Starting from 1950

Attention all factory workers!

Important notice from the Security Department is now being broadcast:

In order to completely solve the rat infestation in the factory area and ensure national food security, the Security Department has decided, after deliberation:

Comrade Su Yang has been specially appointed as an "unofficial pest control officer" to carry out a full-scale rat extermination operation starting immediately!

Comrade Su Yang will enter the production workshop, finished product warehouse, raw material storage area and the perimeter of the factory to carry out rodent extermination tasks.

When you see Comrade Su Yang working in any area, please stop moving around to avoid disturbing or accidentally injuring him.

If you discover any traces or hiding places of rats, please immediately report them to the security department or pest control officer Su Yang.

special reminder:

Comrade Su Yang used a traditional slingshot to kill rats, which requires no chemical agents and will not contaminate the quality of the grain.

Eliminating rodent pests is protecting national property and contributing to the campaign to increase production and conserve resources!

We hope all employees will cooperate actively!

Security Department, Limin Flour Factory.

"Attention all factory workers..."

After Wu Xinxue and Su Yang agreed on the broadcast script, she broadcast it three times in a row.

After the broadcast was repeated three times, Su Yangchong and Wu Xinxue gave a thumbs up.

"Your pronunciation is impeccable; you truly live up to the reputation of our Wuhan Broadcasting Station!"

"loquacious."

Wu Xinxue rolled her eyes at him, but couldn't suppress the urge to smile.

As the broadcast blared throughout the factory, the flour mill workers began to discuss it animatedly.

However, many veteran employees remained skeptical about Su Yang's role as a pest control worker.

Limin Flour Factory has been established for more than ten years, from the Republic of China era to the new society. Ever since the factory got its first bag of grain, the rat infestation has never stopped. On the contrary, it has become more and more serious due to the increase in production capacity.

Not only Limin Flour Factory, but any food-related factory is helpless against the rat infestation.

They didn't think a small-time pest control worker could solve the problem; they just saw it as a desperate measure by the security department.

In the cafeteria.

Because the warehouse closed early, He Dazhuang was secretly pleased that he had gotten the first batch of hot dishes today.

The broadcast suddenly blared from the loudspeaker, and the content of the broadcast made the steamed bun in his hand fall onto the table.

"Hey? Isn't this Su Yang the kid who came to the flour factory with us in the car before?"

A woman couldn't help but ask the person next to her.

"That's right! That kid is lucky. Wu Xinxue was willing to take him in, so he's practically family to her now."

A boy swallowed a mouthful of spicy and sour cabbage and said with a sour taste in his mouth.

"Could it be a case of the same name? What do you think, Brother Dazhuang?" He looked at He Dazhuang at the next table.

He Dazhuang recalled the scene of Su Yang going to the warehouse, remembered that he was carrying a bow, and heard rumors that a kid in the family compound had shot 17 rats with a bow and arrow and earned more than 10,000 yuan yesterday.

Now everything makes sense!

Based on the broadcast just now, although he didn't know what a pest control worker's job was or how much they were paid, the fact that the factory made a special broadcast announcement about it already spoke volumes.

However, he wouldn't admit it aloud, only saying sullenly, "It must be a case of the same name."

After saying that, he said no more and silently ate his meal.

Suddenly, the cornbread in my hand didn't taste so good anymore.

......

The aftershocks of Wu Xinxue's broadcast were still lingering in the flour mill. Su Yang had already gone home to retrieve the remaining pellets, and carrying his slingshot, he returned to the flour mill, eager to get started.

Compared to decades later, flour production technology in this era was much cruder.

The production process of Limin Flour Factory consists of only four steps: cleaning the raw wheat, moistening the wheat, grinding and sieving, and packaging.

Su Yang's first stop was the core area of ​​Limin Flour Factory—the production workshop.

While the security department could occasionally use guns or fire to get rid of some rats outside the workshop, there was nothing they could do inside the production workshop.

Because flour can explode when it comes into contact with fire.

The rat control work in the production workshop is still mainly done by manual killing and driving away. Workers can't even use iron tools to kill rats.

Workshop director Zhao Sanyuan had already received the notification, but looking at the teenager in front of him who was not even as tall as the machine, his brows furrowed.

Although he had suffered from rats for a long time, he found it hard to believe that the "pest control officers" that the security department had set up could be of any use in this place.

