Chapter 234 (continued)

Behind them, a large group of people surrounded the Rice paddy, listening to Qing Mengzhu teach them Rice planting techniques.

When Zhao Hexi came to find Qing Mengzhu, he found the area completely crowded and he couldn't squeeze in. He had no choice but to sit on the grass outside to rest and pet the two dogs that were sleeping soundly there.

After Qing Mengzhu and the others finished planting rice seedlings and giving their lessons, Zhao Hexi followed behind him and said, "I've noticed that more and more people admire you."

Qing Mengzhu went to the river to wash her hands and feet. "It's not exactly worship, I just think I'm fairly reliable."

Zhao Hexi: "Anyway, I think it's admiration. I wouldn't be surprised if someone from Vine City University invited you to give a lecture someday."

Qing Mengzhu: "Stop joking, what do you want?"

Zhao Hexi took out his phone. "I want to discuss the two farms on the border with you. It'll be time to plant Rice there soon."

Qing Mengzhu: "Then let's plant them. Tomorrow I have to go up the mountain to dig bamboo shoots all day, and the day after tomorrow I'll fly over."

Zhao Hexi: "Okay, then I'll have someone buy the plane tickets first."

Qing Mengzhu has visited this border region several times this year and is already relatively familiar with it.

The border city where their farm is located is called Ye'erqingele, which is very far from Vine City. Fortunately, Vine City is an international metropolis with many flights, and there are direct flights to Ye'erqingele, so getting there is not troublesome.

This year, they contracted two farms here and hired a lot of people, including most of the locals and a small number of people from Bashu and Chongqing who came here to make a living.

Everyone speaks Mandarin, so communication went relatively smoothly.

They even assembled a whole team here, which can be considered as opening a branch office here.

They came to oversee this year's planting work, Ge Yutian, the head of the branch company, personally came to greet them, "President Qing, Manager Zhao."

Qing Mengzhu shook hands with Ge Yutian: "You've worked hard these past few days."

Ge Yutian laughed, "It's not hard at all. Now is the time to expand our territory. I'm full of energy every day and don't feel tired at all."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, everyone quickly got down to business.

This year, Zhuxi Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd.. contracted two large farms here.

On that 134-hectare farm, they planted 800 acres of tomatoes, 600 acres of peppers, 300 acres of onions, and 300 acres of carrots.

The remaining 178-hectare farm was entirely planted with Rice.

In other words, they plan to cultivate a total of 4,680 mu (approximately 242 hectares) of land in Ye'erqingele this year.

For large companies, a few thousand acres of land is nothing; many large companies manage hundreds of thousands of acres. But for this new company that only cultivates a few hundred acres, it is a huge challenge.

Zhao Hexi lost a lot of hair while making various planting plans, fearing that she might make a mistake and lose money.

He had previously complained to Qing Mengzhu that he had never fought such a large battle before.

Qing Mengzhu was quite confident, telling him that even if the planting didn't go well, the company could afford the loss, so he shouldn't be nervous and should just go for it.

When Zhao Hexi saw Ge Yutian today, he asked, "How are the two farms doing now?"

Ge Yutian: "The tomatoes, peppers, onions, and carrots have already been planted. As for the Rice, we've only plowed the land and prepared the seedlings; we'll plant them in the next couple of days."

Qing Mengzhu had already checked the weather forecast before she arrived. "Let's plant it, the temperature is just right."

Ge Yutian: "We consulted experts who said it wouldn't be cold for the next few months, so we decided to plant it at this time."

Qing Mengzhu: "Then I'll go check on the condition of the fields."

Every time Qing Mengzhu came, he would go straight to the farm to observe the fields and crops. Ge Yutian was already used to it. Hearing him say this, he immediately had someone drive them to the farm together.

There are very few mountains in Ye'erqingele; their old 178-hectare farm could be seen directly to the horizon.

The Rice paddies were now ready; the original plain had been transformed into small ponds, with blue skies and white clouds reflected on the water's surface, creating a beautiful scene.

With water, even the wind blowing in our faces seemed to become moist, and the border region instantly transformed into a mini -Jiangnan.

