IHOEAYSTTTIW Chapter 81

Chapter 81: Biological Control Introduces Natural Enemies… Actually, It’s Just Finding a Few Ducks

Since it was personal service, they naturally rode in the car with Lin Yan.

At first, the two children were quite restrained, but after a while, they realized that Lin Yan was an extremely easy-going master, without any airs.

The girl named Ginkgo poked White’s belly, dividing the fur on its belly into strands under White’s resentful gaze.

Lin Yan ignored White’s pleading eyes, stuffed a pastry into Ginkgo and Kumquat’s hands, and asked softly, “Do you know where there are ducks?”

Ducks?

The two children didn’t understand why Lin Yan asked this, but they still tried hard to recall.

“There are some in the river over there.” Kumquat opened the window and pointed to the west side of the road, “There’s a river over there, and there used to be ducks in it, but they might have been eaten by now.”

Lin Yan nodded and instructed An Tan, who was leaning in from outside the car, “Go that way.”

The Zhengxuan Emperor’s task for An Tan was to deliver Lin Yan to Changning. Now that Lin Yan wanted to change direction, An Tan couldn’t help but ask a few more questions: “Young Master, what do you want to…”

“Meeting the Changning governor empty-handed…”

Lin Yan’s words got stuck at a strange place. An Tan very cleverly continued, “The Changning Provincial Administration Commissioner’s name is Zhao, you can call Commissioner Zhao Fangbo, Young Master.”

Lin Yan’s attention was successfully diverted to a strange place: “Is Fangbo a name?”

Fangbo was a common title for the Provincial Administration Commissioner.

If Lin Yan simply forgot just now, then this question was absurd to the point of being excessive.

Lin Yan also realized that he had asked something he shouldn’t have, and quickly brought the topic back: “Never mind that, in any case, I’ll be staying in Changning for a long time in the future, so naturally I have to bring a generous gift for our meeting.”

Lin Yan’s sudden sensibility made An Tan feel uneasy.

An Tan comforted himself that this master wouldn’t remain absurd forever, and would eventually make some progress.

Unfortunately, this self-deception lasted less than a day before the ominous premonition came true.

Facts proved that having a good master was extremely important. An Tan became even more certain that he hadn’t done his previous job well, otherwise he wouldn’t have been assigned to escort someone, much less reduced to doing this kind of work.

When he was following the Emperor, he was always watching which ministers had ulterior motives, but now, following Young Master Lin, he could only… lead a flock of ducks, giving directions confidently?

Perhaps infected by An Tan’s resentment, the Mallard next to him began to “quack” loudly, and it was too late for An Tan to stop it.

The sound lit the fuse, and the surrounding ducks echoed, joining this “grand chorus.”

“Stop shouting.” An Tan used the tip of his sword to pick up a stone and throw it at the leading duck.

The duck clumsily dodged, flapping its wings, and then quacked even louder.

An Tan picked up another stone and threw it again, the duck dodged again and continued to quack.

“This is too noisy.” Lin Yan poked his head out of the car, the cotton in his ears making him look a bit comical. He cleared his throat and shouted to the coachman, “Brother Wang, how far is it to Changning City?”

The coachman shouted back, “Not far, we’ll be there tomorrow.”

Lin Yan ignored An Tan’s resentful gaze and pulled his head back into the car: “Let’s go ahead first, Brother An is skilled, leave these ducks to him.”

The coachman was also having a headache from the noise, and wholeheartedly agreed with Lin Yan’s decision.

He looked at An Tan with sympathy, cupped his fist at him, and said, “Hard work, sir, I’ll take the young master to the town ahead to rest first.”

An Tan stretched out his Erkang hand, but couldn’t stop Lin Yan’s car from getting further and further away. The cars behind saw the master leave and followed suit, running away in a puff of smoke.

After the dust settled, only An Tan was left on the official road, the feeling of loneliness… loneliness my foot, a place with over a hundred ducks was as lively as it could be.

An Tan plugged his ears and numbly escorted the ducks towards the town.

If one were to describe An Tan’s mood in one sentence, it would be “The liveliness is others’, he only feels the noise.”

By the time An Tan arrived at the town, it was already late. Lin Yan had changed the two children’s clothes and was preparing to rest.

Seeing An Tan return, Lin Yan guiltily felt around his empty purse. He had no money, so he would reluctantly replace it with small pastries.

An Tan received two pieces of broken silver and a small cake, his anger dropping from full to half.

The small cake was sweet and delicious, melting in his mouth, healing his wounded heart, and even the noisy ducks seemed pretty.

Tomorrow they would arrive, and whether those ducks were steamed or boiled would be none of his business.

