Chapter 12 Orange Peel, Are You a Devil?

Seeing that even Lian Hemeng was at a loss, everyone was extremely nervous.

Ning Jia squatted down to watch the battle. Seeing Bai Su frown, she said in a cold voice:

"The previous ones were quickly driven away by He Meng, so it seems that this gray cat is indeed brave."

It seems that He Meng also realized this, and dared not waste any more time with the gray cat. Seizing the opportunity, he took the initiative to attack, lightly leaping up and thrusting his spear into the gray cat's body.

That prick must have been quite severe; the gray cat roared in pain and swatted He Meng a long way away with its paw, sending him crashing into the bushes...

"Lord Ningjia, please take care of He Meng."

Bai Su's expression hardened, and he couldn't help but rush forward with his spear. Before he could reach the gray cat, a slender little figure suddenly appeared, holding a bow and arrow and shooting... a bunch of orange peels at the gray cat.

"Meow!"

Upon smelling the strong orange scent, the gray cat instinctively took a step back. The other cat pressed on, shooting out even more orange peels. Under the barrage of orange peels, the gray cat quickly tucked its tail between its legs and fled the small garden.

With the stray cat gone, the atmosphere in the garden changed, and the tranquility of the past was restored.

"Chieftain!" "Chieftain Canglan!" "The Chieftain has arrived!"

Everyone looked with surprise and delight at the person who had just repelled the gray cat, who was none other than the clan leader, Cang Lan.

Ning Jia was even more impressed. She secretly searched on her phone and found out that cats really hate orange peels, perfume, and strong-smelling spices. To put it bluntly, throwing an orange peel at a cat is about the same as throwing a pile of poop at a human (just kidding).

Chief Canglan truly lived up to his reputation as the wise leader of the Lilliputians; he chased away the stray cats with minimal effort.

"Oh right, He Meng..."

Ning Jia dropped the branch in her hand and quickly ran to the edge of the bushes ahead. After rummaging around for a while, she finally pulled the unconscious He Meng out of the bushes.

She carefully cradled He Meng's body in her hands, and immediately felt a weight in her palm. "This guy, though small in stature, is quite sturdy."

After Canglan gave He Meng a quick check-up, Ning Jia noticed that He Meng was still unconscious and became worried. "Clan leader, is He Meng alright?"

Cang Lan remained calm and gave Bai Su a wink. Bai Su immediately said:

"Don't worry, if this guy doesn't wake up, I'll feed him some devil's grass."

"Bai Su, are you a devil?!"

He Meng, who had been in a deep sleep, suddenly "came back to life," shouting and then sprang to her feet.

Ning Jia: ? ? ?

Seeing Ning Jia's shocked expression, He Meng scratched her head sheepishly, "Well, lying in the grass was just so comfortable, so I took a nap..."

In a state of utter speechlessness, Ning Jia suddenly recalled what had happened in the park earlier:

She's still too naive!

How could someone who fell from such a tall tree and was unharmed possibly faint from a simple fall on flat ground?

But He Meng's smugness didn't last long, because she discovered that her treasured spear, which she never parted with, had been torn to pieces by five horses in the chaos of the battle after wounding a wildcat...

"Waaaaah... my spear..."

He Meng plopped down on the ground, tears streaming down her face, as if she were heartbroken not so much for losing her weapon, but for losing a lover.

"It's just a spear, is it really necessary to cry like this?" Ning Jia asked, puzzled.

This time, Bai Su did not mock He Meng. "In order to protect ourselves, our clan will receive a specially crafted personal weapon once we reach adulthood. No matter what happens, we will not discard it. He Meng's spear is no exception."

"Moreover," Canglan also spoke up, "making the spear itself is simple, but the spike at the tip of the spear is taken from a special tree in the forest, and there is currently no substitute available."

Quartz, also a warrior, said:

“As a warrior of the tribe, losing her weapon is like losing an arm. I can understand how she feels right now.”

So that's how it is. Ning Jia looked at He Meng, who was still wailing, and felt quite bad.

The next day, after Ning Jia gave the newly made energy drink to a colleague, she suddenly stared at a potted plant on his desk with a strange expression.

"How about it? My cactus is doing pretty well, isn't it?" my colleague said proudly.

"Hmm, it's pretty good," Ning Jia said, moving closer and producing a pair of tweezers from somewhere. "Can I remove a few thorns?"

colleague:? ? ?

"It's possible, but what do you need it for?"

Although I'm already used to this person's stingy nature, but... cactus thorns? What are they for? Surely not for eating...?

Ning Jia ignored her colleagues' inner grumbling and deftly removed many of the cactus thorns, making her colleagues feel sorry for her.

"Sis, go easy on me! Don't pluck my little ball all the way down!"

"Don't worry," Ning Jia waved the glass bottle in her hand at him, "I didn't pull out much."

Actually, she didn't know if these things would be useful. Even if they weren't, sticking these thorns at the entrance to the small garden should at least catch any invading stray cats, right?

The little people have been suffering from stray cats for a long time, and Ning Jia is also very anxious about it:

These stray cats have caused unrest among the little people, making them extremely wary. Everyone is busy defending against and fighting the stray cats all day long, and no one has the mood to make sachets anymore. This is really a very bad situation.

Not only the little people, but also other residents in the community have been discussing this in the owners' group recently:

[Why are there so many stray cats in our neighborhood lately? Some people are even feeding them right there in the stairwell, it's so dirty!]

Don't say that, cats are pitiful too.

