Chapter 185

The cow did intend to attack the hazel grouse, but unfortunately, the hazel grouse had been raised in the bamboo forest for a long time and had long since become feral. They could even glide, and as soon as they saw the cow approaching, they would run away as fast as they could.

As for hazelnut eggs, they left them in the henhouse as bait. Now, hazelnut grouse regularly lay their eggs in the henhouse, so the cows can't get them.

In addition, Qing Mengzhu also discovered something very interesting: the owls had a protective instinct towards the hazel grouse in their home.

Whenever other animals try to attack the hazel grouse, including cows, owls will swoop down to chase them away as soon as they see them.

Over time, a delicate balance has been achieved among the various creatures in the bamboo forest, and so far no one has experienced any problems.

Qing Mengzhu recounted her observations to Ming Chunxi, exclaiming, "Nature is truly amazing!"

Ming Chunxi: "We might occasionally feed the owl, and if it eats our food, it will help us with our work."

Qing Mengzhu recalled their first encounter, when the owl retaliated by defecating in front of their door, and nodded in agreement. "It really is a very unique owl."

Ming Chunxi: "Speaking of which, now that the cattle herd is settled, shouldn't we start preparing to plant tea?"

Qing Mengzhu nodded. "Yes, I contacted Yi Yanbai these past two days, and they said they're all ready. I was just about to tell you that I'm going to Zhaiqian Village tomorrow or the day after to check on the tea planting."

The tea tree branches they cultivated not only grew roots but also leaves, and it was almost time to transplant them.

If it is not transplanted soon, its roots will not absorb enough nutrients, which will hinder its growth.

Author's Note:

Bonus chapter for reaching 120,000 nutrient solution! See you this afternoon!

Chapter 185

Qing Mengzhu drove to Zhaiqian Village to check on the growth of the bamboo, and was once again welcomed by Yi Yanbai's family.

When they went up the mountain to patrol, Yi Yanbai's father Yi Ousheng, insisted on giving Qing Mengzhu bag of beef jerky to eat on the way.

Qing Mengzhu declined, only meeting the middle-aged man's honest smile.

Yi Yanbai whispered to Qing Mengzhu, "Our beef jerky is made by sun-drying beef. The beef is cut into long strips, seasoned, sun-dried, and then fried. It's not as hard as regular beef jerky and tastes very fragrant."

Qing Mengzhu could already smell it. "It smells wonderful, your cooking is truly excellent."

Yi Yanbai chuckled twice, "My parents really enjoy making these kinds of things. In a few days, it'll be Dragon Boat Festival, and my family will be making zongzi (sticky rice dumplings). The red bean zongzi and meat zongzi are both delicious. Shall I bring you some?"

Qing Mengzhu: "No need, we'll pack it over there too. Sending it back and forth is too much trouble."

The two talked as they went up the mountain.

The bamboo seedlings planted on the mountain have basically survived and are now sprouting new leaves.

However, these bamboo seedlings were propagated by bamboo cuttings, and the newly grown branches are still very thin and weak, and the bamboo branches have not grown tall. To get bamboo shoots, we will have to wait until at least next year.

Qing Mengzhu looked at the bamboo with some regret.

If this batch of bamboo grows as fast as the bamboo on his mountain, bamboo shoots can be added to the vegetable packages delivered to members this month.

The two patrolled the area and climbed towards the mountaintop, marking any dead bamboo they encountered.

Qing Mengzhu will cultivate more bamboo seedlings later, and then send them over for replanting. Their bamboo has a high survival rate, and very few bamboo trees on the entire mountain die, so replanting is not troublesome.

Standing atop the mountain, Qing Mengzhu looked at the neighboring mountain where tea trees were being prepared for planting and said to Yi Yanbai, "Our technician will be arriving soon; she's a young woman. We'll need your help keeping an eye on her."

Yi Yanbai nodded. "Brother He Xi also told me about this, I'll keep an eye on it."

Qing Mengzhu smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

After inspecting the bamboo, Qing Mengzhu and the others quickly transported the tea seedlings over.

There are only fifty tea seedlings in total, not even enough to make a tea garden, so the company has temporarily assigned Zhou Minyue to take care of them alone.

Zhou Minyue adapted well to the situation, saying that she has experience and will definitely plant these tea seedlings well so that they can grow up as soon as possible and strive to propagate new tea seedlings to cover the mountains of Zhaiqian Village.

In addition to tea seedlings, Qing Mengzhu and his group also want to plant persimmons.

