Chapter 28

Qing Mengzhu didn't want to wait any longer. He put on his raincoat and rain boots, rolled up a large woven sack, and headed to the fields through the rain.

Standing water was everywhere outside. The water in the ditches and river had turned muddy yellow, like roaring yellow pythons.

He waded to the fields. The pond was doing all right: the water had risen considerably, but it wouldn't matter if the lotus leaves and flowers were submerged for a short while. He only needed to dig an opening to let the water out.

The vegetables in the fields were the problem.

Water had pooled in the fields, washing soil and dead branches and leaves downhill and clogging every ditch with silt.

Branches and fruit broken off by the downpour lay everywhere. The broken branches and battered leaves almost covered the soil, and the bean trellises that had stood tall had toppled right over, with quite a few vines snapped.

His heart aching, Qing Mengzhu gathered all the fruits and vegetables he could into the sack, planning to sell them to the Interstellar Mall later to recoup some of his losses.

At the same time, he used a hoe to dig open the field ridges and drain the water, lest it sit too long and rot the vegetables' roots.

Qing Mengzhu wasn't the only one busy in the fields. Other villagers came out one after another, many of them bringing their whole families.

Everyone worked through the light rain to clear their fields, trying to keep their losses to a minimum.

The downpour had damaged so many fruits and vegetables that everyone was in low spirits. Usually, when so many people came out to work together, someone would always call out to chat with the others, but today nobody did.

Qing Mengzhu went to the tomato plot and lifted the shade cover to check inside. The downpour hadn't reached it, and the standing water hadn't risen high enough to flood it. The tender young tomato seedlings were still growing very well.

That was a relief.

After checking them, he pulled up both sides of the composite plastic film to air out the tomato seedlings while there was a light breeze.

Qing Mengzhu worked until after seven that evening, covered in muddy water, and didn't carry the vegetables home on a shoulder pole until it was dark.

The otter and the red fox had already gone back. Only the two puppies remained, barking anxiously in the yard when they heard him.

He walked into the yard and stroked their furry heads, feeling a little better.

After closing the gate, Qing Mengzhu sold most of the vegetables to the Interstellar Mall.

As he sold them, he discovered that the green chili peppers that hadn't fully matured in the field could fetch 1.76 star coins per jin, much more than the vegetables he'd sold before.

It seemed the Interstellar Mall really did encourage users to sell high-quality vegetables.

Covered in muddy water and sweat, Qing Mengzhu made a point of washing his hair and taking a bath after selling the vegetables, only then starting dinner.

He kept dinner simple, making just stir-fried pork with green chilies and stir-fried sweet potato leaves.

The puppies ate what he ate, except their food had no chilies or other seasonings. They stood over their bowls, heads down, eating happily.

Qing Mengzhu set out his meal in the kitchen: a bowl of white rice and two dishes.

He tried the chilies first. The unripe green chilies were tender, but they already packed plenty of heat. He had stir-fried them over high heat in lard until their skins wrinkled. With one bite, their heat and their own subtle sweetness burst out together, leaving a bold impression on his palate. Fragrant and spicy, they fully awakened his appetite.

Qing Mengzhu hurriedly shovelled in a big mouthful of rice. The fluffy, sweet white rice was piping hot, and with the freshly stir-fried chilies, it made a perfect pairing.

Before he even realized it, he had chewed and swallowed the mouthful of rice in just a few bites.

Whenever Qing Mengzhu made stir-fried pork with chilies before, the meat was usually the main ingredient and the chilies played a supporting role.

Today it was completely the other way around. The garlic fried golden brown, the fragrant stir-fried fermented black beans, the slices of pork cooked until their fat rendered out, and the green garlic shoots had all become supporting players to the green chilies, every aroma there to serve them.

The glossy green chilies had soaked up all those flavors. Far from being masked, their own fragrant heat was made even more enticing.

Qing Mengzhu had been tired out by a day's work, and now he ate one mouthful after another, the rich flavors filling him with satisfaction.

No wonder the Interstellar Mall offered such a high purchase price. This year's batch of chilies had grown really well.

After dinner, Qing Mengzhu looked at his empty plate and bowl, anticipating his chilies all the more. Once they turned red, their flavor would surely be even better.

