Chapter 204: Chapter 204

"Nominated for Deputy President? Is that what they meant by choosing another Deputy President from the official staff?"

"Seems like there are others from different cities as well. So many people competing for one position; it’s definitely tough."

Zhou Bapi panted, "I’m out of options now. As long as you can cure them, you’re definitely in the running. And from now on, you’ll be in charge of the gastrodia. It’ll be as if you were the one who cultivated them."

"Why? Why should that be? I’ve worked so hard for over half a year to cultivate these," Xiao Xiao said anxiously.

Zhou Bapi shrugged. "Then you can only watch these gastrodia die, or you can go to your Chairman Tie for a solution. Anyway, it’s certain now that these are red earthworm eggs on them, and it’s directly related to your use of heavy rainwater for irrigation last time. You’ll be held fully responsible."

Xiao Xiao looked incredulously at Zhou Bapi, then stubbornly turned to Jing Shu after a long moment. "Go on then, cure them! Cure them! Since no one else has a solution, and you’re so capable, let’s see how you’re going to resolve this. With so many gastrodia, let’s see if you can save them all!"

Xiao Xiao’s heart was truly in a knot. She hoped Jing Shu would be helpless, yet she also hoped there would be a solution so her own responsibility wouldn’t be pursued. But then again, she was reluctant to give up the gastrodia.

Jing Shu’s lips curved slightly upward. "Only those without ability lecture newcomers like an elder. Watch and learn."

Actually, the method was quite simple, derived from the continuous experimentation of the Huaxia people. Moreover, it was not developed by experts but by an ordinary person.

Now was the time when the red earthworm egg incident was escalating. A few days ago, All China had started mass planting. However, in the following days, they would realize that even with meticulous care—eight hours of simulated light, twenty-four-hour temperature control, an abundant water supply, and so on—the plants were covered with white larval eggs, which looked quite frightening. Most importantly, the worm-killing medicine was completely ineffective.

The entire country was plunged into a frantic search for methods to eliminate the eggs. During this period, ideas bloomed like a hundred flowers, with some people even considering methods like filtering the water source.

Jing Shu did not want to make the method public because the ordinary person who discovered it would receive his deserved reward in the next two days. It was okay to use it in advance, but she didn’t want to take away someone else’s credit.

Therefore, Jing Shu was cautious this time and did not make the method widely known. Moreover, the method was not universally applicable, so it wasn’t widely adopted or promoted; it could only be considered a temporary fix.

There’s an old saying in Huaxia: "Where there is deadly poison, there must be an antidote." Similarly, there had to be a nemesis for the red earthworm eggs. Fighting poison with poison was the best way to deal with them.

When that person was interviewed about how he came up with the method, he said, "I thought at the time, ’Clearly, only about half of what’s in the heavy rainwater are red earthworms. So why does irrigating with that water cause so many of them to hatch?’"

"The experts had tried various methods, seemingly to no avail, but I felt that the red earthworm eggs must have been eaten by the red earthworms themselves."

After careful observation, research, and numerous experiments, that person discovered that adult red earthworms did not eat the eggs. However, the large, long, old red earthworms found in the rainwater, which had lost their reproductive ability, survived by eating these eggs. Especially when these old red earthworms were soaked in salt water, they would frantically feed on the eggs.

So, he spent half a day picking out several thousand of these old red earthworms from tens of thousands of other insects. He soaked them in salt water and then released them into the vegetable fields, where they would devour all the eggs from a large patch of crops. During the process, one must be careful not to pick any of the ordinary, reproductive adult red earthworms; otherwise... it would all be in vain.

So, this method is good for emergencies, but it’s not sustainable for regular use. This is because if you irrigate with the contaminated rainwater each time, dense clusters of eggs will appear. Then, every day, you would have to pick out the old worms, soak them in salt water, and scatter them in the vegetable fields. Most importantly, the vegetables couldn’t withstand such torment. This method was too time-consuming and labor-intensive to be practical for widespread use. Therefore, the government wanted to solve the problem of contaminated irrigation water at its source.

"Get me two large buckets, a net, and fill one of the buckets with pure salt water."

Soon, a bucket of filtered salt water was brought over. Jing Shu then took the other bucket and the net, donned a raincoat, and went out, saying, "Wait for me for a while."

This method might be time-consuming and laborious for others, but for Jing Shu, with the enhancement of the Magic Cube Space, it was simple. She only needed to place all the red earthworms from the collected rainwater into the space and use her consciousness to identify them. She only needed to select those over ten centimeters long that were solitary and not mating—these were the old red earthworms. What would take others at least seven or eight hours to sort, Jing Shu accomplished in exactly ten minutes, picking out almost an entire bucket of these old red earthworms.

While the people inside were extremely curious and grew impatient waiting, they came out to see what mischief Jing Shu was up to. They only saw her under the eaves, scooping up red earthworms from the collected rainwater, netful by netful, occasionally shaking the net as if she were sorting or selecting something specific. The laymen were just watching the commotion, and everyone assumed Jing Shu was merely scooping up red earthworms.

Tsk, just to scoop up some red earthworms and she takes this long. Is it really necessary? Xiao Xiao grumbled internally with discontent.

"Okay, let’s go," Jing Shu said, carrying the bucket filled with the seemingly less lively red earthworms. A slight smile touched her lips; she had set a little trap.

Once they reached the third floor, Jing Shu scattered the old worms into the salt water, where they immediately curled up together.

Everyone watched with wide eyes. Someone asked curiously, "What is this for? We already know how salt water affects red earthworms."

"Didn’t President Zhou use salt water to soak them before?"

Next, Jing Shu scooped out the half-bucket of curled-up red earthworms and sprinkled them, little by little, onto the gastrodia, scattering just a dozen or so in each spot. Soon, all five racks were covered with the curled worms.

The moment to witness the miracle had arrived!

These seemingly dead red earthworms voraciously began to feed, as if they had smelled the most exquisite delicacy in the world. The eggs on the gastrodia started disappearing at a rate visible to the naked eye. At this speed, it wouldn’t take even half an hour for them to devour all the eggs. This batch of old worms was destined not to live much longer; their lives would end once they had consumed all the eggs. They couldn’t be kept alive in water any longer.

Surprised gasps sounded from the crowd.

No one expected it to be this simple!

Zhou Bapi was extremely excited. "You’re truly brilliant! I knew I wasn’t wrong about you. How did you come up with this method?"

Jing Shu, occasionally sprinkling more salt water on the gastrodia to accelerate the worms’ consumption of the eggs, replied, "A friend of mine discovered this method through many experiments. It’s not as simple as it looks; there are other steps involved, so don’t try it rashly. He will disclose the detailed method in a few days." ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel[f]ire.net

"Of course, of course. Whoever invents something deserves the credit. Saving the gastrodia is a great achievement in itself."