262: Willow catkins flying all over the sky

“You did great.” Lu Yu picked up Big Yellow with a pleased expression, rubbing its chubby cheeks: “If anyone bullies our Captain in the future, you must rush over and protect her just like you did now.”

“Only a cat that knows how to protect its owner is a good cat.”

Lu Yu’s voice paused.

He belatedly remembered that he was Big Yellow’s owner.

He felt a little choked up.

It wasn’t protecting him, its owner.

Lu Yu’s hand injury wasn’t serious and didn’t require bandaging. After playing with Big Yellow for a while, he went home.

Jiang Fei fed Big Yellow a bag of fish paste, then went into the Supermarket warehouse to organize the wild vegetables and mushrooms she had gathered during the day.

There were over a hundred catties in total.

Fortunately, the cattle, sheep, chickens, geese, and rabbits were all small, otherwise, these wild vegetables wouldn’t be enough to feed them.

She picked out some wild vegetables suitable for feeding poultry and livestock, then went to feed them one by one.

She also took the opportunity to clean out the manure from the cowshed, sheepfold, chicken coop, goose pen, and rabbit hutch.

The Supermarket’s crops didn’t need fertilizer, so Jiang Fei put the animal manure into sealed bags, planning to dispose of it later.

After refilling the fountains with fresh water for the poultry and livestock, she went to the greenhouse to check on the fertilized eggs in the incubator.

To her surprise, the chicks had already successfully hatched.

It seemed that the offspring of the poultry and livestock would not occupy the Supermarket’s breeding quota.

Confirming that the chicks had been out of their shells for 24 hours, Jiang Fei brought a bowl of warm water and a bowl of softened millet to feed them.

To make it easier to care for the newly hatched chicks, Jiang Fei took the incubator out of the Supermarket.

The room wasn’t cold, so she placed the incubator in the bedroom.

Big Yellow circled the incubator curiously.

Another chick? Hadn’t those chickens grown up already???

Jiang Fei reached out and lightly poked Big Yellow’s head:

“Don’t bully it behind my back, or you won’t get to eat meat for a month.”

Big Yellow immediately lost interest in the chick and jumped onto the bed to sleep.

It couldn’t afford to provoke it, but it could avoid it!

—

Early the next morning, Big Yellow sat on Jiang Fei’s chest, waking her up.

“Meow meow!”

Two-legged beast, wake up! It’s snowing outside!

“What is it…” Jiang Fei sat up groggily.

Big Yellow had pulled back the bedroom curtains, revealing willow catkins dancing in the wind outside.

At first glance, it looked like snow.

There were many poplars and willows near Fenglin Villa District.

willow catkins should have appeared in spring, but due to various natural disasters before, the trees had remained bare.

Now, with the plant mutation, they had regained their vitality.

She glanced at the clock on the wall; it was 8:00, and Su Liuyuan and the others hadn’t left yet.

Jiang Fei called them on the walkie-talkie.

“Remember to take precautions when you go out today to avoid contact with the willow catkins.”

“We’ll go to Ping An Small Mall together to open for business later.”

Su Liuyuan sighed on the other end: “I just took off my protective gear less than a week ago, and now I have to put it back on. Heaven really doesn’t give us a moment’s peace.”

Jiang Zhengkang: “At least none of us are allergic to willow catkins or have rhinitis, otherwise life would be even harder.”

Han Yang: “I’m just glad the temperature isn’t high right now, it’s around 25 degrees Celsius every day, so we won’t get heat rash.”

“Actually, willow catkins have a great use.” Xiao Chuxia’s voice rang out.

She and Mother Xiao started work an hour later than Lu Yu and Ling Zhaorui, and were just getting up at home.

“Poplar and willow catkins can be used in medicine to clear heat and detoxify, benefit the liver and improve eyesight, cool blood and stop bleeding, and so on.”

“Besides that, they can also be used as filling material and kindling.”

“willow catkins contain a large amount of oil. When they encounter an open flame, they burn quickly and spread very rapidly.”

“Don’t use fire when you go out recently, and don’t be curious enough to light willow catkins. It would be dangerous if a fire broke out.”

Jiang Fei decided to stock up on willow catkins when she had time, to use as filling and kindling in the future.

Although willow catkins offered poor insulation as filling, in a post-apocalyptic world with scarce resources, they were still a treasure.

She turned off the walkie-talkie and went to the bathroom to wash up.

After a quick breakfast, she put on a sun-protective jacket, mask, and goggles, wrapping herself up tightly before heading out.

She wasn’t allergic to willow catkins and didn’t have rhinitis, but she took precautions because she was afraid of the woolly apple aphids that might be hidden among them.

They were white bugs that resembled willow catkins.

They were non-toxic and harmless to humans, and didn’t bite, but if one accidentally got into your mouth or under your clothes, it would be disgusting.

Su Liuyuan and the others came out of their homes one after another, all well-protected.

Everyone drove to Ping An Small Mall.

As soon as he entered, Su Liuyuan couldn’t wait to take out the pickled bamboo shoots from the refrigerator and taste them.

