Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 371

After watching the commotion, He Yuzhu left the backyard and went to the front to tell his family what had happened.

He Yushui said, "I've heard about this from others, and they all say this method is very good. The rats can even bite their own children to death, and not only that, they will also run to other rat holes and bite other rats."

He Yuzhu said, "There are a lot of bacteria on those rats. You shouldn't do that. It's easy to get diseases when you catch rats, and some of them are very difficult to treat."

"Yes, I know about this. The teacher talked about it. He said that there is a plague that is spread by rats."

Actually, there were other ways to catch mice besides using mousetraps and rat poison at this time, because He Yuzhu had also seen various other methods during this period.

Some people directly raid the rat's nest, which is simple; just take a shovel and dig.

There are also methods of catching mice using sand tanks. Some food is placed at the bottom of the sand tank to attract mice. After the mice climb up the sand tank, they can only climb down the inner wall and can no longer climb up.

At first, He Yuzhu thought there were no sticky mouse traps at that time, but later he saw that ink was used to stick mice. However, very few people used this method, since ink was not easy to obtain.

There was also the method of using traps to catch mice, which was derived from the method of catching rabbits in the mountains. There was also the method of using bowls, buckets and basins to trap mice. It can be said that everyone racked their brains to catch mice, and everyone had to complete the task of catching 5 mice per household.

The Jia family in the west wing were all worried. Jia Dongxu used his job to make several mousetraps, but after so much time, they hadn't caught a single mouse.

Old Mrs. Zhang would curse whenever she thought about it: "There were so many rats before, how many years didn't the clothes get ruined by them? No matter how many times we set traps, we couldn't catch a single one, and we couldn't hear the rats making any noise."

Qin Huairu said, "Is it because the grain we're using isn't good enough to attract rats?"

"Who knows!"

Jia Dongxu said worriedly, "We haven't caught a single mouse at Master's house either. How are we going to finish our task this month?"

Qin Huairu sighed; nothing in her life was going right.

In the past two years, He Yuzhu has stopped causing trouble for his own family. He had just enjoyed a few good days, but he couldn't even catch mice. He felt like he was struggling to make ends meet.

If He Yuzhu knew, he would only applaud. Of course, he also knew that he was just giving them a small obstacle. If there were no rats in the house, they could go to other places to get them.

There's always a way to get a few more mice.

The next day at work, Director Shen approached He Yuzhu and said, "The neighborhood committee is asking our factory to establish a youth rat-catching team."

"The Youth Rat-Catching Team?" He Yuzhu asked rhetorically.

Director Shen nodded and said, "Yes, this matter should originally be managed by the street office, but our street office is different, so there are not many young people unemployed at home."

He Yuzhu felt very proud when he said this, because he had provided all the machinery and equipment needed for the factories on the street.

Without He Yuzhu, there would still be quite a few unemployed youths on the streets.

"What to do?"

Factory Director Shen said, "We will select 30 young people from the factory, and they will take turns to go to the front line of eliminating rats."

He Yuzhu nodded and said, "No problem, just let those apprentices go."

In recent years, there have been various movements, the most common of which is the militia. There is a militia organization in the factory, and they have to undergo 30 days of off-the-job training every year.

You can train for 30 days at once or divide it into several sessions.

The training of the militia is similar to that of soldiers enlisting in the army, including practicing drills, exercises, and shooting.

Chapter 271 Fighting

The factory now has a separate weapons room containing rifles, submachine guns, grenades, and other weapons.

He Yuzhu often took the gun and fired a few shots to satisfy his urge to shoot.

Gun control is not strict; you can take them out freely as long as you don't lose them. As for ammunition, there's no limit; you can just leave several boxes of ammunition on the street and fire them all without any problem.

In addition to the militia, there was also the "learning agriculture and learning industry" program. This meant that students had to visit and intern in factories, and workers also had to learn agriculture. During the busy farming season, workers were organized to go to the countryside to help out. Everyone had certain tasks.

These are just the two regular activities; there are also some other ad-hoc activities, which I won't go into detail about.

This youth rat-catching team was a temporary activity; the factory had to cooperate unconditionally whenever the neighborhood requested it.

The two discussed it and then asked the workshop director and apprentices to inform them. They selected 30 people and submitted the list.

Two days later, the young people were notified to attend a meeting to learn methods for catching rats and eliminating pests.

These people were trained by the street organization and then sent outside the city to catch rats.

A team is divided into several groups of two or three people each, and they work separately to see who catches the most. The results are posted every day, and those who do well are rewarded while those who lag behind are criticized.

Rats are most easily found in untouched fields, on slopes along the edges of fields, in stacks of firewood, and in threshing grounds.

The diameter of a mouse hole is about 2 to 3 centimeters. The mouse stretches horizontally about one foot underground, so you should check if there are any other holes around before digging a mouse hole.

During the digging process, pay attention to observation. Some rat holes are abandoned. If you find rat droppings or bones, you can be sure that there are rats inside. When digging, keep an eye on the direction of the hole and be aware that there may be connected holes.

