Chapter 47

Last time, the Interstellar Mall offered him 4.17 Star Coins per kilogram for the fertilizer he fermented. If he ferments another 2,000 kilograms of fertilizer and sells it to the Interstellar Mall, he can save up enough Star Coins to buy bamboo and get through his current predicament.

If better materials are used for fermentation, the Interstellar Mall might even offer a higher price for the fermented fertilizer.

He might not even need two thousand jin to accumulate enough Star Coins.

Furthermore, fermentation fertilizer only takes ten days, which is much more reliable than waiting for vegetables to mature before selling them.

Chapter 47

After having the idea of fermenting the fertilizer again, Qing Mengzhu immediately contacted Chen Yi, wanting to buy another batch of fish.

He wanted to buy better quality fish this time, even if it was a bit more expensive.

Chen Yi called him and asked, "Which kind of fish is considered better?"

Generally speaking, fish that are larger, have a longer growth period, and accumulate more flavor compounds are more popular in the Interstellar Mall.

Qing Mengzhu stated her requirements. "Larger ones, preferably two or three years old. Taste doesn't matter, and the number of bones doesn't matter either. I'll use them for compost."

At this point, Chen Yi suddenly paused. "It's not for human consumption, right?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Yes, people don't eat it."

Chen Yi: "If that's the case, then last night someone's fishpond at Full Ear Slope was washed away, and a lot of big fish, weighing about six or seven hundred pounds, were swept out and died. Do you want them?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Yes! As long as they weren't poisoned, it's fine."

"I'll ask him," Chen Yi agreed, then added, "My friend makes a living by raising fish, so even if they're dead fish, the price won't be too low. You might want to keep an eye on that later."

Qing Mengzhu: "The price isn't low, how much does it cost per pound?"

Chen Yi: "Two or three yuan, I guess."

Qing Mengzhu breathed a sigh of relief, "This price is fine."

As a friend of both parties, Chen Yi, upon hearing that there was no need to buy or sell fish, simply acted as their middleman and took Qing Mengzhu directly to Full Ear Slope.

They met a middle-aged man with a haggard appearance, who said he was the owner of the fishpond.

The man looked at Qing Mengzhu and said, "Can you accept 2.2 yuan per jin? Most of our fish sell for 2 yuan per jin after they die, but my fish are particularly large, so they cost 0.2 yuan more."

Qing Mengzhu: "Can I see the fish?"

When the man heard him say that, he took him to see the fish he had collected.

The fish was placed on a plastic sheet and had already hardened; its eyes were cloudy and its fins were dark red. It probably wasn't safe for human consumption.

However, the fish were indeed very large and of uniform size, each weighing about four or five pounds. They were quite heavy in my hand, a stark contrast to the small, miscellaneous fish that Qing Mengzhu had bought before.

Qing Mengzhu secretly scanned the batch of fish with the Mall Assistant. The quality of this batch of fish was "Good Grade". The small miscellaneous fish that were composted last time had no quality at all.

All things considered, this batch of fish is quite good.

Qing Mengzhu immediately agreed, "Let's weigh them. Are all the fish here?"

Man: "They're basically here. I've already sent my family to check the fishpond. If there are any more, I'll have them bring them back."

Qing Mengzhu: "Then let's weigh these first."

The man has a total of 636 jin of fish here. According to the proportion, this batch of fish can make about 2,400 jin of fertilizer.

Qing Mengzhu breathed a sigh of relief; at least the fertilizer sold to the Interstellar Mall was enough.

After they weighed and loaded the fish onto the truck, the man's family returned carrying the fish, followed by several fish farmers.

When the fish farmers struck up a conversation with Qing Mengzhu, he learned that it had rained heavily for the past two days, and that many fish in their ponds had died for various reasons. Hearing that Qing Mengzhu needed fish, they came to ask if he was still buying them.

Qing Mengzhu readily agreed.

So the fish farmers went home and brought their fish back, selling them to Qing Mengzhu for 2.2 yuan per jin.

After working for most of the day, Qing Mengzhu collected over 1,100 catties of fish.

