PCJ – Chapter 75 School also Needs Home Protection Talismans

Initially, some villagers who were observing the situation decided to visit Zhang Jiahua’s house the next day. They found that all the methods they could think of had failed. This snake disaster was unprecedented; measures that usually worked against snakes seemed to have no effect. Conversely, all the households that had purchased home protection talismans did not suffer from the snake disaster again. Although five yuan wasn’t easy to earn, it wasn’t an unbearable amount for each household in those days. Therefore, the remaining villagers rushed to Zhang Jiahua’s house the next day, eager to buy talismans.

Zhang Jiahua didn’t judge these people negatively. After all, they were fellow villagers, and if they were willing to pay for the talismans, he couldn’t refuse. Besides, compared to the temptation of buying a television, their actions were insignificant to Zhang Jiahua.

As Zhang Jiahua watched each villager hand over their five yuan bills to his father, he kept counting in his mind, “One hundred fifty-five, one hundred sixty, one hundred sixty-five… television, television…”

After reporting the situation to the school district, the School district immediately instructed Ma Lisong to take appropriate measures to ensure that Meizi Elementary School would not have any students bitten by snakes. They also commended Ma Lisong for his decisive decision to suspend classes. While it seemed like the school district took the situation seriously, in reality, they didn’t take any practical measures. They didn’t send anyone to guide Meizi or coordinate with any relevant departments. Since Meizi Elementary School was already on break, it was no longer the responsibility of the education system but rather of the government departments to handle.

Therefore, the district director, Zhang Ke, told Ma Lisong that the district attached great importance to the matter and would immediately report it to higher authorities. He asked Ma Lisong to return to Meizi and wait for further instructions. However, no news came. The snake disaster at Meizi Elementary School remained unresolved. It seemed like the snakes had become deeply rooted in the school, defying all efforts to drive them away. Ma Lisong had considered exterminating the snakes like Ma Sibao did at his house, but he felt that something was off. If they started killing the snakes, something even worse might happen. Currently, although the snakes were causing trouble, they hadn’t attacked anyone yet. However, if they were provoked, no one could guarantee they wouldn’t become aggressive.

Ma Lisong returned to the school with a troubled expression on the third day of suspended classes. He didn’t know what to do.

“Huh, why is Teacher Gong still staying at the school?” Ma Lisong had been running around for the past two days and hadn’t seen Gong Ziyuan. He thought Gong Ziyuan had gone home, but he was surprised to find out that he was still at the school.

“Gong Teacher, why haven’t you gone home?” Ma Lisong hurriedly approached Gong Ziyuan.

“I don’t know when classes will resume, so I can only wait here,” Gong Ziyuan said with a bitter smile.

“Aren’t you afraid of the snakes?” Ma Lisong looked at Gong Ziyuan with admiration.

“Of course, I am. I’ve been terrified these past few days,” Gong Ziyuan said, feeling uneasy at the thought of the snakes.

Ma Lisong scratched his head. “Then why are you still staying here? Didn’t I ask you to come to my house for a few days?”

“Your village also has snakes, right? There are no snakes in my room here. It’s safer for me to stay here,” Gong Ziyuan said, mentioning the talismans.

“Home protection talismans?” Ma Lisong looked at Gong Ziyuan strangely. “Are you mistaken? You’re still young, yet you believe in feudal superstitions!”

“No, Principal Ma, home protection talismans really work. If you don’t believe me, come with me and see.” Gong Ziyuan led Ma Lisong to the principal’s office and then to the classrooms and staff canteen where the talismans were placed. Surprisingly, there were no snakes in these areas.

“Are they really effective?” Seeing is believing, and now that everything was right in front of him, Ma Lisong couldn’t help but believe it.

To dispel Ma Lisong’s doubts, Gong Ziyuan quickly went to the classroom, removed the talismans, and conducted another experiment in a classroom full of various snakes. The result was clear: the classroom without talismans was soon filled with snakes again, while the one with talismans remained snake-free. Faced with these undeniable facts, Ma Lisong had no choice but to believe.

“Go and quickly ask that student Hua to buy ten or eight more talismans and place them in every classroom in the school. We’ve already suspended classes for two days; we can’t afford to continue like this.” Ma Lisong took out ten yuan and eight mao from his pocket, his face slightly flushed. “Consider this the down payment.”

In the Meizi Village, Ma An and his family had been overjoyed these past two days. With a daily income of over a thousand yuan, they had earned the most significant income ever. The windfall of several thousand yuan drove Ma An completely crazy. Not only did he not let any snakes go in his own house, but he also kindly caught snakes for other households. Everyone in the Meizi Village praised Ma An’s family.

But somehow, there were more and more snakes, and every time Ma An caught all the snakes in the house, more would quickly come in from outside. Moreover, as they progressed, they encountered some extremely fierce venomous snakes. Immersed in excitement, Ma An’s family failed to notice some changes in the snakes.

Compared to the beginning, when the snakes were simply gathered together and quiet, they had become agitated. Although they didn’t attack people at first, they only bit the poultry in the farmers’ homes.

When Ma An reached out to grab a seven-inch silver ring snake, the snake suddenly coiled up like a dart and struck at Ma An’s hand.

“Oh my god!” Ma An quickly pulled his hand back.

“What’s wrong, Husband?” Liu Yuehong, who was specifically providing Ma An with a snake skin bag, quickly asked.

“This snake is fierce. I almost got bitten just now.” Ma An said with lingering fear.

“Should we stop catching snakes? I’ve been scared these past two days. These snakes don’t seem right. If we keep catching them, I’m afraid something will happen.” Liu Yuehong said worriedly.

“You’re silly. I’ve been catching snakes all along, and I’ve seen much fiercer ones. What are these compared to those? Stop talking nonsense. I won’t give up this path to riches.” Ma An shook his head firmly.

Ma An grabbed a pair of tongs and rushed forward, grabbing the silver ring snake and putting it into the snake skin bag held by Liu Yuehong.

But just as he was about to put the snake into the bag, something unexpected happened. The silver ring snake screamed desperately, but its cry was different from the usual roar.

“What’s going on today?” Ma An was puzzled.

As Ma An was about to put the snake into the bag, he suddenly exclaimed, “Ah!”