Three lucky ones

In the past, there was a father who called his three sons all the way and gave his eldest son a rooster, his second son a long handled sickle, and his third son a cat. He then said, "I'm getting old and dying. Before I die, I have to prepare something for you. I don't have any money, and the things I'm giving you now are not valuable either. It's up to you to make good use of these gifts to succeed. As long as you find a place where you don't have what you have, your luck will come

After his father passed away, the eldest son set off with a rooster, but wherever he went, there was always a rooster. In every town, from afar, he could see a rooster standing on the spire of a church, swaying in the wind (in fact, it was just a wind vane, also known as a hyacinth). In every village, the crowing of the rooster could be heard everywhere, and his rooster was not at all novel. It seems that his chances of getting rich are very slim. But he was not discouraged and kept searching, finally finding such a place. He arrived at an island where the people had never heard a rooster crow and didn't know how to time it. They knew it was morning or evening, but when it was time to sleep at night, they didn't know how much time had passed. He said to them, "Look! What a noble plant it is! How much like a knight. Look! It wears a bright red helmet, steps on tin spikes, and barks every night at intervals. When it barks for the third time, the sun will soon rise. Not only that, it can also predict the weather. If it barks in broad daylight, it reminds you that the weather is going to change." After hearing his introduction, the local people were very happy. They stayed up all night with excitement, waiting to hear the crowing of this rooster. Every crowing made them excited. The chicken called three times at two o'clock, four o'clock, and six o'clock. So they asked him if the chicken was for sale and how much it would cost, and he said, "About as much gold as a donkey can carry." They shouted in unison, "This is a noble plant, and the price is fair." They gave him the gold he wanted.

When he returned home with the wealth he had acquired, his two younger brothers were very surprised. The second son said, "I also want to go out now to see if I can exchange this long handled sickle for good financial luck." But when he came out to try, he felt that the hope was too small. Because no matter where he goes, he can always come across farmers carrying long handled sickles on their shoulders, just like himself. He was not discouraged and ran to one place after another. Hard work pays off, and in the end, he still had good luck: he also came to an island where the people had never even heard of the name of the scythe. Soon the wheat was ripe, and they came to the farmland to pull it up. However, the harvest was very tiring, and many of the wheat fell down and wasted. The second son used his long handled scythe to harvest, and soon finished all the crops. People stood there with their mouths wide open, looking at everything with surprised eyes, willing to pay any price he wanted to exchange for this wonderful tool. He asked for a horse full of gold and returned home.

Lao San also wanted to go out and see what he could exchange for with a cat, so he set off. At first, his fate was the same as his two brothers. He ran to many places but was unsuccessful. There were cats everywhere on land, so many newborn kittens were thrown into the water and drowned. In the end, he searched for opportunities at sea and finally achieved his goal in an island country. The people on the island have never seen a cat, and mice are rampant there. Whether the owner of the house is at home or not, these hated little creatures will jump around on tables and chairs, causing people to complain endlessly. The king didn't know what to do in his palace, as mice were chirping incessantly in every corner. Anything their teeth can bite on has been damaged. Lao San found a place for the cat here. As soon as the cat landed on the ground, it immediately started catching mice. In the blink of an eye, it cleaned up the mice in the two houses. At this moment, people begged the king to buy this strange plant for any amount of money. The king gladly fulfilled the third man's request and gave him a mule loaded with gold and jewels. Therefore, Lao San returned home with more valuable gold and silver treasures than his two brothers.

The cat stayed on the island, catching mice in the palace. It was extremely happy, chasing after them relentlessly, busy and killing countless mice. Finally, it was exhausted and its mouth was smoking with thirst, so it stood there quietly, stretched its neck and tilted its head back, calling out, 'Mimi… Mimi…'. Upon hearing this fresh cry, the king summoned all the ministers to see what measures were best taken. In the end, he decided to send a messenger to meet the cat and warn it to leave the palace courtyard immediately, otherwise he would use force to drive it out. The advisors said, 'We'd rather live with mice than risk our lives with this cat.' A little hearing assistant walked out and asked the cat, 'Would you like to leave the palace?' But the cat became even more thirsty and kept calling out, 'Mimi, Mimi.'. The little listener thought the cat was saying 'no! No!', so he informed the king of this meaning. Upon hearing this, the advisors immediately said, "Okay! Then let's use force to deal with it." They set up cannons and fired at the palace, and a large fire broke out around it. When the fire reached the house where the cat was staying, it jumped out of the window and was not seen by the besieging soldiers. The fire kept burning and eventually, the entire palace turned to ashes.