Chapter 193

It's been really hot these past few days, with the highest temperature almost breaking 40℃.

Qing Mengzhu was unsure. "How about it? If it really doesn't work, I'll plant it on the mountain; the temperature there will always be lower."

Zhao Hexi: "Are we going to dig bamboo shoots? Brother Zhou said the other day that you weren't home, so it wasn't good to go up the mountain to dig bamboo shoots. We haven't been making much pickled bamboo shoots this month, and there haven't been any dishes made with pickled bamboo shoots."

Qing Mengzhu: "That's really feasible. I'll go up the mountain to dig today. The bamboo needs to be cut down this month and delivered to Boss Duan."

Zhao Hexi: "Do you need me to find a few people to go up the mountain with you to cut bamboo?"

Qing Mengzhu her hand. "No need, I can go by myself. It'll be a good opportunity to inspect the bamboo forest."

Besides inspecting the bamboo forest, he also needs to dig up some bamboo shoots to sell to the Interstellar Mall.

As for the leftover bamboo shoots, just dig a hole on the mountain and bury them; there's no need to bring them down to process them.

Since it involves the Interstellar Mall, it's inconvenient to bring people up the mountain, so let him handle it slowly.

After watering the plants, Qing Mengzhu put the watering can back home and quickly took a small electric saw up the mountain.

The Dharma Protector and Guard were playing outside saw him heading towards the mountain and eagerly ran over to follow him.

It's raspberry season now.

The village's ecology has improved recently, and raspberries are everywhere.

When Qing Mengzhu went up the mountain, she passed by a small path and picked some raspberries from the roadside to eat. The raspberries were sweet and sour this season, and quite delicious.

Having eaten too many raspberries, Qing Mengzhu broke a bamboo shoot while digging for bamboo shoots, and the tender white flesh fell out. He simply picked up a piece and threw it into his mouth.

Their bamboo shoots are of good quality, sweet, and taste great.

However, bamboo shoots have a relatively high oxalic acid content, so they are not suitable for eating in large quantities on their own. It's best to just eat one or two pieces to taste them.

After eating the bamboo shoots, Qing Mengzhu ate the wild grass she saw along the way.

The bamboo forest is well-managed, and the soil is quite fertile. The wild grass here grows better than the wild grass down the mountain. The alfalfa that Qing Mengzhu eats is sweet and sour, and it's quite fun to chew on it.

While Qing Mengzhu was working on the mountain, she received a call from Zhou Yan.

He held his phone between his fingers and said, "Brother Zhou, wanna have dinner with me?"

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "If you want to eat, you can come over later. But let me make it clear first, there are no proper seats right now. If you want to eat, you'll have to come to the kitchen."

Qing Mengzhu hadn't thought about it before, but hearing him say that, she suddenly felt a little hungry. "What delicious dishes are there today?"

Zhou Yan: "Confit duck, sauerkraut fish, steamed pork with rice flour, black truffle cream roasted pork, pickled bamboo shoot and hazelnut chicken soup, what would you like to eat?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Is the steamed pork served on a bed of pumpkin? I heard from He Xi that the old pumpkins in the field are ripe, and they're very sweet and powdery."

Zhou Yan laughed heartily, "You guessed that? Yes, steamed pork with rice flour is meant to be eaten with pumpkin and sweet potato. The sweet potatoes that He Xi and the others dug up are both powdery and sweet, and they have a unique aroma that other sweet potatoes don't have. It's one of our signature dishes."

Qing Mengzhu's mouth watered. "Then I'll come over at noon. I want to eat confit duck and steamed pork with rice flour. By the way, Brother Zhou, what did you want to see me about?"

Zhou Yan: "You interrupted me, I almost forgot. There's a new dish that needs Sichuan peppercorns. I heard you've already gone up the mountain, so I was wondering if you have any this year?"

Qing Mengzhu was uncertain. "Probably not? It wasn't planted for very long."

Zhou Yan: "Then could you bring me some Sichuan pepper leaves? They smell quite fragrant."

Qing Mengzhu readily agreed, "Sure. Do you want some bamboo shoots? I'm digging them up right now; they're very sweet and delicious."

Zhou Yan became interested. "Then bring me a few more. Bamboo shoots are great for making seasonal stir-fries."

There are already many "Superior Grade" quality bamboo shoots in the bamboo forest.

As Qing Mengzhu dug, she examined the bamboo shoots, keeping the ones of particularly high quality to take with her later, while selling the average quality ones to the Interstellar Mall.

