Chapter Summaries

Qing Mengzhu received feedback about his ingredients, tended his ponds and animals, and discovered that his hazel grouse had begun laying eggs. He adjusted the birds’ feed to support their egg production.

• Ming Lexin praised Qing Mengzhu’s lotus seeds and sent gifts through Ming Chunxi, prompting Qing Mengzhu to wonder whether she suspected his relationship with Ming Chunxi.
• Qing Mengzhu considered the reported nourishing effects of lotus seeds and hazel grouse soup, then carefully fertilized his lotus and shrimp ponds.
• The geese and guard animals drove the three wild otters away from Qing Mengzhu’s home and ponds.
• Dharma Protector and Guard led Qing Mengzhu to freshly laid hazel grouse eggs, and he rewarded them and the birds with extra food.
• After the hazel grouse entered their laying period, Qing Mengzhu improved their feed, though the birds preferred finely chopped vegetables to dry feed.

Qing Mengzhu tried boiled pond water for his hazel grouse and prepared to observe the Ghost Festival, while Ming Chunxi left work early to check on him. The chapter ended with Ming Chunxi arriving home before planning to return and keep Ming Lexin company.

• Qing Mengzhu collected pond water, boiled it, and gave it to the hazel grouse, which drank a little more readily than before.
• Qing Mengzhu agreed to let Feng Ningxiang, Miao Lan, and the others finish work early to prepare for the Ghost Festival.
• Qing Mengzhu picked lotus pods, reminded Ming Chunxi that Ming Lexin might be scared that evening, and went to buy paper money for his ancestors.
• Qing Mengzhu spent the afternoon preparing labeled bags of paper money for the festival.
• Ming Chunxi left work two hours early to check on Qing Mengzhu and said he would later return to keep Ming Lexin company.

Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi celebrated the Ghost Festival together by preparing offerings and burning joss paper, then Ming Chunxi drove home, promising to return the next day. Later, Qing Mengzhu recruited village elders to help process his lotus seeds, and they urged him to sell the high-quality harvest at a premium.

• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi wrote their ancestors' names on offering bags, caught a duck, and burned joss paper together.
• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi shared their first hug as a couple before Ming Chunxi drove to Ming Lexin's place for the night.
• Qing Mengzhu asked Qing Pingdun to help harvest his lotus pods and arranged for village elders to shell and process the seeds for two yuan per jin.
• The village elders praised Qing Mengzhu's lotus seeds and asked whether they could buy some or recommend them to others.
• Qing Mengzhu argued that his lotus seeds deserved a high price because he had raised and cared for the crop with exceptional attention and costly fertilizer.

Qing Mengzhu dried and showed off his unusually large lotus seeds and productive dual-purpose lotuses to Cen Zhiming, Jin Chongshan, and Niu Jinhao. After tasting the tender lotus roots, Cen Zhiming agreed to ask his school's germplasm bank whether it would accept Qing Mengzhu's lotuses.

• Qing Mengzhu dried forty-three jin of lotus seeds and chopped the leftover pod husks for fermentation.
• Cen Zhiming, Jin Chongshan, and Niu Jinhao visited Qing Mengzhu and admired his dried lotus seeds.
• Qing Mengzhu showed the students the lotus pond and dug up tender lotus roots, which they ate raw despite his warning about parasites.
• Cen Zhiming said he would ask his school's germplasm bank about Qing Mengzhu's lotuses.

Qing Mengzhu hosted Cen Zhiming, Jin Chongshan, and Niu Jinhao for dinner, then arranged for agricultural researchers to inspect his unusually productive lotuses. Ji Qinglin and Wu Tianqing visited his pond, where the geese reacted to the strangers.

• Qing Mengzhu let Cen Zhiming photograph the lotus pond and agreed that researchers could visit to study the lotuses.
• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi cooked dinner with Jin Chongshan, Cen Zhiming, and Niu Jinhao, who praised the meal and the lotus dessert.
• Cen Zhiming told Qing Mengzhu that his seniors would report the lotuses to the agricultural university's germplasm bank.
• Ji Qinglin called Qing Mengzhu, arranged a visit with Wu Tianqing, and received his location through WeChat.
• Ji Qinglin and Wu Tianqing inspected Qing Mengzhu's pond and asked about the lotus variety and how many seeds he had planted.
• The geese spread their wings and honked as Ji Qinglin and Wu Tianqing approached the pond.

