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As Qing Mengzhu placed the water chestnut leaves, she looked up and glanced at them.

We're peeling water chestnuts from the company's fields now. The water chestnuts from the company's fields are probably of "Good Grade+" quality. They also grow water chestnuts at home, and the water chestnuts they grow at home are probably of "Fine Grade- " quality.

Their cows are a bit picky; they don't really like eating just "Good Grade+" quality leaves. Later, they'll have to mix them with "Fine Grade- " quality leaves, grind them up, and then take them up the mountain to feed the cows.

Speaking of crushing leaves, Qing Mengzhu thought of the silage method she had recently learned about—which is roughly a way of crushing pasture, sealing it, and fermenting it into feed.

Making silage from pasture helps cattle digest the feed.

There's a lot of water bamboo leaves lately, so they could consider making silage from them. The process should be simpler than drying them directly into hay, and it would also give the cattle a change of pace.

The company grows a lot of water chestnuts. They worked in the fields all day but hadn't finished peeling all of them. They'll have to come back the next day.

The alarm clock rang, signaling the end of the workday Qing Mengzhu wiped the sweat from her chin with her sleeve and said to everyone, "It's time to go home. Come back tomorrow."

Everyone glanced at the time, and someone said, "It's true, we were chatting and working at the same time, and before we knew it, it was time to go home."

Feng Ningxiang: "Mengzhu, let's go back now."

Qing Mengzhu waved her hand. "You guys go back first, I'll take the leaves back later."

Someone has already loaded the leaves onto the tricycle; he just needs to drive it back.

Qing Mengzhu glanced at it, then took a small knife and began to cut the water chestnuts.

They haven't tasted this year's water bamboo yet, but judging from its swollen state, it's ready to eat. The tender water bamboo should taste quite good.

While Qing Mengzhu was busy, Zhao Hexi, who was away on a business trip, came over to help him transport the water chestnut leaves and watch him cut the water chestnuts.

Zhao Hexi examined them carefully and said, "The water bamboo seems to be growing quite well this year. I'll bring some back for Brother Zhou I get back. He hasn't tried this new ingredient before."

Qing Mengzhu had no objection, but after thinking for a moment, she added, "Brother Zhou is quite particular about ingredients, how about we go to my garden and cut some water chestnuts for him?"

Zhao Hexi: "That's fine too. The water bamboo shoots in your field are growing bigger and better. I even wanted to eat them raw the other day, but unfortunately I had something to do and didn't have time to harvest them."

Looking at the water bamboo shoots in her hand, Qing Mengzhu simply said, "Why don't we all go to my field to harvest them? My water bamboo shoots taste better."

Zhao Hexi waved her phone. "Okay. I've already told Brother Zhou said he'll come over for dinner after work and bring us roast duck."

Roast duck is a new dish at their farm, and the ducks used are mainly from Qing Mengzhu's family.

Their old ducks, raised from last year to this year, were very plump and delicious. Zhou Yan saw them and asked for two to take home and make roast duck.

Qing Mengzhu had never tasted roast duck made from her own duck before, and upon hearing this, she couldn't help but feel a little more expectant. "Stir-fried water bamboo is quite light, it's just right to go with roast duck."

Qing Mengzhu and the others hadn't finished their work, so they chatted for a bit before continuing to work.

The two men first transported the large bundles of water chestnut leaves that were placed on the edge of the field to the composting pond, where they used the grass shredder to chop up all the leaves, and then laid them out on a plastic sheet to dry.

Qing Mengzhu plans to have someone come tomorrow to help make silage from these leaves, and then dry the rest into hay.

Because they had cut a lot of leaves, both of them had a fresh, pleasant scent of leaves on them.

Zhao Hexi sniffed the strange smell on his body and said he would go home to take a shower before coming back for dinner. Anyway, Zhou Yan wouldn't be off work so soon, and he could take a shower in time.

When Qing Mengzhu returned home, Ming Chunxi happened to be back and greeted Zhao Hexi.

The three people split into two groups and headed home.

Ming Chunxi and Qing Mengzhu walked side by side. Ming Chunxi sniffed at his neck and asked, "What's that smell? Did you go mowing the lawn today?"

