Just one pregnancy and four babies, but the prince actually pledged his love to her

This is the village chief.

After he talked with Li Mengyue, he no longer felt as if a huge rock was pressing on his heart, but instead felt relaxed and motivated.

After all, there is a noble man in the village. As long as the villagers do not make mistakes and listen to the noble man's words, they will hold on to this golden thigh and will never have to worry about hunger and cold again.

Whether the villagers believed it or not, he would not allow the village's opportunity to get rich to be destroyed.

He decided that he would set a good example for the villagers and he would give up the position of village chief as long as it could make everyone live a good life.

After a while, the village chief came to the ancestral hall again, and his mood had changed "dramatically".

When his grandson Zebao asked him to go back, he was very depressed and didn't know how to solve the locust plague.

But they knew that Meng Yue was a benefactor in the village, and had a way to catch most of the locusts before the plague came. There was no need to worry about the outbreak of locusts that would destroy the crops in the village, and the villagers would retain a hope of survival.

Pushing open the door of the ancestral hall, the village chief walked quickly to the futon.

"Pfft."

The village chief knelt down, kowtowed three times, and said with a trembling voice: "Grandfather, your unworthy descendant Li Wen knows who the noble man is. I will cooperate with you and work hard to make sure that the men, women, and children in the village no longer have to worry about filling their stomachs."

After the village chief Li Wen kowtowed and made some promises, he stood up and walked out of the ancestral hall.

He locked the door of the ancestral hall and prepared to go home to get the gong to call a meeting of the whole village.

The village chief returned home and picked up the gong hanging behind the door.

"clang!"

"clang!"

"clang!"

Soon, the unique clear, loud and powerful sound of the gong rang out above the village.

It was only mid-afternoon and many villagers had gone to the fields.

However, when they heard the sound of the gong, everyone knew that the village chief had called a meeting. Not all children and women had to be present, but the head of each household had to be present.

So when the man was not at home, the women would ask their children to go to the fields and cry.

The village chief also knew that during this time of year, most villagers would go to work in the fields, so it was not suitable to ring the gong for a meeting.

But he really couldn't bear it, and wanted to tell everyone about Mengyue's story of collecting locusts, so that children and women who had nothing to do at home could take action and catch locusts in the fields.

There are already quite a few locusts in the fields now. The more we can catch, the better. Besides, one pound is worth one cent.

He didn't say anything when there was no way to make money before.

Now there is a way to make money, and it is right at home. The work is not hard and even a child can do it. If anyone dares to cheat or complain about the low price, then he, the village chief, is no longer a figurehead.

In about an incense stick of time, the threshing ground in the village was full of people, and even then people still came over from time to time.

The villagers who arrived early were curious about why the village chief called them here.

After all, the village chief had never done such a thing before. In the past, meetings were held during meal times.

I don’t know what’s going on today. This is not the village chief’s style.

So many villagers were discussing what the village chief was up to.

The village chief stood on the platform in the threshing ground, listening to the chattering sounds below. He did not feel unhappy at all. Instead, he looked forward to all the villagers being present. He thought about how excited everyone would be when he told them about collecting locusts.

After waiting for another cup of tea, I saw that most of the villagers had arrived.

The village chief raised his hand and signaled everyone to be quiet.

Someone was still talking. Village Chief Li held a gong in his left hand and a gong hammer in his right hand.

"Dong dong dong."

When everyone heard the low, steady sound of the gong, the talking stopped and the entire threshing ground suddenly became as quiet as a chicken.

"Cough cough cough."

The village chief cleared his throat and said loudly: "I know you are all confused as to why we are calling a meeting at this time. It is because there is a big happy event in the village."

When the villagers in the audience heard about the happy event, they ignored the authority of the village chief and began to discuss it among themselves.

"A happy event?"

"What's the big happy event?"

"Hey! Did I hear it right? The village chief said it was a big happy event for the whole village." A young man said doubtfully.

The village chief saw that the villagers below were talking again, and he was in a rare good temper and did not lose his temper, waiting for everyone to finish speaking.

Because he knows this is just the beginning, and once he announces the big news, everyone will definitely go crazy.

The villagers in the audience saw that the village chief was silent, and their voices gradually became quieter until the threshing ground was silent.

Even if a child occasionally speaks, the adult standing next to him will cover his mouth in time.

"Shh!"

When children see their parents’ serious expressions, they will involuntarily hold their breath.

When no one in the threshing ground was talking, Village Chief Li said solemnly, "The Li family's maid Mengyue is going to collect locusts. They charge one penny per pound. Anyone with nothing to do can go to the fields and catch them."

As soon as the village chief finished speaking, just as he expected, cheers were heard in the threshing ground.

"but……"

Seeing how happy everyone was, the village chief didn't want to say what was next, but he had to.

After calming down, he continued, "But if I want to sell the locusts to Yue girl, I need to raise ten ducks."

"Ah! Village chief, we are running out of food, we can't even afford to raise ducks!"

"Yeah! I can't even afford to raise one or two ducks, let alone ten ducks."

"Also, even if I wanted to raise ducks, I don't have the money to buy ducklings."

"My family is the same."

……

"Quiet!"

The village chief saw that everyone couldn't help but make loud noises and discussions when they heard about raising ducks, and even his voice was drowned out.

It seems that because of raising ducks, the villagers are becoming more and more nervous and angry.

