Chapter 30

Qing Mengzhu shovelled a huge mouthful of fragrant, sweet rice into his mouth along with the dish. "Delicious!"

Di Caiyong took a leisurely bite too. "That's exactly the taste. It reminds me of a farmer's bowl of goodness I ate at a local family's home when I was young."

Qing Mengzhu swallowed his rice. "When you were young?"

Di Caiyong said, "Yes. I'd just graduated from high school that year and was doing odd jobs building houses to earn my tuition."

Di Caiyong gestured at the farmer's bowl of goodness on the table. "The family had made this dish too. The eggs, peppers and pork belly had plenty of wok hei, and they were salty, spicy and fragrant. I ate seven bowls of rice all by myself and emptied their rice steamer."

Qing Mengzhu's mouth watered at the story, and he picked up another big helping. "It does sound delicious."

Di Caiyong sighed. "Yes. More than twenty years have passed in the blink of an eye. I never had another farmer's bowl of goodness that tasted so good, not until today."

Tan Wenlei wolfed down his rice with the stir-fried chicken giblets and pickled greens. "Same here. When I was young, I used to pole a boat around selling vegetables. After I sold out, I liked eating at little restaurants in Vine City. I used to have stir-fried chicken giblets with pickled greens and stir-fried pork offal."

Tan Wenlei said, "Back then, you could get free rice refills when you ordered a dish. After I'd been there a few times, the owner changed the rules: no more than three free bowls of rice per dish. Now that's knowing how to do business."

Di Caiyong and Tan Wenlei smiled at each other, both remembering their struggles to make a living in their youth.

Back then, they could eat well and sleep soundly, and life had been truly carefree.

Tan Wenlei said, "Caiyong, your cooking's as good as ever, and Mengzhu, your vegetables really are delicious."

Di Caiyong said, "They are. They've got a real kick, especially these peppers. Their skins and flesh are thin, unlike ordinary peppers, which have thick, chunky flesh and taste as bland as any vegetable."

Tan Wenlei said, "It's mainly the aroma. I haven't had peppers with such a pure fragrance and heat in ages. The peppers we grow now have high yields, but they're rather bland and lack fragrance. Sometimes you can even taste a hint of raw greenness."

Di Caiyong said, "The most popular pepper varieties around here have thick skins and flesh so they'll keep well. They won't spoil even after half a month, but their flavor isn't much good either."

Qing Mengzhu was quite happy to hear their praise.

He had known this batch of peppers was bound to be good, but he hadn't expected them to be this good.

Di Caiyong asked, "How are you planning to sell this batch of peppers?"

Qing Mengzhu said, "I haven't decided yet. I definitely can't sell them to pepper traders. I'll ask my Sixteenth Grandpa first. If nothing else works, I'll dry them and take my time looking for buyers."

Di Caiyong said, "Could you sell some to my family?"

Qing Mengzhu said, "The price will be higher, you know. My peppers will definitely cost more than ordinary ones."

Di Caiyong readily agreed. "Of course. Your vegetables are high quality, so the price can't be low either. I'll give you twice as much. Peppers at the market go for three or four yuan a jin. How about I pay ten?"

That price was reasonable enough, and Di Caiyong was a regular customer, so Qing Mengzhu thought it over briefly and agreed. "Sure. How much do you want?"

Di Caiyong said, "How about a hundred jin a day to start? If there aren't that many right now, just sell me however much you have. Once there are more peppers, we can discuss adjusting the amount as needed?"

Qing Mengzhu thought it was a good arrangement. "Let's do as you say."

Now that his peppers had finally yielded a bumper harvest, Qing Mengzhu naturally couldn't leave out his friends and family.

He gathered the other vegetables from his fields and sent packages to several relatives and friends.

That day, Ming Lexin asked Ming Chunxi whether he was coming home for dinner. She said she had received vegetables from Qing Mengzhu's farm, and they tasted wonderful, so he should come home and try them.

Ming Chunxi agreed.

When Ming Chunxi came home that evening, Ming Lexin had already been waiting for him. "What have you been doing lately? Why have you been so busy? You're nowhere to be found."

Ming Chunxi looked down as he changed his shoes. "I'm working on a confidential project."

Ming Lexin asked, "What confidential project? Weren't your previous projects confidential too?"

