HLM -Chapter 1242 The Cherry Thief

After understanding the principle, Wang Bo realized that although this ant-killing poison didn’t give the immediate “satisfaction of extermination,” its lethal mechanism was extremely ruthless.

No matter where the queen ant hid in the nest, worker ants carrying even a tiny amount of the poison would fire toward her one by one like bullets. The ultimate result was the total destruction of the nest, leaving no young ants to cause trouble.

While having dinner, Wang Bo mentioned this to his parents. Both shook their heads.

“Forget it, Xiao Bo,” his mother said. “Your father and I will just put more camphor balls around the house. Let’s not use that ‘behead-the-queen’ poison anymore.”

His father added, “Yeah, this stuff is too harsh. And the baby’s on the way—it’s not good to do such things. That’s like inviting disaster to the whole family.”

From Eva’s perspective, exterminating ants had nothing to do with her baby. She couldn’t understand the Chinese attitude toward life, even though she had learned the saying, ‘Heaven’s way ensures karma returns’.

By May, autumn had arrived, and the farms in Sunset Town began to enter harvest season.

The farms grew plenty of crops like sweet corn and wheat, and this year’s early yields were bountiful. Seeing the lush crops, Wang Bo was in a good mood.

But the most valuable part of the farm wasn’t the crops—it was the fruit, especially white cherries.

One night in early May, just as Wang Bo was about to sleep, he received a call from Motak, the farm manager, saying someone was stealing white cherries.

Hearing this, Wang Bo immediately called his staff and rushed to the cherry orchard in a frenzy.

The thief was quick. When Wang Bo reviewed the area using the sandbox simulation, the thief was already gone. No alarms had been triggered, suggesting the thief might not even be human.

Wang Bo brought Atulu and others to the orchard. The night was deep, the moonlight like water, and looking over the whole cherry field, he said, “I remember in our hometown, cherries are harvested in April and May.”

Atulu replied, “Yeah, isn’t it April–May now?”

Juan assistant gave him a side-eye. “Boss’s hometown is in the Northern Hemisphere; their April–May is spring. Here, it’s autumn.”

Wang Bo nodded. Indeed, it was unusual—white cherries ripening in autumn—but it depended on the planting schedule.

He was growing Rainier white cherries, a fruit almost globally renowned in high-end markets.

New Zealand’s white cherry yield wasn’t high. Because they are sweet and crisp, their skin is fragile. During picking and transport, they are easily damaged, leading to blemishes that lower their value.

Because of this, flawless New Zealand white cherries could be sold by the piece in some countries and regions—a testament to their high value.

The low yield was mainly due to strict growing requirements.

New Zealand has six soil types: brown, dark brown, black, gray, dark gray, and forest soil. White cherries thrive in forest soil, which is rare in cultivated farmland, so suitable land is limited.

Of course, white cherries can survive in ordinary soil, but the yield is low, and the fruit tends to be substandard, less sweet and juicy.

Wang Bo’s farm was an exception. The white cherries grew very well, and because they were transplanted trees already in fruiting stage, they bore fruit the first year after planting.

He had bought these cherry trees at a low price. The previous owner didn’t understand their delicacy, only seeing profit. After a few years, he had invested without gain. Wang Bo, planning to grow cherries last year, took over the investment.

This year, the cherries were thriving, which attracted the thieves.

The orchard was fenced, but still couldn’t prevent theft. Near the southwest corner, a section of cherry trees had been damaged.

Inspecting the area, Wang Bo asked Motak, “Can’t you see the thief on the cameras?”

Motak smiled wryly. “Our cameras only cover the farm gate and a few hidden spots, not this area.”

Although not many cherries were stolen, they were expensive; even a small loss was painful.

Wang Bo said, “I’ll leave Zhuang Ding here to help guard the orchard. There shouldn’t be any more problems, right?”

At the mention of bringing the dog, Motak’s eyes lit up. “Of course, of course, boss. Definitely no problem.”

Wang Bo was very concerned about these cherries. If the queen weren’t pregnant, he might have brought her along too.

The next morning, before heading to work, Wang Bo brought the dog to the orchard. He checked the corner trees and saw that even fewer cherries were left.

This was unusual. He became alert. Could Motak or one of his farmhands be involved? He clearly remembered that last night, these trees had more fruit.

He let the dog out, and it twitched its nose before circling the orchard. Wang Bo thought it had found something and waited patiently.

After a while, seeing nothing, he lost patience and prepared to leave for work.

As he turned, the dog suddenly barked and ran toward the nearby sweet corn field beside the orchard.

Wang Bo glared. The dog had noticed something earlier but had waited, wanting him to linger longer. Now, seeing him leave, it was showing them its discovery.

The white cherry trees weren’t tall, and the adjacent corn was even shorter. The dog darted in, and several plump wild birds burst out.

There were two types: one larger, about half a meter long, with beautiful purple feathers, red beak, top of head, and legs, running very fast on strong legs.

The other type was smaller, grayish-brown, quick and agile, darting between trees and corn, making them hard for the dog to catch.

Seeing the birds, Wang Bo shook his head helplessly. “Damn it… could these be the thieves stealing the white cherries? Purple swamphens!”