If you don't consummate the marriage for three years and then marry a successful educated youth

It's terrifying, absolutely terrifying! The locusts only swarmed by, yet fifteen acres of crops were wiped out. That's enough to feed so many people! It's horrific.

Upon hearing the broadcast, the Xiangyang Brigade quickly sprang into action, carrying sprayers and spraying blue pesticide along the field ridges as pre-arranged.

Three people form a small team to quickly apply the medicine.

She glanced up at the blue sky every now and then, feeling a little uneasy: "Hey, do you guys think this potion really works? Why do I feel so panicked?"

"We're also in the south, so if those locusts don't change direction, they'll definitely pass through here too. What are we going to do if we can't get rid of them?"

"Alright, don't overthink it. The captain must have a reason for telling us to do this. He won't let us waste our time. Besides, we've been preparing for this for so long."

"I've been waiting for this day, haven't I? Otherwise, how could you sleep with such anxiety every day? Hurry up and get the medicine, or the captain will definitely yell at you if he sees you chatting."

Jiang Lie stood on a large tree, observing through binoculars. Wen Yao sat on a rock under the tree, looking up at him: "Lie, how's it going? Have you seen any locusts?"

"I didn't see it. I don't know if it stopped at some brigade and started eating rations. We need to observe it further..."

"Hmm? The color over there doesn't look right."

Wen Yao stood up and looked over, but couldn't see anything except the sound of birds flapping their wings in the forest, sounding somewhat panicked, as if something was coming.

Jiang Lie jumped down from the tree, his expression somewhat grave. He hoisted the person onto his shoulder and ran down the mountain: "They're here. Those black things are strange; they're most likely locusts."

"...They're coming this way."

"Yes, it's heading in this direction. We're not sure if we'll stop at Xiangyang Brigade to eat. Right now, we can only hope that the medicine really works, and we also need to burn mugwort to drive away the locusts."

"It's windy today, so the effect might not be very good, but even if it's not very good, it's better than having no effect at all."

The two quickly arrived at the brigade. Jiang Lie took out a gong and struck it, the sound carrying out. The people guarding the pile of mugwort heard it and hurriedly took out their matchboxes to prepare to light the pile of mugwort.

"Locusts, locusts are really here! Why are we so unlucky to have them come to us?"

Because he was so nervous, his hands were shaking so badly that he couldn't light the match for a while, and the man was extremely anxious.

The person on the other side lit the fire and ran towards this side, slapped him across the face and yelled, "What are you standing there for? Can't you even light a fire? Those things are coming over here."

They quickly lit a fire and threw it into the pile of mugwort. The scent of mugwort spread rapidly and soon filled the air.

Dozens of piles of mugwort were lit, and the smoke looked spectacular. As darkness fell, locusts flew over, their buzzing incessant.

Just as they were about to land, the formation suddenly became chaotic for a moment, twisting and turning like a carpet of black in mid-air for a brief instant before quickly changing direction and flying north.

Only a few scattered birds flew down, ate some food, and after touching the sprayed blue medicine, they struggled briefly and then stopped moving, as if they were dead.

The surrounding darkness quickly dissipated, and dawn broke.

Everyone looked up at the blue sky, then at the locusts hopping around in the field. Compared to the vast expanse of locusts, these few were negligible.

"They're gone, the locusts have flown away!!!"

Someone shouted and ran, extremely excited: "Haha, those bastards ran away! Great! Our food is saved! It's saved! Waaah!"

He was crying and laughing like a madman.

The captain looked at the dispersing blackness and felt a little relieved. He picked up the megaphone and shouted, "Don't let your guard down. Keep making the medicine. We can't relax until the grain is ripe and harvested."

"Who knows if they'll fly back to eat our crops? We can't afford to gamble. Let's go patrol as planned and see if any other fields have been affected. Report back."

"Yes, Captain."

After a flurry of activity, no one had time to eat. They dragged their exhausted bodies home in the afternoon. The team leader had just drunk some water when his phone started ringing off the hook.

He walked over and answered the call, saying weakly, "Speak, what is it?"

Liu Hongbing paused, cleared his throat, and unusually showed some concern: "You sound so weak. Did insects eat your brigade's grain? You sound half-dead."

The captain snorted: "Liu Hongbing, it's you. I thought it was someone else. Your entire battalion has just been eaten by bugs. Can't you speak properly? I'm so hungry and tired, you understand?"

"Speak, what do you want from me?"

[Haha, it's like this, the medicine I bought from you guys is pretty good, I'm planning to buy a lot more. We can't let our guard down until the grain is harvested, so please sell me more because of our relationship.]

No, we're barely enough for our own use. We need to prioritize our own brigade's needs, and we'll sell the surplus to you. By the way, has the locust army reached your brigade yet?

Liu Hongjun hummed in agreement, put on his coat, and said, "They're here. Thanks to your method, the locusts only ate a little when they landed, and then they all flew away, so there wasn't much loss."

[I have to thank you for this. Otherwise, all those animals would have come down to eat them, and I'd have been left with nothing but skin and bones in my field. Ugh, just thinking about it makes me shudder. And I have some news for you too.]

[The Red Sorghum Brigade... is in trouble. I heard Hao Ren crying on the phone, saying that locusts have come to their fields and won't leave. They're not only eating the grain, but also the stalks.]

[The locusts left only bare stalks after they passed through; it was terrifying. He was terrified and said he didn't know how their brigade would survive this year.]

[Thank you so much, Jiang Dashan. Without you, our brigade wouldn't have escaped either. I'll remember this favor. If you ever need anything from me, just let me know.]

Jiang Dashan hummed in agreement: "Understood. Let's get through this immediate crisis first. We can worry about favors later. I'll have someone make more medicine as soon as possible; you can come and buy it directly."

Don't worry, these are all the lowest prices. I won't take advantage of you to overcharge you. I don't want your hard-earned food to suffer.

Liu Hongjun hummed in agreement, his voice softening considerably: "Okay, I'll push my cart over to you right now to buy some. Try to sell me as much as you can, otherwise I won't feel at ease."

"Then hurry up and come. If you're late, I won't have much left. The other brigades also need some. We can't all just think of ourselves. The most important thing is to get through this together."

"Understood, I'll come find you now."

After hanging up the phone, the brigade leader thought for a moment and then called the commune to inquire about the losses caused by the first wave of locusts and to prepare for the second and third waves.

He hung up the phone ten minutes later, his expression somewhat somber.