Picking mulberries

"Brother Qiu is inexplicable." Cui Dongxu was puzzled, "My father-in-law? You mean the dean of my college, Gong Yaping?" Impossible, how did Qiu Shangzhi know the dean's nickname.

"How could it be? The dean of the palace is not named Qiu and he is not from us," Qiu Shangzhi continued joking, "No way, you really forgot. His son didn't bump into you at that time and he was lucky to say that he bumped into you." Isn't it a telegraph pole, and he still wants you to be his girlfriend with a stern face."

"Oh, I remember, I remember," Qiu Shangzhi reminded, Cui Dongxu immediately remembered, and laughed loudly, "It turns out that Qiu Xiu is the father of that little guy named Qiu... what?"

"Qiu Yang," Qiu Shangzhi nodded, "Qiu Xiucai is my brother Qiu Jingping."

"Brother Qiu, it's a good thing that little guy is a boy. If it's a girl, it's not a good joke. It's been so many years, he should be very old now." Cui Dongxu searched for Qiu Yang's appearance in his mind , but I don't have any impression of what it looks like, I just know that the little guy is cute and talks a lot.

"I'm twelve or thirteen years old, and I'm going to the county to study in the first grade of junior high school this year."

"Is the scholar brother at home? I'll be the host at noon, so I invite him to come over and let's get together and chat on the street." Cui Dongxu was very interested in Qiu Jingping, a cultural figure buried in the countryside and mountain villages.

"I'm not at home, I went to work in the county, and I said that I was selling fruit with his brother-in-law, and taking care of my son's studies by the way."

"He's going out too. Isn't 'Luqiusi' your gold medal business card here, and it's gone down?" Cui Dongxu said regretfully.

"Now the farmers are all old and weak, women and children feeding silkworms." Qiu Shangzhi sighed.

"It's no wonder the mulberry garden is in a state of depression. We passed by here yesterday when we went to Qingxi, and saw that the mulberry strips along the road were seriously ill with white leaf disease. It seems that there is a serious lack of management."

"That's right, don't talk about white leaf disease," Qiu Shangzhi pointed to the mulberry field near Shatuo Peak, "The mulberry borer disease in that area is very serious, and the mulberry leaves are almost completely lost, which has hurt the silkworms in late autumn."

"Really, then I'll go and have a look." Cui Dongxu hurriedly greeted the disciples in front who were playing tricks.

"Then you go there first, and I'll go to the cafeteria to make arrangements and then follow me." Qiu Shangzhi said politely.

"No need, Brother Qiu, let's go." Cui Dongxu shook his hand, "It's agreed, I'll invite you at noon, please go to the street to book a table, and then call Township Chief Ma and the others over."

"What jokes are you talking about? I still need you to invite me when I come to our place."

"Oh, don't refuse, just do what I want."

Seeing Cui Dongxu's firm attitude, Qiu Shangzhi nodded after thinking for a while and said, "That's fine, just do as you said, and I will inform them."

The students brought by Cui Dongxu may have never seen such a large area of ​​mulberry gardens, and they have never practiced in school. Cui Dongxu briefly confessed to them and they disappeared in a blink of an eye.

Cui Dongxu looked at the mulberry garden in front of him, feeling very sorry.I went to Qingxi Township yesterday. Although some tea trees were severely damaged by tea gnats, the local tea farmers used physical control methods effectively and did not cause too much loss. Today, Longgong sericulture not only suffers from large-scale pests and diseases, but also the sericulture farmers are also greatly affected. The number of mulberry fields has been reduced, and the management of mulberry fields is generally neglected. Not to mention physical methods to prevent and control diseases, even the work of spraying pesticides is not done, leaving the mulberry sticks to fend for themselves in the mulberry field.After much deliberation, Cui Dongxu couldn't help feeling that leadership is the key. Whether a local agricultural economy can develop in a healthy and orderly manner, the leading factor of the government is very important.

