Chapter 674: Recycling and Reuse

Aguang hurriedly grabbed his arm. "No way, you're really going to walk right up? Carrying a bamboo basket and swaggering over there? Isn't that basically saying you did it?"

"What does it have to do with me? I'm carrying the bamboo basket because I plan to go to the beach to gather seafood. The tide just went out, so we're getting ready to pick up some seafood for drinking tonight. We're not working tomorrow anyway."

"Uh…"

A'zheng and Hearing Xiao Xiao hurriedly gave him a thumbs-up. This excuse was solid—very believable. It wasn't as if they hadn't done this kind of thing before.

"Then we might as well swing by on the way, hop on the bicycles—that's more convincing. Show up openly and honestly!"

"Works for me, that's the plan. You guys' brains are all still working—good to know!"

"What kind of talk is that? Let's go, let's go, hurry up. If we're late, someone else will catch them. I worked my butt off to catch these."

The four chatted as they walked toward a shadowy spot, circled around, and passed through the back door of the house opposite the Wang family's. Along the way, they overheard Old Wang still trembling with fear, telling his terrifying story.

"I was sleeping just fine, when suddenly I felt something cold and chilly on my neck. Something cool and soft crawled over me. I woke up and felt around, and it scared me so bad I sat right up…"

"Oh my, I nearly scared the life out of myself…"

"Same here. We were sleeping in the middle of the night, and suddenly I felt something coiling around my foot—slimy, soft, and moving. It even crawled up my leg… It was terrifying…"

All four of their faces lit up with delight. So the snakes had climbed onto the bed, up onto their legs, onto their necks—no wonder they were scared out of their wits, jumping and screaming.

"So scary. I don't know where all those snakes came from. Suddenly so many of them appeared—on the bed, on the floor…"

"Oh my, I even peed myself. My soul completely left my body…"

"Oh god, my calves are still trembling right now… So terrifying. I've still got goosebumps all over…"

"Where's my mom?"

"Oh right, where's Mom?"

All four were buzzing with excitement, hearts pounding. They hurried toward the corner where the bicycles were parked.

They hopped on the bicycles, and after just a few pedals, they arrived at the scene and got the fresh scoop firsthand.

By then, all the surrounding households had gotten up and gathered at their doorways, discussing where the snakes had come from, and discussing who wasn't afraid of snakes to go inside and take a look—after all, Old Wang's wife hadn't come out yet.

"You men go in and take a look, will you?"

"Then we'll go in and have a look. They're probably just rat snakes—nothing to be afraid of."

"One snake is nothing to be afraid of. The thing is, I heard there's a whole bunch of them…"

"Did they poke a snake's nest or something? How did they all crawl into their house?"

"Everyone help out and go in to take a look first. Anyone who dares catch snakes, help catch them first. They probably aren't venomous." One of Old Wang's sons said.

Their family had also split up. Old Wang only lived with one of his sons for his old age; the others had moved out and built their own houses nearby. Though they hadn't gone far—just to the side.

Hearing the noisy commotion outside, in the middle of the night, they all got up out of surprise and curiosity to look. Seeing quite a few people gathered at the door of their old family home, they threw on some clothes and came out.

"Let's go in and take a look first. We've got to at least get the people out, right?"

The four parked their bicycles, craned their necks forward, and asked in a fake-concerned manner.

"What's going on here? Why's it so lively? What happened?"

"What happened? Nobody sleeping in the middle of the night—what are you all doing here? Watching a show?"

"Some kind of meeting? So many people?"

"Why are you guys here?" a neighbor asked, puzzled, looking at them. Didn't their family not live around here? They lived pretty far away, right?

"We've been free lately, so we got together to chat. It's the middle of the night—gotta have some late-night snacks and a little drink, right?" Ye Yaodong said righteously.

Aguang chimed in: "We didn't have anything to go with the drinks, so we figured the tide just went out, there should be stuff to pick up. We were planning to grab some seafood to go with the drinks. With so many people, riding bikes back and forth won't take much effort."

Everyone also saw the bicycles parked nearby, with two bamboo baskets hanging on each handlebar, and they were convinced.

Going to the beach to gather seafood didn't necessarily require a bucket—bringing a bamboo basket was perfectly normal.

"Their house got snakes in the middle of the night, and they all crawled into the blankets. The whole family nearly had their souls scared out. Auntie Wang is still inside and hasn't come out. We're planning to send a few people in to take a look first…"

The words had just been spoken when the four, who had originally wanted to volunteer to go in along with the others and catch the snakes while they were at it, saw a group of men who had just walked up to the Wang family's door. Inside, a woman in a tank top and shorts, clutching her chest, came running out screaming as she went.

"Oh my, I almost died, I nearly died…"

"My ancestors, my god, my life almost ended. That useless old thing ran off on his own—good for nothing. You old fool, how dare you almost get me killed, running off to save yourself…"

Once Auntie Wang ran out, she patted her chest, still shaken. She wiped the tears and snot from her face with the back of her hand, then put one hand on her hip and pointed at Old Wang, cursing him out.

