Back to 1984: Hunting in the Mountains

Chapter 8: In the Autumn Soybean Field, the Yellow Mouse is Fat
Seeing that everyone's interest had been aroused, Yu Qiutang continued, "Let me talk about living first. We now have three cave dwellings. Third sister, you move out of the old kitchen and live with Yunyun in the cave where I live. I will move in with Weiwei. Third sister and Yunyun will take care of the kitchen, cooking, moving, and cleaning. Is that a problem?"

"Okay, let's clean up." Yu Chunmei answered while holding Yu Xiaoyun's hand. A nine-year-old girl of this age is already considered an expert at doing household chores.

"Then there's the issue of clothing. The weather is still warm now, so let's just make do with what we have for now. When I make some money and the temperature turns cold in the fall, we can change into new warm clothes together."

"How do you want to make money, uncle?" Xiaowei asked.

"Haha, I have a plan. You will find out when you follow me. But I have to tell you in advance that you can only follow me during the holidays. When school starts in the fall, you must go to school honestly. Do you understand?"

"Uncle, if you have a way to make money, why don't you take me with you to make money? No one will give me money for school, and I have to spend your money, which is a huge loss."

"You don't agree, right? Then I won't take you with me."

It was no problem for Yu Qiutang to control a kid like Yu Xiaowei. As expected, after failing in his attempt, Yu Xiaowei had no choice but to give in.

After integrating the team, Yu Qiutang asked everyone to act separately.

The third sister and Yunyun went to clean the kitchen, while he took Yu Xiaowei and carried a bucket and a shovel to the troglodyte courtyard.

When they were leaving, they happened to see their father coming towards them with a hoe on his shoulder. Seeing their appearance, he asked, "What are you doing in the hot sun at noon?"

"Get some meat."

Yu Qiutang smiled, took Yu Xiaowei and avoided his father's body and went straight to the foot of the mountain.

Yu Dejin didn't understand what was going on. He stood there and watched them walk a long way away. Then he walked down the troglodyte courtyard with a complicated expression.

He felt as if the distance between him and his son had suddenly widened.

"Damn it, he suddenly became so powerful."
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"Uncle, where are we going?" Yu Xiaowei trotted behind Yu Qiutang, carrying a bucket of water.

He is only less than 1.6 meters tall now, and cannot keep up with Yu Qiutang's long legs. If he doesn't jog, he will fall behind.

"We were going to the canal to catch fish, but now the water is not released and the water level in the canal is very low. There are no fish at all. I tried to catch fish but I didn't catch anything."

The northwest is dry, so in order to facilitate watering the fields, a canal is dug along the edge of the field. During the sowing season, water will flow from upstream. In the summer, when there is abundant rain in the mountains, water will overflow into the canal.

"Instead of fishing, we're going to feed yellow rats."

"Oh, you can force-feed yellow rats?" Yu Xiaowei was very surprised.

"Of course, I'm a master at filling rats."

Perhaps it was because he was playing his childhood games again, or perhaps it was because his body was getting younger, but the cool breeze made Yu Qiutang feel particularly comfortable and had a real sense of relaxation.

He and his nephew were walking on a small path in the mountain village. There were all kinds of wild flowers on both sides of the road. In the distance, there were patches of golden or green on the hills, and a faint fragrance was floating in the air.

So leisurely.

"Why haven't I heard you say this before?" Yu Xiaowei still didn't believe it.

The yellow mouse is a kind of vole. For a long time, it was the most annoying rodent in the fields of Northwest China. It is slightly larger than the house mouse, has a shorter tail, and has light yellow fur, so people call it the yellow mouse.

This fellow will dig holes in the fields to reproduce. It can give birth to four or five babies at a time, and at most seven or eight. It mainly feeds on stealing crops from the fields, and will also eat grass seeds and wild fruits.

Because of their special living habits and dietary structure, they are known as the most popular rat species among people in mountain villages, along with squirrels and bamboo rats.

Compared to squirrels and bamboo rats, which require going into the mountains to catch more, yellow rats can be caught directly in the fields, and as long as you have experience, you can often get a good harvest.

An adult yellow mouse weighs two kilograms and can produce more than one kilogram of meat. For villagers who lack meat, it is a rare and main source of meat. However, with climate change in later years, many house mice also ran to the fields and interbred with yellow mice, causing the yellow mice to mutate and carry viruses that only house mice have. Eating them will cause various discomforts to people, and people gradually gave up catching yellow mice.

The reason why Yu Xiaowei was so surprised was that although the yellow rat could be found in the fields, not everyone could find it.

Yellow rats are very good at hiding the entrances to their burrows.

If you are not very professional and experienced, you may run around in the field for a long time without catching a single yellow mouse.

Just like not all the villagers living at the foot of the mountains can eat meat hunted, only a very few people really know how to hunt.

Yu Qiutang took Yu Xiaowei to fill a bucket of water in the canal, followed the path between the fields, and came to a field of edamame.

It is now the eighth month of the lunar calendar. The edamame has been harvested long ago. However, when the edamame was harvested, the soybean grains scattered on the ground had not been eaten by the birds. This was the time when yellow mice and gailimao (a kind of squirrel) were feasting on them.

They will seize the last opportunity of abundant food, fill their stomachs, save some food, and then give birth to their babies in the cave. The babies will grow up in about one or two months.

Most rodents do not hibernate, including mice and voles.

But they will try their best to prepare more food in the cave when food is abundant in the autumn. If they cannot find enough food in the winter, they will eat the spare food to get through the difficult times.

Yu Qiutang first put the bucket at the edge of the field, and took Yu Xiaowei to look for the weasel's hole.

Yu Xiaowei followed Yu Qiutang with great interest, "Uncle, how do we find the yellow rat hole?"

"Do you want to learn?"

"Yeah, I want to learn."

"Haha, then just follow me obediently. I'll tell you when we find you. Keep your voice down and walk lightly. They run close to the ground and can sense our footsteps from a distance."

"Oh, go easy."

Yu Xiaowei began to tiptoe, lifting and putting down his feet lightly, just like a thief who was going to steal a chicken. Yu Qiutang saw him out of the corner of his eye and couldn't help laughing.

The two of them moved slowly in a zigzag shape along the stubble, and it didn't take them long to get more than a few dozen meters.

The sun was very hot and people were sweating profusely. Yu Xiaowei also became listless from his initial enthusiasm.

"Why, you can't hold on any longer? Then go rest under the shade of the tree at the edge of the field. I'll call you when I find you."

“I can hold on!”

Hearing his uncle's words, Yu Xiaowei quickly gathered his spirits and straightened his frail body, "If you can persevere, I can persevere, too."

"Okay, you are worthy of being Yu Xiaowei. When we find the yellow rat, I will let you eat the biggest piece of meat tonight."

When Yu Xiaowei heard the promise his uncle made for him, he became even more energetic.

Young is good.

Yu Qiutang smiled and said, "When you get a little older, you will find that the whole world is just making empty promises, but if you have bad teeth, you usually can't chew them well."

"But uncle, it's still hard to find."

Yu Qiutang nodded, "Of course. If it were easy, they would have been fished out by others, so it would be our turn. If we can find a nest in a day, it would not be in vain.

(End of this chapter)