Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

After hearing what Zhao Da'e said, Xiangzi felt a chill of fear. He cautiously asked, "Little Aunt, is what you're saying true? It sounds so scary. If you eat an animal with chicken plague, will it really get so serious that you need to go to the hospital for treatment and a kidney transplant? Aren't you exaggerating a bit..."

Xiangzi thought about the money in his pocket; he only had a few thousand yuan in savings. With that little money, if he really got sick, it wouldn't be enough to do anything. Xiangzi shook his head, even taking a small step back to keep his distance from the animals infected with chicken plague, afraid of being affected himself, and even more afraid of his wallet being affected. If he contracted some disease, he would have to spend unnecessary money on hospital treatment, which was really not worth it.

Zhao Da'e nodded and said, "That's right, Xiangzi. If you don't take these chickens, ducks, and geese with fowl plague seriously, the consequences will be severe. If you eat too many of these infected chickens, ducks, and geese, dizziness, allergies, and vomiting will be the least of your worries. What's worse is that you'll have to go to the hospital for treatment, which can cost several thousand yuan. Just think about it, you spend a dozen yuan to buy a chicken, duck, or goose, hoping to eat something good and nutritious, but in the end, you end up in the hospital and have to spend a hundred times that amount to treat it. Isn't that a losing proposition?"

This kind of tragedy always happens whenever there's a chicken plague outbreak, and no matter how much others try to dissuade them, they can't stop those... "fearless" people. Especially in rural areas, the more you tell someone that something is bad for their health and shouldn't be eaten, the more people will eat it.

If you say anything, they'll definitely say something like, "So what if I die?" That's the most annoying and disgusting thing. They'll be terrified of dying when it's their turn to get sick and hospitalized. Humans are strange creatures; sometimes, trying to reason with them doesn't work.

In her past life, Zhao Da'e's aunt, Cheng Jinxi, was like that. She had high blood pressure due to old age, and everyone in the family told her, "Don't eat fatty meat, don't eat greasy food." But she wouldn't listen. As a result, she suffered three strokes, and eventually became mentally impaired, unable to feel pain or eat or drink. She was completely numb and had lost all sensation. But when she had those strokes, no amount of persuasion could change her mind. She said that if she didn't eat those two pounds of fatty pork dumplings during the Lunar New Year, she wouldn't die content.

As a result, after eating the fatty meat dumplings, my blood vessels burst.

Sigh... it's really hard to predict people.

Zhao Da'e continued, "I've already told my great-grandfather about this. He'll send a notice to the villagers later, telling them that it's forbidden to bring chickens, ducks, and geese into the village from Jurenzhangzi Village, and also forbidden to hunt wild rabbits and pheasants in the mountains."

Xiangzi was stunned: "Little Aunt, the New Year is just around the corner, and every household needs to prepare some New Year's goods. What you're saying is practically telling the villagers not to eat meat during the New Year. Do you think the people will listen to you? Even the village chief is unlikely to listen to you." Xiangzi himself was from Shangtaizi Village, and their village chief wouldn't listen to anyone else, so he really didn't believe that the village chief of Dongtaizi Village would listen to Zhao Da'e.

Zhao Da'e, however, didn't seem to care at all.

What reason would Zhao Tingming have not to listen to her? If things go wrong, Dongtaizi Village will be infected with fowl plague, and then the pigs, cattle, chickens, ducks, geese and other animals raised by the villagers will be infected with the virus.

This isn't just a problem affecting one or two families, and it might even extend beyond just one or two villages. If many villages are infected, the property damage will be immense. And when the investigation reveals the source is near Dongtaizi Village…

Is this the kind of situation Zhao Tingming wants to see? Dongtaizi Village would be in chaos. The best solution now is to prevent it from happening with minimal losses. He should report this immediately and wait for the veterinary station to come up with a solution.

Zhao Da'e nodded and sighed, "My great-grandfather was really a good person. How should I put it, he was kind-hearted and compassionate. He was the kind of person who was cautious even when alone, and sometimes he was incredibly capable. He didn't have any other skills, but he really never did anything bad. We can't say he was all that good, but his awareness was extremely high. Right now, he's carrying a megaphone, going door to door to announce things."

After hearing this, Xiangzi had to give a thumbs up. "As expected of my little aunt," he thought, "she even came up with this idiom. 'A gentleman is cautious even when alone'...that's a beautifully chosen phrase."

"If the village chief issues a ban, I will be the first to obey and I will never cause trouble for the village chief!" As he said this, Xiangzi glanced at the chickens, ducks and geese with fowl plague in the van next to him. If they hadn't been bought by someone else, he would have thrown them far away long ago.

