diskusbooks Chapter 34 Heavy snow seals the mountain
Chapter 34 Heavy snow seals the mountain
The next morning, after breakfast, Yang Zhanbei, Yang Chong, Yang Zhi and the other two put on heavy cotton-padded coats, and Yang Zhanbei also took off the clothes he had worn before he came.
He wore an old, thick cotton-padded coat, trousers, and shoes that Yang Chong had left unused in the kang cabinet. The three of them wore thick cotton glove covers with only one thumb and four little fingers joined together.
The large cotton handkerchief is a masterpiece from that era, made by my grandmother herself using two layers of cloth cut from old clothes and trousers with large iron shears, with old cotton stuffed between them, and then sewn together with needle and thread.
The three decided not to go far. Near their home, about ten miles away to the west of the village, there was a small, pristine grove of trees. They had heard that in the past, after heavy snowfalls in winter, accompanied by light winds, villagers would hunt pheasants and rabbits there.
The three had planned ahead: once they reached the primeval grove, they would hunt a few prey and then quickly head home.
Before leaving the dinner table, the three of them left without telling their families, fearing that their families would stop them and affect their plans for the day. They were also afraid that their grandparents would scold them and that their excitement from the previous night would plummet.
But they didn't notice that a pair of big eyes in the yard had noticed the three of them!
They didn't bring any food or drink, and even if they had, it would have been too cold to eat in the heavy snow.
The grove was quiet. The group carefully made their way to the middle of the grove, each of them keeping their eyes wide open, searching for any prey that might appear.
As they walked, they always felt that someone was following them not far away.
They didn't care; the weather was perfect for hunters to hunt anyway.
There are other villages nearby, and the people in each village are not just the three of them. The grove is not a native feature that the Yang family can claim to own!
At this time, accompanied by a level 4 or 5 northwesterly wind, the three of them walked for about ten minutes and arrived at the edge of this primeval grove. The low branches of the grove were already buried by the heavy snow, or a few trees, unwilling to endure the cold, poked their heads out to observe the frigid world!
The three began searching for prey in the snowy forest, which was mostly covered with dense, tall, straight, withered poplar trees, with a few birch trees as well.
The three walked deep into the woods, unaware of any prey they might encounter!
At this time, the sun was hanging in the middle of the gray-white sky, and it was already noon. In Northeast China, the days are short in winter, especially on the winter solstice.
The sun set around 3 p.m. There are still a little over three hours until sunset.
The three men didn't find a single rabbit hair, and there were no other hunters in the woods.
The three looked at each other with a sense of urgency, probably having wasted their early morning efforts.
Although the journey was not very long, it was a difficult one, with snow and wind, and full of passion and heroism!
The three of them had to come up with a plan: they couldn't all be together in the same place looking for prey; they had to split up and go to different places to find their own prey.
If three people like that were in one place, they probably wouldn't find a single feather by nightfall.
So the three of them discussed it and each went to a different place to hunt their own prey, which was a temporary separation.
However, before nightfall, regardless of whether any of them had caught any prey, the three of them had to meet under a pre-designated old locust tree in front of them! Yang Zhi even carved the character "一" (one) as a secret signal at the cadre's position under this old locust tree.
Before they arrived, each of the three carried a small sickle for cutting the ground.
The heavy snow continued to fall in the woods, and a level 5 or 6 northwest wind was still blowing.
The heavy snow was blown by the wind into whirlpools, and piled up into silvery-white snow mountains of various sizes.
The snow-capped mountains in the forest, piled up by strong winds, can bury an adult up to their waist.
It was getting dark; the sun had already set. The forest was quiet, save for the howling northwest wind that still raged before sunset.
Even the tall, straight poplar trees had their sturdy trunks snapped by the relentless blizzard!
It grew darker and darker, and the sun finally reluctantly set. The sunset carried away the merciless cold wind.
But no one returned from under the knife-carved character "一" under the old locust tree.
Not far from this tree, a person was seen wearing a thick cotton-padded coat and trousers, with a long black fur dog-skin cotton hat on their head. Their face was completely covered with a checkered cotton scarf.
Both little hands were also covered with thick cotton gauze, and a pair of handmade thick cotton black and white buttonhole lace-up shoes.
Before the three of them left in the morning, as she was about to go, she realized she knew what they were up to from their silent actions. They were clearly doing something they were keeping from their families.
