Feng Yun looked back.

Massive swarms of locusts were flying over from the direction of the neighboring Shen Family Village, gathering in packs, rustling in the sandy wind, leaping across the fields under the setting sun...

Village Chief Yang ran over from his house, holding a megaphone he had obtained from Changmen, and notified each household with a loud voice.

"Release the ducks if you have them, chickens, geese, any livestock that can eat insects, let them all out."

"Men, women, the elderly, the young, everyone grab your tools, get to the fields, and chase the locusts away."

This was the first time Xiaoman saw so many locusts and she got goosebumps all over.

"What are we going to do?"

"My lady, can our ducks eat so many insects?"

In fact, it was also the first time for Feng Yun to witness such a vast number of locusts.

But compared to the "sky-darkening, cloud-like cover that could instantaneously ravage crops beyond recognition" depicted in books, the number of locusts this time was much less.

Clearly, it was only a small detachment of the locust army.

Yet, if left unchecked, they could still relentlessly devour the crops to shreds.

Seeing that the season’s harvest was on the verge of bounty, the farmers felt an indescribable pain, some even knelt in the field, pressing their palms together, ceaselessly kowtowing, praying to the heavens...

The entire family depended on this harvest.

If the locusts devoured everything, what could be done?

It was already mid-July, and the ducks raised in Huaxi Village were just at their growth stage, at a time when their appetite was large and they needed a lot of food.

Feng Yun walked to the edge of her paddy field with an umbrella in hand.

The army of ducks was hard at work devouring the locusts, one after another, eating quickly...

Compared to the fields without ducks, there were decidedly fewer locusts.

Consequently, those farmers who hadn’t raised ducks for various reasons, no matter how they chased or beat the locusts, couldn’t avoid suffering losses.

Crowds of people ran over to find Feng Yun.

"Village Chief’s wife, could you let your ducks into my field to help catch the insects?"

So many people came asking for help, but who could she respond to?

Especially since Changmen owned the most land in Huaxi Village.

The ducks raised on our estate were hardly sufficient for our own fields.

Before Feng Yun could speak, Alou stepped forward to play the bad guy.

"All the uncles, aunties, and elders, it’s not that we refuse to help, but we’ve only raised so many ducks, and they can only eat so much. Our estate’s fields are barely enough; we truly can’t manage any more than that."

Disappointment showed in everyone’s eyes.

They had really hoped for Village Chief’s wife to lend them a hand.

After all, she was the person most capable of solving problems, the backbone of the villagers.

But most people understood.

Helping was a favor; not helping was within reason. They couldn’t force it.

However, one family with the surname Lu, splashed commonly around the village as hooligans who nobody liked but tolerated due to Changmen’s influence, didn’t dare start trouble...

Now, with their own crops threatened by the locusts, the husband and wife started making a scene, crying and wailing.

"Village Chief’s wife, you are abandoning us to die. Your family has a large enterprise; even if you lost this season’s crops, your granary would still be full, and you wouldn’t starve. But we common folk, that’s truly tragic, without grain we’ll all starve..."

The wife, Mrs. You, simply sat on the ground, crying and wiping her tears.

"Up early and working hard for months, and now, all is lost."

"We can’t live anymore, we can’t go on."

Feng Yun frowned and ignored them.

Her mind was searching for solutions; she barely noticed Lu Guiquan and his wife...

Village Chief Yang couldn’t stand it anymore and walked over with his megaphone.

"Lu Guiquan, you and your wife would do better to pick up a pot and bang it in the field to scare away some locusts rather than bothering the Village Chief’s wife here."

Someone else sneered.

"Exactly, blaming the Village Chief’s wife doesn’t make sense. What did you say when the village asked everyone to raise ducks? You said she must be in cahoots with the duck vendor, helping them sell their stock."

"Right? Lu Guiquan even claimed, ’How many locusts can a duck eat anyway? When a real plague comes, rather than let the ducks eat, we might as well eat them ourselves.’

Laughter emanated from the crowd.

Sister Wang smiled even more gleefully, rubbing salt into their wounds.

"We have raised so many ducks, the locusts are too scared to come near. The few stragglers aren’t even enough to fill our ducks’ bellies."

At this moment, the villagers began to calm down from their initial anxiety and chaos, realizing that what Sister Wang said was true.

The fields with more ducks truly had fewer locusts.

Feng Yun, looking at the glow of the setting sun, suddenly revealed a stark expression on her face.

"Eat them ourselves, that’s a good idea."

Lu Guiquan was taken aback, looking up at Feng Yun with his cheeks flushing red, unable to tell if he was embarrassed or angry, and he started to curse loudly.

"What are you saying at a time like this, making such heartless remarks; you’re driving people to their deaths!"

Mrs. You cried even louder.

"Oh heavens, what sins have we committed?"

"The Village Chief’s wife wants to starve us to death!"

This was laying the blame at Feng Yun’s door.

Feng Yun couldn’t have cared less about them, instead she motioned for Xing Bing to gather some men and unloaded the graphite, preparing to set up and light a bonfire.

Xing Bing frowned at her arrangement.

"Are you planning to use graphite for the fire?"

Feng Yun nodded, "Graphite burns longer and more consistently than firewood."

