Siheyuan, integrating everything, cultivating the city

Li Xiangqian decided to keep quiet for the time being. He wanted to see what this man was going to do. His heartbeat gradually accelerated, and he felt nervous and angry, but he knew he couldn't act rashly. The other party was obviously not a powerful character, and he could easily deal with it. He just wanted to know if this man was related to the group that robbed the corn before.

The thin figure quickly squatted down, reached out and touched the watermelon on the ground, then looked around, as if to confirm whether there was anyone nearby. Li Xiangqian held his breath and continued to observe quietly.

Suddenly, the man picked up a watermelon and tried to run away. At this moment, Li Xiangqian could no longer bear it. He jumped out from behind the corn stalks and shouted, "Stop!"

The thin figure was startled and the watermelon in his hand almost fell to the ground. He turned around and ran away in a hurry. But Li Xiangqian had already rushed up and caught up with him in a few steps. He grabbed the man's collar and pulled him back.

"You stole my watermelon!" Li Xiangqian glared at him angrily, with uncontrollable anger in his voice.

The man was obviously frightened, at a loss, his lips trembling, and his voice became stammering: "I... I was just... just looking... I didn't... I didn't want to steal..."

Li Xiangqian sneered, dragged him aside fiercely, and stepped closer: "Look? You ran away with the watermelon in your arms, and you still dare to say you didn't intend to steal it? Tell me the truth, were you alone, or were there others with you?"

The man had obviously never experienced such a scene before. He was forced by Li Xiangqian until his face turned pale and his legs became weak. He lowered his head tremblingly, looking around: "It's just... I'm alone, I... I'm really not with anyone else... I just... I'm hungry, so I came here..."

Li Xiangqian looked at the skinny thief in front of him. Although he was still angry, he also felt helpless. This guy obviously didn't seem to be in cahoots with the gang at the market. He was probably just a thief who was greedy for small gains. But even so, his watermelon was still damaged, which made him unable to forgive easily.

"You come to steal because you're hungry? Do you know why I work so hard to grow these watermelons?" Li Xiangqian's tone was still angry, but there was also a hint of fatigue in it.

The man looked up at Li Xiangqian, and as if sensing his anger, he quickly lowered his head again, not daring to say anything. For a moment, the air was filled with oppressive silence, with only the breeze blowing gently across the melon field, bringing a bit of coolness.

Li Xiangqian stared at the man for a long while, and the anger in his heart gradually dissipated. He knew that the man in front of him was not the real problem. He took a deep breath, suppressed his emotions, and softened his tone a little: "Go away, next time I catch you stealing something, I won't let you go so easily."

Li Xiangqian watched the skinny thief flee in panic, feeling a little annoyed. Although he had caught the man, he still felt unhappy. Even if he caught one of these petty melon thieves, it would not solve the root of the problem. Although most of his watermelons were still intact, the series of events made him feel uneasy and alert.

He walked around the melon field, carefully checking every melon vine, and only after confirming that the other watermelons were not damaged did he breathe a sigh of relief. But when he lowered his head to check the last piece of watermelon, he suddenly saw a few pieces of broken melon skin on the ground, and the color looked a little different. He squatted down, pushed aside the melon vines with his hands, and his face instantly became gloomy.

It was a watermelon that had been gnawed to pieces, and there were many traces of rat claws scattered on the surrounding soil. Li Xiangqian's heart suddenly twitched, he recognized these traces - rats!

"Damn it!" He gritted his teeth, his eyes revealing a hint of anger and helplessness.

Rats are a bigger threat to crops than thieves. They always appear in groups, causing incredible damage, and their movements are extremely stealthy and difficult to detect. Once they set their sights on a melon field, disaster will ensue.

"This is not good..." Li Xiangqian's heart sank, and he hurriedly continued to carefully check along the edge of the melon field. As expected, he found several more watermelons that had been gnawed by mice. The melon skins were bitten to pieces, and some melons were even left with only empty shells, and the flesh inside had long been gnawed clean.

Seeing this, Li Xiangqian's anxiety intensified again. He had hoped that these watermelons could be sold at a good price to make up for the lost corn income, but now, even the watermelons have begun to have problems. Once mice appear, they often do not leave easily, but will gather in larger numbers, and the losses will only grow.

"We can't delay any longer. We have to find a way to deal with these rats." Li Xiangqian secretly warned himself.

But what should he do? This was not the first time he had faced a rat infestation, but he had been able to easily solve those sporadic rat problems in the past. Today's situation was obviously unusual. The damage done by the rats was not small, and it was obviously not just one or two scattered wild rats. I'm afraid it had already formed a large-scale situation.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel nervous: Where did these rats come from? Did the nearby fields suffer a disaster and the rats ran into his melon field? Or did they have a new rat nest near the ridge? In either case, it meant a larger threat.

He stood in the field and looked up at the foot of the mountain in the distance. The sun gradually rose, and the fields in the distance looked peaceful and beautiful in the morning light, as if everything was in order. But Li Xiangqian's heart was turbulent, with anxiety and helplessness intertwined. Thinking back to the corn that was stolen before, and now the rats were stealing the melons, all these blows made him breathless.

"Rats are really troublesome." He muttered to himself, frowning and thinking of a countermeasure in his mind.

"Either I should buy some rat poison or find some mousetraps..." He thought to himself, but these methods were only temporary solutions. Although rat poison was effective, it could easily hurt other animals by mistake. Although mousetraps could catch a few, they could not really solve the problem.

He recalled the method that the older generation in his family had mentioned before - using snakes to drive away rats. Rats are most afraid of snakes, so as long as a few snakes are placed in the fields, the rats will not dare to approach. But the problem is, where can you find snakes? Even if you find one, how can you ensure that the snakes will not hurt you?

Li Xiangqian rubbed his temples, his mind was in a mess. He knew that it was impossible for him to completely eliminate the rat infestation by himself. But if no action was taken, the damage to the melon field would only get worse.

Just then, a familiar voice came from a distance: "Brother Xiangqian! Are you in the field?"

Li Xiangqian turned around and saw his neighbor, Wang Ergou, carrying a hoe and walking on the muddy path. Wang Ergou was a "smart guy" in the village, who always had his own way to solve various trivial rural problems. Li Xiangqian had a glimmer of hope in his heart, maybe this kid could have some solution.