Chapter Summaries

Qing Mengzhu planted mulberry seedlings and pruned the plum grove, but noticed something unusual about his fertilizer despite the Mall Assistant finding no problem. After dinner, he and Ming Chunxi checked the Interstellar Mall again and found a new description in Qing Mengzhu’s personal center.

• Zhao Hexi left to negotiate shipping prices while Qing Mengzhu prepared fertilizer and planned his mountain work.
• Qing Mengzhu scanned fertilizer that looked odd, but the Mall Assistant reported no contamination, pests, or disease.
• Qing Mengzhu planted thirty mulberry seedlings and pruned the seventeen remaining plum trees.
• Qing Mengzhu brought plum blossoms home, where Ming Chunxi helped arrange them and heard about the strange fertilizer.
• After dinner, Qing Mengzhu scanned the fertilizer again and noticed a new description in his personal center.

Qing Mengzhu discovered that he had become a Junior Grower, gaining the ability to assess crops, soil, and water at a glance, and he used that knowledge to improve the farm. After Qing Mengzhu’s expertise helped the fields thrive, he went to inspect a shipment of sheep manure for the company.

• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi found the Junior Grower designation in the Interstellar Mall and learned it reflected his agricultural knowledge.
• Qing Mengzhu surveyed the fields and realized he could quickly judge the condition and needs of plants, soil, and water.
• Qing Mengzhu discovered that junior agricultural skill books were unavailable to him while intermediate books had become accessible, though they were expensive.
• Qing Mengzhu used his new ability to manage the farmland, and the vegetables grew well under his care.
• Zhao Hexi noticed Qing Mengzhu could identify field problems before reviewing the records, and Qing Mengzhu went with him to inspect the company’s sheep manure shipment.

Qing Mengzhu discovered that the sheep manure Zhao Hexi had bought contained excessive metals, then took Ming Chunxi and the little ones into the mountains to forage and map potential harvest spots. On the drive home, Qing Mengzhu noticed an unusual orange grove and went with Ming Chunxi to investigate, but no one answered their calls from inside.

• Qing Mengzhu noticed the sheep manure looked and smelled unusual, and a test confirmed its copper and zinc levels exceeded the limit.
• Zhao Hexi arranged to return the manure, while Qing Mengzhu explained that livestock feed additives could cause excessive metals in manure.
• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi took the two dogs, the red fox, and the otter into the mountains, where Qing Mengzhu marked possible mushroom spots and the group gathered produce.
• On the drive home, Qing Mengzhu spotted unusually colored oranges in a grove and asked Ming Chunxi to turn back.
• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi approached the orchard gate and called out, but no one answered and a dog inside barked.

Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi found an orchard with exceptionally sweet mandarins and bought fruit and five hundred mandarin trees from its owner. After signing a contract and paying a deposit, Qing Mengzhu arranged for Zhao Hexi to join them in digging up the trees the next day.

• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi tasted the orchard owner's mandarins, liked them, and bought a hundred jin.
• Qing Mengzhu asked about mandarin saplings, and the owner took him and Ming Chunxi to another orchard to see the trees.
• Qing Mengzhu agreed to buy five hundred mandarin trees for two hundred yuan each and arranged to choose and dig them up the next day.
• Ming Chunxi revised the contract, both parties signed it, and Qing Mengzhu paid a deposit.
• Qing Mengzhu invited Zhao Hexi to dinner, discussed the purchase and next day's digging plans, and sent him home with a bag of mandarins.

After planting orange saplings, Qing Mengzhu met blueberry grower Yi Yanbai, who offered his family’s blueberry saplings. Curious about their possible wild-variety traits and a thirty-year-old bush, Qing Mengzhu planned to inspect them with Zhao Hexi the next day.

• Zhao Hexi and his team dug up three-year-old orange saplings with their roots and surrounding soil, then planted them over the following days.
• After the first snow, Qing Mengzhu and his team protected their vegetables from frost, and Qing Mengzhu met Yi Yanbai waiting outside his house with blueberry saplings.
• Yi Yanbai told Qing Mengzhu that his family had switched from oranges to blueberries and that the saplings came from a thirty-year-old bush.
• Qing Mengzhu invited Yi Yanbai to return the next day so he and Zhao Hexi could inspect the old blueberry bush.
• Ming Chunxi questioned the small saplings, and Qing Mengzhu explained how wild-variety genes could affect disease resistance, local adaptability, and flavor.

Qing Mengzhu visited Yi Yanbai’s family blueberry orchard but rejected the plants because their quality, disease resistance, and yield did not meet his needs. After sharing a meal with Yi Yanbai and his parents, Qing Mengzhu sampled tea from the family’s old tea trees.

• Qing Mengzhu and Zhao Hexi drove to Yi Yanbai’s remote village and inspected his family’s lowbush blueberry plants, which were mostly Good Grade or Good Grade-.
• Qing Mengzhu told Yi Yanbai he needed blueberries with stronger disease resistance and higher yields, and Yi Yanbai accepted the rejection sadly.
• Yi Ousheng insisted that Qing Mengzhu and Zhao Hexi join the family for lunch before driving home, and they accepted his hospitality.
• Over the meal, Yi Ousheng and Chen Meimei explained why they stayed in the village, while Yi Yanbai said he had returned after university to sell fruit and make short videos.
• After lunch, Yi Ousheng served tea made from his family’s old tea trees, and Qing Mengzhu praised its fragrance.

Qing Mengzhu bought two old tea trees from Yi Ousheng after deciding not to buy the blueberry seedlings. Back home, he told Ming Chunxi he planned to use an Inducing Agent on the trees to develop a more distinctive tea flavor.

• Yi Ousheng offered Qing Mengzhu tea leaves and showed him his family's tea trees, each with a history spanning generations.
• Qing Mengzhu negotiated with Yi Ousheng and bought two large tea trees for one thousand yuan each.
• Qing Mengzhu, Yi Ousheng, Yi Yanbai, and villagers dug up the trees and wrapped their roots before dark.
• Qing Mengzhu and Zhao Hexi brought the trees home, where Ming Chunxi helped carry them into the courtyard.
• Qing Mengzhu explained his plan to use the Inducing Agent on the tea trees, and Ming Chunxi agreed.

Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi planted tea trees and searched for blueberry seeds while arranging the company’s New Year break. They decided to spend the holiday at home with Ms. Ming visiting, and Qing Mengzhu prepared for the festivities as neighbors brought food and he opened holiday packages.

• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi planted two tea trees in the backyard and fertilized them.
• After several disappointing orchard visits, Qing Mengzhu bought expensive blueberry seeds from a neighboring province’s agricultural research institute on Nian Xinfei’s recommendation.
• Qing Mengzhu and Zhao Hexi arranged the employees’ holiday schedule, New Year’s Eve dinner, and red envelopes.
• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi agreed to ask Ms. Ming to stay with them for a few days over New Year so their pets could remain at home.
• Qing Mengzhu hired a cleaner and tidied the house before opening his holiday packages.
• Tan Wenlei brought Qing Mengzhu a basin of fried oil cakes, and Qing Mengzhu gave him a leg of lamb in return.

Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi prepared to celebrate New Year with Ming Lexin, sharing festive clothes and food with their animal companions. The chapter ended with the three of them raising glasses at New Year's Eve dinner.

• Qing Mengzhu dressed Dharma Protector and Guard in red vests, then gave the red fox and the otter matching collars after they showed envy.
• Qing Mengzhu sent photos of the animals to Ming Lexin, who looked forward to visiting them for New Year.
• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi planned a ten-dish New Year's Eve dinner and gathered ingredients from their home and nearby river.
• Ming Lexin arrived with gifts and fireworks, and happily cuddled Guard while Qing Mengzhu took a photo.
• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi cooked together, and Ming Chunxi promised they would stay together for a long time.
• At dinner, Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi fed all four animals before joining Ming Lexin for a toast to their family being together.

Ming Lexin celebrated the new year with Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi, and Qing Mengzhu received gifts from the Interstellar Mall. After a family hike, Qing Mengzhu invited Zhao Hexi to join their planned cookout, and they set out to fish near their company’s fields.

• Ming Lexin enjoyed the New Year’s Eve feast and fireworks with Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi, who shared a kiss while Dharma Protector watched.
• Qing Mengzhu discovered that the Interstellar Mall had sent him seasoning powder, a Wish Seed, and a restricted discount coupon.
• Ming Lexin joined Qing Mengzhu, Ming Chunxi, and their animals on a hike to see snow, clouds, and an old plum grove.
• After Zhao Hexi complained about his family, Qing Mengzhu invited him to their cookout, and Zhao Hexi agreed to bring fishing rods and help prepare kiln chicken.
• Zhao Hexi arrived the next morning, and Qing Mengzhu chose a fishing spot near the company’s unplanted fields for their cookout.

Qing Mengzhu, Ming Chunxi, Ming Lexin, and Zhao Hexi spent the New Year fishing and cooking outdoors with the village children. After sharing grilled fish, mussels, kiln-roasted hazel grouse, eggplants, sweet potatoes, and fried cakes, they left the children with roasted vegetables to take home.

• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi built an earthen kiln while Ming Lexin and Zhao Hexi fished, and the children helped carry clods.
• Qing Mengzhu gathered ingredients, wrapped the hazel grouse in lotus leaves, and accepted eggplants a child had picked from his family's greenhouse.
• Ming Lexin caught two fish, which Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi grilled with mussels and their secret garlic chili sauce.
• Qing Mengzhu and the others dug up the kiln-roasted hazel grouse, sweet potatoes, eggplants, and fried cakes and shared the food with everyone.
• Zhao Hexi gave up on catching a fish and ate, while Qing Mengzhu asked Little Otter to catch more fish and shared the roasted vegetables among the children.

On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi found strawberries forming in their field and later discovered bamboo fungus and medicinal herbs in their bamboo grove. After weeds overran the grove, they decided to hire help and planned to invite Zhao Hexi to dinner to discuss it.

• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi inspected the fields and found flowers and small green strawberries growing, then bought supermarket strawberries to satisfy Qing Mengzhu's craving.
• On the seventh day of the New Year, Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi visited the bamboo grove and decided to let its healthy new bamboo shoots grow.
• Qing Mengzhu found that weeds had overrun the grove section treated with Soil Fertility Restoration Agent, and he and Ming Chunxi began pulling them by hand.
• Qing Mengzhu identified Chinese foxglove, henbit deadnettle, and barbed skullcap among the plants and decided they should hire someone to weed the area.
• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi gathered bamboo fungus and planned to invite Zhao Hexi for dinner, while Qing Mengzhu suggested stir-frying the fungus with meat instead of catching more hazel grouse.

Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi discussed expanding their farm, and Qing Mengzhu bought five yellow cattle to raise for milk and meat. As the weather warmed, he found a severe diamondback moth infestation in the company’s vegetable fields and considered treating it with Insect-Killing Bacillus.

• Zhao Hexi visited Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi, helped plan weed removal, and suggested raising cattle to use the weeds as feed.
• Qing Mengzhu decided to raise yellow cattle and bought four females and one male from a cattle farm in Vine City.
• Dharma Protector and Guard initially frightened the calves, but the cattle soon settled in and the dogs began herding them.
• As spring warmed the fields, Qing Mengzhu counted insects in the cauliflower patch and found many in half a square meter.
• Qing Mengzhu identified the insects as diamondback moth larvae, and Zhao Hexi asked whether Insect-Killing Bacillus could be used against them.

Qing Mengzhu, Zhao Hexi, and Gu Benshu organized a combined pesticide and biological-control effort against diamondback moths in the vegetable fields. At a Saturday member event, Gu Benshu explained their pest-control methods and Qing Mengzhu shared the company's growing plans before the members gathered for an outdoor cookout.

• Qing Mengzhu identified the larvae as diamondback moths and arranged to spray azadirachtin with bamboo vinegar while using sex lures and sticky traps.
• Gu Benshu consulted with the research institute and released Insect-Killing Bacillus through Trichogramma wasps to target the moths.
• Zhuxi Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd. hosted sixty members for a field visit and hands-on weeding activity.
• Feng Ningxiang called Gu Benshu to explain the Trichogramma egg cards, and he described how the wasps and bacteria killed pests.
• Qing Mengzhu spoke to the members about the year's vegetable-growing plans and pest control, then added nearly all of them on WeChat.
• Zhao Hexi arranged an outdoor cookout with freshly picked vegetables and prepared meats.

Qing Mengzhu and Zhao Hexi hosted the members for a cheerful field hot pot, then Qing Mengzhu roasted fresh spring tea leaves from his backyard trees. The tea smelled and tasted unusually fragrant, and Zhao Hexi said he would buy it for several hundred yuan per jin.

• Qing Mengzhu and Zhao Hexi ate hot pot with the members, who sang, cleaned up, and later praised the gathering in their WeChat Moments posts.
• Ming Chunxi returned and joined Qing Mengzhu in browsing the members' posts before they ate dinner together.
• The next day, Qing Mengzhu picked leaves from his backyard tea trees and began roasting them in a dry pan.
• Zhao Hexi arrived, helped brew the freshly roasted tea, and praised its fragrance, sweet aftertaste, and soothing effect.
• Qing Mengzhu tasted the tea during a break from roasting.

Qing Mengzhu and Zhao Hexi had their freshly roasted tea assessed by Qing Guozhi, who praised its quality and estimated it could sell for around a thousand. As spring brought abundant new leaves, Qing Mengzhu learned how Ming Chunxi made black tea, and they waited together for Spirit Spring Water to boil as rain began to fall.

