The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 201: Efficacy of the Medicine

"Is the pesticide spraying for this acre of land finished?" Tong Huaqiong asked Gu Dahuan.

Gu Dahuan nodded and said, "All three acres are sprayed."

The Gu Family has three acres of land by the riverbank. Early in the morning, Gu Dahuan got up and went to the land to spray pesticides. He worked extremely efficiently, and in just one morning, all three acres had been sprayed.

Gu Dahuan plans to spend the next period spraying pesticides on the dozens of acres of land at the West Mountain Foot.

Just as Tong Huaqiong said, even if the corn ears in some fields don’t show mold spots or cotton bollworms, they should still be sprayed with bactericides and insecticides for prevention.

Tong Huaqiong pointed at Mrs. Zhao and Aunt Qin and said to Gu Dahuan, "Dahuan, take Aunt Zhao and Aunt Qin to see the effect of the sprayed corn, and later split the remaining pesticide with them."

Gu Dahuan smiled and said to Mrs. Zhao and Aunt Qin, "The insecticide sprayed on my one acre of land at the West Mountain Foot took effect in just three days. Yesterday, my mother said she planned to share some pesticide with you. Ladies, would you like to take a look at my field first? This pesticide is strong, and the bollworms fell off the ears and leaves as soon as it was sprayed."

After speaking, he pointed to a few corn stalks that had just been sprayed with pesticides and said, "Take a look, right?"

Mrs. Zhao and Aunt Qin then walked down the ridge together, approaching the corn pointed out by Gu Dahuan, and indeed saw a layer of black aphids on the ground.

The aphids on the ears and leaves were still dropping.

The corn ears and leaves, after the aphids and mold fell off, showed a bright emerald color.

No matter how effective the bactericides and insecticides are, what Tong Huaqiong said sounds impressive until you see it with your own eyes.

Mrs. Zhao said in amazement, "I must admit, this pesticide really works. These aphids are hard to kill even with hands or a broom, but they die so neatly like this."

Aunt Qin approached, covering her nose and nodding continuously. These aphids died so neatly, clearing all her doubts about the bactericides and insecticides.

"Well, there’s no need to look at the land at the West Mountain. Dashi’s mother, I’ll go get the pesticide from your place. I’ll spray it after lunch," Aunt Qin said with a smile.

Mrs. Zhao felt the same way.

Tong Huaqiong said, "You can get the pesticide anytime. But I must remind you two, it’s the dog days of summer now, don’t spray during the hot noon, it’s best to spray in the morning or when the sun sets. The high temperature affects the efficacy and can cause poisoning."

What Tong Huaqiong said was not made up but based on experience.

In the previous life, her second aunt in the countryside once sprayed pesticides at noon in autumn, which resulted in her fainting from poisoning and being taken to the hospital.

Her father took her to visit the patient in the hospital, and on the way back, he explained to her the dangers of spraying pesticides at noon.

In high temperatures, the person applying the pesticide is prone to heatstroke, and the rapid evaporation of the pesticide due to high temperature, coupled with the fact that her second aunt didn’t wear a professional gas mask, resulted in a double attack from poisoning and heatstroke, hence she fainted in the fields.

Fortunately, she was found in time and sent to the hospital, and after rescue, there was no life-threatening danger.

If it were in this era of rudimentary medical technology, even early discovery might still result in a serious outcome. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Besides the risk of poisoning and heatstroke, spraying pesticides at noon can also affect crops. The rapid evaporation under high temperatures reduces the efficacy of the pesticide. Also, under high temperatures, the stomata of crops open, and spraying pesticides at this time can lead to absorption through the stomata, thereby harming the crops.

The pests and diseases might not be dead yet, but the crops could be ruined first.

Aunt Qin said, "Dashi’s mother, thanks to your warning, Old Gu was almost poisoned spraying pesticide in the scorching midday heat on the mung bean fields before, he had to drink lots of soapberry water to get better."

Tong Dajiao: "..."

She doesn’t remember this incident at all.

Because she has never paid attention to Old Gu’s situation when he was alive, being his widow as a dried old cucumber was already off-putting, she doesn’t even want to mention this person.

Aunt Qin noticed Tong Huaqiong’s displeased expression and regretted mentioning Old Gu.