Xing Bing looked at those graphite pieces and felt it was a pity.

His wife, Madam Xu, was even more upset, cursing directly.

"Why bother with the lives of those fools? All those who don’t have ducks are ones who didn’t listen to advice in the first place."

"It’s not to help them, but to help ourselves."

Feng Yun glanced at Madam Xu and Xing Bing and said in a calm tone:

"Being in the same village, if all the villagers are short of grain, we will become the target of everyone’s criticism, and the peace and tranquility of our village will also be disrupted. Of course, that is not the main concern..."

She looked at the locusts hopping in the fields.

"The number of locusts in this wave isn’t that high; we can handle it with ducks, but what if the next wave comes in numbers beyond our control?"

Xing Bing nodded, "The mistress has far-sighted concerns. We’ll follow your arrangement."

Feng Yun said, "Sister Wang just reminded me that what ducks can’t eat, humans can..."

Xing Bing was astonished, "Humans eat them?"

Feng Yun confirmed, "Yes, locusts can be a delicacy too."

Several attendants also exchanged glances, almost in disbelief.

Feng Yun didn’t say much more, arranging for the bonfires to be lit at night, and having people borrow nets from around to weave together into large nets, all quietly waiting for the darkness to fall...

When night came, it was just as Feng Yun had predicted.

The destruction of the small troop of locusts that came first was not the end.

The crops in Huaxi Village, among neighboring villages, were the ones that grew the best and bore the most fruit, especially the large rice fields of Changmen, because Feng Yun had used greenhouses for nursery, first screening the seedlings before planting them into the fields, making the overall plants stronger and taller than those of other villagers’ homes, and the rice that grew was fuller...

Perhaps the locusts also had a way to signal each other, knowing there was good food in Huaxi Village, bringing their entire troop along with their families...

Alou came over from the fields, sweating profusely.

"Mistress, there are more and more locusts, the ducks are full, they can’t eat any more, we have to act before they can’t manage anymore."

The glow of dusk had ceased, night was approaching, and the feeling of locusts swarming in was finally starting to feel suffocating, as if blocking out the sky.

Feng Yun commanded, "Light the fire."

She had set up bonfire sites in various places around the village, at least twenty or thirty of them.

As soon as it got dark, the fires lit up and could be seen from a distance.

The locusts, upon seeing the light, flew towards the source of illumination as if obeying a divine summons...

Countless locusts landed firmly in the nets.

The ones that didn’t get caught flew with all their might towards the burning bonfires...

Soon, a scent of toasted locusts filled the entire village.

Xing Bing sniffed, "It does smell good."

Everyone praised the mistress’s method, saying it was good for both catching and burning the locusts.

Feng Yun watched one locust after another fly towards the firelight and said faintly.

"This is like moths to a flame."

Xiaoman, smelling the scent, narrowed her eyes as she looked towards the distant fires, "Mistress, can these really be eaten?"

Feng Yun replied, "Yes, but those burned with graphite should not be eaten."

She pointed to the netted traps and the people who were still diligently casting nets to catch the insects, earnestly saying: "We need to collect the captured locusts and let them starve for a few hours so they can expel everything in their bellies, then we can fry them with oil or stir-fry them as a crunchy snack..."

Initially, everyone thought it was just a joke.

No one expected the mistress to actually use locusts as food...

The people exchanged weird glances, their expressions odd.

The locust plague lasted until midnight.

Those that died, died; those captured, got captured; the remaining locusts flew away.

The village quieted down, and the farmers let out a long sigh, only then realizing they were drenched in sweat.

Feng Yun returned to the manor and sent Xing Dage with several village chiefs to check the extent of the disaster in the households during the night.

The next morning, the village chiefs gathered under the Great Pagoda Tree to discuss matters.

Village Chief Yang shook his head and sighed.

"Those who raised ducks, their grains have been nibbled by about a third. Those without ducks have lost about half, and families like Lu Guiquan’s, with fields near Shenji Village to the west, have been attacked two or three times, with hardly anything left in the fields. If they’re lucky, they might be able to save about ten or twenty percent..."

Xing Dage, seeing Feng Yun quietly listening, also said:

"Mistress, our fields also suffered a loss of thirty percent."

To have preserved seventy percent was already fortunate.

Feng Yun nodded with no particular expression.

But everyone else was still shaken.

Xing Dage asked softly, "The locusts have flown away, will they come back?"

Feng Yun shook her head, "The locusts won’t return the same way, but with the continuous high heat and drought, the locust plague will come again. In a few months, the next wave might return, perhaps even larger in scale."

Xing Dage turned pale.

The village chiefs, all dependent on the weather for their livelihoods, sighed and lamented, not knowing what to do...

Feng Yun said, "We’ll get through this calamity first, let’s endure until the autumn harvest. Those in the village who do not have ducks should raise some more, fatten them up for the New Year..."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Feng Yun went back to change her clothes, taking Xiaoman with her to the kitchen.

The cooks were surprised to see her.

"What is the mistress planning to do?"

Feng Yun instructed, "Prepare to serve Yutangchun another new dish."

She also ordered Xing Bing, "Go and post a notice, saying that Changmen Village is buying locusts in large quantities."