Then he struck the gong hard.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom..."

The villagers who were standing close to the village chief saw that his face was very gloomy and they dared not say a word.

Soon some villagers noticed that the atmosphere in the threshing ground was not right, and they all followed suit and kept their mouths shut.

Seeing that everyone had quieted down and no one was talking, the village chief shouted at the top of his voice: "Have you finished talking? Have you had enough? If you haven't said enough, please stand in front. I will let you talk to your heart's content. You are not allowed to stop until dark."

"We were originally talking about a happy event. What's wrong with you raising ducks?"

"I have no food, no money, and you won't listen to me. You keep complaining. How can you solve the problem?"

The villagers standing in the threshing ground saw the village chief getting angry and dared not say a word.

The village chief had a fit of rage before he calmed down and spoke to everyone in a kind voice.

"Needless to say, I believe that older people, when they see the locusts in the field, have already guessed it in their hearts."

"If this trend continues, the locust plague will break out in just a month. By then, not only will the crops in the fields, but even the thatch on the roofs may be eaten up by the locusts."

"Don't ignore what I said. Anyone who has experienced the locust plague decades ago probably won't think I'm exaggerating."

"Originally, I was discussing with the village elders in the ancestral hall what to do and how to stop the locust plague."

"I learned from Miss Yue that she was going to buy locusts, one penny per pound. I just wanted to sell them to her, but she had to make sure she had ten ducklings at home, otherwise she wouldn't buy the locusts she caught."

Even though the village chief was furious, some villagers still got anxious when they heard that they would not collect locusts if they did not raise ducks. They asked cautiously: "I can raise ducks at home, but I don't have money to buy ducklings, and I don't have anything to feed the ducks."

After saying that, he looked up at the village chief carefully, fearing that the village chief would kick him.

However, the village chief not only did not reprimand the person who asked the question, but nodded and praised: "You asked the right question."

"Yue said that it doesn't matter if you don't have money to buy ducklings. As long as you catch five kilograms of locusts, you can get ten ducks from her."

"I'm worried that I'll have nothing to feed my ducklings. It's simple. I can just scatter them on the ground and let the ducks catch locusts and eat them. They can also eat the eggs."

"A month later, after the autumn harvest, there will be no more locusts in the fields. If you really don't want to raise ducks anymore, you can sell them to Yue girl and she will buy them at the market price."

"Also, if you want to keep the ducks for laying eggs, you can dry the locusts you catch, store them, and feed them to the ducks as food."

After the village chief finished speaking, he waited for everyone to ask questions.

But everyone was still immersed in the shock brought to the village and had not reacted to the words of the village chief.

After a long while, someone finally asked, "Village Chief, are you telling the truth?"

The village chief looked at the person who was speaking. It was Li Li from the village. Her family had many children, seven daughters and one son, and was a well-known poor family in the village.

Li Li is the eldest daughter in the family, thirteen years old this year. Her parents are honest people. In order to have a son, they gave birth to seven daughters before they had their baby, Li Goudan.

Although Li Li's parents favored boys over girls and longed to have a son to take care of them in their old age, the old couple did not abuse their daughter. Instead, they tried their best to make life better for their child.

But their family only had six or seven acres of land, and after paying taxes every year, there was not much food left, not enough to eat.

They would go to the outskirts of the mountains to look for wild fruits and dig wild vegetables to make up for the loss. If they were lucky enough to come across mushrooms, they would dry them and store them, then take them to the town to sell for money and buy grains to eat.

The village chief knew the conditions of Li Li's family very well. Seeing the girl's expectant eyes, he couldn't help but feel a little sad. He wiped his eyes and said to Li Li affirmatively: "It's true, take your sister to the field to catch it quickly!"

"Thank you, village chief, thank you, village chief, thank you!"

Li Li heard the answer she wanted, bent down and bowed to the village chief, then turned around and ran home with her three sisters.

Someone was also paying attention to the situation on the village chief's side. They saw Li Li run back home and ask her sister to help catch locusts.

Without hesitation, he called his family and prepared to go back to find tools.

However, there were some people who had doubts, but the number of people who disagreed was small, and even if they spoke in a louder voice, it was drowned out by the excited voices of the villagers.

After all, most villagers are willing to believe that the village chief is not lying, and some even regard this matter as a life-saving straw and want to hold on to it tightly.

If someone dares to disrupt everyone's money-making at this time, being scolded would be the least of the consequences. In serious cases, it will definitely arouse the anger of the villagers. It is unknown what will happen then.

Therefore, after everyone deliberately ignored the doubts, some people reacted quickly and caught more than a dozen locusts, while others reacted slowly. When most people on the grain drying field had left, Li Ermao still touched his forehead and asked, "Why are they all gone?"

When the village chief saw Li Ermao still hanging around, he felt so disappointed in him that he wanted to walk up to him and kick him a few times.

Perhaps it was because the village chief's eyes were too "sad" that Li Ermao finally reacted and ran to the field, shouting as he ran: "Catch locusts...! One penny... one pound!"

The shouting was melodious and rhythmic.

The village chief's expression, which had been tense, softened a lot, and he smiled and said, "This kid is just naughty."

Seeing that everyone was actively catching locusts in the fields, the village chief put his hands behind his back, hummed a little tune, and prepared to go to the fields to see if he could catch some.