The next day, Qing Mengzhu went to the fields early to pick vegetables.

He hadn't finished picking when Di Caiyong arrived.

Qing Mengzhu greeted him. "Uncle Caiyong, why are you here so early today?"

Di Caiyong said, "It poured yesterday, and a lot of people's vegetables were battered by the rain. I didn't manage to buy much, so I came over to see what you had."

As he spoke, Di Caiyong walked over to inspect the vegetables in the baskets. "The water spinach is very clean."

Qing Mengzhu didn't understand what he meant at first. "It was just washed by the rain, so of course it's clean."

Di Caiyong said, "No, I saw snails crawling all over a lot of people's vegetables today, but there aren't any on yours."

Qing Mengzhu finally understood and told him, "I used cuprous oxide powder to control the snails a while ago. It should still be working, so there aren't many snails in my fields."

Di Caiyong nodded. "No wonder. You prepared really well. It rained so hard yesterday, but your vegetables don't seem to have been affected much?"

Qing Mengzhu gave a wry smile. "How could they not have been affected? I spent half the afternoon working in the fields yesterday, then got up early to work again today and tidied everything up. That's why it looks like they weren't affected much."

Tan Wenlei had finished picking the vegetables in his field and came over to call Di Caiyong to collect them. Hearing what Qing Mengzhu said, he agreed, "Exactly. With rain that heavy, nobody's vegetables could have come through unscathed. We only managed to keep things reasonably tidy by working hard at cleaning up."

Di Caiyong looked toward Tan Wenlei's vegetable plot. "How are your vegetables doing?"

Tan Wenlei said, "I was just about to tell you. Yesterday's downpour knocked off a lot of vegetables, so there aren't as many today. Could you buy more from Mengzhu?"

Tan Wenlei turned to ask Qing Mengzhu, "Do you still have enough vegetables?"

Qing Mengzhu nodded. "If I pick some more of the tender ones, there should be enough to make up the amount. It's up to Uncle Caiyong."

Di Caiyong said, "Go ahead and pick them. I'll buy more of your organic vegetables today. I reckon prices at the market will go up today too, so I might as well buy them from you."

Qing Mengzhu smiled. "I'll give you a little extra later."

There was no way he would offer a discount. If he discounted them this time, he wouldn't be able to get the same price next time.

Author's note:

See you at five this afternoon!

Chapter 28

One day, Qing Mengzhu was applying additional fertilizer to his chili plants when Tan Wenlei brought someone to the ridge of his field and called out, "Mengzhu-"

Qing Mengzhu turned around. "Uncle Wenlei? Did you need something?"

Tan Wenlei said, "Do you have time today? Could you spare two hours to help my friend take a look at his tomatoes?"

Everyone was used to life in the village and helping one another out. Even if Qing Meng had no time, he would make some and do his best to help.

So he asked, "What's wrong with the tomatoes?"

Tan Wenlei's friend Gong Quantiao said, "I don't know what's wrong. A lot of the fruit has split over the past few days. I wanted to ask you to take a look and see if they can be saved."

Hearing that, Qing Mengzhu set his small bucket of fertilizer among the chili seedlings to keep it sheltered. "Shall we go take a look now?"

Gong Quantiao nodded repeatedly. "Sorry for the trouble."

Gong Quantiao lived in another village, very close to Tengcheng Agricultural University.

Qing Mengzhu sometimes passed through the area, but he had never actually been to the village itself.

Coming here with Gong Quantiao this time felt a little novel to him.

Gong Quantiao drove off the country road and turned left onto a narrow road leading to the farmland. He said to Qing Mengzhu, "I've asked other people to take a look too. Someone said it might have been because the sun was too strong a few days ago and the ground got a little dry, then the downpour came and flooded it all at once, making the tomatoes split."

Qing Mengzhu nodded. "That's certainly possible."

Gong Quantiao said, "I thought so too at first, but I grow quite a few tomatoes, and all the others are fine. Only two mu of them have split badly. They've all been managed the same way, too."

Qing Mengzhu said, "Is all the land where you grow tomatoes at the same elevation? Could some plots be higher and others lower, with waterlogging in the lower ones?"