Qing Mengzhu secretly admired the beauty of the place, then squatted down to examine the paddy fields closely.

He had visited several times before; the paddy fields were in very good condition, the soil was fertile, and the water's pH level was just right.

Previously, we mentioned that the soil layer was too shallow. Now, we've added fertilizer and deeply tilled the ryegrass that we've been growing for over a month, pressing it under the soil to fertilize the field. This has made the soil depth just right.

Qing Mengzhu stood up and looked around.

The terrain here is flat and the soil is fertile. The downside is that the frost-free period is relatively short, so basically only one crop can be grown per year.

However, the large temperature difference between day and night and the relatively few pests and diseases make it easier to grow good crops here if properly cared for.

Every growing environment has its advantages and disadvantages, no matter where it is. What these growers need to do is to maximize the advantages, make up for the disadvantages, and rely on technology and science to grow crops better.

After Qing Mengzhu confirmed that everything was alright, Ge Yutian arranged for machinery to come and transplant the rice seedlings.

This farm is exceptionally large and flat, with most of the field ridges deliberately removed, making it particularly convenient to plant rice seedlings with a rice transplanter.

They stood outside watching as large rice transplanters rumbled past, planting seedlings in a plot of land in just over ten minutes.

After planting rice seedlings in one plot, this rice transplanter with high wheels can move directly to the next plot.

Looking at this lively scene of rice planting, Qing Mengzhu could already imagine the golden rice harvest in the autumn.

Hopefully, their company can grow good rice this year and compete with the top-quality rice on the market.

It was the busy farming season, so Qing Mengzhu couldn't stay in Ye'erqingele for too long. After three days, he flew back to Vine City with Zhao Hexi.

This year's Dragon Boat Festival is earlier than last year, so they need to prepare the small rice dumplings for the festival in advance.

Last year, the small rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves were very popular, and this year they decided to continue the practice and wrap the small rice dumplings in bamboo leaves again.

Just then, the field needed bamboo vinegar, so Qing Mengzhu led people up the mountain to cut down the old bamboo that had grown into bamboo material. The bamboo leaves were used to wrap zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), and the bamboo tubes were used to boil bamboo vinegar. If there was water from the bamboo joints inside the bamboo, they would take it out to make tea.

As for the bamboo used to boil the bamboo vinegar, Qing Mengzhu would sell it to Pei Guangjian and his group.

Currently, Qing Mengzhu's family's bamboo mainly has two sales targets: Pei Guangjian's group and Duan Yu'ang's group.

Although Pei Guangjian and Duan Yu'ang are theoretically in the same company, their companies are too large, each with its own leaders and main projects. Their purposes for buying bamboo from Qing Mengzhu's family are also different, so Qing Mengzhu sold it to them separately.

The properties of the bamboo remain unchanged after boiling it into bamboo vinegar, but its price drops significantly.

After Pei Guangjian and his team received the bamboo, he specifically called Qing Mengzhu: "President Qing, the report for this batch of bamboo is out. The quality of your bamboo this year is even better than last year."

Qing Mengzhu knew that the bamboo sold to Pei Guangjian and his group this year was generally of "Superior Grade," and the bamboo sold to Duan Yu'ang and his group was even of "Superior Grade+."

Qing Mengzhu: "These bamboos have a longer growth period, accumulate more substances, and are of better quality."

Pei Guangjian asked expectantly, "Will the quality of next year's bamboo be better than this year's?"

Qing Mengzhu laughed, "That's probably a bit difficult. No matter how good bamboo is, it still has its limits; it can't improve indefinitely."

Pei Guangjian understood, but felt a little regretful. "It would be great if the quality of bamboo could keep improving."

Qing Mengzhu: "We will work hard and strive to cultivate even better bamboo next year."

Pei Guangjian: "Haha, then it's up to you guys. By the way, how are the mutated bamboo on your mountain and the Space Bamboo that Boss Duan sent over?"

Qing Mengzhu: "They're still growing, and they're doing quite well so far. I'll let you know when they show any new changes."