After the hydroelectric station at the base began to generate electricity, electricity was quickly transmitted to every household in the base.

No longer did everyone need to light candles or bamboo strips for dinner. Just flick the light switch and the light instantly filled the room, bringing a bright glow.

In just a few days, the light of incandescent lamps shone through the windows of every household in the base.

There were also many more laughs in the base at night.

After the base called, everyone would finish work later every day, and basically go home after dark.

After finishing work, many people no longer cooked and ate in the dark, but chose to take their meals to the square to eat in the cool air.

A group of people gathered in the square, and everyone ate and chatted, exchanging various news.

Xia Lunong was not familiar with the people in the base and had nothing to talk about, but she liked this atmosphere very much.

He had been carrying a large bowl for several days, and would run over every dinner time to listen to everyone's various news.

On this day, he and Kong Zhi walked over with their bowls, and everyone greeted them and gave up their small stools for them to sit on.

After a small commotion, people continued with the previous topic.

"...If you ask me, you'd better not go to Huilong Town. There are snakes everywhere now. If you are not careful, you will get entangled. It will be a big problem."

"Huilong Town has not been flooded yet? I thought it was flooded."

"It was flooded a little. It would be fine if it was all flooded, but it was just a little flooded, which forced the remaining snakes, rats, insects and ants to the shore."

Someone interrupted, "Speaking of ants, I told you last time that in Daluo Town, there are ant nests everywhere. The last time I teamed up with Lao Qian and the others, I saw a wild boar being eaten alive by ants from a distance."

"Really? Carnivorous ants?"

"How could it be false? The ants crawled very fast, like the tide, and directly submerged the wild boar. After a few minutes, only the skeleton of the wild boar was left."

Xia Lunong's scalp tingled when she heard this, and she looked up and exchanged glances with Kong Zhi.

"When did such scary ants appear nearby? Could it be that you are seeing things, or did you mistake something else for ants?"

"That shouldn't be the case. It's so small, black, has no wings, and can only crawl on the ground. What else could it be except ants?"

Someone else interrupted, "Speaking of this thing, I've seen it before, but only a few of them. They really look like ants."

"Yeah, I guess it's a mutated ant. Nowadays, anything that mutates will become strange and unfamiliar, just like the wheat in Deputy Captain Xia's house, hasn't it become very strange?"

Xia Lunong didn't expect the topic to turn to herself. Facing the gazes of everyone, she smiled and didn't respond.

There were many gossipers in the crowd, and someone immediately asked: "Xiunong, is that wheat in your house? We saw the leaves were heavy and all fell to the ground?"

"Xiunong, is the wheat in your house safe? Nothing will happen to it, right?"

"I saw that the leaves of the mutated wheat were fat and green. Can the leaves be eaten?"

Xia Lunong said vaguely: "I'm not sure. We are observing the experiment with the help of Professor Yan Mingqing. He has not judged any danger."

Everyone asked a few more questions.

Kong Zhi said, "Xiao Nong is not a professional, how can he know these things?"

Someone in the crowd immediately said to Kong Zhi, "Just chatting casually, isn't it because Xiao Nong's family grows crops well? You come from outside and don't know the situation of our base. If we ask more questions and grow more crops, we won't starve to death this winter."

Xia Lunong frowned and said, "If there are any special planting techniques, we will submit them to the scientists in the white building for experiments. We really don't know now. You say this as if we are hiding something."

The man half-jokingly said, "Isn't it because your family grows crops particularly well? We have been farmers for so many years, we have experience, and we have put in a lot of effort, but we are not as good as you. If we have any tips, why don't we chat together?"

Someone in the crowd immediately laughed and said, "He has superpowers, can he pass on his superpowers to you?"

"Some people are just gifted, and others can't learn from them even if they want to. Speaking of which, isn't your family's field well grown, Old Xu? I just walked by your field the day before yesterday, and the pepper trees there made me envious."

Everyone chatted and changed the subject.

Xia Lunong smiled, lowered her head and continued to eat.

This is why the atmosphere in their base is so good. Even if they are jealous, most people can tell what is appropriate and what is inappropriate, and will not cause any ugly things.

His brother said that there were troublemakers when the base was first established, but they were driven out by everyone because of trouble. Now no one knows which base they have gone to, or they have simply become dried bones in the wilderness.

Xia Lunong was eating, and everyone had already talked about the next topic.

The previous disturbance was strangled in the cradle before it even happened.

Xia Lunong quickly put the matter behind him.

He had just finished tending to the wheat and picked vegetables from the field and went home, thinking about what to eat in the evening. Unexpectedly, when he opened the door, he saw his brother and his former brother studying a map.

Xia Lunong took down the backpack and asked curiously, "Brother, what are you looking at?"

"There are more and more snakes, insects, rats and ants outside. Among the people who went out to collect today, six were bitten by snakes, and eighty-seven were bitten by ants."

"So many?!" Xia Lunong widened her eyes in shock, "Are they all okay?"

Xia Huoqu said, "Except for one who was bitten on a finger and had to have his limb amputated, the rest are not seriously injured."

Xia Lunong asked, "There are so many injured people. How many people left the base today?"

Xia Huoqu was not very clear about this, he looked at Yan Xinian.

