Chapter 69 [Food Shortage]

"The people behind the scenes who incited the disaster victims to riot could not possibly be genuinely thinking about the victims themselves."

Lin Ye raised his eyebrows: "If I'm gone, who will benefit is whoever it is. But there are so many people who hope I'm dead, but I don't have a clue for the moment."

It seemed that his disciple was also suffering in Lingnan. Marquis Zhaoping warned him, "It's not easy to be an official. You must be more careful these days."

At this time, Jiang Lili, Xin Che and Xin Cheng came over with buckets of medicine. Now everyone already knew how to mix the medicine, so Liao Dabao didn't have to worry about it.

Lin Ye was filled with emotion: "Fortunately, Miss Jiang and Brother Liao's insecticide were able to curb the locust plague, otherwise I would be in danger of my life."

If the locust plague can be contained, the unrest can be controlled at the source. The only remaining problem is disaster relief and appeasement.

Jiang Lili and Xin Cheng taught the villagers and Lin Ye's yamen runners how to use the spray buckets. Xin Che had just seen Liao Dabao's instructions and had already figured out the key points of spraying the medicine, so he led everyone to spray the medicine.

Because the number of spray barrels that Xiaopang can purchase is limited, and it is impossible for everyone to have a set of spray barrels, some people have to use torches to drive away the insects first and wait for support for spraying the medicine.

Chen, Yang, and Yin Zhen were helping to make torches. Marquis Zhaoping took people and torches to drive away the insects. Everyone was busy working hard because they knew that as long as they could make a name for themselves through this battle, Jiang Lili and Liao Dabao would receive large sums of money and would have no worries about business.

On Liao Ji's side, the naughty kids who were conquered by Liao Ji's last snake catching with his bare hands followed him and chattered like followers.

"Boss, how can I help you?"

"Humph, those adults are so stupid that they don't believe what you said, big brother."

"Boss, just give me your orders!"

The parents of these naughty children were a little dumbfounded. Their naughty children were so obedient in front of this child who was less than two years old. Usually, what they said went in one ear and out the other.

Liao Ji then told the children to follow Chen and the others to light torches. "Listen to the adults and be good. If you dare to play with fire, I will catch a snake in the middle of the night and throw it on your bed!"

"Yes, Boss!"

After listening to Master Liao's words, the naughty kids all went to help Chen make torches. The children who grew fast and were strong were able to follow Marquis Zhaoping to the fields to drive away locusts and wait for the potion to be spread to the area they were guarding.

Yin Zhen was overjoyed to see her child's appeal.

Many refugees originally offered only symbolic help to Tianshui Village in its fight against the locust plague. After all, it was not their own land, and they just wanted to stay overnight.

However, when they saw their own children getting involved, they had to follow suit for their own children's safety, which passively boosted the enthusiasm of the entire exile team.

The more people help, the sooner Jiang Lili Liao Ji can finish work.

The villagers of Tianshui Village were so ashamed to see that the children were so sensible and helpful, and were even following the instructions of the little kid and cooperating well with the adults. Thinking of their previous remarks mocking Zhang Xin and the little kid, they felt ashamed.

The Zhang family's land was treated early and the measures were in place. Now it has escaped the clutches of the locusts, and the Zhang family felt relieved.

After discussing it, they also came over to help make torches to drive away the locusts. After all, they were fellow villagers who had lived together for decades and saw each other every day. Although these villagers were a little mean, they also helped each other on weekdays, so the situation would not be too awkward.

Those who had spoken rudely before no longer dared to talk to Zhang Xin. The children were so united, but the adults were just taking advantage of the situation of Zhang Xin's family in the same village.

Everyone was busy until 11:00 PM, and the locust plague in Tianshui Village's farmland had been contained.

Zhang Xin's family took the earliest measures and sprayed pesticides on their land, so the losses were within an acceptable range.

The villagers who went to the fields to check the damage to their crops were in tears.

Because they were too slow to act when the birds left, two-thirds of the crops in the field had been eaten to pieces.

Since there were still some dwarf rice plants that could survive in the paddy fields, none of the vegetables grown in the vegetable fields were edible, not even the small seedlings that were still growing were spared.

The village official who had previously fanned the flames in front of Lin Ye was now facing a situation where he had no harvest at all. Now, looking at the Zhang family, who had so much land but suffered less losses than him, he burst into tears of regret: "Why is it that the Zhang family has the most land but has suffered the least losses!"

The other villagers also sat in their own fields and cried bitterly, their hearts ached!

"It's our fault for not believing what that little prodigy said."

Village Chief Liu came over and spoke.

He had just been sitting on the edge of the field, staring blankly at his home and the crops that had rotted beyond recognition. He sat there for a long time before getting up, with a lot of thoughts running through his mind.

The village's ritual to worship the locust god has not yet been completed, but all the locusts in Zhang's field have been driven away.

Village Chief Liu, who had been the village chief for so many years, was still rational: "Alright, everyone, come with me to apologize to Miss Jiang and Liao the Little Prodigy. Our previous attitude was indeed excessive."

"Also, I want to apologize to the Zhang family for what I said just now. We are all from the same village, but you didn't show the same solidarity as the other children just now. It's really shameful."

Upon hearing this, the villagers lowered their heads and followed Village Chief Liu.

"Next, we have to rely on Miss Jiang and the others to find the place where the locusts lay their eggs and kill them."

The old village chief, who witnessed everything, also sighed and said, "They are our great benefactors of Tianshui Village. Everyone, please don't feel awkward. If you have any questions in the future, please ask them humbly for advice. Don't be as stubborn as an old man like me."

"The most reassuring thing is what we can control ourselves. We need to master more farming skills and not rely on worshiping the locust god."

Everyone came to Jiang Lili and Liao Ji, and Village Chief Liu bowed solemnly: "Miss Jiang, what I said to you before was too much and too anxious, but no matter what the reason is, I should apologize to you. It was my ignorance."

"Thank you, little prodigy, for putting aside past grudges and being willing to save our Tianshui Village."

Everyone expressed their apologies.

How arrogant and sarcastic he was before, how humble he is now.

Some people even said to Jiang Lili and Liao Ji, "From now on, we won't worship the locust god anymore. We'll worship you instead!"

Master Liao quickly waved his hands: "That's an exaggeration, that's an exaggeration, it will shorten your life!"

Liao Ji's tone and voice made everyone laugh, and the previous estrangement was dissolved in the apology.

Jiang Lili and Liao Ji had made some money this time, so they didn't take the previous comments to heart. They just went through the motions and exchanged a few pleasantries, saying it wasn't a big deal. It wasn't like the villagers were as stubborn as before; their locust sweeps wouldn't have produced such a good advertising effect.

Tonight's tense disaster relief battle finally came to an end, and Village Chief Liu asked everyone to go back and rest.

But the villagers all looked uneasy and worried. Village chief Liu also knew what they were worried about. They had no stored food to pay the rent and were going to starve.