Siheyuan: Big City, Small Love

"Xiao Laizi. Let's go and play for a while." Dahu stuck his head out and invited He Lai.

He Lai was bored and quickly responded with a yes.

……

"Brother Dahu, what are you doing now?" He Lai and Dahu were walking with a group of people.

"It's hard to catch rabbits nowadays. Sometimes we may not catch one in three or four days. We always play games like catching traitors and kicking stones together." Da Hu also said dejectedly. After all, he is grown up and doesn't want to play with children anymore.

"Brother Dahu, have you been to that hillside?" He Lai said, pointing to the hillside not far away.

"I've been there. There are quite a few caves, but I didn't get anything there. I haven't been there since."

"Come on, let's go take a look."

The group set off like this. As long as they didn't go deep into the mountains, the adults didn't care much about it.

He Lai also asked if there were any wild boars that fell into the traps again, and the answer was disappointing. It seems that wild boars are extremely vigilant.

When we got to the halfway point, we found many holes. He looked at several of them and they all seemed to have some animal hair. I remembered the video of smoking mice on Douyin and decided to give it a try.

"Come, let's smoke these holes together and see if we can get anything. Everyone, watch which hole the smoke is coming out of, or which stick or something, and hit it if anything comes out. Got it?" He Lai began to give orders.

Da Hu, Xiao Hu, Da Wa and grandfather's two grandsons immediately looked for suitable wooden sticks.

He Lai grabbed a handful of dry straw and mixed it with green leaves. Then he cleared the hole entrance and lit a fire. When it was burning vigorously, he pressed the fire into the hole. Soon, several holes appeared.

Everyone held up sticks to guard the hole, while He Lai kept adding straw to keep the cigarette burning.

The smoke was getting thicker and thicker, and after a few minutes, something suddenly came out and scared Xiaohu. Xiaohu immediately went up and hit it with a stick, knocking it unconscious. After several consecutive hits, he took it down.

Now everyone was excited, looking towards their own holes, expectantly. He Lai also increased his strength, stuffing straw and fanning with clothes.

Another one came out, and Da Hu hit it hard, killing it instantly, and the stick broke. He quickly went forward to pick it up,

He Lai then saw clearly that this was the badger in Lu Xun's book. It seemed to be called a badger. It should be waking up from hibernation!

After fumigating for a long time, there was still no more. He Lai decided that there was still some, after all, badgers seemed to be social animals, and they must have fainted from the fumigation.

He Lai quickly asked Xiao Hu to bring some hoes and dig the hole to see if there was anything there. Xiao Hu immediately took the two badgers back.

Da Hu took over He Lai's job of making fire, and He Lai was very happy because he was choking on the smoke. But he couldn't stop, or the badger inside would wake up.

……

After a while, Xiaohu came with his grandfather and uncle.

"Xiao Laizi, you are really great. We have meat to eat as soon as you come." Uncle He Zhong was also very happy.

"Stop talking nonsense. You usually don't eat much? You are the only one among the Rabbit People who eats the most. Hurry up and work." Mr. He didn't give his son any face. They successfully dug, and it must be said that it was quite deep.

However, after digging to the bottom, they finally saw the goods. One big and four small ones were huddled together. He Zhong quickly sent them away.

Everyone had a great harvest. The three big badgers weighed more than 15 kilograms each, and the small ones weighed or kilograms.

……

In the courtyard, Old Lady He led the eldest and second aunts to boil water, while the eldest uncle He Zhong and the second uncle He Xin bled and shaved the badger, and the children gathered around to watch. Old Man He also watched with Little Laizi in his arms.

"Xiao Laizi, how do you know there is a badger in the cave?"

"I saw a lot of animal hair at the entrance of the cave. Shouldn't they be exchanged for money in winter? I guessed there was something inside, so I tried to smoke it. It doesn't mean I'll suffer any loss, and if there's nothing, I'll just treat it as a fun thing." He Lai explained.

"Grandpa's little Laizi is really smart. I heard from your mom that he got first place in the exam. Hey, you bastards, you only know how to play. If you don't do well in the exam next time, you will all go to work in the fields."

As soon as Grandpa He finished praising, he turned around and scolded the children. The children didn't mind, they were used to it. Their grandfather often praised the children, compared them, and used it to teach them a lesson. Anyway, it went in one ear and out the other.

Actually, it is not their fault. In the countryside, it is enough to be able to read. If you can go to school, it is the best. If you can't, you can go to work in the fields. Da Hu has stopped studying. He follows his uncle to work in the fields.

"Be careful next time. You should know that this thing is very ferocious and its bite can be very serious. When your mother comes, I won't be able to explain to her." Grandpa He gave his final advice.

"I will be careful, don't worry, grandpa." He Lai ran into the room again, found a bag, and poured the milk powder in the space into it.

"Grandma, please help me get a few more empty bowls so I can pour some milk powder for them." He Lai ran into the kitchen and shook the bag.

"This stuff is very expensive. I'll give you a bowl and let you drink it yourself." Old Mrs. He was a little reluctant. She knew that milk powder was a good thing.

"Grandma, I don't like to drink, please bring a few more bowls."

"Okay, okay, okay, give them some drink." Old Mrs. He still placed four bowls on the small table.

He Lai took a bowl and a spoonful of it directly. When Old Lady He saw it, she even shouted that it was too much. He Lai didn't care. He poured hot water and called Da Hu and the others to come and drink.

After they finished drinking, they poured more. All eight children finished the drink in one go. They licked their lips, looking unsatisfied and savoring the taste.

He Lai made four more cups, gave the cloth bag to Old Mrs. He, and handed one cup to Old Mr. He, asking them to drink as well.

Grandpa He looked at the milk powder water that He Lai brought over and drank it directly. He had to drink it. The eldest grandson was so filial.

"Grandpa, have you bought my old hen?" He Lai looked at the uncles busying themselves and asked about the old hen.

"Well, I asked your grandma to lock the chicken coop. The hens are all old hens that can lay eggs." Grandpa He answered while holding He Lai in his arms.

After cleaning up, Grandpa He asked the two children from the Wu family to take the two, one big and one small, back to their grandfather to taste.

The two little ones didn't hesitate and ran away happily with the meat.

We all cooked a big one and had a mouth full of oil after eating it at noon.

"This badger meat is really fragrant, much better than rabbit meat." He Zhong's face was filled with a satisfied smile, and he kept chewing in his mouth, as if he wanted to keep this wonderful taste in his memory forever.

Seeing this, Mr. He at the side smiled slightly and deliberately teased his uncle: "Okay, Dahu, bring your rabbit meat over. Your father doesn't like it. Bring it to grandpa in the future."

Hearing this, He Zhong's face instantly became awkward. He widened his eyes and waved his hands hurriedly, saying, "No, I'm wrong, I'm wrong, I'm eating, I won't talk anymore." He muttered to himself, this won't do, if I give all the rabbit meat to grandpa, then I won't have anything to eat?

Seeing He Zhong's reaction, everyone couldn't help laughing. The whole room was filled with a cheerful atmosphere. Everyone was immersed in the enjoyment of the food, so how could they have time to talk? At this moment, the aroma of badger meat filled the air, making everyone feel extremely happy and satisfied.