Chapter 120 The whole village unites to kill locusts

In the fields of Dahe Village.

Swarms of locusts flew over from the other side of the mountain, buzzing and blocking out the sun.

When Cheng Wanwan saw the locusts passing by for the first time, she was completely shocked. It was as if she could catch at least five or six locusts with just one hand.

She was shocked, but the other villagers in Dahe Village felt fortunate.

Last year's locust plague was much more frightening than this one. On that day last year, under the blazing sun, countless locusts swarmed in from all directions. Before anyone could react, thousands of acres of rice paddies were completely devoured. After the locusts had eaten their fill, they crossed the Dadong Mountain and went to another village.

The locusts slowly gathered from village to village, growing from a few thousand to tens of thousands, and then to hundreds of thousands, blotting out the sky like the end of the world.

The number of locusts that passed through this time was obviously less than last year, thanks to the culling order issued by Magistrate Shen a while ago; otherwise, things would have been even worse.

The villagers of Dahe Village began practicing how to exterminate locusts seven or eight days ago. Although people were panicked, their actions were carried out in an orderly manner.

First, we drove all the ducks back to their homes, and then the whole family, young and old, all came out.

"Everyone, quickly start a fire and burn the lantana flowers!"

"All the elderly women here are using bed sheets to kill the locusts, and the men are digging holes to bury them on the spot!"

"Children, take whatever you want to stop the locusts from eating the rice!"

Although the rice was sprayed with pesticide, locusts only die after taking a bite. Even if each locust only takes one bite, it wouldn't be enough to feed thousands of acres of land.

More than a hundred bonfires were set off around thousands of acres of rice paddies, and countless lantana plants were thrown in. These were collected and accumulated by people at the behest of the village head. They were all thrown into the fire, and thick smoke billowed. Many people coughed, but no one stopped. Even three- or four-year-old children ran around the fields with sticks. The locusts were startled and temporarily flew away from the fields. After reaching high altitudes, they were killed by the smoke from the rising lantana plants and fell back down. The locusts that were swatted down with bed sheets did not die so quickly. They needed to be buried and suffocated by digging holes.

More than a thousand people in the village participated in locust eradication, except for infants who couldn't walk yet.

Those who are used to being lazy and shirking their duties, such as Zhao Fugui and Zhang Wulai, are typical scoundrels in the village. Even they never thought of lying at home. They took their tools and joined the locust extermination team, waging a protracted battle against the locusts.

From midday to sunset.

The locusts that used to swarm everywhere gradually decreased, and the few hundred or even a few thousand that remained eventually fled in defeat, heading towards the other side of Dadong Mountain.

Everyone in Dahe Village collapsed onto the edge of the field, drenched in sweat, disheveled, and covered in filth.

The rice in the fields has suffered losses; almost every ear of rice has been eaten by locusts. But there are still some left, which is good. The worst thing is that after the locusts pass through, nothing will grow.

"We've driven the locusts away!"

"Great! We've defeated the locusts, and we've saved our rice paddies!"

"If last year had been like this, this whole year wouldn't have been so hard to get through..."

"Let's not dwell on last year, let's look forward!"

The whole village wept with joy, a mixture of crying and laughter.

The village headman stood up, supporting himself on the ground. He looked at the rice paddy in front of him. Although the locusts were dead and the few remaining ones had flown away, each dead locust still had rice grains inside its belly.

The crops they painstakingly planted were not entirely saved; about two-thirds remained.

The rice in the fields was not as plump as in previous years due to the drought, and a third of it was eaten by locusts. It is true that this year will be a little better than last year, but it is still a hard year. We still have to tighten our belts and make ends meet until next spring harvest.

The village headman naturally wouldn't say such things to discourage the villagers. He said loudly, "The whole village united as one to drive away the locusts. This is the first time in a hundred years that Dahe Village has overcome a natural disaster. The locusts flew east and won't come back. Everyone, just hang in there. In three or four more days, we'll harvest the rice and have a good meal."

The villagers, young and old, dispersed.

Cheng Zhao was so exhausted he almost collapsed to the ground. He wasn't very strong, so he was assigned to use bed sheets to kill locusts. He ran all over the fields with the bed sheet, and he roughly estimated that he had killed at least a thousand locusts with just that one sheet. This sense of accomplishment made him extremely excited, even more so than finishing reading a book. But along with his excitement, he was also a little worried, wondering if the locust eradication in Chengjia Village would be just as successful...

Wu Huiniang also participated in this locust eradication operation. Many pregnant women in the village gathered together to set off burning lantana.

This job wasn't too strenuous, and Wu Huiniang didn't come back looking as disheveled as the others.

She washed herself and then started a fire to cook rice.

After all that fuss for most of the day, everyone was exhausted. She took the initiative to cook some dry rice, stew a pheasant soup, and braise a pot of rabbit meat.

After the whole family had washed off the strange smell, it was time to eat.

"Sister-in-law, your cooking is getting better and better!" Zhao Sidan said, his mouth drooling. "Especially the rabbit meat, it's so delicious!"

Wu Huiniang teased him deliberately: "I wonder who it was that cried the first time they ate rabbit meat."

Zhao Sidan swallowed the rabbit meat and said without blushing, "I didn't know rabbit meat was so delicious before. It's really delicious."

Cheng Zhao nodded and said, "Da Shan's wife's cooking skills are indeed excellent, comparable to the canteen of Nanfu Academy."

Wu Huiniang blushed a little after being praised like this: "Cousin, please don't try to coax me on purpose."

"Scholars never lie," Cheng Zhao said seriously. "The Zuixianlou in Hekou Town also has a dish called braised rabbit meat, but it tastes only about three-fifths as good as yours."

Wu Huiniang blushed slightly at the praise: "It's all thanks to Mother's excellent teaching."

“I can’t cook as well as you do myself,” Cheng Wanwan said with a smile. “It seems that Da Shan’s wife has the potential to be a cook. When we have money in the future, maybe we can open a restaurant in town and let Da Shan’s wife be in charge of cooking.”

She can only tell you how to do it, but when she is asked to do it, she can only produce a mess.

On the contrary, Hui Niang was able to grasp the essence of cooking on her first try and even optimize the steps she mentioned. The braised pork she made was not much different from the modern version, mainly because of the limited seasonings.

The seasonings she had been taking out, both openly and secretly, were still a bit lacking, but she didn't dare to take out too many anymore.

Let's talk about opening a restaurant sometime in the future.

After dinner, Cheng Zhao and the four boys went to the ancestral hall to prepare for class.

The village children arrived early, all dressed in their cleanest and most presentable clothes, their faces washed, and their noses and eyes cleaned up. They all sat obediently at the table.

The oldest should be Zhao Dashan, who is eighteen years old. The youngest is a five-year-old child, who is also the eldest grandson of that family.

Although the children are of different ages, their levels of education are not significantly different. Only Zhao Tiezhu and Zhao Sidan know a few more characters, while Zhao Ergou is slightly better at arithmetic.

Cheng Zhao secretly planned to divide the children into two classes a few days later, one faster and one slower, and add an advanced class specifically for Er Gou and Si Dan.

Outside the ancestral hall, the village headman surveyed the area with his hands behind his back, nodding repeatedly. Their Dahe Village now had a school. Although he didn't know how long Cheng Zhao would stay, he would stay as long as possible...

After the inspection, the village head walked towards Cheng Wanwan's home.