I have a wildlife zoo

Fang Ye jumped twice on the wooden box and asked Lan Li, "Want to join in for some exercise?"

Lan Li smiled sweetly, "Sure!"

She placed the calico cat on the ground, took off her shoes, and was pulled onto the wooden box by Fang Ye's extended hand.

The two of them, holding hands on the compost box, started to bounce like they were on a trampoline.

Fang Ye looked at Lan Li with a smile, and Lan Li, feeling somewhat embarrassed by his gaze, turned her head away, "Why keep staring at me?"

"Don't you also often look at me? I'm just looking back," he replied.

The cat on the ground watched the two people bouncing in place on the compost box, tilting its head slightly, wondering what they were doing.

It then tried to imitate them, attempting to stand on its hind legs and also started hopping around!

Seeing the cat mimicking their jumps, Lan Li exclaimed in surprise, "Director, this cat is so much fun!"

Fang Ye couldn't help but glance sideways, "Hey, it is pretty interesting!"

After bouncing for a while to compact the material inside, he jumped down first and then lifted Lan Li down from the compost box.

He opened the cardboard and continued to pour more material into it from a burlap sack!

Adding more material and compacting it increased the temperature of the compost.

After covering it again and pressing it down a bit, it was okay this time.

Once finished with the compost, Fang Ye, sitting on a lounger by the poolside, blowing in the wind and basking in the sun, gently stroked the cat in his arms, resting comfortably.

Lan Li gathered her hair, blown about by the wind, peeled an orange, and tenderly offered a segment to his lips, "Speaking of adopting the cat, should we give it a name?"

"Ah um~" Discover stories with empire

Fang Ye bit into the orange and asked, "What name are you thinking of?"

Lan Li thought seriously, "How about calling it Tricolor? It has three colors, and there's no other cat."

Fang Ye scratched his chin, "Let's call it Huahua, it rolls off the tongue better, and even though it's a bit feminine, it doesn't matter."

Looking at the cat in his lap, which was being petted comfortably and lying on its back exposing its belly, he scratched its chin and chuckled evilly, "Anyway, its balls will be gone soon."

Huahua looked up with a puzzled expression, "Meow meow meow?"

The ringtone of the mobile phone sounded, and Fang Ye picked it up. It was the purchaser on the line.

"Hello, Director, the potatoes and strawberry seedlings you asked to buy have been purchased. Should I send them to your house on the mountain?"

"Oh, okay, bring them over. I'm at home right now!" Fang Ye responded.

Fang Ye rubbed Huahua's belly and pondered, "Speaking of which, should we give our place a name too? It's a bit odd when people refer to it as 'the house on the mountain.'"

Lan Li's eyes sparkled with excitement as she suggested enthusiastically, "Beastmaster's Abode? Beast Hall? King of Beasts' Residence? I feel like calling it Dragon King's Residence is even more majestic!"

Fang Ye couldn't help but have mixed feelings, "Isn't that a bit too adolescent? What if we invite people over for a vegetable party in the future? Are we going to say 'come to the Dragon King's Residence for fun at night'?"

Seeing Lan Li's slightly disappointed look, Fang Ye changed his tune, "Eh, it actually does sound quite cool. Let's call it Dragon King's Residence then."

As a hardcore fan of the comics and anime world, his sense of shame was still quite high.

As long as he wasn't embarrassed, the embarrassment was left to others.

Lan Li nodded happily, "I think it's great!"

Having settled on a name for the small villa, Fang Ye stood up and went down the mountain to meet up with the purchaser.

A while later, he returned to the side courtyard, carrying several bags.

There were quite a lot of things, too much to move in one go, especially the umbilical orange saplings, which looked like a bush; he and the purchaser carefully moved them up, being careful not to knock off any leaves so as not to affect their growth.

The soil in the vegetable garden had all been sprinkled with spiritual soil and turned over!

There were two big holes at a distance of 5 meters from each other, prepared for the umbilical orange saplings; the apple trees were already planted.

After filling the soil, Fang Ye came to the water tank next to the vegetable garden and scooped a basin of water to water the saplings.

In organic farming, the choice of water is also important; it's best to use rainwater or well water. The tap water in cities generally contains chlorine and ammonia-based disinfectants to kill bacteria that are harmful to humans while also killing the microorganisms in the soil.

If you use it, it must be left to sit for 24 hours to allow the chlorine and ammonia to evaporate.

It had not rained in the past few days, so the water in the water tank was tap water that had been left to sit, mixed with some spiritual water.

The leaves of the saplings were moved by the wind, swaying gently; water droplets slowly dripped from the leaves onto the ground.

The leaves were lush and green after being watered, looking vibrant and making one feel quite pleased.

Fang Ye then placed the potatoes 20 cm apart in the designated area, buried them slightly in the soil, and covered them with a layer of dry straw.

He watered them a bit, and that was it—planting potatoes was really simple!

The strawberries were planted in some clover-shaped special pots; by rotating and misaligning, a pot's slot underneath could be hooked onto the edge of the pot below, stacking them up into a hexagonal pagoda shape.

Watering from above, the water would overflow through the holes at the bottom, and the tray beneath would catch excess water and sediment for recycling. Once the strawberries grew, each tier would receive sunlight.

This strawberry tower also saved space significantly. One pot had three sections, each section planting one strawberry plant, and 10 strawberry towers lined up next to the vegetable garden, stacked up to six layers—that's 180 plants in just two square meters of space. Once they matured, not only would there be more than enough for himself, but he could also share them with friends.

You could also mix in other plants; this would reduce pests and diseases. For example, cilantro, rosemary, lettuce, and so on. Mixing viburnum with strawberries could help attract insects for pollination, draw in pests' natural enemies, the strong scent of cilantro could ward off pests, and big marigolds could sacrifice themselves to attract the attacks of pests.

However, Fang Ye thought that he might as well keep things simple for the first planting and consider various combinations and pairings later.

Lan Li mimicked Fang Ye, scooping some soil mixed with spiritual soil from the vegetable garden into a flowerpot, made a hole in the middle, then picked up a strawberry seedling and placed it in, and filled in the soil.

Fang Ye glanced at her and said with a smile, "That's not right! You missed a step."

"Eh?" Lan Li was somewhat surprised, she was sure she had copied him exactly.

Fang Ye picked up a strawberry plant and demonstrated, "Before putting it in, gently spread out the roots with your hands first; this way, the roots can breathe and grow better in the soil.

When you cover them with soil, make sure only the roots are covered and not the crown; about the thickness of a finger above the rootlets."

"Oh!"

Lan Li observed carefully and realized that Fang Ye indeed did gently caress each strawberry plant before planting it, reminiscent of a wandering poet playing the zither or a mage enchanting an item—it served that purpose.

With a mix of admiration and frustration, she said, "Head Gardener, how do you know everything!"

Fang Ye laughed, "I learned it, of course. When it comes to farming, I'm actually a beginner too. Don't worry, I'll teach you if you don't understand."

It took half the day, but they got all the strawberry seedlings planted!

Afterward, Fang Ye spread a layer of pine needles from the tiger exhibit under the pine trees into the pots to keep the soil moist and fertile.

Strawberries are prone to waterlogging; too much can lead to reduced yield, so this time, instead of using the pot, he filled a watering can from the water tank and gently sprinkled the water over them.

After everything was planted, Fang Ye wiped the sweat from his brow and looked at the vegetable garden, which was now teeming with life, and couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment rise within him.

Perhaps this was the joy of farming.