Chapter 8: Severe
"Then I'll stay up two hours later tonight and enter the Learning Space to study right now."
Song Baozhu had understood the conversation between Song Dezhu and Wang Guifang; those bugs grew too fast, and if they weren't killed soon, the crops in the fields would be beyond saving.
She closed her eyes, and her consciousness entered the Learning Space opened by the System.
The Learning Space was a vast, shimmering white void. When Song Baozhu entered for the first time, her mouth had hung open in shock.
However, she found it a bit too bright and empty.
"This is just the default setting. When you study a specific course, I will simulate the corresponding learning environment for you, including the learning instruments."
Now that Song Baozhu needed to learn how to produce the method to kill the Five-Footed Bugs, the System transformed the space.
A sleek laboratory bench appeared, piled with various instruments she didn't recognize.
Song Baozhu excitedly touched here and poked there.
"If you want to learn the method to kill the Five-Footed Bug, you must first pass the assessments for the Five-Footed Bug's structural anatomy, its habits and characteristics, and the production of medicinal liquids. There is a lot to learn; are you ready?"
'Five-Footed Bug' was the name given to this insect in the System's database. The Learning System did not support the host getting something for nothing; it would not directly provide the production method.
Song Baozhu needed to study and pass assessments on the relevant knowledge step-by-step before the formula would be given.
If Song Baozhu could apply what she learned and even invent or improve upon the formulas during the learning process, the Learning System would gain energy that had been locked away since it left the factory, and Song Baozhu would gain a large amount of extra points.
With points, she could learn any subject within her point balance. If she had none, she could only follow the curriculum arranged by the System step-by-step.
Previously, the points Song Baozhu earned from the foundational courses were just barely enough to unlock the knowledge related to the Five-Footed Bug.
Knowing that time was precious, Song Baozhu nodded quickly. "I'm ready."
While she was studying herself into a daze in the Learning Space, Xiangfu Village was enveloped in a shroud of despair.
That morning, leaders and experts from the county arrived.
Song Deling, along with several team leaders and the accountant from the village, went to receive the officials.
The man in the lead wore a short-sleeved white shirt. His once-clean trousers and sneakers were covered in mud, his brow was locked in a deep furrow, and his eyes were bloodshot.
He stopped Song Deling from preparing a reception: "No need to mind us; take us to the fields to look first."
This man was the Party Secretary of Yun County, Zhou Shiwei. The people following him were also part of the county's leadership team.
Starting ten days ago, village chiefs and branch secretaries from the townships under Yun County's jurisdiction had one after another reported being hit by pest infestations.
At first, they didn't realize the matter was so serious. The county had mobilized pesticides and distributed them to the villages, but it wasn't until every village reported that the pesticides not only failed to work but that the infestation had actually worsened that they realized things had taken a dire turn.
Having lived through those difficult years, no one dared to overlook the major issue of the autumn harvest.
Everyone in the county was immediately summoned for a meeting, and experts from the Agricultural Department were invited.
The leaders each took these experts down to various villages for field inspections. According to the experts' analysis, this was actually a type of pest infestation that had never appeared before; conventional pesticides were completely useless.
The reproductive capacity and destructive power exceeded any previous pest; they were so immense that their numbers could double in just a single day.
According to expert predictions, if this pest could not be quickly wiped out, the crops in the fields would be entirely devoured, and even the highest-yielding sweet potatoes and potatoes would not be spared.
Even more terrifying was that this infestation showed a trend of spreading beyond the borders of Yun County.
Now, everyone was panicking. If things really turned out this way, the consequences would be several times more severe than those difficult years.
During those years of great drought, crop yields decreased, but it never reached the point of a total loss of harvest.
None of the county leaders could sleep. While accompanying the county experts as they researched pest control methods day and night, they also rushed a report to the city, hoping the city could dispatch even more knowledgeable experts.
The surrounding neighboring counties, upon hearing the news, were also on high alert, terrified that the infestation might truly spread to their territory.
