FTS Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Harvest

No matter how much she craved meat, Song Baozhu couldn't make the pigs grow fat overnight. She could only study desperately. 

While researching the Five-Footed Bugs, she also unlocked a course on Animal Husbandry.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, the annual autumn harvest arrived.

Due to the pest infestation, even though the insects had been eradicated, the crops had suffered significant damage.

The leaders of Yun County held a meeting.

Zhou Shiwei sat at the head of the table. "This year's autumn harvest will definitely see a reduction in yield. According to estimates from the Department of Agriculture, the harvest will be cut at least by half. I will apply to the city for a waiver of Yun County's grain tax for this year. You must all pay close attention to the difficulties faced by the people and find ways to purchase more grain from other cities."

The others nodded.

If the grain tax for the rural villagers was waived, the grain supply for the residents of Yun County town would inevitably decrease.

These were problems they had to find ways to solve.

However, buying grain was easier said than done. Grain across the country was barely enough to go around. 

Not to mention that Yun County was poor and had no extra funds in the treasury; even if they had the money, they might not be able to find enough grain to buy.

But no one complained. At least they could harvest half the crop now; if the rural folk ate sparingly, they could survive until next year. The fact that the government didn't have to worry about mass starvation was already a blessing in disguise.

Everyone left the meeting room with heavy hearts.

The food supply for the townspeople of Yun County relied entirely on rural contributions. 

Now that the County Magistrate had waived the tax for the villagers, they had to act immediately, otherwise, the townspeople would go hungry.

While Zhou Shiwei was exhausting every method to buy grain, the more than two hundred villages under Yun County's jurisdiction began their autumn harvest.

In previous years, the autumn harvest was a time of universal joy, but this year the atmosphere was quite somber. After all, no one could be happy looking at a harvest that was half of last year's.

"With so much less grain, life in the second half of this year and the first half of next year will be hard to endure!" someone lamented bitterly. 

Their tone was heavy but not desperate. Having lived through those "difficult years," everyone had lowered their standards, even with a reduction, they might not be full, but they wouldn't starve to death.

To rural folk, as long as they didn't starve, there was hope.

"Hey, I heard the solution for those bugs was found by a little girl in neighboring Xiangfu Village while she was playing. You’d think that girl, if she had a way, why didn't she offer it sooner? If she’d brought it out when the bugs first appeared, the crops wouldn't have been reduced this much," someone complained in a low voice.

However, this sentiment didn't find much support. 

Someone retorted, "The little girl saves people and ends up raising ungrateful wolves? If she hadn't found the method, there wouldn't be a single grain this year. Er Mazi, were you planning to starve yourself to death or your old mother?" 

This man was nicknamed "Er Mazi" because of his pockmarked face. He was usually unreliable and remained unmarried despite being old, living with a mother who fiercely protected him.

Others chimed in with their agreement.

Zhang Lanfen was also in this area shucking corn. Hearing this, her heart stirred, and she shouted back: "Exactly! After all, she’s just a little girl of a few years old. Being able to find a way to solve the bugs is already very difficult. How can you talk like that?"

Er Mazi was just grumbling casually, seeing everyone turn on him, he shut his mouth.

In contrast to the somber atmosphere in those villages, the autumn harvest in Xiangfu Village was filled with joy and excitement.

Song Deling had led everyone to scrape every nook and cranny of Xiangfu Village. Wherever it was possible that those insect ashes had landed, they scraped a layer of soil and scattered it into the fields.

His efforts were clearly effective. The wilted, yellowing crops had been visibly saved, and compared to last year, the yield wasn't lacking at all.

It could be considered a bumper harvest year.

However, the better the harvest, the more Song Deling felt regret. If all those insect ashes had been scattered into the fields, perhaps this year's harvest would have broken records.

He puffed on his pipe and felt more regretful the more he thought about it. Slapping his thigh, he said bitterly, "It's all my fault. If only I had listened to Baozhu back then."

"Enough already, you've been nagging about it for months. Be satisfied that the crops have this kind of yield this year," his wife said, unable to listen anymore. Hearing Song Deling nag like this every day for months, it seemed he was about to lose his mind.

Song Zhimu and the other children also tried to persuade him: "That's right, Dad, isn't this great? Besides, you can't be blamed. Who knew those insect ashes would have such a massive effect?"

Song Deling glared at him: "If it's not my fault, then whose is it? Do you have any idea how precious grain is? Just because I didn't believe Baozhu, we missed out on a record-breaking harvest year."

It truly was a pity. In their hearts, the others felt no less regret than Song Deling, but since he was the one who had made the final call back then, if they voiced those thoughts now, wouldn't it be like twisting a knife in his heart? 

So, the group went against their consciences to comfort Song Deling for a while before finishing their meal in silence.

After more than ten days of autumn harvest, all the crops had been gathered.

Song Deling crunched the numbers with the production team leaders and the village accountants. They discovered that this year's grain yield was actually ten thousand catties more than last year's. 

This meant that for a village of over two thousand people, everyone could receive five catties more grain than last year. At five catties per person, a household with many people could receive dozens or even a hundred extra catties. 

One shouldn't look down on a hundred catties of grain, in a famine year, five catties are enough to keep a person alive for a month.

Upon hearing the figures reported by the accountant, the crowd at the threshing floor erupted in a collective cheer.

"I thought this year was going to be miserable, but I never expected the harvest to be even better than last year's! No need to worry now—we can have a prosperous New Year."

"Exactly! I have so many children at home, I was in despair back then, thinking I'd have to starve myself just to keep the kids going. Who would have thought we'd have a bumper harvest? It's all thanks to Baozhu, truly all thanks to her!" Someone began to laugh, but the laughter turned to tears.

