Chapter 199

Just come up again in the evening, it should be fine. At most, it will have consumed too much caffeine and might not be able to sleep at night.

There was still a lot of work to be done in the fields, Qing Mengzhu went down the mountain to work in the fields.

After he finished his work in the evening, he slowly went up the mountain with a basket on his back, thinking that he would dig some bamboo shoots later and stir-fry some edamame to make a side dish for dinner.

When the time comes, cut a large piece of cured pork with alternating layers of fat and lean meat, dice it, and cut the bamboo shoots into cubes. Then, stir-fry the cured pork cubes, bamboo shoot cubes, and edamame beans in lard. Oh, and add a handful of chili flakes. Once cooked, it will definitely be a fragrant and delicious dish that goes perfectly with rice.

Qing Mengzhu was thinking this, when he saw the herd of cattle, he noticed that several of them seemed to be in unusually good condition; they must be the ones that had eaten the tea leaves.

These cows had bright eyes and were unusually energetic; they moved very briskly.

Qing Mengzhu also keenly noticed that their bellies didn't seem as swollen anymore.

Their cows always eat bamboo leaves. Bamboo leaves are hard to digest, so they need a lot of time to ruminate, and their bellies are always bulging, as if they are always full.

Now the cow's belly isn't as bulging, its body shape looks more streamlined, and the cow appears more energetic.

Really? Tea can aid digestion?

Qing Mengzhu searched online with some skepticism and then discovered that caffeine does indeed aid digestion, and some farmers feed coffee to their cattle.

Tea also contains caffeine, so it should have the same effect.

In other words, could they try feeding the cows tea in the future?

Chapter 199

When Qing Mengzhu came down the mountain, Ming Chunxi had not yet returned. He moved a chair and sat in the courtyard peeling lotus pods.

Upon hearing the car, he immediately ran out to greet it.

Ming Chunxi had just gotten out of the car when he saw Qing Mengzhu's condition and asked, "What happened at home?"

Qing Mengzhu: "It's not a family matter, it's a matter on the mountain!"

As she spoke, Qing Mengzhu took a moment to nod to the driver, then turned to Ming Chunxi and said, "Guess?"

Ming Chunxi, carrying a bag in one hand and with her other arm around his shoulder, walked towards home. "There shouldn't be any problems on the mountain, otherwise you would have told me already? It certainly wasn't a surprise, because you wouldn't have been able to resist telling me if it were. The rest—must be something new they found on the mountain?"

Qing Mengzhu snapped her fingers, "Should we narrow down the scope again?"

Ming Chunxi shook her head. "I can't guess."

Qing Mengzhu: "Do you remember the tea we drank last night?"

Ming Chunxi: "The tea we drank last night—we discovered wild tea trees on the mountain?"

Qing Mengzhu shook her head. "I took the tea leaves up the mountain with me when I was packing this morning, and fed them to the cows."

Ming Chunxi: "The cow ate the tea leaves, and then?"

Qing Mengzhu's eyes lit up. "Tea seems to aid digestion quite a bit. I feel like the cows that drank tea have shrunk considerably. I'm thinking of brewing some tea for them to drink tomorrow. What do you think?"

Ming Chunxi: "Let's make it a little weaker."

Qing Mengzhu smiled and said, "That's what I was thinking too. Let's give it a try first."

This was the first time the family had made tea for the cows, so Ming Chunxi went up the mountain with Qing Mengzhu to observe the cows' condition more closely.

Making tea for cows doesn't require the same level of refinement as making tea for people. The two of them didn't bring lotus tea; they just used some tea leaves they had previously roasted at home.

Qing Mengzhu specially drew a large bucket of well water, boiled it, put the tea leaves in, let it cool, divided it into two buckets, and carried them up the mountain.

The cattle will return to the barn to rest at night, before the sun has risen and they have gone out to graze.

When the two arrived at the cowshed, all the cows were there.

Qing Mengzhu lifted the water from the sink and poured it out, then poured the brewed tea into the sink.

The cows clearly liked the tea. Before Qing Mengzhu and the others had even left, several cows strolled over, tentatively licked the tea, and then drank it down in large gulps.

