Chapter 18

The pepper plants at Qing Mengzhu's home had grown to nearly half a meter tall. Their branches and leaves were lush, and their dark green foliage looked like a cluster of parasols.

The rows of pepper plants in his field were spaced farther apart than in most fields, yet now, standing on the ridge and looking out, one could barely see any soil.

When Feng Ningxiang saw them, she blurted out, "How are your peppers growing so well?!"

Qing Mengzhu said, "I've been tending them carefully every day. That's how they turned out like this."

Miao Lan said, "I've seen other people tend theirs just as carefully, but their pepper plants are nowhere near as good as yours. Yours haven't even flowered yet. I bet they'll grow even bigger."

Feng Ningxiang nodded repeatedly. "The canopies are already so big. They'll definitely produce plenty of peppers."

After chatting for a bit, everyone started burying the fertilizer.

Qing Mengzhu watched for a while. The aunties worked efficiently and buried the fertilizer exactly as he had asked: a handful for each pepper plant, buried about a fist's width from the stem.

Actually, he had planted his peppers two to a hole, but for this purpose he was treating each pair as one plant.

Qing Mengzhu was very pleased with Feng Ningxiang and the others' work, and they admired him, too.

During a break, Feng Ningxiang said, "I've helped out at so many people's homes, and none of them are as good as yours, Mengzhu. The soil surface is spotless, and the earth is loose and well-aerated. You must weed and loosen it often."

Qing Yuqin added, "Your soil isn't too dry or too wet, either. You've watered it well."

Qing Mengzhu said, "I mainly grow peppers and lotus, so naturally I pay more attention to them."

Feng Ningxiang gave him a thumbs-up. "You educated people really know how to go about everything."

Chapter 18

Qing Mengzhu and the others finished burying fertilizer across the five mu of pepper fields in two days.

The aunties thought Qing Mengzhu wasn't quick enough at the work, so on the second day they sent him to do something else. He went and spread fertilizer in the lotus pond.

The aunties finished the job sooner than Qing Mengzhu had expected and did it more meticulously than he had imagined.

Qing Mengzhu was grateful, so he gave the aunties vegetables freshly picked from his garden.

The aunties were all pleased. They praised his vegetables for being sweet and far tastier than ordinary ones.

Burying the fertilizer had used up two large vats in total, leaving about two thousand jin.

For the time being, Qing Mengzhu didn't have to worry about fertilizer.

The fertilizer he used was good, and after it was buried, his crops grew well.

The vegetables in particular became visibly more luxuriant. Their stems and leaves grew quickly, and plant after plant burst into flower. He could harvest a huge pile every day.

Now that summer had arrived, everyone's vegetables were growing quite well.

That day, Qing Mengzhu passed Tan Wenlei's field and saw him squatting among the crops, cutting down swathes of water spinach and sweet potato vines as if harvesting rice. He asked, "Uncle Wenlei, did you find a new buyer?"

Tan Wenlei turned around and asked in surprise, "You know about that too?"

Qing Mengzhu tilted his chin toward the cut vegetables. "If you hadn't found a new buyer, why would you suddenly cut so many vegetables?"

Tan Wenlei had thought he'd heard some rumor, but it turned out to be this. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "What would I be selling? Even if I were selling vegetables, there'd be no reason to cut them in the evening. If they sat all night, they'd all be wilted by tomorrow."

Qing Mengzhu asked, "Then what are you doing?"

Tan Wenlei said, "Making pickled vegetables."

Tan Wenlei stood up and wiped his sweat, chatting with Qing Mengzhu as he rested. "You might not have eaten them before, but people in the village make them every year."

Tan Wenlei said leisurely, "Once they're ready, add plenty of sliced garlic, some fermented black beans and some chili, then stir-fry them over high heat in lard. They come out wonderfully fragrant and sour. With those to go with my congee, I can eat three bowls all by myself."

Tan Wenlei described them so vividly that Qing Mengzhu instantly felt a craving. "I ate them when I was little. Now that you mention it, I remember them too."

Tan Wenlei said, "Right? Your vegetables are good, so I bet they'd taste good pickled, too."

Qing Mengzhu asked, "How do you make them?"

Tan Wenlei gestured as he explained. "Pick out water spinach with thick stems and cut it. Once you get home, strip off the leaves and blanch the stems in boiling water for a few seconds-make sure you don't cook them soft. Then take them out, put them in a basin with no oil in it, and pour in rice-washing water until they're completely submerged."