Tong Huaqiong then changed the subject, saying, "Come with me to get the pesticide."

Aunt Qin sighed in relief and followed Tong Huaqiong with Mrs. Zhao to get the bactericides and insecticides.

Upon reaching home, Tong Huaqiong took out the pre-prepared pesticide containers and handed them to the two, instructing them on how to spray.

Tong Huaqiong said, "I’ll first give each of you enough for two acres. I’ll prepare more pesticide later and have Dahuan deliver it to you."

She wanted to give it all at once, but couldn’t take out so much from the space.

The space is strange, allowing only a certain amount of items to be taken without any apparent pattern.

For instance, only the daily amount for the whole Gu Family could be taken in one day, just enough butter for Taohua Dessert Bakery, and at first, only enough disinfectants and insecticides for five acres, which in the past two days increased to ten acres.

Who knows how much more can be taken out in the coming days?

She plans to distribute it to the whole village once her own cornfield’s disinfection and pest control are completed.

Mrs. Zhao, after returning with the pesticide, caught a chicken as a gift, and Aunt Qin sent a basket of eggs to Tong Huaqiong.

After finishing lunch, Tong Huaqiong decided to find the village head Liu Tielian.

One of the reasons is to promote the insecticide; another is to ask the village head to help hire a few people from the village to spray pesticide for the cornfield at the West Mountain Foot.

Originally, this kind of task should have been done by Gu Dahuan, but Gu Dahuan, with his small farmer’s mentality, couldn’t change his thinking. He always felt that living in the same village and helping each other is normal, and paying people seemed too formal.

But Tong Huaqiong doesn’t think that way. Since ancient times, who doesn’t love money? If you can pay someone to work, why bother with personal favors?

If possible, Tong Huaqiong would love to develop a "village-run factory" like her father did in the previous life, allowing everyone in the village to work in the family factory.

This would boost the economy and provide employment opportunities.

Currently, Gu Dahuan manages both the pig farm and the work in the fields, which is quite tiring, but he enjoys it.

Tong Huaqiong feels that no matter how much you enjoy it, a person’s energy is limited.

These two days, Tong Huaqiong keeps urging Gu Dahuan to hire people to spray pesticides; how could he possibly handle dozens of acres alone?

Gu Dahuan is somewhat reluctant.

He doesn’t trust outsiders with his land.

Tong Huaqiong feels that this stepson’s reliance on the land is too severe, to the extent that he believes only by himself will the land be properly taken care of.

According to Tong Huaqiong’s thinking, once the family’s land exceeds a hundred acres, she intends to lease it out, following the principle that tenants pay a fixed amount of grain, and the rest they keep for themselves.

By doing so, there’s no fear they won’t cherish the land.

Tenants also need to eat; no matter how much grain they harvest, it’s theirs, and unless they are foolish, they wouldn’t possibly ruin the land.

Gu Dashi’s worry is unnecessary.

Thinking of this, Tong Huaqiong said again to Gu Dahuan, "The fifty acres at the West Mountain Foot, you can’t finish it by yourself, we need to hire people."

Gu Dahuan laughed honestly and said, "Why hire people? I can just work a few more days."

Upon hearing this, Tong Huaqiong felt a headache.

She firmly and seriously said to her stepson, "Dahuan, your energy is limited. Even if you can finish the fifty acres, how long will it take? What if the weather interrupts your work in between? Relying on just you, even if you manage this year, what about next year when we buy more land? Do you plan to do it all yourself? You must learn to change your mindset; you can’t do everything yourself. You need to learn to hand over work; we now have land and Silver, and we should think about letting others in the village earn money too."

"Think about it, most people in our village are working in the fields and have no other way to earn. If our land can provide them an opportunity to earn, wouldn’t that be great? Get rid of the idea of mutual help among villagers now, when our family had little land it was fine, but now with more land, they’ll automatically see us as landlords. If a landlord is stingy with the village, how can we have good relations? Worse yet, if someone deliberately causes trouble, can our family still live in Qinghe Bay?"

From the perspective of letting villagers earn, Gu Dahuan had never thought nor realized that their family was already landlords with dozens of acres of fertile land.

Tong Huaqiong’s words were like a stick, opening his eyes to a new realization.