Yan Xinian answered beside him, "Six hundred and thirty-two."

"That's not a low percentage." Xia Lunong said, "I went to the square with Kong Zhi to eat these days, and they also complained that there were more and more ants outside, and they would get bitten if they were not careful."

Yan Xinian rubbed his head, "There are indeed more and more ants and snakes outside, especially outside the base. I have to see how to clean them up in the next few days."

Xia Lunong put down his things and went to look at the map.

I saw that several mountains near the base were circled.

Xia Lunong asked, "How to clean them up?"

"There is no good way for the time being. We can only try to clear the grass and trees above to create a protective belt."

Xia Lunong has seen firebreaks.

First, mark out a certain area, and then clear away the vegetation on it. If a wildfire starts, it will automatically extinguish itself when it reaches this bare area, and will not spread to other places.

From what his brother and his friends said, the protective belt is probably also operated in this way.

Xia Lunong scratched her head, "This is a big project."

"Yes, but we have to do it. Otherwise, it will be troublesome when the snake and ant plague spreads to the base. The city wall can't stop them at all. There are many old people and children in the base. I'm afraid something big will happen then."

Yan Xinian said, "We built the city wall last winter. We can clean the protective belt this year. Let's arrange the time first."

Xia Lunong sighed at everyone's difficulties. After thinking about it, she said in a positive direction, "If we clean it out and catch the ants and snakes, we will have meat to eat every day."

Yan Xinian smiled, "Yes! We must maintain this optimistic attitude. When the time comes, let the people in the cafeteria learn how to cook ants and spicy snake slices. Make more delicious food, and everyone's enthusiasm will rise."

Xia Lunong said, "I think this is feasible. The mid-season rice in the base has turned yellow. Should we do this after harvesting the rice?"

"After harvesting the rice, we should plant the autumn and winter vegetables first, and then we can basically spare some time to go out and take turns to clean up." Yan Xinian said, "Your brother and I will go out for a walk more often recently to collect information. You and Kong Zhi may be busier at home."

"No problem!" Xia Lunong said, and then looked at his brother eagerly, "Brother, be careful when you go out."

Xia Huoqu said, "We can go out in beast form. We have thick fur, so ants can't bite us, and snakes can't bite through us."

Xia Huoqu said immediately, "This is the best. We have plenty of food at home anyway, and you brothers don't have to worry about wasting too much food in beast form. Use it when necessary." Xia

Huoqu nodded, "Got it."

In the next few days, Yan Xinian and his friends really went out frequently, and the maps in their hands became more and more clearly marked.

That day, when Yan Xinian returned from his transformation into a giant white tiger, he had a heavy bag of stuff hanging from his neck.

He changed back to human form, waved to Xia Lunong who came out to greet him, handed the backpack to him, and said with a wicked smile: "Xiaonong, let me show you something good."

Xia Huoqu followed him and changed back. Upon hearing this, he immediately said: "There are ants inside, open it slowly."

Xia Lunong was mentally prepared when he saw his brother's smile. Upon hearing this, his hand paused for a moment before slowly opening it.

The things in the backpack were exposed, and there were indeed black, palm-sized ants inside.

These ants were big and a little bit ferocious.

Xia Lunong looked at their mouthparts, her pupils shrank suddenly, and she almost threw the backpack away, with a blank expression on her face.

His brother came up quickly and took the backpack from him. "We said we wanted to see if these ants were edible. We brought them back today when we saw them."

Xia Lunong stretched out his hands and rubbed his arms vigorously. He said with a lingering fear, "These ants don't look that good."

"As long as they taste good," Xia Huoqu said, "It doesn't matter if they don't taste good. As long as they are not poisonous, the base can eat them all."

Xia Huoqu took the backpack to the kitchen, picked up the large wooden basin from under the cupboard, opened the backpack, and poured out all the big ants.

Xia Lunong followed behind and took a quick look, and took a breath of cool air.

Each of these large ants weighs at least half a pound, and dozens of them filled the wooden basin. "Are all the ants outside that big now?"

An ant of this size would bite off a piece of meat, right?

"This is the largest species we have encountered. Most ants are not that big. If they were that big, we would not be able to survive."

Xia Huoqu said as he carefully brushed the large ant in his hand with a loofah, picked it up and sniffed it.

Xia Lunong was curious, "What's that smell?"

Xia Huoqu handed the large ant, which was still dripping with water, to him for him to smell as well.

The ant's shell might be too thick. Xia Lunong gently touched it and smelled it with his brother's hand, but he didn't smell anything.

He gently took the big ant and felt that its shell was very hard, hard and cool. There was basically no other feeling.

After looking at it for a long time, the ant even looked a little cute.

Xia Huoqu continued to brush the ants.

After Xia Lunong turned it over and over and smelled it carefully, he also came to help.

Yan Xinian came in from outside after drinking water and squeezed in with them to brush.

Soon, a large basin of ants was brushed clean and placed neatly on the chopping board, which looked pretty good.

Xia Lunong looked at his brother, then at his brother Xinian, and asked, "The ants are ready. How do we eat them? Fry them?"

Yan Xinian said, "Open the shell first and see what's inside, then make a decision."