Chapter 58 It Was Settled Just Like That?

Li Xiangyang drove the donkey cart, offering words of comfort to the old Party secretary all along the way.

Bouncing along the bumpy road, every time they hit a pothole, the old secretary would let out a cough, and Li Xiangyang’s heart would tighten in response.

The county hospital was more than twenty miles away from Xiaoliang Village. Even with Li Xiangyang pushing the donkey cart at a steady pace, it was nearly dusk by the time they reached the hospital.

"Old Secretary, we've arrived," Li Xiangyang said softly.

The hospital gates were brightly lit. Upon seeing the old secretary's condition, the nurse on duty quickly called for a stretcher.

"Quickly, cardiology is on the third floor!"

Li Xiangyang trotted along behind the stretcher and pulled out his money to pay the hospitalization deposit.

"Comrade, this is the deposit receipt. The doctor will write a prescription shortly, and you can pay for the medicine then."

The nurse handed the receipt to Li Xiangyang.

Li Xiangyang nodded, turned around, and walked into the ward.

The old secretary was already lying on the hospital bed, and a doctor in a white coat was auscultating his chest.

"Old Secretary, how are you feeling?" Li Xiangyang asked softly.

"I'm fine, perfectly fine..." The old secretary waved a weak hand. "You should head back quickly. The warehouse matters are urgent."

"But..."

"Go on," the old secretary coughed twice. "Doctor Qian is here to take care of me. Rest assured, this old frame of mine can still hold up."

Li Xiangyang looked at Doctor Qian standing guard by the side, then back at the old secretary lying on the bed, feeling deeply torn.

"Xiangyang," Doctor Qian spoke up, "you can go back with peace of mind. I'll keep watch here. If anything comes up, I'll send someone to fetch you immediately."

Only then did Li Xiangyang nod. "Then... Old Secretary, I'll head back first. Get some proper rest, and I'll come visit you again tomorrow."

After handing all his remaining cash to Doctor Qian and stepping out of the hospital gates, Li Xiangyang flicked the reins, and the donkey cart bolted back toward Xiaoliang Village.

Night had fallen, and the cold wind howled, but Li Xiangyang’s heart was even more anxious than the wind.

The rats in the grain warehouse had already reached plague proportions. If he delayed any longer, heaven only knew how much grain they would ruin.

With that thought, he involuntarily sped up the donkey cart even further.

When he returned to the village, quite a crowd had already gathered at the warehouse entrance.

They were carrying carbide lanterns, using the dim light to wield wooden clubs and beat against the walls to frighten the rats.

"This is a disaster, even the chemical fertilizer bags have been chewed through."

"Sigh, what on earth are we supposed to do now? There's no way we can catch them all right away."

"If you ask me, we need to use poison..."

"That's utter nonsense! With so much grain around to eat, do you really think the rats are stupid?"

...

Li Xiangyang approached the crowd and saw Zhang Dashan kneeling on the ground, wiping away tears and snot alike.

Catching sight of Li Xiangyang's return, Zhang Dashan scrambled to his feet. "Xiangyang, my uncle..."

"He's hospitalized," Li Xiangyang said briefly. "If you actually have a shred of conscience, hurry up and figure out how to clean up this mess."

Speaking, he walked into the warehouse to inspect things closely.

By the light of the carbide lantern, he discovered that the situation was even worse than he had imagined.

Not only were the chemical fertilizer bags chewed to pieces, but the burlap sacks storing the seeds had also been ravaged by the rats.

"Zhang Dashan," Li Xiangyang turned around and asked, "has rat poison ever been put out in this warehouse?"

Zhang Dashan wiped away his tears and shook his head. "N—no, I... I didn't think the rats would do more than a little damage..."

"You thought?" Li Xiangyang let out a cold laugh. "What do you take yourself for? A giant rat? Take a look at these fertilizer bags, look at these seeds, and then look at this grain!"

"I... I didn't expect this either. What are we going to do..."

Zhang Dashan collapsed backward onto the ground, burying his head in his hands.

Li Xiangyang pondered for a moment and said, "Human hands can never catch all these rats. To wipe them out completely, we have to rely on cats..."

"Cats!" Zhang Dashan slapped his thigh. "Right! Cats! Folks, whose family has a cat?"

"Oh, shut your trap, Zhang Dashan. We barely have enough grain to feed ourselves, what are we supposed to feed a cat with?"

"Exactly! If you ask me, we should just beat these rats to death and not let a single one escape!"

