A month passed quickly, and it was already mid-July.
Most of the Qin family went to the wheat fields to chase away birds, while Qin Junyao stayed home to make scarecrows.
Not a drop of rain had fallen in the sky for this entire month.
Of all the vegetable gardens in Yangshu Village, the Qin family's had the best growth, followed by the Hou family's.
Not only did villagers come to the Qin family's vegetable garden to look when they had free time, but even the birds in the sky had set their sights on the Qin family's vegetables.
Initially, there were only a few birds, and the yellow dog could scare them away. But once the news of the Qin family's fresh and abundant vegetables spread among the birds, they started coming in flocks.
Not only that, but the wheat fields of both the Qin and Hou families were also attacked by sparrows.
The wheat, planted at the same time, was still in its green stage in other families' fields, while the Qin and Hou families' wheat had already reached maturity, ripening half a month earlier.
Qin Junyao had made scarecrows before.
Perhaps because she hadn't dressed them, their effect was poor. Now, flocks of birds were targeting her watermelons. This time, she planned to make a scarecrow of a red-clothed female ghost, which would scare away not only birds but also people.
She first made the limbs with branches, wrapped them with straw taken from her spatial dimension, and tied them with hemp rope.
When it came to the head, Qin Junyao was stumped. She intended to make this scarecrow two meters tall, with a large head, but she couldn't tie it into a round shape with straw by herself.
Just as she was thinking of finding someone to help, a horse's whinnying sound came from the courtyard gate.
Qin Junyao peeked out and saw Zhao Liangcai's mount, Xiao Fei, lingering outside the courtyard gate, repeatedly nudging the gate with its head.
She quickly put down the straw in her hands and ran towards Xiao Fei, asking, "Why did you come back by yourself? Where is your master?"
When Qin Junyao ran to the courtyard gate, she was startled.
Xiao Fei hadn't returned on its own; Zhao Liangcai was still on its back.
Qin Junyao quickly opened the courtyard gate and ran to Xiao Fei's side. Xiao Fei, panting heavily, turned its head to look at its back, signaling Qin Junyao.
"Zhao Liangcai? Zhao Liangcai, wake up." Qin Junyao didn't know Zhao Liangcai's exact condition and didn't dare to move the person on the horse rashly, so she could only pat Zhao Liangcai's arm to see if he was still conscious.
Qin Junyao called Zhao Liangcai's name several times without a response. She anxiously looked around. It was the time for farm work, and there was no one near the Qin family's house.
Fortunately, Suozi arrived on horseback.
Suozi dismounted and ran to Xiao Fei's side. He pulled Zhao Liangcai off the horse, placed him on his back, patted Xiao Fei's back, and said to it, "Take Huangmao for a couple of laps, then come back."
"Deputy Officer Zhou, what's wrong with Zhao Liangcai?" Qin Junyao watched Xiao Fei lead Suozi's yellow horse away at a trot and asked Suozi.
Seeing Suozi's rough handling of Zhao Liangcai, Qin Junyao deduced that Zhao Liangcai probably didn't have any internal or external injuries.
"He fainted from a headache. Which room?"
Qin Junyao led Suozi to her room. "Headache? Didn't he take medicine?"
"He fainted because he refused to take medicine. He said his headache would go away if he ate the sashimi you made? What is sashimi?"
Sashimi would relieve his headache?
Qin Junyao asked Suozi, "When does his headache usually occur?"
Suozi placed Zhao Liangcai on the kang, his eyes fixed on Qin Junyao. "When he has killed too many people."
Qin Junyao's pupils contracted sharply. She clenched her fists and met Suozi's gaze. "Alright, I know what to prepare for him. Will he wake up if his headache subsides?"
"Yes, leave him here for now. I'll go get medicine. If your sashimi doesn't work, I'll have to force-feed him medicine." Suozi turned and walked out.