Qiu Shangzhi asked one of his clerks to lead Cui Dongxu and the others to the mulberry garden at the foot of Shatuo Peak.Most of the mulberry gardens are mulberry trees that have not been replanted for a long time. At first glance, it can be seen that no one takes care of them. The overgrown branches cover the fields between the ridges, making it impossible to enter.It was early winter, and most of the mulberry leaves were withered and yellow. The mulberry field that had been infested by the mulberry borer was almost bare, and the yellow leaves that remained on the branches were all over the "skylight" opened by the mulberry borer. Looking at such a large area of ​​mulberry orchard pests, I sighed secretly.

As he walked, Cui Dongxu stopped in a mulberry garden and stared at a section of mulberry branches for a long time.The leaves of the mulberry branches had all fallen off, and the branches were covered with dense insect nets. The nets were covered with excrement of pests, and there were still a few dried fly corpses stuck to them.

Staring at the mulberry branches that were infested by diseases and insect pests for a long time, Cui Dongxu lost his mind after watching. He thought of the impermanence of life from the insect corpses hanging on the insect net, and couldn't help but lament the changeable and mysterious nature. I also thought of how superficial what I have learned, and how small and insignificant people are in front of nature.Thinking about it, Cui Dongxu's heart suddenly became brighter, and the grief in his heart because of his mother's death instantly faded a lot.

"Teacher Cui, what are you looking at?" When Cui Dongxu was thinking wildly, a student came over and brought him back to his senses.

"Oh," Cui Dongxu saw, it turned out to be a student from the Department of Plant Protection, "looking at the pest damage."

"Hey, where are they?" Cui Dongxu looked around, only to see the student who was asking the question.

"They went to the mulberry garden ahead and said there was a cave there."

"Really? This group of guys, who are here to practice? They are clearly just for fun, but you are a good classmate and serious," Cui Dongxu smiled at the classmate, "Your name is Xiao Fan?"

The student looked at Cui Dongxu who was full of laughter, and quickly replied: "No, Fan Kai is the tall and thin one. I am Jiang Zhaoyun."

"Oh, Xiao Jiang, right? Look at my memory," Cui Dongxu laughed a few times, "Do you have any questions for me?"

"No, I don't know if the teacher is not around, I just want to stay with the teacher." Jiang Zhaoyun said cutely.

"You have to learn to think independently when you come out to practice, and remember to collect good samples and take them back." Cui Dongxu felt chills from the boy's expression.

"What kind of pest is the teacher looking at?" Jiang Zhaoyun also came over to have a look.

"The larvae of the American white moth have ruined this entire area," Cui Dongxu frowned, and said to himself, "How can there be American white moth in this place? I only heard reports that it invaded the Northeast. I didn’t expect there to be in our southeast region, so we can’t just rely on what we see on paper and hearsay, we must often go down to the field to investigate, facts speak louder than words.”

Jiang Zhaoyun looked at Cui Dongxu with a smirk, pointed to the moth hole on a tree in front of him very studiously and asked: "Mr. Cui, what kind of moth is this?"

"Scarab."

"Oh, this is the work of scarabs," Jiang Zhaoyun was taken aback, "I didn't expect an insect with such a nice name to do such a thing. Look at this moth, it's disgusting."

"What does the degree of harm of pests have to do with the name?" Cui Dongxu thought to himself, what kind of child is this? I didn't expect a boy who looks upright to be so effeminate. "The danger of scarabs is not the most deadly. It generally does not commit large-scale group crimes. Most of them shoot one shot and one cannon, gnawing at the trunk of mulberry trees, sucking sap, and they are easy to catch if they cannot be guarded. On the whole, it is relatively simple to prevent and control. Like the American white moth, it is very harmful. It is like a plague, a large area. There is also the mulberry borer, which is also a particularly annoying guy. It commits crimes in groups and reproduces. Open the skylight on the mulberry leaves, and use the mulberry leaves to make nests for reproduction. The control is quite big, and physical control has no effect at all. Although there are pesticides to kill them, mulberry leaves are the ration of silkworms, and the residual pesticides will cause As a result, silkworms get sick and die, so we must carefully grasp the time period of spraying, not too early or too late, which is quite troublesome. In terms of pest control, those of us who specialize in research need to work hard, and we can develop more powerful methods with less side effects. There is a sense of accomplishment."

