sbdcsierra Chapter 257 Decision
Chapter 257 Decision
After frying, he sprinkled some cumin powder on it and served it on the table. Ning Yan asked, "How does it taste?"
Huo said, "Not bad, very crispy. I didn't expect this thing to be edible."
Ning Chengyong said, "If this thing can be roasted, then we can just catch it in the fields and roast it over a fire."
"Yes, but the locusts came suddenly. Even if we notify people to catch them now, it's a bit too late." Ning Yan said.
Such a large number of locusts can destroy a lot of crops in one day. It is obviously unrealistic to catch them by manpower alone. If they are burned directly, the crops will not be saved either.
Moreover, this thing is fast and will not stay in one place for too long, usually only 1-2 days. It is not realistic to want to get rid of them all.
Ning Yu saw the two children just sitting there looking at the food without eating, so he asked, "Aren't you two going to eat?"
Ning Jing shook his head seriously and said, "You can't eat it. It will cause worms to grow in your stomach."
Ning Yu smiled and said, "Did I tell you that eating bugs will cause bugs to grow?"
"Dad said that if children eat bad food, they will get worms in their stomachs." Ning Jing said, "This thing is ugly."
Hearing this, Ning Yu deliberately took a grasshopper and gestured in front of the two of them, then put it in his mouth and said, "You really don't want to eat it? It smells so good. I'll let your father finish it soon."
The two kids swallowed their saliva at the smell of fried food, looking like they wanted to eat but didn't dare to.
Bai Lifen smiled and said, "Eat it if you want. It won't get worms."
Huo Yu said, "Wife, is there any wine at home? Bring it out so Dad and I can have a couple of drinks."
Upon hearing this, Ning Yan took out the wine from the space and gave it to him. There were originally two jars of wine left in the house, so he took out one for them to drink.
Finally, the two kids couldn't resist the temptation and took a grasshopper to eat. After eating it, they found it delicious and ate a lot more.
This time, the locusts only passed through the city. Only a small number of them stayed temporarily, and most of them quickly flew to the surrounding farmlands.
Ning Chengyong opened the window and took a look at the locusts outside, then quickly closed it again. He sighed and said, "There's really no way out in Yuntong City now. After the locust plague is over, many people may start fleeing north again."
Originally, only a few counties in the south suffered from floods, and several counties near the provincial capital still had a chance to breathe. Now with the locust plague, the rice that was to be harvested in mid-to-late October is now completely gone.
When the family heard this, they didn't know how to respond. This thing was not something that could be controlled by human power.
Ning Yan planted some mint in the space. He harvested some of it, mashed it into juice, and smeared it on the doors and windows of the room.
Locusts are sensitive to this smell and will fly away when they smell it, so they don’t have to worry about insects flying into the room.
They can only continue their journey after the locusts leave, otherwise they will only be fascinated by the insect world.
Ning Yu even went to the backyard and applied mint juice on the oranges to reduce the risk of locust infestation.
In the afternoon, there was a knock on the door and it was the shop assistant coming over.
Huo opened the door and asked, "What's going on?"
The waiter said arrogantly, "Sir, our hotel has increased the price of accommodation. Each room is 50 taels of silver per night. If you don't want to pay, you can leave directly."
50 taels? Several people were surprised to hear this number, surprised that the price was so high.
Now that a locust plague has broken out, is this person deliberately raising the price because he predicts that they won't leave?
It is also possible that they want to make a final profit. After all, after this locust plague, most people may leave here.
Huo directly dragged the man into the room, closed the door, grabbed his neck, lifted him up and asked, "Do you want money or your life?"
The guy's face was getting redder and redder, and his breathing was becoming more and more difficult. He tried to pull Huo's hand away with all his strength, but Huo's hand was as firm as a pair of iron pliers and did not move at all.
Finally, the guy squeezed out two words from his throat with difficulty: "It's fatal."
As soon as Huo's hand loosened, the man slid down the door panel to the ground, covering his neck and gasping for breath.
In order to avoid trouble, Ning Gang gave Huo Xi a pill, and Huo Xi directly held the man's chin and fed it to him.
"If you don't take the antidote after 7 days, you will die from the poison. How can you still talk? You should know that, right?" Ning Yan looked at him coldly and said.
The clerk nodded quickly and said, "I know."
"This is one tael of silver. We will stay here for two days. You don't have to come here if you have nothing to do. Do you understand?" Huo said.
"I understand." The guy nodded again and again.
Then, at Huo's signal, the waiter quickly opened the door and ran out as if escaping.
