Chapter Summaries

Qing Mengzhu received the fertilizer fermentation powder Ming Chunxi won for him and began planning how to compost with it. After buying large vats, he arranged through Tan Wenlei’s shrimp-farming contact to source frozen mixed fish for the fertilizer, leaving the materials procurement underway.

• Ming Chunxi won a package of fertilizer fermentation powder for Qing Mengzhu, and the two arranged to share an affordable meal.
• Qing Mengzhu retrieved the powder and read that it required meat, fresh grass, hay, and plant ash to ferment, with fish or meat making up most of the costly ingredients.
• Zhao Hexi returned from fishing and discussed Qing Mengzhu’s compost plans with him.
• Qing Mengzhu bought large water vats and moved them, along with his compost bins, behind his house with Tan Wenlei’s help.
• Qing Mengzhu told Tan Wenlei he needed 1,200 jin of animal-based compost material, and Tan Wenlei contacted his shrimp-farming friend about supplying cheap frozen mixed fish.
• Qing Mengzhu added Tan Wenlei’s friend on WeChat and explained that he needed fish scraps of any species or freshness for composting.

Qing Mengzhu bought small fish and gathered materials to make fertilizer, then waited for it to ferment while the village's vegetables began producing a bumper harvest. He sampled Tan Wenlei's fresh vegetables and looked forward to his own later harvest.

• Qing Mengzhu ordered 1,200 jin of small mixed fish and arranged to buy rice straw from Qing Changhong for composting.
• Qing Mengzhu gathered grass and plant ash, then mixed them with the fish and fermentation powder and filled six large crocks.
• Qing Mengzhu watched the village farmers harvest vegetables while his own crops continued growing.
• Tan Wenlei brought Qing Mengzhu his first vegetables of the year, and Qing Mengzhu returned bamboo shoots and plums.
• Qing Mengzhu cooked Tan Wenlei's vegetables, enjoyed their flavor, and promised to share his own vegetables when they were ready.

Qing Mengzhu prepared to host Ming Chunxi in the countryside after Ming Chunxi asked to avoid public places, and the two spent Saturday exploring Qing Mengzhu’s fields. The chapter ended with them wading into the pond together to look for lotus root shoots.

• Qing Mengzhu agreed to let Ming Chunxi visit his home after Ming Chunxi said he had been filmed in public and wanted a more private setting.
• Ming Chunxi recalled visiting Qing Mengzhu’s hometown in high school and suggested they eat fish-tail wontons for breakfast.
• Ming Chunxi arrived early Saturday, and Qing Mengzhu showed him the guest room and the courtyard where an old tree had once stood.
• Qing Mengzhu took Ming Chunxi through the fields, showing him the chilies, vegetable plot, pond, ducks, and lotus leaves for steaming pork ribs.
• Qing Mengzhu entered the pond to look for lotus root shoots, and Ming Chunxi joined him after warning him to watch his footing.

Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi picked lotus shoots, shared a meal, and spent the day fishing and talking together. Qing Mengzhu secretly scanned the shoots and found that their quality was Fine Grade- and their value was promising.

• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi gathered lotus shoots from the pond and agreed to leave shoots that could grow into new plants.
• Qing Mengzhu took Ming Chunxi home, cut watermelon for them to eat, and prepared lunch while Ming Chunxi peeled garlic.
• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi enjoyed the meal, especially the stir-fried beef with fresh lotus shoots, and toasted each other with soup.
• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi tidied up, drank tea, napped, and went fishing together.
• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi picked lotus shoots again that evening, and Qing Mengzhu scanned them with the Mall Assistant and saw their Fine Grade- quality and price.

Qing Mengzhu’s vegetables and ducks flourished as he sold produce through the Interstellar Mall and used scraps to make compost. He discovered that his first batch of fertilizer had finished fermenting and scanned it with the mall assistant.

• Qing Mengzhu watered his thriving vegetables and Tan Wenlei asked how he grew them so quickly.
• Qing Mengzhu offered to help Tan Wenlei if his new vegetable buyers created too much work.
• Qing Mengzhu harvested vegetables, sold the best produce to the Interstellar Mall, and fed older vegetables to his ducks.
• Qing Mengzhu noticed that his fertilizer had turned paste-like and realized fermentation was complete.
• Qing Mengzhu opened the Interstellar Mall and scanned the finished fertilizer with the mall assistant.

Qing Mengzhu confirmed that his first batch of fermented fertilizer was ready and tested it on part of his water spinach, which grew noticeably taller and tasted better. Convinced the fertilizer worked, he began using it on his crops and hired Feng Ningxiang, Qing Yuqin, and Miao Lan to help fertilize the chili peppers.

