Chapter 178

Zhou Yan asked curiously, "You mean those raspberries that grow by the roadside, right?"

Qing Mengzhu told him to take as much as he wanted, "Yes, before, everyone would spray pesticides on their crops, and the raspberries by the roadside were easily contaminated with pesticides, so we didn't dare to eat them. This year, we rented the land, so we basically don't use pesticides anymore, and we can eat the wild fruits by the roadside freely."

Zhou Yan seemed genuinely interested. "Then share some with me, it smells quite sweet."

Qing Mengzhu: "Okay, I'll give you half, and we'll keep the other half as dessert."

Qing Mengzhu led him into her house, saying, "Brother Zhou, let me know next time you come, and I'll send you the password so you don't have to wait outside."

Zhou Yan: "I've only been here a little while. If you don't come back soon, I'm going to ask you for the password. Huh, aren't the Dharma Protector home?"

Qing Mengzhu: "They should be heading up the mountain to herd the cattle by now; they usually patrol the mountain in the evening."

Zhou Yan walked into his yard and took the fried small fish he was carrying to the kitchen.

As Zhou Yan came out, he noticed that the vegetables in the earthenware jar by the corner of the wall had blossomed, and couldn't help but ask, "What kind of vegetable is this? I don't think I've ever seen it before?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Tuan Brassica, also called rush pith, is a vegetable that looks a bit like mustard greens. We're planting it to improve the soil."

Zhou Yan: "Is it delicious?"

Qing Mengzhu: "This kind of vegetable is generally not eaten. It may accumulate a lot of heavy metals, and eating it is not good for people."

Upon hearing that it wasn't edible, Zhou Yan immediately lost interest. "You guys have quite a few projects this year."

Qing Mengzhu smiled and said, "Yes, there are so many people anyway, we can do it all at once."

After Zhou Yan returned, Qing Mengzhu glanced at Tuan Brassica a few more times by the corner of the wall.

There are similar rushes on Earth. They specifically bought rush seeds and told everyone that they were rushes. If anyone asked, they could just say it was a mutation.

The Tuan Brassica is now in bloom, and it really does look quite like Brassica juncea.

However, this plant is so obscure that few people have asked about it, and no one has noticed anything unusual about it.

Qing Mengzhu took out the Mall Assistant to scan it, and the quality of this Tuan Brassica was only "Good Grade- ", which was the worst quality crop they had grown recently, without exception.

The crops grown by their company are of a quality far beyond "Good Grade."

Qing Mengzhu was not disappointed when she saw the scan results; on the contrary, she was quite happy.

The poor quality of this Tuan Brassica indicates that it has accumulated a lot of toxic and harmful substances, and therefore has a significant effect on soil improvement.

Once it produces seeds, they will carry out a second round of planting and see if they can obtain vegetables that can improve the soil within this year.

Fortunately, it is quite resilient and can be planted even in cold weather. After the vegetables in the field are harvested in winter, a Tuan Brassica can be planted to improve the soil.

The premise is that their previous rounds of Tuan Brassica went smoothly, and they were able to obtain enough seeds to plant in the vegetable field in winter.

When Ming Chunxi returned, she saw Qing Mengzhu using cotton swabs to pollinate the Tuan Brassica.

Ming Chunxi asked, "Isn't it an insect-pollinated flower?"

Qing Mengzhu: "It's an insect-pollinated flower, but we haven't seen many insects pollinating it. It's safer to pollinate it manually once."

Ming Chunxi went to wash her hands. "Do you need any help?"

Qing Mengzhu: "No need, it'll be ready soon. You can wash your hands and set the table and we can start eating. Besides bringing us fried small fish, Brother Zhou also brought us other dishes. We didn't cook anything today."

Ming Chunxi: "Okay."

Ming Chunxi quickly set the table.

After pollinating Tuan Brassica coriander, Qing Mengzhu went to wash her hands as she passed the dining table—it was getting hot, and they were used to eating in the courtyard. The courtyard had flowers, clouds, and a breeze, making it more comfortable to eat there.

Ming Chunxi suddenly grabbed his hand. "What's that smell?"