Not long after that, complaints and curses were heard from other guest rooms on the same floor from time to time, probably caused by the temporary price increase.
After staying in the inn for another two days, there were no locusts on the street, so Ning Yan and his friends decided to leave.
On the day of leaving, the former servant came to see Ning Yan. Ning Yan gave him the antidote, then took the things and left in the ox cart.
When we reached the city gate, as expected, we found that there were more people here. We could even see quite a few carriages, and there were many servants and maids standing around.
Huo? even saw people from Luofeng Village at the city gate.
Wang Shanjun saw Huo and the others and asked in surprise, "You didn't leave?"
"The locusts came and delayed us," said Huo.
Wang Shanjun smiled bitterly and said, "If we had known this earlier, we should have gone into the city with you guys. There's been a sudden locust plague these past few days, and we can't even get into the city if we want to."
The final result of the discussion in the village that day was not to go into the city, because everyone said they had no money and wanted to wait outside for help from the capital, so they did not come in.
After the locust plague occurred, they experienced for the first time how terrifying insects were. They flew around in dense swarms in the air, and it felt like they could eat people.
When the villagers saw the locust plague, they realized that the provincial capital was unreliable, so they packed up their things and went into the city, preparing to head north.
Huo? said nothing when he heard this. This matter was not his business, so he didn't get involved.
Wang Shanjun saw that Huo had no intention of saying more, so he stopped talking about this topic.
After chatting with Huo about other topics, I realized that the disaster in the north was also very serious.
Wang Shanjun walked over to Village Chief Wang and whispered to him, "Dad, should we just follow Huo and the others from now on?"
Village Chief Wang pondered for a moment and then said, "The elders are not very happy about this."
Ning Zhan's family is too self-willed and never discusses anything with others. They make all the decisions on their own and even if they do discuss something, they just notify others first. They feel that Ning Zhan's family is too disrespectful and don't take others seriously.
It's not that Ning Yan doesn't want to discuss with these people, but now they are fleeing from famine and anything can happen at any time. There are hundreds of people in the village, so how can they all have the same opinion?
If you keep discussing something over and over again, you may miss the opportunity to escape.
Ning Yan's attitude towards the villagers is that if they are willing to follow him, they can follow him. If they don't cause trouble, he will take care of them when they are in trouble. If they are dissatisfied with him and still want to follow him to survive, then they can fend for themselves. He doesn't care about their lives.
Wang Shanjun advised, "Dad, now is not the time to worry about face. Why don't you make it clear and let everyone decide for themselves? Our family will follow Huo Yu first."
"Do you mean to abandon the villagers?" asked Village Chief Wang with wide eyes.
Wang Shanjun quickly explained: "It's not abandonment, it's their own decision whether to leave or not. With so many people, it's impossible to take care of everyone, right?"
"Let me think about this again." Village Chief Wang frowned and said.
The team in front left, and it was finally Huo and his group's turn. After handing in their travel permits and having no other problems, they also left the city gate.
After the locust plague, not only the crops on the roadside, but even the grass was dying on the ground, with leaves full of holes and not a single intact blade.
After leaving the city gate, Zhou Youfeng walked beside Huo Yu's ox cart and asked, "Brother Huo, did the innkeeper tell you about the price increase a few days ago?"
Huo asked, "Did you give him money?"
"No, that person didn't tell us. The people next door asked for 20 taels of silver." Zhou Youfeng said with a sigh.
Then he smiled and said, "My mother said that we entered the inn together. It must be you who helped us. I don't need to thank you for your kindness. If I need you in the future, just let me know."
After saying that, Zhou Youfeng bowed to Huo?
Huo nodded to show that he accepted his thanks.
It was almost noon and they had been walking for more than an hour, so they found a place with water to stop and rest.
It takes about 80 kilometers to get to Nanjiang Prefecture. This road has many mountains and is difficult to walk on, so the speed is much slower. There are also many people walking on the road ahead, so it is difficult for them to overtake.
They may not be able to reach their destination today, and they will probably have to spend the night in the wild.
Huo? They found a good place, close to the water and with big trees to provide shade.
Leaving the things to Bai Lifen and Ning Chengyong to guard, the rest of the people went to the river to catch fish.
Sun Huzi, Duan Zhili and others also came to join in the fun.
Huo Xi and Sun Huzi each cut a bamboo pole, tied one end to the bamboo basket with a hemp rope, and fixed the other end to a stone.
Then he got two small pieces of pork and hung them in the middle of the backpack.
