The Republic of China: From Storyteller to God

Listening to the oyster farmers' description, Uncle Jiu finally understood the reason.

"It seems he's been bewitched by that thing."

He glanced at the spot in Liu Che's arms where the bead had been hidden: "Is this the exotic oyster you were talking about?"

"right."

Liu Che nodded and explained, "In Tianjin, oysters are called clams or sea oysters."

This poisonous clam is called the grey clam. It looks exactly like a regular clam, and you can't tell the difference from the outside.

However, gray clams develop venomous pearls inside their bodies, which can poison surrounding clams.

Moreover, this toxicity is contagious.

In an oyster farm, if just one grey clam gets mixed in, it can poison a large number of clams.

So local oyster farmers have a saying: "If you get gray clams, one will infect two others."

This refers to the extremely harmful effects of these grey clams.

"I see."

Uncle Nine suddenly realized, and couldn't help but exclaim, "Indeed, the world is vast and full of wonders."

The woman's crying attracted the attention of the neighbors.

The neighbors were overjoyed to see the oyster farmer awake and bowed to Uncle Jiu to express their gratitude.

But Uncle Nine didn't take credit and explained to everyone, "It wasn't me who cured him; it was this Mr. Liu who helped."

Upon hearing this, the oyster farmers hurriedly thanked Liu Che repeatedly, expressing their deepest gratitude.

Those who had criticized Liu Che at the Dragon King Temple during the day also came forward to apologize, looking ashamed.

Upon hearing the news, the village elder rushed over. After learning the actual situation, he quickly stepped forward, grabbed Liu Che's arm, and pleaded in a sorrowful voice, "Mr. Liu, if you can cure this boy, you must know how to solve the oyster plague."

Please have some compassion and help us.

If we keep dying like this in the oyster fields, none of us will survive the year.

Please…

As he spoke, his knees buckled and he knelt down in front of Liu Che.

As soon as he knelt down, the oyster farmers around him all knelt down as well.

Seeing this, Liu Che quickly stepped forward to help him up, while shouting to the oyster farmers behind him, "None of you are allowed to kneel!"

His shout startled the oyster farmers, who nervously stood up again.

Looking around, Liu Che said in a deep voice, "Don't worry, this oyster plague can definitely be resolved."

I will not only help you solve the oyster infestation, but I will also ensure that it never happens again.

"A living Buddha!"

The village elder tried to kneel down again, but Liu Che pulled him up.

"If you want me to help you solve the oyster crisis, then you'd better change this habit of kneeling down all the time."

Liu Chechong asked the village elder, "When will the tide go out tonight?"

"The hour of Chou (1-3 AM)".

"it is good."

Liu Che instructed, "Those of you who have oyster farms, each of you should catch a rooster."

"gentlemen."

The village elder was in a dilemma: "There are hardly any chickens in our village, let alone roosters."

"Then we'll buy from other villages. Anyway, we need one rooster for every ten acres of oyster fields."

Liu Che glanced at the sky: "It's too late today. Let's buy the chickens tomorrow night and do it then!"

"No, Mr. Liu, it's possible to buy it."

When the village elder heard that he would deal with it the next evening, he immediately became anxious.

He glanced at the oyster farmers around him, gritted his teeth, and shouted, "Listen up! Before the tide goes out tonight, I don't care if you steal or rob!"

"One rooster for each family! We have to get our hands on them! Did you hear me?"

"I heard you!"

The oyster farmers responded in a sullen voice.

Since the oyster infestation began, the entire village has been overwhelmed and suffered terribly.

Now there is finally hope to solve the oyster plague. Asking them to wait one more night is something they simply cannot do.

Seeing that one of them looked fierce, as if he was about to go out and commit arson, murder, and looting, Liu Che quickly called out to stop them.

"There's no need to rush, and don't try to grab things recklessly. We're here for disaster relief, not to risk our lives."

As he spoke, he pulled a handful of silver dollars from his pocket: "Each family should send one person over to collect the money from me. One silver dollar per family. Try your best to buy something. If you can't buy anything, just come back. I'll figure something out. Understand?"

"Mr. Liu, how can this be?"

The village elder, moved, stopped him, saying, "You've come to help us so kindly, how could we possibly accept your money?"

"It's nothing, don't be so polite. I'll need your help in the future!"

Liu Che smiled and gestured, "Everyone, come and collect your money. Don't push, there's enough for everyone!"

Seeing his insistence, the village elder had no choice but to give up, sighing with gratitude, "Heaven truly has eyes; we've met a living Buddha."

Uncle Nine watched from the side, nodding approvingly.

After Liu Che finished distributing the money, he stepped forward, cupped his hands in praise, and said, "Mr. Liu is truly kind-hearted. There are few people in this world as kind as Mr. Liu."

"Don't flatter me, I'm not that kind."

Liu Che smiled faintly: "I want to do business here; this is just an initial investment."

After saying that, he gestured to Wencai and Qiusheng, "Could you two please bring these frogs in for me?"

Seeing him distribute money to the oyster farmers, Wencai and Qiusheng developed a certain respect for him.

Without saying a word, he stepped forward and helped him catch the frogs and put them into the shed.

Liu Che took the dagger and bled out the brains of the frogs one by one, taking out a bowl of blood and brain fluid.

Afterwards, he handed the slaughtered frogs to the oyster farmer's wife, indicating: "He still has some residual poison in his body. Go and clean these frogs and cook a pot of porridge for him to drink."

"From now on, drink a pot of frog porridge every day for seven days."

"Thank you, sir."

The oyster farmer's wife thanked him profusely, took the frog, and went to prepare it.

"So it was for him to drink?"

Wencai and Qiusheng were somewhat disappointed.

"I thought we'd be having frog porridge tonight!"

"What a pity, I won't be able to enjoy it."

"Didn't you bring Mi Yao?"

Uncle Jiu instructed, "Go wash the rice and cook it. Cook the sausages and salted meat you brought."

When they go out, they always carry raw rice and dried meat with them.

You can cook even when you're traveling and in the wild.

After the meal was prepared, Uncle Jiu invited Liu Che and the others to eat together.

Wencai's cooking skills were average; he simply washed the rice, chopped up the sausage and salted meat, and put them in a pot to cook together.

However, the sausages and salted meat were well-cured and had a rich aroma.

With the addition of steamed salted fish and dried vegetables brought by the villagers, the meal was quite delicious.

After finishing their meal, around midnight, the oyster farmers who had gone out to buy chickens all returned.

I don't know where they went to buy them, but they did manage to buy enough roosters they needed.

So Liu Che instructed them to kill a chicken, bleed it, and then dilute the blood with water and salt.

Then Liu Che mixed the frog blood and brain fluid into the blood they had prepared.

With all these preparations completed, it was almost time for the hour of Chou (1-3 AM).

"Listen up, everyone."

Liu Chechong and the others instructed, "Take these red juices and go to your respective oyster fields."

Pour in the red juice, then wait for an incense stick to burn.

After an incense stick has burned, look where all this red juice has gathered, and dig up all the oysters from that area.

Alright, everyone, take your torches and come to me for incense!

The oyster farmers, with solemn expressions, went to Liu Che to receive incense before heading into the oyster fields.