The rat that didn't account for its tail was over half again as long as an adult's palm, currently held tightly between the jaws of the long-handled clamp.
The enhanced version of the long-handled clamp, non-slip, secure, and with ample clamping power, ensured that the huge rat couldn't struggle free after being caught; it could only screech shrilly.
Feng Yi was in no hurry to drive away now, walking towards the property management office with the rat in the clamp.
It was the property management's responsibility to deal with rats caught by residents, whether dead or alive, to provide uniform disposal and prevent the spread of bacteria and viruses that could cause greater harm.
Not far from Feng Yi's parking spot, inside a parked car, the driver's eyes were bulging, his jaw nearly hitting the floor. He muttered wordlessly, "Holy shit!"
He took out his phone to send a voice message, "Honey, let me tell you, we've got a badass in our community! Just now, I saw him with a long-handled clamp walking around his car, then suddenly he stamped his foot and swooped—swish! A rat was clamped in a flash!!"
"It was just like... like something... right, like how a snake hunts rats in the animal world, striking faster than lightning, whoosh! Caught just like that! It gave me the chills!"
"I've never seen anyone with such a precise action, it's way more impressive than those professional rat-catching companies people talk about in the group!!"
"What do you call that? The master's skill! With effortless poise, a casual move results in an instant kill!"
His excitement was palpable as he sent the voice message, even imitating the way Feng Yi had made his move.
"It's just a pity I didn't record it, or else I could have shown you how that fat rat struggled uselessly in the jaws! It was so satisfying!!"
Quickly, a voice message came back from the other side of the phone, "Then what are you waiting for! Go ask for his help! Who knows when we'll get an appointment with a rat-catching company, and it's rare to have such a person in our community, so hurry and ask him to help!"
Reminded by this, he finally snapped out of his excitement and hurriedly chased after Feng Yi.
There weren't many people around the management office at this time
A young female administrator on duty there saw Feng Yi coming from the entrance of the underground parking lot with a long-handled clamp holding a rat. Her face turned pale as she hurried over and pulled out a rat-catching bag she carried with her.
"Throw it in here!" she exclaimed.
After Feng Yi threw the rat into the bag, the young administrator skillfully tied up the opening, and without even glancing at the big rat still struggling inside, she anxiously asked Feng Yi, "Did you catch it in the underground parking lot just now?"
"Yes. It was right under my car," Feng Yi replied.
The young administrator became even more anxious, "Are you in a hurry to leave now? We can send someone to inspect your car to see if any wiring has been damaged!"
It wasn't the big rat that made her pale with fear; if she was truly afraid of rats, she wouldn't have taken the job at the property management. What she was afraid of was the possibility of an incident involving a resident's car!
The owners pay so much for management fees each month for the underground parking, and if anything happened, they would certainly blame the management for just taking money and doing nothing, then promptly issue complaints, reports, and call the mayor's hotline—a whole process would ensue.
Yesterday, the management office received news that in another community, a car owner had the wiring underneath their car chewed up by rats, leading to a breakdown in the middle of the road. Luckily no one was hurt, but it was a close call; thus, the community informed all property managements to ensure thorough rat extermination in the parking lots.
They had already conducted a thorough cleaning the day before, and made arrangements at the entrance and exits, checked all ducts and vents, and kept the parking lot surveillance in constant operation. But to their dismay, barely a night passed and there were rats hiding under the cars again!
Since one had appeared, it was very likely there were more; they had to arrange for another round of inspections. They needed to be vigilant against any unnecessary incidents given the recent spike in rat disturbances.
So, naturally, she was anxious!
Should anything happen, the property management would have to take responsibility!
"No rush to go out," Feng Yi said.
"All right, just a moment!" The manager said, making a phone call.
The property management quickly had someone come over to inspect Feng Yi's car.
"There are bite marks, but it's not serious. There are some food remnants too; the rats have been stashing food here," one person said.
Yesterday, when the property management cleaned the underground garage, they only cleaned the ground under the cars. Without the car owners' consent, they couldn't possibly check under every car in great detail—people might think they're up to something if they did.
While the property staff inspected the car's underside, Feng Yi waited nearby. He had the property staff help clean and disinfect the long-handled tongs and then put them back in the trunk.
While waiting, a slightly plump figure suddenly darted over.
"Hey, hello hello! I'm an owner from Building 5 in our community; my name is Hu. I saw you catching the rat just now! That was so impressive! Are you a professional?" the person asked.
"No," Feng Yi replied.
"Ah, I see, well then... Can you do me a favor? A rat got into my place, and I can't catch it!
"The property people tried once, but it got in again, and now they're too understaffed to help, and all the pest control companies are fully booked! The elderly and children at home have had to move out for a few days, and my wife and I are just driven mad by that rat every day, unable to catch it. We're almost at our wits' end. Could you please help us out?"
Feng Yi found this quite sudden: "I'm not professional enough, I might not be able to help you."
"No problem! You're way better than me! Right now, I just can't find anyone else to help. When are you available to take a look at my place?"
"I really haven't done this kind of work before. Last time there was a rat in my place, I tricked it out with an egg," Feng Yi said.
"You didn't have the tools in hand last time! But with that move you just pulled, you're as good as any professional!"
With that, the person clasped their hands together and bowed: "Please!"
Seeing this person's pleading behavior, Feng Yi knew he could never outdo them in thickness of face. If he refused, this person might even start crying on the spot.
Figuring he didn't have anything major to do that day anyway, and he could take a look and verify a theory of his, Feng Yi didn't refuse.