"Wow, Teacher Cui is really rich in knowledge, so profound and profound, and he speaks well." Jiang Zhaoyun stared at the stars, "I must take the teacher's class next semester. Do you know, Teacher Cui, that you are from the Department of Plant Protection? The Bone Demon in the hearts of my seniors."

"Hehe, the kid deserves a beating, dare to insult the master, don't you want to get mixed up?" Cui Dongxu was covered in goosebumps by the kid in front of him, please a big boy not to be so twitchy, okay, "Bone Demon? How dare you call me a monster in front of me, and want to be punished. Tell me honestly, who did you learn from? Take you to your master to judge."

"Oh, how dare you scold my idol," Jiang Zhaoyun pouted aggrievedly, "The Bone Demon they call is the abbreviation of Prince Charming, Key Teacher, and Spiritual Support."

"Really or not, you are not fooling me, the older generation of proletarian revolutionaries." Cui Dongxu was a little flattered by the praise, and Qiqiao Linglong was bubbling with joy.

"How dare I lie to you that you are old." Jiang Zhaoyun resented in his heart, if you call yourself the older generation, my head teacher who was over thirty and still not dating would become an old witch.

"Is my nickname, Bone Demon, widely publicized?" Cui Dongxu asked curiously.

"That's a big deal," Jiang Zhaoyun saw that the teacher was so talkative, and immediately poked his nose up, "It can be said that women and children all know each other. I heard that the sisters and sisters upstairs and downstairs in the girls' dormitory woke up. Reciting your name as a sutra, and reciting you to the pillow while sleeping, is not lying."

"Hey, give me some sunshine and you will be brilliant, and all the nonsense and nonsense are out." Cui Dongxu made a gesture to hit him.

"Teacher, can I ask you a personal question?" Jiang Zhaoyun asked with a shy smile.

"What's the matter?" Cui Dongxu's scalp was numb again by this kid's expression.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Jiang Zhaoyun asked bluntly.

"It's strange, why are you so curious about this? Do you need to worry about the teacher's lifelong event? How can a boy be so careless." Cui Dongxu knocked Jiang Zhaoyun on the head very rudely.

It was almost twelve o'clock when Qiu Shangzhi called Cui Dongxu, urging them to eat, saying that it was at the Ma Lian Restaurant in the center of the street, and all the people who wanted to be called had arrived, and they were just waiting for them.

On the way back with the students, when they passed the resting horse pile, two women, an old man and a young man, came out from the field in the mulberry garden. The woman in her fifties was carrying a basket full of sweet potato vines, and the woman in her thirties Carrying a load of sweet potato vines, I think they planted sweet potatoes among the mulberry ridges to raise pigs.The two looked like mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and they kept chattering behind Cui Dongxu and the others.

"I don't object to your own superstitious beliefs, but you can't take him to the temple to offer incense and worship Buddha. He is still studying at such a young age." The woman in her thirties scolded.It sounds like a mother-in-law who often takes her son to the temple to worship Buddha.

"I didn't delay his study, and I didn't ask him to become a monk. I just took him to the Bodhisattva to fulfill his vows. Besides, he also likes to go to the temple, so he followed without me calling. The Bodhisattva likes him. ’ retorted the woman in her fifties.

"Heh, the Bodhisattva likes him? Things made of mud can talk, how come the Bodhisattva who popped out likes him, did you give him a dream or did he give him a dream?" The young woman was annoyed and funny.Cui Dongxu and the others in front couldn't help but smile when they heard it.

