"Take gold armor beetle grass, mulberry leaves, and locust tree bark and soak them in water overnight."
Lin Chen memorized the formula in his mind and hurriedly ran into the mountains. The three types of ingredients for making pesticides were very easy to find, and it didn't take long before he gathered a basketful.
Seeing Lin Chen return with a basket of wild grass, his mother asked curiously, "Xiao Chen, what are you collecting these wild grasses for? Our family doesn't raise any livestock."
Lin Chen smiled and replied, "This grass isn't for feeding animals, it's for killing insects."
"Killing insects?" His mother looked puzzled as she eyed the wild grasses in Lin Chen's hands.
"Yeah, these herbs are really useful; they can kill the bugs in the fields!" Lin Chen said with a smile.
"Really? Even the experts from the county said it was no use." There was a look of skepticism on his mother's face.
For some reason, his mother suddenly felt like her son had changed into a different person, with a sense of profound unfathomability.
Lin Chen laughed, "I don't know if it'll work either, but let's give it a try. Otherwise, it would be such a waste to burn all the crops we've worked so hard to grow."
After being busy all night, Lin Chen finally soaked all three ingredients in a large vat, secretly praying that it would work.
The next morning, Lin Chen came to the vat early, lifted the lid, and was greeted by a fragrant scent.
According to his memory, the concoction wasn't only an insecticide but also a health tea that was beneficial to the human body; however, it was a deadly weapon against gold armor beetles.
Lin Chen scooped a bowl of the liquid and took a sip; indeed, it was very refreshing.
He then poured the potion into a sprayer and headed toward the crop fields.
As he approached the fields, he saw a crowd gathered around them.
Lin Chen walked over to find that these people were getting ready to burn the crops to get rid of the insects.
Seeing that they were about to start burning the crops, Lin Chen quickly shouted, "Wait a minute!"
Li Kun frowned when he saw someone preventing them from starting the fire.
By that time, Lin Chen had reached Li Kun and Lin Sheng and said, "Village Chief, don't burn the crops yet, I have a way to get rid of the pests."
Li Kun glanced at Lin Chen and became furious, "Whose kid is this causing trouble? Even the experts have no solution, what can you, a kid, possibly do?"
Lin Sheng, too, was displeased upon seeing Lin Chen, "Xiao Chen, stop causing trouble and go home."
"Village Chief, I really do have a way to eliminate the insects," Lin Chen said anxiously.
Li Kun laughed, "Oh, you have a way to get rid of bugs, kid? What grade are you in now?" he asked, squinting his eyes.
"Senior year of high school," Lin Chen replied.
Hearing Lin Chen's response, Li Kun's expression drastically changed, "Nonsense, do you know what degree I have? I'm a graduate student from the Huaxia University of Agriculture. If I don't have a solution, how could a high school student possibly have one?"
"Yeah, right, I think this kid has lost his mind."
"Exactly, if graduate students can't kill those insects, how could a high school student?"
"Lin Chen, did you not wake up properly this morning?"
Hearing the discussions of the surrounding villagers, Lin Chen clenched his teeth and said to Li Kun, "Director Li, please give me a few minutes to run an experiment. This crop is the hard work of all our fellow villagers. If it works, you will also get the credit; if it fails, I will personally burn our family's field."
"Let Lin Chen try, Village Chief. Yesterday I saw with my own eyes how he cured a girl's heart disease. Maybe it really works," Lin Shuang interjected at that moment.
"Yeah, why not give it a try? If it doesn't work, we can still burn it later."
The crop was, to say the least, the hard-earned money of the villagers; nobody wanted to see it burnt to ashes.
Many people had heard of Lin Chen's acts of saving lives and thus were kindled with a glimmer of hope once more.
"Alright then, you can give it a try," Li Kun nodded.
Although Li Kun still didn't believe that Lin Chen had a solution for killing the gold armor beetles, he agreed because the villagers were now putting their hope in Lin Chen. If he refused, it would undoubtedly cause dissatisfaction among them.
Lin Chen picked up the pesticide sprayer, aimed it at a patch densely infested with gold armor beetles, and sprayed.
As he sprayed the pesticide, a refreshing scent wafted through the air.
The villagers' gazes were locked onto the crop field, teeming with insects. However, those sprayed appeared to be unaffected by the pesticide; they were neither dead nor subdued, rather, they seemed even more agitated.
Li Kun sneered, "It seems your potion isn't effective, kid!"
"I told you so, Director Li is a graduate student from Huaxia University of Agriculture. If he has no solution, how could a high school student?"
"Ah, the kids these days just want to grab attention."
"What a waste of feelings, wasting everyone's time."
The villagers who were full of expectation shook their heads as they witnessed the failed attempt at pest control.
"Just wait a bit longer," Lin Chen said, intently watching the insects without giving up hope.
"What's the point of waiting? Are you expecting the bugs to die of old age?" Li Kun said discontentedly.
But just as he spoke, someone suddenly cried out, "Look, the bugs are reacting!"
"What?" Director Li quickly turned his attention back to the crop field.
Seeing the bugs suddenly falling to the ground, Li Kun was astonished.