Affection for Sidaogou during the Famine

"That's right. My grandfather said that people should be honest and trustworthy. A man's words must be kept. A spit is a pit!"

"That's a difficult problem. It's winter and all the insects are hibernating. Where can we find them?

Shitou, if you want to be an honest and trustworthy person, you should think twice before you speak.

If you say something you can't do, isn't that just making things difficult for others and yourself?"

Little Shitou made a bitter face, thinking that what his cousin said was right, and it was he who spoke without thinking.

Han Zhaozhao found it funny to see Xiao Shitou looking dejected and as if he had suffered a heavy blow.

"Let's go, let's go find the mouse hole!"

"Yes! Why didn't I think of that? There are no bugs in the mouse hole, but there is a lot of food.

If you dig out the rat holes and feed the chickens more food, they will still lay more eggs."

This sentence made Han Zhaozhao speechless! Well, in the little cousin's heart, feeding the chicken is more important than feeding the family!

There are plenty of rat holes in the wild and they are very easy to find.

The two of them wandered around the field for an hour and found three nests of rat holes.

Strictly speaking, this is not a rat hole, because they live in the fields and steal crops. It should be called a vole hole.

After careful observation and analysis, Han Zhaozhao decided to dig the rat hole on the dam first.

"Sister Zhaozhao, why do we dig the ground on the dam first and not the one in the middle of the ground?" Little Stone turned into a questioner and followed Han Zhaozhao around asking questions non-stop.

"Are you stupid? Don't you see that it's easy to dig on the earth dam? There's a height difference between the two pieces of land. You can just dig out the soil and push it down. There's no need to shovel the soil hard."

"Oh! So that's how it is! I thought the rats on the dam were big!"

"Why do you care about the size of the mouse? No, you are not thinking of catching a mouse to eat, are you?"

Han Zhaozhao was horrified. Her little cousin was too brave and she was a little overwhelmed.

"Is it not possible? The mice in the field are fat and big, with meat all over their bodies. Three of them can make a big pot of stew. I've eaten mouse meat at my grandmother's house. It's so delicious, and it's all meat cores, with almost no bones. It's so delicious!"

"Mice carry a lot of germs, which can easily infect people and make them sick. You are so brave, how dare you eat this?"

"Why are you talking so much? My grandmother said that no matter what kind of meat it is, as long as it is stewed in a pot, it will be delicious!

It's better than eating vegetable leaves and weeds, right?"

Han Zhaozhao was speechless. It was said that people from Guangdong dared to eat anything, but she didn't expect that people from Northeast China were even more courageous. They even dared to catch rats, the first of the four pests, and stew them to eat. It was really unconvincing.

She had made up her mind that whoever wanted to eat it could eat it, but she would never allow anyone to do so in front of her.

When the mice come out later, whoever catches her will be in trouble. We will try our best to make sure that Xiao Shitou can’t catch a single mouse!

Hehehe, if I can’t catch you, what will you eat?

After digging for a while, using thin stone slabs and small wooden sticks, the frozen soil was too hard and progress was too slow. After digging for a long time, they only dug a shallow hole that was not much bigger than a watermelon.

Han Zhaozhao soon lost his patience. "Let's go home first. We can't work without tools. We won't be able to dig to the bottom in two days. We have to go home and find some tools that work for us."

Little Stone looked back every step of the way, helplessly following his cousin home, "Sister, where do we have any handy tools at home? A shovel, a pickaxe, etc., as long as it's iron, haven't they all been handed in for steelmaking?"

The child was very worried and was stumped by his cousin.

"Don't people in the village need farm tools to do farm work? If they don't have them at home, then the village doesn't have them either? I don't believe it. It's not Monkey King's golden cudgel. I can't borrow it even if I want to use it!

All you need to dig a rat hole is a shovel and a pickaxe. Go home and ask your uncle to borrow some from the village?"

Han Zhaozhao offered an idea.

"I'm afraid of getting beaten. The villagers take farm tools very seriously and won't lend them to us kids to play with."

Rural children are straightforward and will not dare to try other methods if their parents say it is not possible.

"Who said we're just playing with it? Rats are the worst of the four pests. What's wrong with us catching them? What are you afraid of? I'll go borrow some!"

Han Zhaozhao thought to herself, if she asked for a little profit, it would be enough even if she didn't give it to him. She would never give up until she tried.

"By the way, who is in charge of the farm tools in your village? Take me directly to him."

The brother and sister walked and whispered to each other. When they entered the village, Han Zhaozhao understood the situation and came up with a solution.

The farm tool keeper was the wife of my grandfather’s brother from the same clan. One of the couple was the leader of the production team, and the other was the warehouse keeper.

His youngest son is only fourteen this year. He is spoiled at home, but he is not good at studying. He dropped out of school after three years. He often plays with the children and has become the leader of the children in the village.

Han Zhaozhao decided to drag him into the water, so that he would have both tools and a tool man!

As soon as he entered the village, Xiao Shitou found his target person. The custodian's youngest son was playing hide-and-seek with a group of children in the drying yard!

Tall piles of corn stalks were stacked into the shape of a small hill. The children dug holes at the bottom of the piles and played hide-and-seek in them. They didn't feel cold at all.

Sometimes, they hide for too long and fall asleep comfortably in there, causing their parents to have a hard time finding them.

"Brother Shuanzhu, come here for a moment. My sister wants to talk to you about something."

Xiao Shitou saw him from a distance and shouted for help.

The little boy is tall and big, and it is obvious that he has no shortage of food and drink. He is a favored person at home.

He turned around when he heard Little Stone calling him, "Your sister isn't going to school today? Why are you looking for me?"

"My cousin is looking for you, come here, there's something good going on!"

He wore a patched dog-skin hat on his head. The hat was a bit big and covered his eyes and eyebrows.

This was one of the very few boys Han Zhaozhao had seen in Mopan Village who did not have a runny nose.

He had long arms and legs and looked very strong, so she fell in love with him at first sight.

Well! It should be a good helper to dig out rat holes together!

Han Zhaozhao briefly stated his thoughts and asked him if he was willing to participate in the action. After the success, the grain obtained would be divided equally between the two families.

When Shuanzhu heard that there would be food to be distributed, he agreed without hesitation and promised that he would provide the tools.

The three of them parted at the threshing floor and went home to prepare.

Ten minutes later, the three of them gathered behind the village and checked the things they had brought.

Shuanzuo brought a pickaxe and a shovel, while Han Zhaozhao and Xiao Shitou brought a sack, a winnowing basket and a rice spoon. On the way, Han Zhaozhao also collected a few long branches.

"Why are you doing this? It's too thin and it can't kill the mouse."

"This branch will be of great use. You will know when the time comes." Han Zhaozhao was confident.

"Is the rat hole you two found accurate? Are you sure there is food inside?

The ground is so hard now, catching mice only gives us a few bites of meat, it’s not worth it without food.”

Han Zhaozhao looked like a hermit, "Don't worry, there will be absolutely no problem!

I'm an expert at catching mice. Last year, when we were eliminating the four pests, I and a few friends won first place in catching mice in the street."

"Really? Why don't I believe it? You're a girl, aren't you afraid of catching mice? Are you the one behind them trying to make up the crowd?"

Shuanzhu felt that Han Zhaozhao was bragging. A clean-looking girl from the city could catch mice? No matter how he thought about it, it didn't make sense.

Alas, he seems to regret it a little!