Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 717 - 356: Send Off_1

Chapter 717: Chapter 356: Send Off_1

When Old Meng heard Yan Fei’s refusal, he didn’t have any special reaction. He nodded, "No problem. Wild resources are indeed becoming scarce. It is your luck to encounter them. However, I suggest you learn how to cultivate Lingzhi mushrooms and make reasonable use of these wild resources. With the help of human intervention, use the natural environment..."

For Comrade Old Meng who came from Yanjing, Yan Fei’s refusal saved him from doing a favor. People like Old He find it hard to ask for a favor when it comes to serious matters, so it’s not easy for him to refuse outright.

The reason he could agree to help recommend Yan Fei’s wine was not because he found the wine extraordinarily good after just one sip. The reason lay in that Yan Fei was a cattle breeder, and a beef seller—oftentimes slaughtering cattle which could result in finding bezoar, a much-needed ingredient.

Another reason, one he kept to himself, was that like Old He’s fondness of antiques, Old Meng harbored some superstitions.

It might seem ridiculous, but it was the truth. The last time he bought bezoar from Yan Fei himself, and later learned during conversation with Old He that Yan Fei found such a huge piece of bezoar when he first started slaughtering cattle. He felt Yan Fei was a lucky man who might encounter bezoar again?

Natural bezoar is something you can encounter but cannot seek. Nobody knows which cattle it will appear in. Some slaughterhouse workers may not understand what bezoar is and discard it as soon as they find it in the cattle.

Of course, Old Meng could agree to Old He’s request because the wine was indeed good. If it weren’t, no amount of talk would help. The surrounding area of Wan City is all mountains, and the climate is indeed suitable for the growth of Lingzhi mushrooms. It’s quite normal that a rural lad has found wild Lingzhi mushrooms somewhere, even if they are found in abundance.

The fact that Yan Fei’s medicinal wine can be sold locally is also because Wan city has a tradition of brewing medicinal wine. There are countless folk recipes for brewing medicinal wine, as long as there are good medicinal materials, brewing good medicinal wine is not surprising.

In Old Meng’s view, this young man named Yan Fei was extremely lucky. He would find bezoar whenever he slaughtered cattle, he would casually stroll around and find good medicinal materials that others could not, and importantly, he had the connection with Old He to sell the bezoar. That’s why he didn’t mind lending a helping hand.

However, since Yan Fei declined, he wouldn’t get angry for being rejected when trying to do a good deed. Being mature in age, having everything he needed and having experienced half a century of ups and downs, he could let go of anything.

The lack of understanding in rural young people is normal. To put it politely, they cherished their possessions and kept them guarded. If you want to put it bluntly, it’s just being petty, fearing that attracting attention may bring trouble - he could probably think of hundreds of reasons for Yan Fei’s refusal over a glass of wine.

Wild resources are precious, but there are still some to be found on this vast land. A young man finds something good and he has used it to benefit a part of the community. He wasn’t concerned enough to delve any deeper.

Yan Fei felt that having the two old men travel so far, even with a small car, was not an easy task. So he served them with enthusiasm. He wasn’t proficient at encouraging others to drink, so the meal was very casual.

Of course, he could not help but boast about his own beef, including initially selling it in the Provincial City, and having Hong Kong customers eating next door - the young girls were dining at a different table.

Old Meng was knowledgeable. Listening to Yan Fei’s narrative, he chuckled, "Although I haven’t studied this, the texture really is good. If I have a chance in the future, I’ll mention this for you, but don’t get your hopes up. Beef is not a medicinal material. Since the demand is high, the interests involved are numerous. The beef produced by a small town cattle farm like yours won’t get much hope without certain achievements."

Yan Fei understood this as soon as he heard it. Just like taking business from others, it doesn’t matter if you are doing small stuff. But when it comes to taking large businesses, people will definitely get upset.

However, he wasn’t really hoping for anything so he wasn’t disappointed. It was already nice for someone to mention his name, crying about it wouldn’t change a thing!

Old Meng suddenly said while eating, "Your vegetables are good, they taste quite nice. Did you grow them yourself?"

This old man sure has a discerning palate! My vegetables are from the Dinosaur world, no bragging, the water I use to irrigate them is even better than bottled water that’s being advertised. How could the vegetables be bad?

With this thought in mind, Yan Fei laughed, "I’m not going to plant them anymore. I will focus on raising cattle. It’s okay to grow something for my own consumption. Raising cattle earns faster money than growing crops!"

Old Meng nodded with a hint of regret, "This place indeed has a unique spirit and local heroes. It’s also a good opportunity if you can do it well!"

Old He also strongly agreed, "Little Yan, how do you manage your stuff, why does it taste so different when we eat it?"

"Of course, it’s different!" Yan Fei replied casually when talking with Old He. "The seasoning in the vegetables is all free. Homegrown stuff for home eating, of course, we eat the good things!"

Seasonings like Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, common fennel, cumin, etc. These things that are common in rural areas are now rooted in Vegetable Garden Island. I planted so many herbs just for my own convenience - after all, I have a lot of land, we can plant whatever we want to eat.

