Crossing the farm gate, the whole family reunites in the disaster year

It was a windless night with twinkling stars.

Everyone in the old house gathered in the yard. Except for Xiaoliu and Dahei who stayed behind to look after the house, the rest of the people followed Old Man Cui and set off.

Cui Chengliang and the waiter carried firewood and mugwort, the rest of the people carried all the shovels and hoes in the house, and Old Lady Cui and Lin carried scoop nets.

The whole family walked towards the field in a mighty procession.

The village at night was contrary to its usual silence. Clusters of fire in the distance illuminated half of the village.

Every family was lighting bonfires to catch locusts.

A group of children were running around in the fields with scoop nets and towels.

From time to time, lone locusts jumped across the ground.

Locusts come every two or three years. The villagers have become adept at luring and killing locusts. As long as they are not a swarm that covers the sky, they can catch and kill the scattered locusts in the fields.

The five acres of land owned by the old couple of the Cui family is divided into two plots. Two acres of land are close to the foot of the mountain and are on higher ground. The other three acres of land is on the west side of the village, which is where they are now.

Most of the arable land in the village is also on the west side. There is a bonfire burning at the edge of Dazhi's field next to it, and there is a lot of noise all around.

Old Man Cui took a few puffs of his pipe and started to arrange his work.

"First, dig a trench. Use this area as the center and dig holes around it." Old Man Cui squatted down and drew a circle. "It doesn't need to be too deep. Five inches is enough. A little wider."

Several people took action together.

The distant sound comes from far away and gets closer.

"Here comes the gong, here comes the gong."

Youxi came running over panting.

The sound of the gong can stimulate locusts. When the village head heard that the villagers were catching locusts in the fields, he immediately asked Youxi to deliver the gong.

"Oh, that's just in time! We have a fire burning here. Let us borrow it first."

Youxi quickly handed over the gong and then ran to the Cui family's land.

"Grandpa Cui, take a break. I'll come and help you." He grabbed the shovel from Old Man Cui and moved closer to Silang, "Fourth Brother."

Shiro looked up and continued to hoe the ground.

The soil at the edge of the field is hard, so you have to loosen it with a hoe before you can dig a hole with a shovel.

"Why are you here? Aren't you busy in the fields?"

"I have a big family, so I won't be needed for the time being." Youxi worked very hard. "Last time you promised to teach me how to hit two birds with one stone. Now I can't hit birds, and there are a lot of locusts. You can use the locusts to teach me."

Shi Lang said without raising his head: "Let's do it another time. It's too dark to pick up stones."

There were so many locusts that there was no time to catch and kill them, so how could there be time to teach him how to throw stones?

Youxi patted his bulging pockets, and the money inside made a rustling sound.

"I'm already ready."

Shiro: "...I'll teach you when I'm done."

Youxi nodded hurriedly, and the shovel in his hand left an afterimage.

"Almost done." Old Man Cui stopped a few people, "Chengliang, go over there and burn the mugwort. Silang and Wulang, fan the smoke over here, and Erlang light the fire."

Finally, he looked at Old Lady Cui and Mrs. Lin.

"Stand by the pit, and use your net to catch and crush to death any locusts that don't fall into it."

The mugwort was picked before the Dragon Boat Festival. The vines and leaves were woven into a long strip, lit at both ends, and smoke soon rose.

The smoke from the mugwort blew violently into the wheat fields, and countless locusts fled in panic, heading towards the flames.

Lin and Cui Zhaozhao had never seen such a scene. In the dark night, countless locusts jumped out of the wheat field like black dots, one after another jumped into the fire, and were then swallowed by the flames. Some of them wanted to escape with fire spots on their backs, but fell into the pit instead.

"Don't just stand there, use the scoop net to catch them quickly." Mrs. Cui shouted.

Old Man Cui did not assign any work to Cui Jingwen. Cui Jingwen reached out and grabbed Cui Zhaozhao's scoop net to catch the locusts flying in the air.

The air was filled with the sour smell of burning locusts.

The gong was passed to the Cui family. Erlang ran around beating the gong, and the number of locusts in the field gradually decreased until no more locusts jumped out of the field.

Cui Zhaozhao didn't have a net, so he could only find the locusts that were not completely dead on the ground and kick them.

The fire died down and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

The other was left for another two acres of land.

Everyone filled up the pit, packed up their things and went to another area, Youxi followed them.

"Fourth brother, when will you start teaching me?"

Shiro rubbed his sore arm and said, "Let's finish this plot of land."

Youxi had been thinking about it these days, so he decided to dig a hole with Silang at this moment.

The younger generations in the family were rushing to do the work, and Old Man Cui couldn't help even though he wanted to. He just squatted on the ground and puffed on his pipe.

"I'm happy. Did your grandfather tell me about this locust plague? Is there any official document from the county?"

Even if the locusts are killed, there will still be some loss of food. In previous years, taxes would be symbolically reduced by 10% or 50%, but I don’t know how much it can be reduced this time.

Youxi shook his head: "My grandfather has been talking about this at home. He said that we should see what the county magistrate says during the county meeting on the first day of the new year in a few days."

Old Man Cui took two puffs of his cigarette, feeling unsure.

In previous years, when locusts came, the weather was good. This year, there were spring floods and summer droughts, so it is hard to say whether the situation can be reduced.

These two acres of land are located at the foot of the mountain. They are two lonely acres of land, and the locusts may not be willing to come here, so they will be quickly killed.

Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Youxi looked at Shiro eagerly.

Shiro was a little tired, after all, he had promised Youxi. He took the stone and slingshot with his tired arms and rushed to the fire.

"...Just keep your eyes on the locusts. When two of them fly towards each other, with only an inch between them, throw the stone at them."

Everyone packed up their things and looked at Shiro.

call out--

Two locusts shall fall to the ground.

"Fourth brother is so awesome!" Xiao Qi clapped his hands.

Old Man Cui also smiled, saying that this is how boys should be.

Shiro handed the slingshot to Youxi.

"There's really no technique involved. Just practice more and get a feel for it."

There were a few locusts circling in the air, attracted by the firelight, and Youxi tried to throw a stone.

Only one locust was shot down.

Shi Lang gave him some pointers: "The stone was hit a little late, try a little earlier."

Youxi tried a few more times and finally shot down two locusts.

There was a burst of cheers from the surrounding area, and Old Mrs. Cui even smiled and clapped her hands.

Lin looked at the locusts that were shot down and squatted down in confusion.

"What's wrong, Mom?" Cui Zhaozhao squatted down together.

"Look at this locust."

When ordinary locusts are stepped on to death, they will ooze white liquid. However, the locust that Lin pointed to had a very obvious yellow liquid oozing from the wound caused by a stone.

"Strange, why is it this color?"

Old man Cui couldn't explain it either.

Lin picked up the dead locust on the ground and planned to take it back for a closer look.

Youxi practiced a few more times. Although he couldn't hit two every time, he could at least hit three out of ten times.

He was already satisfied.

"Thank you, fourth brother."

Youxi went home happily.

Old Man Cui smiled and shook his head, and the family walked home under the moonlight.

Watching the two children playing with slingshots is a bit of fun in a difficult situation. I hope this locust swarm won’t become a disaster, leaving them with some food to get through the winter.