A retired aunt traveled through time and space, and her daughter became rich!

This makes sense.

Aunt Su breathed a sigh of relief in her heart.

There's a sense of certainty that it's finally here, and also a sense of nervousness before going on stage.

She asked the little beggar some other questions and then nodded and thanked him.

"Thank you for telling me the truth, little brother. It's not easy for you to survive. I'll give you some dry food and money. Leave here and find a safe place to live."

The little beggar originally thought that the old lady was kind-hearted, so he thought that he might as well beg her to accept him as a servant, which would ensure his lifelong security.

But on second thought, he didn't know whether the old lady was going to those three counties. Although he had reported the news, if the old lady's home was in these three counties, wouldn't he have to go back with her?

He had been frightened out of his wits by the overwhelming swarms of locusts and didn't want to be frightened again.

So he took a bag of dry food, a bag of silver and copper coins, kowtowed to the old lady several times, and left in a secretive manner.

Lin Laoer was completely confused and had no idea what Aunt Su was doing.

"Mother, that little beggar..."

No, although my stepmother is indeed kind-hearted and often does good deeds in the capital.

Otherwise, how could the reputation of being a man with supernatural powers and a kind heart spread in the capital?

What a pity, when things were going well, my stepmother said she would go back to Tongcheng.

He felt embarrassed to stay in the capital until he was out of mourning.

After all, without his stepmother, he would lose his means of making money in the capital, so what would he do just sitting there and dying?

Aunt Su thought for a moment, then told him, "Second brother, you and Madam Jiao go ahead tomorrow and pick out a dozen capable people from the farm to come over to support us."

Lin Laoer felt uneasy when he heard this.

"What is mother doing?"

"I plan to stay in this town for a few more days. Maybe something big will happen."

Lin Laoer became more and more unsure.

"Mother, how about letting your son stay here and let others escort Madam Jiao back to pick someone?"

Although he was nominally the old lady's son, the old lady's companions would not listen to his orders, so it was of no use whether he went back or not.

Aunt Su smiled and said, "Don't worry, it's not a matter of life and death. You've been in the capital for most of the year, and Aunt Liu must miss you very much. If you go back earlier, she'll be relieved. It's a good opportunity to escort some of the luggage back first."

It should be safe a few days before the locust plague occurs.

Even if she couldn't save the losses from the locust plague, she could still escape back to Tongcheng when the chaos came.

Of course, this is just a worst-case scenario.

So she asked Lin Lao Er to take Nanny Jiao and send back the half-grown children and the slightly bulky and valuable supplies first.

Next time, she will have no worries when she wants to do something.

Aunt Su agreed with Lin Lao Er that he would go back and bring people to pick them up, and the round trip would take at least ten days.

If Aunt Su finishes her business, she will still follow the same route she took last time to Beijing and will stay at the place where she stayed before.

After making the plan, Aunt Su told the servants around her to take out the cloth and old clothes in the luggage and start making hoods and gloves.

On the second day, Lin Lao Er, Madam Jiao and others left Caodian Town in two horse-drawn carriages, plus a luggage carriage.

Aunt Su bought a lot of ordinary white paper, cut it into small sheets, and asked the literate servants to start copying the books.

Two days later.

Villagers from seven or eight nearby villages came to Caodian Town one after another.

They were all in a panic, with disheveled hair and crying loudly.

"Oh no!"

"The Locust King is coming!"

"Cousin, what should we do? Our village has been hit by a disaster! The fields are full of locusts!"

"Uncle, please, you have a lot of people in your family, please come with me to save the crops!"

"Our master said that those who help to kill locusts will be paid ten taels of silver a day!"

Some of these villagers came to report news, and some came to ask for help.

However, their cries for help received almost no help, and instead triggered waves of panic. It was impossible to tell whose house the first cry came from, and for a while the cries were deafening.

Although the people in Caodian Town are wealthier than those in ordinary villages, basically every household has land!

Although each family does not rely entirely on the harvest from the fields for their livelihood, if one family cannot harvest enough grain, other families will also not be able to harvest enough grain, and the price in the grain store will surely skyrocket.

By that time, I don’t know if the few copper coins I earned can keep my family from starving to death!

Moreover, if the surrounding villages all suffered from the disaster, what good would happen to a small town like Caodian?

Those poor people who are starving to death will inevitably rob houses, kill people and steal food!

Caodian Town does not have a city wall, but it has a village head and a team of about ten people.

"A manual for killing locusts! Ten cents for one copy, only ten cents!"

"Buy them quickly, there are only thirty copies left, only thirty copies left!"

"Once they're sold out, they're gone! If you miss the opportunity, you'll regret it for the rest of your life!"

Just when everyone in the town was like headless flies, not knowing what to do, a few men appeared on the street, holding pamphlets in their hands and shouting to sell their goods.

The townspeople had never seen such a spectacle in their lives.

Books are such precious items that only a few are available in the store in town that specializes in selling the four treasures of the study. They are said to be for children's enlightenment, and each book costs over a hundred coins.

This is only possible in their town, otherwise where would they be able to sell it?

Those families in the town who are well off will at least buy one or two enlightenment books for their seven or eight-year-old children, and either teach them a few words at home or send them to private schools. In short, even if they are not good at studying, they must learn a few words and not be a blind person.

But what kind of book is this that only costs ten cents a copy?

What good can a book that costs ten cents a copy be... Wait, a manual on killing locusts?

There are always smart people.

While most of the townspeople were still confused, some people rushed forward to pay.

"Give me one!"

He gave the money, snatched the book and opened it hastily.

This is a good look!

Not only does it have words, it also has pictures!

The first chapter is a comic strip about the evolution of locusts from eggs to flying insects!

It also shows that these scattered locusts do not cause much harm.

Only when many locusts gather together, they will release some kind of pheromone to convey messages to each other, and when they gather together, they will fly in swarms and cause a disaster.

As for the methods of killing locusts, there are many.

Dig the soil directly to kill the eggs, dig trenches and light bonfires at night to burn the locusts, take advantage of the morning dew when the insects' wings are wet and they can't fly high to kill them, spray poison to kill them, and use chickens, ducks, and geese at home to eat the locusts.

In fact, these locusts can not only be used to feed chickens, ducks and geese, but can also be eaten by humans.

You can collect locusts and cook and dry them for food, or you can fry them directly in a pan. In short, there are many ways to cook them.

The last two pages in this booklet are recipes for two locust dishes!