"I can take a look, but I can't guarantee I'll solve it," Feng Yi said.
"Thank you, thank you so much, buddy! When are you available? I'm Hu Yi from 5-2102. Shall we exchange contact information first?"
"I'm from 1-3002, and I'm also in the owners' group," Feng Yi said.
"That's great! We both live in '2' units; it must be fate!"
Feng Yi: "...I have to go out for a bit. I'll have time after dinner. Is that convenient for you?"
"Convenient, very convenient! I won't go anywhere after dinner; I'll just stay at home waiting!" Saying this, he clasped his hands again in gratitude.
As they spoke, Feng Yi's car had also been checked.
"Nothing major. In a bit, our management will conduct another cleanup of the underground garage. We've notified everyone in the owners' group. Car owners should check under their cars or come to us if needed," the property staff said.
There wasn't much going on afterward, so Feng Yi just drove off to the supermarket to buy some daily necessities, and stocked up on things like rice, flour, grains, and oils.
Dumplings, beef, eggs, fruits and vegetables, and even grabbed two bags of grab-and-go pancakes.
After leaving the supermarket, he stopped by the drugstore next to it and bought a box of masks just in case.
He had bought quite a bit more than usual, but Feng Yi knew he genuinely needed that much.
His physical constitution had already changed.
Just like earlier in the underground garage, he had used a long-handled clamp to catch rats before, but it had never been so easy or so quick.
It seemed he had also gained some extra sensory abilities.
If it had been before, he wouldn't have noticed another rat under the car, nor would he have struck so swiftly and accurately.
And during this shopping trip, Feng Yi could sense those movements in the little corners that were not easy to spot.
The supermarket and pharmacy were relatively better off, obviously, they had been cleaned up, and the rat extermination was carried out diligently. Other places were not the same.
Tonight, visiting that homeowner in building 5 would be a good opportunity to see just how far his sensory abilities had reached and the extent of the range he could sense.
He hadn't paid attention to it while at home, and if it weren't for the rat under the car being so close, he wouldn't have noticed this kind of sensory ability.
Back at home, Feng Yi took the long-handled clamp that had been in the trunk, carried it upstairs, and stored it in a narrow box, so as not to attract the attention of passersby if he carried it out in the open.
Dinner passed, and night fell.
The households were mostly entering the post-dinner activity time.
Feng Yi arrived at 2102 in building 5, where the owner, Mr. Hu, and his wife had been waiting for a long time.
"Do you have shoe covers?" Feng Yi asked.
"No need, no need, just come in!" Hu Yi thought to himself, what if wearing shoe covers slowed him down and he failed to catch the rats?
The floor could be mopped if it got dirty, but if he couldn't catch the rats, they would be in for several long days! Even mopping the floor 80 times would be useless!
Feng Yi wiped the dust off his shoes on the doormat at the entrance and walked into the house.
"Go straight to any place you think there might be a problem, you can go right into the bedrooms too!" Hu Yi said.
After returning home during the day, he and his wife had tidied up the place to facilitate Feng Yi's movements.
Because some people in the homeowners' group had mentioned that rats, after living in human society for a long time, could understand some human sentences, they didn't dare to speak loudly now.
Hu Yi watched as Feng Yi moved from the kitchen to the living room and then towards the bedrooms.
Feng Yi stopped, opened the box, and took out the long-handled clamp.
Seeing this, the young couple grew tense.
Hu Yi gave his wife a look: It's happening! The divine rat-catching stomp clamp!
He even took out his phone to record.
Feng Yi did not pay attention to the couple's exchange of glances, instead, he headed toward one of the rooms.
"This room is occupied by an elder. We've had the rat problem for a while. Not long ago, a rat gnawed at the window screen. It scared the child to tears, and the noise kept him from sleeping at night. So, the elder took the child to our hometown for the time being. They plan to return after the issue here is resolved. We've kept the door to this room closed ever since," Hu Yi's wife whispered.
In the original estimation of Hu Yi and his wife, the rat was probably in the kitchen due to the numerous pipes, thinking maybe there was a hole, as they could hear noises inside at night, but every time they could not catch it. Feng Yi stopping in front of the door to the elder's room took them by surprise.
Feng Yi nodded in understanding, then walked into the room.
"Open the wardrobe doors," Feng Yi said.
The couple shivered.
"Is, is there something inside?"
Both Hu Yi and his wife were somewhat afraid of rats. Moreover, the recent stories circulating in various groups about the brazen acts of rats had made their already faint hearts quiver even more.
After a nudge from his wife, Hu Yi took a deep breath. Open the cabinet door!
Nothing. They just saw the elder's clothes hanging there.
Everything was tidied up neatly.
"The drawer at the bottom," Feng Yi ordered.
Hu Yi steeled himself and yanked open the drawer.
A figure darted out from within.
There was also the wife's scream.
However, the scream did not last long, because she saw that the rat hadn't even landed after darting out of the drawer before it was clamped by Feng Yi's long-handled grip.
Hu Yi came to his senses and quickly took out the ready rat-catching bag.
Feng Yi tossed the clamped rat into the bag.
This rat was not as plump as the one in the garage, and it was unclear if it had been starved in the closed room.
Feeling a bit braver, Hu Yi even felt his mood, which had been irritable for days, improve significantly, feeling a sense of satisfaction like revenge!
Looking at Feng Yi, his eyes showed the admiration for a newly risen savior.
Awesome!
What a master!
With such an expert around, who needs a pest control company?!