Chapter 198 (continued)

Zhao Hexi couldn't help but ask, "Brother Zhou, what kind of sauce did you use? It smells so good."

Zhou Yan: "It's a sauce made with fermented soybean paste, meat sauce, mushroom sauce, and the like. I used a secret recipe to make it, and it goes really well with poultry. If you like it, I'll send you some tomorrow to use for duck and goose. This sauce tastes great on both."

Qing Mengzhu immediately raised her hand. "I want it. Chunxi and I both cooked the stir-fried duck rather poorly; we need some sauce to salvage it."

Zhou Yan smiled and agreed, "No problem, I'll deliver it to you tomorrow."

Qing Mengzhu curiously, "Is the bean paste made from soybeans?"

Zhou Yan: "Yes, it's soybean paste. We specially selected large soybeans from the north and made it during winter and spring. It has a fragrant, mellow, smooth, and fresh flavor. In some ways, it's even fresher and richer than soy sauce. You can try some; this paste is made with soybean paste as a base."

Hearing him say this, the three of them took clean spoons, each scooped out a little sauce, and tasted it.

This soybean paste is likely lightly salted, and it's much savory than commercially available soybean pastes.

Qing Mengzhu felt the fermented umami flavor slowly melting on his tongue, and the tender texture of the sauce made it taste amazing.

Qing Mengzhu put down her spoon. "Brother Zhou, your soybean paste is delicious! The soybeans you chose must be very good too."

Zhou Yan raised his chin, gesturing for him to continue, "And then?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Didn't we plant soybeans in the bamboo forest? Those soybeans are quite good. Brother Zhou, do you know how to make soybean paste? If you do, after the soybeans are harvested, could you take some to make paste or ask someone to make some?"

Zhou Yan readily agreed, "Sure, good soybeans are indeed hard to find these days."

Qing Mengzhu assured, "The soybeans on the mountain were carefully planted by us; they are definitely high-quality soybeans, and they should be ready for harvest by the middle of next month."

The soybeans in their bamboo grove were planted in mid-May, and now the pods have sprouted, filled with tender edamame beans. In another month, when the edamame beans become plump and firm, and the pods turn yellow, they can be harvested, dried, and then the soybeans can be extracted.

Qing Mengzhu plans to go again tomorrow and pick some edamame to eat while she's there.

While Zhou Yan was talking to them, he slowly roasted the goose.

The freshly roasted goose has a crispy skin, but inside it's full of juicy meat.

Zhou Yan, wearing gloves, cut up the goose and let them eat it, even providing them with dipping sauce.

When Qing Mengzhu, and Zhu saw the steaming hot goose, they couldn't wait to reach for it with their chopsticks.

The moment they tasted the goose meat, all three of them widened their eyes in astonishment.

Zhou Yan also picked up a piece of goose meat and ate it slowly. Looking at their expressions, he smiled and said, "How is it? Delicious, right?"

Qing Mengzhu said earnestly, "Brother Zhou, your cooking is absolutely amazing! This is the best roast goose I've ever eaten in my life, bar none."

Zhou Yan: "You're being very precise."

Ming Chunxi: "I share the same opinion."

Zhao Hexi: "Me too! Brother Zhou, your cooking skills are truly a perfect match for the ingredients from the Mengzhu family; it's no waste of your talent!"

Zhou Yan laughed, "You praised two people with just one sentence. It seems you've mastered the art of conversation."

Zhao Hexi chuckled twice, "These are my honest thoughts. To be honest, if I could eat roast goose every day, I'd rather work overtime every day."

Qing Mengzhu: "That won't do. There are only so many geese; we can't let them all be wasted."

Zhou Yan pushed the dipping sauce towards them. "You can also dip it in this sauce. The fresh chili peppers in the sauce have a very prominent flavor, giving it a unique taste."

Qing Mengzhu, biting into a goose leg, said, "Aren't our chilies even better this year? I feel like we can make a batch of chopped chilies while there are plenty of red chilies available."

Zhou Yan: "You contact the jar maker, I'll handle the production. We also need to buy a batch of good quality liquor; we can use it for cooking and making pickles."

Qing Mengzhu: "I don't know many people who sell alcohol. Do you have anyone selling it near you, Brother Zhou? If so, you can just buy it directly from them."

