"Yu 'Er, it's the same at the peanut fields. Some places are salty, and some are not."
"It's the same with the soybean fields!"
Father Xiao and Eldest Uncle Xiao came back very quickly.
When they returned, Xiao Lingyu and Gong Tianhao were still standing beside the small sapling. They asked anxiously, "Yu 'Er, what's going on? Could someone have poured saltwater at the farm?" Tens of thousands of saplings and hundreds of Mus of peanut and soybean fields were worth millions. It would be a big loss. If someone was behind this, then they really had a deep hatred for the Xiao Family.
Xiao Lingyu shook her head. She walked over to a normal-looking sapling and told Father Xiao, "Dad, take the hoe and loosen up the soil around the tree."
Father Xiao was a little confused, but he obliged. He and Eldest Uncle Xiao picked up the hoe and started to shovel the soil. They dug until they were around a foot deep.
"Stop!" Xiao Lingyu noticed something among the dug-up soil. Father Xiao and Eldest Uncle Xiao noticed it too.
Father Xiao stretched out his hand and caught the white worm. He frowned and asked in puzzlement, "A halophile worm?"
Eldest Uncle Xiao looked at the worm that looked like a silkworm and said, "It seems like we've found the cause." Then, he said in puzzlement, "But we've just cleared the mountains, and the saplings have just been planted. How can there be halophile? Is the entire mountain crawling with them?"
Generally speaking, halophile wouldn't be found on newly-developed farmlands. Halophile preferred places with high salinity, which were not good for crops. Therefore, they didn't expect the fruit trees to be infected by halophiles.
It was hard to grow anything on salty land. After these halophiles died, they would leave behind salt deposits. Due to the salt deposits, the tree leaves in the nearby area would turn yellow and then wither.
Father Xiao was confused. "Why are there halophiles here?" There had to be at least two halophiles for the tree leaves to turn yellow. They had to find the halophiles, or else the trees might die.
Xiao Lingyu thought for a moment and said, "It might have something to do with the water." In other words, it was most likely to do with the spring water. Salt had certain bactericidal and disinfecting effects.
However, a single solution couldn't solve everything. Most bacteria were afraid of salt, but some of them thrived on it. The perfect example was the halophile.
The salt we ate had been processed and filtered, so we didn't need to worry about finding them in our cooking. Even if we accidentally ate one, it was fine because the halophile couldn't survive in our stomach.
The spring water was very nutritious. It could nourish the drinker. Perhaps, it had attracted the halophiles. This was something that needed to be verified. "What?" Father Xiao was stunned, and then he realized his daughter meant the spring water. If that were true, then it meant that they couldn't use the water anymore. What would they do then?
Xiao Lingyu shook her head and said, "It's hard to say. We'll wait for Mom to come back first."
Father Xiao's expression was grave. Xiao Lingyu said with a smile, "Dad, don't worry. It's easy to destroy the halophiles. We only need to sprinkle some limestone." Halophiles like salt so alkali was their natural enemy. Once they encountered alkali, they would shrivel up and die. Therefore, they were an easy pest to deal with.
Even if they were attracted there by the spring water, they could be dealt with in the same manner. Things could still be saved.
Father Xiao's eyes lit up. He patted the back of his head and said with a smile, "Haha. You're right."
However, to Xiao Lingyu, this was a good thing. This way, the villagers wouldn't think that her crops were too abnormal.
If her crops continued to flourish, it was inevitable that someone would suspect something. Everyone was using the manure from the Little Cattle King, so how come Xiao Lingyu could grow crops that were much better than theirs?
The appearance of the halophile would lower that suspicion. It meant that Xiao Lingyu's crops were susceptible to disease like everyone else's.
The few of them waited for a while longer, and Mother Xiao brought a bottle of mineral water over.
Mother Xiao passed the bottle of water to Xiao Lingyu.
Xiao Lingyu said, "Uncle, why don't you put the worm on the ground?"
Uncle Xiao did as he was told.
Xiao Lingyu unscrewed the lid and poured the water directly onto the worm.
The worm wiggled about. Its head turned left and right as if sucking the water. Then, they could see with their eyes how the worm had grown bigger than before. This proved that the halophile was drawn here by the spring water.
Eldest Uncle Xiao asked in surprise, "Yu 'Er, what kind of water is this?"
Xiao Lingyu said very calmly, "This is not ordinary water. I asked my friends at the Academy of Agricultural Sciences to use Little Light's excrement to develop something special." At this point, Xiao Lingyu deliberately said, "Uncle, this is just an experiment. We don't have it in large quantities. I hope that uncle can keep it a secret."
Eldest Uncle Xiao obviously knew the importance of this. He nodded and said, "That's for sure."
As for Gong Tianhao, he was not a farmer, so he didn't care about this.
Xiao Lingyu looked at the worm on the ground. "It looks like we've found out the root of the problem. Dad, uncle, I need you to find someone to purchase some limestone.
"Mom, please tell the villagers that Little Light's manure might attract halophiles, so tell them to prepare some limestone of their own too."
Mother Xiao nodded and said, "Okay."
Then, she looked at Xiao Lingyu and said with some heartache, "Yu 'Er, you've been busy for the whole afternoon. Go back and rest. We'll take care of the rest."
"Okay!" After all, she was pregnant. She felt tired after standing for a while. "Then, dad, Mom, uncle, we'll go back first." Gong Tianhao called out and helped Xiao Lingyu leave.