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墨書 Inktalez
Lin Dahe nodded and wrung out the water from his clothes. "I came to deliver the insoles."
Cui Xiaoman sneered, suddenly lowering her voice. "She is Zhou Liangzhang's cousin, rescued from the brothel, and specializes in matchmaking for wealth." She counted on her fingers. "Two years ago it was Liu the Blacksmith, last year it was Zhang the Peddler; both married the women she recommended and suddenly fell ill..."
Chills ran down Lin Dahe's spine as cold droplets slid down his back. Just as he was about to ask for more details, a system alert suddenly popped up: [Seed Vault at Risk of Theft! Urgent Task: Create a Rodent Trap, Deadline: 12 Hours].
Noticing his change in expression, Cui Xiaoman frowned. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing..." Lin Dahe stared at the flashing red light on the virtual interface. "Just remembered there's a rat problem at home."
"Use Sichuan pepper." Cui Xiaoman tossed a wild rabbit over her shoulder. "Rats are terrified of that smell. Last year I sprinkled some in the cellar and caught three that were this big—" She gestured with her hands to indicate the size of a raccoon.
As they parted ways, the girl suddenly grabbed his sleeve. "If Aunt Ma comes looking for you again, just say... say we've exchanged engagement letters."
Lin Dahe was momentarily taken aback. "What letters?"
"The engagement letters!" Cui Xiaoman's ears turned red as she turned and ran, splashing water onto Lin Dahe's freshly washed clothes.
By late afternoon, Lin Dahe had gathered all the materials: he split tough bamboo from the back mountain into thin strips, boiled hemp rope in pine resin to increase its stickiness, and found a string of red chili peppers in the corner to use as bait. Following the blueprints provided by the system, he constructed a clever balance trap above the door frame—anything that disturbed the bait would trigger a net to drop from the beam.
"Perfect!" He wiped his sweat and suddenly heard rustling sounds outside. Peering through a crack in the wall, he saw Aunt Ma sneaking around his fence, scattering something at its base. In the moonlight, those particles appeared dark red, like...
"Sichuan pepper?"
Lin Dahe's heart raced. This woman clearly intended to use the scent to lure rats and ruin his seeds! He quietly retreated inside, buried his precious potato seeds in an iron pot under ash in the stove, and placed a bag of ordinary Mountain Yam beneath the bedding as a decoy.
As night fully descended, he deliberately yawned loudly and blew out the oil lamp while hiding behind a grain bin with a bundle of dry grass. Moonlight filtered through a hole in the window paper, casting shimmering silver spots on the ground.
After midnight struck, he finally heard faint scratching sounds from above. A slick gray rat descended along the scent of Sichuan pepper and headed straight for the fake seed under the bedding. Just as it touched the burlap sack, there was a soft click, and the bamboo trap snapped up!
"Eeek—!"
The gray rat dangled upside down, struggling wildly as the net swung in midair. Lin Dahe rushed out with a firebrand and nearly burst into laughter at what he saw—the rat had half a red string tangled around its tail, identical to what Aunt Ma had tied in her braid during the day!
"Achoo! Achoo!" The rat sneezed repeatedly from the Sichuan pepper while desperately clutching a piece of Mountain Yam.
As Lin Dahe pondered how to deal with this "contraband," he suddenly heard a branch snap outside. He extinguished his firelight and stealthily approached the window, just in time to see Aunt Ma's figure hurriedly disappearing into the night.
At dawn, Lin Dahe carried his rodent trap over to Seventh Uncle's house. The old man was sitting under a jujube tree smoking when he saw the rat in the cage and nearly dropped his pipe in shock.
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