Zhou Yan agreed, "Okay, I know where to buy good wine, but it's quite expensive, costing several thousand yuan a jar."

Qing Mengzhu his hand and said, "Our ingredients often sell for several thousand yuan per kilogram, so several thousand yuan for a jar of wine isn't expensive. Brother Zhou, please buy as much as you like."

Zhou Yan: "I'll contact a wine cellar tomorrow and have them deliver some wine."

They said they wanted to buy wine, but tonight they're serving lotus tea with their roast goose.

Lotus tea cuts through the richness of the dish, and when paired with goose, it actually enhances the flavor of the goose.

We ate until after 11 p. m., then everyone helped clean up the mess before going home to rest.

Qing Mengzhu and the others were used to drinking tea, and the tea did not affect their sleep at all.

The next day, the two woke up refreshed and had breakfast together. Ming Chunxi went to work, Qing Mengzhu went up the mountain to check on the soybeans.

Qing Mengzhu specifically brought up some slightly damaged melons and fruits picked from the field, intending to give their cows a treat.

These defective products are mainly fruits and vegetables that have been bitten by insects. After being bitten, they are often small and thin, and have scars. Such products cannot be sent to customers, and it is a bit of a waste to compost them directly. Feeding them to cattle on the mountain is a good choice.

Now they've introduced an intelligent system; each cow has a locator around its neck, Qing Mengzhu can find out where the cows are by opening an app.

He glanced at them when he went up the mountain and thought the cows had gone out to graze or eat bamboo leaves, but he didn't expect them to all be lying outside the cowshed.

When Qing Mengzhu arrived, he saw a large herd of cattle lying comfortably, motionless, with only their mouths occasionally chewing, presumably ruminating.

Cows like to eat bamboo leaves, which are more difficult to digest than other grasses, so it's normal for them to ruminate constantly.

Qing Mengzhu went over to check and found that although bamboo leaves were difficult to digest, they also brought many benefits to the cattle.

These cows, whether male or female, are all very tall and strong, with solid muscles all over their bodies.

Qing Mengzhu reached out and patted them, then carried a bucket over to feed them fruits and melons.

The cows in their family are particularly aggressive towards strangers, but they are quite nice to him, their owner, neither butting his head nor deliberately scaring him.

As he poured the fruits and vegetables onto the open ground, the cows lazily stood up and came over to nibble on them.

Qing Mengzhu observed for a while, then placed the empty bucket by the roadside and went up the mountain to check on the soybeans.

The soybeans in their yard aren't quite plump yet, but the pods are tender, and the beans inside are also tender. When you peel them open, you can smell a fresh fragrance.

Qing Mengzhu quite liked the fragrance.

What surprised him most was that when he planted soybeans, he only bought "Good Grade+" seeds, but now that the harvest is almost here, the pods have reached "Fine Grade- " quality, a significant improvement in quality. He's sure they'll taste great when they're harvested.

Qing Mengzhu directly used a sickle to cut off some of the bean pods and threw them into his basket.

After he finished harvesting the bean pods, he went down the mountain to retrieve the empty buckets that were placed on the road outside the cowshed. When he got there, he was surprised to find that the cattle seemed to be acting strangely.

The bull in particular, the strongest and fiercest bull in the herd, was unusually energetic, and even its eyes seemed brighter than before.

Qing Mengzhu went over to check and quickly found the remaining tea leaves on the ground.

He then remembered that when he was carrying fruits and vegetables that morning, he passed by a trash can and saw two lotus buds inside. He felt it was a waste to just throw them away, and he was too lazy to make another trip to take them to the pond for composting, so he casually picked them up and threw them into the fruit and vegetable bin.

Since they're all plants, and non-toxic ones at that, cows can eat them too.

Qing Mengzhu grabbed the bull's horns in surprise and examined its mouth. "Did you just eat tea leaves? Is that why you're so energetic now?"

The bull lowered its head and mooed.

Its temperament remains as mild as ever; it seems that tea has little effect on it.

Qing Mengzhu examined them carefully, then checked the other cattle that seemed to have eaten tea leaves; these cattle appeared to be in good condition.

He felt there was nothing seriously wrong, so he stopped worrying about it.