Chapter 130 - Chapter 130: Chapter 125: The Whole Village Catches Bugs_i (2/2)

Xiao Qing had already prepared dinner and was waiting for his return.

“Master, you’re back!”

Seeing Qin Niu return, she smiled happily to greet him.

“Hmm!”

Qin Niu remembered the medicinal herb he had dug up and directly took it out.

“Xiao Qing, do you recognize this herb?”

Xiao Qing looked at it closely, “It seems to be broadleaf rhizoma paridis, but the shape of its fruit is very special, resembling a folded lotus flower. I have never seen it before. Moreover, its stem has turned a grayish-brown color, indicating that it is very old, at least fifty or sixty years old.”

Despite her young age, Xiao Qing had ample experience identifying medicinal herbs.

After examining this herb, she provided some insights.

“Do you know its efficacy?”

Qin Niu asked again.

“Ordinary rhizoma paridis is cold in nature and slightly toxic; it can treat snake bites and insect stings as well as some injuries, swelling, and pain. Its effects are quite similar to those of the ‘seven-leaf one-branch flower.’ However, the one you dug up is a variant, and with the fruit resembling a lotus flower bud yet to bloom, it’s hard to judge its medicinal effects.”

Each profession has its own expertise.

Qin Niu admired Xiao Qing’s knowledge of herbs and her familiarity with pharmacology.

It would be a good idea to buy her some books on medicinal herbs for her to study the next time he went to the city.

Days passed by just like that.

After eating the leaves of the broadleaf rhizoma paridis, the three termites showed no changes.

Qin Niu was not discouraged, instead persisting in feeding them daily.

He hoped they would undergo some changes.

The Queen Bee’s evolution took longer than expected; it had been six days and it was still evolving.

But compared to the little turtle, this was nothing significant.

Ever since the last time the little turtle ate wild boar meat mixed with Banyan Tree Blood, it hadn’t emerged and seemed to be hibernating, not even blowing a bubble.

In these six days, Shuangfeng Village had undergone significant changes.

A plague of locusts appeared in the crops, crazily nibbling at the leaves and even the stems and fruits.

The Yan Family was the biggest landlord locally, owning more than a thousand acres of good farmland, and were extremely anxious like ants on a hot pan. It was said that not only the family’s servants were involved in exterminating insects, but even the twelve skilled farmers who were paid high wages had personally begun to catch the locusts in the fields.

Xu Zhenchang had already tried various methods of pest control to no avail.

For now, they could only use handmade insect nets to capture the locusts manually, but the efficiency was very low.

Because of this, he hired over a dozen villagers to help catch the locusts in the fields.

The wage offered was eight Wen Money a day.

Later, still finding the efficiency too low, he wanted to hire women and children from the village to help him catch insects.

But Wang Furen outsmarted him with quick action.

Wang Furen employed nearly thirty children and women to catch locusts in the fields.

The children were paid three Wen Money a day, while the women received five Wen Money a day.

Later, perhaps feeling that some people were slacking off on the job to earn an easy wage, Wang Furen changed his strategy. Regardless of whether they were men, women, elderly, or children, everyone who caught bugs in his fields would be paid by weight.

After the villagers caught a large number of locusts, they initially could take them home to feed poultry, and some even tried frying them as a dish. But now that Wang Furen was paying by weight, they were no longer allowed to take the locusts home.

Qin Niu’s acre of corn was nearing maturity.

Every day, he would let the termites remove the pests from the fields, but the sheer number of locusts was overwhelming.

The task of eliminating the pests took noticeably longer for the hundred or so termites each time.

Fortunately, the number of his special termites was increasing daily, and he could enlist more and more ant soldiers.

However, he couldn’t deal with the pests during the day.

A portion of the locusts from the neighboring fields would cross over into his fields, causing him much annoyance.

This situation couldn’t continue.

He went to the field and randomly picked an ear of corn to check its maturity.

It was almost fully ripe.

He estimated that it would take another four or five days before it could be harvested.

Harvesting now, because of the excessive moisture, not only would it easily rot and mold, not suitable for drying and storage, but it would also lead to a reduction in yield of more than twenty percent.

He decided to wait a few more days.

Since he decided to harvest the corn in a few days, he definitely needed to get the granary built ahead of time.

In previous years, an acre of land could yield up to two or three hundred pounds of grain at most.

After improvements in farming techniques this year, the yield could reach at least nine hundred pounds.

That was almost twice the total annual yield from last year.

And now, with his status as an Insect Master, he didn’t need to pay grain tax this year, meaning he could store as much as he harvested.

With so much corn, he definitely needed a granary for storage.

Back at home, the Tang brothers had already brought their workers and were busy. However, their number had clearly reduced over the past few days.

Affected by the insect infestation, some workers had taken leave to tend to their own crops.

“Master Tang, come take a break!”

Qin Niu called out to Master Tang, who was diligently laying bricks on the wall.

Wall construction was a skilled job; only the Tang brothers were qualified while the other laborers handled miscellaneous tasks.

“Alright!”

Tang Fang agreed as he climbed down from the wall.

“Master Qin, I know you must have something to tell me. The insect infestation these past few days has been severe. I’ve leased out all my land, so I’m not too worried, but many of the workers have asked for leave to take care of their own crops. I need to hurry and finish building the main house for you, otherwise I’m concerned the shortage of workers will affect the schedule.

Seeing you and your maid living in the shed, my brother and I want to get the house done sooner so you can move in.”

Tang Fang was very considerate in his work.

He was also empathetic about the inconveniences in Qin Niu’s current living situation.

“I plan to harvest the corn in the fields and bring it home in four days. Then, it will need to be dried before being stored in the granary. Do you think you could get the granary built for me first?”