• The mall assistant identified Qing Mengzhu's fermented fertilizer as basic fermented fertilizer, premium-, and he mixed it with water to test on some of his water spinach.
• Tan Wenlei noticed the next morning that the fertilized water spinach stood about two centimeters taller than the rest, and Qing Mengzhu agreed the fertilizer had worked.
• Qing Mengzhu harvested and ate the water spinach, found it crisper and sweeter, and decided to fertilize his other vegetables, chili peppers, and lotus plants.
• Qing Mengzhu hired Feng Ningxiang, Qing Yuqin, and Miao Lan to help bury fertilizer beside the chili pepper seedlings.
• Qing Mengzhu explained the fertilizer and how to use it, then the group carried it to the chili pepper field.

Qing Mengzhu finished fertilizing his crops and learned to pickle water spinach from Tan Wenlei. After enjoying the first batch, he welcomed Tan Wenlei and Di Caiyong, who had come to discuss his vegetables.

• Qing Mengzhu and the aunties finished fertilizing his pepper fields and lotus pond, and he thanked them with fresh vegetables.
• Qing Mengzhu saw Tan Wenlei harvesting vegetables and learned two ways to pickle water spinach stems.
• Qing Mengzhu prepared both kinds of pickles and sold the leftover water spinach leaves to the Interstellar Mall.
• Qing Mengzhu stir-fried his rice-washing-water pickles with pork, garlic, chili, and fermented black beans and enjoyed them with congee.
• Tan Wenlei brought Di Caiyong to meet Qing Mengzhu and discuss his vegetables, and Qing Mengzhu invited them to share breakfast.

Qing Mengzhu gave Di Caiyong samples of his organic vegetables, and Di’s family praised their flavor and urged him to secure a supply. After negotiating a trial partnership, Di began buying the vegetables, and customers soon returned to the restaurants specifically for them.

• Di Caiyong praised Qing Mengzhu’s pickled water spinach and discussed buying vegetables, so Qing gave him samples to take home.
• Di Caiyong’s family tasted the vegetables at their restaurant and encouraged him to negotiate a supply deal despite the higher price.
• Di Caiyong and Qing Mengzhu agreed that Di would pay 3.8 yuan per jin above Hongda Supermarket’s purchase price, with daily payment.
• Qing Mengzhu planted another half mu of vegetables after the arrangement went well.
• Di Caiyong told Qing Mengzhu that customers liked the vegetables and were already returning to order them.

Di Caiyong’s organic vegetables drew the attention of Qing Guozhi, a distant relative of Qing Mengzhu, who visited the village to meet the grower and buy vegetables. After tasting the produce and picking more than a hundred jin, Qing Guozhi left, and Tan Wenlei asked Qing Mengzhu why he had come.

• Di Caiyong reassured Qing Mengzhu that the restaurants could sell more of his vegetables, but Qing Mengzhu declined to expand his harvest for now.
• Qing Guozhi praised the vegetables at Di Caiyong’s restaurant and learned they came from Qing Mengzhu’s family plot in Pingkou Village.
• Qing Guozhi visited Qing Mengzhu, introduced himself as a distant relative, and asked to share a meal of vegetables reminiscent of his childhood.
• Qing Guozhi enjoyed Qing Mengzhu’s cooking and asked to buy vegetables, so Qing Mengzhu took him to the plot to pick them.
• Qing Guozhi and Qing Mengzhu picked over a hundred jin of vegetables, and Qing Guozhi’s son drove him home.
• Tan Wenlei visited after Qing Guozhi left, and Qing Mengzhu explained the reason for the visit.

Qing Mengzhu cooked Chinese grouse soup with wild mushrooms for Qing Guozhi, who was so impressed that he offered to help him raise the birds. The chapter left Qing Mengzhu considering the offer.

• Qing Guozhi visited Qing Mengzhu with three Chinese grouse and offered them for a meal.
• Qing Mengzhu checked that the birds were legally farmed before agreeing to cook them.
• Qing Mengzhu made soup with the grouse and his dried wild mushrooms, and Qing Guozhi eagerly waited for it to finish.
• Qing Guozhi praised the soup and asked Qing Mengzhu whether he wanted to raise Chinese grouse, offering to arrange permits and breeding stock.

Qing Mengzhu settled into raising hazel grouse and tended his flowering chili crop, arranging drone pollination after weeks of rain. After selling vegetables and building up his Interstellar Mall balance, he noticed a lucrative prize draw and considered spending ten star coins on it.

