Chapter 102 (continued)

"The ones that are scattered are edible, and they taste quite good, high in protein, and very fragrant. You'll see when you get here." Baoye A Sai looked at Shi Wen's hesitant expression and said, "You're more used to calling them grasshoppers, but locusts are also a type of grasshopper."

Shi Wen in sudden realization, having no further questions; he was familiar with grasshoppers.

Shi Wen and Yan Kexing drove for more than three hours to get there.

Baoye A Sai personally went to the outside of the ranch to greet them.

Although the two places are not far apart, their landscapes are quite different.

This area is drier and flatter. Shi Wen arrived, we even saw some Gobi desert with only a few scattered patches of grass.

Many goitered gazelles are scattered across the Gobi Desert, and they flee warily at the sight of humans.

The sandstorm here is fierce, and the sand hits the car's windshield with a crackling sound.

Many insects came with the wind, crashing against the car window with a "smack," splattering their saliva and leaving marks.

The car windows were clean when they drove out in the morning, but now they're filthy.

Shi Wen glanced out the front window before getting off the bus and remarked, "There are so many bugs here."

Yan Kexing: "It's clear that this place has indeed experienced a locust plague."

Baoye A Sai greeted them from afar, "I told you we had a lot of locusts here!"

Shi Wen handed him the honey she had brought, saying, "Yes."

After exchanging pleasantries, Baoye A Sai led them into the pasture.

Baoye A Sai is rich, but this ranch is not as big as theirs.

This ranch is only a little over 600 acres, and it is mainly used for raising and training horses.

However, he also had other ranches specifically for raising other livestock. The total area of more than ten ranches of different sizes was much larger than that of Shi Wen's ranch.

Baoye A Sai led them into the pasture. "The horses I raise here are all fine horses, relatively delicate, so there's no way to spray them with pesticides. I'm afraid that if I spray pesticides and don't kill the locusts, my horse will get sick."

Shi Wen, "What kind of horses does this ranch raise? Akhal-Tekes?"

Baoye A Sai proudly stated, "Yes, we have them, but we also have other types of horses, such as Arabian horses and Thoroughbreds. Our ranch started very early and is now one of the top horse farms in the country."

Shi Wen, "That's amazing."

Upon entering the ranch, they saw horses scattered across the pasture, and horse trainers taming them.

From a distance, Shi Wen noticed that they were all tall, sleek horses.

Just by looking at them, he knew these horses must be very expensive.

A fine horse is different from an ordinary horse in terms of its physique, coat, and appearance. The whole horse exudes an aura of wealth and looks much more impressive than a luxury car. Anyone can tell at a glance that it is very valuable.

Shi Wen, then soon spotted his family's goose.

The geese were scattered across the grassland, and one of them was probably pecking at a locust.

It flapped its clipped wings and swooped forward, its head bowed, and when it raised its head again, it had two locusts in its mouth—its efficiency was astounding.

Shi Wen stared intently at it. No wonder his goose had grown even bigger in less than half a month, and its feathers were even smoother. Eating more protein really makes a difference.

Baoye A Sai also saw the goose pecking at locusts. He led Shi Wen and Yan Kexing over and searched the grass. Soon, he pinched a green locust and showed it to them.

Baoye A Sai: "These are the solitary locusts, mostly green or brown, and non-toxic. The locusts that swarm are orange-yellow with black spots; they look different."

Shi Wen reached out and took the locust in his palm. He noticed the rough barbs on its body, which made it look quite fierce. "Shall we eat this later?"

Baoye A Sai: "Remove the wings and belly, they're delicious deep-fried."

As they were talking, a flock of birds was startled and took flight from the grass, soaring high into the sky.

Shi Wen stared at the flock of birds and noticed that the feathers on the heads of several birds were particularly unkempt, like the kind of feathers that are used to cover a bald head but are unfortunately blown away by the wind.

Yan Kexing turned to look with him. "That's a roseate starling, the nemesis of locusts."

Shi Wen, "Grain bird? That's a very unique name. I've seen this kind of bird before, but I've never looked up its name."

As soon as Yan Kexing looked at Shi Wen, he knew which "grain" he was talking about, so he grabbed his hand and wrote the word "" in the palm of his hand.

Yan Kexing: "It's not the grain, it's the starling. Some experts have proposed using animals to control locusts, and one of those animals is the rosy starling."

"I understand." Shi Wen looked down at Yan Kexing writing characters stroke by stroke in his palm. "No wonder everyone says that protecting nature is protecting ourselves. Now that the locust plague has arrived, the role of certain small animals has become obvious."

Yan Kexing: "The food chain is interconnected; if any link is missing, problems can easily arise."

Baoye A Sai took three steps back to avoid being fed dog food, but still couldn't help but speak up, "If the food chain is fine, it's difficult for locusts to develop into a locust plague."

Shi Wen, "Is it because locusts are eaten when they're still small?"

Baoye A Sai: "That's exactly what it means."

After showing them around the pasture and horses, Baoye A Sai caught a lot of locusts.

When it was time for lunch, Baoye A Sai insisted on ordering them a plate of their signature fried locusts.

Shi Wen wasn't averse to these unusual ingredients. He could eat fried bee pupae, and even wasps that hadn't yet hatched were delicious. Locusts, or rather grasshoppers, probably tasted similar.

There are a lot of locusts outside now, and fried locusts aren't expensive. In the past, a plate of them would cost over a hundred or even several hundred yuan, but now it only costs a few dozen yuan.

The fried locusts that were served had all the inedible parts removed, leaving only the edible meat.

Shi Wen one up with a pick of peppers. The texture was a bit rough, but the taste was good. It had the unique aroma of fried insects, and with salt and pepper, it was perfect as a snack with drinks.

Fried locusts are just a local specialty; various horse meat sausages and hand-pulled mutton are the main dishes.