Chapter 21 The First Battle with Rats 1
The mountains of the Agama Mountains are beautiful and quiet.
Lawrence sat on the hillside and looked into the distance. The thin air and the fatigue after strenuous labor made his eyelids and limbs sting and he wanted to stop for a while.
"Oops, there's something wrong with my body."
Lawrence put his hands on his knees, bent over and hugged his legs, trying to calm his violently beating heart.
Behind him is the newly dug earth pit. Just now he dug a small pit one meter wide and half a meter deep on this hillside more than 30 meters high.
This was not easy. The two big rocks pried up by branches and wooden sticks could break many branches.
To deal with these big guys, Lawrence was reluctant to use farm tools, let alone use axes and hoes to touch these tough guys.
After resting for more than ten minutes, Lawrence's body gradually stabilized.
"You can't do high-intensity exercise here." Lawrence told himself that he must remember this lesson. "You must maintain your physical strength in the mountains. I have only been here a few days, and my body has not adapted to this place." "Alas!" Lawrence sighed and continued
. Sitting on the edge of the pit, I looked at the forest and grassy slopes below the mountain.
Just in the morning, Lawrence collected some berries that Dom could eat.
These berries don't taste good, they're not sweet at all, and they're full of grass seeds.
Most wild plants are not tasty, otherwise animals would visit them.
Although it can be eaten and has been collected by Lawrence a lot, Lawrence regrets it now.
"I shouldn't collect these things. If my body wants to be full from these wild fruits, I have to keep collecting them. Like an animal, I spend most of my time looking for food." "
Now that we have a temporary food source , you shouldn’t waste your energy on food that won’t fill your stomach.”
Lawrence seriously reflected on the mistakes he had made.
"Eat well, sleep well, and play well. Now the food problem can be solved at Andrew's house." "
Although it is a bit unseemly, I shouldn't be so anxious. If I am anxious, I will make a lot of mistakes." "
The priority is to solve the sleeping problem. There is nothing wrong with me building a house here. My health problems are because I haven't adapted to this place yet and can't give up." Having his
own home and a comfortable cabin have been Lawrence's two-life obsession. Under the problem, all Lawrence's thoughts were focused on his residence.
As long as there is a house, food can be temporarily provided by livestock. The purchased piglets and chickens, as well as the supplement of animals and plants in the mountains and forests, can solve this problem.
The Andrew family is also a stable ally, but perhaps I should do something to deepen my alliance with the Andrew family.
After making sure that there was nothing wrong with his body, Lawrence started to pack his tools and walked down the mountain with Dom Sheep.
Most of the time in the mountains was spent on the road, and Lawrence, like Andrew, tried not to add unnecessary burden to the Dome sheep.
This time's physical problem also made Lawrence realize the importance of Dome sheep. In some areas with poor environment, a strong Dome sheep is very important.
Carrying wood to the mountain should not be done by yourself, it is very dangerous.
After washing his face by the river, Lawrence used a dagger to collect a basket of sword-leaf grass. After climbing over the last mountain, he began to ride the Dome sheep.
The last few hundred meters were not a problem for the Dom sheep. The Dom sheep had already started running after seeing the location of the sheepfold, and trotted all the way to the entrance of the yard at a speed that was roughly the speed of a bicycle.
Lawrence tightened the reins and stopped at the side of the house.
"Master!"
Sophia, who was wearing a golden bun, came out of the house. When she saw Lawrence, she ran over happily and took the initiative to hold the reins.
Lawrence got off the sheep's back and took down a basket of sword-leaf grass. The ax and hoe were placed on the mountain, but they were not brought down since they had to continue working tomorrow.
"Sofia, bring it in."
Sofia said quickly: "Okay, master!"
Sofia quickly pulled the Dom sheep into the sheep shed, and took off the pads and reins that prevented friction from the Dom sheep.
Lawrence walked into the house minding his own business. After entering, he found that Salil and Andrew were turning the house upside down. Tables, chairs, boxes, sacks and other items in the house had all been moved to their original positions.
"What is this doing?" Lawrence felt that it didn't feel like moving.
Andrew said angrily: "It's time to check for rats. Salil saw rats in the house. This is not a good thing!"
Salil said with a stern face: "We must hide them here before winter." Find all the rats, otherwise we will have to sleep in the squeaking nights this winter!"
Andrew added: "A large piece of potatoes and dried fish in the kitchen will also be chewed off, and there will be a lot of rat droppings!"
Salil was very, very concerned about this matter, and said solemnly to Lawrence, who was not very handy: "Lawrence, if you don't want those things to crawl on your feet, you'd better come and help!" The problem with rats that Lawrence realized
was There seems to be a big problem here, and it's a very annoying one.
"Oh." Lawrence was planning to deepen his relationship with Andrew's family, and naturally he would not shirk it. "There were rats in my house before, but with my wisdom, guess what happened to those rats?" Andrew has been talking to rats all morning
. After a battle of wits and courage, his temper became much grumpier. "I guess those mice have gained weight."
Lawrence smiled and said, "Of course not. Although there were still mice around until I left, at least there were a lot less than before."
Sally I put down what I was doing and looked at Lawrence, "Lawrence, how can you catch mice?"
Lawrence said very easily: "I made a few traps. I used to be able to catch mice with the children who had nothing to do. Now There are not many people, and we can’t go looking for mice all day, so the effect may not be good.”
Salil quickly said: “No problem! If you can get rid of all the mice in the house, I can help you for half a month!”
Andrew added: "I can do that too. In winter, those mice will appear in your ears like crazy." Mice are not easy to deal with. They can reproduce and grow tenaciously through thousands of years of battles of wits and courage
. Even if In a modern society with complete props, it still exists like a stubborn disease.
In mountainous and forested areas like this, it is impossible to eliminate rats. As long as there is food at home, rats from the fields outside will continue to invade, and then rely on human food reserves to quickly multiply the rats.
These disgusting things that can destroy food, clothing, and farm tools appeared earlier than humans and are more numerous.
Lawrence was unable to eradicate rats at home not only because of the large number of rats and the concealment of the houses in the fields of the manor, but also because of the lack of cooperation of other people.
Everyone has something to be busy with. Except for the children who will catch mice with him, the others have long been accustomed to the existence of mice and will not waste time working with him to catch mice.
Habits and unaccustomedness are like Andrew and Saryl who are used to life in the mountains, and Lawrence who is not used to crowded rooms and no privacy.
People who are accustomed to the presence of rats will certainly not be able to get rid of them.
Only people who are not used to rats have enough motivation to change and eliminate rats!
The issue of eating is also very important. Most people who are accustomed to rats cannot change anything.
They do not have enough motivation to change these and need to prioritize their own food and life problems. Once they take a break to catch mice, the ruler of the family will think that they want to be lazy, and they will be whipped when the time comes.
Andrew and Saryl are motivated enough to get rid of the rats, and they are lucky enough to meet Lawrence who has a variety of ways to deal with rats.
"Come on, first we have to make a trap." Lawrence patted the grass basket next to him, which was filled with sword-leaf grass.
(End of chapter)