Chapter 143 Rats

Recently, I've established a stable daily routine: I get up in the morning to feed the pigs and chickens, let the chickens roam freely in their enclosure, cut grass to feed the rabbits, and then go up the mountain with a basket to pick mushrooms.

I've been picking morel mushrooms for several days now, and I've dried quite a few of them, big and small, in the yard. I've also almost completely picked them off the nearby mountains.

I'll spare the rest and not harvest any more. Firstly, this is enough to eat, and secondly, I want to save some spawn for next year.

Even without picking morel mushrooms, my hands were still itchy, so I carried my basket and headed towards the pine forest.

We also picked chicken leg mushrooms, pear mushrooms, and small gray mushrooms one after another.

The name "Little Gray Mushroom" was given to me by my mother. She used to like to take me up the mountain to pick little gray mushrooms and stir-fry them with meat when we got home.

Both the caps and stems of the small gray mushrooms are crunchy when cooked, and they taste delicious after absorbing the aroma of lard.

Today I harvested a whole basket of mixed mushrooms, all of which are the kinds I recognize, so I just put them together without sorting them.

Back home, I hung the mushrooms out to dry in the yard as usual, then picked out the small gray mushrooms to take back inside for cooking.

Wash the small gray mushrooms, stir-fry them with cured meat, and they're ready to serve in no time.

The small gray mushrooms have a crisp texture and are full of the aroma of cured meat, making them extremely delicious with rice.

After dinner, while washing dishes in the kitchen, I suddenly noticed a puddle of rice scattered next to the rice bag.

I was thinking that it must be Xiao Gua or Xiao San or Xiao Si who were up to this. How dare they rummage around near the rice bag? They must be itching for trouble.

I squatted down to collect the rice into a bowl, intending to feed the chickens, but suddenly realized something was wrong.

The noodles on the outside weren't dug out by a dog; they leaked out from inside a broken rice bag.

this……

Could it be...?

A feeling of nausea welled up from the bottom of my heart.

Damn it! There must be a mouse in there!

I didn't notice this pile of rice when I was cleaning the kitchen yesterday; it must have been brought in just the last couple of days.

The rice and flour bags were always sealed tightly, and mice eat rice from the bottom up, so the rice I ate today was definitely not touched by mice.

Only by repeatedly reassuring myself in this way can I suppress the nausea rising in my throat.

Besides the half-eaten bag of rice, there's half a bag of wheat flour, two bags of millet, and two bags of buckwheat flour in the kitchen.

I was going to take them out one by one to check which ones had been damaged, but I didn't dare to make any rash moves, for fear that the rats would dart out and run into other places.

I shouted Xiao Di and Xiao Gua's names from the gate of the courtyard. A little while later, I saw Xiao Gua running home triumphantly from a distance.

His expression and posture seemed to say, "I'm back, I've come to save you."

After calling all four dogs to the kitchen, closing the front and back doors, the bathroom and bedroom doors, and blocking the two stove openings, I started rummaging through drawers and cabinets looking for mice.

Besides rice and flour, there aren't many other things in the kitchen; most vegetables and meats are kept in the refrigerator.

No traces of mice were found when the two bags of millet were moved, and both bags of millet were intact.

Then, I carefully moved a bag of buckwheat noodles aside. This bag of buckwheat noodles was also intact, but Xiao Gua reacted.

After moving the bag of flour, Xiao Gua kept his nose close to the ground, sniffing at something; he must have smelled a mouse.

I have a feeling that when I move the next bag of buckwheat noodles, I'll definitely find a mouse.

Having prepared myself mentally, I opened the bag of buckwheat noodles, only to find nothing underneath. Just as I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, I felt a palm-sized gray shadow crawl up the strap onto my arm and then onto my back.

"ah!!!!"

This was probably the highest note I've ever reached in my life. I immediately got goosebumps all over and started jumping around on the ground like crazy.

Oh no, this is really bad. A disgusting rat, carrying viruses and bacteria, crawled onto me.

I jumped around on the ground a lot, and finally the mouse was shaken to the ground and started scurrying around.

I am currently in a very unstable emotional state and have forgotten how to use the tools.

I yelled loudly at Little Melon, telling it to go catch the mouse.

Little Gua is usually unreliable, but he doesn't let us down when it matters. He wasn't scared silly by my screams, but instead chased after the mouse.

The situation inside the house was extremely tense, as a rat was causing chaos among the four dogs and one person.

Perhaps one dog can catch the mouse, but they bump into each other and fall over, and in the end, neither of them catches the mouse.

Finally, the big gray rat hid in the gap between the water tank and the wall.

At this point, I finally came to my senses, shone the flashlight into the crack of the water tank, picked up the fire poker, aimed at the direction of the rat, and poked it out.

This rat is very clever. Even if I poke around everywhere, it doesn't move and just hides in that corner.

Seeing that it wasn't moving, I got anxious and had no choice but to poke it hard in the belly. The mouse was hurt and tried to run away, but was caught by Xiaogua in one bite.

After catching the mouse, Little Melon looked bewildered, unsure of what to do with it.

"Don't let go! Please don't let go of Xiaogua!"

Afraid that Xiao Gua would put the mouse on the ground again, she tried to calm Xiao Gua down while frantically searching for a bag on the cupboard.

With trembling hands, I held the bag up to Xiaogua, hoping it would spit the mouse in. I had no idea whether the mouse would escape once it was in the plastic bag.

Little Gua suddenly made a "If I don't go to hell, who will?" expression, closed its eyes tightly, and with a soft "snap," it bit off the mouse's neck.

Then it ran out with the mouse in its mouth, and the little ones followed it out as if watching the fun.

It threw the dead rat in the yard, and seeing that I didn't scold it, it then smashed its head open and ate it.

My heart was struck by a thousand blows. It ate the disgusting rat. How could a dog eat a rat?

When the third and fourth mistresses came forward and joined in, sharing the large rat, I comforted myself by accepting it.

Domestic cats can eat mice, and it's normal for dogs to eat mice too. Go ahead and eat them; once they've eaten, the house will be peaceful.

After the dogs finished eating the rats, they were called into the kitchen, and then the grain was moved and inspected.

What if there's more than one mouse in the kitchen? The dogs, having tasted the sweetness of the food, started smashing things, waiting for the second mouse to appear.

The remaining half-bag of flour and some boxes on the empty ground showed no signs of rats. The only thing that had been chewed by rats was the half-bag of rice.

I guess this mouse had just run into the house and eaten a few mouthfuls of rice before I caught it. It was just bad luck; it insisted on biting the rice bag outside. It had only enjoyed a day of peace and quiet before it met its end in the dog's mouth.

Rice that has been chewed by rats is no good; take it directly to the yard and keep it to feed the chickens.

The kitchen was already quite clean, but now it needs to be tidied up again.

From now on, the kitchen must be kept completely visible, otherwise it will easily attract rats and cockroaches.

Wipe down all the kitchen utensils on the shelves, and throw away the dried vegetables that don't look good anymore.