Lin Mo was a little surprised to hear this, wondering if there were thieves in the village?
Miao Qingsong, who had just been howling that the rabbit was gone, then howled again that things were getting worse:
"The fish are gone, everything is gone."
The villagers were wary of strangers, but mainly they were trying to prevent the aroma from getting past their walls and attracting greedy people who wanted to freeload a meal.
Every household had little surplus food, and no one had the thought or awareness to guard against thieves.
Who would have thought that they would actually be robbed?
Thinking back to yesterday, after bringing the fish home, my family didn't even have time to indulge in a big meal.
My parents and I, the three of us, ate half a fish, saving the other five and a half from ending up in the mouths of thieves.
Miao Qingsong cried so hard it was heartbreaking, and Lin Mo felt a pang of sadness as well.
"Sigh, what good will crying do? We can only be more careful in the future. Even if we find the culprit now, we probably won't be able to get the stolen goods back. They've already been eaten."
Lin Mo offered a few words of comfort, then turned to glance at his eight rabbits.
Eight are enough for raising livestock. Once the harvest from the contracted fields is finished and everyone has some free time, they'll all have to think about what kind of winter coats and trousers to wear.
He also wanted to sew a fur coat for his younger sister, Lin Xiaohua, out of the rabbit skin, but he decided to postpone it.
After thinking it through, Lin Mo grabbed a sack, put the four rabbits inside, and handed it to Miao Qingsong.
"Let's focus on having enough to eat first, and we can worry about other things later."
Miao Qingsong's crying stopped abruptly as he saw Lin Mo generously sharing the rabbits again.
My heart was filled with even more mixed feelings.
He didn't come to ask for anything; he came to complain about his bad luck.
"Take this," Lin Mo said, shoving the sack directly into Miao Qingsong's hands after waiting for a while without him reaching out to take it.
"Starting tomorrow, we'll each go our own way."
"Chase rabbits, catch fish, and make your own slingshot. Walk west along the river, and you're sure to find herds of pheasants, roe deer, or red deer."
"Learn these three skills, and you'll be able to live off them for a lifetime."
When he heard Lin Mo say that he would no longer take his three brothers with him starting tomorrow, Miao Qingsong suddenly felt uneasy.
I felt pretty good at fishing today, especially when I pulled the nearly 2,000-pound fish out of the water.
I felt incredibly proud of myself.
Now that he's calmed down, he knows that the one who's arrogant isn't himself, but Lin Mo, who's leading his three greenhorns.
"Don't look so downcast, what are you thinking about?" Lin Mo said with a smile.
"Chasing a rabbit is that simple, you can do it, just be careful."
"We haven't eaten yet, want to grab something to eat together?"
Miao Qingsong wasn't shameless; he felt embarrassed to freeload, especially since he noticed that the Lin family's rice and flour bins were empty.
That makes it even more awkward to freeload.
After exchanging a few polite words, he left dejectedly.
Lin Mo carried the noodle soup back to the main room, and the stewed fish that the mother and daughter shared together made up a perfect whole fish.
Lin Xiaohua said nothing, poured fish soup into the noodle soup, and slurped it down her throat.
After dinner, it was already dark outside.
Lin Mo thought that raising rabbits should be postponed for now, as the rice and flour bins at home were cleaner than his face.
After giving one of the four rabbits to Su Xiaoxiao, we'll see if we can exchange the remaining three for some rice and flour with the supply and marketing cooperative.
I really don't want to eat sweet potatoes anymore; just thinking about them makes my stomach churn.
"Son, where are you going again?"
After eating a few good meals, Aunt Lin's complexion was no longer as pale as before, and one could even see that her lips had regained some color.
My younger sister too.
Lin Mo, carrying two sacks, was about to leave when he heard the call and went back to the front of the main room.
"I want to go to the supply and marketing cooperative and exchange the rabbits for some grain."
"In the past, we could exchange grain for meat, so exchanging meat for grain should also work."
"Go to Su the carpenter's house again and deliver a rabbit there."
Hearing this, Aunt Lin slowly put down her bowl, got up, and walked outside:
"It's the middle of the night, how can we go to Su the carpenter's house and cause trouble? People will gossip if they see us."
As she spoke, she took a burlap sack from him:
"It's not appropriate for you to go, I'll go instead, and I'll apologize to your Uncle Su while I'm at it."
That made sense, so Lin Mo didn't stop him.
After watching his mother leave, he glanced back at Lin Xiaohua.
Xiaohua was probably heartbroken by him. She believed him several times, only to have him break her trust each time.
She no longer trusts him easily; her eyes are wide open when she looks at him, and she's even protectively clutching the fish in her bowl that she hasn't eaten yet.
"This is saved for Mom's food, don't worry about it."
Lin Mo gave a wry smile and said "Okay" a few times.
The autumn night was chilly, but I couldn't fall asleep.
After visiting the supply and marketing cooperative, we'll go for a stroll in the mountains.
He knew that there were many wild Chinese medicinal herbs in the mountains, including several kinds of fruit-type medicinal materials that could only be picked at night, such as the one called Huang Huiguo.
This thing can't withstand the sun; if it's exposed to the sun, it will fall out of the little flowers and rot on the ground.
After picking, the herbs are dried in the shade. The herbs are priced by weight, and one ounce can be exchanged for at least one dollar.
Money was an issue, and so were food coupons. The family had neither money nor food coupons, and there was also a famine crisis looming.
Today I'm being generous and giving all the fish to the production team, but I can't do that starting tomorrow.
I must pursue my own interests; otherwise, I'll remain poor for many more years.
They went to the supply and marketing cooperative that very night, but Chen Gang hadn't finished work yet.
He had only eaten a quarter of the fish tonight, and he was having his team members do the remaining work on a time-based, piece-rate basis: weaving narrow-mouthed baskets to put the fish in.
Then put the baskets in the irrigation ditch.
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