Qing Mengzhu showed Ji Qinglin and Wu Tianqing his lotus-and-shrimp pond, and they arranged to buy planting seeds and lotus plants for research. After agreeing to prioritize local trial planting of any new varieties, Qing Mengzhu sold a batch of lotus seeds and prepared an incubator for his hazel grouse eggs.

• Qing Mengzhu explained how his geese, oriental river prawns, and lotuses were raised together, then showed Ji Qinglin and Wu Tianqing the pond’s unusually fine mud and let them taste its lotus seeds.
• Ji Qinglin and Wu Tianqing agreed to buy lotus plants and planting seeds from Qing Mengzhu at set prices for their breeding work.
• Qing Mengzhu asked the researchers to consider his area for trial planting when they developed a new lotus variety, and they agreed to prioritize local growers.
• Qing Mengzhu sold a batch of lotus seeds and bought a large incubator after collecting more than three hundred fertilized hazel grouse eggs.

Qing Mengzhu consulted a breeder while tending his hazel grouse eggs, then showed Tan Wenlei how to select and transplant male asparagus seedlings. Zhao Hexi arrived with butchered mutton to fish with the otters, while Qing Mengzhu returned to the fields as the chili harvest was loaded.

• Qing Mengzhu sought daily advice from a breeder about adjusting the temperature and humidity for his hazel grouse eggs.
• Qing Mengzhu showed Tan Wenlei how to identify male asparagus seedlings and explained how to transplant and support them.
• Qing Mengzhu selected male asparagus seedlings to plant by his fence after sunset.
• Zhao Hexi brought butchered mutton on Saturday and set off on an electric scooter to find the otters and the red fox by the pond.
• Qing Mengzhu told Ming Chunxi to rest and make lotus tea while he went to check the fields.
• Feng Ningxiang and the others loaded their bags of picked chilies onto Qing Pingdun's vehicle as Qing Mengzhu arrived.

Qing Mengzhu and Zhao Hexi went fishing, but a friendly otter caught fish for them and for Dharma Protector and Guard. Qing Mengzhu’s farm produce continued selling well in the real world, and he planned to discuss a tomato deal with Zhou Yan once the crop ripened.

• Qing Mengzhu picked lotus pods to deliver to the village convenience store while Zhao Hexi fished nearby with Dharma Protector and Guard.
• An otter startled Zhao Hexi by giving him a fish, then caught Qing Mengzhu a much larger snakehead after Qing Mengzhu asked for one.
• Dharma Protector and Guard barked for fish, and the otter brought each dog a large fish that they proudly carried home.
• Qing Mengzhu and Zhao Hexi returned home with their fish, where Ming Chunxi was drying chilies and Zhao Hexi asked whether Qing Mengzhu could sell his growing harvest.
• Qing Mengzhu said Di Xing was buying his dried chilies and explained that his vegetables, chilies, and lotus seeds were selling well; Zhou Yan planned to discuss buying tomatoes after they ripened.

Qing Mengzhu learned that he could earn junior membership in the Interstellar Mall by increasing his sales, which would let him buy more cultivation goods. After a sleepless night, he went with Ming Chunxi and Zhao Hexi to inspect his bamboo and look for mushrooms.

• Qing Mengzhu read that selling enough goods could upgrade him to junior membership and saw the skill books, spiritual products, and machines he could then buy.
• Qing Mengzhu stayed up thinking about the Interstellar Mall, and Ming Chunxi helped treat his dark circles the next morning.
• Zhao Hexi joked with Qing Mengzhu over breakfast, then mentioned that the bamboo on his hill had sprouted new branches.
• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi invited Zhao Hexi to join them on a trip to inspect the bamboo and pick mushrooms.
• Qing Mengzhu found that the bamboo was thriving, and Zhao Hexi asked whether its shoots could be pickled for luosifen.

Qing Mengzhu explored his mountain with Ming Chunxi and Zhao Hexi, then expanded his sales to the Interstellar Mall and received junior membership. When he needed more space to compost the vegetables drained by the Mall, Qing Yukai suggested renting an unused pond instead of digging a pit in his backyard.

• Zhao Hexi found gushu mushrooms and honey mushrooms near Qing Mengzhu's gastrodia, and the three gathered a plentiful haul from the mountain.
• Qing Mengzhu told Ming Chunxi he planned to expand his growing operation, and Ming Chunxi offered to help with support work while he was less busy.
• Qing Mengzhu signed a three-month sales contract with the Interstellar Mall and gained junior membership benefits.
• Qing Mengzhu began selling more vegetables to the Mall, but the drained vegetables could only be composted, so he and Ming Chunxi planned a compost pit.
• Qing Yukai advised Qing Mengzhu to rent an unused pond for compost rather than dig a pit in his backyard.