Tan Wenlei continued, "If the stems float up, weigh them down with a clean plate. In this weather, they should turn sour in about two days, and then you can eat them."

Qing Mengzhu nodded repeatedly.

Tan Wenlei went on, "You can also cut the water spinach stems into short pieces, wash them and dry the water off their surfaces, then mix them with salt and chili and pack them into an oil-free, water-free jar to ferment. After ten days or half a month, they'll turn into pickled vegetables too, but they'll have a different flavor."

Tan Wenlei shook his head and said, "The ones pickled in rice-washing water are refreshing, while the jar-pickled ones have a fragrant sourness. Each has its own flavor."

Qing Mengzhu said, "You've really made me crave them. I'll go home and pickle some in a bit."

Tan Wenlei laughed. "Go ahead. If there's anything you don't know how to do, come ask me. I'll teach you until you get it."

It really had been a long time since Qing Mengzhu had eaten sour water spinach stems, so while he was watering, he picked out the thick ones and cut a large bundle.

His water spinach grew tall and large, yet its stems were exceptionally crisp and tender. Ordinary water spinach stems became too tough to bite through as soon as they grew a little bigger.

Qing Mengzhu carried the water spinach home and stripped off the leaves. He chopped some up and mixed them with grain to feed the ducks, and sold the rest directly to the Interstellar Mall.

After he used fertilizer made with fertilizer fermentation powder, his water spinach had reached Good Grade+ quality and sold for an average of 0.574 Star Coins per jin. He earned a good income from selling vegetables every day.

Vegetables of this quality also gave Qing Mengzhu something to look forward to.

He soaked some of the stems in rice-washing water. He washed the rest, dried off the water, cut them into sections and packed them into a large jar to pickle.

Two days later, the water spinach stems soaking in rice-washing water had indeed turned sour. They were green tinged with yellow and still crisp and tender, and looked very enticing.

That morning, Qing Mengzhu made a special trip to the supermarket at the village entrance to buy fresh pork belly. He minced it, added plenty of minced garlic, chili and fermented black beans, and stir-fried the sour water spinach stems over high heat to eat with congee.

The aroma of the sour water spinach stems was incredibly strong. By the time he finished stir-frying them, it filled the entire courtyard.

Smelling that fragrance, he quickly ladled out a bowl of soft-cooked plain congee, sat down at the dining table and began to eat.

The sour water spinach stems were indeed crisp and refreshing. Stir-fried with minced pork, they were sour, spicy and fragrant. A bite of the stems, a mouthful of plain congee, then a bite of boiled egg—the taste was simply wonderful.

With the morning breeze blowing in from outside, Qing Mengzhu slowly peeled his egg, feeling an indescribable contentment.

Just as he was eating, someone knocked at the door.

Qing Mengzhu had been back in the countryside for over a month and still didn't have many friends. He couldn't think who would come visiting at this hour.

The knocking continued, so he called toward the door, "Who is it? Come in, the door's unlocked."

Tan Wenlei's voice rang out. "It's me."

Surprised, Qing Mengzhu stood up to greet him. "Uncle Wenlei, what brings you here?"

Tan Wenlei came in with another man and said with a smile, "A friend wants to ask about your vegetables."

Qing Mengzhu was puzzled. "What?"

Tan Wenlei said, "You didn't sell your vegetables to Hongda or the Public Benefit Community Association, right? You have so many, and you can't eat them all yourself, so I thought I'd introduce you to Caiyong-oh, you're eating breakfast?"

Qing Mengzhu nodded. "I just sat down to eat. Have you eaten?"

Tan Wenlei said he had, but Di Caiyong, standing behind him, spoke up. "I set out early and haven't had a chance yet."

Qing Mengzhu smiled. "Then how about having a little something here?"

Di Caiyong said, "Sorry for the trouble. Your food smells wonderful. Did you grow it yourself?"

Qing Mengzhu nodded and looked at Tan Wenlei. "Uncle Wenlei, would you have a little more too?"

Tan Wenlei said sheepishly, "I'll be thick-skinned and mooch a meal today."

Qing Mengzhu said it was only simple fare and told them to make themselves at home. Then he went to the kitchen, took bowls and chopsticks from the sterilizing cabinet, and heated some buns from the freezer in the microwave.

Di Caiyong stood and accepted the bowl and chopsticks with both hands. "Sorry for the trouble."

Qing Mengzhu shook his head. "It's just simple fare. It's no trouble at all."