Chapter 604: The Locusts Are Coming

Xie Guafu had just finished hanging out the laundry when Abao came running back, crying.

Xie Guafu hurriedly went to meet him: "Abao, weren't you playing with Liu San at the head of the village? What's the matter?"

Abao couldn't speak clearly yet, sobbing: "Liu San said... said my stepfather has come."

Upon hearing this, Xie Guafu glared and was about to rush out to argue with Liu San, but Xu Damao grabbed her: "Forget it, it's just children's talk, besides, what that kid said isn't wrong!"

He took a few candies out of his pocket, squatted down, and handed them to Abao: "Abao, call me Dad. I am your stepfather. Liu San was right. If he says it again in the future, you just say my stepfather treats me very well, and he won't have anything to say."

At this moment, Xu Damao's mind was filled with memories of Bang Geng calling him Dad; having a child call him Dad wasn't bad either.

Abao shook his little head like a rattle-drum and kept crying.

Xie Guafu glared at Xu Damao and took Abao into her arms, coaxing him softly.

The child cried until he was tired, rubbed against her chest, and soon fell asleep.

Xie Guafu gently laid him on the bed, sighed, and said: "Abao is getting older, and this kind of gossip will be unavoidable in the future, it's just that this child is a bit stubborn."

Xu Damao took the opportunity to lean in, wrapped his arms around Xie Guafu's waist, and lowered his voice: "From now on, just tell the villagers that we are already married. Then I'll see who dares to bully Abao!"

Xie Guafu glared at Xu Damao and said: "Do you think everyone is a fool? You really have a lot of nerve to even think of such a method."

Xu Damao grinned and leaned in closer: "I know quite a few people who do calligraphy and painting; there are experts at forgery among them. Getting a marriage certificate, isn't that simple? Besides, I'm familiar with several Cadres in the commune, and it's impossible for them to care about this kind of thing!"

"But what if people find out?" Xie Guafu worried.

"You live in the village, I live in the city. As long as you don't report it, who has nothing better to do than run to the Rolling Mill to check on me? Now is the perfect time; everyone in the village is short of food. We won't hold a wedding, just send every family two boxes of matches and two bars of soap... I don't believe they'll take our things and still go around spreading rumors about us. Besides, in the countryside, there are plenty of people with wives."

"That's actually a good idea! Anyway, you and Team Leader Li are like buddies; if it's like this, no one will talk about Abao!" Xie Guafu said happily.

The reason Xu Damao did this was not because his conscience had been awakened.

It was because he had been stimulated by He Yuzhu's words. He had been with Xiaomei for many years and hadn't had any children. He had also been with Xie Guafu for nearly two years, and the two had taken no precautions, yet no child had been born.

Also, Xu Damao felt that Xie Guafu was a pretty good person and took very good care of him.

Although Xie Guafu had been with others before they were together, ever since he started giving her money, Xie Guafu had been much quieter.

Xu Damao had also made inquiries on the side and hadn't found any problems with Xie Guafu.

After hearing Xu Damao's words, Xie Guafu was quite moved, hugged Xu Damao, and began to kiss him.

Meanwhile, at the Tractor Factory, He Yuzhu was standing in front of a newly assembled Diesel Engine, examining it carefully.

Su Maoquan brought his hand close to the machine and reminded him: "Factory Director He, I think we still need to add an iron cover on the outside. Otherwise, with this temperature, if someone accidentally touches it, they'll definitely lose a layer of skin."

He Yuzhu nodded: "You're right, make the arrangements to add a protective cover."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Secretary Little Horse ran in hurriedly: "Factory Director He, there is a phone call for you; it's from Liu Siman."

He Yuzhu hurried back to his office to answer the phone. Man Yatou hadn't returned to the factory with him; she had stayed at the Drought Resistance Command to process the information gathered from various places.

On the other end of the line, Man Yatou's voice sounded quite urgent: "Brother Zhuzi, you need to come to the First Reception House on Fuyou Street immediately. Secretary Liu is looking for you. There's a locust plague in Huabei and Huazhong, and the scale is not small."

He Yuzhu didn't dare to delay and drove straight to the First Reception House.

Just as he arrived at the entrance, Secretary Liu came out to meet him, her eyes red and her complexion poor.

He Yuzhu asked: "Staying up late again?"

Secretary Liu nodded and said urgently: "Locusts have broken out in Hebei. I heard they can eat dozens of acres of crops in one night, and they have already started to spread..."

He Yuzhu frowned and asked: "In the past, how did we control locusts?"

Secretary Liu sighed: "There isn't much experience. Many Experts say to use nets to catch them, make scarecrows, light fires to smoke them out, shout in the fields, etc."

"Are there any suitable pesticides?" He Yuzhu asked.

"Sprinkling 666 powder works, but manual application is too slow. Before the medicine is finished, the crops are eaten clean," Secretary Liu said.

He Yuzhu thought for a moment and said: "Can we convert some large transport planes into planes for spraying pesticides? With just a few planes, we might be able to stop the large-scale spread of the locusts."

Secretary Liu's eyes lit up, then dimmed: "Large planes belong to the military, and we can't just modify them whenever we want."

He Yuzhu suddenly remembered that he still had more than twenty planes and a large number of spare parts in his space, and said: "Then, can we modify retired planes?"

Secretary Liu's eyes lit up and she slapped her thigh: "You hurry and contact Liu Xiaohua to see if you can get some retired planes."

He Yuzhu dialed the phone, and an hour later, Liu Xiaohua arrived at the reception house.

The two hadn't seen each other for two or three years. Liu Xiaohua had become much rounder; at less than 1.7 meters tall, he looked to be at least 170 or 180 jin.

He Yuzhu joked: "As soon as I see you, I'm relieved; your diet is quite good."

Liu Xiaohua laughed and scolded: "You brat, you start teasing me as soon as we meet."

Secretary Liu took over the conversation: "Comrade Xiaohua, the Anti-Drought Leading Group now has a new task, which is to fight the locust plague. Locusts have started to break out in Huabei and Huazhong, and we need to find a way quickly..."

Seeing that Secretary Liu's words were a bit long-winded, He Yuzhu said directly: "I'll be blunt with you. We want to find a few retired large transport planes, the kind that can still fly, so we can convert them into pesticide-spraying planes."

Liu Xiaohua thought for a moment: "There is an aircraft dismantling plant near Nanyuan Airport. There are many retired ones inside: P-51s, B-25s, C-47s, and quite a few M Country wrecks. Many of them were even shot down by you!"

When He Yuzhu heard that there were B-25s in the dismantling plant, he was immediately happy. These planes were large, and it was the perfect excuse to use the locust-spraying conversion to "bring out" the planes in his space bit by bit, which could also be considered making use of waste.

"Help me contact them; I want to go take a look."

Liu Xiaohua immediately called the Nanyuan dismantling plant. When they heard it was the Anti-Drought Leading Group, they agreed very quickly.

He Yuzhu took Liu Xiaohua with him to the Nanyuan Aircraft Dismantling Plant.

When they drove to the entrance, the guard on duty verified their credentials and pointed inside: "The leaders have already given instructions. The place inside is big, you can drive in to take a look!"