• An old man secured permits and brought Qing Mengzhu thirty-five hen and fifteen cock hazel grouse, along with a contact who could advise him on raising them.
• Qing Mengzhu posted a video of the grouse to Moments, where Ming Chunxi liked and commented; Zhao Hexi speculated that Ming Chunxi had feelings for him.
• Qing Mengzhu worried rain would prevent his chili flowers from pollinating, and Tan Wenlei suggested using drones to create wind over the plants.
• After the rain eased, Qing Mengzhu hired two agricultural drones to fly over his five mu of chili fields, then harvested and sold vegetables to the Interstellar Mall.
• Qing Mengzhu saw that his balance had risen to 305.24 star coins and considered entering the new ten-consecutive-draw event.

Qing Mengzhu discovered signs of otters near his backyard and protected his grouse, then asked Ming Chunxi about installing security cameras. When Ming Chunxi offered to bring zongzi for the Dragon Boat Festival, Qing Mengzhu invited him over and began preparing for his visit.

• Qing Mengzhu drew hay from the Interstellar Mall and continued tending his crops and livestock.
• Qing Mengzhu found large paw prints near the backyard, and Tan Wenlei identified them as likely otter tracks and warned him to protect his grouse.
• Qing Mengzhu caged the grouse and built a fence, but found a fresh hole beneath it the next day; all fifty grouse were still safe, and he found shed fur nearby.
• Zhao Hexi suggested that Qing Mengzhu ask Ming Chunxi about security cameras, so Qing Mengzhu contacted him and learned he could arrange a camera network.
• Ming Chunxi offered to bring Qing Mengzhu zongzi for the Dragon Boat Festival, and Qing Mengzhu invited him to come over for a meal.
• Qing Mengzhu chopped sweet potato leaves and fed the grouse and ducks while preparing for Ming Chunxi's visit.

Qing Mengzhu welcomed Ming Chunxi, who installed five cameras around the house, and the two spent the evening eating and talking together. The next morning, the cameras revealed an otter and a fox fighting by the backyard fence.

• Qing Mengzhu gathered food for Ming Chunxi's visit, and Ming Chunxi arrived with cameras and helped carry the bags inside.
• Ming Chunxi planned and installed five cameras around Qing Mengzhu's house, then the two shared a meal and talked about their lives.
• Qing Mengzhu prepared the guest room, and Ming Chunxi stayed overnight while Qing Mengzhu fell asleep quickly.
• Qing Mengzhu went to pick vegetables for Di Caiyong and learned from Tan Wenlei that his family had returned for the Dragon Boat Festival.
• Ming Chunxi showed Qing Mengzhu the camera footage, which showed a fox digging beneath the backyard fence before an otter dropped onto it and the animals began fighting.

Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi discovered that a red fox and an otter had been fighting near the yard, then spent the holiday hiking and picking mushrooms before repairing the fence. As they finished, the otter and fox reappeared nearby, watching them.

• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi watched surveillance footage of a red fox and a protected otter fighting, then found a hole beneath the backyard fence.
• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi went mushroom picking in the mountains, where Qing Mengzhu showed him the fields and identified safe mushrooms.
• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi carried bamboo home and used it to repair the fence, with Qing Mengzhu rejecting wire mesh because it looked ugly.
• Ming Chunxi spotted the otter watching them beneath a tree, and then pointed out the red fox as it flashed past.

Qing Mengzhu won a premium Luring Grass seed, discovered it was a single clove of purple garlic, and planted it. He continued tending his farm while the fox and otter watched his hazel grouse from outside the fence, and Zhao Hexi called to thank him for the vegetables.

• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi repaired the fence, shared a festive dinner, and Ming Chunxi returned to Vine City.
• Qing Mengzhu used Ming Chunxi’s help with a prize draw and won a premium Luring Grass seed worth 1,666 star coins.
• Qing Mengzhu learned the prize was a single clove of purple garlic and planted it in a flowerpot.
• Qing Mengzhu found the fox and otter peering at his hazel grouse, then reported them to the forest police, who said they could not force the animals to move.
• The fox and otter kept visiting the fence without harming the hazel grouse, while Qing Mengzhu sold vegetables and sent some to his friends.
• Zhao Hexi called Qing Mengzhu to thank him for the vegetables he had sent before the Dragon Boat Festival.

Qing Mengzhu learned about sun-dried tomatoes from Di Caiyong and prepared a batch to use in seafood soup with Qing Guozhi. He invited Zhao Hexi and Ming Chunxi to join him, and the chapter ended with Ming Chunxi arriving for the weekend visit.

