Starting from 1950

No one would pass through this wilderness, yet Su Yang noticed long tracks on the snow.

Clearly, those were the "grain channels" through which the rats moved between the permafrost and the factory buildings.

Being timid as a mouse is not just a casual saying; it's an instinct in a mouse's genes that it always takes a fixed route when foraging for food.

Su Yang walked only a few dozen meters and saw more than a dozen grain routes.

This shows how many rats a flour factory supports in the surrounding area.

"Rustling!"

After reaching level 2, Su Yang's hearing became much more sensitive, and he easily located the target based on the slightest sound.

Wow! Quite a lot!

Su Yang was secretly delighted and looked over with sharp eyes.

In the snow about ten meters ahead of him, there were five rats moving toward the flour mill wall.

Because the snow had frozen solid, the mice did not sink in.

If Su Yang were still using a bow and arrow, he could even challenge the next five arrows.

Unfortunately, he now uses a slingshot.

A fleeting thought of regret crossed Su Yang's mind. He reached into his ammunition pouch and pulled it out, revealing five mud pellets in his hand.

His movements were lightning fast; he pinched a mud pellet into his slingshot, drew the bow, released it, and fired the next shot...

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The bullets were fired in rapid succession, like a raging rain.

"What a pity..."

Amidst the swirling snowflakes, the family of five reacted swiftly. As Su Yang drew his bow for the second time, the remaining four rats began to scatter.

He tried his best and only managed to hit three, while two escaped.

"Xiao Su, did you hit it?" Old Xie, who had been following Su Yang's figure on the dirt road in the distance, kept his balance with him. When he saw that Su Yang had fired a few shots, he immediately shouted to ask.

"You hit three! You'd better not talk anymore, or you'll scare all the mice away!"

Su Yang responded loudly, walked over and used the straw rope he had prepared to lift up the rat carcass.

"2400 coins acquired! 6 experience points acquired!"

A smile played on his lips as he carried the dead rat forward.

Perhaps it was mealtime for the mice, and then, as if some kind of switch had been flipped, Su Yang could find one or more mice every few dozen meters he walked.

He didn't hold back, drawing his bow and slingshotting with perfect accuracy.

Old Xie couldn't see very clearly from the dirt road across the field, but he could vaguely see that the bundle Su Yang was carrying was getting bigger and bigger, which made him so anxious that he scratched his head and cheeks.

Finally, Su Yang reached the end of the road, and Old Man Xie met him.

The two are currently standing about 100 to 200 meters east of the main gate of the Limin State-owned Flour Factory.

"How many? How many have you killed?" Old Xie asked as soon as he saw them.

"19 of them!"

Su Yang pursed his lips. "It feels a bit little."

"Isn't that enough?"

Still in shock, Old Xie couldn't help but retort, "You've already earned 15,000 in less than an hour, and you're still not satisfied?"

"You're skilled enough to be an instructor in the militia!" he exclaimed.

"But I still have plenty of ammunition."

Su Yang patted the cloth bag at his waist. Apart from the mud pellet he wasted during the initial test shot, he used a few more pellets afterward to kill a few rats.

There are now thirty or forty bullets left!

"How about we go back again?" Su Yang said.

"No! Many of the rats you just killed must have bled, so the other rats won't come out when they smell the blood."

Old Xie knew the habits of rats very well. Once a "supply route" was stained with the blood of its own kind, the rats would retreat into their holes and wait until they were sure there was no danger before opening up other supply routes.

"Then... to the east wall?" Su Yang continued.

"You shot the rats in the east with arrows yesterday; they probably bled even more," Old Xie shook his head again.

"Then I'll go explore other places."

Su Yang was somewhat discouraged; there were definitely not as many rats in other places as there were in the flour mill.

We can't just turn back now, can we?

He's been building up his energy since yesterday, and he's still planning to make a big splash.

"Xiao Su, come with me to the security office." Old Xie thought for a moment and said to Su Yang with a smile.

Su Yang hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay!"

.......

The entrance to the security office of the Limin State-owned Flour Factory.

Zhang Zhenguo, the head of the security department, pointed to the mountain of rat carcasses piled on the ground, his face filled with disbelief.

"Were all these hit by this young man named Su Yang?"

"Yes!" Old Xie said with a smile.

"It only took an hour? And you used a slingshot?" Zhang Zhenguo asked, his eyes wide.

"That's right!"

"Were those 17 rat tails he handed in yesterday also his?"

"I can testify to this; I was there at the time."

The speaker was Yu Feng, one of the three squad leaders in the flour factory's security department.

He was just about to hand over his shift and go home when Old Man Xie brought Su Yang to him and gave him such a big surprise.

"Comrade Su, let's go into the office and talk." Zhang Zhenguo pulled Su Yang's arm and dragged him into the office, followed by Yu Feng and Old Man Xie.

The security guards outside, who were watching the commotion, immediately erupted in an uproar.

"I heard about the incident at work this morning, where someone in the residential compound caught 17 rats yesterday. I never expected it was a teenager."

"He caught 19 more today, so he's already made almost 30,000 yuan!"

"Don't be envious, this kid is really talented; he might become a sharpshooter someday!"

"Right, right, right! Have you forgotten how we damaged the workshop machines while catching rats in the fall and got a reprimand from our superiors? If we had that kind of skill, we could really make a name for ourselves."

......

Outside the office, the discussion was lively, but inside the office, it was unusually quiet, with only the sound of Zhang Zhenguo's fingers lightly tapping on the table.

Su Yang was puzzled. Why was he pulled in without saying anything?

Yu Feng and Old Man Xie exchanged glances, their eyes both filled with smiles.

"Ever since I transferred to this Lihua Flour Factory, not a day has passed without me worrying about the rats," Zhang Zhenguo remarked, then looked at Su Yang with sharp eyes and said, "If you can really solve this problem—"

He yanked open the drawer, slapped out a thick wad of banknotes, and exclaimed, "You'll definitely get a bonus!"

Su Yang glanced at the stack of banknotes; they were all in denominations of 1 yuan, and he estimated there were at least 200 of them.

His heart skipped a beat, and he quickly patted his chest, saying, "If a rat appears in front of me, it has only one option: I'll kill it!"

"Fine!" Zhang Zhenguo slammed his hand on the table and said, "You said it yourself, so I'll give you a chance!"

He glanced at his watch and chuckled, "It's 9:52 now. I'll personally take you to the place with the most rats in the factory. We eat lunch at 12:00 sharp. If you can kill 20 rats before then, I'll not only give you your full reward, but I'll also make you an 'unofficial pest control officer' for our security department!"

Su Yang's heart pounded like a drum upon hearing this.

He didn't know what the benefits were for being an unofficial pest control officer, but as long as he was paid a reward.

It's just killing rats, isn't it?

It's done!

"It's a deal!" Su Yang said firmly, raising his hand to Zhang Zhenguo.

Zhang Zhenguo chuckled and then gave him a high five as a pledge.

"Snapped!"