I survived the famine by scavenging and supported my family.

"Your house has rats too?" asked the woman next to Sister Qiu. "Ours has been like that lately. The lid of our grain jar has been chewed through by rats, and they're eating and defecating inside. It's driving me crazy."

Speaking of the large vat, she rubbed her head, looking exasperated. Ning's mother asked curiously, "Is there a serious rat infestation lately?"

The two women nodded, and Aunt Qiu said, "Yes! There used to be a rat hole in my house, but my husband blocked it up, and it hasn't bothered us for years. But these past few days, I don't know where these rats came from, they're ruining everything!"

Ning's mother and He's mother cursed the rats together and chatted for a while. He's mother then told Ning's mother to put the food away properly before Ning's mother headed back.

When she got home, she opened the kitchen door to check, and the kitchen cabinets were intact, with no mice having visited them.

Not feeling at ease, she put all the food that was displayed in the cupboard into the open, leaving only a few empty bowls and basins.

There were still some melon seeds that had been bought before in the main room, and Ning's mother went over and put them away.

Ning's father stopped her and asked, "Why did you put the sunflower seeds away so carefully?"

In the winter, when he had nothing to do, he loved to eat some melon seeds and chat with his siblings.

"I went out today and they said there's a rat problem. Are you going to eat sunflower seeds here or are the rats eating them?" Ning's mother took the sunflower seeds back, and the next second they disappeared from their sight.

"A rat infestation?"

Remembering the news he'd heard about the rat infestation in the south during his trip to the prefectural city, Ning's father was startled. He grabbed his wife's hand and asked, "What happened? Why are there rats?"

Ning's mother found it strange, but still told her what she had overheard outside. Ning's father slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Oh no, the rats are coming!"

Ning's mother was startled by him. She turned around and saw that the door was closed properly and there were no mice in the house. She lightly hit him and said, "You scared me! What are you doing, making such a fuss?"

"It's not now, it's a rat infestation in the south." Ning's father told Ning's mother what he knew, and then sighed, "When I heard it, I was thinking, that place is several prefectures away from here."

"Oh, right, when we were in the prefectural city, I also bought some insect and rodent repellent, and gave it to Ningning."

"What else is there to say? Where's Ningning? Tell her to bring out the medicine. We need to take precautions!" Ning's mother acted immediately, rushing off to find Zhao Ningning.

Hearing that there were rats outside, Zhao Ningning quickly took out ten packets of medicine from the shoe cabinet in her space. Her mother took one packet and carefully sprinkled it in places in the house where rats might pass by, with extra emphasis on the doorway.

Ning's father stopped tending the fire, dressed up, and went to town to buy all sorts of things, including rat poison and insect repellent.

After returning home, Ning's mother replenished rat poison in every corner and took out three doses from the purchased poison to have Zhao Qi deliver to the Zhou family.

He wanted to decline, but Zhao Qi said that after they finished their work, they went to the mountain to find thorns to surround the yard. Seeing how much Ningning's family valued it, He did not refuse again and carefully sprinkled the medicine powder in the house.

After thinking for a moment, she asked Zhou Jian to take a sickle, and the two of them went up the mountain to cut thorns.

The idea of ​​surrounding the yard with thorns was Zhao Ningning's. In modern courtyards, broken glass is usually embedded in the walls. Although Zhao Ningning had glass, she couldn't take it out and put it in ancient times. She could take out porcelain, but it would be too conspicuous, and the porcelain pieces were too far apart and too low, so it wasn't very suitable.

She could only fall back and look for alternatives.

Thorns are a good choice; they have thorns and can be found on the back mountain of Wangli Village. However, it is cold in winter and a lot of snow on the mountain has not melted, making them a bit difficult to find.

It was only after He Shi and Zhou Jian caught up that Ningning's family was finally found.

Life was tough, so Zhou Jian and He Shi often went up the mountain and were naturally familiar with the back mountain. With them leading the way, the group of six soon stopped in a wooded area.

Zhou Jian tested it a few times with his sickle, and there really was something under the snow.

The adults swung their shovels to shovel snow, and Zhao Ningning followed behind her family, wading through the snow. When she saw thorns on the side, she used her small axe to chop them, carefully pinched the edges, and pulled them out. A whole bunch of thorny vines was pulled out.

Following the same method, several adults led the way, and three children followed behind, pulling vines. Once this area was cleared, the adults turned around to help cut and pull vines.

Before long, the open space was filled with thorny vines. He then led a few people to another place where there was also a thorny plant, but it grew taller and was not vine-like, but rather like a small clump of trees.

Zhao Ningning pinched the thorns on it; they were big and hard enough. She took them home, chopped them into small branches, and piled them up densely. The effect would definitely be good!

