Seeing that Qian Manman was no longer sad, Wei Mo stared at her with his big eyes and pretended to be cute, saying:

"Aunt Manman, look at my stomach, it's so empty! Hurry up and make me something delicious!"

Upon hearing this, Qian Manman thought, "That's right. I still have family to take care of. Why worry about so many things?"

With a smile, she put Wei Mo down on the ground, then addressed Wang Zhenhua and Grandma Yu:

"Sister Wang, Godmother, I'll go cook. Let's not think about so many things, let's just eat and drink well."

"Why bother with all that? I don't plan to get married anyway. I just want to stay at home and be an old maid."

After hearing this, Grandma Yu rolled her eyes at Qian Manman, patted her on the back, and said:

"What nonsense are you talking about? Speak up, ptooey, ptooey! How can a young lady not get married? Don't worry, your godfather and I will find you a good family to marry into."

Qian Manman, however, didn't care at all; she shook her head.

"No way."

His words carried a hint of childishness, and Grandma Yu sighed softly upon seeing them.

Sigh, this girl doesn't want to get married, and the old couple will have to worry about her in the future.

Looking at Qian Manman's forced smile, Wei Mo pondered what he should do that afternoon to cheer her up.

Since Qian Manman came to live with us, her favorite food has been roasted bird. But now it's winter, and there are very few birds on the mountain.

Moreover, some migratory birds have already returned to the south, so in the northeast, during winter, only pheasants and crickets can be seen.

The thief in the house is what everyone calls a sparrow. Wei Mo started to use his little brain to prepare to catch the sparrow.

In the winter of Northeast China, the fields are covered in white, with very little exposed ground. Because of the lack of food, thieves would often search for food in the threshing ground or in the yards of various households to fill their stomachs.

This also led to an unusually large number of thieves in the village's wheat field area. Wei Mo rested his chin on his hand, pondering how to capture them.

Seemingly having come up with a great idea, Wei Mo ran excitedly toward his family's small warehouse.

The warehouse was full of things, including all kinds of woven products, fishing nets, and large baskets woven from willow branches.

When Wei Mo saw these two items, his eyes lit up. He then removed the handle from the large basket and took out the fishing net.

Seeing this, Wei Xiaomin quickly ran over:

"Little brother, what are you going to do now?"

Wei Mo looked at his second sister, who was beaming with excitement, and smiled mysteriously.

"Sister, you'll find out in a little while."

Wei Mo took out four or five baskets from the warehouse, removed the handles from them, and then found ropes inside the warehouse. He then ran to the yard and began looking for wooden sticks.

This is the simplest bird-catching tool in Northeast China during winter. Clear a patch of snow in the wheat field to expose the dark ground underneath, scatter some grain on the ground, and then prop up the basket with a wooden stick.

The rope is attached to a small wooden stick. When the bird goes inside to eat the food, you can gently tug on the stick and the basket will trap the bird inside.

Wei Mo not only prepared this tool, but also took out a fishing net from the warehouse. He planned to make a larger bird-catching tool.

In this era, birds were considered one of the five pests, often stealing grain from rice paddies. Therefore, catching birds not only went unpunished but was also rewarded by the village.

Wei Mo spread out the fishing net, which was about five meters wide and five meters long, in a square shape, and then found a few wooden sticks in the yard.

He planned to prop up the fishing net with wooden sticks, spread grain underneath it, and then sew the edges of the net together with pebbles.

Once all the sticks are knocked down, the fishing net will fall to the ground. The birds eating grain on the ground can be trapped inside, just like in a basket.

Wei Xiaomin and Wei Mo were excitedly conducting their experiment. After setting up the basket in the yard, they waited there.

Qian Manman was cooking inside the house, while Wei Xiaomin led the rope to the doorway, sat there, and watched the situation near the bamboo basket outside.

Once a small bird lands nearby and enters the bamboo basket, Wei Xiaomin gently pulls the rope, causing the wooden stick to fall down, and the bamboo basket will trap the bird inside.

After catching the first little bird, Wei Xiaomin was so excited that she shouted to the people in the house.

"Auntie Manman, Auntie Manman, come quick and help me, I caught a little bird."

Qian Manman was cooking, and the food was almost ready when she heard Wei Xiaomin calling her. She quickly went to her side, as Wei Xiaomin's favorite dish was roasted bird.

Following Wei Xiaomin to the vicinity of the bamboo basket, they saw a small bird fluttering inside.

Qian Manman squatted down, leaving a gap in her body. She blocked the gap with her hands, then reached in with one hand and caught the bird.

Then he removed the basket, and Wei Xiaomin, who was standing nearby, saw this and quickly called out:

"Auntie Manman, Auntie Manman, let me see it. I've never seen a live bird before."

Qian Manman nodded after hearing this, and then gave some instructions.

"Be careful, don't let it get away. Or I'll get you a rope and tie it to its leg, that way it won't be able to escape."

Upon hearing this, Wei Xiaomin looked at the living bird with great delight, nodded to Qian Manman, and the two of them went back into the house together.

She took a piece of rope from Wei Mo and tied it to the bird's legs. Then she handed the bird and the rope to Wei Xiaomin.

Wei Xiaomin held the rope, not needing to worry about the sparrows. The sparrows flew around randomly, but ultimately could not escape the restraint of the rope.

Seeing that Wei Wei and Xiao Min were having fun, Qian Manman ran back to the yard and set up the basket, waiting for the other birds to approach.

This time, it was also a lucky coincidence that five or six sparrows flew over and burrowed under the basket to forage for food. Qian Manman kept a close eye on the situation there and pulled the rope to trigger the trap.

The basket contained all the small birds.

She laughed happily, like a little girl, and Qian Manman hurriedly ran to the basket.

Then, just like before, she reached in and pulled out two small birds. However, once she had the two birds in her hand, she couldn't hold them anymore and quickly called out towards the house.

"Xiao Hui, Xiao Hui, come help! We've caught several more!"

Wei Xiaomin was having a great time when she saw Qian Manman calling her "big sister," so she quickly followed behind.

The two sisters ran to Qian Manman's side, and Qian Manman handed the two little birds she was holding to Wei Xiaohui, while giving her some instructions.

"Xiao Hui, you've caught it! Don't let it get away. I'll grill it for you guys later."

Qian Manman suddenly realized, why didn't she just smash it to death? Why go through all that trouble?

However, seeing the pleased look in Wei Xiaohui's eyes, she changed her mind.

Instead, they placed the two little birds in Wei Xiaohui's hands. Wei Xiaohui looked at the two little birds with great delight, grabbed one in each hand, and ran into the house.

She asked her younger brother for a rope, tied the two birds together, and left a thread to tie around her wrist so that the two birds wouldn't run away.

Wei Xiaomin, standing to the side, spoke slowly.

"Auntie Manman, can I have another one too? I want two to play with, just like my sister."

Qian Manman nodded, then grabbed another bird from the basket and placed it in Wei Xiaomin's hand before finally taking all three remaining birds from the basket into her own hands.

She thought for a moment, and as a chef, she had no problem with killing living beings, so she easily held the three little birds in her palm.