In the afternoon, Xiao Tian went with Old Man Chen and the others to buy grain, and also used all their extra money to buy grain. He was worried that his parents would try to save money and buy bad grain, otherwise they would really have to starve in the future.
At the Chen family home, Chen Kai was helping Chen Nong and his group steal rice bran and chaff from their own home.
The kids were quite the action-takers; they decided to do it right away and tried to lure the mouse out with food.
Chen Kai, who loves to play, found it quite interesting and joined in the fun.
Xiao Bao grabbed the rice husks with both hands and ran outside, panting as he placed the husks next to the mousetrap.
Chen Kai, keeping watch, said, "Xiao Bao, go get a bag and put it in there. Look, it's all on the ground. My mom will find it later."
Xiao Bao said breathlessly, "Uncle, I was just too nervous. Aunt is nearby."
Just then, Chen Nong came running over with a wooden spoon in his hand, muttering, "This should be enough!"
This idiot doesn't realize that his scoop has exposed them. There's suddenly a hole in the rice bran in the basket. Does he think Old Chen's wife is blind?
This silly child, you scooped it up, but after you finished, you didn't even try to cover it up, or at least smooth out the hole.
Leaving a hole there clearly indicates that something is missing and someone has stolen it.
Just as Chen Nong ran over, Chen Laoda's wife stormed over angrily with a bamboo stick in her hand.
Chen's eldest daughter-in-law angrily shouted, "You bunch of little brats, do you want a beating? Why aren't you playing with the mud? What are you doing playing with rice bran!"
Chen Nong and his group were so frightened that they ran around in all directions.
Before long, all the other kids except Chen Kai were beaten up.
"Waaaaah..."
"Waaaaah..."
Chen's eldest daughter-in-law looked at the rice bran on the ground with heartache and said angrily, "What are you crying about! There's enough rice bran for the chickens at home, and look what you've wasted!"
Actually, Chen's wife didn't hit them hard; she just lightly slapped their bottoms a few times. Luckily, Zhou was out buying grain; if she had been home, those little rascals would have definitely gotten a good beating.
Chen Kai laughed and said, "Sister-in-law, don't be angry. We can just chase the chicken over to eat the rice bran that fell down later."
Chen's eldest daughter-in-law looked at the children and scolded them, "You're not allowed to play with rice bran anymore. If you do, I'll make you eat rice bran!"
The children sobbed, "We don't want to play anymore, we'll never play again."
After Chen Laoda's wife left.
The children looked at Chen Kai with pitiful expressions, seeking comfort.
"Uncle~"
"Little Uncle~"
"Cousin-in-law~"
Chen Kai looked at them and said with a smile, "Alright, don't be sad, I'll take you to catch field mice."
Xiao Bao asked curiously, "Uncle, how do you catch field mice? Do you have to dig up their burrows? But their burrows are in the ground, so you can't just dig them up, or they'll damage the crops."
Chen Kai said, "We don't need to dig holes. We can catch field mice by making some mousetraps. Let's go find my second brother to make some mousetraps."
Chen Kai wanted his second brother to make a bamboo tube mousetrap.
It is made from a bamboo tube slightly larger than a field mouse, long bamboo strips, short bamboo strips, and a rope.
Cut off one node of the bamboo tube with a saw, leaving the other node intact. Make a small opening above the end where the node was removed to place the trigger, and poke a small opening in the center of the other end with a knife to place a long bamboo strip.
The bamboo strip should be about half a meter long and have sufficient elasticity. This is because the force used to tether the mouse comes from this bamboo strip. Smooth the bamboo strip and carve a small groove at one end for attaching the string.
The length of the short bamboo strip should be slightly longer than the radius of the bamboo tube to ensure that the switch is triggered when a mouse crawls inside. Make a slit at one end of the short bamboo strip to secure it to the edge of the opening at the top of the bamboo tube. Tie a long rope to the slit end as shown in the picture, making sure it is securely tied, with the loop matching the size of the bamboo tube.
Assemble long bamboo strips, short bamboo strips, a bamboo tube, and string. Place some food that field mice like inside the bamboo tube, set the mechanism, and place it in an area where field mice frequently appear. When a field mouse crawls into the bamboo tube to eat, it will trigger the mechanism and be trapped at the opening of the tube. As long as the long bamboo strip is elastic enough, it won't be able to escape!
There will be no harvest this year, so they need to stock up on more food.
Raise some field mice, make them into dried field mice, and save them for when there's nothing else to eat.
After Chen Lao Er made more than a dozen mousetraps for them, Chen Lao Die and the others also returned with the grain.
"Those heartless bastards! Grain prices have gone up again in just a few days! The government should have executed those unscrupulous merchants last time. Confiscating their property was too lenient. Now they're continuing to harm people!"
Before they even entered the courtyard, Chen Kai and the others could hear Zhou Shi cursing from a great distance.
Xiao Tian had already automatically blocked out his grandma's voice.
After his grandmother bought the grain, she has been cursing and swearing all the way from the town until now, without stopping.
They should have just bought the grain honestly last time. Now they've wasted a lot of money, and they're blaming the grain seller for all the mistakes. They don't even realize they were wrong too.
Last time, when the authorities cracked down, they thoroughly investigated many merchants and landlords, and all of their homes were confiscated. No matter how much they begged and pleaded, there was no room for negotiation.
The higher-ups are starting to line their own pockets; it seems the world is really going to descend into chaos!
On the oxcart, everyone looked worried. Chen Kai couldn't help but feel a headache when he saw them. Was it really necessary to be like this? It was just a one-cent increase in price, which meant spending more money on grain. And this was all their own doing.
Xiao Bao's attention was completely focused on the baby donkey.
Wow! So cute, so adorable!
Xiao Bao couldn't contain himself any longer and excitedly ran over to the donkey baby.
When the baby donkey saw a strange child running towards it, it was so frightened that it quickly hid under its mother's belly and then poked its head out to look at the baby curiously.
Little Bao also crawled under the donkey's belly and happily hugged the baby donkey to play.
Chen Kai was completely charmed by the adorable little donkey; it was just too cute!
The baby donkey is so tiny, with gray fur all over its body and a few white patches on its belly, like embroidered flowers. Its two ears stand up straight, and its four hooves are round. It looks just like a fluffy little donkey toy, which is especially cute.
Chen Kai said happily, "Dad, you even bought a donkey!"
Old Man Chen laughed and said, "Yes, my good son. Considering that we need to increase our transportation, I bought two donkeys, one male and one female. The female just gave birth to a calf, and the calf is not even a month old yet. They didn't cost much, so I bought them together."
Their family needs to haul goods, deliver supplies, collect wild berries, and so on. Their two oxcarts are simply not enough.
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