On the day of the rain, Zhou Laoda put Xingxing in his basket, then carried the basket on his back and went up the mountain with his wife and children.

We encountered many villagers on the road, all of whom were picking wild vegetables and fruits on the mountain, trying to bring home as much food as possible to store for the winter. The people of Yegou Village were all refugees, so they especially liked to hoard food.

I don't feel at ease unless I have a lot of stuff stored in the cellar, and I can't sleep well at night.

If you bump into each other, you'll definitely greet each other. One of them said, "What a coincidence, you're going up the mountain too."

The person said, "Yes, we should hurry up and stock up on things before it snows. If we can't find anything to eat, it's good to stock up on firewood."

Everyone felt a great sense of urgency.

Upon reaching the mountaintop, Zhou Laoda put Xingxing down and asked Zhao Guihua to take his daughter while he and his five sons went to chop firewood.

Zhao Guihua and Xingxing were busy picking the last batch of wild fruits. This was the last batch of wild fruits to ripen in the year, and after picking them, they would have to wait until spring to pick more wild fruits next year.

"Winter hazelnuts are too small and not as tasty." Zhao Guihua picked up a small hazelnut that had lost its spiky shell and started eating it.

"These little sour fruits are really too sour, but they'd be quite good dried." I'd never seen these sour wild fruits before in the north; I only recognized them after coming to the south.

In winter, there are some wild shiitake mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms to pick, but not many, enough to make about one plateful. A basket is filled with all sorts of things; anything edible is picked and put together.

Xingxing picked up hazelnuts under the tree for a while, then squatted down at the entrance of a small hole and didn't move, staring intently into it with her big eyes.

"Girl, what are you looking at? You're staring blankly at something?" Zhao Guihua asked curiously as she walked over.

"Mom, there are lots of rabbits in the hole," Xingxing said, pointing to the entrance of the hole in front of her.

Although we have two litters of rabbits at home, who would complain about having too much meat? The two female rabbits just gave birth a couple of days ago, and the baby rabbits don't have much meat yet, so they can't be eaten.

Zhao Guihua also squatted down and looked into the cave, then whispered, "Mother will stay here and watch. Daughter, go and call your father and brothers over. Remember to keep your voice down so that no one else can hear."

Xingxing stood up and said in a small voice, like a little adult, "Xingxing knows that if someone hears us, they will come and steal our rabbit."

“Yes, that’s it.” Zhao Guihua smiled silently.

Zhou Laoda and his men were chopping firewood not far away. They chose a half-dead tree, cut it down, and then cut the branches into sections. Xingxing walked a few meters away.

"Dad, come here with your brother and the others, Mom needs to talk to you." Xingxing said as she waved.

"What's up? We're busy right now." Old Zhou didn't really want to move; he wanted to finish chopping the firewood before doing anything else.

Seeing that they didn't move, Xingxing got a little anxious, stamped her foot and said, "Dad, come here quickly, there's an urgent matter over there, it's very urgent, don't chop wood yet."

Zhou Laoda finally understood the implication. He threw down the firewood and called his sons over to pick up Xingxing and hold her in his arms.

Seeing Zhao Guihua squatting motionless on the small slope, Zhou Laoda couldn't help but laugh, "What are you doing squatting here?"

"Keep your voice down, what are you shouting for? There's a rabbit in this hole, how do you think we get it out? Can we dig it out with a hoe?" Zhao Guihua asked.

After thinking for a moment, Old Zhou said, "They say a cunning rabbit has three burrows, right? I've heard there are several burrows where we can hide and escape. If we dig here, the rabbit might hear the noise and run away from somewhere else. Wouldn't that be a waste of our effort?"

“There are many holes, and Xingxing knows where they are.” Xingxing patted her little chest, twisted her body and got down from Zhou Laoda’s arms, and then led them to find the holes.

Zhou Laoda and his sons quickly followed. Led by Xingxing, the group confirmed several cave entrances and began to surround them.

"Dafu and Sanfu, dig the hole here. Wufu and I will guard the hole behind the slope. Erfu and Sifu, guard the hole under the big tree." After assigning the tasks, Zhou Laoda didn't bother with Xingxing and Zhao Guihua.

Seeing that there was nothing for her to do, Zhao Guihua continued to pick hazelnuts and sour berries, while Xingxing sat on a tree root nearby watching Zhou Dafu and Zhou Sanfu dig a rabbit hole.

They dug for half an hour, and finally Zhou Dafu and Zhou Sanfu found a litter of baby rabbits, each weighing about three ounces, totaling ten.

Zhou Laoda and Zhou Wufu each caught a fat rabbit, while Zhou Erfu and Zhou Sifu each caught two. They were stronger and faster than the others, which is why they were able to catch two rabbits each.

"Five wild rabbits ran out of our hole. They were so fast that my dad and I only had time to catch one," Zhou Wufu said with a regretful expression.

Zhou Erfu raised an eyebrow, somewhat smugly, "Four came out of the hole on our side, and my fourth brother and I caught them all, one in each hand."

Xingxing clapped her hands happily, "We can take the little rabbit home and raise it, and kill the big rabbit to eat meat. We can have a big meal tonight!"

Every time they hunted something, they would have a big meal for the first time, and the rest of the meat would be smoked or dried and stored for future use. Only the meal right after they caught the prey was a chance to eat to their heart's content, so everyone was very happy.

Xingxing eats her fill at every meal, and she never misses out on meat, no matter who else is lacking. However, the little girl feels uneasy watching her parents and brother eat only a small amount of dried meat and porridge every day. She wishes that everyone in the family could eat as much meat as she does every day.

The family was happily carrying several rabbits and discussing how to cook them for dinner when Zhou Laosan suddenly appeared out of nowhere. This guy's injuries hadn't fully healed yet, and the bruises on his face weren't as obvious as before, but you could still see the marks.

"Big brother, you've had a good haul today, catching so many rabbits. Shouldn't you share two with Mom and Dad? You're not really going to abandon them, are you?" Zhou Laosan, shameless as ever, used his parents' names to pressure his older brother.

"Don't you have hands and feet? Can't you grab it yourself? Why are you asking us for it?" Zhou Erfu was furious when he saw him, and before his parents could speak, he couldn't help but retort.

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