216 The Famine Was Coming

“Father, what’s going on with this locust plague? How long… will it last?” Second Sister-in-law Qin asked as she looked at Qin Dazhuang worriedly.

She couldn’t help but worry. She was pregnant, after all.

If she suddenly went into labor and the midwife couldn’t come, what should she do if she had to give birth?

The rest of the family members also looked at Qin Dazhuang.

After all, the others had never encountered a locust plague before.

Only Qin Dazhuang, who was older and more experienced, knew more.

Qin Dazhuang sighed.

“A locust plague means there was over-breeding of locusts until it turned into a disaster, causing them to form groups to wreak havoc.

“Usually, a locust plague will only break out after a great drought.

“When the locust plague occurs, the grain in the fields will be practically all eaten away. Even the forests, as well as other green plants like vegetables, will be devoured completely.”

“There will almost be no greenery left wherever the locusts pass by.

“Also, if there is a locust plague in the first year, the following year, or even in the next two to three years, the locust plague might recur.”

“Even if the plague does not happen, there will be more locusts in the fields in the following year.”

“The locusts will eat crops. Once there are too many locusts, the grain harvests in the fields will definitely decrease.”

Everyone’s heart sank when they heard this.

What was the implication when grain harvests decreased?

As long as the local grain crops couldn’t be harvested, the grain merchants had to transport grain from other places, which meant that the price of grain wouldn’t drop.

There was a drought in Mountain Spring Town, and they were already suffering from a food shortage. Some people were even panicking as a result.

Now that there was a locust plague, the town might really suffer from a famine this time.

At the same time, everyone felt they were quite fortunate.

Thankfully, they had just bought 1,000 catties of grain from the Song family. Otherwise, if the price of grain continued to rise, their family would lead a hard life.

“Then, Father, how long will this locust plague last?” When Second Sister-in-law Qin heard Qin Dazhuang’s words, she was so scared that she almost cried.

When he saw this, Qin Erhu quickly pulled his wife to sit down and patted her back to comfort her.

Qin Dazhuang could tell that his second daughter-in-law was worried. He said, “Don’t worry. The locusts won’t stay for more than a few days.”

“After they finish devouring, they will fly away to the next place to continue devouring.”

“I estimate that in five or six days at most, the locusts will leave,” Qin Dazhuang said after some thought.

Only then did Second Sister-in-law Qin feel more at ease.

She touched her tummy and looked at her husband to give herself more confidence.

Qin Dazhuang looked at his two sons.

“Eldest Daughter-in-law is going to the Liu family’s place. The rest of you don’t go out for the next few days, either.

“Second Daughter-in-law, you are at the late stage of your pregnancy now. Just take good care of yourself these few days.

“Eldest Son and Second Son, you two take charge of the household chores together.”

Qin Dahu and Qin Erhu exchanged glances.

“Alright!” they both responded.

On the other hand, over at the Liu family’s house.

As the locust plague broke out during their mealtime, the Liu family was able to handle it well too.

However, they did not prepare cloth to seal up the windows and door frames, so many locusts had broken into their house.

Fortunately, the impact wasn’t too great. The family members didn’t stay idle, and it wasn’t difficult to catch the locusts that had barged in.

After a while, Liu Xiaomei even got a little addicted to catching them.

“There are so many locusts. After deep-frying them, we can sprinkle some salt on them. They will definitely taste good!” Liu Xiaomei said as she grabbed the locusts and stuffed them into the sack.

As Big Girl Li’s tummy was quite big now, she could only watch from the side.

Aunt Liu was also catching locusts, and she replied to Liu Xiaomei at the same time.

“You think deep-frying doesn’t need oil, is it? It’s not easy to buy pork and lard these days, and we don’t have any oil at home for you to waste!”

“Gosh, Mom! But this thing doesn’t taste good if it’s not deep-fried!”

“It’s such a pity to waste free food!”

Upon hearing this, Aunt Liu’s expression relaxed somewhat.

“Let’s catch them first!” she replied.

It didn’t matter whether it was delicious or not. As long as it was edible, it was good enough!

It was a pity that Liu Xiaomei didn’t know what her mother was thinking right now.

Otherwise, she would not be so enthusiastic about catching the locusts.

Compared to the three women’s positive attitude, the three men from the Liu family all had grim expressions.

“Fortunately, we moved house. Otherwise, if we were still in Brook Falls Village and got caught up in this locust plague, I’m afraid it wouldn’t be so easy to deal with,” Liu Daniu said.

Their house in Brook Falls Village was small and dilapidated. If they had not moved, they would still have kept poultry.

When the locusts came, they didn’t even have time to take care of people, so how could they take care of the poultry?

Liu Erniu expressed his agreement.

“There are so many locusts. I wonder where they came from? When will they stop?” he chimed in.

Uncle Liu had a deep frown on his face.

“No matter where they came from, once these locusts arrive, I’m afraid our lives in town will be quite hard over the next few days.” He then gave a heavy sigh.

“What’s wrong?” Liu Erniu asked.

He had not realized the severity of the problem.

Uncle Liu finally explained the horror of the locust plague.

This time, the Liu brothers could no longer remain calm.

“Doesn’t that mean that the price of grain will continue to rise, and the price will remain high for a long time?”

“We don’t have much food left in our house!” Liu Daniu said anxiously.

Uncle Liu slapped his thigh.

“Exactly!” he said angrily.

Then, he quickly looked at the two brothers.

“When the locusts outside have stopped swarming, the two of you take all the money at home and go directly to the grain store.”

“No matter the price, buy as much as you can. Buy the grains back!” Uncle Liu said quickly.

If he had known that there would be a locust plague, he wouldn’t have listened to his wife and stopped buying grain for the family these few days.

However, now that there was this locust plague, people would be rushing to grab the grain in the grain stores. He didn’t know how high the price would go.

Liu Daniu and Liu Erniu looked at each other and quickly answered in the affirmative.

The situation was getting serious. The famine was really going to happen…

After about an hour, the black mass of locusts finally dispersed.

Most of the locusts had flown away, leaving only a small number of locusts on the ground, which continued to gnaw at the plants.

Of course, this so-called small number was relative, and this was in comparison to the massive locust army that flew away.

Therefore, when people walked out of their rooms, there were still many locusts outside.

At the Song family’s residence.

The people of Yong An Lane came out of the hall in the Song family’s residence. When they saw the clear sky and felt the scorching hot sun, they felt as if they were in a different world.

Perhaps it was because they had been frightened by the locusts, but everyone felt that the weather wasn’t so hot anymore.

Not only did the people in the hall come out, but the Song family members also emerged from their rooms.

When the crowd saw Qin Xiaoyao and the others, they immediately came forward to thank the Song family.

Qin Xiaoyao and the rest told everyone not to stand on ceremony.

Qin Xiaoyao also took the opportunity to announce that her family would continue to sell bean sprouts and water.

And during the lull before the next locust plague, there would be no restrictions on the time and quantity when they sold water and bean sprouts.

As long as the locusts did not come, everyone could come over to buy water and bean sprouts when it was convenient.

In addition, the price of the bean sprouts had been reduced to three copper coins per two catties. Qin Xiaoyao told everyone that they could take this opportunity to buy some vegetables and store them at home.

Everyone thanked the Song family for their generosity. After that, only a few people stayed to continue buying water, and most people left.

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