Chapter 56: Failed to harm others, but ended up harming yourself
Chen Dafu nodded, "Sure! I took a look around and found rat holes and rat droppings all over the eight acres of land."
"The weird thing is, everyone else is fine, except us."
Gu Xixi pondered, "Did you encounter mice in the fields the past two days?"
Chen Dafu said, "I just said it was strange because I have never seen it before."
"I have been farming for half my life, and what I hate most is mice. Whenever I see one, I kill it. How can I wait for so many to suddenly appear in the field?"
Gu Xixi pondered and said, "I know Uncle Chen is careful."
"I feel like these rats didn't come here on their own, but rather someone released them with malicious intent."
"What?!" Chen Dafu was stunned.
He shouted, "Who is so wicked as to release rats into someone else's field? Isn't he afraid that the water will wash away his ancestors' graves and that his son will be born without an anus?!"
Gu Xixi motioned for him to keep his voice down, "We don't know who did it yet, so for now, just you and I know about it, don't shout it out."
Chen Dafu shut up obediently, "Boss, do you want to go take a look now?"
Gu Xixi nodded, "Let's go."
After walking around, I found that the rat holes were all in the fields near the roadside.
If there is a rat infestation, they will cause damage everywhere without any pattern.
This further confirmed Gu Xixi's guess.
Chen Dafu saw the damaged corn and gnashed his teeth in pain. "I just asked them to pour water into the rat hole to see if they could drive the rat out and catch it."
"It's a pity to lose all these corns. If I knew who did it, I would kill him..."
Gu Xixi comforted him, "Fortunately you discovered it in time, this loss can be ignored."
Chen Dafu nodded and said bitterly, "We must solve them all today."
The hired workers put aside their farm work for the time being and focused on dealing with the rats.
Some even gave away their own rations as bait, vowing to end the battle completely before dark.
Gu Xixi went home and told Mu Nanzhao about this.
Mu Nanzhao went out immediately and did not come back until after lunch time.
He took a sip of water and said, "As you expected, Gu Tiezhu went to Shitou Village yesterday morning."
"After he left, someone noticed that one of the bags containing rats was missing, but no one paid much attention to it."
Gu Xixi sneered, "After all, who else would bring such dirty things to his own village except him?"
"He only cared about revenge against me. Didn't he think that doing so would hurt others and himself?"
Mu Nanzhao said indifferently, "How could he think so much? Unless..."
His eyes moved and met Gu Xixi's gaze.
There was no need for words at this moment to know that they were thinking the same thing.
At sunset, Chen Dafu brought good news, "We caught all 25 mice in total, and filled up the holes."
"We were afraid that some might have slipped through the net, so we searched back and forth several times to make sure there was not a single one left."
Fortunately, Gu Tiezhu was guilty at the time and only took away so many mice.
Eight young and strong laborers worked together to siege the evil for a whole day and finally eliminated the evil.
Chen Dafu put down a bag and said, "Boss, this is what you wanted."
He grinned, somewhat proudly, "I specifically picked the ten fattest and strongest ones."
Gu Xixi also smiled and said, "Thank you for your help. I will use them to test the medicine tonight."
A night passed.
The early morning tranquility of Huachidu Village was broken by a woman's shrill scream.
Aunt Zhang went to the fields to pick vegetables and brought back a piece of news that was a little scary but very gratifying.
"There's a rat in Gu Laosan's house! Just before dawn!"
First, when Gu Tiezhu was sleeping soundly, a fat rat fell from the beam and hit his crotch.
Then the hens in the chicken coop screamed and flapped their wings, and flew around in confusion because they were bitten by the mice.
Gu Laosan and his wife were awakened by their son's roar and the crowing of a rooster. When they came out to check, they were so frightened by the scene that they lost two of their three souls.
Gu Tiezhu had his crotch bitten by a rat and he fell and fainted as soon as he ran out of the house.
There were four hens in the chicken coop. Three of them were bitten badly and one was frightened to death.
What was even more terrifying was that the eyes of those rebellious rats suddenly bulged out and blood spurted out of their mouths and noses.
Liu screamed and fell to the ground, but did not lose consciousness as she wished.
All they could do was watch the mice fall to the ground and twitch, their deaths horribly.
It is said that it was Gu Laosan who reacted first and stumbled to the granary.
When he saw that one third of the wheat had been eaten and destroyed by mice, he fainted on the spot. He was later carried out by several neighbors.
Aunt Zhang didn't notice when she said that, but except for her, the other three people in the family didn't look surprised.
Gu Xixi asked, "How is Gu Tiezhu?"
Aunt Zhang waved her hand. "It's nothing. She's just crazy."
Gu Xixi was stunned. They were all crazy, and yet nothing happened?
Aunt Zhang couldn't help laughing and said, "Speaking of this, it's really a great relief."
"When Lao Qian rushed to his house, Gu Tiezhu woke up and pointed at Lao Qian and said it was a rat."
"I was still crying and laughing and shouting, 'I am no longer afraid to release the mouse, please forgive me.'"
"Old Qian saw that Gu Tiezhu was going crazy, so he called Gu Laosan and his wife aside with a stern face and said that his family had brought this disaster upon themselves."
"Someone heard that Gu Tiezhu stole a bag of mice from a neighboring village. Old Qian went to see the head of Shitou Village this morning. We were originally talking about other things, but this happened to come up."
Aunt Zhang shook her head and sighed, "Why is Gu Tiezhu so hard on his own family?"
"He must have gone crazy a long time ago. No wonder Third Gu fainted after knowing the truth. Who can stand having such a son..."
Mu Nanzhao suddenly said calmly, "The mice are all in his house. Didn't they run outside?"
Aunt Zhang thought for a moment and said, "Well, I haven't heard anyone say they saw a dead mouse on the road."
Mu Nanzhao nodded slightly, his expression relaxed.
It seems that the locations he chose last night were very suitable.
The old doctor asked, "Did all the mice die after the commotion?"
"Yes." Aunt Zhang asked in confusion, "Why are you suddenly so concerned about his family's affairs?"
Gu Xixi and the old doctor waved their hands in unison.
"No, no, I'm just curious."
Mu Nanzhao lowered his head and flipped through the book, looking very upright.
In order to get revenge last night, Gu Xixi asked an old doctor and got a poison that can make mice go crazy first and then die on the spot after one stick of incense.
After all, it was not easy to catch the mouse, and she didn't want it to run around and harm innocent people.
It turns out that this medicine does work.
Gu Xixi wanted to ask the old doctor for some more, "Master..."
As soon as he opened his mouth, he was rejected, "No, do you know how many precious herbs I used to make this?"
"Besides, it is originally a medicinal ingredient used to save lives."
"I made an exception last night and let you poison the rat, but as a master, I can't stand by and watch others bully you!"
Gu Xixi had to give up the idea and said, "Master, you treat me the best. I will definitely learn how to make medicine from you."
Gu Tiezhu became crazy and stupid, and could no longer have any bad intentions.
Gu Laosan also fell ill.
In addition, he was too embarrassed to see anyone because his son had done such a shameful thing, and even refused visits from neighbors.
Only Liu wandered around the village, telling everyone she met that the rats were brought by Gu Xixi and Chen Fang.
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