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墨書 Inktalez
Lin Dahe nodded and wrung the water from his clothes. "I came to deliver the insoles."
Cui Xiaoman scoffed, lowering her voice suddenly. "She's Zhou Liangzhang's cousin, rescued from a brothel, specifically helping people arrange marriages and scheme for family wealth." She counted on her fingers. "Last year it was Liu the Blacksmith, the year before that it was Zhang the Peddler; both married women she recommended and then suddenly fell ill..."
Chilled droplets of water slid down Lin Dahe's spine. Just as he was about to inquire further, a warning popped up on his system: [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 are rats at home."
"Use Sichuan pepper." Cui Xiaoman tossed a wild rabbit over her shoulder. "Rats hate that smell. I scattered some in the cellar last year and caught three 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 exchanged engagement letters."
Lin Dahe was momentarily taken aback. "What letter?"
"The engagement letter!" Cui Xiaoman's ears turned crimson as she turned and ran, splashing water that dampened 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 used a string of red chili peppers as bait. Following the blueprint provided by the system, he constructed a clever balance mechanism above the doorframe—anything that touched the bait would trigger a net to drop from above.
"Perfect!" He wiped away sweat when he 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 to destroy his seeds! He quietly retreated inside, buried his prized potato seeds in an iron pot under ash in the stove, and placed a bag of ordinary mountain yam underneath the bedding as a decoy.
As night fell completely, he deliberately yawned loudly and blew out the oil lamp while actually hiding behind the grain bin with a bundle of dry grass. Moonlight streamed through holes in the window paper, casting shimmering silver spots on the ground.
After midnight had passed, faint scratching sounds finally came from above. A slick gray rat descended following the scent of Sichuan pepper, heading straight for the fake seed under the bedding. Just as it touched the wrapping skin, there was a soft click—the bamboo trap sprang into action!
"Eeek—!"
The gray rat dangled upside down in midair, thrashing wildly as the net spun around it. Lin Dahe rushed out with a firebrand and nearly burst into laughter at the sight—this 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 pepper smoke while clinging tightly to a piece of mountain yam.
As Lin Dahe contemplated how to deal with this "stolen good," 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 took his rodent trap 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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