Chapter 164

Qing Mengzhu sent a cute emoji: [These are the bamboo we planted. We wanted them to stay for dinner, but they politely declined.]

Ming Chunxi: [Then you're free this afternoon. Shall we come to the city? Let's go out for lunch.]

Qing Mengzhu was genuinely tempted by those words, but after a moment's consideration, she regretfully declined. "[I'd like to, but unfortunately I have to go see the prawns with Brother Chen this afternoon, so I don't have time.]"

Ming Chunxi sent him a meme of someone rubbing his head: [I'll be home early this evening.]

After exchanging messages, Qing Mengzhu turned around and went home with a smile. She ate a simple fried rice and then contacted Chen Yi.

Chen Yi is the guy who guided him in hatching shrimp eggs before. He is a shrimp farmer himself and his farming techniques are quite good.

Now that the weather is warmer, the shrimp in the pond are almost in their breeding season. Qing Mengzhu isn't very good at breeding shrimp, so she simply contacted Chen Yi and asked him to come over part-time to help hatch a new batch of shrimp.

They haven't harvested many shrimp in their pond, and now there are many healthy male and female shrimp. With live shrimp, this year's breeding work should be easier than last year.

Chen Yi was very interested in their shrimp, and after receiving Qing Mengzhu's call, he immediately said he would come over that afternoon.

Qing Mengzhu explained somewhat embarrassedly, "I was supposed to be busy this afternoon, but I finished early, and I was thinking about the shrimp, so I asked you to come and check on them beforehand."

Chen Yi: "It's okay, I'm just staying at home anyway. Wait for me a bit, I'll ride my motorcycle over now."

Qing Mengzhu: "How about we meet up by the pond?"

Chen Yi knew where his family's pond was, and readily agreed, "Okay, see you later."

After hanging up the phone, Qing Mengzhu went to wait by the pond.

There were many people working in the fields, including their company employees. The weather was nice, so everyone preferred to finish their work early and leave early. Instead of going home for lunch, they would order boxed lunches and eat them right there in the fields.

At this moment, many people greeted Qing Mengzhu.

Hearing that he was preparing to hatch shrimp, someone wondered, "Haven't your shrimp already hatched? I saw many little shrimp swimming around in the pond the other day when I passed by."

Qing Mengzhu stood by the roadside. "That's how shrimp are naturally; some hatch earlier, some later, their breeding season isn't fixed. The early-hatched shrimp have already hatched, but most haven't started producing eggs yet."

The man said, "I understand. I was wondering why you still needed to do hatching when there are already so many shrimp larvae in the pond?"

Qing Mengzhu and the others chatted as they walked to the pond.

He squatted down to look at the shrimp in the pond. After growing for a while, the shrimp in the pond had grown a little bigger, and now both the male and female shrimp were very healthy.

The male shrimp, in particular, even excluding their antennae, are mostly longer than his palm; they are long and large, and their translucent bodies look very tempting.

Qing Mengzhu casually scooped up a shrimp, weighed it in her hand, and felt that it was about an ounce, truly a large shrimp rarely seen in the market.

If they hadn't installed surveillance cameras here, and if there weren't geese and otters around, these good shrimp might really have been stolen.

Now that their company is located here and has gained some recognition, the shrimp in these two ponds have finally been saved.

After looking at the shrimp, Qing Mengzhu went to check the inlet and outlet of the pond.

They have always been very careful to maintain the protective netting at the inlet and outlet. Each inlet and outlet has five layers of protective netting, so that if any layer is torn, the others will take its place.

Therefore, the protective netting is functioning perfectly without any issues, and their shrimp, both large and small, are staying safely in the pond without any signs of escaping.

The otter had somehow swum nearby and, seeing Qing Mengzhu squatting there, poked its head out of the pond and whimpered, "Eek?"

Looking at the silly little creature, Qing Mengzhu's heart softened as she thought of its contributions to protecting the two ponds of shrimp. She patted the otter's head and said, "Go play, let's go see the shrimp."

