Chapter 21

Qing Mengzhu thought about it and decided the soup really was delicious. "Then sorry for the trouble."

The old man was delighted. "It's no trouble. All I have to do is say the word. I come here to eat and drink at your place every day, and you've never complained about me being a bother, so why would this be any trouble?"

It was rare for the old man to be able to help Qing Mengzhu, so he was very enthusiastic about it.

In less than a week, he had helped secure the necessary breeding permits and personally brought Qing Mengzhu a brood of hazel grouse.

There were thirty-five hens and fifteen cocks.

The old man said, "The males are mainly for making soup. The females can lay eggs, though they don't lay many, nothing like actual chickens. They'll make it easier for you to hatch chicks next year, though."

"That's a good arrangement. Thank you," Qing Mengzhu said gratefully.

The old man waved a hand. "No need to thank me. Here, I'll share someone's WeChat contact with you. He's an old hand at raising flying dragons. If there's anything you don't know, just ask him. I've already spoken to him, and he's agreed to teach you."

"Okay," Qing Mengzhu said.

The little hazel grouse chicks were even smaller than chicken chicks, but they were quite colorful. The splash of red on their eyelids in particular made them look completely different from chicken chicks.

After figuring things out for a couple of days, Qing Mengzhu quickly grew accustomed to having the little grouse around.

Hazel grouse were easy to raise. They could live on grain and chopped vegetables, so Qing Mengzhu only had to set some aside for them when he prepared food for the ducks.

The only thing that surprised Qing Mengzhu was the sound the hazel grouse made.

Their calls were completely different from those of ordinary chickens. They sounded like a sharp "zzzt, zzzt," like electrical static, and were less pleasant to listen to than ordinary chicken calls.

But Qing Mengzhu fenced off the area behind the house and kept them inside, so he could barely hear them.

Qing Mengzhu quite liked the little grouse at home.

Whenever he fed them, they ate happily, calling "zzzt, zzzt" all the while.

Watching them, Qing Mengzhu took out his phone, recorded a video, and posted it to his Moments.

Qing Mengzhu rarely posted to Moments, so when he did, it drew likes and comments from many friends.

Ming Chunxi saw it, gave it a like, and left a comment: [Cute.]

There was even a little thumbs-up sticker after the comment, which didn't seem like Ming Chunxi's style at all.

Their mutual friends were shocked. They had never imagined that was how the two interacted in private.

Zhao Hexi went straight to Qing Mengzhu:

[Mengzhu, Mengzhu, what's going on between you and Ming Chunxi?]

[Are you two together?!]

Qing Mengzhu opened WeChat and narrowed his eyes at the new message.

Before he could get a good look, Zhao Hexi quickly recalled it.

All that remained on the screen was the notice [The other party recalled a message].

Qing Mengzhu: [...]

Zhao Hexi: [Kitten wiping sweat.JPG]

Zhao Hexi: [Joking aside, what's going on? When did you two get so close?]

Qing Mengzhu: [It was just a normal exchange. We were stepbrothers once, after all. It's perfectly normal for us to chat a little.]

After reading that, Zhao Hexi typed so furiously he nearly made sparks fly from his phone screen: [What's normal about that?! A big shot like Ming Chunxi not only liked and commented on your post, he even had to act cute in the comment!]

Zhao Hexi: [That sudden peacock display-can you imagine him doing that for anyone else?]

Zhao Hexi: [Bro, I guarantee it on my eight hundred years of experience as a romance strategist: if he doesn't have some kind of feelings for you, I'll eat my keyboard while standing on my head!]

Author's note:

The next chapter will be a VIP chapter! Three chapters will be posted at midnight on the 19th.

Chapter 21

Qing Mengzhu didn't quite believe Zhao Hexi, a romance strategist who had never even dated anyone. More importantly, he didn't have time to give romance much thought.

His chili plants had reached peak bloom. Small white flowers covered the branches, and in another month and a half or so, they would likely turn into red chilies.

He was busy with the chilies right now.

Chili plants were cross-pollinated, relying on wind or insects to carry their pollen.