Xiangzi really wanted to be killed by these chickens, ducks, and geese that were infected with fowl plague, and then run away to a faraway place, as far as he could go. But unfortunately, he could only endure it, because he didn't want to compensate the villagers for the money, which was more than a hundred yuan, and he was heartbroken about it.

Zhao Da'e sighed, "The village chief will issue a ban, but whether the villagers will listen is another matter. If they don't genuinely want to listen to the village chief, they will find a million ways to sneak away from him and buy chickens, ducks, and geese from the village chief's stall, and then secretly eat them during the New Year, or go hunting for wild game in the mountains. They can do it if they want to. After all, the village chief is just one person, and he can't stop everyone from doing this."

This is also the current problem. Simply having the village chief issue a ban is not enough; the deterrent effect is far from sufficient. On the contrary, it may incite rebellious thoughts among the villagers, making the matter increasingly difficult to handle.

Xiangzi exclaimed "Huh?" and asked first, "No... Auntie, I can understand why the village chief doesn't allow villagers to buy chickens, ducks and geese from Jurenzhangzi, since there's a chicken plague outbreak there now. But what do you mean by not allowing villagers to go up the mountain? I can understand not allowing them to hunt pheasants, but why not wild rabbits?"

Zhao Da'e felt a sense of disappointment and frustration. Why couldn't Xiangzi explain things clearly? She had said a lot, but he hadn't listened to a single important point. Instead, he had heard every little detail.

Zhao Da'e could only patiently explain, "I've already told Xiangzi, this chicken plague is highly contagious. It not only infects chickens, ducks, and geese, but it can also infect other small animals. After all, wild animals are omnivorous. What if a rabbit eats a pheasant? Wild rabbits and pheasants can also get infected. So when we go up the mountain to hunt wild game, we naturally can't catch wild rabbits. Otherwise, eating rabbit meat with chicken plague will definitely give you diarrhea. This chicken plague is highly contagious. We disinfect many things in our house with high temperatures, and even the quilts have to be put in the sun to dry. That's how we keep things hygienic."

Xiangzi looked like he had just realized something. "I've learned something from you, Auntie. When I get home, I'll give my van a high-temperature disinfection. I'll definitely kill this chicken plague."

Zhao Da'e couldn't help but laugh out loud after hearing this, "Why do you say you're going to kill this chicken plague? You should say you're going to kill this bacteria and virus. But how are you planning to disinfect this van with high temperature?"

Xiangzi scratched his head and thought for a moment, "Of course, we should use boiling water to give the van a thorough high-temperature disinfection."

Boiling hot water...

Zhao Da'e sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Xiangzi, if you do it this way, the bacteria and viruses will indeed be completely eliminated, but your car will also be totaled. I think you should just go to the clinic and buy a bottle of disinfectant from Dr. Chen, 84 will do. That way your car won't be damaged. After all, this car costs several thousand, and you'll be heartbroken if it gets broken."

Xiangzi was a little dazed. After he came to his senses, he scratched his head and said, "Little Aunt, what you said makes a lot of sense."

Zhao Da'e asked, "Xiangzi, don't you have anything to ask me?"

Xiangzi was taken aback by the question, looking completely bewildered. "Little auntie, I'm fine now... I... I'll ask you something later..."

Upon seeing this, Zhao Da'e couldn't help but exclaim "Oh!" with a look of utter disappointment. "Are you stupid? Don't you want to ask me how I want you to act? Don't you want to ask what to do when so many people object after the village chief issues the ban?"

Xiangzi suddenly realized something. "Oh dear... I almost forgot! Quick, quick, little auntie, teach me how to act! Didn't you tell me to pretend to be sick and then run up to the villagers and ask those who asked me to buy chickens, ducks, and geese for medical expenses? That's right! Pretend to ask! Little auntie, do you think I should act like I'm vomiting or dizzy? Or should I run up to those guys and pretend to faint, and then try to scam them?"

Xiangzi said a lot, and a picture had already formed in his mind.

After listening, Zhao Da'e shook his head. "Xiangzi, I feel that the acting ideas you've come up with are all so fake. The villagers probably won't buy it."

Because it sounded so fake, Zhao Da'e had already started imagining what it would be like for Xiangzi to start acting awkwardly.

Xiangzi exclaimed, "Huh?" His brows furrowed. Remembering the appearance of Sun Dayong, the villager who was half-paralyzed and had a crooked mouth and eyes, Xiangzi began to mimic the behavior, his whole body trembling. He tried to roll his eyes upwards, his left hand trembling as he grabbed Zhao Da'e, pretending Zhao Da'e was one of the villagers who had asked him to buy chickens, ducks, and geese. Xiangzi lowered his voice, speaking haltingly, "I...I...have...an...allergy...hurry...pay...me...medical...costs..."

