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Chapter 137: 132: Make Some Extra Money_i

Generally, if a farmer’s rank could reach intermediate, all of his planting skills should also improve.

Even with poor skills, one could reach the proficiency level.

He was certain that among the Yan Family’s twelve superior farmers, it was very likely that some had not truly reached the level of an intermediate farmer.

It was probably that only one of their planting skills had reached the level expected of an intermediate farmer.

Otherwise, the Yan Family wouldn’t have paid a high price for his fertilizer.

After all, his current level of mixing fertilizer was merely at the standard of a high-level farmer.

“Let’s upgrade the pest control skill by one grade first,” he said.

With the rank of an intermediate farmer, Qin Niu couldn’t wait to upgrade his pest control skill.

At the moment, locusts were rampant, posing a serious threat to the local crops.

If he could find an effective method of pest control, he would not only make a tidy sum of Silver Money, but he could also become a distinguished contributor to the Black Tiger Gang.

He would also bring honor to the Insect Master Association.

It was a win-win situation.

Now, with plenty of laboring points at his disposal, he was not stingy with them.

Using termites for pest control, weeding, and loosening the soil all added laboring points for him—it was like they cost nothing at all.

Essentially, this meant that as long as his farmer rank could rise, he could easily enhance his various planting skills.

He already possessed seven planting skills.

Pest control and harvesting were both added later.

After spending 172 laboring points on the spot, his pest control skill was successfully advanced to the small achievement level.

Various pest control techniques, as if applied a thousand times, became incredibly familiar and appeared in his mind.

The feeling was truly fantastic.

His approach to dealing with locusts also saw significant improvement.

The initial strategies he could think of were limited, mainly to light luring for killing locusts or raising a flock of ducks to create a buffer zone to stop them from entering the village.

These methods of pest control were not only greatly limited but were also of a passive defensive nature.

After Qin Niu’s pest control skill improved to the small achievement level, his thought process became wider and bolder, and his technical means became more abundant.

“We need to find their source and eradicate them completely—that’s the best solution,” he thought.

He pondered the methods to exterminate the locusts in his mind.

Unfortunately, his Termite Army was not yet sizable enough; otherwise, dealing with these locusts would be like a game.

Once the locusts matured, they would soon lay a large number of eggs in the ground.

Just half a month to twenty days later, they would hatch into nymphs and then start eating plants’ tender leaves along with the adults, rapidly growing bigger.

Therefore, to eradicate them, one had to find a way to destroy the eggs and pupae.

That was the real solution.

“I’ll take some time tomorrow to look for the source, there might be more methods,” he thought.

Qin Niu packed the harvested corn into baskets, then glanced at Xiao Nui, who still lay on the ground refusing to get up.

“You lazy thing, all you do is eat without working. Wait until I fatten you up, I’ll slaughter you for meat!” he scolded.

Spurred by Qin Niu’s scolding, Xiao Nui quickly rolled over and stood up, obediently walking over to his side.

“Carry these two baskets back!” he commanded.

With the two baskets on the ox’s back, he also lifted a load on his own.

This year promised a great harvest, and he estimated that just the output from the first half of the year would not be less than nine hundred pounds.

Especially the small area where he had piled cow dung, the corn cobs were notably heavy in hand.

Each one was full of plump kernels.

This indicated that the effect of cow dung was even better than his self-made mountain fertilizer.

Qin Niu thus reevaluated the value of Xiao Niu.

Despite being lazy and eating excessively, the manure it produced daily was equally significant.

He had also used ordinary cow dung before.

Before we knew how to use bonemeal as fertilizer, we often followed Old Man Liu to collect dog feces and cow dung from the roads to use as fertilizer.

But their effects were nowhere near as good.

“When I have time, I should really study Xiao Nui’s dung; it seems incomparable to ordinary cow dung.”

Qin Niu used the cow dung to fertilize the medicinal herbs in his backyard, and they too thrived.

At first, he thought it was the result of the Everlasting Spring Technique.

But now he had his doubts; it was very likely that both the nourishment from the Everlasting Spring Technique and the contribution of the cow dung played a part.

Having transported all the corn back home, Xiao Qing was incredibly busy laying them out to dry.

“Xiao Qing, you must be tired! Take a break. The corn doesn’t need to be dried in one day; it’s okay to do it over several days,”

Qin Niu said to her.

Now they not only had a brand-new granary but also a special drying yard for the corn.

His new house was expected to be basically completed in about half a month.

The main part was gradually getting finished, and they had started building the walls and laying tiles.

In any world, having money meant living comfortably.

Qin Niu spent a great deal of Silver Money, and his shabby mud house was transformed into a stylish brick-and-tile house.

Spacious and bright, it would be very comfortable to live in later on.

Privacy, security, and resistance to harsh weather like rain, snow, and gales were greatly improved.

Following him, Xiao Qing wouldn’t have to worry about the cold this winter.

“Master Qin, may I see you now if it’s convenient?”

Xu Zhenchang had come to visit.

“Please come in, Village Chief!”

Qin Niu, busy drying corn in the shed, didn’t really have much time.

“After you bought more than five thousand ducks from outside the region, you successfully stopped the locust plague from ravaging our village. The locusts in my fields are fewer with each one caught. However, as you know, I have rented over a hundred acres of land from the Yan Family and simply can’t manage all of it. Could I ask for your help to exterminate the pests? Name your price.”

In the past few days, Xu Zhenchang had visibly lost a lot of weight.

Dark circles ringed his eyes, and his face was gaunt.

His hair appeared slightly disheveled.

And his clothes were covered in dirt.

These days, he had been continuously fighting against the locusts and was probably exhausted.

“How many acres of land do you have sown in the village?”

“I have eleven acres of my own, and I have leased seventy-nine acres from the Yan Family. I also have over twenty acres in Daoyuan Village, but I can’t keep up with that. Right now, I only hope to save the crops on these acres here in the village.”

Xu Zhenchang, a man in his forties, was choked with emotion as he spoke.

If the crops on all hundred acres were destroyed by locusts, he would definitely be reduced back to his former state, to the days before liberation.

Then, he would not only have to pay the Yan Family’s land rent but also the wages for the workers, as well as the costs of fertilizer, seeds, plowing, and irrigation fees, which added up to a hefty sum.

“How many acres in the village still need to be rid of locusts?”

“About eighty-five acres or so. These despicable creatures are too numerous; it’s impossible to catch them all by human power alone. I’ve hired quite a few people to help me catch and kill the locusts in the fields, but it’s not very effective. Fortunately, in the last two days, we have managed to cut off the source of the locusts entering the village, and that has finally offered a glimmer of hope.”

Xu Zhenchang’s legs had gotten thinner from the fatigue.

“I’ll help you exterminate the pests; how much can you pay per acre? Just give me a reasonable price.”

Qin Niu had bought three thousand ducks, spending a large sum of money.

He would need to wait a while longer to cash in on that investment.

With the considerable expense of building the house, earning some extra cash would be quite nice.

“Seventy wen per acre, is that okay?”

Xu Zhenchang clenched his teeth and quoted a price.

“It’s a bit low, but considering we’re all villagers here, I’ll take the job. Let me be clear upfront, my ability to exterminate pests is limited; I can only do as much as possible, one acre at a time. Once I’ve cleaned up an acre, I’ll call you to inspect it.”

Because the locusts kept moving.

After clearing them, new ones would soon cross the border.

Fortunately, his special Termite Army was growing by nearly a hundred termites a day, so the efficiency of pest control should get higher and higher..