Qing Mengzhu was still in a daze. "What 'what smell'?"

Ming Chunxi grabbed his wrist and brought it under her nose to sniff. "Your hands smell metallic, but not entirely like metal, they also smell a bit like car exhaust?"

Is it really that mysterious?

Qing Mengzhu couldn't help but put his hand under his nose and smell it, then he smelled an unpleasant chemical odor. "No way, it really is?"

Ming Chunxi: "Did you get this on your skin while pollinating the flowers?"

So, is it the smell of Tuan Brassica flowers that's so strange?

Chapter 178

Qing Mengzhu squatted down in front of the Tuan Brassica and carefully sniffed Tuan Brassica scent.

After smelling it, Qing Mengzhu looked up at Ming Chunxi and said, "The metallic smell is strongest in the flowers."

Ming Chunxi nodded. "I also think the metallic smell is strongest in the flowers, so the metal might have accumulated in them."

Qing Mengzhu was a little worried. "I wonder if it will still be able to produce seeds?"

Ming Chunxi: "It should be fine. We also grew this Tuan Brassica from seed."

Qing Mengzhu looked at it. "I hope so."

That's what she said, Qing Mengzhu felt a little uneasy.

He didn't know where this unease came from; he just had a gut feeling that something was wrong.

Seeing him like this, Ming Chunxi regretted reminding him that the flowers smelled wrong; now that she had pointed it out, he couldn't even eat properly.

Qing Mengzhu noticed the annoyance flash in Ming Chunxi's eyes and comforted her, "It's alright, it's just a small Tuan Brassica. We'll know what's going on in a few days."

Ming Chunxi nodded. "Let's eat first."

Qing Mengzhu stood up. "I'll wash my hands again; I feel like they smell."

The smell of metal mixed with car exhaust was so awful that even though Qing Mengzhu had washed her hands before, she still had a lingering unease, always feeling that the smell remained on her hands.

So, Qing Mengzhu ran into the bathroom to get hand sanitizer and washed her hands carefully again, making sure there was no other smell on them before coming out to eat dinner.

Zhou Yan's fried small fish were delicious, crispy and fragrant, and the salt and pepper coating was also very tasty.

Qing Mengzhu could tell at a glance that it was his own dried chili pepper; only his family's chili peppers had such a bright and spicy flavor.

He squinted, thinking, "Luckily I've recovered. Otherwise, it would be such a waste not to be able to eat such delicious fried fish."

June is almost here, and it's been raining for the past few days.

For them, rain is actually a good thing.

Rain helps drive away pests and reduces the amount of watering work.

With the warm weather and rain, the vegetables and fruits in the fields are growing rapidly, with various eggplants, peppers, tomatoes, cowpeas, cucumbers, loofahs, and other fruits bearing abundant fruit.

Qing Mengzhu and his team managed the vegetables very well, and the yield far exceeded expectations.

In the past two weeks, when delivering vegetables to members, they tried their best to select the best, but still ended up with a large amount of leftover vegetables.

They used some of the vegetables to feed the ducks and geese, but couldn't use the rest. So they put the vegetables on their online store while also finding factories to process them into various dried, freeze-dried, and pickled products.

Especially cowpeas; they pickled them by the box to make sour cowpeas, otherwise they really don't know how they could possibly use them up.

Their online store now has a wide variety of vegetables, and business is very good. Although the prices are two to three times higher than similar vegetables, their sales volume still ranks among the top in similar stores.

Many customers ask if they sell bamboo shoots or pickled bamboo shoots when buying vegetables.

When Fan Donghua filmed his pickled bamboo shoot and hazelnut chicken soup video, it went viral, making their pickled bamboo shoots and hazelnut chicken popular as well.

Unfortunately, this dish can't be found anywhere else besides their farm.

Many customers looked at the products with envy and wanted to inquire about their online store, saying they were willing to pay a higher price.

The online store doesn't sell this item and has no plans to list it in the future, so the customer service staff could only regretfully decline.

Qing Mengzhu's own vegetables are growing very well, as are the vegetables in the company's fields, and both her online store and farm are doing very well.