The fish were piled on his makeshift truck, emitting a strong fishy smell.

Having successfully bought the fish she wanted, Qing Mengzhu didn't show much joy on her face.

Chen Yi standing beside him, asked, "What's wrong?"

Qing Mengzhu: "What?"

Chen Yi pointed to his face, indicating that his expression was off.

Qing Mengzhu quickly realized what was going on and explained, "I just felt that everyone was having a really tough time. So many fish died from just one rainstorm. I wonder if we'll still be able to make any money?"

"So that's what you're worried about," Chen Yi comforted him. "You can still make money. Even the Chen family can make some. It's normal for fish to die; it's just natural loss. Don't your vegetables often die too?"

Qing Mengzhu, thinking of her nearly dead tomato, had nothing more to say.

Chen Yi said to Qing Mengzhu, "After you buy the fish, they can recoup some of their losses, so overall, the loss won't be too serious. In fact, the cost of raising one pound of fish is only two or three yuan."

Qing Mengzhu: "Two yuan and twenty cents a pound, that's considered breaking even, right?"

Chen Yi smiled, "More or less."

Qing Mengzhu's mood improved. "That's good, saves me from looking like I'm taking advantage of someone's misfortune."

Chen Yi: "It's all business, don't overthink it. They also have insurance, so the insurance will cover part of the damages."

This was the first time Qing Mengzhu had heard of insurance, and she was very surprised. "There's insurance for aquaculture?"

Chen Yi: "Of course there are. Otherwise, if you raise so many fish and shrimp at once and something goes wrong—like the temperature is wrong, there's a problem with the oxygen, or even someone poisons them—you could work hard all year and lose everything, and even have to wipe out the profits from the previous years. You wouldn't be able to make a living that way."

Chen Yi continued, "So most people will buy insurance as a form of protection, so that even if they don't make money, they won't lose too much."

Qing Mengzhu: "It's pretty good. Is there insurance for agricultural products?"

Chen Yi: "Yes, you can ask around. I see that many large planting companies take out insurance, but I don't know about individual farmers."

After transporting the fish home, Chen Yi and the driver helped unload them.

The fish were piled up at the back; because the temperature was relatively high and they had been sitting there for a long time, the fishy smell was quite strong.

Not to mention that people find this smell unpleasant, even two dogs barked and ran away with their tails between their legs.

Qing Mengzhu felt that the fish wouldn't last long, so she quickly prepared for composting.

The fish are ready; next up are fresh grass, dried grass, and wood ash.

Fresh grass is easy to find. He plans to use lotus leaves, water spinach, and sweet potato leaves to make up the difference. With his current planting scale, it won't be difficult to gather several hundred kilograms. If he really can't gather enough, he'll go outside to cut fresh grass.

Wood ash is also an option; he plans to burn the tomato seedlings, cowpea vines, and winter melon vines that he pulled out of the field, which were already withered and old. If he can't collect enough, he'll consider other types of ash.

The remaining hay is a bit of a problem.

This is the harvest season for early rice in their area, and many households have rice straw.

It wouldn't be difficult for him to buy several hundred kilograms of straw; he could just go directly to Qing Changhong.

The problem is that he carefully prepared other composting materials for this composting, even using vegetables and lotus leaves from the field.

He was really unwilling to buy ordinary straw.

He hesitated, but couldn't resist checking out the Interstellar Mall.

The Interstellar Mall has a large quantity of hay, ranging from "Good Grade- " to "Fine Grade+" in six different grades, with prices ranging from tens of Star Coins per hundred kilograms to thousands of Star Coins per hundred kilograms.

Since we've already invested a lot in other materials, could we perhaps increase the amount of hay a little more?

After careful consideration, Qing Mengzhu finally bought 600 catties of "Good Grade quality" hay from the Interstellar Mall, spending 720 Star Coins.

Buying Star Coins will empty his account balance again, but he's short of Star Coins anyway, so being short eight thousand or nine thousand makes little difference.

He quickly put the matter out of his mind and began to carefully prepare the fertilizer.