Chapter 172 (continued)

Everyone looked at the bamboo in front of them.

Duan Yu'ang said, "We need to cut some branches to take back and study them."

Qing Mengzhu had no objections. "Go ahead and cut it, as long as you don't touch the main trunk."

A researcher behind Duan Yu'ang muttered excitedly, "It's rare to see a mutated bamboo. We're already protecting it, how could we possibly touch its main stem?"

Qing Mengzhu smiled. It was a good thing that these people treasured this mutated bamboo even more than he did.

Duan Yu'ang brought researchers here today specifically to look at the bamboo; they'll be heading back afterward.

Before leaving, Duan Yu'ang privately asked Qing Mengzhu, "Have you thought about opening a farm on the frontier?"

Qing Mengzhu helplessly, "I'd like to go, but I just can't find the time. I'll have to wait until next year."

Duan Yu'ang patted him on the shoulder. "Next year is fine too, we can help again next year."

Qing Mengzhu gratefully, "Thank you for your help."

Duan Yu'ang smiled and said, "It's nothing, no trouble at all. I'd love for you to go."

Duan Yu'ang and his group left quickly, but they left three space-bred bamboo seedlings for Qing Mengzhu.

These three space-bred bamboo seedlings were exceptionally thin and weak. Qing Mengzhu estimated that they should be of "Fine Grade" quality, and when he scanned them with the Mall Assistant, he found that this was indeed the case.

It is possible that the bamboo seedlings were damaged during the space breeding process.

However, these three bamboo seedlings have indeed mutated, with a more solid and dense texture and greater toughness. If they can maintain this shape, they can be used to make advanced materials when they grow into bamboo.

The bamboo seedlings had been delivered, so Qing Mengzhu took them to the mountain and selected three slightly vacant plots of land where the Soil Fertility Restoration Agent had been applied. She planted the three bamboo seedlings there and watered them with well water.

Hopefully, these bamboo seedlings can take root and grow leaves here, and mature as soon as possible.

Duan Yu'ang and his group had the same batch of bamboo seedlings, but he couldn't pile too many interstellar items on them. Otherwise, he could have tried using Growth Liquid.

While Qing Mengzhu was busy planting bamboo seedlings, Duan Yu'ang returned to their group with researchers, including ten branches cut from the mutated bamboo at Qing Mengzhu's house.

They sent the cuttings to the lab, and after testing, they quickly discovered that they were indeed mutated bamboo.

Looking at the various test data, they found that the mutated bamboo from Qing Mengzhu's family was even better than the bamboo seedlings bred in space. However, the bamboo seedlings bred in space had not yet grown up, and a specific comparison would have to wait until these bamboo seedlings grew up.

Researchers couldn't help but exclaim, "To have created a mutated bamboo so quickly, that President Qing is truly a genius buried in the countryside!"

Another researcher, without looking up, said, "They're geniuses, and their talents haven't been wasted. The recently popular Insect-Killing Bacillus, Insect-Killing Bacillus Biological Missile, and earthworms are all products of their company."

The researcher who had checked earlier exclaimed, "Huh, it really is! No wonder they're so amazing. Such a talented person, why didn't they pursue an academic career?"

Another researcher said, "Maybe their ambitions lie elsewhere. They're CEOs now; using company resources is much more comfortable for them than working in a large lab or research institute. Okay, stop chatting, the team leader is watching us."

Unaware of the discussions behind the scenes, Qing Mengzhu continued planting his bamboo as usual, keeping himself busy every day.

He was very busy, so Ming Chunxi on more of the housework, such as washing clothes, cooking, and cleaning.

In the evening, when Qing Mengzhu came down from the mountain, she saw Ming Chunxi taking the dried clothes out of the dryer and folding them neatly. She couldn't help but go over and lean on his back, pressing her face against his clothes. "You've worked hard these past few days."

Ming Chunxi caught Qing Mengzhu steadily. "I'm fine. How are you? You really don't need to hire two more people to help with the bamboo on the mountain?"

Qing Mengzhu: "No need. I don't trust others with this. The soil from the mountain can be replaced quickly, so don't worry."

Ming Chunxi: "After changing the soil on the mountain, is it time to move the shrimp?"

They have always entrusted the management of the shrimp in the net cages to Chen Yi.

Qing Mengzhu would occasionally go to check on them. The shrimp larvae were growing well and were almost ready to emerge from their zoea stage and become juvenile shrimp.

