Chapter 65 [Locust Plague]

With tears in his eyes, the child was about to kowtow to Escort Master Cen: "Our Tianshui Village has been hit by a locust plague. We can no longer pay the rent. Please don't capture me and sell me!"

Escort Master Cen quickly stopped the child's actions.

Wang Zifu deduced, "This kid thinks we're servants and thugs sent by the landlord to collect rent."

Seeing that the child didn't trust Escort Cen and the yamen runners at all, Jiang Lili whispered a few words in Xin Yan's ear.

Xin Yan then walked up to the child and said, "Little brother, we are not here to collect rent. We are a group of exiles from the capital. We would like to stay in your Tianshui Village for one night and would like to discuss matters with your village chief."

"Where are the people in your village?"

The child saw people of his own age talking to him, and he cried less fiercely: "Are you really not here to collect the rent?"

He looked at the long procession of exiles, including the elderly and children, and finally breathed a sigh of relief, no longer as vigilant as before: "There's a locust plague here, and the adults have gone to the fields to drive away the locusts. I'm going to help."

It turned out that this group of people were not here to collect rent, and the child breathed a sigh of relief.

The late rice was planted in July and is about to mature. Unexpectedly, a locust plague broke out. The villagers are busy chasing locusts in the fields to protect the crops.

Seeing that the child was no longer afraid of them, Escort Master Cen said, "Little kid, Zhang Xin from your village is my friend. Can you take us to find him?"

"We have a lot of people, let's see if we can help later!"

"Zhang Xin is my cousin." Seeing that it was his cousin's friend, the child was completely relieved: "I'll take you to find him!"

Zhang Dun led everyone to the fields rented by the villagers of Tianshui Village.

Almost all the villagers in Tianshui Village rented land from landlords. Although the landlords exploited them severely, at least every household could have enough food to eat and pay the rent every year. However, the crops in the previous season encountered extreme weather and the harvest was poor, so many people wrote IOUs to the landlords.

The rice was growing well this season, and the villagers thought they could pay off the rent and have a good year. However, a sudden locust plague caught everyone off guard.

Jiang Lili quickly contacted Zhang Xiaopang on the way to the farmland with Zhang Dun.

@Jiang Lili: Xiaopang, the village we're passing by is having a locust plague. Can we buy some insecticide for killing locusts from your dad's friend who runs a pesticide factory?

Although the insecticides that Xiaopang stocked up a few days ago can kill insects, they will also affect crops and soil after spraying.

@张小胖: Coming! I'll ask my dad to contact them right away!

Zhang Xiaopang now lives in his grandfather's house, which is just above the supermarket, so it is very convenient to pick up and deliver items.

Zhang Xiaopang told his father that a friend he met while playing games online could save their family's water business affected by nuclear wastewater, and that the landscape painting was a gift from this friend. He is now helping this friend practice his game account online and manage his online e-commerce business.

Originally, Xiaopang stayed at his grandfather's house every day and never went out, which made Zhang's father quite dissatisfied. After all, the company's business is busy now, and Xiaopang can no longer live the comfortable life of a rich second generation as before.

But after Xiaopang got that crucial landscape painting, Zhang's father's attitude changed drastically, and Zhang Xiaopang's family status improved rapidly, from a stinky baby to a national treasure.

Zhang's father is now actively cooperating with his son and even gave Zhang Xiaopang a bank card with 100,000 yuan as a reserve fund.

In fact, Zhang's father felt that the value of the landscape painting was far more than 100,000 yuan. He didn't know who his son's netizen was and how he could so casually give away such a painting. However, the company was short of funds now and could only give Zhang Xiaopang this much.

Now Zhang Xiaopang stays at home every day and has converted his room into an e-sports game room. When he is not on a feeding mission, he plays games and helps his family company with online business. Therefore, he responds to Jiang Lili very quickly.

Jiang Lili now regularly uses gold and silver jewelry to settle his purchasing expenses and errand fees. When Zhang Xiaopang is short of money, he takes the gold and silver items sent by Jiang Lili to his grandfather's friend, Boss Mo, who runs a pawnshop, in exchange for purchasing funds.

Any item that Jiang Lili and Guan Yue robbed from Xu Youshan could be worth four or five figures, and Boss Mo even said he would help Xiaopang contact the auction house for some of the jewelry!

When Zhang's father discovered that the money in his bank card was only increasing and not decreasing, and that it increased by thousands or tens of thousands from time to time, he was dumbfounded and even suspected that Zhang Xiaopang was engaging in illegal fraud online.

@Zhang Xiaopang: Sister Li, I've already contacted the uncle at the pesticide factory. Please tell me the extent of the damage and the area of ​​land affected!

@Jiang Lili: Okay! I'm almost there, I'll take a picture for you.

@张小胖: You need fire to drive away the locusts, right? I'll go buy you some gasoline first. Send me anything else you need!

@Jiang Lili: Thank you for your hard work, little fat brother! By the way, Master Liao majored in horticulture and must have studied pest control in college. I'll go ask Master Liao if he needs anything else!

The group has reached the ridge of the field in Tianshui Village.

As dusk approached, the sky darkened and the orange-yellow light from the horizon shone on the land. Countless locusts swept in from afar like dark clouds. They swooped down on the crops frantically, as if they wanted to devour this fertile land.

The locusts densely covered the leaves of the crops, and the slight noise they made was frightening.

"Light it up, light it up!"

"There aren't enough torches!"

"My rice, I'm going to fight you beasts!"

......

Shouts, sad cries, and angry roars intertwined together, and the atmosphere was extremely tense!

In the fields, villagers worked hard to drive away locusts, but there were too many insects.

Escort Master Cen found Zhang Xin, and after the two of them discussed it with Wang Zifu, Wang Zifu shouted, "Everyone, grab whatever tools you have and help the villagers drive away the locusts!"

They were originally planning to stay overnight in Tianshui Village. Now that the village is in such a state, it is unacceptable for them to stand by and watch.

Jiang Lili used the camera function in the group chat to take a picture of the scene and sent it to Zhang Xiaopang. Then she found Liao Ji and said, "Master Liao, are we in your area of ​​expertise now?"

Liao Ji had a stern face at this time, looking very serious. He was pacing on the edge of the field with his hands behind his back, observing the current locust plague situation. After looking around, he gave the required pesticide model and dosage to Zhang Xiaopang.

"Frogs and birds are natural enemies of locusts. Where's that big silly bird of yours?" Master Liao looked up at the sky. "Eagles eat pests and can also drive away insects. Hurry up and send it over to help. It's not eating all those canned food for nothing!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Lili immediately blew a quick whistle. She had learned some basic bird training skills from Xin Che on the road these two days. After a while, a falcon appeared in the sky, circled and descended, and landed beside Jiang Lili.

Jiang Lili picked up a piece of foxtail grass and pointed at the locusts lying on the crops: "Hurry and drive them away!"

She pulled out a can of cod and said, "I'll give you a reward after I chase them away!"