The crisp and tender bamboo shoots were perfectly marinated, sour, spicy, refreshing, and appetizing, very suitable to go with rice.

“You all try some too.”

After distributing the pickled bamboo shoots to Jiang Zhengkang and the others, Su Liuyuan said to Jiang Fei:

“Captain, let’s write down the recipes for pickled bamboo shoots and shepherd’s purse dumplings, paste them on the main door, and then hold a tasting event to attract customers to buy seasonings. It will definitely boost our sales.”

“Meat products and fruits/vegetables aren’t valuable now, so let’s sell seasonings!”

“Okay.” Jiang Fei immediately went to find paper and pen to write down the recipes for pickled bamboo shoots and shepherd’s purse dumplings.

She also added several recipes for wild vegetables, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots.

She taped them to the main door.

Su Liuyuan had Han Yang and Niu Er move a table and place it directly in front of the main door.

Ensuring that every customer who entered could see it.

There were ready-made frozen dumplings in the freezer, so Su Liuyuan went to cook a bag, put them on a plate, and placed them on the table.

One-third of the pickled bamboo shoots were portioned out, plated, and placed next to the shepherd’s purse dumplings.

After setting up a sign that read “Free Tasting, One Sample of Each Per Person,” Su Liuyuan brought a small handful of toothpicks and inserted them into the bamboo shoot segments.

Dumplings could be eaten by hand, but bamboo shoots were not suitable.

Jiang Fei went to the storeroom to feed Little Black, taking the opportunity to restock a large batch of seasonings, unafraid that Jiang Zhengkang and the others would suspect anything.

Firstly, Su Liuyuan would help her cover it up, and secondly, the storeroom had a back door leading outside.

If anyone asked about the goods, they could say they were delivered when they weren’t around.

Suddenly, Su Liuyuan’s shout came from outside.

“Captain, the Base Leader is here.”

Jiang Fei closed the storeroom door and returned to the first floor.

Cheng Pingwei, standing at the entrance, was plucking willow catkins clinging to his clothes.

“Boss Jiang, I have a business proposition I’d like to discuss with you.”

“Please come in.” Jiang Fei led Cheng Pingwei to the lounge, grabbing two bottles of water from the shelf as she went.

One bottle for each of them.

“Thank you.” Cheng Pingwei took the water, threw all the plucked willow catkins into the kitchen’s trash can, and then continued:

“Since yesterday, a lot of willow catkins have appeared in the Base. The military wants to collect a batch to use for medicine and as filling material, in case of emergencies.”

“I plan to hold an event with Ping An Small Mall. Any resident who helps collect willow catkins can come here to exchange them for juice, drinks, milk, or Contribution Points.”

“Five catties of willow catkins can be exchanged for one bottle of drink or 5 Contribution Points. The military will pay, and you will be responsible for keeping accounts, promoting the event, and exchanging items for residents.”

“My people will come once a week to collect the willow catkins and settle the drink accounts.”

willow catkins were difficult to collect, time-consuming and labor-intensive.

To prevent fires, the Rescue Team and Security Team had been dispatched for 24-hour patrols.

With no extra people to mobilize, it was better to encourage all residents to collect them together.

Fruits, vegetables, and meat products were not currently in short supply; only drinks were considered rare.

Contribution Points could also attract residents to participate.

Cheng Pingwei pulled out a Contribution Card and handed it to Jiang Fei:

“This is a Contribution Card I made for the event, it has 10,000 Contribution Points inside.”

“When you run out, just come to the central building to find me for more.”

Jiang Fei did not take Cheng Pingwei’s card: “Base Leader, we are providing manpower and effort, and you are only paying. That’s not quite fair.”

“How about this, you give me 30% of the collected willow catkins as my labor fee.”

It would save her the trouble of collecting them herself.

Cheng Pingwei: “What do you want willow catkins for?”

Jiang Fei said half-truthfully: “If the weather gets colder in the future, I can use them to stuff quilts and clothes, or I can sell them in the mall.”

“You really are good at business. I’ll give you two-tenths at most.”

“Deal.” Jiang Fei swiftly took the Contribution Card:

“Pleasure working with you, Base Leader.”

Cheng Pingwei: “...”

He didn’t know why, but Jiang Fei’s quick agreement made him feel like he had been taken advantage of.

Leaving the lounge, he caught sight of the tasting at the entrance, Cheng Pingwei tasted a shepherd’s purse dumpling, his eyebrows slightly raised.

It was quite delicious.

“How much are they?”

Jiang Fei: “We don’t sell dumplings, only seasonings. There are free recipes on the door.”

“Get me one of each seasoning and load them onto the car. We’ll settle the bill with the drinks later.”

Unafraid that Cheng Pingwei would default on the payment, Jiang Fei had Han Yang load the goods and Su Liuyuan write the bill.

She secretly gave Su Liuyuan a look.

Rip him off a bit! The Base Leader is rich!

Su Liuyuan understood immediately, writing furiously with his pen.

Soon, Han Yang had loaded a box of goods onto the car, and Su Liuyuan had finished writing the bill, showing it to Cheng Pingwei.

Cheng Pingwei glanced at the bill, his eyelids twitching violently.