Chapter 41: Locust Plague and People’s Hearts

 Lin Yue arrived at the threshing ground and began to uncover the grain that had been covered with straw the night before, spreading it out flat to dry.

    Just as he was working, he heard a child shout, “Look, there are so many black dots in the sky!” Some adults also noticed something unusual, but they didn’t understand what it was.

    An experienced old farmer was so frightened that he collapsed on the ground, mumbling a few words: “It’s the locust god, the locust god has come!” In the distance, Zhang Yuandong came back on his sidecar, and before he got close, he shouted, “Locusts are flying over, it’s a locust plague!” In this area, everyone called locusts “grasshoppers.”

    You say locusts, many people, especially children, don’t know what they are, but if you say locust plague, everyone understands.

    The young people were in a panic, they had only heard from the older generation about how terrifying it was when locusts passed through, but they didn’t know what to do now.

    The older ones who had experienced locust plagues knew that the most important thing now was to protect the grain, and they grabbed the iron shovels on the ground to pile the grain back up.

    The locusts were very fast, they flew to a place and ate all the leaves there, the threshing ground was also covered with dense locusts, making people’s scalps tingle.

    These little things, you can’t catch them, you can’t drive them away, the threshing ground is full of grain, you can’t even use fire to burn them, everyone can only race against time to collect the grain, saving as much as possible.

    Fortunately, the grain was almost dry, and the locusts couldn’t bite it very much, most of the grain was saved.

    But the sweet potato vines in the fields and the vegetables in the vegetable gardens were all affected, all the edible leaves were eaten by the locusts, even the wild grass was eaten clean.

    Although the village organized people to kill the locusts, it was too late, they could only hurry to pick the vegetables in their private plots, grabbing whatever they could.

    Everyone gathered in the open space in front of the brigade headquarters, it was only a few days, and this was already the second village meeting.

    In the past few years, everyone couldn’t eat enough, but at least they had some food to fill their stomachs.

    This year, the heavens were not kind, the sorghum sprouted, the sweet potato vines were also ruined, it was obvious that there would be no good harvest, the two most important grains were lost, everyone was anxious, they had been talking nonstop since they came to the brigade headquarters, urging the brigade leader and the village secretary to find a solution.

    Liu, the village secretary, stood at the entrance of the brigade headquarters and shouted, “Everyone, be quiet!” Everyone saw that Liu was about to speak, and immediately stopped: “Secretary, we are all uneasy now, don’t give us any big speeches, just get to the point, we don’t have time to listen to your long speeches!” Liu was so crowded that his face turned black for a moment, he was about to throw his hands up, but he forced himself to calm down, and said calmly, “Don’t worry, everyone! I know you are all uneasy, I understand your feelings, I also feel sorry for our village’s grain.

    No one wants this to happen, don’t panic, what we need now is to solve the problem, the brigade leader and I have been thinking of ways.

    Believe in the government, believe in the party, they won’t ignore us.

    Tomorrow! Tomorrow I will go to the county to apply for relief grain!” Liu Yiliang’s official tone was too heavy, many people didn’t trust him, and they were still muttering: “What relief grain, everyone was almost starving to death in the past few years, and we didn’t see a single grain of relief grain, our village wouldn’t have starved to death so many people if it wasn’t for the protection of the Snake God!” “Exactly, relying on that unreliable relief grain, it’s better to go home and pray to the Snake God for divine grain!” Zhang Zhiqiang heard the people’s discussion getting more and more out of control, he shouted: “Okay, look at you, you big men can’t even control your own mouths! Don’t you see what’s going on, even if there is divine grain, it wouldn’t be enough for so many grasshoppers to eat!” He softened his expression and continued: “Our village is in this state, the nearby villages must be the same, tomorrow the secretary and I will go to other villages to discuss, and then go to the commune together to ask for grain, we have so many people, they won’t ignore us.

    ” Liu, the village secretary, saw that he had calmed down the villagers, and quickly took over: “Don’t worry, go back and wait for my news.

    Okay, go back, stay at home and wait for the news!” The crowd slowly dispersed, the children were unaware, they were intimidated by the serious expressions of the adults when they were at the meeting, and they didn’t dare to make a fuss.

    Now that everyone was starting to leave, a few mischievous children ran to the side of the road, the grass was full of dense locusts, they grabbed a handful with their hands, and were about to light a fire to roast them and eat them.

    Lin Yue didn’t bring the children out, she walked beside Zhang’s mother, and heard her nervously shout to the children: “You can’t eat this, this is the locust god, you can’t eat it!” Older people are very superstitious, Lin Yue had just heard someone whispering in the crowd, this was the punishment of the locust god, they should open the ancestral hall and offer sacrifices.

    Lin Yue had also heard about the locusts that caused disasters, they were said to be the punishment of the gods, they would eat all the crops, and if they were not stopped, the people would starve to death.

 “It’s edible, I don’t know if it’s true,” she said, and followed Zhang’s mother to chase the children away.

