He had never intended to agree to this matter, yet he couldn’t find the right words to say!
"That won't be necessary then," He Shiyou said, "By the way, father-in-law, I've been bothering you for several days now, it's time I should head back."
"Alright, then I'll have someone escort you, father-in-law," Li Yao said with a smile, "Come by often to see your granddaughter, the little girl is so cute and beautiful, if she wasn't still so young, I'd hate not being able to hold her in my arms every day."
He Shiyou had been there for several days without even glancing at his granddaughter once, he knew Li Yao was mocking him, and he couldn't help but blush with embarrassment, quickly bidding his farewell.
After he left, He Xiaoya wanted to explain what had just happened: "Mother, I..."
"I know everything," Li Yao interrupted her, "but don't speak so directly in the future, after all he is your father."
"Yes, I understand, mother."
"Also," Li Yao continued, "you're a mother now, and the elder daughter-in-law of this household. I’m lazy by nature. So after your postpartum recovery, take care of all the big and small matters of this household. "
"Huh?"
He Xiaoya looked at Li Yao in disbelief, was mother-in-law asking her to take over as the lady of the house?
"Mother, I can't do it, I don't know how."
"If you don't know then learn," Li Yao said. "Once you've learned, I'll be able to retire in peace."
"What does it mean to retire?"
"It means... not having to take care of anything, not having to do any work, not having to worry about anything. Just doing whatever I want every day. If I want to go somewhere, I can just up and go..."
Listening to Li Yao's explanation, He Xiaoya couldn't help but yearn for it.
Mother, I want to retire too!
During the hottest time of the year, the rice paddies outside the village had started to turn yellow.
These past few days, Li Yao hadn't gone out. She would just chat with He Xiaoya at home every day, teaching her how to manage the household.
As they chatted, their conversation naturally turned to food as they discussed what to have for lunch.
That was human nature for you. When you have no money, even a meat soup tastes heavenly, but when you become wealthy, you fret over what to eat.
"Why don't we have something light today," Li Yao suggested, "We can cook some salted cowpea beans and dig up some small sweet potatoes to steam."
"Is it already time to eat sweet potatoes?"
"Eating them now they'll still be a bit small, not very cost effective," Li Yao said. "But occasionally having some is fine."
After all, they had planted so many sweet potato vines, they could afford to eat a few.
"Alright then," He Xiaoya said, "I'll make a meat dish too. It's so hot outside, everyone is working hard, they should have some meat."
"Then make pepper chicken, tell Chunxing to kill two chickens first, I'll teach you how to make it when she gets back."
"Okay!"
Wearing a straw hat, Li Yao went to the hillside fields carrying a basket, braving the scorching sun.
The cowpeas were planted a bit higher up, so she had to pass through the sweet potato patch below. As soon as she entered, a swarm of tiny insects flew up from the leaves. She quickly grabbed one and saw it was a plump black locust nymph.
This suddenly gave Li Yao a bad premonition.
With so many locusts, could this be the onset of a locust plague?
There was still one month until the rice harvest, and the sweet potatoes were at a crucial growing period. If a large scale locust plague erupted now, this year's crops would be doomed.
But she had never experienced a locust plague before, she would need to consult experts.
So she found Dazhuang who was working in the fields, strung up a few dozen locusts with some foxtail grass, and brought them to the county government, asking County Magistrate Song to have someone take a look.
...
Based on Li Yao’s suggestion at the last Mid-Autumn festival, County Magistrate Song had collected a large amount of revenue for the county. He was planning to build irrigation canals after the autumn harvest.
Seeing Dazhuang arrive suddenly, he felt a bit puzzled.
"Dazhuang, what's the matter?"
"My mother sent me. She found a lot of locusts in the fields and worries there may be a locust plague coming."
County Magistrate Song's expression changed instantly upon hearing this.
Droughts and floods could still be dealt with, but a locust plague had proven unsolvable since ancient times. He had witnessed a locust plague before, the endless swarms blotting out the sun, leaving barren land in their wake.
But it was common to see locusts everywhere this season, he couldn't declare a plague based on a few specimens alone. He would need to inspect the area before making a judgment.
So County Magistrate Song promptly headed out, abandoning the tricycle this time and riding directly out with several clerks on horseback. They began surveying the villages to assess the situation before nightfall, and indeed found suspiciously large numbers of locusts in half of Baichuan County's villages.
"Captain Zhang, ride overnight to Yizhou Prefecture and report the locust situation to Prefect Li."
"Yes sir."
After Captain Zhang rushed off, County Magistrate Song remained uneasy, skipping dinner altogether as he went straight to He Wan village.
Li Yao and Chunxing were making cold noodles. Seeing the magistrate arrive in a hurry, Li Yao knew the situation was likely not optimistic.
"County Magistrate Song, do you have a good solution for the locust plague?"
County Magistrate Song smiled wryly to himself, thinking if I had a solution, why would I come looking for you?
"Miss Li, you don't know this, but once a locust plague begins, there is absolutely no saving the situation. Even mobilizing all the commoners to catch them would be futile. We catch wave after wave but countless more emerge, we can only watch helplessly as the crops are devoured completely."
No solutions?
Li Yao racked her brains trying to recall how locust plagues were handled in her previous life, and could only remember pesticides being sprayed.
But pesticides were completely foreign to her here.
Must the fruits of her labor in planting sweet potatoes and grains be fed to these insects this year?
"For now, we can only mobilize the masses to catch as many as possible. Every one caught counts."
The news of an impending locust plague made every villager's face turn pale.
Grain was the foundation of the common people's livelihood. Even with tens of thousands in wealth, they would be nothing without food.
Li Yao decided to halt all workshop operations, preparing for an all-out war against the locusts.
Village head Wang Jiafu in particular took on the responsibility of organizing the entire village: "At times like these, we can't just fend for ourselves. Everyone must unite and cooperate, following my directives."
After everything they had gone through, the villagers were no longer prone to fighting over trivial matters as before.
With some money now lining their pockets, they were naturally less nitpicky and calculating.
Following Li Yao's example, everyone made a fabric catching net. Village head Wang Jiafu divided the thousand plus villagers into teams to spread large nets in the fields and begin carpet searches to catch locusts.