Qing Mengzhu: "We didn't cut grass, but we did cut water chestnut leaves. We peeled a lot of water chestnut leaves today, so we took them to the pond to chop them up. We plan to dry them into hay or make silage tomorrow."

Ming Chunxi understood. "No wonder you smell like grass."

Qing Mengzhu walked into the house, intending to wash her hands. "Does it smell good? I thought you'd find the smell a bit strange."

Ming Chunxi: "He Xi smells rather unpleasant, but you smell very nice."

Qing Mengzhu smiled, her eyes crinkling. "They all taste pretty much the same. Your statement is a bit of a double standard."

Ming Chunxi smiled and said, "It would be strange if you didn't have double standards?"

Qing Mengzhu was sweating and covered in grass, and he couldn't stand it anymore. "How about I take a bath?"

Ming Chunxi: "Together."

Qing Mengzhu checked the time and said, "It seems like there's not enough time. He Xi and Brother Zhou will be here soon."

Ming Chunxi chuckled, "What are you thinking?"

Qing Mengzhu glanced up at his face, then looked down again. "You really aren't overthinking it?"

Ming Chunxi raised her hands in a gesture of surrender.

The two quickly finished washing their hair and taking a shower, Ming Chunxi took out a hairdryer to dry Qing Mengzhu's hair.

Before her two friends arrived, Qing Mengzhu made sure the courtyard gate and the house door were closed, then took out her phone to check the Interstellar Mall.

Qing Mengzhu: "I remember seeing silage baking powder before; we can just buy it from the Interstellar Mall."

Ming Chunxi: "Take a look at the active ingredients in the baking powder from the Interstellar Mall."

Qing Mengzhu: "Okay, I found it. I'll open the webpage again to compare the active ingredients and see if the strains are compatible."

Qing Mengzhu spoke, she opened their usual online shopping app.

There are quite a few silage starter cultures available online, mainly containing lactic acid bacteria, and the specifications and prices are all similar.

Qing Mengzhu picked out a well-reviewed online store for Ming Chunxi to look at. "The microbial strains used for fermenting silage seem to be all pretty much the same, so I'll buy some."

After examining it carefully, Ming Chunxi nodded. "Buy it."

Qing Mengzhu bought five bags of silage fermentation powder from an online store in the real world, and another five bags from the Interstellar Mall, muttering to herself, "It's a pity the discount event is over, otherwise I could have saved dozens of Star Coins."

Ming Chunxi: "How many Star Coins does the silage baking powder cost in the Interstellar Mall?"

Qing Mengzhu: "588, I've noticed that the Interstellar Mall really likes to use these auspicious numbers. I wonder if it's influenced by Earth's culture?"

Ming Chunxi: "Possibly."

After clicking to purchase, Qing Mengzhu checked her personal center again to confirm that the silage yeast had been credited to her account.

In addition to displaying all sorts of items they've purchased, their personal center also offers 17 chances to win prizes.

They purchased a total of 320,000 Star Coins worth of supplies during the Millennium Celebration. Ming Chunxi drew a prize, but unfortunately, he only drew small items such as fertilizer, seeds, and Spirit Pearl Dregs, and didn't get anything good.

Perhaps because they have more Star Coins now, their standards have risen, and they look down on ordinary things. So, things that they used to think were great now seem rather ordinary.

After confirming that his luck had been average lately, Ming Chunxi saved up his remaining lottery chances, planning to use them when his luck improved—he usually had a feeling when he was on a winning streak.

Qing Mengzhu glanced at the number of lottery draws with appreciation, then at the seemingly endless supply of goods, and put her phone away contentedly.

Now we just wait for the silage yeast they bought from the online store in real life to arrive, and then we'll retrieve the silage yeast from the Interstellar Mall and replace it.

Although there shouldn't be many people investigating them now, they still need to maintain a secrecy.

Zhao Hexi lives nearby, so she came over first, bringing a watermelon with her.

Zhou Yan lived far away and only came over after work. When he arrived, Qing Mengzhu and the four little ones were already eating watermelon in the yard to cool off.

Zhou Yan sighed, "What kind of heavenly life are you living?"