An Tan pointed to the faintly visible city walls in the distance, his mood improving by another two points: “Young Master, Changning is just ahead, what do you think about these ducks?”

Lin Yan raised his eyebrows and whistled a cheerful tune: “Send them to the Provincial Administration Commissioner’s Office.”

Good news, this master has learned to give gifts, this is the first step towards understanding human relationships.

Bad news, this master doesn’t give gold and silver but live animals, doesn’t give jade but poultry.

An Tan felt a headache coming on. He didn’t say whether it was okay or not, but just looked at Lin Yan expressionlessly.

He had made himself clear enough, this master would understand how absurd his choice was, right?

“Never mind, don’t send them over, just drive them into the fields.”

When Lin Yan said the first half of the sentence, An Tan felt a little proud of his wit; when Lin Yan said the second half of the sentence, An Tan wanted to slap himself twice.

“Drive… drive them into the fields?” An Tan looked at the fields and asked with difficulty, “Commissioner Zhao Fangbo must have heard the news already, if he sees this…”

“That’s exactly what I want him to see.” Lin Yan said confidently, patting his chest, looking a bit smug, “He’ll like this big gift.”

Okay, okay, whatever you say.

An Tan replied with a flat “yes”, accepting the fact that his official career was over.

Hundreds of ducks were released from their cages, flapping their wings into the air, the flat, webbed feet making a sound like a rainstorm. Lin Yan was having a great time playing with Ginkgo and Kumquat, and White, who rarely saw so many living things, was also excited, pouncing left and right.

The Changning Provincial Administration Commissioner, who came to pick them up, saw such a scene at first glance.

He had imagined the playboy being absurd, but he didn’t expect him to be so absurd.

“There are many things to do in the mansion, so I couldn’t welcome you from afar, please don’t blame me, Lord An.” The Changning Provincial Administration Commissioner cupped his fists at An Tan, glanced at the fields in chaos, and lied through his teeth, “It’s been a hard journey, Young Master Wu from Minister Wu’s family must be exhausted, why not go to my residence to rest first?”

“Commissioner Zhao Fangbo is right, I’ll ask the young master to come over.” An Tan seized the opportunity and stepped towards the fields.

“Wait.” Zhao Fangbo reached out and stopped An Tan, looked carefully at the fields again, and suddenly clapped his hands and laughed, “Young Master Wu’s method is good, with this, most of the locust plague is gone.”

An Tan didn’t understand why the Provincial Administration Commissioner’s attitude had changed 180 degrees, but he followed the direction the Provincial Administration Commissioner was pointing and echoed a few words.

The flock of ducks swept over the pond, the crisp sound of locusts exploding between the opening and closing of their iron beaks formed a continuous sound, the duck feet accurately stepped on those jumping escapees, the insects in the distance were startled and flew up, and immediately ducks rushed over, and after a few bites, green juice flowed down their yellow, fluffy necks.

As the sun set in the west, the corpse of insects piled up half a finger thick on the ridge. The duck flock made satisfied cooing sounds in their throats, their iron beaks still mechanically pecking.

Ginkgo and Kumquat, imitating Lin Yan’s actions, grabbed a handful of coarse salt from the pottery jar and scattered a flashing arc. The duck heads turned to where the salt grains fell, swaying and gathering.

Lin Yan had just put on the robe that An Tan handed him when the Provincial Administration Commissioner approached, cupping his fists to the end: “Young Master Wu’s brilliant plan, this old man is ashamed of my inferiority.”

“I learned this method from a book, I didn’t expect it to really work.” Lin Yan wiped the mud off his hands with a handkerchief, gave An Tan a look, signaling him to help the Provincial Administration Commissioner up.

“Young Master Wu is extremely talented, and will surely achieve great things in the future.” The Provincial Administration Commissioner straightened up, continuing to compliment him.

Lin Yan was flattered, and the gray-haired Provincial Administration Commissioner seemed especially kind and amiable in his eyes, already his kindred spirit.

Towards friends, Lin Yan always said everything he knew. He looked up at the sky, reached out to feel the moisture in the air: “The ducks have eaten most of the insect eggs, and the rest… will soon freeze to death when the snow comes down.”

“This old man thanks you on behalf of the people.” The Provincial Administration Commissioner bowed again, his face full of smiles when he got up. He made a gesture of invitation towards the city gate, leading Lin Yan into the city, “The Provincial Administration Commissioner’s Office has prepared food and drinks…”

“No, no.” Lin Yan looked at the locusts that were re-emerging in the field, snapped his fingers, “Let’s make use of the local materials, why not roast them and eat them?”

This site has no pop-up ads, permanent domain (volarereads.com)