• Qing Guozhi visited Qing Mengzhu's courtyard, tasted the tea, and praised its rich aroma and full-bodied flavor.
• Qing Guozhi estimated the tea could sell for around a thousand, and he and Zhao Hexi each took some home.
• Qing Mengzhu shared tea with friends, while he and Ming Chunxi picked the rapidly growing leaves each day.
• Ming Chunxi showed Qing Mengzhu how to make black tea, explaining its withering, rolling, fermentation, and drying stages.
• Qing Mengzhu bought Low-Grade Spirit Spring from the Interstellar Mall and heated it in a clay pot to brew the new black tea.
• As spring rain fell, Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi waited together under the eaves for the water to boil.

Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi enjoyed freshly roasted tea brewed with Spirit Spring Water and decided to keep most of it while sending some to Ming Chunxi’s sect. Qing Mengzhu later wrapped tea for Zhao Hexi and went with him to inspect the mulberry orchard, while considering whether to cultivate more of the tea variety.

• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi praised the tea brewed with Spirit Spring Water and agreed to store most of it, while sending some to Ming Chunxi’s senior brother and adviser.
• Qing Mengzhu prepared airtight clay jars and searched the mountain for bamboo shoot sheaths to wrap the tea.
• Qing Mengzhu inspected the bamboo grove and fruit trees, then asked Zhao Hexi about the mulberry orchard.
• Zhao Hexi reported that the orchard’s mulberry trees had flowered and begun bearing fruit, and Qing Mengzhu arranged to visit and check the blueberry seedlings.
• Zhao Hexi picked Qing Mengzhu up and received a jar of wrapped black tea; Qing Mengzhu said he might cultivate the tea variety after harvesting the spring leaves.

Qing Mengzhu and Zhao Hexi visited the orchard, where Qing Mengzhu picked mulberry leaves to feed his cattle. After the cattle eagerly ate them, Zhao Hexi arranged for workers to bring back more leaves, and Tan Wenlei and Feng Ningxiang told Qing Mengzhu that mulberry leaves could also be eaten by people.

• Qing Mengzhu and Zhao Hexi inspected the renovated orchard and discussed its fruit trees and weeds.
• Qing Mengzhu and Zhao Hexi picked two bags of mulberry leaves to try as cattle feed.
• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi fed the leaves to the cattle, which eagerly ate them.
• Qing Mengzhu asked Zhao Hexi to arrange for workers to pick more leaves for the cattle.
• Tan Wenlei and Feng Ningxiang told Qing Mengzhu that people could eat mulberry leaves and use them in soup.

Qing Mengzhu and his friends tasted the company’s first vegetables, finding them good but not exceptional, and planned to test higher-value produce next. Zhou Yan sampled Qing Mengzhu’s strawberries and asked him to find bamboo worms for an important customer.

• Qing Mengzhu cooked mulberry-leaf soup and other company-grown vegetables for Zhao Hexi, who helped assess their quality.
• Qing Mengzhu, Zhao Hexi, and Ming Chunxi agreed the vegetables were safe and tasty but lacked a standout quality, so Qing Mengzhu planned another tasting.
• Qing Mengzhu invited Zhou Yan to evaluate tomatoes, herbs, and strawberries, and Zhou Yan asked him to gather half a jin or a jin of bamboo worms for an important customer.
• Zhou Yan tasted Qing Mengzhu’s strawberries and found them sweet, fragrant, and full of berry flavor.

Qing Mengzhu and his friends enjoyed Zhou Yan’s strawberries, cakes, and matcha ice cream, then Qing Mengzhu decided to try recruiting Zhou Yan to work with them. Ming Chunxi investigated and learned that Zhou Yan had been sidelined at his restaurant group, leaving Qing Mengzhu to consider what offer to make.

• Zhou Yan sent Qing Mengzhu a basket of cake and ice cream after taking home some of Qing Mengzhu’s strawberries.
• Qing Mengzhu, Zhao Hexi, Ming Chunxi, and the four little ones enjoyed Zhou Yan’s treats, including ice cream made with Qing Mengzhu’s tea.
• Qing Mengzhu praised Zhou Yan’s cooking and told Ming Chunxi he wanted to recruit him.
• Ming Chunxi agreed to investigate Zhou Yan’s position while Qing Mengzhu considered the job terms and whether to establish a separate restaurant.
• Ming Chunxi reported that Zhou Yan’s boss had brought in chefs specializing in Western and Japanese cuisine, leaving Zhou Yan somewhat sidelined.