Chapter 48

Both hay and fresh grass needed to be chopped, and he carefully chopped the various grasses into sections using a grass shredder.

The fish also needed to be cut, but without a suitable machine, Qing Mengzhu had to chop it by hand.

With so many fish piled together, smelling so bad and hot, the stench made him dizzy and lightheaded.

He couldn't handle it alone, so he had to pay someone to come and help him.

Qing Mengzhu called around in the village's WeChat group and finally invited six people: Tan Wenlei, Qing Changhong, Qing Pingdun, Feng Ningxiang, Qing Yuqin, and Miao Lan.

Because the smell of the fertilizer was quite unpleasant, Qing Mengzhu asked for a high price of two hundred yuan for half a day.

Tan Wenlei, wearing a thick mask, asked, "Didn't you ferment fertilizer before? Have you used it all up?"

Qing Mengzhu breathed through her mouth. "Almost."

He wasn't lying. The fertilizer, which initially seemed very durable, was gradually used up after multiple top dressings and the application of base fertilizer to the tomatoes and pond.

Even without buying bamboo, he would still be fermenting fertilizer again.

Unfortunately, I won the fertilizer fermentation powder in a lottery; buying it myself would cost several hundred Star Coins.

Qing Mengzhu felt a pang of heartache when she thought about the days ahead when she would spend her Star Coins like water.

Feng Ningxiang and the others worked in Qing Mengzhu every day and knew their situation quite well. "The Mengzhu family is quite adept at applying fertilizer."

Qing Pingdun: "That's normal. With so many vegetables growing, if we don't fertilize them enough, the quality simply won't be up to par."

Tan Wenlei sighed, "So don't be fooled by how high our income seems from selling vegetables every day; the costs behind the scenes are also quite high."

At this point, everyone once again expressed their feelings about how difficult agriculture is.

Despite wearing a mask, Qing Mengzhu was breathing heavily through her mouth while chopping fish with a "thump, thump, thump" sound, and did not participate in the conversation.

Just chop the fish into small pieces; there's no need to remove the internal organs, tail, or fins.

After the fish was chopped, Qing Mengzhu moved it to the waterproof cloth on the side, weighed all the ingredients, sprinkled fertilizer and fermentation powder on it, mixed it evenly, and stuffed it into the large vat.

He avoided people slightly when spreading the fertilizer and baking powder. As soon as the powder was applied, all the various impurities mixed together became completely indistinguishable.

Everyone was busy until after 8 p. m.

Qing Mengzhu felt she had worked very hard today and was a little guilty, so she wanted to treat everyone to dinner, but everyone declined.

They all said they wanted to go home and take a scrub to get rid of the fishy smell first.

Fortunately, although the process of fermenting fertilizer was quite arduous, the results were good.

The next day, when Qing Mengzhu checked the fertilizer tank, she could see that the fish meat had started to melt, and the contents of the tank were starting to rot and turn into a paste-like substance, although it didn't smell as bad as rotting. This was probably because the bacteria inside had effectively decomposed the material.

Qing Mengzhu stirred the fertilizer according to the instructions for use of the fertilizer fermentation powder, and then opened the lid to dry it in the sun.

Only after finishing this busy work will I go to work in the fields.

He has now handed over the work of picking and selling vegetables to Feng Ningxiang and the others, so he is not as busy as before and can take some time to do other things.

When he arrived at the vegetable garden, he looked around at the vegetables, and then went to see the pond.

I don't know if it's because Spirit Pearl Dregs was put into both ponds, but the ponds have recovered quite well. The water has become clear again, and the shrimp have sunk to the bottom of the water again.

Qing Mengzhu scattered chopped vegetables into the pond to feed the shrimp, and determined that the aerator was no longer needed. She then called someone to bring the aerator back.

Just as Qing Mengzhu was busy, he suddenly received a call from Zhou Yan.

He sold the fresh chili peppers to the catering group where Zhou Yan worked, but the two rarely chatted in private; at most, they were just acquaintances who exchanged likes on social media.

Qing Mengzhu was quite surprised to receive a call from Zhou Yan.

Qing Mengzhu: "Brother Zhou? What do you need me for?"

