Chapter 168: The Lemon Tree is Blooming

So far, everything was going well. Some varieties had died off at the fastest possible speed, while others were dying a slow death.

More of them, however, remained in a state of neither dead nor alive—that feeling where, if you said it was dead, it was still breathing; yet if you said it was alive, it looked drooping and utterly devoid of spirit.

Zhong Di picked up a leaf of the Raging Sand Fairy Bud, crushed it between his fingers, and casually tossed it into the water storage tank.

In a couple of days, the water from this tank would be drained into the fish pond to accelerate the evolutionary rate of the seafood inside.

After checking the status of the fish pond, Zhong Di moved on to inspect the greenhouse. Large-batch fruit trees such as mangoes, pitayas, and lemons were recovering exceptionally well, whereas the varieties with smaller quantities had not bounced back quite as nicely.

This must be the cluster effect at play.

In agricultural cultivation, if you plant only a few and tend to them meticulously, they inexplicably grow rather poorly. Conversely, if you plant them in large quantities and leave them mostly to themselves, they thrive.

What? The lemon tree was actually blooming?

This was somewhat bizarre. Under normal circumstances, the original flower buds on transplanted fruit trees would all die off, requiring a lengthy buffer period before they could bloom and fruit anew.

Zhong Di had already prepared himself, anticipating that he wouldn't see any fruit for two or three months. To his surprise, not only did the lemon flower buds survive, but they had even blossomed, and one large one looked as if it had successfully set fruit.

A delightful little surprise! Zhong Di cheerfully took out his phone and snapped a few photos from different angles. Yep, simply gorgeous.

His tropical fruit trees had achieved a seamless transition, as natural as shifting to a warmer spot in bed to continue sleeping, completely unaffected in their blooming and fruiting processes.

Putting away his phone with a self-satisfied grin, Zhong Di began reviewing the behavioral data, systematically screening for any problematic trees.

After making the rounds, Zhong Di marked a few trees. These were the problematic ones, which he would have Shao Hong adjust later.

Compared to the previous time, things were noticeably better this time around.

Once he finished reviewing everything that required his attention, Zhong Di finally had some free time.

"Shao Hong, come on, let's go brew some red date wine together." Seeing that the sky had grown dark, Zhong Di called out to Shao Hong, who was busy working.

Changing tasks would make for a nice change of pace.

"What, has all the brewing equipment arrived?"

A while back, Zhong Di had intended to brew red date wine, but lacking the proper equipment, the two of them had temporarily dropped the idea and instead ordered a large batch of winemaking gear—plenty of equipment to brew a substantial amount of wine.

"It's here. Coming or not?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world. How much are we making?"

"How about we start with one vat to test the waters? We wouldn't be able to handle a huge amount anyway, and besides, whatever we brew now is certainly just for our own consumption."

After discussing a few more details, the two of them got straight to work.

Just as Zhong Di had said, whatever they brewed would be exclusively for themselves and not for sale.

Under normal circumstances, any wine brewed from fruit shared a common flaw: a dangerously high methanol content.

Simply put, drinking too much of it would give you a headache.

This was the universal failing of all fruit wines, and the very reason why fruit wine development had been so sluggish.

However, fruit wine is rich in numerous essential elements that the human body requires—something grain-based wines simply cannot match—so its eventual development was guaranteed.

Lacking experience, it was fine if something went wrong with wine meant for themselves, but if customers drank it and fell ill, that would be a catastrophe.

A methanol content below two grams qualified a batch as acceptable fruit wine, though Zhong Di had no idea whether they would succeed.

Regardless, a little extra methanol wasn't completely undrinkable; they would just have to try drinking in moderation.

Having made up their minds, Zhong Di and Shao Hong got to work, selecting a slightly larger brewing vessel. This setup could probably hold a few dozen kilograms of red dates, though how much wine it would yield remained a mystery.

Red dates didn't have a very high moisture content, so the wine yield was also low, unlike other fresh fruits that were packed with juice and produced plenty of liquor.

Wash, pit, crush, and jar.

In reality, the genuine winemaking process was undoubtedly far more complex, requiring steps like preliminary heap-fermentation, heating, and culturing. Zhong Di simplified the whole procedure—there was no need to be overly formal.

Since they weren't engaging in serious, large-scale production, every single step didn't need to be flawless; meeting the basic requirements for fermentation was enough.

By the time they finished bustling about, it was already late into the night. The two of them decided to steam some seafood and have a simple meal.

Seafood cooked quickly. Tossed into the pot, it took just a moment to steam before it was ready to eat, requiring no complex seasonings. If they wanted something with more kick, they just needed to whip up a dipping sauce.

Various shellfiish, along with whiteleg shrimp and crabs—there were many varieties. Put simply, it was a seafood medley.

A massive basin of it. Zhong Di and his companion were truly "just having a simple meal"... a simple meal indeed.

Woof!

Yusheng burst through the kitchen door with a wild rabbit clamped firmly in its jaws.

Lately, Yusheng's hunting frequency had been steadily increasing. It rarely stayed home, frequently flirted with stray female dogs, and every time it returned to the farm, it brought back a different female dog.

It felt a bit like showing off, though Zhong Di couldn't help wondering: why did it bring back so many female dogs, yet none of them ever got pregnant? Mostly because they were still just pups...

Zhong Di casually tossed a sea prawn to Yusheng. Yusheng caught it in its mouth, cast a look of disdain, and flicked it aside.

"Well, well, Zhong Di, look at Yusheng. Asking for a beating, acting all fancy now. We ought to let it starve for a few more meals."

"It's just telling me to prepare some dipping sauce for it. It likes spicy and salty flavors."

Zhong Di knew Yusheng's quirks inside and out; one look and he could tell the dog wanted something with flavor.

"Don't they say dogs get tear stains if they eat too much salt? What's this, is Yusheng different from other dogs?"

"Of course it's different," Zhong Di muttered, picking up a fresh oyster, dipping it in the sauce, and tossing it in Yusheng's direction.

Sure enough, Yusheng snapped up the oyster and swallowed it whole.

Dinner was consumed quickly. Despite the massive basin of seafood, everything was in the shell. Once you actually started eating, there wasn't all that much meat, especially with items like oysters and clams—large shells, but very little meat inside.

Smaller ones could be finished in a single bite, while the larger ones took two at most.

Rustle! Rustle!

A faint rustling sound drifted in from outside the door. Zhong Di put down his bowl and chopsticks, calmly and collectedly picked up a few eggs, walked to the door, and placed them on the threshold.

As for this sort of occurrence, he had already experienced the full emotional trajectory: from initial astonishment to amusement, and finally, to utter nonchalance.

Sure enough, the weasels had come for their eggs—the reward for catching mice.

Ever since this transaction began, although the mice on the farm hadn't vanished completely, they were finally under control, putting an end to the previous infestation.

There were no longer rat holes everywhere, with eggshells and chicken feathers scattered at their entrances.

Zhong Di had also used his connection with the plants to probe underground; the mouse population had dropped by more than half. Given that the number actually caught wasn't that large, losing more than half could only mean they had been frightened away.

It was just like keeping a cat—the number of mice would plummet, and of those missing, five or six out of ten were probably scared off.

As for the Pallas's cats, they hadn't shown up in a long time. The last time he saw them was when they brought their kittens over.

Hmm?

Just as Zhong Di was about to return to the kitchen, he caught sight of a few dark shadows.

Speak of the devil, the Pallas's cats had arrived.