Ming Chunxi went to the bathroom to wash his hands. "This one's different. It's a joint project with the government, so the security level is higher."

Ming Lexin leaned against the doorway and watched him. Hearing that, she asked no more. "Take better care of yourself. You look thinner."

Ming Chunxi smiled. "It's not that dramatic."

Ming Lexin patted his back. "Your face is more sharply defined, and you say it's not dramatic?"

The two went to the dining room, where the housekeeper had already set the meal on the table.

Ming Lexin said, "This stir-fried pork with peppers was made with the peppers Mengzhu sent. It's delicious. Go on, try it."

Ming Chunxi picked up a bite, then hissed at the heat, his face turning a little red.

Ming Lexin handed him some water and said cheerfully, "Delicious and satisfying, isn't it? Great for relieving stress, right?"

Ming Chunxi said, "The pepper flavor really is intense and fragrant."

Ming Lexin said, "Right? When I tried it last night, I thought it was so good that I had to call you home to try it. Mengzhu really grows excellent peppers."

Ming Lexin went on, "Now I believe he truly loves farming. He's only been growing things for a few months, and he's already produced so many wonderful things you can't find on the market at all."

Ming Chunxi said, "He does everything well."

Back when Qing Mengzhu was still employed, he had excelled at his work too. Otherwise, his boss wouldn't have repeatedly taken credit for his achievements.

After dinner, Ming Chunxi stayed the night at home.

After washing up, he came out to get his phone and chat with Qing Mengzhu before starting work.

Qing Mengzhu hadn't chatted with him for several days and asked, [Have you been especially busy and tired lately?]

Ming Chunxi replied, [Not too bad. I don't feel busy or tired while I'm working. I'm tired afterward, but I also feel a great sense of accomplishment.]

Looking at that message, Qing Mengzhu couldn't help replying, [You really have an innate sacred physique for work.]

Ming Chunxi took a moment to understand, then replied, [Aren't you the same?]

Qing Mengzhu thought about himself. He had worked hard to farm so much land in just a few months, so he really couldn't talk. He sent an emoji instead: [Bitter kitten drinking.JPG]

After they had chatted for a bit, Ming Chunxi asked, [I heard you still haven't found a buyer for your peppers. Do you have any leads now?]

Qing Mengzhu replied, [Not yet, but I should be able to sell them.]

Qing Mengzhu added, [I've already decided that if nothing else works, I'll dry them. I won't take a loss that way.]

In fact, the Interstellar Mall was his safety net, but that wasn't something he could easily tell Ming Chunxi.

Ming Chunxi asked, [Have you considered contacting Professor Nian? His team developed this pepper variety, so they might have some connections.]

Qing Mengzhu really hadn't thought of that. [Would that work?]

Ming Chunxi replied, [It should be fine. Scholars of their standing know a lot of people. You've grown the peppers very well. Their quality is no worse than peppers that cost several hundred yuan a jin. You could send him some to try.]

Ming Chunxi reminded him, [If this variety of pepper turns out to be excellent, he'll be very happy.]

The idea suddenly clicked for Qing Mengzhu. [I see. I'll send him some tomorrow!]

Chapter 30

The peppers in the field turned red all at once. The day before, Qing Mengzhu had had to bend down and search the branches carefully to find ripe ones. The next day, a quick glance revealed a whole swath of them.

He dragged a vegetable basket through the pepper field, picking the red peppers one by one and arranging them neatly inside.

The fresh peppers were plump and red, and looking at them filled him with the joy of a bumper harvest.

When Di Caiyong arrived, he looked at the peppers in the basket and couldn't help exclaiming, "These peppers are beautiful. You could use them in a promotional photo."

Qing Mengzhu said, "You can take one now if you want."

Di Caiyong chuckled. "I won't. I'm buying them to take home and cook."

At that, Qing Mengzhu stopped him apologetically. "Uncle Caiyong, about selling you peppers like I said at dinner yesterday, I've thought it over and it doesn't seem quite right. Let's not talk about selling between us. I'll give them to you."

Di Caiyong was surprised. "Why the sudden change of mind?"

Qing Mengzhu explained, "This pepper variety came from Tengcheng Agricultural University. I used a connection to get the seeds. They haven't set a price yet, so it doesn't seem quite right for me to set one ahead of them."