Chapter 14: The County
After receiving everyone's gratitude, Song Dezhu carried Song Baozhu home, with the rest of the family crowding around her like stars surrounding the moon.
Once they reached home, Song Baozhu went straight to bed and fell asleep, letting out little snores in no time. To research the pesticide, she hadn't had a good night's sleep for a very long time.
Wang Guifang sat by her side fanning her. Song Zhidong and his four brothers crept in through the door.
"Mom, is Baozhu asleep?"
The five brothers looked at Song Baozhu cautiously; seeing her sleeping sweetly, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Wang Guifang glanced at them. "What are you doing? Your sister is sleeping. Why are you all crowding in here? Don't wake her up."
Song Zhinan stared at Song Baozhu as if he couldn't see enough of her. "Mom, let us look! The one who saved the whole village is my little sister!"
He chuckled, feeling more and more proud the more he thought about it.
"If she’s not our sister, whose could she be? I knew the moment Baozhu was born that she would achieve great things in the future!"
Song Zhizhong had transformed into a fanatic devotee of Song Baozhu. He had just finished bragging about her to his friends, and now he was at it again.
What excited him most was that such a magical pesticide had actually been produced by his own hands first; even he found the whole thing incredible.
"Alright, get out now. Don't wake Baozhu." Seeing them all so excited, Wang Guifang repeatedly shooed them away until the five brothers finally left the room reluctantly.
Immediately afterward, Song Dezhu walked in rubbing his hands. He didn't say anything, just looked at Song Baozhu with a silly grin.
Wang Guifang gave him a light punch and lowered her voice: "What are you laughing at? You’ll wake Zhuzhu up in a moment."
Song Dezhu rubbed his hands and chuckled, "I’m just happy looking at Baozhu."
Wang Guifang rolled her eyes at him, fanned Song Baozhu a few more times, and led the still-smiling Song Dezhu out of the room. Since the crops had been saved, they no longer needed to go hungry every meal.
Qian Xiaoe was currently in the kitchen cooking. Wang Guifang walked in: "Xiaoe, there's no need to be so frugal with the grain anymore. Cook a bit more for every meal."
"Oh, okay." Because of her previous inner resentment toward Song Baozhu, Qian Xiaoe felt a bit uneasy now. She never imagined that Song Baozhu’s pestering of Song Zhizhong to 'fool around' would actually result in something so significant, solving a pest infestation that had troubled so many people.
Anyone could see how massive of a contribution this was.
Thinking back to her earlier sarcasm toward Song Baozhu, Qian Xiaoe’s cheeks burned slightly.
She stole a glance at Wang Guifang, deeply regretting that she hadn't been able to hold back and had snapped at her mother-in-law in the courtyard that time.
Wang Guifang took out a piece of lean meat, minced it, and then cracked three eggs to stir together, preparing to make a minced meat egg custard for Song Baozhu.
Qian Xiaoe’s lips moved, but she ultimately remained silent. She knew that no matter how much she disapproved, speaking up would only lead to self-humiliation.
No one in the Song family would support her, not even her husband, Song Zhidong, would understand.
While Song Baozhu was sleeping so soundly she was blowing bubbles, the villagers of Xiangfu Village also returned home in high spirits.
Everyone was jubilant: "Hey, Childs' mother, the pests are gone! I’m happy today, don't skimp on the grain. Let's eat a full meal!"
"Ai, these past few days I didn't dare let the children eat their fill. Today, for this meal, you can eat as much as you want."
The children cheered incessantly, and the elders of the families watched on happily, "This is all thanks to that child, Baozhu. If not for her, I don't know how we'd get through next year. Dasheng’s wife, pick out a few eggs and some white rice in a bit to send over to Baozhu. I heard Guifang say that the child likes those things."
One child grumbled indignantly: "Who doesn't like eggs and white rice? I like them too! Grandma, why don't you let Mom make some for me!"
Before his grandma could speak, he was swatted by his own mother: "Can you be compared to Baozhu? If you could also kill those pests, forget eating eggs and white rice, even if I had to treat you like a god, I'd do it willingly. But can you? Every day, besides pestering the chickens and fighting with dogs, what else can you do!"
Scenes like this were playing out in many households across Xiangfu Village.
When Song Baozhu woke up, it was already noon. She rubbed her eyes and heard a commotion outside; thinking someone in the family was arguing, she hurried off the bed. When she reached the doorway, she discovered that many villagers had come.
