboo."

Qing Mengzhu: "Bamboo?"

"Yes," the man said. "I work in the aerospace industry. May I take a look at your old bamboo?"

Qing Mengzhu glanced at Zhou Yan's expression and immediately understood. This guest had no questions about the dishes, but was very curious about the bamboo. Zhou Yan couldn't make the decision about the bamboo, so he invited him over.

The aerospace industry wanted to see the old bamboo— Qing Mengzhu quickly agreed, "No problem, I'll have someone get it for you."

As she spoke, Qing Mengzhu gave Zhao Linling a wink.

Zhao Linling smiled and went to the kitchen, quickly returning with a tray filled with bamboo shoots.

Qing Mengzhu handed the bamboo to the man, indicating that he could look at it as he pleased.

Without any hesitation, he took the bamboo, examined the cut surface, and then looked at the whole bamboo, repeatedly praising, "Your bamboo is really good; it's so hard."

Other diners gathered around to watch:

"This must be the bamboo used to make bamboo-tube pork ribs, right? It really does have a pleasant fragrance."

"Such beautiful bamboo, are you just going to throw it away after making bamboo tube ribs? It seems like such a waste."

"Old Pei, you're something else! You even found such good bamboo while having a meal. Isn't this what they call 'searching high and low without finding it, only to have it fall into your lap effortlessly'? You won't need to fly all over the country anymore, right?"

Qing Mengzhu listened from the side and roughly understood that this "Old Pei" was probably looking for something from bamboo. Those who knew him well knew that he was looking for bamboo, and they had bumped into each other at dinner today.

After examining the bamboo, Old Pei could barely contain his joy. He first responded to his friends' teasing, then handed Qing Mengzhu his business card. "Boss Qing, my name is Pei Guangjian, and I'm an aerospace engineer."

Qing Mengzhu smiled and accepted it, "It's a pity I didn't bring my business card."

Pei Guangjian laughed heartily, "It's alright, let's add each other on WeChat and WeChat. Can I take these bamboos back with me?"

Qing Mengzhu looked at the two sections of bamboo and readily agreed, "Please go ahead."

It would be even better if we could find them to develop a bamboo business after taking it back.

Chapter 156

Zhuxi Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd.. delivers vegetable packages to its members every week. When Qing Mengzhu is not so busy, she follows the entire harvesting and testing process to control the quality of the vegetables.

Since there are too many vegetables in the vegetable packs, they usually harvest and pack them in batches to avoid piling them all up and running out of time.

Today they are picking tomatoes, cauliflower, loofah, and green beans to prepare for tomorrow's delivery.

To protect the plants and to control quality, they harvest everything by hand.

Everyone was working in the fields, and it was quite boring while working, so people usually chatted.