Bamboo shoots, both classified as "Superior Grade," are priced similarly on the Interstellar Mall, but the difference in taste is still noticeable to the human palate.

It's more profitable to take good-tasting bamboo shoots to a farm to eat than to sell them directly.

After a busy morning, Qing Mengzhu felt a little hungry and went to check on the Sichuan peppercorns.

They've only been growing Sichuan peppercorns for about half a year now, and they started from seeds.

Surprisingly, the Sichuan pepper plants grew quite well despite the short planting period, and some seedlings even produced a few peppercorns.

However, the peppercorns are still small, and the peppercorns that grow are also small and somewhat inconspicuous.

Qing Mengzhu picked some Sichuan peppercorns and leaves, intending to take them to Zhou Yan.

When Qing Mengzhu arrived at the farm, there were already many guests. In addition to their parking lot being full, the roadside in front of the farm was also full of cars, and there were people queuing up.

No wonder Zhou Yan said that if he wanted to eat, he could only go to the kitchen.

With business so booming, as the owner, I can't just take tables from the customers.

Qing Mengzhu nodded to the greeter and quickly picked up the ingredients and headed to the kitchen.

Zhou Yan received a message from the greeter and was looking for him when he saw his pepper leaves. He couldn't wait to grab a handful and smell them.

Qing Mengzhu quickly reminded him, "Hey, the Sichuan pepper trees have branches attached, and they have thorns on them."

Zhou Yan casually replied, "It's alright, I'm tough."

As he spoke, Zhou Yan took another deep sniff. "These Sichuan pepper leaves are really invigorating."

Qing Mengzhu: "It's not entirely pepper leaves; there are small peppercorns underneath, but there aren't many peppercorns, so I didn't pick many in total."

Zhou Yan exclaimed with delight, "You already have Sichuan peppercorns? Let me smell them. Sichuan peppercorns smell wonderful, with a pure and intense aroma. I was thinking of asking you to get some Sichuan peppercorn leaves to make Sichuan peppercorn oil. If you have Sichuan peppercorns, could you gather more? I'll use Sichuan peppercorns to make the oil; the flavor will be richer."

Qing Mengzhu: "Now that we've finished picking them, we won't be able to pick any more ripe peppercorns later."

Zhou Yan then changed his mind. "Then you keep some, and we'll pick the ripe peppercorns later."

While Zhou Yan was smelling the Sichuan peppercorns, Qing Mengzhu was taking a look around the kitchen.

There are even more people in the kitchen now, but everyone is working in an orderly manner, and no one is paying much attention to them.

It was lunchtime, and everyone was busy serving dishes, so no one had time to look around.

Qing Mengzhu smelled the rich aroma of confit duck, so it seemed that confit duck was the star of the show today.

Confit duck was Zhou Yan's specialty, and now it smelled even better, with waves of aroma filling the air. Qing Mengzhu, who wasn't very hungry before, now had a rumbling stomach.

It seems that progress has been made not only in their planting but also at the farm. Zhou Yan and his team are producing better-tasting and more consistent dishes.

Chapter 193

After having lunch at the farm, Qing Mengzhu drove the Tuan Brassica to the chemical plant around 3 p. m.

They are going to plant the Tuan Brassica today. Planting it at sunset will increase the survival rate.

When Qing Mengzhu arrived outside the land they were to govern, Ke Shuwen was already waiting for him with her men.

Everyone was wearing protective suits and masks, with only their eyes showing.

As soon as they saw Qing Mengzhu approaching, everyone turned to look at him.

Qing Mengzhu twitched involuntarily.

Although he requested that he take precautions when coming here, how stuffy must it be wearing such a heavy outfit in nearly 40-degree weather?

Ke Shuwen could tell what Qing Mengzhu was thinking just by looking at his expression, "President Qing, the lightweight protective suits we specially purchased aren't as hot as the traditional ones."

Qing Mengzhu: "It's hot there too. You can just wait for me in the car with the air conditioning on. Why did you get out?"

Ke Shuwen smiled and said, "I just came down from here. Here, take this protective suit, it's size 180, why don't you put it on first?"

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Qing Mengzhu thought he should take the lead, so he gritted his teeth and put on the protective suit.

After putting it on, Qing Mengzhu was surprised to find that it was okay. Upon closer inspection, she discovered that thin ice pads were inserted in several places, including her lower back. The ice pads had obviously been frozen and were now emitting a cool sensation.