Then the sound of running became clearer and clearer, indicating that they had no other way out but to come to this cave entrance.
Qian Xiao got into position, intending to deal with the rabbit coming out of the hole as quickly as possible. It would be a pity if it got away; after all, he should have just brought a basket when it came out.
Suddenly, a grayish thing darted out of the small hole. Qian Xiao quickly grabbed it and twisted its neck. Just as he finished, another grayish thing darted out of the hole.
Qian Xiao was still holding something in her hand when she subconsciously raised her leg and kicked the gray thing, which collided with the gray fur ball coming from the opposite direction.
Qian Xiao was incredibly strong; the gray ball of fur instantly fell to the ground and lay motionless. The prey that Qian Xiao had already dealt with was also casually tossed aside by him.
Rabbits started darting out of the hole one after another. Qian Xiao felt that his feet were more useful than his hands, so he kept kicking the rabbits until they were unconscious. A total of eight rabbits came out, and apart from the first one whose neck was twisted by Qian Xiao, the rest were all knocked out.
Qian Xiao grabbed the rabbit by the ears, found the still-smoking hole, reached in and pulled out the still-smoking hay, extinguished it with the nearby snow, and waited for a while without finding any signs of reignition before covering it with some more snow.
Only then did Qian Xiao have a chance to look at the rabbits surrounded by the boys. Later, Qian Xiao controlled his strength, and the four little rabbits had woken up and were trembling. They weren't exactly small; they looked a bit bigger than half-grown rabbits. It was estimated that there were no more baby rabbits in the rabbit hole.
Qian Xiao counted them and found that there were five boys in total, including her two sons. She gave one of the older ones to each of them, and planned to take the remaining smaller ones back to her younger brother to raise. If they could be raised, she would; if not, she would kill them and eat them.
Although he's a bit small, he looks quite plump.
A little boy, carrying a rabbit that was a bit difficult for him to lift, said, "Sister Erdan, you don't need to give us any, just share a few bites of meat with us."
"Yes, Sister Erdan, you can just share a few bites of the rabbit meat with us after you cook it. We didn't help catch it at all."
“Here you go, take it and have your family cook it for you. Tell them it was me who said it, and you can eat as much as you like, since it was the rabbit you brought back.”
The boy who had spoken earlier swallowed hard: "Sister Erdan, this is too much."
Qian Xiao patted the boy's head: "Alright, why are you being so polite with your sister? It's cold, go back home quickly."
These children are pitiful. Their families and children often go into the mountains to get some meat to eat. These children are lucky if they can eat minced meat once or twice a year.
Wu Dan and Liu Dan had no objection to their eldest sister's words. Her words were law. Although they felt bad that so much meat had been given to others, they thought of their good friends and how they would share their food with them. So they held back their feelings and didn't say anything.
The three boys thanked her profusely before carrying the rabbit back home. Qian Xiao, holding the rabbit in her hand, said, "Let's go back too. Look at you two, your snot is freezing. See if your second aunt will punish you when we get back."
Liu Dan pulled the half-dead little bird out of his pocket: "Big sister, look, I have another bird."
Seeing Liu Dan's expression as if he had gotten a great deal, Qian Xiao's lips twitched: "Yeah, you got a good deal. Go back and have your mother prepare it for you. You can eat this bird tonight."
Liu Dan was dumbfounded: "Ah! Big sister, aren't we going to stew rabbit for dinner?"
"Go ahead and stew it. Don't you still have a bird? Look, none of us have any birds to eat, only you do. Aren't you getting a great deal?"
Liu Dan scratched his head, feeling like something was off.
Wu Dan grinned, showing off his little teeth. Would he be able to have all of Liu Dan's meat that night?
Qian Xiao didn't even need to look to know what Wu Dan was thinking: "Dream on, go to bed early tonight."
"Huh!" Wu Dan was also confused. What did his older sister mean? It wasn't even dark yet, why was she telling him to go to sleep early?
Qian Xiao looked at her two silly younger brothers, shook her head, and thought to herself, "I'm the only one who's smart. What a lonely life!"
The communal canteen was disbanded long ago; it didn't even last a month before it was shut down. They even dismantled the stove at the village entrance. Luckily, it didn't last long, otherwise who knows how much more wood they would have wasted.
When the village chief returned the large iron pots to each household, everyone in the village was overjoyed. Without those pots, they wouldn't know how to cook. However, my grandfather said that all the farm tools had been confiscated, and they would all be used together for work from now on.
The old lady was overjoyed to see the rabbit. She was just thinking of asking her third son to go there and get some dried meat to cook. She felt sorry for her eldest granddaughter who had been working so hard and had lost weight.
"So many! Did you empty out the entire rabbit hutch?"
Wu Dan's little mouth chattered: "Grandma, you gave three to other people, otherwise we would have had more. I really couldn't bear to part with them, but my older sister said to give them to us, so I didn't dare to object!"
Qian Xiao... that brat dares to come back and complain.
Grandma Qian listened, confused, and asked, "Why?"
Wu Dan recounted the events of the day in a rambling manner, and Grandma Qian understood: "Your eldest sister did the right thing. It was right for you to share some of the rabbits you caught with others. People shouldn't be stingy; they should be generous when necessary."
"Grandma, I don't understand. Why should we generously give away our meat to others?"
"Because others also contributed."
"But they just followed and watched the cave entrance, so that counts as contributing?"
"Ask your dad, I'm busy right now, I don't have time to deal with you." Why does this grandson have so many questions? His own son, Erdan, didn't have so many questions when he was a kid.
Qian Xiao found it hilarious and said that her grandma didn't have the patience to reason with her younger brother. In her grandma's words, "Whoever's child it is, they should teach them."
...
The summer of 1959 was unbearably hot and there was very little rain. The crops in the fields had to be irrigated by carrying water by hand. The villagers all had a worried expression on their faces and liked to stare blankly at the sky when they had nothing to do.
As if this would somehow bring rain from the heavens, the village elders would wander around the fields when they had nothing to do, instructing their great-uncle to tell everyone to get ready.
That's the good thing about villages with the same surname; they'll cooperate as much as possible in any situation. Before the crops even fail, they'll start digging tunnels to store their grain.
After the college entrance examination, Qian Xiao returned home. Her results wouldn't be available for a while, and she wasn't in the mood to wait at school. All the students who could go home had already left, and there were only a few people left at the school.
Under the blazing sun, Qian Xiao sighed as he passed the barren fields; this day had finally come.
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