"What's wrong?" Yang Mengchen, who had just awakened from rebirth, saw Grandpa Yang so distraught for the first time.

"Jiujiu, quick, look at these rice paddies!" Grandpa Yang, with trembling hands, picked up a few stalks of rice: "It was all fine yesterday, but today when I came over, they were covered in bugs, and the same goes for all the rice fields in the village. If we can't get rid of these pests soon, I'm afraid there will be no harvest this year."

Yang Mengchen crouched down to take a look and saw the rice panicles swarming with tiny insects about thirteen millimeters long, pale green in color, with small triangular shields and three white spots on the front edge—clearly Tingidae: "Has this kind of pestilence happened before?" These Tingidae primarily feed by piercing and sucking the juices of the rice panicles, causing empty grains and reduced yield, and in severe cases, complete crop failure.

Grandpa Yang nodded: "We have had them before, but there weren't many, and without any way to deal with them, we could only cut down the infested rice. We have never seen an infestation on such a large scale before."

Long Xuanmo was well aware of how grave the situation was and looked at Yang Mengchen expectantly.

Sure enough, Yang Mengchen did not let him down: "Grandpa, don't worry, I'll find a way to get rid of the pestilence. Let's go back home for now."

His clever and capable granddaughter always had his trust. Convinced she would come up with a good solution, Grandpa Yang went back home with Yang Mengchen, Long Xuanmo, and others.

After telling everyone not to wait for her at mealtime, Yang Mengchen went into her room and began to draw up blueprints.

Despite the urgency of the situation, Long Xuanmo frowned in displeasure at seeing Yang Mengchen so busy that she skipped meals. He glanced at Mo Yun, who immediately dashed off, and Long Xuanmo made his way towards Yang Mengchen's room.

After hearing about the pestilence, no one had the appetite to eat. They finished their meals quickly and waited quietly in the main hall.

Before long, Yang Mengchen came to the main hall and handed a few blueprints to Yang Chaowen and Wu Xuehua. She instructed them to work with the workers and embroiderers to hurry and make as many of the tools listed as possible.

She then gave two blueprints to Yang Chengrong and Yang Chengyu, telling the brothers to find several ironworker shops in town to create the parts.

She arranged for her three cousins Wu Licheng, Liu Zijun, and Shen Yuzhe to return to their maternal grandparents' home to check if they had also suffered from the pestilence.

Yang Chengning was sent to other neighboring villages to inquire about the situation.

Grandpa Yang went to find the village head and the Lizheng, asking them to make sure to reassure the villagers.

Last of all, Yang Mengchen instructed the remaining cousins and brothers to join a few neighbors in going to the Herbal Shop to formulate an insecticide, with the rest managing daily affairs.

Hua Ziyu, Luo Jingyao, and Wei Wenhai took the initiative to take on the task of teaching the children, as the Yang brothers would be teaching during the day and were naturally preoccupied. Long Xuanmo also assigned Mo Lei to teach the children.

Everyone immediately set about their tasks.

Yang Mengchen recalled the formulae for insecticides to kill the Tingidae from her previous life while instructing the brothers in preparing the herbal ingredients. Fortunately, the herb garden had a complete variety, so there was no need to buy more from the town or elsewhere.

About two hours later, Yang Mengchen, after several trials, finally succeeded in making the Insecticide Powder. She instructed everyone to continue producing it according to the recipe, and she took a bottle of the finished product right away to find Yang Chaowen and Wu Xuehua.

It was urgent because of the pest crisis and because spraying the medicine when the dew was still fresh morning and evening had the best effect.

"Here." Long Xuanmo took out a box of pastries and handed it to Yang Mengchen.

Yang Mengchen had been so focused on developing the insecticide that she hadn't felt hungry, but seeing the snacks now, she realized she was indeed hungry. Without playing coy, she took them and ate as she walked, drinking also the small half bottle of water Long Xuanmo had given her, which made her feel much more comfortable.