Before arranging for the accountants and team leaders to distribute the grain, Song Deling suddenly addressed the crowd: "Everyone knows that the reason we were able to harvest this much grain is all because of Baozhu. Such a massive contribution cannot go unrewarded in terms of work points. I will individually credit Baozhu with one hundred work points, and her points will be used to exchange for rice."

The crowd went quiet for a moment. One hundred work points was a significant amount—equivalent to a full year's work for an able-bodied laborer, and she wanted it all in white rice.

The village had very few paddy fields, and the yield per acre wasn't high. Rice required extremely meticulous care, so every household counted on those small portions of white rice just to improve their meals occasionally.

However, thinking that without Song Baozhu they wouldn't even be gnawing on corn cobs, let alone eating white rice, most people agreed without objection.

A small number of people had complaints but didn't dare speak up. 

After all, with so little white rice available, they wouldn't have received much anyway, why offend Song Dezhu and Wang Guifang over such a small amount?

More importantly, the person they dared not offend most was Song Baozhu. So many experts from the county were helpless, yet a four-year-old child had solved it. 

They couldn't help but mutter to themselves: Could it be true, as Wang Guifang says, that Song Baozhu is blessed with immense fortune? 

If so, making such a blessed person unhappy would surely bring them bad luck.

Since no one opposed, Song Baozhu’s one hundred points were settled.

In the crowd, Wang Guifang and Song Dezhu were naturally overjoyed. Let's see who still dared to say she was out of her mind for doting on Baozhu, Baozhu was so capable, if she didn't dote on her, who would?

The grain was distributed joyfully. Almost every household turned out in full force to carry their grain home, trip after trip. The Song family had a cellar, and the brothers hauled sweet potatoes and potatoes back until it was nearly full.

Looking at the cellar brimming with food, Qian Xiaoe touched her belly with a sense of satisfaction and security. She had previously feared the baby would have nothing to eat and wouldn't survive, but now those worries were completely gone.

She looked at Song Baozhu in the courtyard, and her last bit of resentment vanished. If not for Baozhu, her child would have suffered from the moment it was born.

Song Baozhu was busy in the courtyard moving jars and bottles around. They were filled with waters of various colors—red, yellow, and more.

She had asked Song Dezhu to build her a rack and a shed to cover it, where she kept several glass jars. She didn't go out to play much anymore, spending every day busy with her containers. Her family simply assumed she had a unique way of playing and didn't pay it much mind.

Song Baozhu picked up a bottle and headed to the pit in the backyard.

She lifted the wooden planks covering it.

If anyone had been there, they would have been frightened out of their wits. The entire pit was a writhing mass of fat, large, snowy-white, and tender insects. 

They were quite long, resembling cabbage worms, but these were pure white—so white they seemed to glow in the sunlight. Beneath their bodies were five thin, short legs, which were almost invisible unless one looked closely.

This was the result of Song Baozhu's hard work over the past few months.

Although she hadn't yet cultivated the "Five-Footed Bugs," this level of progress already counted as a milestone achievement. 

Most small children would either be terrified or disgusted by such insects, but Song Baozhu looked excited. Her large eyes were exceptionally bright, staring at the bugs with intense focus. 

She opened the bottle and poured the red liquid inside, muttering softly as she did, "Grow fast, grow fast..."

As soon as the water was poured in, the bugs, which had been lazy, immediately began to wriggle frantically. They even propped up their soft, squishy bodies and opened their mouths wide, scrambling to snatch the red water.

Song Baozhu rubbed her chin and let out a "hei-hei" laugh, looking at them as if they were precious treasures.

The system shuddered upon hearing that laugh. "Host, please don't laugh like that." It was quite creepy.

Song Baozhu didn't listen. Before long, she would be able to feed these bugs to the pigs, and the pigs would grow fat and huge. 

Then, she could eat as much meat as she wanted.

"Baozhu, Baozhu..."

Hearing Wang Guifang calling her, Song Baozhu gave a shout in response, covered the pit back up, and carried the bottle to the front yard.

"Baozhu, look. This is the white rice your Uncle Deling specifically allocated to you. From now on, you don't have to be frugal. Mom will make you white rice every day; you can eat as much as you like." 

One hundred work points had been exchanged for over two hundred catties of white rice, enough for Song Baozhu to eat at every meal every day.

Song Baozhu was pleasantly surprised. "Cousin allocated it specifically for me? I'm going to thank him!" She vanished in a flash of running.

Wang Guifang shook her head with a smile. "That child." She could get along with anyone.

However, Song Baozhu came up empty-handed, Song Deling had taken the accountant to the county for a meeting. 

Every year after the autumn harvest, the village heads of every village had to go to the county to report on the harvest situation.

When over two hundred village heads sat together, whoever's village had the best harvest would receive special praise for their cadres from the county, and perhaps even rewards. It was a moment of great prestige.

This year was different from the past. In the large meeting room, every village head looked quite depressed.

Song Deling entered the room, still regretting those insect ashes. Even as he sat down next to the village head of Shuisha Village, he was still sighing.

The head of Shuisha Village had always been at odds with him, but now he spoke up awkwardly, "Alright, what are you sighing for? Even though this year's harvest is only half of last year's, at least no one will starve. I'm not just comforting you, I'm saying this for the sake of that little girl in your village."

Upon hearing this, Song Deling gave an absent-minded "Mhm." 

Once he actually processed what the Shuisha Village head had said, he suddenly let out a loud shout, "What did you say? Only half of last year's harvest!?"

Jade: Due to my upcoming tests, I won't be able to update much, sorry~ Do follow the blog 😊 and you can contact me in the home page, just send a message ~~ Thank you!!