The otter didn't leave; it floated in the water, following behind Qing Mengzhu like a little tagalong.

Qing Mengzhu and the others had specifically taught the otters that otters don't eat shrimp much, but they will eat other aquatic creatures that wander into the pond, such as fish and water snakes.

Perhaps because there are Spirit Pearl Dregs in the pond, the quality of aquatic life is very good, and it loves to hunt here, spending most of its time in the pond.

Qing Mengzhu knew this habit of its, and seeing that it wouldn't leave, she ignored it and continued patrolling the pond while humming a song.

Chapter 164

As Qing Mengzhu was inspecting the pond, Chen Yi quickly arrived, greeted Qing Mengzhu, and then prepared to get to work.

In just one year, Qing Mengzhu's company has grown from nothing to a well-known local enterprise.

Chen Yi had watched their company grow and admired them quite a bit. This year, he accepted their request to come over, mainly placing himself in a supporting role and being particularly polite to Qing Mengzhu.

The two walked around the pond, and Chen Yi asked, "Do you have any ideas about breeding the shrimp? Should we catch them and release them into another pond, or should we breed them in this pond?"

Qing Mengzhu: "What are the main differences between the two breeding methods?"

Chen Yi: "Breeding directly in this pond involves fewer steps, lower costs, and less hassle, resulting in a higher survival rate for the female shrimp. If we were to breed in a different pond, we could adjust the water salinity. Generally, a salinity above 2 makes it easier for the larvae to survive and develop."

Qing Mengzhu thought for a moment and said, "Let's breed them in this pond instead. We don't have any extra ponds to adjust the salinity, and building another breeding pond would be too much trouble."

They don't have any natural saltwater ponds here, so if they want to adjust the salinity of the water, they'll have to clean the ponds all over again before they can reuse them.

Why not breed them in these two ponds? There are so many male and female shrimp, they should produce just as many baby shrimp.

Chen Yi had no objections. "Then we'll need to prepare net cages. I see that the shrimp here are quite large, so buying a net cage that's one or two square meters in size would be more convenient. Would you like to buy them online or in town?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Let's just buy it in town; buying online is too much trouble."

There are shops they know in town, and the prices aren't too expensive. Buying directly from there makes communication easier if there are any problems.

Hearing this, Chen Yi said, "Then let's go buy them now. A net cage that is one meter high and two square meters in area can hold four kilograms of female shrimp carrying eggs. Do you think that's about how many?"

Qing Mengzhu estimated, "That seems like a lot. Each pond should be able to hold fifty or sixty net cages."

Chen Yi was taken aback. "There are so many female shrimp carrying eggs down there?"

His family's pond was planted with lotus, and considering the lotus leaves would block the view, Chen Yi had already estimated the number of shrimp when he checked it before. He never expected there to be so many shrimp.

Qing Mengzhu: "Yes, we haven't harvested many shrimp since we started raising them last year. The shrimp population is now quite impressive, and there should be four or five hundred pounds of female shrimp."

Seeing Chen Yi's incredulous expression, Qing Mengzhu added, "It's mainly because our female shrimp are larger than average."

Chen Yi had already seen it when he inspected the place; the female shrimp in his yard were indeed large.

Generally speaking, male shrimp are about one-third larger than female shrimp, but the difference between male and female shrimp at Qing Mengzhu's house is not significant, with the female shrimp being about four-fifths the length of the male shrimp.

This also struck Chen Yi as incredible, as it was completely beyond his comprehension.

Immature shrimp grow at the same rate for both males and females. After reaching sexual maturity, the growth rate of male shrimp increases dramatically. Therefore, the longer they are kept, the greater the size difference between male and female shrimp becomes.

The shrimp at Qing Mengzhu's house were different; they seemed to have mutated. Chen Yi guessed that the shrimp at his house might be a specially bred commercial variety.

Qing Mengzhu was unaware of Chen Yi's thoughts, and even if she did, she couldn't tell him. The shrimp eggs from this batch of shrimp came from the Interstellar Mall. Whether they mutated or not was unknown, but they were indeed different from ordinary shrimp.