Chapter 177

In addition to their own dinner, there were also the Guard Dharma Protector the red fox and otter's dinner.

I just upset the otter today, so I need to give it some treats to appease it.

Soup was simmering in the farm's kitchen. Zhou Yan shared some of the soup and the scraps of meat used to make the broth, which was a treat for the little ones.

The two took the food back. The two dogs ate happily, as did the red fox. The Little Otter seemed a bit angry, but it politely finished its meal.

The next day, while the two were patrolling the fields, they saw the red fox and the Little Otter there as well.

The Little Otter, in particular, burrowed in and out of the Rice paddies, seemingly cleaning every inch of its territory.

Qing Mengzhu watched it running around and was a little worried that it would get tired.

Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi were watching the Little Otter.

The Little Otter seemed to sense their gaze and came to them after a while. "Eek."

Qing Mengzhu watched its silhouette appear and disappear in the rice paddy and asked, "What's wrong?"

He tried to crouch down to catch the Little Otter, but Ming Chunxi quickly pulled him back up.

Immediately afterwards, he saw an otter running happily toward them with a long, colorful strip in its mouth.

Qing Mengzhu cried out "Ah!" and immediately pulled Ming Chunxi away.

The Little Otter squatted in place, holding the water snake in its mouth, tilting its head to look at them. "Eek?"

After running a distance with Ming Chunxi, Qing Mengzhu looked at Little Otter with lingering fear and said, "Little Otter, we don't need to give this to us."

The Little Otter took two more steps forward. "Eek?"

Qing Mengzhu: "No, no, no, we appreciate your kindness, we don't want it!"

Just as they were confronting the Little Otter, the red fox also ran over with a water snake in its mouth.

Seeing the expressions on Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi's faces, the red fox keenly sensed that they didn't like water snakes. After hesitating for a moment, it put the water snake from its mouth onto the ground.

Now, Qing Mengzhu shouted even louder, "Little Fox! Don't let go, keep it in your mouth!"

The red fox seemed to understand, and before the water snake could swim away, it picked it up again. "Eek?"

Qing Mengzhu, panting, said, "Thank you."

Ming Chunxi patted Qing Mengzhu on the back. "They must have come out of the cave. After cleaning up the water snakes, they won't be afraid of the shrimp being eaten."

Qing Mengzhu was on the verge of tears. "But I'm scared."

Ming Chunxi patted him reassuringly again. "How about we ask Chen Yi to come and manage the shrimp? See if he's interested?"

Chapter 177

Qing Mengzhu asked Chen Yi if he wanted to join "Zhuxi," Chen Yi agreed without hesitation.

Their company is known for its high salaries and good benefits, short working hours, and low pressure. Chen Yi couldn't possibly turn down such a lucrative opportunity.

Qing Mengzhu was quite happy to see that Chen Yi had agreed. They had cooperated twice before, and Chen Yi had excellent aquaculture techniques and a good character. With Chen Yi around, he wouldn't have to inspect the shrimp every day.

Unlike last year, this year in addition to the two ponds with shrimp, there are also six acres of farmland. If Qing Mengzhu were to inspect them every day, she really wouldn't have that much free time.

Chen Yi has been helping to raise the shrimp for so long and has even taken over the breeding work without any problems, so continuing to raise them shouldn't be a problem either. Qing Mengzhu has confidence in him.

Therefore, Chen Yi joined Zhuxi Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd.., and his social insurance, housing fund and salary were paid by the company. He was considered an employee of the company, and the company then sent him to do the work of Qing Mengzhu.

This is easier to do.

After officially starting work, Chen Yi said to Qing Mengzhu, "These next couple of days I want to catch the water snakes and rats in the fields, and I'm thinking of setting up some fish traps and animal traps."

Qing Mengzhu was a little worried. "Our red foxes and otters roam around here. If we put fish traps and animal traps in, will they get hurt?"

Chen Yi, experienced in this, said, "It's alright, I'll put in some smaller ones; they can't squeeze in, so it shouldn't hurt them."

Qing Mengzhu had no objections this time. "Go ahead and release it. There are fish in the rice paddies that you can catch. I'm just worried that releasing the water might bring some fish in."