• Zhao Hexi praised Qing Mengzhu’s tomatoes and told him how much his family enjoyed them in hot pot.
• Di Caiyong described sun-dried tomatoes and recommended pairing them with seafood soup, prompting Qing Mengzhu to dry some.
• Qing Guozhi proposed making sun-dried tomato and seafood soup together, and Qing Mengzhu invited Zhao Hexi and another friend.
• Qing Mengzhu arranged for Zhao Hexi to come Saturday and Ming Chunxi to arrive Friday night.
• Ming Chunxi arrived at Qing Mengzhu’s home with a fruit basket, and Qing Mengzhu told him that neighbors had also seen the otters and foxes in the backyard.

Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi went to town with Zhao Hexi, then returned home with Qing Guozhi to prepare a meal from fresh garden produce and seafood. The chapter ended as everyone tasted Qing Mengzhu’s seafood soup and savored its rich flavor.

• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi picked vegetables, and Qing Mengzhu gave Di Caiyong sun-dried tomatoes in exchange for advice on seafood soup.
• Zhao Hexi arrived at Qing Mengzhu’s home, joined him and Ming Chunxi on a trip to town for wontons, and later returned with them to prepare lunch.
• Qing Guozhi arrived, and he, Zhao Hexi, Ming Chunxi, and Qing Mengzhu prepared ingredients for a meal.
• Qing Mengzhu cooked seafood soup, tomato fish, eggplant with ground pork, stir-fried beef with lotus shoots, and water spinach with minced garlic.
• Zhao Hexi and the others tasted Qing Mengzhu’s seafood soup, and Qing Mengzhu found that the seafood had no fishy taste.

Qing Mengzhu's seafood meal delighted his guests, and afterward he considered planting autumn tomatoes. After consulting Cen Zhiming, local farmers, and an expert, he decided to save seeds from his successful spring crop.

• Qing Mengzhu served seafood soup and fish in tomato sauce, which Zhao Hexi, the old man, and Ming Chunxi all enjoyed.
• After the meal, Qing Mengzhu told Ming Chunxi he was considering planting more tomatoes for the autumn crop, and Ming Chunxi offered to help find buyers.
• Qing Mengzhu asked Cen Zhiming, Tan Wenlei, and Di Caiyong about tomato varieties, and they confirmed that local farmers used the same varieties for spring and autumn crops.
• Cen Zhiming suggested Qing Mengzhu save seeds from his spring tomatoes, and an expert told him that he could do so, though professional seeds might be more consistent.
• Qing Mengzhu checked the Interstellar Mall, found no tomato seeds or seedlings, and decided to save seeds from his own spring tomatoes.

Qing Mengzhu prepared to plant two mu of fall tomatoes, hired help to fill seedling cups, and gave Tan Wenlei leftover seeds so he could raise his own seedlings. As he worked, Qing Mengzhu tended his vegetables and animals, then went to admire the lotus ponds, where the lotuses had filled the water with leaves and begun to bud.

• Qing Mengzhu collected and prepared tomato seeds, arranged to have two mu of field plowed, and spread fermented fertilizer for the plowing.
• Qing Mengzhu told Tan Wenlei that his tomato seeds were nearly ready, and Tan Wenlei asked for seedlings for one mu of tomatoes; Qing Mengzhu offered him leftover seeds instead.
• Qing Mengzhu mixed soil for the seedling cups while Feng Ningxiang and two other workers filled the cups for the tomato seeds.
• Qing Mengzhu weeded his vegetable plot and fed the fresh weeds to his ducks and hazel grouse while the workers chatted about his thriving ducks.
• Qing Mengzhu went to inspect his lotus ponds and saw that the leaves nearly covered both ponds and small buds had appeared.

Qing Mengzhu tried to buy Savage Marsh Shrimp eggs from the Interstellar Mall, but they disappeared before he could purchase them. He accepted a seed-hatching task that might let him exchange its reward for shrimp eggs, and began preparing to grow the seed.

• Qing Mengzhu sold his vegetables to save enough star coins for Savage Marsh Shrimp eggs, but discovered that all shrimp and shrimp products had vanished from the Interstellar Mall.
• Qing Mengzhu asked Tan Wenlei's friend about marsh shrimp fry, but Ming Chunxi's advice to wait for another opportunity encouraged him to keep searching the mall instead.
• Qing Mengzhu found a paid task to hatch a Dragon Rosy Cloud Fruit seed and accepted it, hoping to exchange the premium seed reward for Savage Marsh Shrimp eggs.
• Qing Mengzhu received the black seed and read that it needed warmth and moisture but could not tolerate frost.
• Qing Mengzhu pinched off a tender leaf from the Luring Grass to help him start growing the Dragon Rosy Cloud Fruit seed.