Shuangling: Braving the Rapids

In the empty threshing ground, a group of mischievous children, holding firecrackers, are exploring various ways to play with them.

Suddenly, with a muffled "bang," a worn-out enamel bowl was blown into the air.

The mischievous children looked up and exclaimed in surprise. It seemed that the new way of playing that Pipi, the king of the kids, had come up with was very much to their liking.

At the children's urging, Pipi took out a powerful "Earth Red" firecracker, lit the fuse, quickly covered it with an enamel bowl, and then decisively retreated to a safe area.

A few seconds later, the enamel bowl flew into the air again.

After several rounds, a large hole appeared in the bottom of the iron bowl, and this dangerous prop was finally rendered useless.

Don't worry, Pipi has plenty of bad ideas. This time, he stuck the "Earth Red" in a mud pit by the village road and then put a small piece of incense stick with smoke on the fuse. In this way, the most primitive "time bomb" was completed. Pipi and the other kids hid to the side and waited for the unlucky one to be blown into a mud figure.

Coincidentally, Qin Ergou became the first victim of this prank. He was terrified by the explosion and his clothes were splattered with a mixture of yellow mud and pig manure.

"Who! Who did this! You're asking for it! If I catch you, I'll beat you to death!" Qin Ergou was furious. After all, this was a new outfit he had specially prepared for the New Year, and he only had one set.

Seeing Qin Ergou's furious appearance, Pipi and the others burst into laughter and then dispersed. Qin Ergou, however, was weak and couldn't catch a single child. He was so angry that he kept cursing the children's ancestors, but in the end he realized that these children shared the same ancestor as him. After all, he also had the surname Qin and was a native of Qin Family Village.

After what happened before, Pipi became somewhat wary and dared not target passersby anymore, instead focusing his attention on the dogs.

The village dogs were all very clever and not as easily fooled as Qin Ergou. But Pipi seemed to be a cut above the rest. He hid firecrackers in meat buns to lure the dogs, and some greedy dogs actually fell for it.

Xiao Hei, the dog from Ma Xiangju's family, was probably the most pitiful one. Its mouth was blown open by the "baozi bomb" and it couldn't close its mouth. When Xiao Hei ran home with its tail between its legs and blood streaming from its mouth, Ma Xiangju was so angry that she was trembling all over. She quickly found out what happened and then grabbed Pipi and gave it a good beating. If it weren't for this shrewish daughter-in-law from another province, the old hunter's precious grandson would probably never have had a complete childhood.

There are so many interesting things to do during the Spring Festival, but for Yuechuan, there is nothing more fun than catching wild rabbits.

On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, Yue Chuan got up early, put on his cotton-padded clothes and trousers, and went out with a pair of sheepskin boots on his feet.

"Uncle, are we just the two of us going up the mountain today? Aren't Second Master and Geda going?" When Yue Chuan arrived at the meeting point at the entrance of the sheepfold, he only saw Qin Aimin, which is why he asked this question.

"Your second uncle and Geda set off a long time ago, but they're going to Xiling Kanbaizhi, so the job of catching rabbits will have to be done by the two of us."

As soon as Aimin finished speaking, Ah Huang, who was standing to the side, shook its head and barked wildly a few times. This dog was clearly reminding the two of them that it was the main force in catching rabbits.

Yue Chuan and Ai Min exchanged a smile, then patted Ah Huang's head. The dog wagged its tail knowingly and followed the two towards Dongling.

Searching aimlessly in such a vast forest would be futile, so the two first went to Jutai, where Qin Yunhai had set animal traps and rabbit snares.

"Uncle, look!" Yue Chuan exclaimed. He saw a frozen wild rabbit in the weeds beside the earthen mound. "Second Master's rabbit trap is really amazing! He's already got something so quickly, haha!"

"Hmm, this rabbit snare is placed very carefully, four fingers off the ground, so once the rabbit crawls in, it can't get out!" Aimin quickly untied the "slip noose" from the rabbit's neck. Don't underestimate this little thing made of thin wire; the more the rabbit struggles, the tighter it gets, leaving no chance for it to escape.

"Uncle, we've already checked out all the old spots. Ah Huang doesn't seem tired yet. How about we head straight to Dongling Temple?" Yue Chuan was carrying a snakeskin bag containing only one wild rabbit, and he was naturally unwilling to give up.

"Alright, it's still early, and your second uncle and the others probably haven't come down the mountain yet. Let's go look again and try to catch a few alive!"

Aimin readily agreed, and Ah Huang clearly understood their conversation. Without waiting for them, it ran straight towards the top of the ridge.

In the snowy forest, traces of various small animals can be seen everywhere.