Zhou Yan's smiling voice came from the other end, "We need your help. We've been hosting some guests who are quite special and have high demands for the food. You sell vegetables, right? And many of your ingredients are perishable during storage and transportation, so we're thinking of temporarily moving our restaurant there."

Qing Mengzhu patiently waited for him to finish speaking, "You want to come to my house to cook?"

Zhou Yan: "No, no, no, that would be too much trouble for you. We want to cook in your village. We've already arranged the yard, but we need your help to supply lotus pods, lotus roots, and fresh vegetables. You can name your price."

This was Qing Mengzhu's first time growing lotus seeds, and the yield was always low. He didn't sell them; besides eating them himself, he would only give some to relatives and friends.

Upon hearing this, he asked, "Approximately how much? More won't do."

Zhou Yan: "Not much, about ten catties each of lotus pods and lotus root shoots will suffice, but we need more of the other vegetables."

Seeing that the request wasn't demanding, Qing Mengzhu readily agreed, "No problem."

Zhou Yan was overjoyed. "My benefactor! I'll go work on the proposal now!"

Author's Note:

See you this afternoon! [Let me see]

Chapter 48

Zhou Yan and his group said they were coming, so they first sent a decoration company to Pingkou Village.

They rented a traditional old courtyard house with white walls and black tiles in the village. After the renovation company came, they cleaned and repaired it, moved most of the furniture away, and left some rustic old furniture.

Then, the renovation company laid out carpets, placed flower pots, and rearranged the old furniture.

The old courtyard is coming back to life every day, and it's completely different from what it used to be.

The well-informed Tan Wenlei said to Qing Mengzhu, "You didn't see it, but the moment that thing was placed there, Uncle Maolin's old courtyard changed completely. I looked at it from the outside the other day, and I didn't even dare to go in."

Qing Mengzhu: "Do they still allow others to watch?"

Tan Wenlei: "Just look around from outside. The road outside isn't theirs; they can't just come over and kick people out, can they?"

Qing Mengzhu: "That makes sense. What about the ingredients? I heard they bought a lot of our local specialties?"

Speaking of this, Tan Wenlei became excited. "Yes, we bought double the amount of chickens from Changhong's family, pigs from Grandpa Mingfa's family, fish from Old Yutou's family, and vegetables from everyone else."

Qing Mengzhu: "That's quite a generous gesture."

Tan Wenlei leaned closer. "That's not all. They bought it but didn't take it away. They left it at each household's house, saying they wanted to grow and raise it for a while longer, and would take it when they needed it. Let's not even talk about the vegetables they grew; do you know how they raise chickens, ducks, pigs, and fish?"

Qing Mengzhu shook her head.

Tan Wenlei: "I heard that starting today, pigs can only eat wild grass and vegetables from outside. The chickens are the same; they eat only millet, without any feed mixed in. The fish are even worse. Old Yutou's fish are raised in the mountain ponds, right? The people who buy the fish are asking to release them into the stream, without feeding them anything, just starving them for a week."

Qing Mengzhu: "That's quite particular."

Tan Wenlei: "It looks like quite a hassle, but I wonder if all this hassle will actually bring any changes?"

Qing Mengzhu: "The fish must have changed. I've been hungry before, and it definitely tastes much better."

Tan Wenlei clicked his tongue. "That's really sophisticated."

Not only Tan Wenlei, but most people in the village were talking about this group of people who were going to come to the village to cook.

Even before Zhou Yan and his group arrived, various rumors about them were already circulating in the village.

When Qing Mengzhu mentioned it to him later, he was speechless. "It's not that exaggerated. We just processed it a little to get better ingredients."

Qing Mengzhu curiously, "How did you come up with the idea of holding the banquet in our village?"

Zhou Yan: "Didn't I accompany Xinfei to your village to pick vegetables last time? I thought your village had a nice environment and convenient transportation, so I mentioned it to the higher-ups, and they approved it, and your village was chosen in the end."

Qing Mengzhu: "I thought there was some special reason."

Zhou Yan: "There's no particular reason, but if I had to say something special, it would be your vegetables. Could you take me to your garden to pick some vegetables today?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Sure, if you don't mind the effort, you can pick them yourself."