【If you feel sorry for them, then take them home to keep them. The stairwell is a public area; did you get permission from anyone before feeding them?】

The property management company also spoke out:

[Dear residents, there is a designated feeding area for stray cats in the northeast corner of our community. Please feed the cats there and do not leave them to eat in public areas of the community to avoid scratching passersby or getting fleas. Thank you for your cooperation. [smiley face]]

The property management's approach is very considerate. [Thumbs up]

[A lot of stray cats have come here recently, more than a dozen, and a few of them are pregnant mothers. If they have kittens, there will be even more litters, and one feeding spot is simply not enough...]

[I don't care about anything else, just don't leave cat food in the hallway!!]

As they were talking, the residents' group chat started arguing again.

Ning Jia looked through the chat history and felt that the property management alone couldn't solve the problem, and it was impossible to get the kind people who provided the cat food to adopt all the stray cats. It was really a difficult situation.

But as long as this matter isn't resolved, the little people can't resume work, and Ning Jia won't be able to make any money. She's very anxious.

For the past few days, Ning Jia has been searching online for "how to solve the problem of stray cats in the neighborhood," but without much success.

Some people suggest that the property management should send the stray cats away, but catching so many cats at once is too difficult, and even if they are sent away, they may come back. Some communities have set up stray cat shelters to vaccinate and neuter stray cats, but these costs need to be paid by the residents, which is difficult for most communities to implement.

The good news is that after trying it out, He Meng was satisfied with the cactus thorns that Ning Jia gave her. Although the thorns were basically ruined after one prick, they were light, flexible, and plentiful. He Meng could even change a thorn every day if she wanted.

The little warrior, now armed again, quickly rallied, studying her cactus spikes daily and remaining brave as she chased away wildcats.

However, even the most patient Bai Su gradually grew tired of being bothered by stray cats.

That evening, Ning Jia brought a large bag of oranges to the small garden. When Bai Su saw the familiar orange-red color, she frowned slightly.

The carefree He Meng enthusiastically exclaimed "Wow!", "All the fruits today are the same color!"

"Of course!"

Ning Jia chuckled, opened the heavy bag, and introduced each item to the little ones:

"These are mandarin oranges, small and sweet, and you don't need to spit out the seeds, but they're a bit pricey right now; this is an ugly orange, don't be fooled by its bumpy appearance, it tastes very sweet; this is a honey orange, just a regular orange, you've had it several times before, it's sweet and sour; and this is a tangerine, you've had it before too, I won't say much... and finally this, kumquats, these are quite expensive, I only bought a few for you to change things up."

He Meng listened for a while and then felt something was wrong. "Isn't it all still about oranges?"

She peeked behind Ning Jia and asked, "There must be other fruits, right? There must be, right?"

Ning Jia shrugged. "That's all. Chief Canglan specifically told me to only bring oranges lately, otherwise how will we have enough orange peels?"

"Guoguo doesn't want to eat oranges, Guoguo wants to eat strawberries!"

A cute little person appeared out of nowhere, picked up a tangerine, smelled it, and then put it down with a look of disdain. Seeing that her carefully selected tangerine set meal was untouched, Ning Jia said sadly:

"How fickle people's hearts are! It hasn't been long, and you've become so picky! Before, you were happy to eat anything as long as there was fruit to eat, but now you're even picky about food!!"

"Moreover, Chief Canglan has put in a lot of effort. All these days, she has been working hard to collect orange peels, isn't it all for everyone's peace?"

The little people became embarrassed by Ning Jia's words, but Bai Su remained unmoved and suddenly asked:

"Lord Ningjia, since the world of giants is rich in resources, is there any special place to buy orange peels?"

Wait, right? Ning Jia was stunned for a moment. In modern society, there's nothing that's not available, and of course, there's plenty of orange peel. You can even buy orange-flavored spray, orange-flavored soda, orange-flavored chewing gum... cough cough, I'm getting off topic.

After Bai Su discovered the key point, the little people finally stopped eating oranges every day. Ning Jia directly ordered a cat repellent device online, a spray with a strong orange scent, and taught the little people how to use it.

Wow, that's amazing!

Guoguo was very interested in the spray nozzle and kept pressing it, while Ningjia and Canglan chatted about stray cats again.

"This cat-repelling gadget only treats the symptoms, not the root cause; we still need to address the problem at its source."

A glint of light flashed in Canglan's eyes. "You mean, to wipe out the enemy completely?"

Ning Jia almost choked on her water. "Of course not! Besides, these stray cats aren't easy to deal with. What if they hurt yourselves?"

Canglan stroked her chin and smiled, "Don't worry, my tribe has always been one of non-aggression, unless a wild cat harms my people..."

She smiled gently at Ning Jia and didn't continue speaking.

In the blink of an eye, almost half a month has passed. Although the stray cats have come to the small garden less often, as long as the little people are here, the wild cats will not let go of this "physical backup warehouse," and the situation is still not optimistic.

Ning Jia was filled with worry whenever she recalled what Cang Lan had said that day; even in her dreams, she saw scenes of the little people and wild cats fighting a bloody battle in the garden…

But she was not without options, so she could only buy more cat repellent spray and cat repellent pendants, and also get a lot of cactus thorns from her colleagues to continuously expand the defenses of the little people.

During her lunch break that day, Ning Jia, as usual, started searching for "how to solve the stray cat problem." As she scrolled through her videos, she stumbled upon one that caught her eye, and her eyes lit up:

Yes, problems that ordinary people can't solve should be handled by professionals.

Honestly, how come she only thought of this now!