Thinking about the disaster of rat plague in his mind, Lin Huowang couldn't sit still.
It just so happened that he had been planning to go to the team headquarters to get a hunting rifle today, so he drank the sticky porridge in the bowl in one gulp and walked out in a hurry.
"Awang! Wait a minute, it's cold outside. Put on this..."
Liu Rumeng chased after him and took out a small padded shawl for Lin Huowang to put on.
"Mengmeng, this...this is your clothes."
Lin Huowang recognized it at a glance. This shawl was brought back from the educated youth compound yesterday.
"What's mine is yours, what's mine is yours.
It's so cold outside. You're wearing too little.
I just altered this shawl and stuffed some cotton into it. It will keep you warmer when you wear it."
Liu Rumeng's gentle smile was like the sunshine in winter, warming Lin Huowang's whole body.
"Yeah! Thank you, Mengmeng.
It’s so warm, just like I’m hugging you all the time.”
Lin Huowang said with a smile, and Liu Rumeng immediately lowered her head in shame.
"I'll go to the team headquarters to get a hunting rifle and will be back soon."
For fear of scaring Liu Rumeng, Lin Huowang did not tell her about the impending rat plague.
After leaving the Lin family's dilapidated courtyard, Lin Huowang limped towards the team headquarters.
On snowy days, most villagers stay at home.
However, most people had a hard life, and food was limited, so they had to budget carefully.
Especially because of the poor harvest this year, the food rations allocated to each household have been reduced by more than 30%.
While the snow had not yet blocked the mountains, Lin Huowang saw many villagers going into the mountains to pick some wild vegetables and mushrooms.
If you are lucky, you may even find one or two frozen dead rabbits, squirrels or other small animals.
But most of the villagers only dared to wander around the outskirts of the dense forest on the back mountain. If they went further in, they would easily encounter wolves and wild boars.
Moreover, wild boars these days are scarier than wolves, because at least you have some self-defense weapons such as axes on you, which can hurt the wolves.
But if you encounter a wild boar, especially an adult wild boar king, its fur all over its body will be covered with a thick layer of mud armor.
Not to mention a rusty hatchet, even if a decent hunting rifle hit the wild boar, it probably wouldn't hurt it.
Every winter, many villagers encounter wild boars in the forest. They are eventually knocked into trees and are lucky if they only break a few ribs.
That is why, when Lin Huowang took on the responsibility of mountain guard, the villagers stared at him as if he were a fool or a dead person.
No normal person can do the job of a mountain guard, let alone a lame man who can't even walk steadily?
"Awang! Have you really thought it through?
Once you take this shotgun, there's no turning back.
Being a mountain guard is not something that ordinary people can do. "
At the production team headquarters, Deputy Team Leader Lin Shuisheng handed over the shotgun and gave some words of advice.
“Uncle Shuisheng, I’m sure.
But, aren’t these bullets a little too few?
Only three bullets, not enough! "
Taking the shotgun, Lin Huowang said a little speechlessly.
Not only was the shotgun old and broken, the bolt was covered in rust and there were only three bullets in it.
“I can’t give you more bullets. I’ll give you more when you run out of them.
As stipulated above, only these three shots are free.
If you want bullets later, you have to pay for them, five cents each."
Lin Shuisheng said, and then glanced at the captain Lin Jianguo next to him, and whispered: "Awang, it's not too late for you to regret now. I will help you talk to the captain."
"No! Uncle Shuisheng, just three shots!"
Lin Huowang also glanced at Lin Jianguo, then deliberately raised his voice and said:
"Oh, right! Uncle Shuisheng, I've seen a lot of rats walking around in the village in the last few days. I'm afraid there might be a rat plague!
Shouldn't our team make some preparations to deal with it?"
"Rat plague? Awang, you are overthinking it.
There are always mice every year! It's okay.
Besides, these mice are slithering around, and it’s winter, how can we prevent them?”
Deputy captain Lin Shuisheng did not take Lin Huowang's words seriously.
Lin Jianguo, who was standing by, stood up and sneered:
"Hey! Awang, you have become a mountain keeper.
You are not afraid of tigers or bears, but you are afraid of mice?"
"Captain Lin! I'm serious. We should be prepared for the worst.
We must find a way to protect the village granary first.
Then a warning was issued to the entire village, asking them to protect their own food supplies and prepare more firewood, pine wood, etc., to prevent rats from entering their homes.
It would be best to apply for some gasoline from the commune in the name of the production team, before the mountain is closed due to heavy snow, for use in killing rats.
It would be great if we could organize a militia to destroy rat nests with a lot of rats in advance."
Lin Huowang told Lin Jianguo very formally and seriously all the methods he had thought of on the way here.
Although Lin Jianguo had a grudge against him, Lin Huowang would not joke with the lives of all the villagers. He still hoped that he, as the production team leader, would take it seriously and prevent and control the rat plague as soon as possible.
However……
Lin Jianguo not only ignored it, but also treated it as a joke, laughing:
"You damn cripple! Are you the production team leader, or am I the team leader?
Do I need you to teach me how to do things? Are you scared like this just by a few mice?
They still use gasoline to kill rats. Do you know how precious gasoline is in the country?
Not to mention it’s so cold, even the mice are hiding in their nests for the winter.
Even if a rat plague really breaks out, what's so scary about it?
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