Two cows even got into a fight over tea, so Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi quickly separated them, one on each cow.

Qing Mengzhu pondered for a moment and said, "The ox seems to really like this tea."

Ming Chunxi: "I don't know if you prefer tea or Spirit Spring Water."

Qing Mengzhu: "That's right, they might simply like the Spirit Spring Water. Never mind, whatever they like, we'll come over this evening and see the results."

Ming Chunxi grasped his hand. "I'll leave work early this afternoon, let's come together."

Qing Mengzhu had no objections. "Then I'll go see Tuan Brassica first this afternoon, and then I'll go pick you up, and we'll come back together?"

Ming Chunxi: "Okay."

Their Tuan Brassica had been planted for some time now, and just as Qing Mengzhu had predicted, all of Tuan Brassica had survived.

During its growth, Tuan Brassica begins to absorb heavy metals from the soil. According to the test results of Ke Shuwen's team, Tuan Brassica has the most obvious effect on the accumulation of heavy metals, while its absorption of other toxic and harmful substances is less effective.

However, this result is already quite surprising. They removed the heavy metals from the soil, and the soil remediation is almost complete.

Qing Mengzhu went there today, mainly to water the Tuan Brassica.

The growing environment for the Tuan Brassica is quite harsh, so he needs to bring some Spirit Spring Water and some fertilizer, otherwise he's worried that the Tuan Brassica will not develop properly.

Qing Mengzhu visited the chemical plant relatively infrequently, while Ke Shuwen and her team went there more often.

Today he was going over, Ke Shuwen and the others went with him. Everyone wore airtight protective suits in the sweltering heat before going to manage the Tuan Brassica and collect soil samples.

After all that fuss, Qing Mengzhu was almost dizzy from the heat. As soon as they left the chemical plant, she took off her protective suit and quickly invited everyone to a nearby coffee shop for drinks. Finally, she recovered.

When it was almost time, Qing Mengzhu changed her clothes in the car and went to pick up Ming Chunxi from work.

Despite having worked a full day, Ming Chunxi was still impeccably dressed and looked energetic; the scent of laundry detergent lingered on her clothes.

Qing Mengzhu took a deep breath and leaned over to kiss Ming Chunxi.

Ming Chunxi took the opportunity to kiss him. "Why are you being unusually passionate today?"

A smile appeared in Qing Mengzhu's eyes as she pointed a finger at his chest, "You, mine, I'm going to take you home."

They drove straight back to the village, but instead of going home, they parked their car at the foot of the mountain and planned to check on the cattle first.

It was rush hour and traffic was a bit congested in the city. They arrived at the foot of the mountain quite late, and the lighting wasn't very good.

However, it was late, and most of the cattle had returned, so they didn't have to worry about making a wasted trip.

The two went over to the cowshed and found that all the cows had already gone inside.

They seemed to be in good spirits; some of the cows were already resting in a corner of the shed, indicating that the tea hadn't kept them awake.

Qing Mengzhu pulled Ming Chunxi around for a walk and whispered, "Whether coffee can stimulate appetite and make them grow faster is hard to say, but I've noticed it does aid digestion; there's even more cow dung at the bottom now."

As she spoke, Qing Mengzhu pressed an electric button on the wall, causing the cow dung in the grates to fall to the bottom. Without the cow dung, the air in the cowshed would be fresher.

Ming Chunxi: "We can try bringing up tea again tomorrow."

Qing Mengzhu: "Alright, I think the tea in the sink is almost finished."

After inspecting the cow, the two went to check on the hazel grouse. Seeing that everything was fine, they even took a few hazel eggs.

Hazelnut eggs are quite delicious; they can boil some for breakfast tomorrow morning.

The next day, Qing Mengzhu didn't let Ming Chunxi go up the mountain with her; she just carried the tea up the mountain herself in a tricycle.

As soon as he reached the top of the mountain, he saw a herd of cattle waiting by the roadside, peering out as if they knew there would be tea today.

Qing Mengzhu didn't stand on ceremony. He waved for the ox to come down, then placed the bucket on its back and had the ox carry the tea to the cowshed.

He used a water-filled bucket to hold the tea, which was already sealed so that the oxen could carry it without worrying about the tea leaking out.