Chapter 202: Chapter 202: Manbao Wants to Eat Duck

Qi Zheng was in a bind.

This really wasn’t easy to explain.

Just then, a voice sounded outside the courtyard: “Isn’t this simple?”

The crowd looked over and saw Yin Cheng and Qin Minglang walking towards the entrance.

Several people hurriedly got up, and once the two arrived in front of them, they all sat down.

Qi Zheng asked, “Mr. Yin, do you have any good ideas?”

Yin Cheng snorted: “It’s a shame all of you are old bones and yet can’t figure out such a simple thing.”

Being taunted by Yin Cheng, all four old men chuckled awkwardly but weren’t upset.

Yin Cheng snorted again: “You’re all old farming hands. Who else is more familiar with the fields than you? Plus, you personally experienced the drought and locust disaster back then. Isn’t that reason enough?”

These words suddenly enlightened everyone.

Old farming hands and those who’ve experienced it firsthand; that says it all!

“Thank you for the advice, Mr. Yin!”

Qi Zheng quickly bowed his fists.

The other three old men did the same.

Yin Cheng smirked and looked at Qi Quanjin: “Fourth kid, just tell them this. If the government officials believe it, they believe it. If not, don’t linger, come back quickly. We still need to focus on our own matters, you understand?”

“Yes!”

Qi Quanjin hurriedly agreed.

Seeing he agreed but didn’t move, Yin Cheng’s face immediately darkened: “You understand but aren’t rushing to do it!”

“Yes, yes, I’m going now!”

Qi Quanjin quickly stood up, and Qi Ercai followed suit, but Yin Cheng called him out: “Second kid, don’t be idle; quickly go tell the others. Don’t wait until disaster strikes to get busy.”

“Yes, Mr. Yin!”

Qi Ercai decisively gave up going to town with the fourth brother and quickly went to tell the others about this matter.

Yi Meng looked at Yin Cheng, wanting to laugh, but worried about displeasing the old man, she held back her laughter and praised: “They say sailors rely on their helmsman; among us, Mr. Yin is definitely the helmsman.”

“Humph! Your words are slick. If you’re sincere, make something delicious tonight. This old man hasn’t had a drink in ages.”

Having said that, Yin Cheng stood up and left.

Yi Meng quickly responded: “Mr. Yin, take care! I’ll cook tonight!”

Qin Minglang shook his head helplessly and said to Yi Meng: “It’s too hot, don’t make too much food, lest it goes to waste.”

“Yes, don’t worry, Mr. Qin, I know what to do.”

Yi Meng replied.

A few steps away, Yin Cheng cursed: “You’re everywhere, aren’t you annoying?”

“Senior brother, we’ve rested enough; I’ll go back with you.”

Qin Minglang genuinely had no way to deal with this senior brother of his, nodded to everyone, and quickly went after Yin Cheng.

Upon realizing a possible locust plague might arrive, everyone was quite tense.

Though each family’s land wasn’t much, what was planted were their food supplies; naturally, they couldn’t be careless.

Qi Ercai gathered everyone together to study the situation and finally decided to use straw curtains, wood, and such to cover all the sprouted fields, minimizing the likelihood of locusts getting in.

Although Yi Meng was busy cooking after returning home, her mind was not idle, always recalling whether in her past life she had seen similar ways to combat a locust disaster.

It wasn’t until dinner that Yi Meng suddenly thought of a method.

“I’ve got it!”

Her sudden shout startled the others at the table, who all looked at her.

Yi Meng blushed and awkwardly said: “I— I just suddenly thought of a way to combat locust disasters and couldn’t hold it back…”

“Meng Niang, you really have a way to combat locust disasters?”

Qi Zheng’s focus was spot-on.

Yi Meng nodded: “I remember seeing in a book before that ducks can eat locusts. If we buy some live ducks now, perhaps they can wipe out part of the locust disaster.”

Before anyone could respond, Qi Manman, sitting in Mrs. Qi’s lap, giggled: “Ducks, quack quack quack! Delicious!”

The little girl had eaten old duck soup and duck blood noodles, all cooked by Yi Meng.

Now mentioning ducks, she immediately thought of those foods, blinking her big eyes at Yi Meng: “Mom, Manbao wants to eat duck!”

Yi Meng was amused and helpless.

The ducks she mentioned were for eating locusts, not to be eaten.

However, the doting grandma Mrs. Qi decided: “Great! We’ll buy some ducks, buy several, so when Manbao wants to eat, she can!”

Everyone looked at each other, then continued eating with their chopsticks.

Buying anything was no problem; right now, the priority was eating.

To be fair, the fourth son’s wife’s culinary skills were excellent; compared to her cooking, what we normally eat at home was practically pig slop.

Everyone thought this but none dared to say it.

Years of experience told them that if they dared say any sister-in-law or sibling’s cooking tasted like pig feed, it meant a long period of being targeted.

So, quietly eating and having more, that was the wisest choice.

When Qi Quanjin returned, there was no particular reaction; it was only after Qi Ercai asked that they knew the matter was informed to Liu Qinghe, who worked as a government official.

As for how Liu Qinghe would relay it to higher-ups, that wasn’t within their control.

They didn’t know when the locust plague would come, but they were very certain about buying ducks soon for Manbao to eat, so the Qi Family drove their cart to town the next day.

The town’s market was selling ducks.

There weren’t many, with old ducks, adult-sized ducks, and more mostly being ducklings.

Yi Meng went to town with several sisters-in-law, accompanied by several men from the family.

Everyone looked at the ducks and asked Yi Meng how to buy them.

Yi Meng thought for a moment and said: “Buy them all! Anyway, we have a pond; by driving ducks to the pond, with wild grass and whatnot, we can definitely raise them.”

Wang Daya then asked: “Aside from ducks, should we also buy some chickens?”

They had considered buying chickens before, but the family was either busy building houses or enclosing the yard, so no one was free to look after them. Although the chicken coop was built, it remained empty.

Yi Meng immediately nodded: “Yes, buy them; roosters, hens, and chicks, all buy. Our family has space; we can raise them.”

With Yi Meng’s approval, everyone relaxed.

They divided into two teams, one to gather ducks, and one to gather chickens.

When returning, the cart was already filled with several baskets, and many chickens and ducks had their claws tied.

All the way home, the clucks and quacks made for quite a lively scene.

The family’s children, seeing so many animals, were all so excited, yelling and shouting, jumping up and down.

Chickens were directly placed in the chicken coop, while ducks were put in the pigpen.

Mrs. Qi frowned at so many chickens and ducks.

She agreed to buy ducks, but didn’t expect to buy so many!

Look at those creatures, clucking and quacking with their mouths open. How are we supposed to feed them?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep