Chapter 215

In mid-December, after Qing Mengzhu finished tending to the bamboo on the mountain and working in the fields, she took Ming Chunxi to Qiongwei City during the winter off-season.

The first batch of cow dung had finished fermenting, but since it wasn't needed for the bamboo or crops in the field for the time being, Qing Mengzhu had it transported to Qiongwei City.

The coffee trees are now in a period of rapid growth, and the soil in Qiongwei City is relatively infertile, so they need to seize the opportunity to fertilize the coffee trees.

Ming Chunxi now owns her own company, so she has more flexible hours and can work from home. That's why she brought her computer with her to Qiongwei City this time.

While Qing Mengzhu tended to the fruit trees, he seized the time to handle his work.

The fertilizer from Qing Mengzhu's family has fermented very well; it's dark, fluffy, and fertile—clearly high-quality fertilizer.

Not to mention the workers who came to help, even Ping Lin and his group were quite fond of the fertilizer.

Ping Lin grabbed a handful of fertilizer with his gloved hands. "President Qing, how is this fertilizer fermented? Perhaps we could ferment some here too?"

As he spoke, he muttered to himself, "This fertilizer looks so tempting."

Qing Mengzhu looked at him and laughed, "You have good eyesight; you know this fertilizer is good."

Ping Lin: "I'm not blind, really. I grew up in the countryside and I've never seen such good fertilizer before."

Qing Mengzhu thought to himself, "Of course! Fertilizer of 'Superior Grade' is something that Ping Lin has never seen before, let alone before. None of them had ever seen it before this batch of fertilizer was fully fermented."

Qing Mengzhu: "Its main ingredient is special cow dung. Since we don't have special cow dung here, it probably can't ferment."

Ping Lin: "I've been thinking about this for a while now. We have such a big orchard, and we've planted ryegrass in it, why don't we raise cattle too?"

Qing Mengzhu disagreed. "Let's wait a couple of years. Let the ryegrass grow first. If we raise cattle, the ryegrass won't be able to grow anymore. Besides, the cow dung we have is good mainly because of the bamboo leaves. We don't have bamboo leaves here, so it would be difficult to grow it to the same effect."

Ping Lin: "Well, it's a case of 'one move affects the whole situation,' there's really no other way."

The coffee tree is still small, so you don't need to bury too much fertilizer, otherwise it will burn the roots.

They bury fertilizer, two handfuls for each coffee tree, and keep it a little away from the roots.

After the saplings have absorbed this batch of fertilizer and grown a bit bigger, they will apply another round of fertilizer.

The work of burying fertilizer is rather tedious, but life in the orchard is not so tedious.

The mangosteens they planted earlier have borne fruit. Although only a few of them have matured, with only a handful on each tree, hidden among the leaves and requiring a keen eye to spot, each time they find and pick them, it brings a great sense of accomplishment.

After burying fertilizer, Qing Mengzhu liked to drag Ming Chunxi to the orchard to look for mangosteens.

The mangosteen tree was too tall for them to climb, so Qing Mengzhu specially made a bamboo pole with a "V" blade at the top. When they saw the mangosteen, they could extend the bamboo pole and use the blade to wring the mangosteen down.

That day, Qing Mengzhu, dressed in short sleeves and trousers, stood under a tree, looking up at the mangosteens. "I must say, our mangosteens are growing quite well. When they were first transplanted, I thought we wouldn't be able to eat mangosteens this year."

Ming Chunxi: "It must be thanks to the fertilizer and the residue from the Spirit Pearl Dregs."

Qing Mengzhu: "I guessed so, otherwise these weak flowers probably wouldn't bear fruit."

Ming Chunxi climbed onto the bamboo pole and exerted some force. "Move a little to the left, there's a mangosteen on the left."

Qing Mengzhu squinted. "Where? Ha, I see it."

Together, the two of them wedged the blade into the mangosteen branch, gave it a slight twist, and the branch snapped. The heavy mangosteen fell onto the grass with a "thud."

Qing Mengzhu quickly walked over and picked up the mangosteen.

The mangosteen was almost as big as his fist, and its purplish-red skin was intact.

With a little force, he pinched open the outer skin, revealing the snow-white flesh inside, and a sweet aroma wafted out.