"Amitabha, Amitabha, don't blame the Bodhisattva, don't blame the Bodhisattva," the old woman murmured a few words like chanting sutras, and then scolded her daughter-in-law, "You stubborn girl, you always disrespect the Bodhisattva, be careful when you walk and sprain your feet." Before the words were finished, the young woman who was walking behind hurriedly put down her burden and stopped with a beep.

"Look, look, let's repay the world, who told you to offend the Bodhisattva at every turn," the old woman walking in front hurriedly put down the basket, "Where is the sprain? Let's see if it doesn't matter."

"How can there be so many present reports? If there were present reports, there would be no conscientious people in this world. Walking well, why do you slow down? I couldn't stop and stepped into the drain. "The young woman put the stretcher on the front and rear baskets, raised her feet and pressed it up, full of resentment.

"I was so focused on arguing with you that I didn't pay attention to the college students in front of me, so I almost bumped into them." Long Gong is a bigger township, with a total of only a dozen or so villages in total, and any trouble that stirs up the people of the whole town Everyone knows that the college students who came to the provincial agricultural university in the village today are not unaware of the practice.

Cui Dongxu in front heard what the old woman said, so he realized that he was only listening to their country slang quarreling, and his group of people blocked their way, so he quickly turned around and apologized: "It doesn't matter if you hurt, or we can help you Take these home."

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, just sprain a little, just rest." The young woman smiled and waved her hands quickly.

"Son, it's okay," the old woman thought, this college student is not only good-looking, but also quite educated, "Go ahead, I'm afraid you will be scolded by your teacher if you fail to complete the task later."

"He is our teacher." Several students next to him laughed.

"Oh, my old eyes are so dazed that I really didn't see it, I thought I was also a college student," the old woman laughed so that all the creases on her face moved, "Tsk tsk tsk, there is such a beautiful teacher, no wonder I will Get confused." The old woman's words made Cui Dongxu's face blush, and she cried out in her heart, "I'm handsome, okay? Why do you use the word beautiful?"

"What Mom said, can't the teacher be beautiful?" The young woman sitting on the shoulder pole and pressing her feet laughed.

"That's right," the old woman rubbed her hands on her sleeves, reached out to help her daughter-in-law, and said to Cui Dongxu, "Don't blame me, teacher, old women in the country don't know how to talk, but after all, the teacher looks so good. It's very good-looking, comparable to my little grandson." Cui Dongxu rolled his eyes, whether the old man praised me or scolded me.

"My mother is right," the young woman showed off when talking about her son, "When he grows up, my son will definitely be as handsome as his teacher."

Cui Dongxu's head is full of black lines, who are these people, not to mention the old ones, even the young ones are here to take advantage of me, come on, if you can't afford to mess with me, let's go.Turning around, I hurriedly ordered those students who were holding back their mouths to hold back their laughter to step over the canal to the main road, Tan Road, so that they were no longer in the way in front of the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

The people Qiu Shangzhi invited were old friends from Cheng Tianhao's era. Although everyone talked freely during the meeting, from their words, Cui Dongxu could hear their dissatisfaction with the current township government, and they were all full of complaints.

When everyone was eating happily, Qiu Shangzhi answered the phone, hung up the phone and said to Cui Dongxu wonderingly: "Do you know my dad?"

"Your father? I don't know him." Cui Dongxu was confused.

"Then why did he inquire about you?" Qiu Shangzhi muttered in confusion.

When Cui Dongxu and the others went back, when the car drove to the intersection of Tan Road and the fork road to Jiuqiu Village, Qiu Shangzhi and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law whom Cui Dongxu met in the morning were waiting there.

After the car stopped, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law got into the car carrying two chickens and a large bag of peanuts, and they insisted on Cui Dongxu accepting them with laughter.

Cui Dongxu was puzzled by Zhang Erjingang, while Qiu Shangzhi explained that they were Qiu Yang's grandma and mother, and thanked Qiu Yang for sending a baby to his family earlier.After refusing for a long time, seeing the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law acting like you won't let your car drive away if you don't accept it, Cui Dongxu had no choice but to agree to their wishes.