Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 167 The Debtful Xiangzi

Zhao Da'e hurriedly went to find Xiangzi. Sure enough, when he arrived at his own backyard, he saw Xiangzi's busy figure and his secondhand minivan.

"Xiangzi!" Zhao Da'e shouted at the top of her lungs. As soon as Xiangzi saw Zhao Da'e, he waved and said, "Little Aunt!"

Zhao Da'e saw Xiangzi carrying something. When she went over, she found nearly a dozen chickens and ducks. Zhao Da'e was startled. After realizing what was happening, she ran over and took a closer look. Xiangzi was grabbing the chickens and ducks off the cart. There were ten chickens and ducks in total. She could smell the peculiar stench of chickens and ducks when she got close.

Zhao Da'e frowned and asked, "Xiangzi, what are you doing with this thing?"

Xiangzi wiped the sweat from his face with a towel and said cheerfully, "Little Aunt, I'm helping the villagers transport chickens and ducks. It's almost Chinese New Year, and every household is preparing for the holiday. Some families have asked me to bring back some chickens, ducks, and geese from the neighboring village."

Zhao Da'e was completely baffled. What was all this about? Looking closely at the chickens and ducks, he saw that several of them looked sickly and listless. Wasn't that the state of having chicken plague?

Isn't this just making trouble out of nothing? They just said they couldn't buy them, and now villagers are sending people to buy chickens, ducks, and geese from Jurenzhangzi Village? Zhao Da'e thinks this is just picking a fight. The problem is, Xiangzi might not have been home at the time and didn't hear the loudspeaker… Sigh.

"Xiangzi, quickly throw these chickens, ducks, and geese to a farther place, bury them in a hole dug in the back hill. These chickens and ducks have chicken plague and can't be eaten!" Zhao Da'e said seriously.

Xiangzi exclaimed, "Huh?" Still not quite understanding, he was a little dazed. "What? Auntie, this chicken plague, I... this..."

Xiangzi started to stutter and became flustered.

Zhao Da'e exclaimed "Hey!" and explained, "Chicken plague! Haven't you heard that a bunch of chickens, ducks, and geese died over there? That's all caused by chicken plague. Anyone who gets chicken plague will look sickly. Look at these chickens, ducks, and geese, aren't they like that? And the droppings on your car are all greenish-yellow. You can't eat chickens that have chicken plague. Eating them is bad for your health. At best, you'll have allergies and diarrhea; at worst, you'll have to go to the hospital and spend tens of thousands of yuan to treat them!"

What Zhao Da'e said wasn't scaring at all. Eating chicken infected with fowl plague can indeed cause symptoms like allergies, diarrhea, and vomiting. This is because chickens, ducks, and geese infected with fowl plague carry the virus. When the virus enters the human body, it causes rejection, resulting in symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea. The human kidneys are responsible for filtering viruses. If there are too many viruses, the kidneys, like humans, will work under great pressure, leading to kidney failure, which means the kidneys are damaged. If the kidneys are not functioning well, you need to go to the hospital for treatment or get a kidney transplant. That whole process can easily cost tens of thousands of yuan.

Xiangzi was frightened by Zhao Da'e's words. "Little Aunt, is it really that serious? I... I haven't even eaten any of these chickens, ducks, or geese yet. I only had close contact with them. It shouldn't be... that big of a problem, right?"

After saying that, Xiangzi couldn't help but sneeze.

Zhao Da'e shook his head. "Look, you've started sneezing. Even though you didn't eat the chicken, duck, or goose, you came into close contact with these chickens and ducks that have chicken plague. The viruses on them will more or less infect you, making you very susceptible to illness, such as catching a cold or getting a fever."

The idea that viral invasion of the body leads to a decline in immunity is something Zhao Da'e learned in school in his previous life.

Seeing Xiangzi's flustered state, Zhao Da'e added, "But as long as you haven't eaten these chickens, ducks, and geese, it's fine. You can't eat chickens, ducks, and geese with fowl plague. At most, you'll just get a minor illness. It's best to throw away those chickens, ducks, and geese with fowl plague, or rather, kill them and bury them far away, the farther the better. Otherwise, if you bring them into the village, you'll infect all the chickens, ducks, and geese in the village."

When Xiangzi heard that he would only have a minor illness at most, he breathed a sigh of relief. But when he heard that he had to throw away the chickens, ducks and geese, he was in a dilemma. "But Auntie, these are chickens, ducks and geese that people asked me to buy from Jurenzhangzi. If I really throw them away, I won't be able to explain it to them. After all, they paid me. If I throw them away without permission, I will have to pay compensation."