Then he put the backpack into the river, sprinkled some minced pork on the surface of the river where the backpack was placed, and then waited for the fish to bite.
On the other side, Village Chief Wang and his men also stopped here to rest. After finding a place to sit down, Village Chief Wang called a meeting of the village elders to discuss what to do next.
Luofeng Village is a village with mixed surnames, but the Wang surname has the largest number of people, followed by Chen, Ma, and Zhou. The rest came later, and the population is relatively single, and a large family system has not yet been formed.
The elder of the Ma family said, "Wu De, we can follow Ning Jian and the others, but we should also help the villagers a little bit if we have anything, right?
Just like the pork last time, they couldn't finish it all and would rather sell it to other villages than give any to our village. What good will it be for us to follow them?
Besides, how can this family's behavior take people like us seriously? They just left on their own accord without even giving us an explanation."
Another elder from the Chen family said, "The boy is already selling very cheaply. Pork is only a little over 20 wen per pound. Even in normal times, where else can you find meat at such a low price? They've been very kind to us. Do you really expect them to give it away for free?"
The old man from the Ma tribe argued, "If we can't finish it, isn't it a waste? What's wrong with sharing some with the villagers?"
The elder of the Chen clan thought: Not very, you are happy, but others are not.
One of the Wang family elders said, "I agree with Elder Ma. We can follow them. Ning Jian and the others should take care of the village. We can't just eat alone. Everyone is having a hard time right now. Since we're all fleeing together, we should all unite."
Wang Shanjun listened in and felt very disappointed. If his father had not been more resolute, they would have to follow the villagers again.
Ever since he helped the villagers build a shed last time, he realized that some people in the village can be helped, but some people are ungrateful and will feel that your help is not enough even if you help them.
You are not having a good life, but no one is rich and everyone needs to survive. There is no reason to take other people's things for no reason.
Huo Yun stood by the river, stretched his little head to look at the basket in the river, and asked Ning Yan: "Dad, when will the fish come up?"
Ning Jing stood beside his brother and looked into the river in the same way.
"It's not that fast. Go play nearby and don't scare the fish." Ning Yan said.
When Huo Yun and Ning Jing heard this, they took small steps and retreated side by side, but their eyes were still fixed on the backpack in the water.
Ning Yan was amused by their cautious look. He touched their little heads and watched with them by the river.
After a while, there was movement in the backpacks of Ning Lu, Sun Huzi and the others. The fish rushed into the backpacks to eat the meat inside.
Seeing this, Ning Yan quickly asked them to take out the backpack.
Upon hearing this, the two men quickly lifted the basket with poles. After the basket was pulled out, Ning Lu took a look at the fish jumping happily inside and said to Ning Yan excitedly, "Brother, we caught almost 20."
I still have a way to catch so many fish at once.
Ning Yan didn't have time to reply him now, because he also had a lot of fish coming over.
"Brother, hurry up, let's catch some fish too." Ning Yan urged.
Upon hearing this, Huo Yun quickly used the pole to fish the backpack out of the river. Seeing this, Huo Yun and Ning Jing also grabbed the end of the bamboo pole and pulled together.
After taking the fish out of the backpack, Ning Yan roughly counted them and found that the number was about the same as Ning Lu's. The big ones weighed more than three pounds, and the small ones weighed more than one pound.
The amount is quite large, we can stew a big pot of fish today.
Zhou Youfeng and Duan Zhili ran over and said, "Brother Jian, can you lend me your backpack?"
The piece of meat in the basket was not finished yet, so they could still use it. If they put it down, they might be able to catch a lot of fish.
Ning Yan directly poured out the fish from the basket, then handed the basket with meat to Zhou Youfeng, and Ning Lu gave the one to Duan Zhili, and then the two families went to the river to catch fish.
Ning Jian gave half of the fish in Ning Lu's basket to Sun Huzi's family. He put in a lot of effort in catching fish today.
When Wang Shanjun heard the commotion from Ning Yan and the others, he no longer had the heart to listen to what the elders were saying, so he ran over to check the situation.
After hearing Ning Zhan catch so many fish at once, I was amazed again. I have to say that Brother Zhan is really smart.
Then he ran to Ning Yan and asked, "Brother Yan, can you lend me that backpack for a while? I can give you half of the fish I catch."
We caught so many fish at once, even if we divided them in half, there would be eight or nine of them, which is enough to fill the stomachs of our family.
Ning Yan said, "When they're done using it, you can take it. Whatever you get out is yours."
"Thank you very much." Wang Shanjun hurriedly bowed.