These are all stories that can be heard from the team members after they return from the rat-catching mission. Every household was mobilized, and the youth rat-catching team also launched a surprise attack.

The efforts made throughout the spring have yielded fruitful results; the streets received a large number of disinfectant rat tails, which were then sent to the district.

As the number of rats dwindles, some families have resorted to buying rat tails to fulfill their quotas, which has boosted the pigeon market.

The so-called pigeon market is not a place to sell pigeons, but rather a place to buy and sell illegal goods.

Since the restrictions on the circulation and trade of grain were imposed in previous years, restrictions have also been placed on oilseeds and cloth, with each household being given a ration.

This has led to many people having money but being unable to buy things, which in turn has contributed to the formation of the pigeon market.

He Yuzhu knew that there was an underground market in an alley near Yandaixie Street.

This place was originally a place to sell secondhand goods, but later people also secretly sold grain and oil here.

As pest control efforts progressed, some families, unable to catch mice, resorted to buying them.

The large number of buyers has given rise to many sellers who, after completing their household quotas, will sell any extra rat tails they have.

It was time to hand over the rat tails again. After dinner, He Yuzhu went to the pigeon market. Of course, he didn't buy the tails that others had already prepared. Instead, he walked around the market and bought two official hat chairs made of huanghuali wood.

After leaving the market, they went into the storage space, clapped their hands, and walked back.

Back in the alley, we went into Xu Zhaodi's house first. Once inside, we saw that only Xu Xiaomei was there, so we asked, "Is your sister working the night shift?"

"Yes, I've been working the night shift lately."

Since Xu Xiaomei started working, she hasn't had time to take care of Zhaodi's child, so she asked Xu Damao's mother to take care of him. Now, Xu Xiaomei is home alone.

He Yuzhu said, "I've submitted your sister's mouse-catching task for this month. Tell her not to submit it again later."

"Well, I see."

After He Yuzhu finished speaking, he didn't rush to leave. He went inside to wash his hands, poured himself a cup of tea, and drank it. Xu Xiaomei stayed by his side, cleaning with a feather duster.

He Yuzhu put down his teacup and walked to her side. Xu Xiaomei tried to dodge, but He Yuzhu grabbed her wrist and then put his other hand around her waist, hugging her from behind.

He lowered his head and rested it on her fragrant shoulder, gently blowing on her delicate earlobe, and asked, "Have you missed me lately?"

Xu Xiaomei's fair face quickly turned rosy, even her earlobes became translucent. She struggled violently and shouted:

"Who wants to see you, you scoundrel?"

"Where did I act like a hooligan?"

"Then why are you hugging me?"

"I used to hug you like this when we were little, we even slept in the same bed with our bare bottoms on!"

When I was very young, after taking a bath in the summer, we would cool off outdoors and run around the yard naked, which was normal.

As for whether the two slept in the same bed, Xu Xiaomei couldn't remember, and said shyly:

"You're talking nonsense. Who sleeps naked with you?"

"You, and your sister, the three of us were all naked, and I was sleeping in the middle, cuddling together."

"Pah, you filthy scoundrel, all you know how to do is make up these lies to fool me."

Xu Xiaomei was extremely shy. She had been hugged and kissed by He Yuzhu before, but they had all let go after only a short time.

Today the environment is different. It's just the two of them at home, and thinking that he might do something bad, Xu Xiaomei doesn't want to pretend to be hugged anymore.

But at this moment, He Yuzhu had already begun his operation.

He leaned forward and kissed Xu Xiaomei's earlobe, held it in his mouth, gently flicked it with his teeth, and then kissed his way down her cheek.

A ripple of emotion stirred within Xu Xiaomei, and she felt as if all her strength had been drained from her body, so she leaned softly against He Yuzhu's chest.

Then He Yuzhu kissed her lips, and she became dizzy, unable to tell which way was which, and didn't know where she was.

Xu Xiaomei suddenly felt a chill and realized that He Yuzhu had unbuttoned two buttons on her shirt. One of his large hands had reached in through the opening and was exploring the area as he headed towards the higher ground.

"No...I don't want to..."

Xu Xiaomei could no longer speak in complete sentences, and reached out to press.

He Yuzhu continued kissing, and Xu Xiaomei's fingers on her wrist had little strength and could not stop He Yuzhu from continuing.

He Yuzhu quickly achieved his set goal.

We successfully reached the top of the mountain.

This time was different from before. Before, it was just hugging and kissing occasionally.

Today marks a significant breakthrough; we successfully summited the mountain and secured the high ground, with only the final, crucial warehouse remaining.

He Yuzhu was pleased, but he didn't intend to conquer any cities or territories. He just wanted to consolidate his position. But at that moment, he suddenly heard a noise outside.

He Yuzhu was startled and quickly used his spiritual power to check. The courtyard gate had been pushed open and Xu Damao had walked in.