Several cooperative members brandished their wooden clubs once more, starting to pound and thrash about.

However, the rats had long since been startled; they had burrowed deep into their holes and were entirely unreachable.

Instead, the frantic beating only left the grain and fertilizer sacks in an even greater mess.

Watching this spectacle, Li Xiangyang couldn't even be bothered to explain anything to them.

In his past life, having traveled and fought across the entire world, he had witnessed plenty of exceptional hunting experts.

Yet, when it came to sheer spiritual intelligence, not a single one could compare to the dark mystic cat.

At this thought, he turned and headed in the direction of his home.

Behind him, he could still hear Zhang Dashan shouting, "Hey, Li Xiangyang, where are you going? There are so many rats here..."

Li Xiangyang did not look back, his pace growing faster and faster.

Right now, only the mystic cat could save the grain in this warehouse.

Pushing open his front door, Li Xiangyang found his mother and younger sister waiting anxiously for him.

"Brother," Li Xiaohua looked up and asked, "how is the old Party secretary?"

"He's hospitalized," Li Xiangyang said softly. "Doctor Qian is staying watch at the hospital."

"That Zhang Dashan is truly committing a heinous sin. If he's actually scared the old secretary half to death..." Mother Li lamented.

"Mother, don't worry," Li Xiangyang comforted her. "The old secretary is a virtuous man favored by fortune, he will be fine. Right now, there's a rat infestation at the warehouse, so I need to hurry and bring the little princess along to help."

"Go on then, and make sure the grain doesn't all get ruined. Oh, and no matter how busy you are, you must eat; the sweet potatoes in the pot are still warm, take a few for the road."

Li Xiangyang nodded, grabbed two sweet potatoes, and ran straight into the inner room.

At that moment, the mystic cat was curled up on the heated brick bed, resting with its eyes closed.

"Little princess," Li Xiangyang whispered gently, "we have work to do."

The mystic cat opened its eyes, its golden pupils glowing like a pair of stars in the dimness of the night.

It lazily stretched its limbs, showing no intention of getting down from the brick bed just yet.

"There's a rat infestation at the warehouse, and only you can help."

Hearing the word "help," the mystic cat's ears twitched as it looked up to size up Li Xiangyang.

"Don't worry, once we catch the rats, I'll buy you fish to eat."

The mystic cat nimbly leaped down from the bed and trotted in a circle around Li Xiangyang's legs, as if to say, "That's more like it."

Li Xiangyang smiled, bent down, and scooped the mystic cat up into his arms.

The cat found a comfortable spot against his chest, its tail swaying rhythmically.

When they returned to the warehouse, Zhang Dashan and the others were still swinging their clubs around blindly.

When they saw the mystic cat cradled in Li Xiangyang's arms, someone couldn't help but gasp, "Is that... a leopard cat?"

"Yes, a leopard cat." Li Xiangyang gently set the mystic cat down on the ground.

The mystic cat gracefully shook its fur, its golden eyes gleaming with an eerie, captivating light in the dim carbide lantern glow.

First, it paced in a wide circle around the warehouse, seemingly inspecting the terrain.

Suddenly, the mystic cat's ears pricked straight up, and its tail stiffened rigidly.

The very next second, it darted forward like a streak of black lightning.

A few sharp-eyed members noticed that instead of rushing straight after the rats, the mystic cat first used its body to block the main entry and exit holes.

Its movements were so blindingly fast that it was hard to follow with the naked eye.

"Meow!"

Accompanied by a sharp cry, the cornered rats panicked completely, scurrying out of various smaller crevices in a desperate bid to escape.

But how could they possibly match the mystic cat?

The mystic cat bounded up and down across the warehouse interior, leaping off the walls for leverage and springing effortlessly over the piles of cargo.

Those rats looked like a bunch of clumsy fools before it, knocked unconscious and sent sprawling to the ground before they could even run two paces.

What astonished the onlookers the most was that the mystic cat didn't eat a single one of the rats.

As if simply finishing a designated chore, it neatly piled every single rat into a neat stack in the corner.

In less time than it takes to brew a cup of tea, the warehouse fell completely silent.

Dozens of rats of varying sizes lay motionless on the ground, every single one knocked out cold without a single squeak left in them.

"This... this is too incredible, isn't it?" Zhang Dashan stuttered, staring dumbfounded at the harvest on the floor.

Everyone else was equally struck dumb.

When had they ever witnessed a scene like this?

One cat, dozens of rats, wrapped up in a quarter of an hour.

Just like that, it was all settled?