Gou Zai Qingluo Cave Heaven Cultivation

Zhou Yandong's business was extensive and complex, involving the breeding of spirit fish fry, the resale of adult fish, and the resale of various fishing gear and magical artifacts, which naturally included the preparation and sale of spirit fish food.

Its commercial area is centered on Qinglin Bay, which is crisscrossed by waterways and surrounded by more than a dozen small fishing villages of varying sizes.

The Zhou family's fish food workshop is not located in the market, but in a reed bay in the suburbs.

After disembarking from the Dharma boat, Zhou Baoqing followed Steward Wang and Zhou Changping, walking along the river bend towards a secluded area.

The surrounding reeds grew taller and taller, and there were hardly any people in sight.

If it weren't for his complete trust in his good brother, Zhou Baoqing would have almost thought that this guy was plotting against him.

After finally getting through a large patch of reeds, the view suddenly opened up before us.

"Brother Bao, we're here," Zhou Changping said, panting.

If you're this out of breath after just a few steps, this fat person should lose some weight.

As Zhou Baoqing thought this, he looked up.

Several huge brick and tile houses were built by the water, and several huge waterwheels were turning with a creaking sound as the water flowed.

A strong fishy smell filled the air. Inside and outside the workshop, a dozen bare-armed workers were busily moving spiritual materials and stirring mud jars, very busy but orderly.

As soon as the two arrived at the gate of the courtyard, a muscular man with dark skin came out to greet them.

This man was about forty years old, with large knuckles on his hands; he was the Uncle Zhang that Zhou Changping had mentioned.

"Young Master, you've arrived?"

Uncle Zhang, beaming with smiles, strode forward, his tone brimming with enthusiasm.

Now that the young master has arrived, I must serve him properly. If he gets bumped or hurt, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep my seat.

When he looked again at the composed young man behind Zhou Changping, Uncle Zhang's smile deepened.

The master specifically instructed that today, Young Master Ping would be bringing a promising classmate from the clan school to visit, and that this Young Master Zhou Baoqing should be treated well.

I can't afford to mess this up.

Zhou Changping patted Uncle Zhang's arm casually and said, "Uncle Zhang, my brother Bao is curious about how our spirit fish food is made. Could you take him in and show him, and explain it to him in detail?"

Although Zhou Changping didn't know why Zhou Baoqing was so curious about this smelly fish food instead of drawing perfectly good talismans.

But since his brother had made the request, he naturally made a firm promise to handle the matter perfectly.

Upon hearing this, Uncle Zhang's face twitched.

It's like a child selling off their grandfather's land without a care in the world!

The recipes for the spirit fish food in each fish market are closely guarded secrets, essential for survival. How can they be so easily revealed to others with just a few words?

But these two young masters in front of me, one is my master and the other is a distinguished guest specially invited by the master. I can't afford to offend either of them.

Uncle Zhang hesitated for a moment, his expression contorted in confusion.

Seeing this, Zhou Baoqing quickly said, "Uncle Zhang, don't be anxious. I just want to know some basic proportions and preparation techniques for normal fish food. I don't want to inquire about the Zhou family's secret recipe."

He's not a truly ignorant child. Taking advantage of a favor to forcibly seize someone else's secret recipe is no different from being a robber.

Moreover, the quality of fish food depends primarily on the quality of its core ingredients.

Just like the cat and dog food in the previous life, if it was all made of crushed grain husks and wheat bran, then cats and dogs would only be able to survive, but there would be no nutrition at all.

With the semi-spiritual creature, the Ice Blue Duckweed, in hand, as long as you learn the basic techniques, you can improve your own top-quality fish food without needing to covet other people's recipes.

Hearing Zhou Baoqing's sensible and reasonable words, Uncle Zhang's expression finally relaxed.

"Since it's just a basic technique, that's fine. Please come inside, young masters."

He led the two into a spacious indoor room.

The room was sweltering, with huge blue stone grinding discs on both sides and a row of brass pots burning with charcoal in the middle.

Uncle Zhang led the two to a table for making fish food paste, pointed to the various materials on it, and began to explain them in detail.

"Young masters, please look. This basic spirit fish food is mainly composed of four parts: bones, herbs, powder, and sticky ingredients. First, the animal bones and eggshells must be roasted over a strong fire until crisp, then ground into a fine powder using this bluestone millstone. This is the bone. Next, these dried water spirit herbs must be chopped and mixed with spirit rice bran..."

Uncle Zhang explained while demonstrating.

His hands flew, grabbing various materials in proportion and pouring them into a ceramic basin. He added warm spiritual water, then kneaded and stirred them vigorously with his hands, his movements as fluid as flowing water.

Zhou Changping, standing to the side, showed no interest in any of this and yawned out of boredom.

Zhou Baoqing watched with great interest, pointing to the ceramic basin and saying, "Uncle Zhang, if we roasted those fragments of the Water Spirit Grass over a low flame before adding water to activate their internal wood-elemental spiritual energy, and then mixed them with bone powder, wouldn't the fish food blend together more tightly?"