As for chilli, wild pepper, coriander, etc., leeks, ginger, garlic, and five-spice leaves, they are naturally indispensable. Apart from digging a salt pond by the sea for salt collection, everything else is readily available.

Old He was undeniably envious, "Don’t say more, else I’ll stay here, and won’t leave as long as I’m not eating you into poverty!"

Yan Fei poured him a cup of wine, "There’s no hurry to leave, so drink more. You can stay as long as you want, and I promise you’ll get younger and younger here. In a few days, you’ll be able to beat tigers as if they were kittens!"

After dinner, Yan Fei went out and picked a few watermelons. As soon as they were cut open, the sandy pulp looked satisfying.

Old Meng took one look and laughed, "I haven’t eaten watermelon from your place in years. These melons are pretty good, very authentic."

Old He took the initiative, picking up a piece and handed it to another old man: "Why are you still being polite? Eat up!"

Yan Fei brought a basin from the side and placed it nearby, "I just planted them because I didn’t want to waste the empty land."

"You’re being modest now, aren’t you!" Old He laughed at him. "Do you have any of your honey left?"

Yan Fei nodded.

Old He turned to Old Meng and said, "His honey is also very authentic. I’ll get some for you when you leave. By the way, Xiao Fei, which type of honey did you say it was? I remember it was delicious, but I’ve forgotten!"

Yan Fei answered, "Rose honey!"

Old Meng raised his head and asked, "The flowers you planted outside?"

Yan Fei nodded.

Old Meng chuckled, "You saw that your flowers look like the roses sold on the street, so you called them roses, right?"

Yan Fei nodded again.

Old Meng chuckled again, "Then, let’s just call it a rose! No point in being pedantic."

Yan Fei was a little surprised, so what he had been boasting about wasn’t really a rose? Seeing that Old Meng didn’t seem to want to elaborate, he didn’t bother asking. Everyone said it was a rose, so it must be a rose, no matter what it actually was!

As for the honey, it didn’t only come from his so-called roses. Bees swarmed across Vegetable Garden Island, collecting nectar from any flowering plants they could find. There certainly would be mixed types of honey.

The two old men, who had sampled the watermelon, got up for a walk to aid digestion, also checking out the Agaricus bisporus and earthworms as they did.

The Agaricus bisporus was still small and not yet ready for harvesting. Old He seemed quite satisfied with the earthworms though, prodding around in the cow manure with a small stick. Eventually, he tossed the stick aside and laughed, "Good job! Continue raising them like this, I see potential! As long as you keep it consistent, it could definitely become a new breed. Don’t underestimate this, more and more people will raise them, and you could get rich from this!"

Yan Fei nonchalantly nodded. It was just something he did on the side. Even if it didn’t become a new breed, he would still raise them. Where else would he dispose of all the cow manure? Relying solely on mushroom cultivation wouldn’t use all of it.

Old Meng was also knowledgeable. Earthworms are used in medicinal practices, and it would be odd if he didn’t understand this. He just nodded along.

However, when they saw the river water, Yan Fei’s achievements felt somewhat diminished. Although the source of pollution had been cut off, the pollution in the river could not be cleared completely in such a short time. The two old men assumed that Yan Fei used this river water.

This is why pollution is despised. Pollution is temporary, but eliminating it requires much more time with the help of nature. Fortunately, the pollution only severely affected one section of the river. It was estimated that after a few more floods churned the polluted sediment and washed it away, the pollution would slowly be eradicated.

At this moment, Yan Fei was extremely grateful for Old Zhutou, defending himself confidently, "The water I use here comes from a well next to the bamboo forest where the water is not polluted."

This ancient well that had existed for countless years, it earned its merits for Yan Fei at this moment, even though Yan Fei only occasionally used it to avoid attracting attention.

As for the boat, after being repaired by the old man, whose name Yan Fei didn’t even know, it looked pretty good, prompting another round of compliments from Old He.

However, both old men were in a hurry to leave and didn’t have time for a boat ride. Yan Fei didn’t want to keep them, and he put some of his prepared wine, honey, and beef on their car. Of course, Old He got a bit more, not to mention vegetables, Yan Fei even gave him some salted vegetables.

Watching both cars leave, Yan Fei felt a slight regret. If Old He had just come for fun and wasn’t on a mission for special supply items, Yan Fei wouldn’t have had to worry so much, and the situation wouldn’t have been so awkward.

However, he soon threw that regret behind him. Xu Xiaoyan, seeing the cars fading into the distance, asked, "So how did it go? It sounded like they wanted to buy more of your wine, right? Are they going to send it to Yanjing as a special supply?"

Yan Fei lied, "Even if they bought more, it’s not like we depend on selling wine for a living. The price for a jar of wine isn’t even as much as a catty of beef, so why bother selling it?"

Upon hearing this, the girl looked disappointed but quickly cheered up to console Yan Fei, "It’s probably for the best that they didn’t get more, we don’t want to attract attention by being too successful. We should focus on raising our cattle and later, let’s sell the beef to Yanjing, let them fight to buy it ..."