Chapter 36

Qing Mengzhu glanced at Zhao Hexi and continued, "It's extracted from the shells of crustaceans, like shrimp and crab shells."

Hearing this, Zhao Hexi found it much easier to accept. "I see."

Qing Mengzhu: "Now the regulations are strict. Legitimate retailers are required to keep product samples and send them to professional quality inspection agencies. Generally, there are no problems. Agriculture is now being conducted in a very scientific and standardized manner."

Zhao Hexi nodded repeatedly. "That's good."

As they chatted, they walked to the edge of Qing Mengzhu's field.

In the field, Feng Ningxiang, Qing Yuqin, and Miao Lan were already picking chili peppers, while Qing Pingdun was packing them into special vegetable packaging boxes.

This batch of chili peppers was to be sent to the catering group where Zhou Yan worked, and the requirements were exceptionally high. Qing Mengzhu contracted the task to Qing Pingdun, who ran a courier station, and asked him to pack them carefully.

Upon seeing Qing Mengzhu and Zhao Hexi, they looked up, greeted them, and then continued with their work.

Qing Mengzhu greeted them and then went to the vegetable garden to pick vegetables.

Zhao Hexi whispered, "You invited so many people."

Qing Mengzhu: "There are more and more vegetables, and I can't manage it all by myself. There's no need for me to spend all day on the vegetables. It would be better to ask someone for help."

Zhao Hexi nodded in agreement. "Earn money when you should, spend money when you should; when you have money, you should improve your life."

Qing Mengzhu smiled, "That's exactly what I meant."

Compared to picking chili peppers, picking vegetables is easier. Qing Mengzhu, with Zhao Hexi by her side, could pick a basketful in no time.

They neatly piled the harvested vegetables into baskets and carried them together to the edge of the field.

The field is mostly filled with tomatoes, followed by eggplants, green beans, cucumbers, and so on. As for leafy greens, they are harvested in bunches, so there seems to be a lot of them.

After a while, green beans, cucumbers, and other vegetables will gradually be taken off the shelves, and there won't be as many vegetables available.

When the sun came up, Di Caiyong drove over to harvest the vegetables.

Qing Mengzhu went over again and, together with Di Caiyong, weighed the vegetables and collected the money.

They worked from 5 a. m. until after 9 a. m., and finally finished most of the farm work in the vegetable garden.

Feng Ningxiang and the others went back first, Qing Pingdun helped transport the chilies that were to be dried into chili peppers to Qing Mengzhu's house.

Qing Mengzhu and the others followed behind, walking back slowly.

Zhao Hexi wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. "I must say, farm work is really tiring."

Qing Mengzhu: "It's alright, the work for the day is done. I'll come back in the evening to check on the fields, water the vegetables, and see if there's anything else I need to do."

Zhao Hexi: "The segmented work method, right? Does that mean we don't have to work during the day?"

Qing Mengzhu: "It's too hot; we usually don't come out during the day."

When they got home, they moved the chili peppers to the rooftop to dry, and cut the tomatoes in half to dry as well. Only after they finished drying did they have time to rest.

Zhao Hexi had rested well and felt it was alright after taking a look; she would treat it as exercise.

Although it's different from working a regular job, overall, the hours are not much different.

As for housework, you have to do housework while you're at work, so there's no difference.

Zhao Hexi sat in the living room playing on her phone, then looked at the shrimp hatching tank. "When will these shrimp hatch?"

Qing Mengzhu glanced at it. "It should be ready in about ten more days."

The prawns were in good condition, and Chen Yi would come over every few days to check on them and help adjust the parameters of the hatching tank.

Qing Mengzhu would send Chen Yi a video almost every day to check on the condition of the shrimp eggs.

According to their estimates, the shrimp eggs should hatch by the end of the month.

Even after hatching, they must be kept in an incubation tank and artificially fed until the zoea larvae molt multiple times and transform into juvenile shrimp.

Fish and shrimp have a very low survival rate in the natural environment; out of a thousand eggs, perhaps only one shrimp will survive. If you release the daphnia larvae directly into the natural environment, you're just feeding the other fish and shrimp in the pond.

