Chapter 165 I’m Afraid They’ll Say I Don’t Respect the Elders

Uncle Gu was surprised when he heard this, and saw in Sang Zhixia the recklessness of a newborn calf that is not afraid of a tiger.

But what’s the use of being reckless and having a strong desire to never give up?

He opened his mouth, hesitant to speak, and then heard Sang Zhixia's firm voice again: "Where were the insects first discovered? Wherever the pests appear, pull out all the seedlings in that field. Not a single one shall be left."

"Don't worry about the places that haven't been discovered yet. I'll find a way."

Uncle Xu was so shocked that his voice trembled: "Did you pull them all out?"

"Xia girl, I just asked around, and everyone says that although insects will reduce the harvestable crops, as long as we keep them we can still get some harvest. If we pull them all out without distinguishing between good and bad, won't we lose everything?"

"Even if we have to pull out all the crops and lose all the harvest in autumn, we can't let more insect eggs fall on our fields."

After a brief silence, Sang Zhixia quickly made up her mind and said decisively, "Uncle San, just do as I say."

"Also, find me a few experienced people who can go into the mountains. It's best if they have experience harvesting honey and finding beehives. The sooner the better."

Uncle Xu's mind was in a mess after all the ups and downs he had experienced. He really didn't understand the connection between Sang Zhixia's arrangements, but there were many people hired to do the work, so it wouldn't be difficult to find a few of them.

Sang Zhixia decided to be the one to go into the mountains to look for the beehive the next day. Amidst many heartbroken gazes, he rolled up his sleeves and went down to the field himself.

With a resolute expression, she pulled out the seedlings from the field where the insect eggs were found, acting ruthlessly and mercilessly.

Uncle Gu looked at it silently for a while, and suddenly laughed.

"He's young, but he's very courageous."

Although he didn't think that Sang Zhixia's method could surpass his half-life experience, since she was the main payer, everyone he hired would obey her words.

Sang Zhixia asked everyone to work as fast as possible and refused to rest even after being busy all day.

It was midnight. Xu Wenxiu and Aunt Xu, who had been waiting anxiously at home, came together. When they saw Sang Zhixia covered in mud, they both had distressed expressions on their faces.

"Didn't you invite so many people? Why did you just follow me and roll away?"

Sang Zhixia collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with a wry smile, "The people who invited me here are soft-hearted and soft-handed. If I hadn't taken the lead, these people wouldn't have been able to do such a cruel thing."

One mu of land produces an average of 200 kilograms of grain. Today they pulled out seedlings from eight mu of land, which is 1,600 kilograms of rice.

Such a large amount of food is enough for the family to eat and drink for the whole year. Anyone who sees it would feel sorry for it, so she has to be the first to do it.

Xu Wenxiu felt very distressed watching this. Seeing that Sang Zhixia couldn't stand up for a while, she simply squatted down and wiped her sweat with a handkerchief.

"We've all heard about what's happening in the fields back home. Xia Xia, do we really have to pull them out?"

"I heard from your Aunt Wu that it's okay not to pull it out. Maybe there will still be some left if you keep it."

"I have to pull it out."

Sang Zhixia took the handkerchief from her hand and covered her face with it, saying sullenly, "The insect eggs we found in our fields today are called rice stem borers. When they're young, they eat the rice leaves. When they grow up, they eat the rice flowers and ears. When they're strong, they can eat an entire rice plant down to the stalk, and they reproduce at an alarming rate."

"We can take the risk on three or five acres of land, but our family's fortune is too large to take the risk."

The sooner we act, the more likely we are to nip potential risks in the bud before they break out.

These losses are now affordable.

Uncle Xu was too tired to get up. He collapsed in the mud and panted, "But niece, we've pulled out eight acres of land today, and there are still about two hundred acres left. If we see insects everywhere else, do we have to pull out all the seedlings?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's eyes showed tension. Sang Zhixia exhaled and slowly shook her head.

"That's not necessary."

"The rice stem borer has many natural enemies. We can use these little creatures to help us, but..."

Sang Zhixia squinted her eyes and looked around at the endless rice fields. Suddenly, she turned to look at Xu Wenxiu and said, "Grandma, I heard from Xu Yu that you like to grow flowers?"

Xu Wenxiu blinked in confusion, uttered an "ah" before she laughed and said, "In the early years, I liked to tend to flowers and plants. Why are you suddenly asking about this?"

