The group had a fruitful afternoon. With Lin Fengnian, an adult laborer, leading the way, they ventured deeper into the mountains and picked different varieties of mushrooms.
Suddenly, Lin Fengyao spotted a wild gray rabbit and excitedly cried out as he pounced on it, shouting, "Rabbit! Rabbit! There's a rabbit!"
However, being young and lacking composure, he startled the rabbit, which escaped.
Lin Fengyao looked dejected and cried. Lin Fenghe comforted him, saying, "It's okay, Fengyao. Next time you find out, just tell your older brother. He'll definitely catch you."
Lin Fengnian patted his chest and promised to catch Lin Fengyao next time.
Song Anxin stared at the fleeing rabbit with her eyes gleaming green, her mind filled with images of braised rabbit meat, stir-fried rabbit cubes, and rabbit soup with radish... Although she had eaten meat these past few days.
But with so many people in the family and so little meat, Song Anxin still felt she hadn't had enough to eat, even though the boys always ate to their hearts' content.
She's determined to have this rabbit!
So she said, "Fengyao, it's alright, Mom will catch a rabbit for you."
Song Anxin asked Lin Fengnian to break several sticks. First, he inserted a short stick into the ground, and then used a longer stick to measure the position... so that it could be firmly stuck in the ground and would not bounce off.
Then bend the long stick to determine the position of the triggering device... and then make a loop out of the remaining hemp rope.
And there you have it, a simple rabbit trap. As soon as a rabbit steps on the ring, it will trigger the switch and be tied up with the rope.
Song Anxin clapped her hands, feeling that her practical skills had really improved since she came here.
Everyone was surprised. Lin Fenghe asked, "Mother, did you read this in a book?"
Song Anxin was a little speechless. Did this kid think that everything was in the book?
She cleared her throat and said, "Of course not. This is what my mother learned at her maternal grandfather's house. Her maternal grandfather was also a farmer, and it is said that he was taught this by his maternal grandfather."
Song Anxin went back three generations, and even if they met the original owner's mother, they wouldn't get any answers. Actually, this was a method she used to catch wild rabbits and birds with her friends in the countryside when she was a child.
The others looked on with a "I see" expression, and Lin Fengyao said with anticipation in his eyes, "Then if we wait here, we'll be able to catch the rabbit soon, right?"
Song Anxin didn't want to wait here foolishly. Who knew when the rabbit would come? Anyway, she just had a trap and was waiting for the rabbit to fall into it.
But seeing that Lin Fengyao looked very eager, she had no choice but to let him squat in the grass not far away and wait, and also had Lin Fengnian pick some wild fruits and put them in the trap.
Lin Fenghe asked, puzzled, "Mother, why did you put wild fruits in there?"
"This is bait. Rabbits will be quickly attracted by the smell of food, and we can catch them sooner. This tactic is also known as 'the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind,'" Song Anxin patiently explained to them.
Lin Fengyao blinked his big eyes and asked, "Mom, what does 'the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind' mean?"
Just as Song Anxin was about to speak, she caught a glimpse of her three sons out of the corner of her eye, and after thinking for a moment, she decided not to rush to explain.
Since I am determined to send them to school, I should start now and gradually guide them to think for themselves.
So he said, "Feng He, do you know what this means? Could you try to explain it to Feng Yao?"
The third son is the smartest and most meticulous; he should be able to do it.
Lin Fenghe lowered his head and thought for a moment before slowly saying, "It's like the mantis catching the cicada, while the oriole behind it wants to eat it."
"Third brother, I didn't expect you to be so smart. This bird really does eat mantises," Lin Fengnian said.
Lin Fengyao was still puzzled, and asked with wide eyes, "Then what does this have to do with us catching rabbits?"
Song Anxin smiled without saying a word, telling the boys to guess for themselves, and the boys began to rack their brains.
As Lin Fengnian was thinking, he saw a good piece of firewood and thought it would be great to take it home and burn it. Lin Fengyao, on the other hand, looked up at the sky and wondered where the oriole was.
Lin Fenghe pondered for a long time before his eyes suddenly lit up and he said, "Mother, is Fourth Brother the oriole, the mantis the rabbit, and the cicada the wild fruit? The rabbit eats the wild fruit, and Fourth Brother is waiting behind to catch it."
When Lin Fengnian and Lin Fengyao heard what Lin Fenghe said, they both came to their senses and realized that it seemed to make sense.
Lin Fengyao clapped his hands excitedly: "That's it! Our tactic is called 'the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind!' Haha..."
Seeing how promising these young men were, Song Anxin felt very gratified.
After the short lesson on intellectual enlightenment, she took Lin Fengnian and Lin Fenghe to continue picking mushrooms.
They thought it would take a long time for the rabbit to take the bait, but to their surprise, Lin Fengyao excitedly brought a large wild rabbit to them in less than half an hour.
"Mom, eldest brother, third brother, look! We really caught a rabbit!" Lin Fengyao's face turned red with excitement, and he looked like a silly fool.
Lin Fengnian was surprised that he actually caught a rabbit. It seems that his maternal grandfather's grandfather was more skilled than the hunters in the village.
Song Anxin took the wild rabbit and held it in her hand. The rabbit was quite fat, weighing about eight or nine pounds. It seemed she could have a good time eating it tonight.
Song Anxin seemed to see the rabbit meat through the rabbit skin; her eyes lit up. She stopped picking mushrooms, since she didn't have the mushroom cultivation basins yet, so there was no rush. She then led the three boys down the mountain.
Just as they were about to reach their doorstep, Lin Dongzi rushed over. He was a little surprised to see his second aunt carrying such a large rabbit, but he knew that what he was dealing with was more urgent, so he quickly said, "Second Aunt, something bad has happened! Brother Fengshou is fighting with someone!"
Upon hearing this, the brothers disregarded any talk of rabbits and immediately set off to find Lin Fengshou, but Song Anxin stopped them.
It wasn't that Song Anxin didn't want them to go, but rather that it would be pointless for them to go. It's better for adults to handle these kinds of children's fights, and besides, they wouldn't know what the situation would be like anyway.
So she said to the three of them, "Mother can go. You take the mushrooms and rabbit back first. Fengnian, remember to kill this rabbit, skin it, clean it, and cook it when I come back."
"Don't worry, Mother knows what she's doing," Song Anxin reassured them.
The group, who had been quite restless, felt a sense of calm after hearing their mother's words. They didn't know why, but their mothers were now very trustworthy.
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