Chapter 38

Qing Mengzhu sprayed pesticides from sunset until it was completely dark before preparing to go home.

Tan Wenlei was working on the soil next door, taking advantage of the slightly cooler evening breeze, and continued working until this time.

He greeted Qing Mengzhu as Qing Mengzhu was leaving.

Then, he saw Qing Mengzhu, who was soaking wet, nod and then carry the pesticide home.

This struck him as odd. Usually, after spraying pesticides, people would take a quick bath in the river and then wash again at home, otherwise, it would be unbearable to have pesticide-soaked clothes clinging to their bodies.

Qing Mengzhu never went swimming in the river, and rarely even went near the village river. Perhaps it was because Qing Yan drowned in the river that the child remembered it.

The related thoughts flashed by, and Qing Mengzhu quickly walked away. Tan Wenlei also withdrew his various thoughts, sighed, and bent down to continue adding soil.

He had a little work left to do, so he quickly finished it in the dark and went home.

Summer vegetable yields are high, and there's a lot of work to be done in the vegetable fields.

Qing Mengzhu is so busy every day that she has no time to pay attention to what others think.

He was busy from 5:30 a. m. until 10:30 a. m. before he got home. He was hot and tired. When he got home, he quickly drank two large glasses of water, then washed his hair, took a shower, and changed into his home clothes.

After he finished tidying up and had lunch, he realized it was only a little before 11:30.

It's too early for a nap, so he turned on his computer to make some work notes.

To his surprise, when he turned on his computer, his email notified him of a new email.

He checked the new email and saw it was a test report.

This test report is the result of his previous commissioning of an authoritative institution to test the shrimp.

Half a month passed, and he hadn't received the report yet; he had almost forgotten about it. Unexpectedly, he received the report at this time.

Qing Mengzhu quickly downloaded the report and first flipped to the conclusion section.

The report shows that the shrimp eggs he sent belonged to the genus Macrobrachium of the family Palaemonidae, also known as the East Asian river shrimp.

These freshwater shrimp are genetically identical to East Asian river shrimp in nature; they are simply ordinary East Asian river shrimp, but larger and stronger. Based on their hatching results, these freshwater shrimp are of high quality and have great potential for aquaculture.

Qing Mengzhu's main concern was that the shrimp obtained from the Interstellar Mall had undergone biological modification and might contaminate the local shrimp gene pool, which is why she paid extra for a comprehensive screening.

Now that he saw the result was safe, he breathed a huge sigh of relief.

If there are problems with the results, he will have no choice but to abandon the batch of shrimp from the Interstellar Mall, kill them, and then buy ordinary shrimp seedlings.

Although he knew in his heart that the probability of problems with the goods in the Interstellar Mall was very small, after all, the Interstellar Mall's technology level was far superior to that of Blue Planet. If they had any ill intentions towards Blue Planet, they wouldn't need to go through him at all; they could directly launch all kinds of weapons to cause destruction.

He's a relatively cautious person and prefers to spend money for peace of mind.

After reading the conclusion, Qing Mengzhu happily went to read the main text.

The shrimp from the testing agency have already hatched, which means that the shrimp on his side are mostly on the verge of hatching as well.

He'll be able to farm shrimp soon.

Qing Mengzhu contacted Chen Yi, asking Chen Yi to take some time in the next few days to come over and take a look, as he needed Chen Yi's help in guiding the subsequent breeding steps.

Although he had read the book before, its contents were certainly not comprehensive, and some specific problems would probably require guidance from an experienced person to avoid.

Chen Yi was also very interested in the shrimp from his stall and came over that afternoon.

When he came, Chen Yi specially brought a batch of iron frames and waterproof tarpaulins.

Chen Yi unloaded an iron frame and waterproof tarpaulin from the car and said to Qing Mengzhu, "After the shrimp hatch, they need to be transferred from the incubation box to the rearing pond. I noticed you don't have a dedicated rearing pond here, and it's not safe to put them in a regular pond, so I brought some materials for you. We'll make one in a bit."

Qing Mengzhu helped with the moving. "I was just worrying about this problem, and you've already thought of it! That's great!"

Chen Yi nodded. "These are all based on experience."

