Chapter 239

After cleaning, Qing Mengzhu had them apply medicine to the tree, bandage it, and then replant it.

After the durian tree was replanted, Qing Mengzhu not only had Mi Yao use a support frame to secure the newly planted durian tree, but also specially watered it with a solution of medicine to help it settle in.

Mi Yao wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but after such careful cleaning and treatment, his durian tree did indeed look much better.

Not only the durian tree, but Qing Mengzhu also had Mi Yao water the lychee tree with the excess medicine, and the lychee tree recovered somewhat in a short time.

Mi Yao's family has a lot of durian trees, Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi helped deal with them for two days.

The next evening, Mi Yao insisted that they stay for dinner in the orchard. "I specially had geese killed; they're all geese raised in our own orchard. We started preparing them yesterday, and today they're roasted over lychee wood—they taste just right."

Qing Mengzhu's eyes lit up. "You raise geese in your orchard too?"

Mi Yao: "Oh? It seems you raise geese."

Qing Mengzhu laughed, "We used to keep them at home, but later we moved them to the company. However, we didn't keep them in the orchard; we kept them in the fields."

Mi Yao: "If we put them in the field, won't they eat the vegetables there?"

Qing Mengzhu: "We have many employees working in the fields. If anyone sees a goose eating vegetables, they'll just shoo it away, so it's not a big problem."

Mi Yao: "But we're different. We raise them in the orchard. They grow up eating grass and when they're free, they swim around in the ditches of the orchard. They're free-range geese."

Qing Mengzhu: "If you put it that way, I'm starting to crave it."

Mi Yao laughed heartily, "It's really delicious! Every year we save the best lychee wood for our roast goose, and the goose we're eating today is a genuine April goose."

Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi exchanged a glance, puzzled. "April geese? It's already June, are they still considered April geese?"

Mi Yao waved her hand. "It's not that we're talking about goose eaten in April, but rather that this goose has been raised for four months and is now plump and tender, making it the most delicious when roasted."

Qing Mengzhu had eaten Zhou Yan's roast goose, but she had never actually eaten roast goose made from lychee wood, nor did she seem to have eaten roast goose made from a goose that was exactly four months old.

He was quite curious about how this roast goose was made and what made it different.

Seeing his expression, Mi Yao simply took him to the kitchen to see the roast goose.

The kitchen in the orchard where Mi Yao and his team eat is also a large kitchen. They usually eat with the staff, so it's not considered their own private kitchen.

The main feature of this large kitchen is its size. The interior is also simply decorated, with cement floors and cement stoves, making it look very durable.

They're probably used to eating roast goose here; the kitchen has a large oven with an open flame.

As soon as Qing Mengzhu entered, she felt hot; the coolness brought by the typhoon had been completely evaporated by the kitchen oven.

Amidst the heat, Qing Mengzhu also smelled a rich aroma—the scent of meat, spices, and wood... all sorts of fragrances wafted into his nose.

He wasn't hungry before he came in, but now that he smelled the aroma, his stomach started rumbling.

Qing Mengzhu looked at the roast goose, which was already browned, and asked, "Is the goose almost done roasting now?"

The chef, who was roasting the goose, turned to look at them and said, "It's still early. The skin is only just crispy. It needs to cool down before roasting again. It won't be quick until the goose meat is tender and juicy."

Qing Mengzhu asked, "How much longer do we need to bake it?"

Chef: "Let's bake it for another hour. It should be ready to eat in about an hour."

Mi Yao said enthusiastically, "Shall I take you for a walk in the orchard? We'll be done there soon."

Qing Mengzhu had been helping him save the durian trees these past two days and hadn't really had a chance to look around his orchard closely. Hearing this, she asked, "Could you take me to see your lychee trees?"

Mi Yao: "Of course! My family has had lychees grown here for many years, and many people have come to visit."

Qing Mengzhu: "I heard that your lychee variety was introduced from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences?"

Mi Yao: "Yes, even now, technicians from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences still come to provide guidance every month. If there are any problems, we will also ask another technician to come and take a look. If they encounter problems that they cannot solve, the technicians will directly report them and ask experts to come down and provide guidance."

Qing Mengzhu somewhat surprised. "So, this time the durian tree had a problem, why didn't you call a technician?"

Mi Yao blurted out, "I did, but the technician said it couldn't be saved and suggested I plant new ones."

After saying that, Mi Yao realized his mistake and added embarrassedly, "Later, when I talked to my buddies, they all said your planting techniques were better. They told us not to rush to clear away the durian trees, but to come and take a look first."

Qing Mengzhu nodded understandingly. "I hope that more of the durian trees we treated will survive."

Seeing that he didn't mind, Mi Yao breathed a sigh of relief, "I hope so too. I took out a loan to start this orchard. If I can't break even in the next few years, I'll give up."

Qing Mengzhu: "If we don't do it, what are we supposed to do?"

Mi Yao: "Go find a job. At our age, we can still do manual labor. If that doesn't work, becoming a security guard is also a way out."

Seeing the optimism on his dark face, Qing Mengzhu sighed inwardly and changed the subject, "Your lychee trees have quite a few cuts. They've been girdled, probably to encourage flowering and fruiting?"

Mi Yao: "Yes, it's also to control the growth of the trees. You see, we keep all our lychee trees under six meters tall, mainly to protect them from typhoons."

Qing Mengzhu touched the rough bark of the lychee tree. "I see that the branches of the lychee tree are well distributed. You guys are quite good at pruning the branches. The lychees at the top and bottom of the canopy should all be able to get sunlight."

Mi Yao: "It was taught to me by technicians from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences."

Mi Yao explained, "Our Zi Niang Xi lychee is also called the King of Lychees. Each fruit needs to be big enough to fetch a good price. That's why you see how many lychee trees we have; it's because we cut them down in winter—we cut off the overly dense branches, and we also cut off the branches with insects or diseases."

Qing Mengzhu, "You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub. Lychees need proper care to grow well."

Mi Yao: "This year won't be good; the lychee harvest will be reduced by at least 30%."

Qing Mengzhu, now quite knowledgeable about agriculture, laughed and said, "The lychee harvest is down, but the price will rise accordingly; it's market regulation."

Mi Yao chuckled twice, "That's true. After such a typhoon, this year's king of lychees will definitely be expensive."

Chapter 239

After seeing the lychees in Mi Yao's orchard, Qing Mengzhu became quite interested in the "Lychee King" and thought about taking some time to visit the people at the Agricultural Research Institute to ask about the fruit seedlings.

Fruit farmers in Qiongwei City typically choose to transplant fruit trees in the spring or autumn/winter, mainly to avoid typhoons, and secondly because the high temperatures in summer are not conducive to planting fruit trees.

Qing Mengzhu and the others want to plant lychee trees, but they should wait a few months; there's no rush now.

Thinking of this, Qing Mengzhu glanced at the lychee tree in Mi Yao's house one more time.

Most of the lychee trees in Mi Yao's family are of "Good Grade+" quality, and the rest are "Good Grade". Qing Mengzhu looked around but hadn't seen any "Fine Grade- " grade trees yet.

Perhaps their soil wasn't properly treated, and they used too much fertilizer, especially potassium fertilizer, causing an imbalance of elements in the soil and resulting in compaction.

While improper use of chemical fertilizers can affect soil and water resources, it can also increase the fruit set rate of lychees, making them larger, sweeter, and firmer.

Fruit farmers work hard to grow fruit trees in order to obtain better profits, so it's unrealistic to expect people to stop using chemical fertilizers.

Therefore, Qing Mengzhu merely glanced at him again without saying anything.

Planting fruit trees requires comprehensive consideration, and the application of water and fertilizer should be adjusted according to different climate conditions and environment. What he said is useless and will only add trouble to Mi Yao.

After looking at the lychees, Mi Yao led Qing Mengzhu out of the lychee grove, intending to walk straight to the kitchen.

After leaving the lychee grove, they walked into the durian grove.

Qing Mengzhu immediately spotted several dry durian trees among the rows of golden pillow durian trees.

Qing Mengzhu looked up at the tree and asked, "Did you plant this on purpose?"