Chickens and dogs fly in chaos and rebirth

Chapter 69

Shanglin hoped to grow the colorful bell peppers of later generations, but Xiao Zhang said that this variety didn't exist in China yet, and pressed her for more details. She wasn't an agriculturalist, only someone who had bought and eaten them, so she couldn't answer the questions of a professional. She could only make up an excuse, saying she'd heard about it from a friend abroad, and managed to get away with it. But it did give them a direction, and Xiao Zhang put all her effort into growing bright red and green bell peppers.

She didn't leave any corners unused; she planted several rows of tomatoes. But when the tomatoes were off the shelves and at their worst, she could only look on with envy. She then went to the flower shed, but due to limited space, she could only grow some lush evergreen plants and easy-to-care-for Michelia figo, but they didn't bloom either.

Emerging from the greenhouse, wiping away sweat, she pondered that the two greenhouses were too small. Even for flowers alone, let alone vegetables, a larger space was needed to cultivate more varieties. Despite the considerable area, only a few simple things could actually be grown. She had come with the expectation of harvesting the fruits of summer, but now she was disheartened. Her basket contained only a few bell peppers and tomatoes, leaving her feeling dejected.

It's better to go to the mountains and find wild fruits; you'll have a much better harvest!

Gu Zhiyuan, being perceptive, pointed and asked, "What's that?"

In front of them, a row of trellises stood in neat rows, covered with green vines and stems, from which hung some long, plump gourds with bumpy skins that didn't look very pretty.

Shanglin Xinxi: "Bitter gourd!"

In the sweltering summer heat, her heart was restless, and she seemed to see bright green bitter melons mixed with ice in a clear container. She rushed over to pick the biggest one and twist it, but Xiao Zhang quickly stopped her, saying, "No, no, no, those are for breeding. They won't taste good when they're old. Pick the small ones; they're tender!"

Shanglin turned around and stuck out his tongue, unwilling to give up on his goal.

He wandered around to one shop after another, and soon his basket was filled with all sorts of vegetables.

Even though they didn't grow their own vegetables, they still came to the large vegetable garden in Qiujia Village, and there were so many relatives and neighbors there. This person gave them some greens, that person gave them a stalk of celery, and Gu Zhiyuan also picked up a golden pumpkin.

Shang Lin thought to himself, "Well, it seems I didn't come to see my greenhouse, but rather to rob my fellow villagers!"

She knew that these fruits and vegetables were nothing to farmers. They had plenty in their own gardens, more than they could eat, and they couldn't get a good price for them; much of it just rotted away.

The plan she had discussed with Gu Cheng was being implemented. The town had found a site and was planning to build a vegetable wholesale market—once the vegetable greenhouses were established on a large scale and vegetable production increased, they couldn't possibly eat it all themselves, could they? She had already thought of sales channels. With the improvement of living standards, soon every city would be promoting the "vegetable basket project," and the vegetables from Zifang Town would not only be sold throughout the province, but might even be sent to Beijing to provide support!

You have to do things early, or others will follow suit. Don't be fooled by the fact that she seems to be in charge of nothing; she's actually very perceptive. Early on, she urged the town and the city to sign an agreement and, through Gu Cheng's connections, obtained support from the provincial party committee to vigorously develop the agricultural industry in Zifang Town—no, not just Zifang Town.

If done well, the experience can be gradually disseminated from Zifang Town to benefit the entire province.

As luck would have it, just as she was looking around for Qiu Xialin, Changsheng and the others returned, soaking wet and carrying their shoes. When asked, they said they had gone to the river to catch fish.

These kids weren't very lucky; they didn't manage to catch any fish, but luckily they managed to snag a can of shrimp, which they were now nervously swaying in the water.

Gu Zhiyuan planned to stay at the Qiu family's house for a few days, and had already obtained permission from the parents. Shang Lin was worried about who would help her tutor Xia Lin and Chang Sheng with their studies, and was overjoyed to hear this. She wished he could stay in Zifang Town for a long time.