Qing Mengzhu rented a large pond and turned it into a composting site, then spent his saved Star Coins on Growth Liquid from the Interstellar Mall. After extracting it in a beautiful jade bottle, he read the instructions and prepared to test it on his bamboo.

• Qing Mengzhu rented a pond of over 600 square meters for ten years at 1,000 yuan a year.
• Qing Mengzhu hired Tan Wenlei, Qing Changhong, and others to mix manure and plant waste into compost and cover it to ferment.
• Qing Mengzhu saved enough Star Coins to buy the Growth Liquid, extracted it, and admired the jade bottle before discovering the product had been delisted.
• Qing Mengzhu read the instructions, bought a rubber-bulb dropper in the city, and planned to apply the Growth Liquid to his bamboo.

Qing Mengzhu tested Growth Liquid on his bamboo and asparagus, and both grew dramatically overnight. He began transplanting the bamboo shoots while Ming Chunxi offered to help after seeing how hard Qing Mengzhu had worked.

• Qing Mengzhu applied five drops of Growth Liquid to the bamboo and used the rinsed dropper water on his asparagus.
• The next morning, Qing Mengzhu found the asparagus bushier and the bamboo grown into a clump with seven towering shoots.
• Qing Mengzhu asked Feng Ningxiang to manage the vegetables and lotus seed pods and Qing Pingdun to transport and weigh the harvested pods.
• Qing Mengzhu inspected the bamboo roots, then spent the day digging up and transplanting three shoots before watering them with pond water.
• Ming Chunxi applied aloe gel to Qing Mengzhu's sunburned face and said he would help with the bamboo the next morning.

Qing Mengzhu finished tending his rapidly growing bamboo and hoped to plan a date with Ming Chunxi, though Ming’s work kept him busy. While clearing his aging pumpkin vines, Qing found a plentiful harvest and offered some pumpkins to Tan Wenlei.

• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi exchanged goodnight kisses before Qing hurried to his room, flustered.
• Qing Mengzhu saw that his seventeen transplanted bamboo plants had become groves while retaining Superior Grade quality, and he decided to stop planting more.
• Qing Mengzhu and Zhao Hexi discussed how Qing and Ming Chunxi fit dates into their busy schedules.
• Qing Mengzhu cleared the dried pumpkin vines and gathered the many mature pumpkins hidden among them.
• Tan Wenlei praised Qing Mengzhu’s pumpkin harvest, but declined his offer to take some home.

Qing Mengzhu learned that Tan Wenlei’s field had a persistent pest infestation and promised to research ways to help while protecting his own crops. That evening, he and Ming Chunxi worked side by side at home, with Qing Mengzhu reading agricultural papers and Ming Chunxi typing formulas and data.

• Qing Mengzhu explained that his family struggled to use up their plentiful pumpkins and that selling them brought little profit.
• Tan Wenlei asked Qing Mengzhu to inspect his vegetable field, where several kinds of pests kept returning despite pesticide use.
• Qing Mengzhu found the infestation was troublesome but not as severe as Tan Wenlei had described, and learned a technician had linked it to poor crop rotation and pest-egg control.
• Tan Wenlei worried that abandoning the crop would cost him more than ten thousand yuan, and Qing Mengzhu promised to research possible solutions.
• Qing Mengzhu returned to his field to cut pumpkin vines and considered pest-control options while withholding advice until he had a complete plan.
• That evening, Qing Mengzhu read agricultural papers while Ming Chunxi worked on a document filled with formulas and data.

Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi shared a romantic moment before Qing Mengzhu tried several methods to control pests in Tan Wenlei's fields. The infestation overwhelmed their efforts and destroyed the crop, though Qing Mengzhu's warnings and precautions kept it from spreading to nearby fields.

• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi recalled their high school years, kissed, and ended up postponing their reading and work until the next morning.
• Qing Mengzhu brought traps, sweet-and-sour bait, and a Bacillus thuringiensis preparation to Tan Wenlei's fields and began an integrated pest-control effort.
• Qing Mengzhu found white grubs in manure that had not fully decomposed and planned to use a sex attractant against them.
• Qing Mengzhu and Tan Wenlei's efforts reduced some pests, but a new outbreak stripped the vegetables down to bare stalks.
• Qing Mengzhu's precautions and warnings helped prevent the infestation from spreading to neighboring fields, and Tan Wenlei resolved to avoid repeating his mistakes.

