"Locusts! It's locusts!!" Jiang Suihe said, stretching out her hand with a terrified expression.

Jiang Ling's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this.

She knew that locusts were a catastrophic disaster in ancient times. The food supply in Lujia Village was just starting to improve when locusts swarmed in, clearly leaving no way for people to survive.

"Suihe, take your younger brother and sister home. Mother is going to the fields!" Jiang Ling said, jumping off the oxcart and running towards the fields of Lujia Village.

Everyone in Lujia Village panicked and tried to drive away the locusts with all sorts of things, but there were just too many locusts. As soon as they stepped into the fields, their clothes, pants, and even their hair would be covered with locusts.

Just then, Jiang Ling suddenly remembered that locusts are afraid of fire. She ran back to her house, grabbed a tinderbox, a torch, and some dry grass, and ran back to the field.

Jiang Ling lit a torch and waved it continuously towards the sky. The smell of burning flesh wafted into Jiang Ling's nostrils, accompanied by the sounds of "snap," "snap," and "snap."

More and more locusts were burning to death around Jiang Ling. Seeing this, Jiang Ling hurriedly shouted to the others in Lujia Village, "Quick! Use fire! Use fire! Locusts are afraid of fire!"

Upon hearing this, everyone frantically searched for tools to start a fire, and more and more torches were lit, while the smell of burning flesh grew stronger and stronger.

The locusts finally succumbed to the flames and scattered. After the locusts flew away, everyone in Lujia Village squatted down and rested, panting heavily.

Looking at the locust corpses scattered on the ground, and then at the rice that had been eaten by the locusts, Jiang Ling felt a pang of sadness, even though she didn't own any land. She felt a pang of sadness at the sight of such a waste of food.

"Damn locusts!! They're trying to kill us!" Zhao Erleng's wife stomped on the dead locusts on the ground to vent her anger.

During the previous drought, everyone tightened their belts. Now that water has been found, the rice has come back to life, and everyone seems to think that a bumper harvest is in sight. Naturally, no household is tightening their belts anymore.

The appearance of locusts has caused great panic among everyone, with sighs and lamentations rising and falling. Jiang Ling's heart also ached.

"No, we must resolve this locust problem as soon as possible. I can't just stand by and watch the people of Lujia Village suffer an undeserved disaster!" Jiang Ling thought to herself, looking at the sad or angry expressions on the faces of the surrounding farmers.

As soon as Jiang Ling got home, she saw the three children standing a short distance away, looking somewhat frightened. Jiang Ling walked over, squatted down beside them, and gently hugged them, saying, "Don't be afraid, the locusts have been driven away!"

"Mother, will we go hungry?"

Jiang Ling could hear a hint of fear in Jiang Suihe's voice.

She quickly patted Jiang Suihe's back to comfort her, "Don't worry, Suihe, your mother is here. I told you before that I wouldn't let you go hungry!"

As she spoke, Jiang Ling gently released the three children, placed the snacks on the table, and then took out the "Three Character Classic" from her bosom and handed it to Jiang Suihe.

"Books? Mother! Mother! You bought me books again?" Jiang Suihe's eyes were shining as she spoke.

Jiang Ling smiled but didn't say anything.

Just then, there was another knock at the door. Jiang Ling opened the door and saw the same group of children as before. Jiang Ling quickly put the mint aside and gave each of them two copper coins.

Seeing the children about to leave, Jiang Ling quickly said, "Don't go back yet, Auntie has something to tell you."

The children all stopped in their tracks and turned to look at Jiang Ling with some confusion.

Jiang Ling smiled and said to the children, "From now on, you can bring over two baskets of spicy herbs every day, and I'll give you four copper coins!"

"Really...really?" Zhao Xiaoyu asked first.

"When have I ever lied to you? You can go up the mountain again today and pick another basketful, and I'll give you two more coins!" Jiang Ling said with a smile.

The children were overjoyed and scattered in all directions, while Jiang Ling began to clean up the mint.

She plans to bring the mint she collected to Li Shan's house tomorrow. As for the rest, Jiang Ling plans to use it all to make mint balm. She plans to try her luck in Pingxi Town tomorrow.

Jiang Ling used the remaining oiled paper to make twenty peppermint pastes. After the peppermint pastes had completely solidified, Jiang Ling carefully placed them all in bamboo tubes.

Then Jiang Ling began washing the mint that the children had brought for the second time, packing all the spicy herbs into a bamboo tube, intending to take it to Li Shanren's house the next day to make mint syrup together.

Just as they finished their work, there was another knock on the door, followed by the village chief's voice.

"Mrs. Jiang, may I come in?"

"Please come in quickly!" Jiang Ling said, standing up and walking towards her front door.

They had only gone halfway when the village chief pushed open the door and entered. He frowned and asked seriously, "Jiang, how did you know that locusts are afraid of fire?"

“My maternal grandparents’ family also experienced a locust plague before, and they used this method to deal with it!” Jiang Ling said, rolling her eyes as she lied.

"And how was the effect?" The village chief's eyes flickered as he continued to ask.

"Well... as you saw today, village chief, it's only so-so in dealing with a small number of locusts!" Jiang Ling said, stroking her chin.

These words seemed to discourage the village chief. He sighed softly, shook his head, and asked, "Is there really no other way?"

Jiang Ling thought for a moment and said, "I'll ask my younger brother tomorrow. He's a scholar and knows a lot, so he should know some solutions."

The village chief was overjoyed upon hearing this. He looked up at Jiang Ling with an incredulous expression and said, "Really...really?"

"Of course, but it might be in the afternoon. I have to deliver goods to Li Shanren and Magistrate Duan in the morning, so I probably won't be back until evening!" Jiang Ling thought about her work tomorrow, so she set the time for the afternoon, which at least wouldn't sound too abrupt.

The village chief breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, thanked her repeatedly, and left Jiang Ling's house.

As night fell, the clear moonlight shone into the courtyard.

After putting the three children to sleep, Jiang Ling secretly slipped out and hid in a corner to open the in-game store system.

After researching for a long time, Jiang Ling finally bought a book called "The Complete Guide to Locust Control" and began to carefully read it under the cool moonlight.

The first half of the book is almost entirely about the origin and development of locusts. Jiang Ling didn't find a way to control locusts until she had flipped through almost half of it.

Most of these methods involve modern pesticides, but the proportions and quantities of these pesticides pose a rather tricky problem for Jiang Ling.

Jiang Ling continued flipping through the book and finally found a few methods. One of them was to burn mugwort to drive away locusts. Adding sulfur would make it even more effective.

Another option is to raise ducks, as ducks love to prey on locusts. However, raising ducklings now would be too costly, and nobody knows when the next locusts will arrive.

Jiang Ling continued flipping through the book with a bit of helplessness when suddenly a method for catching locusts caught her eye.