HLM -Chapter 1184 Catching the Bugs

When it came to agriculture and fishing, Father Bo and Mother Bo didn’t need Wang Bo to give them any lessons.

Wang Bo seriously handed them a bunch of flowers and asked, “What’s this?”

Father Bo and Mother Bo looked puzzled. “What is it?”

“This is garlic scapes. Don’t you recognize them?” Wang Bo asked.

Father Bo chuckled. “Garlic scapes from overseas? But didn’t you say foreigners don’t really eat garlic scapes?”

Wang Bo had indeed mentioned that. Father Bo had told him to grow more garlic so they could eat the scapes, but New Zealanders weren’t fond of them, finding the flavor too strong. That’s why Wang Bo hadn’t planted a lot of garlic.

Wang Bo said, “No, don’t you think these look a lot like the garlic scapes from back home?”

Father Bo pursed his lips. “Other than being green, I don’t see any resemblance.”

Relieved, Wang Bo thought his parents wouldn’t make a mistake.

The next day, however, a plate of stir-fried garlic scapes and meat appeared on the table. Wang Bo took a bite and frowned. “This tastes kind of weird.”

Father Bo said, “Yeah, these foreign garlic scapes don’t taste very good. They’re nothing like the ones at home.”

Wang Bo was shocked. “Wait, where did you get these garlic scapes?”

“You brought some home yesterday, didn’t you?” Father Bo looked at him, puzzled.

Wang Bo quickly grabbed his throat and started retching. “Ugh, ugh! Dad, you didn’t eat any, right? Spit it out immediately! This isn’t garlic scapes—it’s daffodils. You can’t eat these, they’re poisonous!”

Father Bo asked, “Then why did you tell Mom and me yesterday that this was foreign garlic scapes?”

He too hastily grabbed his throat, having nibbled a couple pieces to test the seasoning while cooking.

Wang Bo explained the whole Taiwanese family incident, and Father Bo fumed, “Look at all the nonsense you get up to. If you wanted to warn us, you should have said it directly. Why bother making up foreign garlic scapes?”

Wang Bo felt frustrated. He had assumed his parents would recognize the plant, so he didn’t continue explaining. Little did he know, Dad thought he wanted to eat it, and today he had even made it intentionally.

Seeing both of them retching, Dale asked in surprise, “Brother-in-law, are you guys pregnant too? My sister threw up like this this morning—she said all expectant moms do.”

Wang Bo tried to shove the daffodil into her mouth, but Dale covered her cherry-sized mouth and shook her head vigorously. “No, no, no! I’m not eating that! It’s a daffodil. You can’t eat it!”

After nearly vomiting his stomach bile, Wang Bo called Dr. Yi to check if it was serious.

Dr. Yi chuckled, “That’s a daffodil, not a deadly mushroom. Eating a few pieces is fine. And you’re adults—you might vomit, but you won’t be poisoned. Don’t worry.”

Wang Bo breathed a sigh of relief. “Dad, stop vomiting. It’s fine, it won’t kill anyone.”

Father Bo replied, “If I keep vomiting… we’ve finally reached a good life. If we died of food poisoning, it wouldn’t be worth it.”

Wang Bo thought about it and started gagging again. True—he was rich, he couldn’t die just like that.

This incident made Father Bo and Mother Bo very angry. They said he had learned from the New Zealanders to joke without limits.

Mother Bo scolded him, “Look at what you’ve done! The baby is just pregnant, it’s fine if you two ate it, but what if she had?!”

Eva made faces at Wang Bo while eating her pregnancy meal, looking very pleased with herself.

Wang Bo felt wronged—he had simply forgotten to dispose of the daffodils.

Father Bo said, “I think you’re just bored. Fine, since you have nothing to do, stop playing these pranks. Come with your mom and me to catch slugs. It rained the past couple of days, and the vegetable field is full of them.”

These notorious slugs, scientifically called Limax (or Arion), are basically shell-less snails. Their soft, translucent bodies are extremely disgusting.

New Zealand’s pristine environment allows many pests to thrive, with slugs being among the worst. Since pesticides are banned on vegetables, they’re impossible to eliminate completely.

Slugs spend winter under the soil near crop roots, either as adults or juveniles. In spring, they become active in the soil, damaging plants. When summer arrives, with warm temperatures and ample rain, they emerge above ground.

Father Bo said, “This is the first time I’ve seen so many slugs in the vegetable field. Where do you think they came from? Usually we take such good care of this field.”

Wang Bo shook his head too. He hadn’t managed the field much, and his “Vegetable Garden Heart” skill had upgraded to level three, so he assumed it would automatically eliminate pests.

Eva said, “I’ll help. Should we catch them at night?”

Slugs fear light—they can die quickly in New Zealand’s sunlight. That’s why they’re nocturnal, emerging at dusk, peaking around 10–11 p.m., and retreating before dawn.

Father Bo quickly smiled, “No, no, Eva. You rest well at night. Pregnancy is exhausting—you need your sleep. Catching slugs can wait.”

Wang Bo pouted. “So fake. If you really want to help, just say it. Then we’ll get started.”

Mother Bo slapped him on the back, scolding, “Why don’t you care about your wife?”

Eva made faces at Wang Bo again, looking very proud.

After dinner, she went to wash dishes, but Mother Bo took over, gently saying, “Drink a glass of milk and take a nap. I’ve set the air conditioning just right. Milk helps you sleep well, I saw it on TV.”

Dale watched enviously and said, “Brother-in-law, I want to be pregnant too.”

Wang Bo and Eva were shocked. “What?!”

Dale started counting on her fingers. “If you’re pregnant, you don’t have to work or go to school. You can eat whatever you want, just sleep well. Oh, and the air conditioning and water temperature are set for you.”

Eva said, “But before 25, girls shouldn’t get pregnant, or they’ll become ugly.”

Dale thought about it for a while, then decided, “Forget it. School is fun, work is fun, but being ugly is not fun.”

As the sun set, they set out.

Wang Bo yawned in boredom. “Dad, catching them by hand sounds tedious. Can’t we just leave them? Can they really revolt?”

Father Bo rolled his eyes. “Do you know how bad slugs are? Once, there were just a few in the cucumber field, and we ignored them. Within days, they covered the entire ground!”

Wang Bo checked online and confirmed that his dad wasn’t exaggerating.

Adult slugs reproduce insanely fast. Each pair can reproduce 5–6 times per year, with 400–500 eggs per batch, hatching in about 10 days.

Worse, the hatching rate is very high. If adult slugs aren’t eliminated, their population can explode exponentially—terrifying indeed.