Once they have officially become juvenile shrimp, they can no longer be kept in net cages, but must be moved to rice paddies and water chestnut fields, otherwise they will not get enough nutrition.

The Qing Mengzhu family now has a total of five mu of paddy fields and one mu of water chestnut fields. Six mu of fields plus two ponds should be enough to raise these shrimp.

However, since he doesn't entrust the shrimp farming to the company and keeps them all at home, it's not appropriate for him to completely hand over the shrimp farming work to the company. He also needs to keep an eye on things and contribute his own efforts.

Thinking of this, Qing Mengzhu was even less inclined to move, leaning her entire weight on Ming Chunxi: "Why is there so much work to do?"

Ming Chunxi: "Should we entrust this to the company?"

Qing Mengzhu: "There are many things they don't know, so I have to take care of them myself. By the way, if we're going to raise shrimp in the rice paddies and water chestnut fields, I'd like to bury some Spirit Pearl Dregs in the fields as well."

The 999 Star Coins worth of Spirit Pearl Dregs is no longer a burden for them; they don't need to worry about the price at all and can buy them whenever they want.

Qing Mengzhu plans to use one bag of Spirit Pearl Dregs per mu (unit of land area) to improve the water quality in the fields, which will not only better support the breeding of shrimp but also facilitate the planting of Rice and water chestnuts.

Both Rice and water chestnuts need plenty of water; they can only grow better if the water supply is good.

It was precisely because she needed to bury the Spirit Pearl Dregs in the fields that Qing Mengzhu didn't want to hand over the related work to the company; delegating it all to others was too risky.

Ming Chunxi roughly knew what he was thinking and said, "Let's bury it on the weekend. I'll go with you."

Qing Mengzhu felt relieved. "Okay, then I'll arrange other things first, and we can do it on the weekend."

Ming Chunxi: "What else is it?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Grow watermelons? Didn't you say the other day that the watermelon He Xi brought over was delicious? I searched on the Interstellar Mall and found that they sell watermelon seeds, 688 Star Coins a bag. I'm planning to buy some and plant some in the backyard."

Watermelons are not that demanding in terms of soil quality; in fact, they are more suited to sandy soil than soft, muddy soil in fields.

The backyard of Qing Mengzhu's family has this kind of sandy soil.

He plans to plant watermelons in the hazelnut coop.

Now all the hazel grouse have been moved to the bamboo forest to be raised, and the hazel grouse enclosures are empty and won't be needed for a while.

Because hazel grouse used to live here, they left behind a lot of hazel grouse droppings, making the soil in the backyard very fertile. It should be a good place to grow watermelons.

The main watermelons are planted in the backyard for easy care and harvesting when needed.

Ming Chunxi had no objection to this, so Qing Mengzhu simply bought a bag of watermelon seeds from the Interstellar Mall.

A bag of seeds costs 688 Star Coins and contains only 100 seeds, but fortunately each seed is very plump and looks to be of good quality.

Qing Mengzhu nurtured the seeds slightly, then planted the watermelon seeds that had sprouted white buds at the back.

He specifically chose an afternoon to start planting watermelons.

When it was time to plant watermelons, Zhao Hexi came to find him and saw him squatting in the backyard, busy at work. She knocked on the backyard fence and asked, "Do you need any help?"

Qing Mengzhu looked up. "I'll do it myself; I'm better at controlling the line spacing."

Qing Mengzhu didn't prepare ridges before planting watermelons. With his current planting techniques, he could roughly understand the conditions of the field just by squatting down, so it didn't matter whether he prepared ridges or not.

If someone else were to plant them, they might not be able to control the spacing between the plants or the depth of the holes.

A bag of watermelon seeds costs 688 Star Coins, and even though they don't lack Star Coins right now, they can't afford to waste it.

Zhao Hexi: "Who was talking about growing watermelons? I was talking about your shrimp."

Qing Mengzhu laughed, "No need to help with the shrimp either. Chunxi will come back this weekend and we'll prepare them together."

Zhao Hexi: "You guys are going to work on six acres of land in one weekend?"

Qing Mengzhu: "It's alright. Raising shrimp isn't like growing anything else, where you have to plant each plant individually. We just need to manage the water quality in the rice paddies and water chestnut fields, apply some fertilizer, and then we can release the shrimp fry."