CHAPTER 170: CHAPTER 170: CATCHING BAMBOO RATS

"They say that a cunning hare has three burrows, I wonder if this bamboo rat has any."

Liu Ze seemed thoughtful.

Xiaoxue and Xiaomi quickly looked at him, "Brother Ze, do you have a plan?"

The one asking was Xiaoxue, her big eyes full of admiration.

As if saying, Brother Ze, you are amazing!

Liu Ze, who was initially calm, suddenly had a different expression on his face.

It wasn’t that he was shy, but how should I put it, he seemed more serious and focused.

"I heard before that if you find a rabbit’s multiple burrows, you leave two open, block the others, then light smoke at one entrance and guard the other."

"That way, when the rabbit is smoked out, it will run out from the smoke-free entrance, making it easy to catch. I wonder if this can also work on bamboo rats."

Xiaoxue was impressed, "Brother Ze, you know so much."

Before Liu Ze could feel delighted, Xiaoxue turned to Xiaomi, "Xiaomi, what do you think?"

Even though Brother Ze was clever, Xiaomi was smart too. If Xiaomi thought the plan could work, then she would go find some grass.

Xiaomi pretended to rummage through her pockets and took out two small things wrapped in cloth, "I have firestones, why don’t we give it a try?"

The firestones were from her special storage, something she had taken from home before.

The two firestones seemed different, Xiaomi didn’t recognize them, but she remembered one thing: the two firestones shouldn’t be stored together to avoid friction.

So she separated them with two pieces of cloth. Even if they rubbed against each other, it wouldn’t be a problem.

Xiaoxue was surprised as she took them, "Xiaomi, why did you even bring these, so dangerous."

Soon, the three of them began to get busy.

Xiaoxue and Liu Ze together cleared all the weeds around the burrow, making a clear area.

Branches that were close by, they broke them off, and not only that, they used the broken branches to scrape a big pile of soil beside them.

This way, if by any chance an accident happened, they could use the soil to extinguish the fire.

Xiaomi, meanwhile, was calling over Xiaohei and Xiaomi to search around, in case there were other burrows.

Xiaohei and Xiaomi listened to her the most, so this mission was undoubtedly handed to them.

"Xiaohei, Xiaomi, you both look around to see if there are any burrows. Today we must catch many bamboo rats, alive ones!"

Xiaomi petted Xiaohei’s head and ran her hand down Xiaomi’s back, just like a commanding general.

With one cat, one dog, and a girl, they immediately began searching everywhere.

"Woof woof~" Little master, found one here!

Xiaohei started digging but found it different from the soil downhill, couldn’t dig it out, and was anxiously running in circles.

"Meow~" Xiaomi leaped down from a branch, landing in a pile of grass.

Seems like Xiaomi found something too.

"You two are amazing," Xiaomi praised.

Sure enough, bringing Xiaohei and Xiaomi here was the right decision!

Xiaomi didn’t find anything herself, followed behind Xiaohei and Xiaomi, marking any burrow she found, to note down how many there were.

"Xiaomi, we’re ready over here, are you set over there?"

"Coming, coming!" Xiaomi hurried back, not forgetting to call Xiaohei and Xiaomi, "Xiaohei, Xiaomi, it’s up to you now, be careful so they don’t get away."

Answering Xiaomi were the ’woof’ and ’meow’ sounds, it seemed they understood.

"Wow, second sister, Brother Ze, you guys are awesome."

Not only did they clear the area, dug a huge pile of dirt, but even carved out a path at the burrow entrance for the smoke to enter easily.

Liu Ze smiled, picking up a bunch of grass under the sunlight.

"How about this grass? I’ve sun-dried it for a bit, so it’s quite dry."

Xiaoxue nodded, "Alright, Brother Ze, you hold it for me, and I’ll light it."

Both squatted at the entrance, with Xiaomi and Xiaohei wandering nearby as told by their little master, not running about.

Xiaomi, unable to help, just propped her chin watching from the side.

Xiaoxue was adept with the firestones and quickly lit the dry grass, while Liu Ze cautiously placed it at the entrance, and they brought over some damp thatch too.

It had rained the night before, so the thatch was still wet, which was perfect, producing heavy smoke without easily starting a fire.

Thick smoke soon started to rise, and Xiaomi puffed her cheeks, blowing the smoke into the burrow.

The smoke drifted in through the entrance, Xiaoxue brought more thatch to keep it burning.

Xiaomi blew for a while until her cheeks got tired, and she couldn’t blow anymore, so the other two took turns.

After a period, Xiaomi felt discouraged.

"Will this even work? What if they suffocate inside?"

Liu Ze hesitated as well, "Then what should we do, maybe we should use a hoe to dig along the entrance? And let Xiaomi and Xiaohei guard outside?"

Xiaoxue dropped the thatch, the tiny flame went out instantly, and the smoke became a lot weaker.

"I’ll go get a hoe, not sure about dad..."

"Woof woof~"

"Meow~"

Xiaohei and Xiaomi moved simultaneously, sprinting in one direction.

The three of them froze for a moment, then reacted, "They came out! They came out! They must have run out!"

Xiaoxue’s first reaction was to grab the thatch and blow twice, reigniting a small flame.

"Hurry, there might be more, let’s catch a few more."

Xiaohei and Xiaomi above them dashed around, barking and meowing, and Jiang Hu, who was digging bamboo, heard them and asked what was going on.

The three of them glanced at each other, finally, Xiaoxue raised her voice, "It’s nothing, Xiaohei and Xiaomi are just playing."

As they had promised earlier, they wanted to catch the bamboo rats themselves and surprise their parents!

However, just as Xiaoxue finished speaking, the second mother emerged from the bamboo forest.

"Cough cough, why is there so much smoke, Xiaomi Xiaoxue, what are you doing?"

The three of them were instantly stunned; how come mother/second aunt showed up?

"Wow, Xiao Mi caught a field rat, it’s so big!"

Second mother beside her had Tiedan, who was excitedly pointing at the branch.

While they were distracted, Xiao Mi had already caught a bamboo rat and carried it over.

Second mother followed Tiedan’s line of sight, was first puzzled, then surprised, "So big, this isn’t a field rat, doesn’t look the same."

After all, she often helped deal with field rats caught by Xiaohei and Xiaomi, so she could easily tell the difference.

Liu Ze quickly dusted off his hands and stood up, "Second aunt, this is a bamboo rat, looks similar to a field rat but bigger and quite valuable. If we raise some and sell to the restaurants, they could fetch a good price."

Second mother recognized it too, but she was momentarily unsure whether to scold them for playing with fire on the mountain or to praise them for being sensible.

When Xiao Mi, with the bamboo rat in her mouth, reached Xiaomi, second mother snapped back to her senses.

"Xiaomi, be careful, this thing is huge, let me handle it."