After their report went up, the city placed a high priority on the matter and quickly dispatched a team of experts, who traveled through the night to arrive.
Today, the city experts finally arrived.
Zhou Shiwei personally led them to Xiangfu Village, where the infestation had first appeared.
"Good, good." Song Deling was desperate for them to get to the fields quickly and hurriedly led them there.
The villagers of Xiangfu Village were still catching bugs at this very moment.
To be precise, it was no longer 'catching' bugs; they were already everywhere in the fields, and the crops were covered in them. They could even scoop them up with shovels and dustpans.
Seeing that the infestation had doubled again in just one day, Zhou Shiwei felt his vision go dark.
Had his secretary not supported him from behind, he would have collapsed on the spot.
The experts from the city also looked grave.
They hadn't expected the infestation to be serious to this degree!
The villagers of Xiangfu Village stood up, everyone looking at them with eyes full of hope. They knew that whether this infestation could be resolved depended entirely on these experts.
Looking at these villagers who placed such high hopes on them, the experts felt apprehensive.
They took specimens and followed Zhou Shiwei back to the county; they needed to use the county’s equipment to quickly analyze and develop a pesticide.
"Village Chief, the experts will figure it out, won't they?" a villager asked tentatively.
Song Deling forced out a smile: "They will. They are experts from the city with high levels of expertise; they will figure it out."
"Then when will they figure it out? In a few more days, these bugs will have finished eating the crops..." someone cried out in a desolate voice, unable to hold it in.
Song Deling felt chilled to the bone. He actually knew that the possibility of these experts developing a pesticide specifically for this pest in just a few short days was far too small.
But he could not collapse. If he collapsed, the villagers of Xiangfu Village would truly break down.
He forced himself to stay spirited and comforted the villagers with a few words before lowering his head to catch bugs in the field. With him, the village chief, leading the way, the villagers continued to follow suit, even though they were on the verge of collapse.
Song Dezhu and Wang Guifang, along with the four brothers—Dong, Nan, Xi, and Bei, were also in the fields.
As for Song Zhizhong, after waking up early this morning, Song Baozhu had suddenly made a fuss about wanting him to accompany her into the mountains.
The Song family all loved Song Baozhu beyond measure.
Thinking she wanted to go to the mountains to pick wild fruit, Wang Guifang and Song Dezhu said nothing and let Song Zhizhong accompany her, only instructing them not to go into the deep mountains for fear of encountering wolves.
Only Qian Xiaoe completely failed to understand the family’s behavior in indulging Song Baozhu's whims.
What time was this?
Instead of hurrying to catch insects, they were letting Song Zhizhong—a laborer capable of earning work points, skip work to accompany his little sister into the mountains.
With crop yields clearly about to plummet, if they didn't seize the time to earn more work points, they would receive less grain during the autumn harvest.
How was this large family supposed to survive?
Pregnancy naturally made one prone to overthinking, and happening to encounter such a massive pest infestation meant Qian Xiaoe was now trapped daily in the worry that the child she was finally about to bear would not survive.
In a momentary impulse, she couldn't hold back: "Mom, it's fine for Little Sister to play at home, but Fifth Brother is a laborer who can earn quite a few work points. It looks like we won't be getting much grain this year; one extra work point might just save a life in our family. How can he accompany her in such nonsense?"
There was another sentence she didn't say: even Song Baozhu could go to the fields to catch bugs and earn work points, weren't many children in the village her age already out in the fields?
Wang Guifang, who had always been relatively pleasant toward her, lowered her face for the first time: "Since you're so worried about work points, then you go to work."
Originally, she hadn't wanted to be a wicked mother-in-law; ever since Qian Xiaoe got pregnant, she hadn't made her go to the fields to earn points, only letting her help with cooking and cleaning at home.
No other daughter-in-law in the village received such treatment; some young wives were forced into the fields by their in-laws to avoid losing work points even on the very day they were due to give birth.
But Song Baozhu was her heart and soul. Whoever had an issue with her daughter, she had an issue with them.
Qian Xiaoe’s face turned pale.
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