Zhao Da'e sighed after hearing this. She knew it would be like this. The New Year was approaching, and every household was preparing chickens, ducks, and geese. The chickens, ducks, and geese raised in the nearby village of Jurenzhang were the most plentiful and incredibly cheap. Most villagers would choose to buy some chickens, ducks, and geese from the nearby villages, as they could use them for the New Year and when visiting relatives.

But it was precisely because of this that the fowl plague spread. In his previous life, many villagers ate chickens infected with the plague, suffering from diarrhea and vomiting. Some even had to be hospitalized, incurring costs of several thousand yuan. Zhao Da'e clearly remembered that several families in his previous life developed kidney failure from eating these chickens, and because they couldn't afford treatment, they died a few years later. At the time, Zhao Da'e didn't know it was the fowl plague that caused it; everyone said it was some kind of epidemic. Now, thinking back, it must have been the fowl plague.

Actually, the spread of fowl plague could have been controlled, but at that time, many older people were reluctant to part with their food. They wouldn't allow chickens, ducks, or geese infected with the plague to be eaten and would have to be thrown away. The older generation would feel sorry for them and would not be willing to throw them away, so they would keep the infected chickens, ducks, and geese and eat them themselves. This almost ruined their health, and the people who went to the hospital the most were the elderly.

Therefore, this chicken plague must be brought under control. At the very least, the villagers should be informed of the most basic things, including the dangers of chicken plague, and it should be strictly forbidden to bring chickens, ducks, and geese infected with chicken plague into Dongtaizi Village. Zhao Da'e did not want the tragedies of her previous life to happen again. Within her ability, she would help as many villagers as she could, as a way of doing good deeds for her rebirth.

If God gave her a second chance to start over and live her life again, she wanted to do something to help those around her, so that her prophetic abilities wouldn't be wasted.

"Or... you could put these chickens, ducks, and geese in the van for now. But that won't work either; this is a really difficult situation. It's not easy to handle. Whoever bought them, you could have them take these things away so they don't pollute my backyard. What am I supposed to do then?"

Xiangzi couldn't bear it and said, "But Auntie, didn't you just say that we can't eat these chickens, ducks, and geese? But why did you still let the villagers bring these chickens, ducks, and geese infected with fowl plague home? Aren't we harming them?"

Zhao Da'e was also in a bind. Xiangzi had bought the chickens, ducks, and geese. If he told them they weren't allowed to eat them, their first reaction would be to hold Xiangzi accountable, saying it was all his fault for buying chickens, ducks, and geese with fowl cholera. They might even demand compensation or ask him to buy new chickens, ducks, and geese as compensation! Sending them over wasn't an option either. He was caught in a dilemma. "So what do you suggest? Give them a refund, and return the goods as well."

Xiangzi was also heartbroken; he had spent money on it. He couldn't explain throwing it away, but keeping it wasn't right either. That hundred-odd yuan was a week's wages for Xiangzi. He only earned four or five yuan in tolls from hauling this load of goods, and now he was losing over a hundred yuan—it was a complete loss! He was heartbroken!

Xiangzi began to explain, “Little Aunt, how could I possibly pay for this? I went to buy chickens, ducks and geese from the scholar’s ​​stall as they instructed. That’s what they said. I never thought that buying just a few chickens, ducks and geese would lead to fowl plague. You can’t blame me for this. Besides, they wouldn’t accept it if I returned it.”

He's just a gofer, doing things according to the customer's requirements. The chickens, ducks, and geese he bought were also purchased according to their instructions. How can you blame him?

Zhao Da'e said, "Xiangzi, I know you're wronged, but who told you to take any job you can get? They only care about their losses and whether they can get their money back. Although there's a chicken plague outbreak at Jurenzhang's place, you're just a deliveryman. They'll only blame you for buying chickens, ducks, and geese with the plague. They won't listen to your explanations and will force you to pay compensation. Your explanations are all unnecessary. If you don't pay, they might cause trouble. And you specialize in driving and transporting goods. If your reputation is affected, who will hire you to transport goods in the future? Will you still be able to make a living this way?"