Ah Huang sniffs left and looks right. At the slightest disturbance, it immediately enters hunting mode. Of course, this dog can also be distracted. For example, right now, it is chasing a long-tailed pheasant, knowing full well that there is no hunter to cooperate with it, but still insists on wasting its energy.

At this moment, Ah Huang was panting heavily, looking exhausted, and seemed to have the will but not the strength. It was clear that Ah Huang's physical strength was not as good as before. After all, it was no longer young. It used to be able to run around freely in the snow all day long, but now, it had been "walked" half to death by a long-tailed pheasant. Time really does not spare dogs!

Upon arriving at Dongling Temple, the two reunited with Ah Huang. The dog's eyes were filled with grievance as it whimpered and ran to its old friend to complain. It seemed that it had already searched all the trap locations, only to find them empty.

"It's alright, it's alright. I'll take you to the snowdrift in the ravine later. There are lots of rabbit footprints there!" Yue Chuan patted Ah Huang's head and comforted him gently.

Ah Huang was easy to coax, and happily followed the two to the mountain valley between the east and west ridges.

The snow in the mountain valley was very thick, and Yue Chuan and Ai Min, being frail scholars, found it very difficult to walk. Ah Huang, the "old warrior," was in no better condition; it ran and stopped intermittently, unable to pick up any speed at all.

Seeing his old friend panting heavily, Yue Chuan felt extremely sorry for him. He took out a sausage from his pocket and fed it to Ah Huang, and the dog regained some strength.

Just as Yue Chuan was feeding the rabbit, a large gray hare emerged from a hidden patch of weeds. It seemed to sense the danger, but only poked its head out without making any move.

Ah Huang's vision far surpasses that of humans. It immediately dashed towards its prey. In the past, Ah Huang would probably have already caught the rabbit, but now it ran left and right without even touching a rabbit's fur.

This adult gray rabbit was very cunning. It deliberately darted into the dense woods. Even though Ah Huang was a seasoned veteran, it wasn't necessarily faster than the hopping wild rabbit in this kind of terrain. Sure enough, Ah Huang was tripped by a dead tree and fell to the ground, tumbling a few times in the air before plunging headfirst into the snow.

By the time the dog broke free, the gray rabbit had already vanished.

"How did it suddenly disappear? That rabbit is too cunning!" Yue Chuan, who caught up from behind, couldn't help but complain when he saw Ah Huang fail.

"They must have hidden in their den. Look! There are rabbit footprints all around here!" Aimin was more experienced than Yuechuan. He parted the grass and found a small burrow.

Ah Huang got excited too. It ran to the entrance of the hole, frantically scratched at it with its front paws, and then stuck its nose in and sniffed it hard.

"Uncle, look at Ah Huang's posture, that rabbit must have crawled into here. Well, I happen to have 'Earth Red' on me, let's blast it out!" Being a mountain boy, Yue Chuan wasn't completely unprepared, and he immediately voiced his idea.

"A cunning rabbit has three burrows, there must be more entrances nearby! Let Ah Huang search first, and you can use 'Earth Red' later!" Yue Chuan had followed Ai Min since he was a child, so he understood what the other party was thinking. Based on his experience, this rabbit burrow must have more than one exit.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Ah Huang started barking wildly at the roots of a dead tree a few meters away. Yue Chuan followed and saw that there was indeed another hole there!

Now that two entrances have been discovered, the "beating the grass to scare the snake" tactic can proceed smoothly. Aimin guards the first entrance with a woven bag in hand, while Yuechuan stuffs a "Red Earth" into the entrance next to the old tree root. As for Ah Huang, it is lying in the snow not far away, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

The two men and the dog were ready when a loud "bang" was heard. A few seconds later, two wild rabbits jumped out of the first hole one after another!

Aimin reacted quickly, suddenly opening the bag, and the two rabbits plunged inside. Then, he quickly tied the bag shut, leaving the two little rabbits no chance of escape.

Just as Aimin was winning a great victory, Ah Huang also made a new move. It leaped into the air and ran straight towards an inconspicuous snowdrift. The cunning gray rabbit had barely poked its body out when Ah Huang bit off its neck.

Ah Huang ran up to Yue Chuan with a gray rabbit in its mouth. Its eyes gleamed with a special light, just like a proud general. Yue Chuan looked at Ah Huang with a smile, first patting his old friend's head, and then taking the prey from its mouth.

In past hunts, whenever Yue Chuan was present, Ah Huang would always hand him the prey. With this honor, Yue Chuan was naturally overjoyed and smiled as happily as ever.

A man and his dog hugged and kissed, celebrating this wonderful moment...