Chapter 4

Li Long had not yet taken down the landing net when he heard a "fluttering" sound; a sparrow not far from the edge of the net was startled and flew off.

What a pity.

Li Long glanced at the direction the sparrow had flown, then carefully took down the landing net, quickly reached his hand inside, and grabbed the sparrow.

The sparrow stretched its beak to peck at Li Long. Li Long tightened his hand around the little creature slightly, and then he felt a wet sensation on his fingers—the little guy had defecated.

"Li Qiang, here, you hold it well." Li Long handed the sparrow over. "Don't let go, or there won't be any sparrow to eat later."

"Uncle, I know." Li Qiang nodded solemnly, then carefully took the sparrow.

Li Juan's eyes shone brightly as she looked at Li Long.

Li Long smiled and took the flashlight to continue searching.

It is difficult for sparrows to survive the night in winter, so there must be more than just these two in the haystack.

Sure enough, he soon discovered another sparrow and successfully caught it.

Li Juan also had one in her hand.

In this haystack, Li Long caught a total of four sparrows; two escaped, and then there were no more.

"Uncle, there's another haystack at the He family's in the front yard!" Li Qiang, holding a sparrow in each hand, sniffed and said proactively.

"Is it in the yard or outside the yard?"

"It's inside the yard."

"That won't do." Li Long shook his head. Entering someone's yard for a few sparrows, and so late at night, was not proper.

"Then..." Li Juan thought for a moment and said, "At the third house in the back yard, Uncle, do you remember? There's a haystack on the side room of the Gao family's yard. That stack faces outward; you can see it from outside the yard."

"That works, let's go take a look." Li Long also felt that four sparrows were really too few; they wouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps in his niece and nephew's teeth.

Outside the yard, near the wild fields, wading through snow dozens of centimeters thick was not easy. Li Long walked in front to tread out footprints, while Li Juan and Li Qiang followed behind, stepping in the prints.

Even so, by the time they reached the Gao family's haystack, the shoes of all three were completely filled with snow.

However, no one complained of the cold, and even Li Long looked with some anticipation at the large stack, which was a third bigger than the one at his own home.

A dog in the yard began to bark, and then someone could be heard shouting vaguely.

Li Long turned on the flashlight and shone it into the haystack.

In less than ten seconds, he discovered a target.

But this time, Li Long was smarter. He didn't immediately use the landing net to catch them. Instead, after looking over the entire haystack and counting nine sparrows, he started from the bottom left corner and pounced on them one by one.

He successfully caught six.

These sparrows couldn't be held in his hands anymore, so as soon as Li Long caught one, he twisted its neck directly and threw it onto the snow. After catching them all, he would take them back together.

"Uncle, further back, there's another haystack at the Qin family's..." Li Juan said, still wanting more.

"No more catching. Our shoes are all wet now; when we get back, your mother will scold you. Let's go, back!"

"Then... let's go back." The two little ones were still a bit unsatisfied.

Even if sparrows are small, they are still meat.

When the three returned to the yard, Liang Wenyu heard the commotion and walked out quickly. Seeing that the two children's pant legs were covered in snow in the light of Li Long's flashlight, she scolded:

"Where did you run off to? Why are you covered in snow? Aren't you freezing? Hurry inside and change your shoes!"

"I won't, I want to eat sparrow!" Li Qiang stubbornly held up the sparrow in his hand. "I want to eat meat!"

"Alright, alright, alright," Li Long said with a smile before his sister-in-law could speak, "You go change your shoes first. Even if we want to eat sparrow, you have to let me pluck the feathers and clean out the insides first."

"Okay..." Li Qiang felt that made sense, so he and Li Juan handed the sparrows to Li Long and went inside to change their shoes.

"You just spoil them..." Liang Wenyu complained to Li Long. "You go change your shoes too, they're all wet!" "Mm." Li Long responded with a smile and turned to enter the house.

Changing into cloth shoes with thousand-layer soles—which his sister-in-law had made for him—Li Long placed his cotton-padded rubber shoes on the fire wall to dry, then began to process the sparrows.

With the experience from his past life, processing sparrows was very easy. There was no need to pluck the feathers; just twist off the head, pull the skin on the neck downward, and the skin and feathers would come off together.

It might sound cruel, but for children who hadn't eaten meat in years, what is cruelty? Not being able to eat enough or not being able to eat meat is cruelty!

After plucking all ten sparrows and scraping out the insides to put aside, Li Long took the broom used for the kang to sweep the iron cover on the stove, then placed the sparrows on it one by one.

Before going out, he had covered the stove fire with coal dust, so the iron cover was quite hot but not yet glowing red, which was just right for roasting.

This stove was built of earthen bricks, with four iron rods serving as the grate in the middle. The iron cover on top was cut from a diesel drum. At this stage, not many families in the brigade could afford a standard iron stove. Although the earthen stove didn't conduct heat very well, it had the advantage of being cheap and convenient.

He had just finished arranging the sparrows and stood up when Li Juan and Li Qiang burst in.

Looking at the sparrows arranged on the stove cover, Li Qiang's saliva was about to flow out.

"Uncle, when can we eat?" He asked Li Long, tilting his head up.

!.

"Wait a moment, I'm going to get salt and chili powder," Li Long said. "Be patient."

"Okay." Unexpectedly, Li Qiang agreed.

Li Long went to the west room and, seeing Li Jianguo and Liang Wenyu talking, said:

"Sister-in-law, I'm taking some salt and chili powder."

"Alright, I'll get them for you."

Knowing that these seasonings were for roasting sparrows for her own children, Liang Wenyu said with a smile:

"Xiao Long, you're quite capable; you caught quite a few sparrows."

"Hehe." Li Long smiled. In his past life, he would never have done these things, but now, if he could let his niece and nephew suffer a little less, what did this count for?

Taking the seasonings in two bowls and two enamel plates used for serving dishes at home, Li Long returned to the east room, closed the door, and told Li Juan and Li Qiang not to be impatient. He placed the bowls on the edge of the earthen stove, then pinched the chili powder and salt separately and sprinkled them evenly over the sparrows.

The chili powder was produced in their own vegetable garden, and the salt was bought; not a bit could be wasted. In this day and age, waste was truly shameful, unlike in later generations where people sprinkled seasonings during barbecues as if they were free.

After carefully sprinkling one side, he flipped them over and sprinkled the other.

Soon, the room was filled with the aroma of meat mixed with a spicy scent. Li Long felt a bit regretful; it would be even better if there were cumin.

This time, even Li Juan couldn't help but swallow her saliva, staring at the sparrows on the stove cover without blinking.

After flipping them three times, Li Long took two sparrows, put them into an enamel plate, and said to them:

"They're done. Take them and give them to your dad and mom; they must eat first!"

Li Qiang was a bit puzzled, but Li Juan was sensible. She carefully took the plate, opened the door with one hand while holding the plate with the other, and headed toward the west room.

Li Qiang was still puzzled, so Li Long asked him:

"There's no meat at home; don't your dad and mom not get to eat any either?"

"Mm."

"They work the hardest, don't they?"

"Yes!"

"Then shouldn't they eat first?"

"They should!"

Hearing this, Li Long nodded with satisfaction, picked up a sparrow, and after it had cooled a bit, handed it to Li Qiang.

(End of chapter)