Gu Zhiyuan was an outstanding student every year, achieving first-class grades.

Ignoring Lin's pout and displeasure, Gu Zhiyuan insisted on dragging them to Little Wine Fairy for a meal. Gu Zhiyuan shrugged: "Just grab something to eat. You're all sweaty and need to shower first."

Shang Lin thought for a moment and said, "Okay, let's go home and I'll let you taste my cooking!"

Gu Zhiyuan smiled, pursing his lips.

Xia Lin rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath, "That pretty boy is wicked. A grown man like him can't even tolerate a little sweat, ugh!"

Watching their departing figures, Qiuhe chuckled foolishly, clutching the few bell peppers Shanglin had given him.

My great-aunt, with her flat, toothless mouth, said, "Whose child is that? How dare he come into the shed and cause trouble?"

Grandma Qiu replied, "The eldest daughter of Qiu Xiao Er from the front row, Jianguo's eldest daughter, is quite capable!"

To put it bluntly, the country has been expanding rapidly in the last two years, reportedly building a new factory. They're quite capable...

Aunt Qiu smacked her lips: "Abnormal behavior is a sign of something strange, that girl is not normal..."

Qiuhe thought to herself, "This is just not right. The top student got into a prestigious junior high school..."

Qiu Xialin sat on the sofa opposite Gu Zhiyuan, staring at each other.

He glared at Gu Zhiyuan, trying to express his displeasure.

Gu Zhiyuan, having taken over the place without any hesitation or unease, took a bath, changed into a set of Changsheng clothes, and comfortably leaned back on the cushions to browse through the ancient books that Shanglin had recently acquired.

It was his first time visiting the Qiu family, but he felt a deep sense of familiarity. The interior decorations they had discussed in their letters, the precious ancient books, the Ming Dynasty incense burner that someone had sold her as scrap, the bronze paperweight that she had gone to great lengths to acquire, even the arrangement of the furniture and which shelf of the shoe cabinet the slippers were placed on—it all seemed to have appeared in his dreams. He felt more relaxed than if he were at home.

It's no wonder Granny Shanglin talks so much; the two of them correspond so frequently. After discussing ancient books, they're just decorations; after discussing family matters, there are still odds and ends. Facing the letters and Gu Zhiyuan in her mind, Shanglin feels an indescribable sense of relaxation and trust.

He is self-disciplined, precocious, and sensible. Whatever he says is always perfectly in sync with what the other is thinking or what they are going to say. It's as if they are old friends who can understand each other with just a glance.

This is different from the tacit understanding she developed with Changsheng and Lin Chaoxi.

It came from the bottom of my heart; we clicked.

Sometimes Qiu Shanglin thought that maybe the two of them were the same person in a past life, which would explain their profound understanding of each other—more so than even their own parents or siblings.

Changsheng went downstairs to take a shower and change his clothes. Suddenly, he heard Qiu Shanglin calling his name from the balcony. He quickly went to the balcony and looked up.

Shanglin, perched on a stool on the balcony, waved vigorously: "Chang Sheng, hang that crystal dish up here. Oh, and take the shrimp out of the fridge too. Oh, and get some popsicles, and a watermelon, okay?"

He thought for a moment and said, "Yes."

"Cut a watermelon in half, this sweltering weather is unbearable!"

Gu Zhiyuan listened in the living room, then went to the balcony, leaned over and looked down; it was quite amusing.

"I'll go down and get it. Changsheng can't carry that much stuff."

Li Changsheng glanced at him indifferently.

Gu Zhiyuan swore that he saw the whites of Li Changsheng's eyes.

Logically speaking, no one should be afraid of the whites of the eyes, but that glance from him just now made him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar that could freeze people to death. All the warmth and restlessness were gone, leaving only a shivering chill.

Looking again, the other person had already looked away.

He shook his head and laughed at his own foolishness.

