Chapter 203: Chapter 203: Kill Every One You Can

“Grandma, stew the chicken, Manbao and Grandma will eat the drumstick!”

As soon as Qi Manman saw the big rooster, she immediately forgot about eating duck meat, pointing at the big rooster in the pigsty with her eyes shining.

Mrs. Qi was amused when she saw her granddaughter like this.

She lightly tapped the little girl’s nose and chided with mock anger, “Look at your greedy face!”

“Grandma, can we eat the chicken drumstick, please?”

Qi Manman didn’t mind her nose being poked by her grandma at all, instead, she hugged the old lady’s neck and acted coquettishly.

“Okay, okay, whatever Manbao wants to eat, we’ll eat!”

Mrs. Qi couldn’t resist her little granddaughter’s coaxing and agreed immediately.

Just then, Qi Dalang was carrying a wooden trough over to give water to the chickens and ducks when he heard Mrs. Qi call out, “Dalang, catch a big rooster so we can stew it tonight.”

“Huh?”

Qi Dalang was dumbfounded, “Grandma, the chicken we just bought, and we’re eating it today?”

“Yes. If you don’t want to eat, then don’t!”

Mrs. Qi disdainfully glanced at her eldest grandson, turned around, and walked away holding her granddaughter.

They couldn’t stay any longer, or else this little girl might want to eat something else.

The newly bought big rooster was about to be stewed, and Mrs. Qi couldn’t help but feel a little heartache.

But if the request came for a duck next, she would really be heartbroken!

No matter how worried Mrs. Qi was about feeding the chickens and ducks, these small animals now had a home with the Qi Family.

The boys of the family went out every morning to cut grass and dig worms. After feeding the chickens and ducks, they let them out.

In the first few days, they had to watch them to prevent the little creatures from wandering off.

But soon enough, these little guys got accustomed to the new lifestyle.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

During that time, the weather grew hotter each day.

Originally, everyone could endure the midday sun while reclaiming the land, but they had no choice but to rest and wait until the sun tilted westward to continue working.

However, just when the sun started to tilt west, before everyone could grab their hoes to clear the land, they suddenly heard Qi Qilang shout, “Grasshoppers!”

In an instant, Qi Wulang, Qi Liulang, Qi Balang, and Qi Jiulang all excitedly ran over.

Little boys, no matter how sensible, are inevitably full of curiosity.

“Wow, Seventh Brother, you’re amazing!”

Qi Balang’s eyes gleamed as he looked at Qi Qilang holding a locust.

Qi Shilang walked over slowly, and when he got closer, he salivated and asked, “Seventh Brother, can you eat this?”

“I think you can.”

Qi Qilang was a bit unsure, “Let’s go ask Fourth Aunt.”

“Okay!”

The boys immediately agreed and followed Qi Qilang to find Yi Meng.

Yi Meng was currently under the grass shed in the courtyard, boiling mung bean water.

The weather was too hot, and she was worried about the family getting heatstroke, so Yi Meng would boil mung bean water every afternoon, adding some rock sugar to make it sweet and cooling.

“Fourth Aunt!”

“Mom!”

“Fourth Auntie!”

The boys rushed to call out to her, startling Yi Meng.

Seeing them sweating as they ran towards her, Yi Meng quickly told them to slow down, then asked, “What’s the matter?”

“Fourth Aunt, can you eat this?”

Qi Qilang held the locust forward.

Yi Meng, who was sitting, almost had the locust pushed into her face, making her jump.

But after seeing what it was, Yi Meng’s heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly asked, “Where did you catch this?”

“In the garden!”

Qi Qilang pointed to where they had just discovered the locust.

Yi Meng felt a tingling in her scalp and quickly instructed, “This can be fed to the ducks and chickens, but after feeding it to the chickens, hurry into the house and close all the doors and windows. Unless an adult tells you to open them, absolutely do not open doors or windows, got it?”

“Huh?”

Qi Balang scratched his head, “Mom, won’t it be very hot in the house?”

“Even if it’s hot, you can’t open them! Hurry back inside!”

Yi Meng didn’t bother with the mung bean soup anymore and ran towards the back courtyard.

At the door to the back courtyard, Yi Meng shouted at the top of her lungs, “Locusts are coming! Locusts are coming!”

Qi Dafu heard the noise in the distance and wiped his sweat with a cloth, asking Qi Quanjin, “Fourth brother, who did your sister-in-law say is coming?”

Qi Quanjin didn’t answer immediately, instead, he listened carefully, and his face changed instantly, shouting, “Hurry, hurry back! Locusts are coming!”

“What? They’re really coming?”

Qi Dafu’s face changed as well, quickly following Qi Quanjin, shouting to the others as he ran, “Hurry home, locusts are coming!”

The others were also taken aback and didn’t bother with the half-dug land, running madly back home.

Seeing everyone running back, Yi Meng didn’t wait and turned to the front yard, beginning to gather the others to get to work.

The most passive way to deal with a locust plague is to cover the seedlings and keep doors and windows tightly shut.

If the locusts can’t eat the crops, naturally they’ll go to the forest to harm it.

If it were somewhere else, a few families wouldn’t have so many ideas.

But now the forest behind them was vital to their survival, as they still relied on foraging wild vegetables to supplement the family’s meals.

If the locusts ate everything, it would be almost as bad as if they ate the crops in the field.

So, for the past few days, everyone had been gathering together during rests to study how to deal with the locust plague.

Yi Meng’s memories weren’t vivid, she could only suggest a general idea, then everyone would brainstorm together for a plan.

And indeed, they managed to come up with some methods.

Each household contributed bed sheets and quilt covers, stitching them together densely with wooden stakes a few meters apart for securing them.

Once a sign of trouble appeared, they would use these large pieces of cloth to block the entrances of several households.

Around the yard and in the open spaces, they would light fires.

Any locusts that made it into the courtyard would be burned.

According to the old timers’ memories, locusts bite.

A few bites wouldn’t be fatal, but too many wouldn’t do either.

So, those with good physical strength prepared thick clothing, secured at the collar, cuffs, waist, and pants, even stitching the shoes to the pants to minimize any chances of locusts getting inside the clothes.

They even sewed hoods on their heads, with fabric specially bought window screens at the eye part.

As soon as they noticed something amiss, they would immediately find the nearest person and rush into an empty room, brushing the locusts off each other’s bodies to minimize injuries.

As for those outside, they used something like oars to swat at the locusts.

Everyone had one goal: kill one locust at a time!

Fortunately, they had these few buffer days to prepare; otherwise, they would not have been able to get everything ready.

Now that they heard locusts were really coming, the women immediately moved the first line of defense’s cloth curtains out.

By the time the men returned, rolls of fabric curtains had already been unfurled.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep