I don’t think I deserve to it (v1ch68)
Ye Sheng would have never noticed the blood-sucking aphids if Zhou Lin hadn't pointed them out. They were the size of a child's fist, but they looked like maggots with tiny hairs. They were completely white, blending in with the cotton on the trees. One had to look very carefully to spot them.
Even after Ye Sheng looked closely, she only saw something crawling...
What a cunning creature.
The chameleon of the insect world!
"Shengsheng, this is the first time I've seen a blood-sucking aphid. It doesn't look very scary from its fleshy appearance. It's quite cute. I want to catch one and raise it when I go back~"
Zhou Lin whispered to Ye Sheng, standing beside her. The steward was lax, so the team was relaxed. Zhou Lin was not the only one who underestimated the blood-sucking aphids. Ye Sheng saw a tall and thin man walk up to the cotton tree with a smile. He reached out confidently to flick off one of the aphids.
But the next second, the blood-sucking aphid that was slowly squirming suddenly opened its mouth, revealing rows of sharp teeth.
Its mouth was so wide that it could swallow anything larger than its body!
The tall and thin man shuddered and quickly pulled back his hand. The blood-sucking aphid that had missed its bite clicked its teeth and hid its limp body in the cotton again. Everyone who saw this scene fell silent.
(ー_ー)
How vicious!
Ye Sheng turned her head and looked at Zhou Lin, who was also startled. She raised her eyebrows and teased her: "How cute? You want to take it home and raise it?"
"No, no, no, I don't deserve it."
Zhou Lin shook her head quickly.
This blood-sucking aphid was too terrifying!
"Be careful. If you get bitten by a blood-sucking aphid, you will lose at least a large bowl of blood. You won't be able to work, and you'll have to stand around and watch. You won't earn a single point."
The tall and thin man had caused a commotion, and the steward who was leading the way turned around.
He said in a cold tone, making the tall and thin man shut up.
After that, there was no more trouble in the team, and the group of two hundred people finally reached the work area and separated from the other teams.
The cotton forest was vast, and there were many workers sent from the base. If they spread out, they could pick a lot of cotton in three days.
But they couldn't pick for more than three days.
No!
They had been spending the night in the wilderness for the past three days. Their human scent could easily attract polluted organisms. For this reason, they had been spraying powder that could cover up their traces, putting the base and the mercenary group at great risk. Three days was already the limit.
"Okay, you can pick as you please in this cotton forest. Remember to wear special gloves to prevent the blood-sucking aphids from attacking. If you encounter any blood-sucking aphids that chase and bite you, you can spray them with a medicine bottle to scare them away. Remember, don't set fire to the insects, as it can easily ignite the cotton and cause a fire!"
The steward said as he handed out gloves and spraying cans to everyone, making sure that everyone had one.
He reminded them once again to be careful of the blood-sucking aphids, then waved his hands and told them to start working and picking cotton from the trees.
Picking cotton was not easy..
Even though the cotton tree looked like a giant ball of fluff, it was actually made up of individual cotton bolls. Besides the blood-sucking aphids, the soft cotton also had dry and hard seeds that needed to be removed.
Otherwise, the cotton would turn black within fifteen minutes of being picked.
It would also become very dry and hard.
Therefore, the workers had to be careful when picking, removing the seeds, and avoiding the blood-sucking aphids that chased and bit them like ferocious dogs. It was a very troublesome task.
Moreover, there was a special juice in the unpicked cotton that could corrode iron.
That meant they could not use any tools to pick them, they had to pull them by hand.
"Shengsheng, you can pick from the cotton tree next to me. If either of us gets bitten by a blood-sucking aphid, we can help each other right away."
Zhou Lin put on her gloves and held a watering can, ready to work.
After speaking to Ye Sheng, she waved her hand with the special gloves and explained, "These gloves are anti-bite, but if you get bitten too many times, they will be ruined. Or if you meet a powerful blood-sucking aphid, it can bite through the gloves in one go."
"So don't just rely on the gloves and be careful."
Ye Sheng nodded, listening to Zhou Lin's instructions.
Then, to encourage Ye Sheng's enthusiasm and herself to face the blood-sucking aphids bravely, Zhou Lin added, "If you find a snow cotton cocoon in a cotton tree, that's a good thing. You can exchange a snow cotton cocoon with the base official for ten pounds of cotton!"
After saying that, Zhou Lin quickly went to the cotton tree she had chosen, stepped on the stool next to it, and started to pick the cotton. She then put the picked cotton in the wooden bucket she was carrying.
Seeing this, Ye Sheng also acted, stood on the stool, and reached out to pull the cotton.
She had seen Zhou Lin do it easily, but when it was her turn, she felt as if the fluffy and soft cotton was firmly attached to the tree and was hard to pull.
After finally pulling off a piece of cotton, Ye Sheng tried to tear it and found that the cotton was very tough... It seemed that the cotton in the wasteland world had mutated too.
She had to keep a distance from the cotton tree when picking, or else she would be attacked by the blood-sucking aphids.
Ye Sheng thought for a while and looked around quietly. No one was watching her. She immediately took out a small hoe from the lottery space and aimed it at the cotton boll. After that, picking the cotton became much easier.
If she could be lazy, why not?
(*^▽^*)
Her little hoe was ordinary, but the material was indestructible.
So no matter how much the cotton juice corroded the iron, it had no effect on the little hoe... However, Ye Sheng had wondered before, even if they couldn't use iron, couldn't they use wood or something to smash it?
After using the hoe, Ye Sheng realized that the cotton bolls were very hard.
They couldn't be cracked open without an iron weapon...
As Ye Sheng was casually splitting the cotton bolls and grabbing the cotton with ease, a blood-sucking aphid hiding in the cotton suddenly leaped out and bit Ye Sheng's finger, making Ye Sheng dodge it in a narrow escape.
She moved so much that she almost fell off the stool.
Luckily, she managed to balance herself in the end.
Then she saw that the blood-sucking aphid was not giving up, curling slightly, and even trying to jump up and attack Ye Sheng again. Ye Sheng quickly picked up the spraying can and sprayed it at the blood-sucking aphid.
The blood-sucking aphid shrieked furiously, making Ye Sheng spray more ruthlessly.
Thankfully, these blood-sucking aphids were not fast, giving people time to react. Otherwise, if they bounced and attacked, they would bite any part of the body and suck tons of blood.
Ye Sheng felt that she needed a set of safety protective clothing more than special gloves.
(▼ヘ▼#)
She continued to spray with a blank face until the blood-sucking aphid ran away cursing. Then Ye Sheng resumed pulling the cotton. When she couldn't pull anymore, she used the hoe, making Ye Sheng more and more proficient at picking the cotton.
After filling almost a whole bucket of cotton, Ye Sheng was about to pick another cotton boll and go down. As soon as she pulled out part of the cotton boll, she felt something hard and round.
The cotton seeds of the cotton tree were slender and needle-shaped, with countless long needles spreading out from the innermost part of the cotton boll.
So this round thing was definitely not a cotton seed.
Could it be...