Because of the heavy snowfall, the group left a trail of footprints on the snow. They walked very slowly, but thankfully this wasn't a primeval forest.
When Wang Qiang saw the homemade gun on Qin Jingdong's back, he realized that people of that era were no strangers to guns, but nowadays fewer people carried homemade guns; most carried Type 38 rifles or Hanyang rifles.
After the troops were re-equipped, some of the weapons were handed over to the militia.
So he asked, "Brother Qin, why are you carrying a homemade gun? Surely our village militia doesn't lack a decent weapon?"
Qin Jingdong laughed and said, "A homemade gun is enough to hunt rabbits. There aren't any wild beasts in these mountains. Actually, it would be best to use a net to catch rabbits. That way, the rabbit's fur will be intact, and you can exchange it for more goods at the supply and marketing cooperative."
Wang Qiang then understood: "Oh, I see. I thought the rabbits wouldn't come out since it just snowed heavily!"
Qin Jingdong laughed heartily: "Even rabbits will come out to forage in the snow, otherwise they would starve. Even if they stay in their burrows, we still have dogs to help us find them."
After saying that, he continued walking forward, his steps uneven. Wang Qiang followed behind.
In fact, with Wang Qiang's spiritual sense, he could easily detect whether there were rabbit holes around, but that would take away some of the fun.
After walking for more than an hour, we finally reached the mountains.
The group found a place to sit down and have some water.
Looking at the scattered figures in the distance, Qin's father said to Wang Qiang, "These people are out hunting, just like us."
Wang Qiang nodded. Everyone is struggling right now. For many, just being able to eat their fill is a luxury, let alone eating meat. Most families might not even be able to eat meat once a year.
Especially for families with few able-bodied members, earning work points while having many mouths to feed makes things even more difficult.
Therefore, many people do not hibernate but come out to hunt wild rabbits, pheasants, and the like to supplement their household income.
Unlike in later generations, people nowadays don't have the opportunity to go out and work. There are fewer ways for people to make money.
The Qin family's two dogs weren't professional hunting dogs, but they were experts at catching rabbits. They were seen running around all around, stopping occasionally.
Qin Jingdong said, "Let's go deeper into the mountains. The rabbits outside have been hunted down to the last vestiges. Besides, Brother Wang wanted pheasants, so we'll have to go even further in."
Wang Qiang nodded, and then the group walked deeper into the mountains. At first, they could see many footprints, but after walking for more than an hour, they could no longer see any footprints.
Qin Jingdong pointed to the mountains and forests ahead and said, "Judging from the situation ahead, no one has come here before. We've come at the perfect time today, so we should at least catch a few pheasants."
Although Wang Qiang said he only needed one or two pheasants, he could eat the extras himself or trade them for grain with others.
It was very quiet all around, with only the sound of the mountain wind blowing through the trees. Two dogs ran around on either side of them, sometimes stopping to look at their surroundings, and sometimes running to a tree pit or a mound of earth to sniff around.
The three walked for a while before stopping.
Qin Jingdong and his father found a spot, cast their net, and released both dogs.
A short while later, the sound of dogs barking was heard, and then a wild rabbit was seen standing on its hind legs in the snow, its body upright, its eyes scanning back and forth as if to ascertain its situation.
Wang Qiang saw two dogs approaching the rabbit from the left and right, and when they were a few dozen meters away from the rabbit, the two dogs suddenly pounced.
The hare darted around, dodging the dog, and ran off. According to the information Qin Jingdong had seen, the hare was heading in the direction they had just set the net.
The hare was incredibly fast, leaving only a faint trace on the snow, which was then blown away by the wind. The two dogs chased after it from the left and right.
Perhaps disoriented from being chased, the hare recklessly crashed into the net; Qin Jingdong's net-casting skills were indeed quite high.
Around noon, we caught three wild rabbits, but we didn't see any pheasants.
The three people gathered together, and Qin's father took out the pancakes and distributed them to everyone.
Meanwhile, Qin Jingdong tied up all three rabbits, and Wang Qiang ate while looking around at his surroundings.
Seeing Wang Qiang's expression, Qin's father comforted him, "Little Wang, don't worry. Catching pheasants this season depends on luck. We've already been lucky to catch three rabbits today."
Wang Qiang nodded, looking at the rabbit. He remembered that these creatures had a strong reproductive capacity. Wouldn't it be better if he raised some in his space? Although mutton was delicious, sheep had a very long growth cycle.
So he said to Qin's father, "Uncle Qin, it's alright, catching a rabbit is fine too!"
After resting for a while, the three moved to another location, where Qin Jingdong set up the net. Then he sent two dogs to chase away the wild rabbits.
After a while, the two dogs started barking at something behind a tree. At first, the three men didn't pay much attention, assuming they had found a rabbit.
However, Qin Jingdong noticed that the dog's bark sounded off and immediately said to the two, "The dog's bark sounds wrong; it shouldn't be a rabbit."
As he spoke, he took off his homemade rifle. Walking ahead, Qin's father also drew a bayonet. Seeing that Wang Qiang was empty-handed, Qin's father gave him his bayonet.
"Uncle Qin, it's alright, you're all here!"
Wang Qiang declined Qin's father's offer, picked up a twig from the ground, removed the thin, withered branches, and found it to be straight and about the thickness of two fingers.
It fits perfectly in my hand.
The three people formed a triangle and walked toward the direction from which the dog was barking.
Wang Qiang also recognized the dog's barking; it contained a sense of fear, as if facing some danger. When the three of them approached, they saw two dogs surrounding a dead tree.
Although they kept howling, their bodies were poised to flee at any moment.
Qin Jingdong, holding a homemade gun, asked, "Strange, what could be here? Would there be wolves?"
Wang Qiang used his divine sense to look in the direction of the withered tree.
Behind the withered tree, there was a person dressed in a black cotton coat and hat, with a scarf covering his face. He was about 1.5 meters tall, but his body was very strong and sturdy.
He was holding a pistol in his right hand, looking tense, as if he hadn't expected anyone to come here when the mountains were blocked by heavy snow.
He wanted to run, but in the freezing cold, he knew he couldn't outrun the two dogs. He thought he would wait for their owner to come over and then shoot them.
Then they run away again, and by the time they find out, probably many days will have passed.
Seeing this, Wang Qiang knew that the other party was likely a hidden spy, and Qin Jingdong was about to get within 50 meters of the dead tree.
Wang Qiang shouted, "Get down!"
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