When the three of them walked out the door, she tried to go with them and have some fun.
Unexpectedly, she was heartlessly rejected by the three men, simply because they disliked her going into the mountains with them, fearing she would be a burden. After all, she was a young girl; what if something happened to her? Girls should stay at home and study.
She was Yang Yuhan. She was unwilling to accept this. Since they wouldn't take her into the mountains, she thought she should at least dress warmly to avoid getting her ears frostbitten. Besides, she was worried about how unsightly it would be if she lost an ear. She also regretted that the people who went into the mountains had gone too far; they were right not to take her.
Then, fully equipped, she took a small sickle and secretly followed behind the three while playing on her phone.
In no time at all, we arrived at the mountains in the southwest of the village.
She followed the three of them as they walked, but if she walked carefully, she had to keep an eye out for prey while continuing to follow them at a short distance behind!
At first, the group suspected that someone was following them, and indeed, there was a female spy from their own family watching them.
The three of them agreed to meet under the old locust tree with the character "一" carved on it, and she saw and heard the designated marker.
It was completely dark by now, and after a day of tracking, they hadn't encountered a single prey! The three of them were empty-handed, so they went their separate ways. However, they still hadn't appeared.
The three didn't show up at the meeting point. Since she couldn't be in two places at once, she simply decided not to follow them. Everyone has their own fate.
She wandered around the area, hoping to catch them in the act. She figured she could also wait for them to return to the big tree where they had gathered.
Yu Han was quite brave. The snowflakes gradually thinned out, and the cold wind was carried away by the night! Even a girl like her was afraid in this dimly lit primeval forest.
She planned to wait until she hadn't found any prey and before she felt unbearably cold, then pace back and forth in that spot to warm her body and prevent it from freezing.
Her face, ears, hands, and feet were several areas prone to frostbite. Every few minutes, she would take out her warm, steaming hands and rub those areas to ensure local blood circulation and prevent them from getting frostbite.
If your ear gets frostbite and you leave it unattended until it's frozen solid, it will fall off to the ground if you try to pull it off.
She would never allow herself to suffer any physical harm.
If all else fails, she goes to her dream space to wait for her family.
She felt that it would be extremely difficult to get out now, as the mountains and roads must be closed.
At this time, the snow in many parts of the forest had piled up into mountains, and it would take several days and nights to get out.
No wonder no one else went hunting in the mountains today; perhaps outsiders knew the weather forecast in advance.
It had been snowing heavily for the past few days, and the three of them, including myself, hadn't listened to the weather forecast on my grandfather's little radio.
Moreover, she and the three of them had come secretly. She could ignore their whereabouts now, but they were all her family, how could she abandon them?
She walked a little further away, leaving her own footprints. With the gradually brightening moonlight and the reflected light from the white snow, the evening sky gradually brightened.
She walked three miles when something suddenly stopped her.
The little creature curled up and kept burrowing into the snow, trying to cover its cold little body with the snow.
She quickened her pace, but her legs just wouldn't move fast; how could she possibly go fast when the snow above her hips was obstructing her way?
We were walking in areas with shallow snow. The path to the little one wasn't far, but the snow was very deep, up to our hips.
She struggled to reach the little creature, which shivered with cold. She knelt down and brushed away a thin layer of snow from its body, gradually revealing short, yellow and black fur. She almost cried out, "A little tiger!" It really was a little tiger!
How could it have been here all this time? Where are its parents in this freezing cold?
By the way, if a tiger cub is born while still in its mother's womb, the father will abandon both mother and child!
Where is Mother? How could she abandon such a cute little creature to its death? What if it gets eaten by a wild boar?
Just then, a black wild boar suddenly darted out from behind Yang Yuhan, just as expected.
The black boar stared intently at the little tiger, eager to attack the tiger that had rolled into a snowball.
Just as Yang Yuhan was about to rescue the tiger cub, the cub suddenly became alert and immediately stopped being naughty! It instantly stood still, displaying the majestic and unyielding power of a tiger!
The little tiger opened its mouth, revealing two tiny buds, and stared intently with its two round eyes at the big black wild boar that was about to attack it.
Unexpectedly, the big black boar fainted from fright. Without saying a word, Yang Yuhan immediately took action and made the boar her catch for the day!