Without further ado, the group got to work. Ning's father chopped at the front, while Ning's mother pulled from behind. Even through their cotton gloves, the thorns were still a bit prickly. Ning's mother told Zhao Ningning to be careful and then pulled a large, waist-high thorn bush from the snowdrift.

Zhao Ningning was dumbfounded.

On the way down the mountain, each person dragged four bundles home. After arriving home, Ning's mother threw these thorny things in the corner of the yard, and Zhao Qi went over to unpack them and carefully straightened them.

Nowadays, it's freezing cold, and even mud is hard to come by. Ning's father went back inside to get an iron shovel, went to the riverbank, and forcefully knocked down the yellow soil that had been eroded and sunken by the water. Large chunks of mud fell off, which was less strenuous than digging.

The frozen soil had to be brought into the main room and thawed by fire before water and mud could be added.

While they were there, the group went to the yard and bundled the thorns they had brought back into a single bundle. The thorns were very close together, and when they stood up, they looked like a wall of thorns.

After the loess thawed, Ning's father poured a bucket of water into it to mix with mud. After mixing well, he brought a ladder and stood by the courtyard wall to plaster the mud on the top of the wall. After plastering a section, he placed the bundled thorns on top.

After a short while, the soil on the wall hardened, not because it dried quickly, but because the weather was too cold and it froze solid.

After finishing her own yard wall, Ning's mother went to take a look at the Zhou family's yard. They had done the same and built a wall to block it up. There were dense thorns sticking out. In any case, at least the rats passing by wouldn't choose this place.

Feeling much relieved, Ning's mother finally went home.

Within two days, the rats in the village became even more elusive. People in the town wanted to buy rat repellent, but the pharmacy told them they were out of stock, and even the ingredients for making the powder were gone.

The villagers had to think of other ways. Some people saw that Ningning's family had made a good thorn wall, so they went up the mountain to cut thorns and put them around the courtyard wall. They also chased away the rats in their homes and plugged the holes in the wall.

That way, at least there won't be many mice in the house.

Not only Shiqiao Town was severely affected by rats, but the entire Fengning County was also greatly troubled by the sudden influx of rats.

The county government even issued a notice that five rats would earn one copper coin, and rats sent to the county town would be exempt from the city entrance fee. Now, the people of Wangli Village would catch rats whenever they had free time, and once they had collected a bagful, they could exchange it for some copper coins at the county government.

The county government organized a group of people to clear the rats, offering a high wage of eighty coins a day. A large wave of men poured into the county town, each carrying an iron shovel, and began killing rats all over the town.

The people could only take precautions on their own, trying to put away their food and put up wooden boards at their doorways so that people could step over them when they passed by.

Inside and outside the house, wherever there is a view, no openings are left; everything is sealed up.

Even so, the number of rats continued to increase.

The rats in the village could run around in groups. Remembering that quicklime is often used to repel insects in modern times, Ning's mother went to town and bought ten kilograms of quicklime, which she then sprinkled all over the yard.

During the day, the courtyard gate is kept tightly closed, allowing rats to sneak into the house when no one is looking. At night, the doors and windows are locked.

Even so, the number of rats in the village increased. Ning's mother took quicklime to the Zhou family's house and saw several waves of rats scurrying by along the way. She hurriedly went to the Zhou family's house, told them about the quicklime, and rushed home to close the door.

"I was so scared! Just now, there were several groups of rats on the road. They weren't afraid of people at all and just scurried right past my feet!" Ning's mother clutched her chest.

"Just tell her I went." Zhao Ningning brought Ning's mother a cup of hot water to help her relax. Ning's mother took it, drank a few sips, and then felt a little better.

Ning's mother: "You're too small. What if a mouse crawls on you? Some bold mice will bite."

"Huh?" Zhao Ningning asked in confusion, "A rat bites someone?"

"Yes, it not only bites, it eats people too," Ning's father said. "When I was little, my grandma told me about a family in her village who had a baby who was less than a month old. They left the baby sleeping inside while the adults worked outside. When they heard the baby crying, they went in and found that a rat had gnawed on the baby's toe!"

It was because this story left a psychological scar on Ning's father that, upon hearing of a rat infestation in the south, he had Ning buy medicine in the prefectural city, just in case.

The family is taking rodent control very seriously. All the food in the house was put away a few days ago, and even the water was put away. They will only take it out when they need it.

The remaining trash was all given to Ningning, who packed it up and placed it in the elevator lobby for them to collect.

As a result of misfortune, Zhao Ningning also unlocked the balcony area. She walked onto the balcony and carefully examined the area.

This balcony is a utility balcony, and there's nothing inside. Ning's parents originally thought about growing flowers, but neither of them is very good at planting, and the flowers always died after a few days. So, they put two rocking chairs on this balcony, and the group of people would occasionally come over to sit and sunbathe when they had free time.