There were a total of twenty-five persimmon saplings. Qing Mengzhu moved two of them to the side of her own fruit trees on the mountain, and planted the rest of the persimmon trees in the company's orchard.

There are only twenty-three persimmon trees, so they don't take up much space. Planting them won't make them crowded; in fact, they'll make the space feel a bit empty.

Looking at the persimmon seedlings that had been planted, Zhao Hexi said to Qing Mengzhu, "If we want to plant other fruit trees, we'll have to find another orchard."

Qing Mengzhu said lazily, "Let's talk about it when we have fruit trees we want to plant."

Zhao Hexi: "Okay, I'll keep an eye out for suitable fruit trees and let you know if I find any. Hey, what are those bamboo poles in your yard?"

There were many more bamboo poles in Qing Mengzhu's yard, with "V"-shaped blades on the top of the poles.

Zhao Hexi saw it as soon as she arrived, and after looking at it several times, she still couldn't figure out what it was.

Qing Mengzhu: "Don't touch the bamboo poles used for picking bamboo leaves. I tied them up with great difficulty, and the bamboo poles were cut from wild bamboo thickets outside the village."

Zhao Hexi clicked his tongue twice. "Are we really going to pick bamboo leaves?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Why would I lie to you?"

Zhao Hexi looked at the bamboo poles. "The bamboo leaves are so thin, it would take a lot of manpower to pick them, it's not worth feeding the cattle."

Qing Mengzhu: "It's alright, we'll pick a little bit at a time, and hiring someone won't be expensive."

Qing Mengzhu also knew this, but most of the bamboo leaves on the mountain were of "Superior Grade" and "Superior Grade" quality. Picking more of these good things would be beneficial to both cattle and geese.

It may not be needed normally, but it's suitable to supplement the diet of cows when they are pregnant.

Furthermore, bamboo leaves will grow back after being picked, so picking a small amount won't affect the bamboo at all. It would be a waste not to pick good things.

Picking bamboo leaves doesn't require much skill, so Qing Mengzhu didn't plan to hire any full-time employees; instead, she intended to hire some casual laborers.

Zhao Hexi nodded. "Then it's up to you. By the way, is the grafting of that mustard green in the corner of your yard a success?"

Qing Mengzhu looked towards the courtyard wall. The rapeseed shoots of the Tuan Brassica had already begun to produce seeds after being grafted onto the mustard greens. The small yellow flowers that had bloomed earlier were still opening one after another. It was foreseeable that it would produce many seeds.

He nodded. "Pretty much, we should be able to harvest them in a while."

Zhao Hexi: "That's good, you can finally put your minds at ease."

Zhao Hexi sat for a while, finished his tea, and left; he had other things to do.

Qing Mengzhu, taking a rare break from her busy schedule, found a book and sat in the courtyard reading, drinking tea, and enjoying the breeze.

The next day, Qing Mengzhu led people up the mountain to pick bamboo leaves.

The odd jobs he hired today were all older women who were very skilled at delicate work like picking bamboo leaves, which requires care, patience, and a bit of physical strength.

Everyone carried woven bags up the mountain, used the blades at the top of bamboo poles to cut off the bamboo leaves and twigs together, and then stuffed them into the woven bags.

Anyway, these bamboo leaves will eventually be chopped up and sent to be fermented as silage, so it doesn't matter whether they are intact or not.

Qing Mengzhu and his team worked from morning till afternoon, and their efficiency in picking bamboo leaves was higher than he had imagined.

Perhaps the aunties are used to doing this kind of delicate work, because they are very quick and pick a lot of bamboo leaves.

When they came down the mountain, the aunties helped carry the bamboo leaves down and put them by the roadside, and then Qing Mengzhu transported them home by tricycle.

There were quite a lot of bamboo leaves, and the tricycle could only hold so much; Qing Mengzhu made two trips to transport them.

When Yun returned home on his second trip, Qing Mengzhu saw Zhou Yan standing outside the courtyard waiting for him.

Qing Mengzhu stopped the tricycle. "Brother Zhou?"

Zhou Yan raised his chin slightly. "The Buddha Jumps Over the Wall soup has been simmering for several days and is ready. I'm bringing some over for you, and I'll also send the dregs over to the Dharma Protector and Guard."

Qing Mengzhu knew that this dish required a lot of ingredients to make the broth, and after simmering, the ingredients would all break apart and become basically inedible, but it would be just right for the Dharma Protector and the Guard.