Zhao Da'e's words made perfect sense. It wasn't just her boasting; it was the reality. The villagers had asked Xiangzi to buy these chickens and ducks from the scholar's stall. They had paid for the journey, essentially acting as business partners. But the chickens and ducks they brought back were infected with fowl plague, and the villagers would suffer the loss. However, the villagers wouldn't be foolish enough to accept it. They would band together and blame Xiangzi, the deliveryman, because he was alone and not very good at speaking, making him the weaker party.

Upon hearing this, Xiangzi panicked and quickly said, "Then... Auntie, please tell me quickly, what should I do? What should I do with these chickens and ducks? Losing them is bad, but keeping them isn't good either."

Zhao Da'e comforted him, "Xiangzi, don't worry. Here's what we'll do: put the chickens and ducks back in your van and wait for the villagers to come and get them."

Xiangzi was confused. "But Auntie, what if the villagers see that the chickens and ducks I brought back are infected with fowl plague? I don't want to lose money."

Zhao Da'e scratched his head. "By the way, Xiangzi, how many times have you done this job? Have you been transporting chickens, ducks, or geese for others while you've been delivering water to me these past few days? Let me tell you, when you deliver water to me, you at least need to make sure the van is clean. Don't get the water dirty. Even though it's bottled water, if it's dirty, do you think the water collectors will still do business with us? Besides, chicken plague carries viruses. Even though there's a layer of plastic, it's still unsanitary. Xiangzi, you really need to be careful about hygiene when you deliver water to me."

These chickens, ducks, and geese infected with fowl plague carry the virus. What Zhao Da'e fears most is that the virus will get into the bottled water she sells, and then people who drink it will get diarrhea or other health problems. This water is meant to be drunk by people, and if people get sick from drinking it, Zhao Da'e's water-selling business will collapse without a doubt.

Xiangzi blushed at what he was being told, and lowered his head in embarrassment. “This is the first time. I’ve never delivered chickens, ducks, or geese to you before when I delivered water. These past few days I’ve been delivering other goods, like firewood, rice, oil, salt, and vegetables. I clean the van every day, so I keep it basically clean. But I delivered chickens, ducks, and geese today because several villagers asked me to buy them for them and gave me a delivery fee. I delivered your water first before going to the next village to buy these chickens and ducks. The water I delivered has absolutely not come into contact with any of these animals infected with chicken plague.”

Xiangzi was afraid Zhao Da'e would misunderstand, after all, Zhao Da'e gave him five yuan every day as a delivery fee, which added up to a decent income. Although Zhao Da'e had already given this money to Cai Xiaofeng, what difference was there between that and giving it to him?

When Zhao Da'e heard that the water delivered today had not come into contact with the animals carrying chicken plague, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Xiangzi said anxiously, "Auntie, please help me think of a solution. I will never help others take care of these animals again. Now I've gotten myself into trouble. If the villagers really ask me for compensation, I will absolutely not give it to them. But I don't want my reputation to be damaged either. Otherwise, if the villagers stop asking me to run errands, how will I earn a little extra money to make a living in the future?"

Zhao Da'e replied, "I do have a solution."

Upon hearing this, Xiangzi's eyes lit up, and he quickly said, "Really, little aunt! What's your idea? Tell me quickly!"

Zhao Da'e pretended to sigh, then hesitated and said, "I don't know if I should say it. I'm afraid you won't be willing to do it."

Xiangzi quickly pressed on, "Little Aunt, just tell me. I don't care whether I want to or not. As long as I don't lose money or my reputation is damaged, I'll try anything."

Xiangzi suddenly remembered something and added, "But little aunt, I won't do things like murder, arson, or poisoning."

Zhao Da'e laughed in exasperation, "What are you thinking? Murder and arson? Why do you think so badly of me? How could I possibly ask you to do such a thing? Don't worry, this method is difficult in some ways, but not so difficult in others, it's just that it might..."

Zhao Da'e paused, then gave Xiangzi a deep look.

Xiangzi was anxious and urged, "Little Aunt, just say what you have to say! Why do you always stop talking halfway through? You're making me so worried!"

"What's possible? Tell me, maybe I can do it!"

Zhao Da'e laughed, "Then I'll tell you, but whether you like it or not, you must not let this method slip out."

When Zhao Da'e said this, he deliberately lowered his voice, which piqued Xiangzi's interest. He even squatted down to try and hear Zhao Da'e's voice clearly.

Xiangzi asked curiously, "So, little aunt, what exactly is this method? Tell me quickly."

Zhao Da'e looked mysterious and said, "It's very simple, the method is..."