They didn't even need to go down and help. Shanglin called out, and Qiuxialin came running over with a plastic woven vegetable basket, light and elegant. The weaver was skillful, using different colored plastic knots to crochet a vibrant pink rose on the front of the basket. With a few tender green leaves, it didn't look like a vegetable basket, but rather like a handicraft sold in a high-end store.

Gu Zhiyuan was stunned by the sight of the vegetable basket. When he came to his senses, he felt even more amazed.

A rope was used to lower the basket, which was held by Shanglin and Xialin. Li Changsheng took it, arranged the items she wanted, and said "lift!" The two of them worked together to pull the basket back up. The basket was full of things and quite heavy. The two of them carefully and with their combined strength, they slowly and steadily lifted the basket up.

Once he got the basket, Gu Zhiyuan peeked out to look at it.

Drink—the crystal dish is inserted at an angle, firmly held in place by the watermelon, unafraid of tilting; half a watermelon covered with plastic wrap, its red flesh and green rind, has a thin layer of frost on it after being taken out of the refrigerator; the bagged shrimp is squeezed into a corner by the watermelon, protecting the frail popsicle.

Absolutely amazing!

Seeing that Qiu Shanglin was very familiar with the routine, he knew that these three had practiced it more than once or twice.

Shanglin disliked the noise of the refrigerator, so he simply placed it downstairs at Li Changsheng's house. Since no one was usually home there except for Changsheng and his grandfather who went to sleep, having the refrigerator downstairs was inconvenient, so he used a shopping basket he'd bought to carry things up and down the stairs.

At first, some neighbors found it strange, but after seeing it many times, they got used to it.

Li Changsheng ran upstairs, and the three of them faced each other. At first, there was a bit of awkwardness, but then Gu Zhiyuan brought up games, and Xia Lin's eyes lit up. After asking the head chef Qiu Shanglin, he was granted permission to play for an hour. He then dragged the two of them straight to the study, took out his treasured Nintendo game console, and began a frenzied gaming session.

Shanglin had already bought a Nintendo game console, but strictly limited the two brothers' gaming time. Boys all love to play games, and although Gu Zhiyuan was usually precocious and sensible, he was also particularly fond of games and quite knowledgeable about them. Before long, they were playing together and calling each other brothers.

When Shanglin called them to dinner, Qiu Xialin came out with Gu Zhiyuan's arm around her, taking pictures as they walked and praising him non-stop: "Well done, well done! You'd better tell me about it later!"

Even Changsheng's dark face showed a rare expression of excitement, indicating that he had encountered a master.

Shanglin wasn't angry at all. He smiled and arranged for everyone to sit down, while Xialin went to distribute chopsticks.

There were some fresh bracken fern that Changsheng's maternal grandfather had given them to the family yesterday; this kind of thing is quite rare in the north. Bracken fern grows in dense forests and is more abundant in the south, but it's rarely seen in the sparsely forested hills near Zifang Town. Shanglin guessed that he must have gone to the more distant mountains and picked some on the way.

Blanch the bracken in boiling water, then rinse it in cold water until it turns a lovely bright green. While the shrimp soak in water, she finely sliced chicken breast, stir-fried the chicken and shrimp, and finally added the bracken. When it was done, the bracken was still a delightful green.

The bitter melon was cut into thin strips. There was no time to chill it, so I blanched it in boiling water for two or three minutes to remove the bitterness. I then added salt to remove the stains and placed it in a crystal dish. I added sugar and vinegar, which made the bitter melon strips look even more emerald green, and the crystal dish was crystal clear.

The shrimp that Changsheng and his gang tricked them into giving them could fill a can, enough for one dish.

Although they are not large, the river shrimp are fresh.

I cracked an egg into the batter, lightly coated the shrimp with batter, fried them in oil, and arranged them on a white plate. They were bright red and looked like they were about to pounce on something. One bite and they were crispy, fresh, and fragrant.

The main course was spicy sliced pork, which made the three of them cry and snot, but they were extremely satisfied.