Hearing Xiangzi's drawn-out, bubbly voice, Zhao Da'e couldn't help but get goosebumps. She quickly said, "Xiangzi, don't talk like that, it's giving me the creeps. Just talk normally when you're done... Sigh!" At the end, Zhao Da'e sighed repeatedly. This was so fake... it was obvious at a glance. For the first time, Zhao Da'e doubted her own judgment.

Seeing Zhao Da'e's disgusted look, Xiangzi felt embarrassed and let go of Zhao Da'e's hand. He then stood up again. "Little Auntie, I saw Sun Dayong walking like that up there, and I was thinking I should imitate him. Or maybe I should imitate a blind man?"

For the first time, Zhao Da'e fell silent; she didn't want to talk and didn't want to discourage Xiangzi.

Upon seeing this, Xiangzi instantly lost confidence, drooping his head and remaining silent. Xiangzi wasn't very educated; although he had met many people, he lacked any real life experience what it would be like to be poisoned. At most, he knew how the disabled people in the village usually acted, and he tried to imitate them, thinking he could at least pretend to be one. Otherwise, he genuinely didn't know how.

Seeing this, Zhao Da'e first comforted Xiangzi, saying, "Don't worry, Xiangzi. Acting is actually very simple. You just need to be thick-skinned. No matter whether others believe it or not, you just have to think that you are really sick. If others question you, you just pretend to be wronged. If others mock you, you just ignore them."

Before Zhao Da'e could finish speaking, Xiangzi interrupted him, "Hiss... Little Aunt, so you mean you can just be shameless? Fine, I'll just foam at the mouth and lie down on the ground, like Wang Guixiang did that day. Just lie down, whatever, I won't wake up."

"By the way, should we get a few more people? Didn't you say before that if the village chief issues a ban, many villagers will oppose it? If more people pretend to be sick and put on a show, then we can show the villagers the consequences of eating chicken, duck, or goose meat contaminated with fowl cholera. Wouldn't that make more people listen to the village chief?"

After saying all that, Xiangzi clapped his hands, his eyes lighting up. He figured if enough people believed him, they wouldn't be able to disbelieve him. As the saying goes, "three men can make a tiger," and if a few more people pretended to be sick, things would be much easier to tell.

Zhao Da'e's veins bulged as she listened. If it weren't for her height, she would have liked to stand up immediately and punch Xiangzi in the head.

I couldn't help it, I really couldn't help it!

Unable to reach Xiangzi's head, Zhao Da'e clenched his fist and punched Xiangzi's thigh!

Three seconds later, Xiangzi's thigh remained motionless. Instead, Xiangzi lowered his head in surprise and asked, "Little Aunt, what are you doing?"

As if he had just thought of something, Xiangzi laughed. "I know, little aunt, are you so excited that you want to punch me? Hahahaha, you must be praising me for coming up with such a good idea. I'm quite impressed with myself, haha. It's such a good idea. It not only solves the problem of the villagers who ask me to buy chickens, ducks and geese for them demanding compensation, but it also solves the problem of no one listening to the village chief's ban."

Seeing Xiangzi so smug, Zhao Da'e couldn't help but bulge her veins. She shouted at the top of her lungs, "That's enough, Xiangzi! Stop thinking nonsense!"

As soon as the words were spoken, Xiangzi froze, completely stunned. He slowly turned his head, his eyes shifting from joy and excitement to shock, disappointment, and sadness, until tears began to well up in his eyes...

Zhao Da'e couldn't help but slap his face: "Xiangzi, are you sure you can do this? What are you doing? It's not time yet, what are you acting for? The more people who know, the greater the chance of this being exposed, right? Besides, who else are we going to look for? And to be frank, this matter is somewhat related to me, but not by much, okay? If you hadn't been so bored and brought back some chickens, I wouldn't have bothered with this.

"If you bring this stuff here and the people buying water find out, will they still buy it? So, what I mean is, let's put on a show to prevent this from getting any worse, to avoid chaos in the whole village and ruining our business. Of course, this is also for the health of the villagers. We'll just do what we can, but we can't make a huge fuss."

When Xiangzi heard that Zhao Da'e was indeed blaming him, he felt uneasy. He felt that it was not very ethical to do private work on his own, and he lowered his head with his eyes reddening.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Da'e quickly explained, "Xiangzi, don't do this..."