Qing Mengzhu cut the mangosteen in half, offered one half to Ming Chunxi's mouth, and ate the other half herself.

The mangosteens grown in our own orchard are sweet, smooth, and have a strong fruity aroma. They are very juicy and taste much better than those bought in the supermarket.

After finishing her mangosteen Qing Mengzhu casually tossed the peel under the tree to let it decompose into fertilizer. "Awesome!"

Ming Chunxi ate two segments, then held the remaining fruit to his mouth before taking the bamboo pole. "There are two more over there."

They searched tree by tree, specifically looking for mangosteens that were perfectly ripe. After picking them, they supported them with banana leaves—the bananas were transplanted later and had grown quite large now.

They picked from about ten trees, and their banana leaves were laden with a large bunch of mangosteens.

Qing Mengzhu took Ming Chunxi up the mountain to enjoy the scenery. When they passed by a fig tree, they picked some figs.

By the time they reached the edge of the pool Spirit Pearl Dregs had been placed, night had already fallen, and the sky was ablaze with fiery clouds that stretched from one side to the other, creating an exceptionally brilliant scene.

The sunset clouds here are more beautiful than those in Vine City. They appear almost every evening. Qing Mengzhu loves the sunset clouds, as well as the starry sky and the exceptionally bright moon afterward.

The water reservoir containing the Spirit Pearl Dregs was exceptionally serene, and when it splashed onto a person, it brought a refreshing coolness.

Qing Mengzhu washed her hands, sat by the pool, and said to Ming Chunxi, "We've almost finished burying the fertilizer today, shall we go back tomorrow?"

Ming Chunxi took out her phone. "I'll buy the plane tickets. What time are we going back?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Later? After cutting the rye grass, we can go back and buy tickets for the 2:30 flight, which should be about right."

Ming Chunxi: "Send it back after you've finished cutting it?"

Qing Mengzhu stretched and said, "Ryegrass doesn't taste good if it's left out for too long. Have them find a refrigerated truck to transport it back."

Before they came to Qiongwei City, all twenty-eight cows at home were pregnant. They were all pregnant, but it was unclear whether they were all carrying calves.

The main purpose of cutting ryegrass this time is to supplement the diet of the cows.

Although they planted ryegrass in their backyard, it wasn't much; if they wanted to harvest ryegrass on a large scale, they would have to cut it here.

Qing Mengzhu and the others flew home first, and the rye hay transported by cold chain took several days to arrive.

After the rye grass arrived, Qing Mengzhu specifically scanned it with the Mall Assistant to make sure there were no problems before taking it up the mountain to feed the cows.

Every morning, their cows drink tea made with well water, even the pregnant cows.

Therefore, when they go up the mountain each day, the cattle are usually waiting for them in the cattle shed, and today is no exception.

Qing Mengzhu hadn't climbed mountains for several days, and today, carrying rye grass, she climbed up, a little out of breath. "I can't go on anymore. Let's urge the construction team to start work as soon as possible. I don't want to carry this stuff for another day; it's exhausting."

Ming Chunxi: "I'll tell He Xi and the others later."

Qing Mengzhu: "I'll suggest it. We'll dig some winter bamboo shoots to take back later, and invite them over for dinner."

The mountain roads were too difficult to travel, Qing Mengzhu started applying for road construction several months ago. After multiple rounds of inspections by relevant departments, the application was finally approved last month, and they can now build a winding mountain road on the two mountains according to the plan on the application form.

Zhao Hexi has taken over the matter and is currently looking for a reliable construction team.

They need to build a road through the bamboo forest, which requires a high level of environmental protection, so they have to find a reliable construction team.

They fed the cattle rye grass, which was very well received by the herd.

Each cow plucked some rye grass and chewed it, looking like it was enjoying it very much.

After Qing Mengzhu checked and found no problems, she took Ming Chunxi to dig for winter bamboo shoots.

The bamboo is growing better this year than last year, with more underground rhizomes and more winter bamboo shoots on the rhizomes.

They could dig down along the slightly raised mounds of earth and unearth a good number of winter bamboo shoots with each stroke of their hoe.

The weather was a bit cold, and the soil was harder than usual. After digging a few, Qing Mengzhu felt it was enough and said to Ming Chunxi, "Stop digging. Let's have someone come and dig again in a couple of days. It's hurting our hands from all the shaking."