"Do you still like flowers now?"

Xu Wenxiu glanced at the equally bewildered Aunt Xu, looking bewildered. "I like it, but don't we grow vegetables and rice at home? What do we need flowers for?"

Sang Zhixia had a rough idea in mind and said with a smile, "Flowers are good things. Without enough flowers and plants, I'm afraid we won't be able to invite the rice borer's natural enemies to settle in our fields."

"Mother-in-law, Second Aunt, I'm going into the mountains tomorrow. Could you please help me find some flower seeds that grow fast and bloom well? If so, could you buy some to take home?"

"I think it would be nice to plant more flowers along the ridge."

This statement is not consistent with the previous text and is a big jump.

However, Xu Wenxiu tried to imagine the scene of small flowers blooming on the edge of the ridge, and she found it inexplicably pleasing to the eye.

A large area of ​​red and green seems to be quite nice?

This flower can be grown.

The man, so tired that he could barely breathe, walked home under the sparse moonlight. Sang Zhixia and Uncle Xu washed and changed, and went to the main hall to see the old man.

The old man slept a lot during the day, so he was still awake even though it was late at night.

The old lady said she was tired and went to sleep in the cubicle early.

Uncle Xu asked a few questions with lingering worry, and the old man answered slowly. After he finished speaking, he looked at Sang Zhixia, whose face was pale with fatigue, and said softly, "I heard that you had a disagreement with someone in the field today and insisted on pulling up the rice seedlings?"

Sang Zhixia didn't want to make him worry, so she touched her nose and smiled, "Did Xu Mingyang and the others tell you when they came back?"

"How come these little ones spread the word so quickly?"

"Do you still care who the informant is?"

The old man helped himself to sit up a little with the help of Uncle Xu San's hand. He took a few deep breaths to suppress his cough. A faint smile appeared at the corners of his dry and purple lips, and his gaze on Sang Zhixia became more and more gentle.

"You did the right thing."

"To make decisions, one must be resolute and decisive enough to override the majority's opinions. If one is misled by others' words, then one cannot be a decision-maker, nor can one do the work that requires decision-making well."

"As long as you feel it's necessary, then do it as you wish and don't be bound by too many things."

Sang Zhixia was not surprised that the old man would stand up to support her, but after realizing the earnest words between the lines, she couldn't help but tear up.

She sniffed as if to hide her feelings and whispered, "Grandfather's teachings are true, but there are still many things I don't understand. If I make mistakes or go astray, I still need your daily guidance. You must take your medicine well and get better quickly, otherwise I will be very anxious and unable to make a decision."

Perhaps because he had been taught too much by the old man, Sang Zhixia, who had always been strong and unwilling to show weakness, couldn't help but show the silly and coquettish behavior of a younger generation at this time, and his words also had a bit of unreasonable and unreasonable taste.

The old man just found it funny.

"You have a very sound mind. I'm not worried about you getting flustered."

Sang Zhixia hummed shamelessly: "I just don't want to say it because I'm afraid of losing face. In fact, I'm panicking and have no idea what to do."

"Grandfather, please get well soon and come check on me. Otherwise, in situations like today, I wouldn't dare raise my voice to those old men with gray hair and beards. I'm afraid they'd say I'm disrespectful to them."

The old man was so angry that he laughed: "Then if I go there, I can help you make a loud noise?"

"With my grandfather watching over me, who would argue with me?"

“You…cough cough cough…”

"Father."

Uncle Xu was so amused by Sang Zhixia's antics that he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He supported the old man and gave him a sip of water. He patted his back to help him breathe and said with a smile, "Miss Xia has probably been hanging out with Mingyang Yanran and the others for too long. Now she's started to act like a scoundrel like those little ones."

"But whether her words are rude or not, what she said is exactly what I want to say. It's better for father to recover soon, otherwise we will always feel uneasy."

The old man patted his hands and said nothing more. He just glanced at Sang Zhixia, who was stiffening her neck, with a feigned dissatisfaction and waved his hand, saying, "Go, go. You've been busy all day, why are you watching over me? Go back and rest."

Sang Zhixia went there reluctantly, and Uncle Xu San also went to get the things for sleeping on the floor and prepared to come to the main room to keep watch.

As soon as the people in the room left, the old man suddenly covered his mouth and coughed.

Moonlight leaked through the crack in the door, and in the trembling palm was an ominous pool of black blood...