Chapter 209

Qing Mengzhu's eyes lit up slightly. "That's good."

Zhao Hexi: "Then I'll sign up. This competition is quite prestigious and has strict requirements. Our company just happens to meet the entry criteria, and as for recommenders, several large research institutes that we've worked with before have recommendation qualifications and have all agreed to recommend us."

Qing Mengzhu: "How many recommendations do you need?"

Zhao Hexi: "Two recommendations are enough. We need to participate in the preliminary round first, and then the final selection will be made after we pass the preliminary round."

Qing Mengzhu: "No rush. We don't have much rice to begin with, and we're not waiting to sell it. We can just sign up and participate gradually."

Zhao Hexi: "That's what I was thinking too. I'm going to find someone then, hehe, thankfully we've built up a lot of connections, now they come in handy."

The results of the competition wouldn't be available anytime soon, and Qing Mengzhu didn't pay much attention to them.

He's been busy with things in the rice paddies lately.

Although the rice has been harvested, the straw inside has not yet been collected.

Qing Mengzhu and her company's employees tied the straw into bundles and then stood them up on the ridges of the field to dry.

These bundles of straw, standing upright, look like little scarecrows, golden and very cute.

Because they are only dried on the ridges of the fields, these bundles of straw stand in rows, like a winding dragon.

The straw emitted a sweet, fresh scent as it dried, filling the fields with that aroma – the smell of a bountiful harvest.

Blue skies, white clouds, and golden straw form the main colors of autumn.

That day, when Tan Wenlei passed by the straw, he saw Qing Mengzhu nearby and stopped to talk to him. "This batch of straw is really good, golden and clean, without a single mold spot."

Qing Mengzhu stopped what she was doing. "Yes, it's just that the weather has been nice lately, and it hasn't rained, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten such a nice tan."

Tan Wenlei: "What are we going to do with this dried straw?"

Qing Mengzhu: "It's mainly for the cows. I think they quite like eating straw. We can chop it up with a straw shredder and use it as their feed."

Tan Wenlei: "Isn't it for composting?"

Qing Mengzhu shook her head. "This batch of straw is of relatively good quality, so it's a bit of a waste to use it for composting. The straw that the company received, however, can be used for composting."

When they first started growing Rice, they mainly planted two batches. Qing Mengzhu carefully selected the rice seeds and planted one batch privately, while the remaining seeds were given to the company, which also planted one batch.

The Rice grown by the company is also quite good, reaching the "Good Grade+" quality standard, which is already considered good rice available on the market. Of course, it is far inferior to the "Fine Grade+" rice grown by the company himself.

The company's batch of rice can be supplied to the farm for gradual consumption, and the rice straw can also be used for composting. As for the rice straw and rice from his own farm, that needs to be planned gradually.

Besides leading people to dry the rice straw, Qing Mengzhu also took the time to plant a batch of Hydrilla verticillata in the rice paddies.

The Rice in the paddy field has been harvested. Although new leaves will slowly grow from the stubble, which can supplement the food for the shrimp, without a large number of rice seedlings and insects on them, the newly grown leaves are clearly not enough for the shrimp to consume.

If they don't hurry up and replant Hydrilla verticillata, they'll have to manually feed the shrimp, which will affect the quality of the shrimp, and the resulting shrimp may not have sweet and tender meat.

While Qing Mengzhu was busy at home, Zhao Hexi called him that day, excitedly saying on the phone, "Mengzhu! The results of the competition are in!"

Qing Mengzhu immediately realized. "The results of the International Rice Competition? Were you there?"

Zhao Hexi sniffed. "Yes! I was there. The judges just announced that we won the gold medal, and I called you right away. Oh my god, the camera turned around and was pointing at me. The host told me to go up and accept the award."

Qing Mengzhu gently comforted him, "Don't be nervous, go receive the award first, we'll talk again when you get back."

Zhao Hexi sniffed again. "Don't hang up yet, the national anthem has started playing. Hang up after the national anthem."

Qing Mengzhu stood up straight. "Okay."

