Swarms of locusts kept flying in ceaselessly; the sky was rolling with a fuzzy locust cloud.
Countless locust wings flapping, producing a terrifyingly loud noise...
They were frantically gnawing, and the sound in the crop fields was like that of a downpour.
Everywhere was densely packed with locusts, and it was unclear just how wide the range of these locusts was.
Hence, Li Yu took out a walkie-talkie and asked the personnel on duty on the national highway: "Are there still locusts over there now?"
The personnel on duty on the highway immediately replied: "There are loads of them, we are overwhelmed by locusts. They’re everywhere. And they are flying southward."
Li Yu estimated the time; it was 5 kilometers from the duty point to the base.
In the base, it had been more than an hour since the arrival of the locusts, and they were not just staying here. In the sky, a large number of locusts were still flying southward.
The flying speed of locusts reached 6 to 12 kilometers per hour; by such calculation, the range of these locusts was at least tens of kilometers, and this was just his estimation.
With so many locusts, there was no point in trying to protect the crops.
Li Yu saw more and more locusts coming, and the situation suggested that an even greater number were on their way.
These tens of acres of rice had just started to sprout!
Li Yu looked at the people desperately protecting the rice. The ducks in the rice fields were still eating the locusts incessantly, but the number of locusts was not decreasing; instead, it was increasing.
The leaves in the mountains and forests were also being gnawed. Springtime, originally lush and green, was now overwhelmed by these ubiquitous yellow locusts.
A swath of yellow color.
At this moment, Second Uncle found Li Yu, his brow deeply furrowed, gasping as he said: "Li Yu, I think this is just the beginning of the locusts, the main swarm hasn’t arrived yet. Once they do, we simply won’t be able to stop them!
Instead of letting these locusts feed off our rice, it’s better to harvest the rice now, and pile it up, saving it for cattle and sheep to eat."
Li Yu looked at the locusts covering the ground.
The ground was yellow!
Li Yu made a decisive decision without hesitation: "Alright, tell everyone to stop protecting the crops. Now, everyone, harvest the rice with harvesters, and those without should use sickles. Since we’re doing this, we’ll do it thoroughly—harvest all the pasture we previously planted as well."
Second Uncle was very anxious. After getting Li Yu’s agreement, he immediately ran to the rice paddies to instruct everyone.
Li Yu saw his father hurriedly coming over to get a sickle and said to him: "Dad, ask Haoran and Haoxian to go guard the warehouse, do not let any locusts slip in."
After thinking for a moment, he added: "Also, have Xiaoyuan and the others double-check the doors and windows at home."
His father nodded and hurried off toward the fields with a sickle.
Li Yu watched his father’s retreating figure and then headed towards the Outer City.
Upon reaching the Outer City, he saw that Old Qin and others were still catching locusts, but it was clear that there were just too many locusts to catch.
Dozens of people were frantically swatting in the ridges between the fields.
Some people were using large nets to continuously scoop up locusts, while others went directly into the rice paddies, grabbing the locusts by hand.
In the fields, the ducks were flapping about in the rice paddies, their wide beaks stuffed full of locusts.
Li Yu came down from the wall and said to the people: "Stop for a moment, this is no way to continue. Everyone start harvesting the rice. Instead of having it all destroyed by locusts in the end, better use it to feed cattle, sheep, chickens, and ducks."
The people looked at each other, some in disbelief.
Such good crops, growing so well.
In a few months, they would have been ready to harvest.
So they all persuaded him:
"Director Li, let’s put in some more effort. These crops are growing so well, it’d be such a waste to harvest them now."
"Yeah, it’s such a pity. We can definitely drive these locusts away."
"Director Li, rest assured, even if we have to work without rest, we will get rid of these locusts."
Li Yu looked at them, slowly reached into the rice paddy, and casually grabbed a handful of locusts, saying to everyone: "How can we catch so many locusts? Act quickly, someone will bring over the harvesters to help soon.
After you harvest the rice seedlings, clean the locusts off of them first, and then find two rooms in the building to store them.
Make sure to clean them thoroughly, understand?"
Seeing Li Yu’s insistence, everyone stopped resisting.
There weren’t enough sickles, but knives were plentiful, so those who didn’t get sickles started harvesting the rice seedlings with knives.
Watching the dozens of people continuously harvesting, Li Yu felt a mix of sentiment and heartache.
This season’s rice could have produced 30 tons, enough for the food for everyone in the base for eight months!
And now it’s all just going to waste.
How could this not be heartbreaking?
Li Yu thought of the 10 acres of crops grown indoors at the Big Camphor Tree Base in the Inner City and felt somewhat relieved.
More than two hundred people, working with all their strength, kept harvesting.
In one hour, with everyone’s efforts, they managed to harvest all the rice.
However, because they hadn’t decided to harvest earlier, by the last ten minutes of harvesting, the locusts had already blanketed the skies.