Ever since Qing Mengzhu had noticed the chili plants flowering on a large scale, he had been concerned about their pollination. He went around the field every day, worried there weren't enough insects or that the wind wasn't strong enough.

Worse still, the Dragon Boat Festival was approaching, and it had been raining lately. The chili plants' leaves and flowers were soaked with rainwater, wet and heavy, making it hard for the pollen to take flight.

Tan Wenlei, who was working in the neighboring field, saw him and said, "People grow chilies here every year, and I've never heard of anyone's plants failing to bear chilies because they weren't pollinated enough."

"But no one knows how many flowers actually produced chilies, do they?" Qing Mengzhu asked.

Tan Wenlei: "We're not teachers from the agricultural university next door. How could we keep track of every single flower?"

Qing Mengzhu studied the branches and said, "That's why I'm worried there won't be enough pollination, and the chili plants won't produce the high yield they should."

Rain hindered not only wind pollination but insect pollination as well.

Hearing that, Tan Wenlei said, "Why don't you hire some drones? Their drones can help with pollination too."

"They can?" Qing Mengzhu asked.

Tan Wenlei: "Sure. Drones buzz when they fly, and they make a strong wind. The rice isn't flowering yet, so you can't see it now, but when it does, some people hire drones to fan it and help pollinate it."

That reminded Qing Mengzhu. "Rice is pollinated by wind too."

Tan Wenlei: "That's right. Rice has lots of flowers too, and people who worry the wind isn't blowing well enough will hire drones."

"I'll go ask around. Thanks, Uncle Wenlei," Qing Mengzhu said.

Qing Mengzhu had invested a great deal upfront in growing this batch of chilies.

His vegetables were bringing in money now, and hiring a few drones wouldn't cost much. He wasn't going to drop the ball at this point.

After asking around in town, he did manage to hire two drones. Once the rain stopped and the chili plants' branches and leaves had mostly dried, the drones flew back and forth over the five mu of chili fields.

Agricultural drones were much larger than ordinary camera drones, and they generated a strong wind as they flew. The chili plants swayed from side to side, their leaves fluttering wildly.

Watching them, Qing Mengzhu felt a little reassured.

If even this wasn't enough to pollinate the chilies, there was nothing else he could do.

After the drones finished flying, their operators took them back to town, while Qing Mengzhu went to harvest vegetables.

He sold the better-quality vegetables to Di Caiyong or Qing Guozhi. Those that were overgrown, poorly shaped, or slightly lower in quality went to the Interstellar Mall, though he also kept some to feed the ducks and grouse.

Rain hindered the chilies' growth, but it was good for the vegetables.

Over the past few days, Qing Mengzhu's vegetables had been growing wildly. The water spinach and sweet potato vines in particular had nearly spread into the neighboring field.

Every day, he cut two large bundles, harvesting the vegetables while they were still fresh and tender.

Today was no different. Qing Mengzhu cut the water spinach and sweet potato vines, tied them into bundles, and carried them home on a shoulder pole. After locking the courtyard gate, he sold them directly to the Interstellar Mall.

After the Interstellar Mall scanned the vegetables, 11.05 star coins were credited to his account.

As the pleasant notification sounded, Qing Mengzhu opened his personal center to check his balance.

He had been saving star coins during this time, and his account was back up to 305.24 star coins.

Qing Mengzhu was very satisfied. After checking, he was about to close the personal center when the system suddenly displayed a fireworks effect.

"Hm?" Qing Mengzhu's thumb hovered over the screen as he looked closer. "A prize draw event?"

What had popped up was a new "ten consecutive draws" event for June.

To encourage people to enter, the prizes for this draw were more generous than before. Not only was the chance of winning as high as forty percent, but one in a thousand prizes in the pool was worth more than ten thousand star coins.

Qing Mengzhu stared at the event description, unable to look away.

The prizes looked very generous, and the odds of winning seemed pretty high too?

Should I give it a try?

In any case, he wasn't short of star coins anymore. At the very least, he could spare the ten star coins for a draw in the agriculture and livestock section.