When Zhao Hexi mentioned shrimp, Qing Mengzhu couldn't help but think about shrimp for a moment longer.

In the evening, after seeing Zhao Hexi off, Qing Mengzhu sat on a recliner in the courtyard, browsing the Interstellar Mall, and lit a mosquito coil next to her.

Qing Mengzhu quite enjoys browsing the Interstellar Mall.

The Interstellar Mall is still a mall, but it has an intelligent push system, making it even more enjoyable to browse than a regular shopping mall. Many of the products gave Qing Mengzhu a sense of having her eyes opened.

Unfortunately, the Interstellar Mall has significant limitations for their plane; he can only look at many items and cannot actually buy them.

Today, he browsed the Interstellar Mall, hoping to buy something to protect the shrimp.

His lotus pond is beautiful, attracting many animals. It's hard to say how many shrimp will survive if they're put into this harsh environment to compete.

He felt it was unnecessary to dig another breeding pond at home.

Raising prawns in aquaculture ponds would not only greatly increase his workload, but also contradict his previous plans.

His original plan was to raise shrimp in both ponds, taking care of the shrimp while caring for the lotus, thus achieving a double harvest of lotus and shrimp.

As Qing Mengzhu scrolled through the page, his eyes caught sight of a particular product, and he swiped back to the page, exclaiming, "Huh?"

What caught his attention was a snack called dried meat.

He sat up straight and carefully read the product description.

This is a type of dried meat snack specially supplied to low-level spirit beasts. It is said that feeding them this snack will make the spirit beasts stronger and more intelligent, making them easier to train.

The notes below indicate that ordinary beasts can also eat it, and the effects are even better.

If that's the case, then it seems his Dharma Protector and Guard can also eat this dried meat.

Otters and red foxes seem like options too.

Will these little guys become smarter or communicate better after eating this?

Qing Mengzhu looked at the product description with many questions in mind, and when she saw the discount information, it was 39.9 Star Coins for 300g, and there was a buy-one-get-one-free offer.

He's been selling a lot of vegetables lately, and his account balance has reached 2104.77, so this amount of money for snacks is no problem for him at all.

Qing Mengzhu quickly placed the order, intending to buy one to try.

Since there are no products specifically designed to protect shrimp, a different approach could be to train small animals that can protect shrimp.

Chapter 36

After Qing Mengzhu paid, the spirit beast jerky he bought quickly appeared in his account.

He clicked "extract," and with a flash of white light, two small packets of dried meat, each as big as a brick, appeared at his feet.

The jerky was still wrapped in the same kind of paper-like leaves he had seen before. When he opened it, he found brown jerky cut into uniform lengths.

He picked up a piece of dried meat, held it to his nose, and immediately smelled a rich meaty aroma.

This meat has a pure, natural meaty flavor; it doesn't taste like any seasonings, and it doesn't have any fishy smell.

Qing Mengzhu went to her personal center to check the consumption instructions. The dried meat is non-toxic and harmless, so humans should be able to eat it too.

He gently tore off a strip and tasted it between his teeth.

The jerky tasted a bit like beef jerky, with a meaty and milky aroma that melted on the tongue, accompanied by a hint of saltiness. It tasted much better than any jerky he had ever had before.

Almost the instant he tasted it, he knew it was good stuff.

After Qing Mengzhu tasted it, she called to the two dogs, "Dharma Protector, Guard, come here."

The two dogs were lying in the yard. Upon hearing Qing Mengzhu bark, they immediately stood up and ran towards Qing Mengzhu, their ears perked up. "Woof woof!"

The Dharma Protector ran up to Qing Mengzhu, stood up, and placed its two front paws on his legs. "Woof!"

Qing Mengzhu took out a piece of dried meat, gave a small piece to the dog, and another small piece to the Guard: "Try the newly bought dried meat."

The Dharma Protector's eyes lit up after it caught the jerky, nibbling away quickly until it was gone. Then it placed its front paws on Qing Mengzhu's legs again and barked loudly, "Woof!"

The Guard also looked up, gazing expectantly at Qing Mengzhu.