Both rice paddies and water chestnut fields require a large amount of water. Even with multiple layers of protective netting, it's impossible to prevent fish eggs from burrowing into the fields with the water.

Small fish are no problem and pose little threat to shrimp, but larger fish are more troublesome, as they can eat shrimp once they grow a little bigger.

Qing Mengzhu was trying to prevent these kinds of fish. They had previously released tea seed cake into the fields to kill them, but it didn't completely eliminate them.

Wild fish are incredibly resilient.

Chen Yi agreed, "Okay, I'll set up more fish traps and scoop them out more often, trying to get rid of all the small fish."

Qing Mengzhu smiled and said to him, "Then I'll have to trouble you Brother Chen."

Chen Yi shook his head. "What's so troublesome about that? I'm here to work."

Chen Yi has many years of experience in aquaculture and is also very familiar with fish traps and animal traps.

He had only set the fish traps for two days when he caught a lot of water snakes and fish—now that the ecology is better, there are more wild animals such as snakes, frogs, and rats, so when you set the fish traps down, you can catch a whole bunch.

Water snakes and water rats are not protected animals and can be disposed of harmlessly.

As for the fish, Chen Yi called Qing Mengzhu to ask what to do with it, "Should we sell it? Or give it to someone else?"

Qing Mengzhu readily agreed, "Brother Chen, you can catch it and take it home to eat."

Chen Yi looked down at the fish trap in the bucket. "There are three to five pounds of fish. My family can't eat that much, and besides today, I estimate there will be quite a few fish in the future. We can't bring them home to eat every day."

After thinking it over, Qing Mengzhu also felt that it was not appropriate to leave everything to Chen Yi. After all, they used a lot of good stuff in their fields, and the fish and shrimp were not ordinary fish and shrimp. If they set a precedent, it would be difficult to handle later.

Qing Mengzhu then said, "Brother Chen, why don't you take the fish and shrimp to the farm? I'll tell them to pick them up. Brother Chen, do you know where our farm is?"

Chen Yi: "I know, I often pass by there."

After Qing Mengzhu finished speaking with Chen Yi, she specifically told Zhou Yan to arrange for someone to receive the fish, and then asked Chen Yi to stay for some soup or drinks and some fruit, so that he wouldn't have made a wasted trip.

Zhou Yan reassured Qing Mengzhu, saying that the lobby manager Zhao Linling, was reliable and there would be no problems.

After the miscellaneous fish arrived, Zhou Yan quickly gave feedback. "Mengzhu, the fish from your place is really good. The taste is quite good, better than the average reservoir fish."

Qing Mengzhu: "That's right, these naturally grown, unpolluted wild fish taste very fresh once they're cleaned."

Zhou Yan laughed heartily, "It's all ready. I added a dish of small mixed fish to the menu, priced at 299 yuan per dish. A customer has already ordered it."

Qing Mengzhu cautioned, "This supply is unlikely to be very stable."

Zhou Yan: "It's okay, we'll sell any miscellaneous fish we find, otherwise it's fine. We're not really making money from this anyway. Do you want some? If you do, I'll save some and bring it to you after work."

Qing Mengzhu hadn't had these cleaned little fish in a long time, and upon hearing him say that, she instantly craved them. "Eat! Brother Zhou, could you help us coat them in batter, fry them, and bring them over? I want to eat fried little fish, preferably with salt and pepper."

Zhou Yan: "What's the big deal? I'll coat it in batter right now and fry it until the bones are crispy."

Qing Mengzhu hung up the phone and immediately sent a message to Ming Chunxi, telling him to come home early after work in the afternoon, as there would be some small fish for dinner.

Ming Chunxi agreed, saying she would see him in the evening.

Dinner included dishes that Qing Mengzhu liked, and he had finished his work early in the afternoon and gone home.

Zhou Yan got off work earlier than him and was already waiting at his door. Seeing him carrying a package in a lotus leaf, he couldn't help but ask curiously, "What's inside? It looks so precious?"

Qing Mengzhu smiled and showed him what was in the lotus leaf, "It's nothing, just wild raspberries. Raspberries are quite sweet this time of year, Chunxi likes them."