Sometimes serene and composed, at times cold and decisive, occasionally naive and innocent, other times sad and mournful... Long Xuanmo had seen many sides of Yang Mengchen but could never see through which one was truly her.

It was like following a story without knowing the ending until the final page, especially since she often came up with brilliant ideas that left people guessing how much more she knew, thereby drawing him even closer to her desire to understand her. It was a feeling he had never experienced before, but he had no desire to delve deeper into the reason why.

Long Xuanmo's gaze was intense and deep. Yang Mengchen, not being a block of wood, was well aware of this but chose to turn a deaf ear. She went to the temporary room set up next to the furniture factory by Yang Chaowen and the others, "Uncle, how many have been made?"

"We've finished fifty-nine sets," Yang Chaowen said, stopping his work as his niece arrived.

The workers, aware of the insect damage to the family's rice crops, were putting all their efforts into finishing the tools to eliminate the pests.

"Very good," said Yang Mengchen, nodding in satisfaction. "Aunty and the others are nearly done too; now we're just waiting for elder brother and fifth brother to bring back the accessories, then we can go to the fields to test the results."

No sooner had her voice faded than the voices of Yang Chengrong and Yang Chengyu came from outside, "Sister Ninth, we've brought the accessories back." Seeing his sister come out, Yang Chengyu, wiping sweat, said, "We brought back seventy-five pieces, and a few Ironworker Shops are continuing to make more."

After instructing Yang Chengrong to find Yang Chaoyi and go directly to their own fields, Yang Mengchen guided Yang Chaowen in attaching the accessories to the ready-made tools. A simple wooden sprayer was completed, and the workers followed suit to assemble the remaining fifty-eight sets.

She had Yang Chengyu and Mo Yun take six sets while she went to the nearby temporary Embroiderer to get six sets of clothes, masks, and knee-high boots. Then she headed straight for the fields.

Grandpa Yang was already waiting at the edge of their field with some of his grandchildren. The village chief and Lizheng, along with many villagers who had heard the news, stood around, every one of them with faces filled with worry and apprehension.

The evening was the best time to spray, and Yang Mengchen instructed Yang Chaoyi, Yang Chengrong, and Yang Chengyu to put on masks and wear thin oilcloth suits, along with the knee-high boots. She then mixed the insecticide solution in the correct proportions in the sprayers and was about to let the three go and apply it.

Suddenly, Yang Changsheng reached out his hand to stop her, "Sister Ninth, use my fields."

Yang Mengchen raised her eyebrows in surprise, looking at him.

The man of few words, Yang Changsheng, seen by Yang Mengchen looking his way, struggled to speak and started sweating profusely after a short while.

Aunty Zhuzi, seeing his state, quickly explained, "Don't misunderstand, Sister Ninth, what Pillar's dad means is, there's not much of your family's fields to begin with, so in case... it's better to try mine." Yang Changsheng nodded vigorously.

"Changsheng's idea is good," Zhou Daming was the first to react. "Go to my fields, they're not far either."

"Use mine!" The people vied with one another, offering their fields for the experiment.

Long Xuanmo hadn't been around for long, but the loving unity of the Yang family and the cooperative spirit among the neighbors made him both impressed and envious.

Yang Mengchen smiled and waved her hand to quiet the crowd, "Thank you all for the kind offers, but let's use my fields today. If it fails, we can switch to another family's." Seeing that everyone agreed with nods, she began instructing Yang Chaoyi and the others on how to operate the sprayers and then waited for the results.

On the way back, everyone unanimously requested to cancel the evening study session and instead spontaneously came to Yang family's home after dinner to help speed up the production of the sprayers and insecticide. Yang Chengyu and Yang Chengxuan sneaked off to Dayang Mountain to lead the Elite Guards in making accessories, keeping lights burning throughout the mountain village all night long.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Yang Mengchen and Yang Chaoyi were preparing for the second round of spraying when Yang Chengrong suddenly ran back, panting, "Sister Ninth..."

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