Tall and muscular with dark skin, Chen Yi stood in the courtyard of Qing Mengzhu's house, scanning the surroundings with his gaze. "Should this temporary incubation pool be placed in the courtyard or somewhere else?"

Qing Mengzhu: "It's safer to put it in the yard, and it'll be easier for me to keep an eye on it."

Chen Yi: "Then we'll have to move your potted plants a bit, make some more space for them. We'll also need to run an outlet later and connect the oxygen supply system."

Qing Mengzhu nodded. "Just run an outlet from the living room."

Chen Yi looked at the two dogs standing to the side and said, "Shouldn't you also quarantine your dogs? It would be troublesome if they got curious and dismantled the breeding tank."

The Dharma Protector and Guard looked at Chen Yi with confusion. "Woof?"

Qing Mengzhu gently nudged the Dharma Protector's dog head. "Once the shrimp are moved in, I'll lock them inside."

Chen Yi nodded after ruling out any potential dangers.

Chen Yi has many years of experience in shrimp farming. He quickly set up the iron frame, then covered it with a waterproof cloth, weighed it down with potted plants, filled it with more than 30 centimeters of tap water, and set up the oxygen supply facilities.

The oxygen supply system in the small basket started humming and the water in the temporary culture tank rippled.

Chen Yi checked and said, "There's nothing wrong, it's just that the water is too shallow and the sun is too strong. Buy a thermometer and put it in there to keep an eye on the temperature, so the shrimp larvae don't get too hot."

Qing Mengzhu jotted it down in her memo. "Okay, I'll go buy it in a bit."

Chen Yi: "If it's convenient, go to a clean ditch and collect some aquatic plants, disinfect them, and then put them into the rearing pond to provide hiding space for the shrimp larvae."

Qing Mengzhu also noted. "Are any aquatic plants acceptable?"

Chen Yi: "As long as it's non-toxic, it's fine. I don't see any poisonous aquatic plants in our area, so it should be okay. We can even use the harvested plants to provide some food for the shrimp larvae."

Qing Mengzhu nodded. "Understood."

Seeing that his notes were complete, Chen Yi simply said, "I'll send you a feeding guide later. Once the shrimp hatch, feed them according to this guide."

They were talking in the yard when suddenly a dog barked from the living room.

Qing Mengzhu turned her head and saw that two dogs had entered the house at some point.

Qing Mengzhu, holding her phone in confusion, peered into the room. Two dogs were barking at the incubator. When they met Qing Mengzhu's gaze, the Dharma Protector pawed at the ground and barked even louder. "Woof woof!"

Qing Mengzhu immediately noticed something was wrong with the incubator. "I wonder if the shrimp larvae have hatched. I'll go in and take a look."

Chen Yi followed behind him. "Probably."

The two walked quickly to the incubator and bent down to look inside.

Inside the once tranquil incubator, many tiny creatures were now swimming around – zoea larvae of freshwater shrimp.

Qing Mengzhu exclaimed with delight, "It really hatched! So punctual!"

Chen Yi: "If the testing agencies have already succeeded, it's not surprising that we have too."

Qing Mengzhu: "Should we transfer them to the incubation pool now?"

Chen Yi: "Let's go buy a thermometer and transplant some aquatic plants first, then observe the situation. After they've all hatched, I'll help you transfer the shrimp larvae to the rearing pond."

Qing Mengzhu wasn't familiar with shrimp and was unsure of herself, but hearing this, she breathed a sigh of relief, "That's great, thank you for your help."

Chapter 38

As Qing Mengzhu and the others eagerly awaited, the shrimp eggs in the incubator hatched one after another.

When Qing Mengzhu looked again in the evening, there were very few eggs left in the incubator, and the entire incubator was filled with tiny, densely packed daphnia-like larvae.

Qing Mengzhu asked Chen Yi, "Should we move the larvae to the rearing tank now?"

Chen Yi pondered for a moment, "Let's not rush, let's observe for a while longer."

Chen Yi explained, "They haven't developed their mouth organs and digestive organs yet. They mainly rely on the yolk sac to maintain their life activities and don't need to eat. It's fine to leave them here. Once their mouth organs and digestive organs have developed in the next day or two, it's okay to move them out."