"Good for nothing, ran off to save himself. Are you trying to kill me… you old fool… Amitabha, Amitabha, snakes everywhere. Buddha protect us… Thank goodness I got out…"

"How did so many snakes suddenly get into your house?"

"How many were there?"

"God only knows. The whole floor was crawling with them. My scalp went numb. Who's going to count? And who knows if there are more where we couldn't see?"

As she spoke, Auntie Wang also realized she was only wearing a small tank top—improper for her age. She quickly dropped the hand on her hip and crossed her arms over her chest, too embarrassed to keep cursing.

The neighbors only relaxed once they saw everyone had come out. Among the crowd, someone who wasn't afraid of snakes and knew how to catch them called out: "The snakes are still inside, right? Those of us who dare will go in and catch them for you. How on earth did so many snakes get into your house?"

"Who knows…"

"Let's go in and take a look. Whatever we can catch, we'll bring out…"

"Hey, hey, hey, alright, alright, please, you must catch them all, or at least chase them away. Otherwise we won't be able to sleep tonight—it's too terrifying." Old Wang said hurriedly.

A woman nearby also said: "I'm still feeling creeped out right now. They actually crawled into the blankets, up onto my legs, onto my body. Ugh—"

"Hey, hey, hey, we can catch snakes too. We'll go in and take a look as well."

"Right, we'll go help take a look too. How on earth did snakes get in here? So strange."

"Oh, perfect. We were just planning to take advantage of the tide going out tonight to go to the beach to gather seafood for drinks. We specially brought bamboo baskets—perfect for holding the snakes. Saves everyone the trouble of catching them with nowhere to toss them."

The four took turns speaking. Aguang even held up the fire tongs he'd grabbed on the way out to boost their credibility, then eagerly and openly followed along, winking and making faces at each other, incredibly pleased with themselves.

This was recycling in broad daylight, and people would still have to thank them for it!

The local folks nearby didn't say anything. Those who didn't dare catch snakes just stayed outside watching the excitement.

But once everyone had gone inside, they also tightened their circle, moving closer to the front of the house. Still, they only went as far as the doorway, crowding into the meter-wide door opening, or pressing against the windows on the side.

The snake-catching brave squad split into two groups, each heading toward one of the rooms on either side.

The moment Ye Yaodong and the others stepped into the room next door, they saw a 1.7-meter-long big snake slithering along the door frame. No wonder that old fellow had been standing in the corner earlier, not daring to move — the biggest one had ended up in their room.

A Guang, gripping the fire tongs, clamped down on the snake's head with swift, accurate precision. As the snake's body thrashed wildly, he reached out and grabbed its head with one hand. Just like that — simple and effortless — another one caught.

The few of them searched the room again, catching one more on the bed and pulling two more out from under it.

Four snakes in this room — jackpot!

"Hehe, caught another one…"

"Shhh, are you stupid? You can't say that out loud — what if someone overhears? There's still people in the next room."

"I said it very quietly."

"Go, go, go — keep your mouth shut and hurry up to catch the remaining three."

The four of them, shoving and jostling, hurried out of the room and headed toward the one with more people. That was also the spot A Guang had pinpointed earlier. Beside it, another room had its door closed — it should be empty. The two of them had thrown with great accuracy.

The main thing was, when they first circled the house, they had checked every window and heard snoring, so they took note. When they climbed onto the roof, they pinpointed the position before making their move, striking in one hit.

The villagers on the other side weren't as efficient as their four. Mainly because there were freeloaders and idle onlookers who had come to watch the fun, screaming and hollering there, hampering everyone else's efficiency — they didn't have the same tacit teamwork.

When they went in, they only saw one person holding a snake in his hand; the rest were either standing or squatting there, because there was still one snake under the bed that hadn't come out.

An uncle was holding a broomstick in his hand, trying to flick the snake out.

Ye Yaodong hurried forward. "Oh oh oh, leave this kind of dangerous work to us young fellows. Uncle can go rest on the side — we just caught ours very smoothly."

As he spoke, he even shoved the uncle aside with his backside to clear the spot, so A Guang could step in.

"Can you guys actually do it?"

"The professional snake-catchers are right here — you tell me if we can do it or not? We already caught all the ones in the next room. Only yours are left."

In the time it took to exchange those two lines, A Guang had already gotten that snake out from under the bed. The onlookers crowding around instantly leapt up, shrieking and scrambling to the side.

With A Guang around, was catching this snake anything less than a sure thing?

"How many have you caught?"

"Are there any more?"

"Only caught one. There shouldn't be any left, right? We only saw two."

Then there's still one more!

The villagers might not know how many snakes there are, but could they not know?

"To be safe, let's still have another look. If we miss one, that won't be good — we'd have to sleep with one eye open."

"How could anyone even sleep?"