Uncle Zhang continued working patiently, explaining, "Young Master Baoqing, the theory you read in the clan school books might be correct. But this Water Spirit Grass is inherently cold in nature. If it's directly roasted over fire, it's very easy for it to lose moisture and cause its spiritual energy to dissipate. The method in our workshop is the result of countless failures and trial and error. Although it's not as sophisticated as what's written in the books, it's a sure thing to ensure authenticity."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Baoqing's expression immediately turned somewhat embarrassed.

What you learn from books is never enough; you must put it into practice to truly understand!

He spent half a month cramming on textbook knowledge in school, thinking he had gained some understanding of the properties of medicinal herbs, but he overlooked the variables in actual operation.

A true expert's skill is immediately apparent; it seems I still have much to learn.

He immediately corrected his attitude and sincerely apologized: "It was just my wishful thinking, all talk and no action. I hope Uncle Zhang won't take offense."

Seeing his reaction, Uncle Zhang felt relieved.

He originally thought these two gentlemen were the kind of arrogant and stubborn people who wouldn't listen to advice.

Unexpectedly, this young master was not only polite and able to admit his mistakes, but also very humble.

He hated those "parachuted" managers who bossed people around, and for a moment, he couldn't help but feel a sense of goodwill towards Zhou Baoqing.

Looking at the earthenware basin, he pondered for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said, "However, what you just said reminded me. Directly drying it with fire won't work, but if we use warm water to 'awaken' this water spirit herb, it might actually blend better. Young masters, please watch, I can change this step..."

He deftly took a small copper stove, set up a small steamer over the water, steamed the water spirit grass for a short while, and then kneaded it into the bone powder.

Half an hour later, a batch of fresh fish food was ready.

As soon as the lid was lifted, a rich and fresh aroma wafted out, and the fish food pellets had a lustrous dark red sheen.

Indeed, the quality has improved slightly.

Uncle Zhang was in high spirits. While wiping his hands with a dry cloth, he asked curiously, "Young Master Baoqing, you are a promising talent in the Zhou Clan School's Chengdao Class, with a bright future ahead of you. Why would you condescend to learn the rough and clumsy skills of us peasants?"

Zhou Baoqing smiled and said, "There's no question of condescension. I just see my grandparents working day and night for the fishpond, and my mother scrimping and saving to support my schooling. I thought that if I could learn to make some good fish food, I could save my family some spirit stones, lighten their burden, and do my part to show my filial piety."

Upon hearing this, Uncle Zhang stopped what he was doing.

He thought today's incident was just two children playing around out of curiosity, but he never expected it to reveal such a deep filial piety.

Thinking of his elderly parents, who were also fishermen and farmers working in Qinglin Bay, enduring wind and sun all their lives, Uncle Zhang felt a pang of sadness and had a thought of making amends.

"Young Master Baoqing, since you have such filial piety, I cannot be stingy. Although I cannot give you the secret recipe, I have a fish food ratio recipe that I have figured out myself. It is not worth much money, so you can take it as a reference. I will also give you some fish food supplements. You can try to mix them yourself when you get home."

I was hoping to see a simple production process, but I never expected this unexpected surprise!

Uncle Zhang is a good man.

Holding the prescription, Zhou Baoqing thanked him gratefully, "Thank you so much, Uncle Zhang, for making this possible!"

The sunlight shone brightly on their faces.

The two, one big and one small, looked at each other and smiled, both thinking the other was a very nice person.

…………

After leaving the workshop, Zhou Yandong had already prepared a sumptuous spiritual meal at home and warmly entertained Zhou Baoqing.

During the meal, he showed no airs of an elder, but instead offered words of encouragement. After the meal, he sent Fazhou to safely escort Zhou Baoqing home.

Nighttime, the Zhou family mansion.

Zhou Yandong sat in the armchair, holding a cup of spirit tea, and asked, "Ping'er, what did you see and hear from your classmate at the workshop today?"

Zhou Changping immediately perked up and vividly described how Zhou Baoqing pointed out Uncle Zhang's shortcomings in the workshop during the day, how Uncle Zhang improved the fish food to a higher quality, and the conversation between the two.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yandong paused slightly in the hand holding the teacup.

I never expected this young man to have such keen insight.

What's even more remarkable is that the other party has such a sincere filial piety, is not ashamed of doing rough work, and is only concerned about relieving the worries of their family.

"Of all virtues, filial piety is the most important..."

Zhou Yandong put down his teacup and sighed, "A person's character is what it is, and no matter how talented they are, it's all external. You can tell whether a person is worth getting to know by observing how they treat their family."

In this light, Ping'er's foresight in befriending this grateful and promising immortal seedling was actually better than that of the tycoon who dominated the business world.

Looking at his silly son picking his teeth with his fingernails, Zhou Yandong had an expression of existential doubt.

Could it be that he underestimated his eldest son, who is truly wise in his foolishness and skillful in his simplicity?!