Looking out onto the balcony, everything was shrouded in mist, both above and below, so much so that the buildings were completely obscured, as if her floor existed in its own separate space.

After staring at it for a while, Zhao Ningning felt a little uneasy. She went home, closed and locked the balcony door, and drew the curtains.

Just then, Ning's mother called her name from outside the space. Zhao Ningning walked out of the space and saw her mother looking anxious. She asked, "What's wrong?"

"There are so many rats outside..." Ning's mother thought for a moment and instructed Zhao Ningning, "Stay in the space and don't come out. Your dad and I are outside."

"That won't do. We need someone to watch over three walls of our yard. You two watch the two sides, and my brother and I will watch the middle."

Zhao Ningning took the small axe she had on hand from inside the house. Her mother didn't stop her and let her go to the yard.

As soon as I entered the courtyard, I heard a cacophony of chattering outside, the piercing sounds coming from all directions.

Standing in the yard, Ningning saw her father setting up a ladder and looking out into the yard. His face was deathly pale, and it didn't seem like he had only seen rats.

"Dad, come down, let me see." Zhao Ningning put the axe on the ground. Her father climbed down the ladder, swaying as he told his daughter, "Outside...it's scary...so many..."

Zhao Ningning climbed the ladder in a few steps. Taking advantage of the setting sun, she could clearly see a grayish patch on the road outside. What was surging forward? When she realized it was a swarm of rats, Zhao Ningning's face turned green.

She thought that the rat infestation was just a problem in her house, but she never expected that the rats would flood into Fengning County like a river!

The rats surged forward like a tidal wave, with some stopping by the wall. Zhao Ningning, with her sharp eyes, saw a rat climb directly up the wall of the neighboring yard. The next second, a scream came from next door.

After climbing down the ladder, Zhao Ningning's complexion was still not good. Her father whispered to her, "It's scary outside."

"It's alright, we've made so many preparations beforehand, the mice won't be able to get in," Zhao Ningning said confidently.

Ning's father wasn't afraid of the mice coming in; he was just disgusted. Anyone would want to run away if they saw a bunch of mindless creatures scurrying around, possibly even biting you.

After swallowing hard, Ning's father assigned tasks to everyone: he and Ning's mother each guarded one side, while Zhao Qi and Ning Ning stared at the wall in the middle.

It was cold in the yard, so Ning's mother moved the brazier out, and Zhao Ningning kept watch at the yard gate to add fuel to the brazier.

As darkness fell, the squeaking noises outside did not diminish; instead, they grew louder.

Zhao Ningning could hear that the squeaking was mixed with a lot of screams.

At 7 PM, no rats had yet entered Zhao Ningning's yard.

Waiting like this isn't a solution, so Ning's mother told Ning's father and Ningning to go to sleep first, while she and Zhao Qi would keep watch. If the rats hadn't left by midnight, they could take turns.

Before midnight, around 11:00 AM, Zhao Qi hurriedly went to call for help. Ningning rushed out of her room, and by the light of the brazier and the moonlight, she saw that rats had broken through the dense thorns on the spiked wall and jumped directly into the yard.

And there's more than one!

Ning's mother was using a shovel to swat the rats when Zhao Ningning quickly joined the fray with an axe. Zhao Qi stopped his sister and handed her a stick, saying, "Take this. Rats might lunge at you. Stay away for safety."

Nodding, Zhao Ningning gripped the stick tightly.

She was small but had excellent eyesight. She could spot something reflecting light in the corner of the yard at a glance. There used to be a pile of firewood there, but Ning's mother had moved all the firewood away a few days ago. The thing reflecting light there was a mouse's eye!

Zhao Ningning slammed her stick down, and the rats hiding there scattered with a squeaking sound, some even rushing towards Zhao Ningning's feet.

Zhao Ningning quickly shortened the stick and swept it towards her feet. Immediately, two rats were knocked away by her. Then, with a swift stroke, both rats died.

Suppressing her nausea, Zhao Ningning continued to hit the other rats with a stick, unaware of when her father arrived in the yard.

The four of them fought for a while, but the number of rats in the yard increased. Ning's mother put the shovel back into her spatial storage, found the hot water she had prepared beforehand, and shouted, "You lot, get out of the way!"

Zhao Ningning and the others dodged to the side, and the next second, a stream of steaming water appeared out of nowhere and splashed onto the area with the most rats.

The hot water made the rat squeak and scream in agony, the sound piercing. Zhao Ningning covered one ear and felt goosebumps rise on her back.

Rats are disgusting!

After scalding the rat in the corner, Ning's mother poured another bucket of hot water on it. The squeaking and screaming stopped, and Ning's yard finally became quiet.

Outside the courtyard, there could be the sound of rats.