Chapter 186: Catching a Turtle in a Jar [3200]

From ancient times to the present, oxen have been more important tools of production than humans.

Even with reform and opening up.

However, for the inland rural areas that are still in the tail end of the 80s, oxen are still an indispensable part, and their importance is related to whether the whole village can have a good harvest of grain.

During the production team era, when people still ate from the same big pot, every production team had its own oxen. For teams with better conditions, three or four oxen were not considered too many. For teams with worse conditions, they would risk their lives to raise at least one oxen.

Oxen plow the fields ten times more efficiently than humans, and they can also plow deeper.

At that time, almost all the paddy fields of almost all production teams had to rely on the oxen raised by the production teams themselves, because there was a saying that any land plowed by oxen would have a higher yield than land plowed by humans.

Therefore, no matter how hard life was at that time, no production team would think of killing the oxen and distributing the meat to everyone.

Later, the production team was disbanded, but the cow was still the same cow, and it was impossible to kill the cow and divide the meat for everyone to take back and eat, so they had to raise them all in the village. During the slack season, everyone took turns to help herd the cow. During the busy season, everyone drew lots and took turns to borrow a cow from the village committee to plow their own fields.

This tradition has been passed down like this.

I want this tradition to end.

I'm afraid we can only wait until the old oxen in the village die of old age, and then no one will count on them anymore.

And now, the cow is missing. Won’t the sky fall down on the villagers’ heads?

Yes, Lu Yang said it would be lost, then it would definitely be lost.

According to calculations, there would be troops conducting training in the back mountains on that day.

"Cousin, as you instructed, the cow has been lost."

"It's not my order. It was meant to be lost. That's its fate."

"Yes, yes, cousin, you are right. This is its fate. It can help all the villagers find out the truth about the tea mountain. I believe it must feel that it is worth it. If it can be found alive this time, I will definitely feed it the tenderest grass for ten days."

Lu Youzhi said with a solemn vow.

As someone who personally participated in the plan, no one knew better than him how the cow was lost. The vegetation in the village was the densest only on the back mountain, so the cows were usually grazed along the back mountain. After getting up in the morning, he would watch there. He knew that the cattle-grazing children would usually tie the cows to a tree and then leave them alone and find a big rock to lie down and sleep. He took this opportunity to secretly untie the rope and then stabbed the cow in the butt.

He still remembered that after the old ox felt pain, it looked at him with resentment in its eyes, and then ran wildly into the mountains as if it was having fun.

Running wildly and mooing all the way.

The cowherd boy was so frightened that he jumped off the big rock in panic and ran into the village to call for help.

At this moment, the whole village was probably alarmed.

Say no guilt.

To be sure, Lao Liu still has a little bit.

But my cousin also said that if the cow was lost or died, he would buy two younger and stronger oxen and donate them to the village collective as double compensation.

So, that little bit of guilt was offset.

A world with only one injured old ox is reached.

After the village committee learned that the cow was missing, they were blocked by villagers who came after hearing the news and demanded an explanation. At this time, they decided to go up the mountain to search.

After all, this working ox cannot be thrown away in vain.

But the only road up the mountain, whether it is a main road or a small road, has been blocked by people and surrounded by walls. If you want to go around from the other side, those steep slopes are where no one has walked before. Cows can get in, but people may not. What's more, if a villager is injured or breaks his leg, or even worse, falls to death, no one can take the responsibility.

What should I do?
In the end, we could only negotiate with the people on the mountain.

At this time, both the old village party secretary and the village director regretted that they should not have cooperated with this group of people in the first place, let alone handed over the back mountain to these people to grow tea and open a tea factory. They were simply making things difficult for themselves.

As expected, the negotiations went against each other and as expected, they did go wrong.

People just ignore them.

Four or five large wolfhounds were brought out and tied at the entrance to the mountain path.

Then the main road that allows cars to drive directly into the tea factory was surrounded by a wall, and only an iron gate was left, which is now closed.

There was a group of big wolfhounds guarding there, and they didn't even dare to get close, so how could they negotiate?

"It's so deceiving."

"How about calling the police?"

"That's right, is there still any law?"

"I also think we should call the police, but we should not say the cow was lost, we should say it was stolen. A cow is worth a lot of money, it's enough to file a case."

"Okay, I'll do as you say."

I don't know who made the proposal, but it was unanimously agreed upon by the villagers.

The old village party secretary and the village director discussed it and decided to leave one person at the entrance to the mountain to continue guarding with the villagers, while the other ran back to the village committee to make a phone call.

Lu Yang had already known that this would be the result.

Everything was as expected.

However, for some things, it is not enough for the old village party secretary to just go back to the village committee and make a phone call. He also has to help make a phone call.

Calculate the time.

Feeling that it was almost time, Lu Yang took out the mobile phone from his waist. "Old Wei, you haven't been promoted yet?"

