Amidst the panic, the people of Qingxia Village managed to preserve a small portion of their crops.

Meanwhile, the neighboring Red Leaf Village is in a terrible state.

Apart from Zheng Lizheng, who dutifully collected grain according to the yamen runners' instructions, the other family members worked sporadically, like fishing for three days and drying nets for two.

By the time the locusts arrived, it was too late to collect them.

Most of the grain was devoured by locusts.

The place was filled with smoke and fumes, and women, children, and old men were all crying and wailing.

"Uncle Village Head, what should we do next?"

Zheng Lizheng went from feeling helpless to angry and then to desperate.

“The county government sent people over a long time ago to notify us to collect the grain. Some of you always think you are very smart and are lazy. You deserve it.”

After he finished cursing, he waved his hand weakly.

"Shut up, all of you. I'm going to see the county magistrate tomorrow and see if they can give us some food as relief."

Some people have doubts.

"Is that feasible? In these days, food is so precious. Would the master be willing to give us any? It's better to go up the mountain and dig for wild vegetables ourselves."

The village gossip kept muttering, "There are some capable people in Qingxia Village next door. Someone actually guessed that the locusts might come. Except for two families who didn't listen, all the other families in their village harvested all their grain."

Many villagers had their eyes sparkling.

Zheng Lizheng scolded, "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. Get those filthy and vulgar thoughts out of your heads, or do something stupid that will disgrace our Red Leaf Village. Don't blame me for turning my back on you."

there.

Chen Xian watched as swarms of locusts flew to the neighboring village, feeling somewhat worried. He whispered something to Chen Gui in his ear.

Chen Gui nodded, "That makes sense. I'll have Qingshan find someone to arrange this."

Locusts come quickly and go quickly.

Chen Xian's family felt a wave of fear wash over them.

My heart is pounding.

Start cooking.

Soon, smoke rose from the chimney. Cui Niang folded the grass ball, stuffed it into the stove opening, and lit the tinderbox.

Smoke filled the air.

About ten days.

Chen Xian pulled out a preserved egg and a century egg from the corner of the main room.

San Niu licked her lips in confusion.

"Dad, is this edible?"

When the preserved egg is peeled open, it is translucent and pale yellow, while the century egg is slightly black, and the yolk inside looks rotten.

It has a strange appearance.

Chen Xian: "This is called a 'preserved egg' made from chicken eggs, a 'century egg' made from duck eggs, and in some places it's called a 'pine flower egg'. It has a delicate texture and a sweet aftertaste. It's very fragrant."

Peel five chicken eggs and five duck eggs, slice them into pieces, peel the garlic, crush it, drizzle a spoonful of vinegar, and sprinkle it in a bowl.

The whole family was gulping down their saliva.

"Erzhu, take three eggs and three preserved eggs to Old Man Li's house."

After all, they gave us a pound of lime.

"Um."

Before long, they arrived at Li Laoshi's house.

His family ate wild vegetables and buckwheat and corn cakes, and the whole family enjoyed the meal.

Erzhu chuckled: "Master, these are some snacks made by my family. Please try them."

Li Laoshi was about to step back.

He chuckled and said, "It's just lime that's not used at all; my family doesn't use it much."

The old lady was about to reach out her dry hand to take it, but upon hearing this, she hesitated to do so.

Erzhu simply shoved the item into her hand.

Li Laoshi shouted, "Don't go, I'll give you some cornbread from home."

The two pillars departed as quickly as the wind.

The old lady muttered, "You're the good person, and I'm the bad person."

Li Laoshi grinned, revealing his yellow teeth.

"hey-hey."

The eldest grandson came over, peeled it open, and saw that something inside looked rotten.

"Sir, is something broken inside?"

Li Laoshi punched him in annoyance.

"Are bad people sending them here?"

He took a bite and squinted his eyes: "It's really quite delicious, very fragrant." There was a tall Chinese toon tree in the yard, and a gentle breeze wafted into the Li family's yard through the corridor.

The three people, a grandfather, grandmother, and grandson, both wore simple, honest smiles.

Taking advantage of the brief respite, Chen Xian planned to make this product soon so that he could sell it directly in town after the busy farming season.

So they started collecting chicken and duck eggs from the villagers.

Holding a gong, Chen Qingshan began shouting in the village: "The locusts haven't left yet. Don't dry the wheat in the next few days to prevent them from returning."

Taking advantage of a break.

Chen Xian began to write.

I've started writing the third part of A Chinese Ghost Story.

Taking advantage of her free time, Cuihua pulled down the bedsheets from the house and washed them in the yard.

Li Niang and Shuang Shuang are helping.

Dazhu carefully inspected the thatched roof, while Erzhu held the ladder, bustling up and down.

Check for any leaks.

San Niu and Si Niu searched for stray cattails by the dried-up riverbed, which they could then use as mosquito coils.

At the same time.

The Su residence.

Young Master Su rolled over and lay on the bed, reading a storybook.

The most exciting parts were truly captivating.

"It's really strange. This Black Mountain Demon is neither male nor female. When he was talking to the female ghost, was he in a male body or a female body for the wedding night?"

Suddenly, a strange thought came to mind.

Su Er Gongzi was even more surprised to learn from Uncle Fu that the author of the book was a farmer.

Do farmers nowadays need to acquire knowledge?

Is the threshold really that high?

The eldest son of the Su family stood to the side, rolling his eyes. "Brother, is it possible that he studied first, and when there was no hope, he had no choice but to become a farmer?"

Su Yong returned from his travels, having been on the move for more than ten days.

Somewhat annoyed: "My clerk, this is truly frustrating. We told the farmers in advance that harvesting the wheat early might lead to a locust plague, yet some farmers are still unwilling to act. Even those who do act are dragging their feet. Each household only has a few acres of land, and with more than ten days to winnow it, there's already time before the wheat is delivered to the county office..."

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