Out of respect for Zhang Zhenguo, he simply waved his hand impatiently and gruffly instructed, "Kid, be smart! Don't get in the way of the workers, and especially don't touch the machines! If you bump into something, you couldn't afford to pay for it even if you sold yourself!"

Su Yang nodded without saying anything more.

He took a deep breath; the air, thick with dust, was a bit choking, but his keen senses had already picked up on more subtle sounds amidst the roar—the scraping of claws against metal, the creaking of teeth gnawing on wood, and the rustling of rats darting about in dark corners and machine gaps.

They are everywhere, clinging to this enormous granary like ghosts.

Su Yang didn't rush to take action. Instead, he moved slowly along the wall of the workshop, his eyes scanning every corner where he might be hiding: the bottom of huge stacks of flour bags, the shadows of conveyor belt supports, the entrances of ventilation ducts, and even the gaps covered with oil stains at the bottom of the machines.

The workers in the workshop also looked at Su Yang with all sorts of expressions, including suspicion, surprise, disdain, and mockery.

Su Yang ignored the workers' stares and quickly walked through the workshop, surveying the terrain.

He quickly identified his first target.

Beside a roaring flour mill, in the shadows close to the warm machine, three plump rats were greedily licking a paste-like substance, a mixture of grease and flour, that was leaking from the machine's joints.

The vibrations and noise of the machines perfectly masked their movements, making them almost undetectable unless Su Yang possessed extraordinary perception.

Su Yang moved with lightning speed.

The mud pellet was instantly caught between his fingers, and with a flick of his fingers, it was embedded in the bullet pouch.

He turned sideways, lowered his waist, twisted his wrist, and drew the bow in one fluid motion.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The three soft whistling sounds were almost swallowed up by the roar of the machine.

Perhaps the noise of the machines masked their reaction, or perhaps the three mice were so engrossed in enjoying their feast that they were slow to react.

In less than two seconds, they were both accurately shot in the head. Their obese bodies stiffened abruptly, then collapsed to the ground.

All of this happened so fast that an old worker who was adding oil to the millstone bearings nearby had barely noticed Su Yang's movement when the battle was already over.

Fearing that Su Yang might damage the machine, he quickly went over with a dark expression and squatted down to check.

When he saw it clearly, his eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at the three large rats that had died instantly on the ground. Then he looked up sharply at the boy who stood calmly with his bow drawn, his mouth agape as if he could fit an egg in it.

"My God..." the old worker muttered to himself, nearly dropping the oil can in his hand.

Su Yang nodded slightly to him, a shy smile befitting his age on his face. He took a few steps forward and quickly tied up the three rat corpses.

He didn't speak to the old worker who was standing there blankly. He strolled away. What he needed to do now was to continue searching for targets and hunting them efficiently.

There are fewer rats in the workshop than in the warehouse, but in terms of audacity, they are even bolder than their counterparts in the warehouse.

They seem to have gotten used to the noise of machines and the footsteps of humans, and they are extremely bold.

Su Yang moved nimbly among the massive machines.

Sometimes he would stand beside a pile of flour sacks, his bullets hitting the rats gnawing on the sacks with pinpoint accuracy; other times he would crouch below the conveyor belt, shooting down "thieves" trying to climb up and steal grains of wheat; and once, he even rushed to a corner and, to everyone's astonishment, fired five shots in quick succession, knocking down a row of rats that were running arrogantly along the heating pipes.

His movements were quick, accurate, and steady; each draw of the bow was rhythmic, and his shots never missed.

Gradually, the roar of the workshop seemed to subside.

More and more workers stopped what they were doing, their eyes involuntarily drawn to the boy who moved nimbly through the dust.

Whispers arose:

"See that? Another one! Amazing!"

"My goodness, is this kid some kind of divine being descended from heaven? He hits exactly where he's pointed!"

"Look at that one behind the pillar! It's hit! It's hit again!"

"Where did the security department find this little genius? He's much better than those guys who had to stop production for two days and then shoot people. He's clean, efficient, and doesn't even have the fear of hitting the machines!"

Exclamations and murmurs rose and fell.

The impatience on Old Zhao's face had vanished without a trace, replaced by shock and disbelief.

He watched as Su Yang eliminated at least twenty or thirty rats in just over half an hour, like autumn leaves being swept away by the wind! The efficiency far exceeded his expectations.

Those stubborn rats in the workshop were so easily defeated in front of this boy.