"You kid, you didn't call me just to ask this, did you?
I tell you, this phone of ours can only be used to call the police.

Okay, stop being curious. I'm about to be promoted. I've received a notice that I'll be reporting to the Hongshaling Sub-district Police Station in the county next month to serve as the temporary director. It's only a half-level promotion. Whether I can hold the position firmly depends on subsequent developments. I, your old brother, am feeling very nervous right now.

By the way, I heard that a working ox was lost in your village, and you called the police just now. We are also preparing to send people to the police. Are you calling because of this too?"

"First of all, congratulations, brother. Yes, I really did it for this matter. I have a piece of gossip here. I wonder if you want to hear it?
Want to listen?

Then I will say it.

The working ox in our village was indeed lost, but the suspect who allegedly stole the ox is very unusual. Now they have blocked the road to the mountain, and even our villagers cannot go up the mountain to look for their oxen. Don’t you think this is ridiculous?

You know, the land and mountain they are standing on still belong to our village."

"No, brother, the suspect you are talking about can't be the group of guys who contracted a mountain in your village to plant tea trees and open a tea factory, right?"

"Yes, Lao Wei, now you remember, didn't you invite them in to drink tea for a few days last time?"

"I knew that things were not that simple, but it doesn't make sense. Those guys don't look like people who need money, and they spend money lavishly. Especially recently, several of them have been riding motorcycles and strolling around the streets of town. Would they be so desperate as to steal cows from your village?"

"I don't care. They are the most suspicious anyway. There are eyewitnesses among the villagers. You will know if you come and check. By the way, bring more people. If you bring too few, I'm afraid you won't even be able to enter the gate of the tea factory."

"Okay, I'll trust you once more. What kind of dragon's den or tiger's lair is there in Fan Town that even I, Old Wei, can't enter?"

This bragging is really loud!

Lu Yang chuckled, hung up the phone, and prepared to see how Lao Wei would embarrass himself.

"Cousin, is everything going well?"

After witnessing the entire process of Lu Yang making the phone call, Lu Youzhi asked him nervously.

Lao Liu was worried that the farmer had only managed to lure the snake out of its hole but was unable to subdue this venomous beast.

Lu Yang nodded, then shook his head: “The call went smoothly, but relying only on the villagers to surround the mountain and Lao Wei to bring a few people, I’m afraid we still can’t get in.”

"What then?"

Lu Youzhi asked nervously.

Now the arrow is on the string and must be shot.

Lu Yang stood up, patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "Don't worry, those people have been caught in the trap."

Then he turned to Da Jun, who was playing chess with him and now had a thoughtful look on his face, and said, "You must have a lot of doubts now, right? Let's go and find your grandfather now. You should know the truth of some things."

The first two steps can only be regarded as setting up the stage. The villagers and Lao Wei can only be regarded as people who build the stage and will temporarily act as the audience later. The real performers are still on the way.

at the same time.

On the tea mountain, inside the wall, a group of street urchins were also extremely nervous.

They found themselves unable to get out.

The foot of the mountain was surrounded by villagers who were angry because their cattle were lost.

Many villagers were shouting angrily.

Let them open the door quickly.

They had to go into the mountains to look for their cattle, and if they couldn't find them, they would be asked to pay for it.

How much does it cost to accompany the cow?

Are they afraid of having to pay for the cattle?
Of course not. They were afraid that the secrets in the mountains could no longer be hidden. And who knows if any of the villagers came here with other purposes. After all, there have been rumors in the past few days that there are shameful secrets in their tea plantation.

"How to do?"

"Speak up, are you all pretending to be deaf and dumb at this time?"

"I'm telling you to stop, stop. There's no end to making money. With the money we earn from coal mining, we can change our careers and clean ourselves up. Who would know we did this?"

"But you just wouldn't listen. You said wait a little longer, wait a little longer, it's okay, wait until the road is repaired, and then dig it up for two months. It won't be too late to stop. What should we do now?"

"Brother Bao, you are the major shareholder, you speak?"

"I'm talking bullshit. If you're scared, isn't there a small path in the back of the mountain that leads to the outside? Just run! I won't run. I'll stay here and see what they can do to me. Master Bao, let me make this clear. No one can go up the mountain today. You want cattle, right? If you don't have cattle, the worst that can happen is that you can pay them for the cattle. Brothers, how much is a cattle worth?"

"Yes, listen to Brother Bao. We all believe in Brother Bao."

"Let's go negotiate with them, pay them some money, and tell them to get out of here."

After hearing what Brother Bao said, the confidence of the street urchins suddenly increased.

But they didn't know that after they were sent out.

The few real core members who stayed behind were already planning to run away.

"Brother Bao, do you want to go?"

"Let's go. I don't think things are going well. Let's leave right away. It's a good opportunity for these guys to hold the line."

(End of this chapter)