Chapter Sixty-Four: Methods for Dealing with Locusts
Jiang Yan was filled with resentment; why did one or two of them like to pull his ears?
Jiang's mother was taken aback when she heard this. She turned her head and glanced at Jiang Mi, who was standing in the middle of the courtyard in a daze. She was puzzled. She let go of Jiang Yan and took three steps at a time to walk quickly to Jiang Mi. She said in a gentle tone, "Honey, are you hungry? Mother will make you breakfast."
Hearing her mother's call, Jiang Mi's thoughts returned, her eyebrows curved into smiles, her eyes glistening with tears, and she replied, "Okay."
After receiving her daughter's approval, Jiang's mother went to the kitchen and started cooking herself.
"Mom, why don't you rest? I'll make breakfast." Liang Lan was about to wash the rice and cook the porridge when she saw her mother-in-law walk in, roll up her sleeves, and take three eggs out of the cupboard.
Jiang's mother glanced at her second daughter-in-law, skillfully cracked and stirred the fried eggs, and explained, "Honey is absent-minded today, so I'm planning to make two steamed eggs for her to nourish her. You don't need to worry about this."
Seeing her mother-in-law say this, Liang Lan didn't know what else to say and could only follow by her side to help.
Jiang Mu simply made a steamed egg, a few white flour buns, and a pot of millet porridge.
Looking at the white and tender steamed egg custard, so fresh and delicate, Liang Lan couldn't help but swallow her saliva.
These three eggs were just taken out of the bird's nest by her.
During these times of food shortage, my mother-in-law doesn't allow them to use the eggs in the cupboard at will. She counts the number of eggs every day to prevent anyone from stealing them.
In Lao Jiang's family, only the youngest sister has special privileges; she can eat so many eggs at once.
Even so, she only felt envy towards her younger sister, without the slightest resentment; although her mother-in-law was rather frugal with food, she never mistreated her.
Seeing her second daughter-in-law's longing expression, Jiang's mother had no choice but to take out a small bowl from the side, cut out a third of it, and hand it to her: "Since you're so eager, then have a taste."
Looking at the white and tender eggs in front of her, Liang Lan was flattered and somewhat at a loss: "Mother, my little sister is still growing, let her eat them."
"Just take it. Don't act like I'm mistreating you." Jiang's mother said with a sour face, stuffing the steamed egg custard into her arms.
Liang Lan wanted to say something, but when she received her mother-in-law's solemn gaze, she trembled and could only obediently eat the half bowl of steamed egg custard in front of her mother-in-law.
The steamed egg custard melts in your mouth, leaving it soft and fluffy.
Seeing her second daughter-in-law's expression, a smile flashed across Jiang's mother's eyes, but she muttered, "Hurry up and eat, then take all this breakfast out; let them eat breakfast before they go to work."
"Okay!" Liang Lan nodded repeatedly, not daring to be negligent.
…
Liang Lan ate a few bites of food in two bites each, then took the breakfast out.
The weather is rather cool in the morning, so most people choose to have breakfast in the yard.
Jiang's mother took the steamed egg custard and placed it in front of Jiang Mi. Seeing her daughter's weak and listless appearance, she felt very sorry for her. She said softly, "I steamed some egg custard for you this morning. Eat some to nourish yourself."
Seeing that a third of the steamed egg custard was gone, Jiang Mi didn't say anything and obediently took the spoon and put the smooth and tender steamed egg custard into her mouth.
My initial gloomy mood dissipated considerably as I ate the delicious food.
Ah, good food really can heal the soul.
The Jiang family was already used to this; in their eyes, their younger sister should be cherished and pampered.
Even if it were an extremely precious egg presented to their younger sister, they would still feel it was worth the price.
Su Yindi glanced at the steamed egg custard that was now a third less, and felt a little itchy; her old habit had returned.
But remembering her mother-in-law's warning from yesterday, Su Yindi suppressed her dissatisfaction. Looking at the white steamed buns, her dissatisfaction dissipated considerably.
Thanks to Jiang Mi, she was able to eat steamed buns today; but compared to the soft and tender egg custard, her porridge tasted rather bland.
The breakfast went fairly smoothly.
Remembering yesterday's nightmare, Jiang Mi ate breakfast and then hurried to the sweet potato field.
Although the locust plague has passed, some lone locusts can still be vaguely seen jumping around in the fields.
Upon seeing the deep yellow locusts, one could see that many rice plants still had some eggs on them.
Jiang Mi recognized these as locust eggs, which are harmful insects.
Looking around, the locusts were densely packed together. Some of their eggs had already hatched, and there were quite a few nymphs running around in the rice paddies, nibbling on the rice leaves.
Thinking about the locust dream I had last night, I wonder if that so-called locust plague will sweep in again.
Thinking about this, Jiang Mi felt extremely overwhelmed.
What methods can be used to suppress this harmful thing?
Just then, the system's cold voice rang in his mind: "[Livestock such as chickens, ducks, and geese can suppress locusts.]"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Mi's eyes lit up, and she asked excitedly, "Is this really true?"
What benefit would this system gain from deceiving you?
The hurtful words struck right at Jiang Mi's heart.
Jiang Mi hesitated, realizing she didn't seem to have anything of value that the system could offer.
Without further ado, Jiang Mi found Jiang Mu in the sweet potato field, who was preparing to go to work.
"mother!"
"What are you doing here?" Jiang's mother put down her farm tools, walked quickly to her daughter, and looked at the basket slung across her daughter's shoulder.
Jiang Mi handed the basket slung across her shoulder to her mother: "Since you planted sweet potatoes, then let's plant some of these potatoes as well."
The system is too stingy, only giving out a few, so I can only plant them myself first.
"Okay, I'll have your dad allocate a few acres of land to plant potatoes later." Remembering what her daughter had said a few days ago, Jiang's mother nodded in agreement without thinking.
My daughter is always right.
"By the way, Mom, I want to go to town and buy some chicks and ducklings to raise."
Upon hearing this, Jiang's mother frowned slightly: "You silly girl, it's hard enough for you to support yourself, how can you have the leisure to raise those things? Besides, don't we still have a few old hens at home? That's enough."
Most families in the village raise some old hens to lay eggs, and the following year they will hatch a few hens to continue laying eggs; very few people bother to go to town to buy chickens and ducks again.
Honey never bothers with livestock, so why is she acting so strangely today?
Upon hearing this, Jiang Mi's face fell, and she said with a pout, "I read in the books that my second brother and the others sent back that chickens, ducks, and geese can suppress locusts. There have been locust plagues for years."
As he spoke, he kept an eye on his mother's expression.
The fact that her mother was illiterate was actually an advantage; if her second brother came back and exposed the truth, she could simply find a way to cover it up.
"Oh, right!" Jiang Mi said as she took out a stalk of rice that she had broken in the field from the basket and placed it in front of her mother: "Mother, look at these locust eggs, they've hatched into nymphs; and some are already fully formed."
When Jiang's mother looked closely, sure enough, there were several hatched locusts crawling on the rice, as well as some undeveloped insects and eggs; her eyes twitched at the sight.
"Oh my God; these damned creatures have actually settled down here!"
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