Escape from famine: Daddy stands up, Dali girl lies down

Chapter 182: Digging Tree Holes and Catching Birds

"Gray rats like to store food. If we find more tree holes, we may be able to store enough dry food for when we get out of the mountains." Uncle Wu said with a look of joy on his face.

"Okay, I'll go dig tree holes every day.

Dad, just watch!"

Wu Youqian happily handed the dry food to his father for safekeeping.

The father and son picked out the dead insects and identified them carefully. They were all white larvae, which turned black and yellow after drying up.

"If gray squirrels are edible, then we can eat them too!" Uncle Wu said uncertainly.

"Burn one and try it first."

When grilled over charcoal, a meaty aroma wafts out.

Wu Youqian couldn't wait to put it into his mouth and swallowed it in two gulps.

"Second brother, why did you eat it? Aren't you afraid of poisoning?" Wu Youcai said anxiously.

He originally wanted to taste it himself first, and then give it to his second brother and father after seeing that it was not poisonous.

But his second brother's hands were too quick and he didn't even have a chance.

Wu Youcai stared at his face nervously, his heart beating fast.

"Hey, I'm tougher.

Look, it's fine now, and it smells pretty good." Wu Youqian said with a smile.

I smacked my lips twice and a strong meaty aroma was present among the burnt aroma.

Like the bamboo worms we used to burn as children.

When he expressed this feeling, Uncle Wu took out two more worms to roast.

Uncle Wu gave half to his second son, and then tasted it carefully.

"It smells like meat, keep it for now."

With dry food to stave off hunger, Uncle Wu felt much better.

He sat on the floor, picked out everything, and hid them in small cloth bags.

...

With the income from the tree hole, Wu Youqian went out more often, but he did not always get anything.

Sometimes you can pick up one or two frozen dead birds or gray mice.

Perhaps the pheasants and rabbits have learned their lesson and never get any bargains again.

Most of the time, they dug out snow piles and got some grass roots and tree bark.

Noon.

A group of sparrows landed on the snow in front of the cave, chirping as they dug for food among the debris.

'Hu~'

A vine popped up from the snow, and a slanting cover suddenly fell down.

The two brothers, who were lying in the snow, ran over quickly and pressed down the cover.

The frightened sparrow kept flapping its wings inside the cover, but was helpless.

The two brothers reached in and grabbed one accurately, then stuffed it into the cloth bag around their waist.

"Hahaha, brother, I caught ten sparrows."

"Hey, I have one more than you."

"Roasted sparrows, stewed sparrows, fried sparrows, three of each.

It’s a pity that there’s not much salt left, otherwise the smoked sparrow would be very delicious.”

Wu Youqian saw plates of mahjong feasts in front of him, and he wished he had two servings of each.

"Yeah, not much salt left."

Wu Youcai, the Minister of the Interior, became worried whenever he talked about salt.

"Hurry back and pluck the hair while it's still hot. You can stuff it into your cotton shoes."

Wu Youcai felt that it was more important to take care of the present situation first, even though there were only three of them.

There are so many things to do every day, and there is endless work to do as soon as I open my eyes.

My second brother often went into the mountains and his clothes were torn in many places.

Without needle and thread, and without the knowledge of how to mend clothes, he could only wrap them with rattan strips again and again, and his clothes were even more tattered than a beggar.

His hair and beard were so tangled that pheasants could build nests on his head.

Wu Youcai took a look at his own clothes and found that they had only a few fewer holes than his second brother's.

The most troublesome thing is the cotton shoes. They are all torn, and we have to find a way to make shoes.

The problem is that he has done nothing and is powerless to do anything about it.

Uncle Wu heard the laughter outside and moved out by holding on to the wall of the cave.

Seeing his two sons catching sparrows in the snow, he couldn't help but think of his own childhood.

I wonder how long this day of finding joy in misery will last.

His leg injury was almost healed, but because there was no doctor to treat him, he became crippled.

It's a blessing in misfortune.

...

"Brother, there really is someone nearby. I saw it for real that day."

Xu Zhiwen raised his dark little hand and swore.

"Brother, that man is wearing a cotton coat and looks very warm.

It's just a little bigger than us, so I'm afraid we can't defeat it."

Guo Yuanhua glanced at him and said unhappily.

“You know you can’t win, but you still let me come and serve you food!

Gone, back home. "

"Brother, don't be angry, don't be angry.

I have observed it four times, and that guy was alone every time.

His clothes are torn and no one is repairing them, so the five of us can definitely deal with him.

Hey, take off his clothes, and you will have a cotton-padded jacket to wear!" Xu Zhiwen said flatteringly.

On the chapped face, a pair of clever eyes rolled around.

His thin body could be broken by a strong wind, and his mind is full of robbery.

“No, the fourth and fifth children don’t even have clothes to go out.

We can come out, or wear their clothes together.

Pick up a few more bundles of firewood to burn, and if you are lucky, you can pick up one or two pheasants." Guo Yuanhua said maturely.

He shrank his neck and tightened the straw rope around his waist.

My stomach was rumbling, I was cold and hungry.

After the flood, they hid in the mountains and found two younger brothers.

He lived on the food given by that fierce savior.

At the beginning, we could still find a lot of food, but as more and more refugees entered the mountains.

They had to move several times, and the food they could find became less and less.

Zhenzhener went hungry for nine meals out of three days, and most of the time she relied on snow water to fill her stomach.

"Brother, I'm so hungry!

When can I have a full meal? I really want to eat rice and big white steamed buns. "

Xu Zhiwen touched the dog's belly and seemed to see the big white bun waving at him, so he couldn't help but run forward two steps.

Guo Yuanhua grabbed him and growled.

"You don't want to die. If you want to fall to your death, don't do it in front of me."

"Ah, I saw some big white steamed buns." Xu Zhiwen said puzzledly.

What a pity, I was just one step away from catching the big white bun.

He could smell it.

"You're crazy. Slap yourself twice, quick."

Guo Yuanhua looked around nervously, wondering if he had encountered something dirty!

Seeing that he was still standing there stupidly, I decided to do it myself.

‘Papa~’

He slapped Xu Zhiwen on the back twice and pulled him away quickly.

...

In the snow, Wu Youqian was digging a rabbit hole with his butt sticking up.

I was chasing a rabbit and saw it disappear into a hole.

Unwilling to let the meat fly away, he could only stick his butt out and dig hard.

I saw a furry thing and reached in to grab it.

Pulling up the rabbit's ears, I saw it was a half-grown hare, kicking its four legs hard.

The red eyes looked fearfully at the ferocious two-legged beast.

'Chirp~'

"Hahaha, let's see where you can run!" Wu Youli laughed with his head back.

A tree was shaken off by snowflakes, but they didn't feel cold at all when they landed on my face.

All happy.

Wu Youli was afraid that the rabbit would freeze to death, so he tied its limbs with rattan and stuffed them into his cotton coat to keep them warm.

He crawled at the entrance of the cave and dug. The hare he was chasing just now was bigger than this one.

I kept scraping and scraping, and I didn't feel any pain even when my nails were flying.

I was overjoyed when I touched a furry thing.

He grabbed the fur tightly and dragged it out, showing his big teeth in joy.

The wild rabbit with Ephedra sinica appeared in front of me.

"Bah~chi!"

Wu Youli kissed the hare hard on the head, tied its legs quickly, and stuffed it into his cotton coat.

He got up and ran away, not even taking the firewood he had picked up.