Qing Mengzhu found a promising biological pesticide in the Interstellar Mall and considered how to have the bacterium isolated locally. After discussing ways to fund and organize the work with Ming Chunxi, he sought Zhao Hexi’s advice and remained undecided about starting a company.

• Qing Mengzhu found the Interstellar Mall’s expensive Livingston Bacillus Preparation and suspected they could isolate the bacterium themselves.
• Qing Mengzhu discussed forming an agricultural technology company or working with a university with Ming Chunxi, who offered his fortune of about 47 million yuan to support him.
• Qing Mengzhu embraced Ming Chunxi and said that any company they started would belong to both of them and require both of them to work.
• Tan Wenlei’s family flooded their vegetable field to drown pests and their eggs.
• Qing Mengzhu invited Zhao Hexi to the village for advice, and Zhao Hexi praised his commitment to agriculture from the beginning.

Qing Mengzhu discussed starting an agricultural technology company with Zhao Hexi and invited him to help manage it, with the company based in their village. They then dug bamboo shoots together, and Zhao Hexi saw how productive Qing Mengzhu’s rapidly grown grove had become.

• Zhao Hexi encouraged Qing Mengzhu to start an agricultural technology company and said Ming Chunxi’s investment reflected sincere affection.
• Qing Mengzhu asked Zhao Hexi to join the company, offering him shares and a salary, and Zhao Hexi agreed to consider it.
• Qing Mengzhu said he would set up the company in the village because it was close to home and the farmland.
• Qing Mengzhu and Zhao Hexi dug bamboo shoots, filling two carrying baskets while leaving some shoots to grow.
• Qing Mengzhu explained that Growth Liquid and fertilizer had helped the bamboo produce an especially large crop of shoots.

Qing Mengzhu and Zhao Hexi gathered bamboo shoots, then Little Otter caught them a large yellowcheek for dinner. They shared a feast with Ming Chunxi and enjoyed the seasonal ingredients, leaving Zhao Hexi ready to take bamboo shoots home the next day.

• Qing Mengzhu and Zhao Hexi prepared bamboo shoots on the mountain and decided to stir-fry them with beef for dinner.
• While picking vegetables and checking the pond, Qing Mengzhu asked Little Otter to catch a large fish from the river.
• Little Otter returned with a five- or six-jin yellowcheek, delighting Zhao Hexi.
• Qing Mengzhu cooked beef with bamboo shoots, yellowcheek, and garden vegetables for Ming Chunxi's return.
• Zhao Hexi praised the bamboo shoots and agreed to take some home when he left the next day.

Qing Mengzhu, Ming Chunxi, and Zhao Hexi agreed to establish an agricultural technology company, and Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi planned its structure and ownership. Qing Mengzhu then revealed the Interstellar Mall to Ming Chunxi, who gained access as an auxiliary user and began exploring it.

• Zhao Hexi agreed to join Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi's venture and went home to prepare to resign from his job.
• Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi chose the name Zhuxi Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd., planned its startup capital and hiring, and agreed that Zhao Hexi would receive ten percent of the shares.
• Ming Chunxi arranged for a registration agency to help Qing Mengzhu register the company, and the two finished outlining their plans.
• Qing Mengzhu told Ming Chunxi about the Interstellar Mall and showed him the app on his phone.
• Qing Mengzhu designated Ming Chunxi as an auxiliary user, allowing him to enter the mall and explore its offerings.

Qing Mengzhu told Ming Chunxi about the Interstellar Mall and the hardships he had endured, bringing them closer as they began a relationship. After their company was established, they started recruiting and hired Gu Benshu to lead its technical department.

• Qing Mengzhu showed Ming Chunxi his Interstellar Mall history, and Ming Chunxi comforted him over his difficult six months.
• Ming Chunxi and Qing Mengzhu decided to share a bed, kissed, and spent the night together.
• Zhao Hexi teased Qing Mengzhu about his glowing appearance before they discussed the company.
• Qing Mengzhu's company was registered in Shuiqing Town with help from Ming Chunxi's agency and support from Qing Yukai and Qing Guozhi.
• Qing Mengzhu and Zhao Hexi celebrated the company's establishment and began recruiting staff.
• Nian Xinfei introduced Gu Benshu, who accepted a position as head of technology and recommended hiring graduate students.