"After you three finish eating, go to the fields and catch some insects," Jiang Ling continued.
The three children looked bewildered upon hearing this, but they still nodded obediently. In their hearts, they had to listen to Jiang Ling.
As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of horses' hooves approached from afar, followed by a slightly familiar male voice.
"Sister-in-law, I am Afu, the housekeeper of Li Shan's family!"
Jiang Ling opened the door and saw Afu standing outside, holding a large bundle in his hands.
"Sister-in-law Jiang, these are things my master instructed me to give you. There are also three bundles in the carriage. Please wait for me!" Afu said, placing the bundles in his hand at the door of Jiang Ling's house.
Jiang Ling quickly opened the bundle and saw that it contained clumps of soft, white cotton. Jiang Ling was very grateful and quickly took out the thirty boxes of peppermint balm she had made the night before and placed them in Afu's hands.
Afu nodded and thanked Jiang Ling before driving the carriage away from Lujia Village.
"Mother, what is this?" Jiang Wenxi asked as she helped Jiang Ling carry cotton into the house.
“This is cotton, Mother is going to use it for experiments!” Jiang Ling said.
Jiang Wenxi nodded blankly and didn't ask any more questions. After the family of four finished breakfast, the three children carried their baskets on their backs and walked out hand in hand.
Jiang Ling wasn't idle either. She quickly pulled off a piece of cotton and started beating it according to the steps she remembered from memory.
Before long, Jiang Ling had finished making a square piece of cotton. Then, she took a piece of coarse cloth from home and simply sandwiched the cotton in the middle of the cloth, making it into the shape of a mask. After finishing, she even tried it on her ears.
Around noon, the three children returned home with the half-basket full of insects.
After instructing the children to put the insects in the jar, Jiang Ling led the three children into the house and told them not to come out. Then she went back to the corner by herself.
Jiang Ling lit the soaked hay and placed it under the urn. The hay, which had been soaked in herbs, quickly emitted a pungent smell, but at the same time, the insects in the urn began to become restless.
"Hey! Sister-in-law Jiang, what are you doing! What's that smell?!" Zhao Erleng's wife, who lived next door, covered her nose and frowned as she ran over after smelling the odor.
Jiang Ling handed the mask she had prepared to Zhao Erleng's wife and said, "Put this on quickly, this smoke is poisonous!"
"Huh? Wh...what?" Upon hearing that it was poisonous, Zhao Erleng's wife immediately lost her composure. She hurriedly put the mask on her ears, took dozens of steps back, and stared at Jiang Ling with wide eyes.
The insects in the urn died quickly under the smoke. Jiang Ling carefully patted the urn, but no sound or noise came from inside. Jiang Ling quickly poured a basin of water onto the still burning dry grass.
"Sister-in-law Jiang, what... what are you doing? Are you trying to poison me?" Although Zhao Erleng's wife was wearing a mask, the fear in her voice was still obvious.
Jiang Ling smiled, took off her mask first, and explained to Zhao Erleng's wife, "I was just doing an experiment, trying to see if smoke could kill locusts!"
"What? Kill...kill locusts?" Zhao Erleng's wife was shocked. She pulled off her mask and grabbed Jiang Ling's shoulders to ask.
"Sister-in-law Erleng, you...you don't rush, listen to me slowly." Jiang Ling gently put Zhao Erleng's wife's arm down and began to patiently explain.
Zhao Erleng's wife's expression changed from surprise to excitement. She walked to the pot, carefully lifted the lid, and poked the pot to make sure all the insects inside were dead. Then, she excitedly ran to Jiang Ling and asked, "Are...are they all really dead?"
Jiang Ling twitched the corner of her mouth and said, "Hmm, they're all dead, this method should work! Come on, Sister-in-law Erleng, come with me to find the village chief!"
Jiang Ling and Zhao Erleng's wife arrived at the village chief's house together. Zhao Erleng's wife was quick to speak and told Jiang Ling everything that had just happened before she could.
As Jiang Ling had expected, the village chief's expression also underwent a dramatic change. He quickly stood up and asked again, "Jiang, are you... are you telling the truth? You can't joke about crops like this!"
Jiang Ling smiled and nodded, saying, "Village Chief, when have I ever lied to you?"
"this……"
"Let's go, let's go take a look!" The village chief didn't know how to answer, so he could only wave his hand to signal Jiang Ling and Zhao Erleng's wife to follow.
The village chief's actions were exactly the same as those of Zhao Erleng's wife earlier, especially after the village chief confirmed that all the insects in the jar were dead, he exclaimed in amazement.
"Jiang, hurry! Tell me quickly, what method did you use? Never mind, come on, come with me to the Lu family ancestral hall, I need to start a meeting immediately!" The village chief thought for a moment and quickly walked out of Jiang Ling's house, gesturing for Jiang Ling to follow.
Inside the Lu family ancestral hall, people were bustling about, whispering among themselves.
After clearing his throat twice, the village chief began to maintain order.
"Quiet! Quiet! I've gathered you all here today to announce something very important!"
Seeing that the village chief had spoken, everyone tacitly kept quiet.
"The Jiang family has found a solution to control the locusts..."
Before the village chief could finish speaking, the murmurs of the crowd erupted once again from all directions.
"Quiet! Quiet!" The village chief frowned and displeased as he organized discipline.
"Village chief, are you getting senile? You actually believe what that illiterate village woman says?" Lu Youren said with a disdainful sneer, arms crossed.
Jiang Ling looked at the crowd and glared helplessly at Lu Youren. How did this weirdo manage to live so long? Not only did he cause her trouble time and time again, but he also didn't know how to restrain himself!
"I don't believe her? I believe you? Lu Youren, don't push your luck!" The village chief glared at Lu Youren and scolded him.
Lu Youren was displeased to be reprimanded in public, so he grunted twice and said nothing more.
“Just now, the Jiang family has discovered a way to kill locusts…” The village chief’s gaze fell on Jiang Ling.
Jiang Ling nodded, walked to the village chief's side, and continued, "All we need to do is boil the mugwort and cocklebur together in a pot, then soak the bundle of herbs in boiling water for half an hour, and then let them dry!"
Jiang Ling's words once again sparked discussion among the crowd. However, most people in Lujia Village knew Jiang Ling's character, especially after the discovery of potatoes and water, which greatly enhanced her reputation among them.
Alum and realgar are not products of this era. On the way to the meeting, Jiang Ling had already come up with a plan: she would secretly grind these two items into powder and distribute them to everyone in her grandmother's name. This way, she could ensure the killing of locusts without arousing suspicion.
"However, this method has a drawback." Jiang Ling's words immediately brought the matter to a climax.
Everyone stared at Jiang Ling with bated breath, as if trying to find the answer in him.
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