    She stepped forward to support Zhang’s mother, “Auntie, I’ve never experienced this locust plague before, there are so many locusts, it’s so scary.”

    Zhang’s mother said worriedly, “There’s an old saying, ‘A great drought must be followed by locusts,’ you’re young, you haven’t noticed, last year it didn’t rain here, there were a lot of grasshoppers, I was worried about a locust plague then.

    This year there was a lot of rain, I thought there wouldn’t be any problems, but it turned out to be a disaster!” Lin Yue really hadn’t paid attention last year, it was normal for there to be grasshoppers in the fields, which year didn’t the village children catch a few grasshoppers to eat as snacks, even she couldn’t resist the temptation and secretly roasted them to eat.

    Zhang’s mother was old, and when she encountered big events, she couldn’t help but be overwhelmed, Lin Yue sent her home first, and then went back to Su’s aunt’s house.

    That day, Zhang Zhiqiang didn’t come back until very late.

    Everyone was very worried, and it was Su’s aunt who urged them to go back to their rooms and sleep.

    They waited anxiously for four or five days, everyone went out to kill locusts every day, using nets to catch them during the day and lighting bonfires to lure them at night, although they had some effect, the locusts still didn’t completely disperse, and the relief grain still hadn’t arrived.

    Perhaps it is during the most difficult times that one can see people’s true nature; rumors began to spread around the village that Zhang Shouyu was mistreating his mother.

    At dinner time, Su’s aunt brought back definite news: “Zhou Pandi is sick, Dr. Liu said she needs to be sent to a big hospital.

    Her son didn’t send her to the hospital, he just let her stay at home and wait to die, he hasn’t even given her food in the past few days.” Lin Yue heard this, and she felt a chill run down her spine.

    Zhou Pandi was Zhou’s aunt, she had made little hats for their children when they were out of confinement, she didn’t expect that she would be mistreated by her son like this after not seeing her for a while.

    She had also heard many stories in her previous life about people who couldn’t afford to treat their sick relatives and had to give up.

    But that was because of the helplessness of having no money, Zhang Shouyu was the only son in the family, Zhou’s aunt had been a widow for many years, she had finally married her son and raised two grandsons.

    She was only in her late fifties this year, and she could still earn seven or eight work points before she got sick, but she ended up like this, it was really chilling.

    Lin Yue felt very sad, she didn’t know what to do: “What kind of illness did she have, why didn’t anyone say anything?” “Who knows what kind of illness it is, Dr. Liu couldn’t figure it out either.

    Zhang Shouyu and his wife did something so wicked, and they kept it a secret, it was his younger son who let it slip, and the news spread.

    ” The more Lin Yue listened, the heavier her heart became.

    In fact, Xiaotuan Village was considered good, it had been relatively peaceful in the past two years, the neighboring villages, this kind of thing was nothing new, not to mention sick old people, even healthy old people and children, many had starved to death.

    It was obvious that this winter wouldn’t be good again, in the face of years of famine, human nature twisting was the norm.

    That night, Zhang Yuandong came back, seeing Lin Yue’s heavy heart, he couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong? Did something happen today?” Lin Yue actually wanted to confide in someone at this time, Zhang Yuandong asked, she told him what she had heard today: “This year’s harvest is not good, it’s expected that some people won’t have enough to eat.

    But deliberately starving one’s own old mother, this Zhang Shouyu is really worse than a beast.” Zhang Yuandong listened in silence, and finally said, “I’ll go and ask Uncle Zhiqiang, see what the brigade’s plan is, don’t get involved with this kind of person.”

    In the main room, Zhang Zhiqiang was constantly puffing on his dry pipe, the room was filled with smoke.

    He had been to Zhang Shouyu’s house today, the old lady was already emaciated, her eyes were dull, and she couldn’t even speak.

    The kang was dirty and smelly, with all sorts of things on it.

    Anyone with eyes could see that the couple was torturing the old lady, but Zhang Shouyu insisted that his mother knew she was terminally ill and was starving herself, Zhang Zhiqiang was also a little helpless.

    He wanted to send the old lady to the hospital, but in her current state, she might die on the way.

    Zhang Zhiqiang and Zhang Shouyu’s mother were about the same age, he had watched her struggle through the hard times.

    He puffed on his pipe and sighed, “You say this Zhou Pandi, she wasn’t that sick at first, how could she let her son and daughter-in-law torment her like this!” Zhang Yuandong said, “Uncle, if it doesn’t work, just call the police, they’re killing someone! Zhou’s aunt is a martyr’s family member, her husband died on the battlefield.

    If this matter is not properly resolved, if it spreads, other families will follow suit, and there will be no way to control it.” Zhang Zhiqiang sighed, “Do you think I’m really helpless after he said a few words of excuse? You’re not at home all year round, you don’t know about their family.

    Zhang Shouyu’s wife is Liu Yiliang’s youngest daughter, they dare to do this because they have their father-in-law to back them up!” Zhang Yuandong had interacted with Liu, the village secretary, several times, he knew what kind of person he was, and he also knew that this matter was really difficult to solve.