After listening to the national anthem, Zhao Hexi hung up the phone and went to the podium to receive her award.

Qing Mengzhu found the official live stream of the competition, turned it on, and watched Zhao Hexi go on stage to receive her award through her phone.

Zhao Hexi was dressed in a suit and tie, a rare sight for him. He had lost his usual carefree demeanor, and his eyes were a little red.

The camera panned to the other audience members, who were all clapping and watching Zhao Hexi. Many of them offered their blessings when the camera focused on them.

Qing Mengzhu chuckled softly on her end of the phone.

After receiving the award, Zhao Hexi didn't stay abroad for long and flew back overnight to meet up with them at Qing Mengzhu's house.

Having finally participated in an international competition and brought back a gold medal, Zhao Hexi was extremely excited. Upon meeting Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi exclaimed, "Did you watch the news tonight? It was on the news, and they even interviewed me!"

Qing Mengzhu patted him on the shoulder. "I saw him, he's very handsome."

Zhao Hexi: "Handsome, right? I think so too! Winning this award is so cool! Haha, I saw so many people praising my looks in the news comments, hundreds of likes. If you guys went, there would definitely be even more people praising your looks!"

Qing Mengzhu knows that there are quite a few people following them online, some because of their company's products, and some simply because they ship them as a couple.

Neither he nor Ming Chunxi have official accounts; most of their followers are people who ship them through marketing accounts. However, the popularity of these marketing accounts speaks volumes about their popularity.

It's impossible for them to be handsome without realizing it.

Qing Mengzhu reminded him, "Where's the gold medal? Let's take a look?"

Zhao Hexi: "They're in my bag. I was worried they'd get damaged, so I put them all in boxes."

The gold medal for the International Rice Competition is made of pure gold and features a design of rice ears and a sun. It is a beautiful, shimmering gold.

There's no prize money for this competition, but the gold medal is quite valuable.

Qing Mengzhu held up the heavy gold medal and showed it to Ming Chunxi: "It's so heavy, so beautiful!"

Ming Chunxi smiled and hung the gold medal around Qing Mengzhu's neck, "This is the first time your crop has won a gold medal in an international competition. Congratulations!"

Qing Mengzhu, clutching the gold medal, looked up with a bright smile, "It seems so. This is the first time I've received recognition from a world-class competition."

The two looked at each other and smiled, the atmosphere so intimate that no one else could break in.

Zhao Hexi, a grown man, was completely ignored standing to the side.

Zhao Hexi waited a few seconds, seeing them laughing endlessly, then gently nudged them and said, "You two can look at each other again when you get back. Talk to me first."

Qing Mengzhu: "Let's chat, is this competition particularly intense? I see there are two gold medals?"

Zhao Hexi: "That's right! One is us, who suddenly appeared out of nowhere and crushed international companies of all sizes with our absolute strength to win one of the gold medals. The other is an international company from South Asia. They have been champions for four consecutive years, and they still won the gold medal this year."

Zhao Hexi whispered, "I suspect their gold medals aren't as solid as ours; they have a bit of a host country advantage."

Qing Mengzhu patted him on the shoulder. "Don't tell anyone about this."

Zhao Hexi: "I know, I'm not stupid. Oh, right, there's one more thing. Many experts are curious about our rice paddies and asked if they could come and visit. I said I need to ask for your opinion. Think about it, and I'll give them an answer tomorrow."

Chapter 209

The rice in the paddy fields has all been harvested. If anyone comes to visit, they'll probably only be able to see the rice stubble.

Qing Mengzhu didn't think there was anything to see in the rice stubble, and didn't want to make people come for nothing, so she asked Zhao Hexi to politely decline.

Zhao Hexi quickly relayed the message: "I couldn't politely refuse, so I told the experts the truth. They said the rice stubble doesn't matter either. After the Rice is harvested, the field will be empty, and we can see many things that are not visible during the Rice's growth."

Qing Mengzhu: "If that's the case, then let them come. We'll use the company's money to entertain them."