Chapter 250: Catching Locusts
Those locusts were still very afraid of Eagle Boss and Snowflake, and most of them were driven towards the net as desired.
The people pulling the net reacted quickly, closing the net as the locusts entered.
There was more than one such net.
“Quick, quick, kill all these locusts.”
The poultry in the wheat field were all busy. When locusts fell on the wheat, they flapped their wings, jumped up, and snatched the locusts into their mouths, eating them in two or three bites.
Qin Wanwan used a small net bag, waving it in the air a few times to catch two or three locusts, then killed them with a small wooden board and threw them into a large bag.
She flapped here for a bit, and they flapped there for a bit; she was quite diligent in her work.
The number of locusts gathered was over a hundred thousand, and this was just a small-scale locust plague.
At their peak, large-scale locust plagues could have billions of locusts.
Xie Chong was just glad that these locusts had not formed a massive swarm.
But even these were enough for them to be busy with.
Most of the locusts were attracted to the wheat in the wheat field, but some flew to other places.
The farmers were prepared and also started catching locusts with their homemade net bags.
Now, these locusts were all money in their eyes.
For this first batch of locusts, Xie Chong and his men were busy all day before the situation improved.
Their wheat was saved.
Everyone was also exhausted, and the amount of wheat piled up was considerable.
It had piled up into a small mountain.
The tens of thousands of poultry were also full.
But now was not the time to rest; everyone still had to be busy bending over to pick up eggs!
That day, the tens of thousands of poultry ate, laid eggs, and pooped.
To be conservative, all the laying poultry laid at least two eggs a day.
Qin Wanwan hugged a large goose egg and went to find Daddy.
She couldn’t hold the goose egg with both her small hands; it was white and plump.
“Daddy, look, a super big goose egg!”
Xie Chong lowered his gaze to look at his daughter, whose little face was dirty but who was smiling a clean and soft smile like a milk ball.
The fatigue of the day seemed to vanish.
He picked up his daughter.
“This must be a double-yolk egg.”
It was indeed much larger than other goose eggs, and it was difficult for that goose to lay such an egg.
Qin Wanwan hugged it and shook it gently.
“It seems so.”
Xie Chong looked at the eggs piled in the basket and the people still bending over everywhere looking for eggs.
This was truly a mix of pain and joy.
These poultry had fixed nests in the military camp, but outside, they were very casual and laid eggs anywhere, anytime.
“Take all these eggs back for everyone to have an extra meal.”
Everyone was very happy.
Although their military camp was not lacking in eggs, in this day and age, who would complain about having too many eggs?
It had to be said that the military camp giving the soldiers eggs every few days had significantly improved their physique, especially the young soldiers who were still growing; their bodies had grown taller by a large margin.
With more muscle, they naturally had more strength.
Xie Chong could clearly feel that his soldiers were becoming more and more excellent, and their overall combat strength had increased greatly.
And all of this was indirectly due to Wanwan, the good fortune his daughter brought him.
With Qin Xiaoe as a qualified leader, even tens of thousands of poultry were easy to manage.
Coupled with the Spirit Pasture Grass and the plump grasshoppers within, the poultry ate well, laying two or three eggs a day, and the accumulated quantity was quite considerable.
His soldiers ate well, and most importantly, his wallet did not shrink.
Wanwan was truly his lucky charm.
Leaving the remaining matters to his subordinates, Xie Chong took Qin Wanwan, whose little face was scratched, back to the General’s Mansion.
Children’s skin is delicate. Although Qin Wanwan’s skin did not get tanned, after playing in the sun for so long, sweat mixed with wheat awns made the skin uncomfortable.
Qin Wanwan’s delicate skin became itchy and stinging.
As a result, there were many red marks on her face.
Xie Chong felt heartache seeing it and took Wanwan home in advance.
Lu He, being observant, went to prepare hot water.
As soon as they got home, Xie Chong used a towel to wipe his daughter’s face with exceptional gentleness.
He had practiced now and didn’t just rub her face a few times like he did the first time.
Qin Wanwan obediently tilted her little face up and also asked Daddy to wipe his own face.
“Daddy, your face is also dirty, you need to wipe it, or it will be uncomfortable.”
Xie Chong was fine; he had only been running around in the wheat field. The wheat awns that fell on him mixed with sweat and were a bit itchy, but not painful.
After all, his skin was thick.
“Does it still hurt?”
Qin Wanwan shook her head.
“It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
But the scratches on her face were obvious.
As soon as the hot water was ready, he had Lu He take her to bathe and change into clean clothes.
Xie Chong also took a bath.
Wanwan was very tired and fell asleep while bathing.
Later, Lu He dressed her without her realizing it; she slept soundly and fragrantly.
Xie Chong carried her to the bed, tucked her in with the quilt, and then left.
They were very busy during this period, and he probably wouldn’t be able to sleep today.
The next day, after waking up and not seeing Daddy, Qin Wanwan rubbed her eyes with her little chubby hands and softly called for Daddy.
Lu He entered, holding clean clothes.
“Miss, you’re awake. I’ll help you change. The General left again last night and hasn’t returned yet.”
Hearing this, Qin Wanwan immediately felt heartache.
“Lu He, let’s make fruit salad and send it to Daddy.”
If they were sending it, it wouldn’t be just a little bit.
Fruit salad needs ice, but Aunt Zhang said with a troubled expression, “Miss, we’re out of ice.”
The General’s Mansion stored some ice in winter, but it was mostly used up by now.
The main reason was that the amount of ice used this year was too large; not only did people need it, but the animals in the house also had to have a basin of ice every day.
Qin Wanwan turned to look at Keke: “Keke, there’s no ice.”
Keke patted his chest: “Leave this to me!”
“Lang Ya, go buy saltpeter.”
Lang Ya didn’t move, just looked at Wanwan.
Qin Wanwan handed him a large piece of watermelon.
“Lang Ya, you’ve worked hard.”
Lang Ya shook his head, received the order, and turned to leave to get things done.
Keke grumbled, “…He’s like a block of wood. He really only listens to Wanwan.”
While Lang Ya went to buy saltpeter, Qin Wanwan and Aunt Zhang started preparing the fruit.
Watermelon, apples, bananas, cantaloupe, and coconuts sent by Father Shang.
Qin Wanwan also asked for red bean paste, cooked rice, and prepared a lot of milk.
She also wanted to make popsicles.
She also prepared quite a bit of honey water.
“Miss, you should go rest. We can handle this.”
She was such a small person, busy running around helping to hand things over; she looked very obedient.
But they also couldn’t bear to let her get tired.
Qin Wanwan: “I’ll help! To make popsicles for Daddy.”
Aunt Zhang and Lu He couldn’t persuade her, but their hands didn’t stop, and they gradually started talking about yesterday’s locust plague.
“I don’t know if there will be locusts today. When that dark mass of locusts flew in, everyone was terrified, but everyone was catching locusts, so it didn’t feel so scary anymore.”
Not only the farmers, but even the commoners inside the city went out with net bags to catch locusts.
After all, dried locusts could sell for ten copper coins per jin.