Everyone was holding something, some had a few eggs, some a bundle of dried noodles, others had mountain products... it was a bit of everything.
"Guifang, this is just a small token of our gratitude for Baozhu. Why are you stopping us? We can't offer anything truly fancy, but let Baozhu have these to satisfy her cravings."
The villagers were noisily crowding the courtyard, swarming forward to stuff the items into Wang Guifang's arms.
Wang Guifang, of course, wouldn't accept them, and the back-and-forth pushing continued.
Someone simply set their items on the Song family table and said directly to Wang Guifang, "Everyone just wants to thank Baozhu. You don't have the right to block us."
"Exactly! This is a little something for Baozhu, not for you. Don't go blocking us now!"
With everyone talking at once like this, how could Wang Guifang possibly stop them?
One after another, people dropped their things and left; in a short while, a small mountain of goods had piled up in the room.
"So many good things!" Song Zhizhong looked at the white rice, eggs, and meat, and couldn't resist wanting to touch them, only to be slapped away by Wang Guifang: "Didn't you hear those aunties? This is for your sister."
Song Zhizhong swallowed his saliva: "I know it's for Baozhu, of course. I'm not going to steal from her."
Whenever he got something good, he was the first to give it to Song Baozhu; he would never covet his sister's things.
Song Baozhu leaned against the door watching this scene and said to the system, "System, I must make sure everyone in the village has rice and meat for every meal." After saying that, she clenched her small fists and quietly cheered herself on.
The system encouraged her excitedly: "Keep it up, Host! I believe you can definitely do it."
While the villagers were busy bringing gifts to Song Baozhu, Song Deling had taken a bottle filled with emerald-green liquid and was rushing toward the county seat with the village's small team leaders.
"We have to go faster! The sooner we kill all those bugs, the sooner everyone can be at peace!" They had found the village's only ox cart. Song Deling puffed on his pipe and spoke to the villager driving the ox.
The villager gave an "ai" in response and cracked a whip on the ox's back. The ox let out a pained low and picked up its pace.
However, no matter how fast an ox cart went, it couldn't go very fast; by the time they reached the county, it was already past two in the afternoon.
The Yun County Party Committee office building was very simple, a small, two-story flat-roofed structure.
In the reception room on the second floor, the Yun County leadership team was gathered, and representatives from several other villages had also arrived.
They looked at Zhou Shiwei expectantly: "Leader, can a pesticide really not be researched? The crops can't be harvested now. If we harvest now, we won't even get the seeds back. What will everyone eat in the second half of the year and next year?"
These villages were just like Xiangfu Village, Zhou Shiwei had told them to go back and hold a vote, and if the villagers agreed, to harvest the crops as soon as possible.
The villagers in these locations couldn't bear to let go of those crops and all refused to harvest now.
They were still clinging to a sliver of hope, maybe the pesticide would be developed soon, or maybe the insects would simply disappear on their own by the afternoon.
Since the villagers didn't agree, the village committees had no choice but to go to the county to seek a decision from the leadership.
During these days, every one of the county leaders looked haggard and exhausted, the hair of many had turned white from anxiety.
This was most evident in Zhou Shiwei; usually dressed cleanly and decently, his clothes were now wrinkled and disheveled, even smelling a bit sour.
With his gaunt face, swollen red eyes, and graying temples, he looked like he had aged ten years overnight.
While he urged the city experts to research a pesticide, he hadn't remained idle himself, scouring through all the relevant books he could find.
"..."
Zhou Shiwei opened his mouth, but looking at the village representatives gazing at him so earnestly, he found himself unable to speak. He stood up, his body swaying unsteadily.
"Leader..." Fortunately, the person beside him supported him in time so he didn't collapse.
"It is I, the county magistrate, who has failed in my responsibility and cannot resolve everyone's hardships. Everyone, to minimize losses, I implore you to make sure the villagers agree to harvest as early as possible once you return." He suddenly bent over and bowed.
"At that time, I will personally apologize to the villagers for my failings."
"This... Leader, please don't be like this, this can't be blamed on you..." The village representatives were in despair; the magistrate speaking like this meant that it was truly impossible to develop a pesticide.
"Leader! Leader! We've found a way to kill the pests!" Just then, a breathless voice rang out from the doorway.
Everyone turned their heads simultaneously in utter disbelief.
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