Chapter 135
The next morning after breakfast, the family of three went to catch the big fat rabbit that Jindou had been thinking about.
When they arrived, Jindou couldn’t find any rabbits at all. He was quite disappointed after setting the trap. However, on the way back after finishing with the trap, his father found a suitable slope for them to slide down with a sled. Jindou became happy again, shrieking and laughing non-stop.
After they finished sliding and were tired, his father untied the bound shovels. The adults used the big ones and the children used the small ones. His grandpa took the lead in digging a snow cave, while his father carried the snow out in a basket. Jindou helped in the middle, alternating between helping and causing mischief.
No one had been there before, so the surface of the snow was hard and the inside was soft. In just half an hour, the three of them dug out a cross-shaped passage.
The passage wasn’t too high, so the adults had to crawl in and out, but Jindou didn’t need to. He happily ran back and forth in the tunnel, his face red with excitement.
At the end of the tunnel, Qiu Henian made a small fire, heated water in a small pot, toasted bread slices, and heated the pre-cut pork elbows. Qingyan crouched down and poked a hole in the snow shell above their heads to let the smoke out.
When Jindou saw this, his eyes lit up. He asked his dad to hold him up so he could also poke a small hole nearby. Smoke started to come out through the two holes, big and small.
Qingyan specifically took Jindou outside again to see where the smoke was coming from. Jindou found it incredibly magical, his mouth gaping wide, making sounds of amazement.
By the time Qingyan took him back, Qiu Henian had already heated the water and poured it into the water bag, and the bread slices were golden brown.
The snow tunnel was not cold to begin with, and it became even more comfortable after they made the fire. Qiu Henian sat on the ground, took off his fur coat, spread it on the ground, and asked Qingyan and Jindou to sit down.
The three of them had lunch in the snow tunnel. The toasted bread slices were crispy, paired with fragrant braised pork elbows. The adults added some spicy sauce to theirs, making it incredibly delicious.
After finishing, they had some hot water to drink, which was truly comforting.
They played in the snow tunnel for a while longer, but as the sun began to set and the temperature dropped, they packed up and headed back to the cabin.
Jindou reluctantly looked back at the snow tunnel, and Qingyan reassured him, “If you like it, we can dig another one near the cabin tomorrow.”
Upon hearing this, Jindou became happy again.
Before they reached home, Jindou fell asleep in his father’s arms.
Qingyan took out a thin blanket from the bag and wrapped him up once they got back.
After returning to the cabin, Jindou woke up shortly after and played with Ah Miao on the kang bed.
Qiu Henian and Qingyan then prepared dinner.
Tonight they had hot pot with meat and vegetables brought from the foot of the mountain. Thin slices of lamb cooked quickly in the hot pot, accompanied by tender tofu and vermicelli, as well as nearly melt-in-your-mouth cabbage leaves.
They dipped everything in sesame sauce with fermented bean curd and chopped chives. Eating like this on a cold day was the ultimate enjoyment.
After dinner, they went to bed early. The next day, they went to a lake further away.
Upon arrival, instead of immediately ice fishing, the couple cleared an area of ice, swept away the snow around it, and then took Jindou to play with the ice chips.
Once the child was tired of playing, they started fishing.
When they pulled out big and small fish, Jindou, who had been tired before, became excited again and helped his dad put the fish into the bucket.
When they returned in the evening and drank the milky white fish soup, Jindou smacked his lips in delight, feeling completely satisfied.
They stayed on the mountain for four nights in total. Qiu Henian only chose a day with bad sunlight that wasn’t suitable for the child to play outside, and went hunting alone, coming back with only a roe deer.
However, they weren’t disappointed. Catching that roe deer was just to please Jindou.
On their last day on the mountain, Qiu Henian went to the rabbit path himself and brought back a trapped rabbit.
Jindou saw his father returning from afar. Qingyan had just put a fur coat on him, but he rushed out the door. When he realized the rabbit his father brought back was already dead, tears streamed down his face.
The child thought they had caught a live big fat rabbit. Qingyan hugged and comforted him for a long time, promising to go to town after returning to buy him a small white rabbit to raise. Only then did he reluctantly stop crying.
…
Going downhill was harder than going uphill. Qiu Henian took good care of Xiaozao’s hooves. When they encountered steep slopes, he pulled the sled from behind with a rope, and Qingyan helped from time to time.
They hadn’t walked even halfway when both people and horse were tired. Qiu Henian unloaded the sled so Xiaozao could rest properly.
While they rested, they made a fire and boiled some hot water to warm themselves up.
As long as the child had a bit of energy left, he couldn’t sit still. After sitting for a while, Jindou pestered his father to accompany him to play in the nearby woods.
Qiu Henian had expended quite a bit of energy earlier, so he was mainly responsible for pulling the cart downhill. Qingyan got up and held the child’s hand, leading him to play happily in the nearby woods.
The fire was almost out. Qiu Henian, sitting by the fire for a rest, didn’t add any more wood. He looked up at the sky, judging it was about time to stop. He got up, used snow to bury the embers of the fire, making sure it wouldn’t reignite, and considered it finished.
Afterward, he packed up the pots, water bags, and other items on the ground onto the nearby cart. He glanced up to find the two, who had been gone for an hour, now just over ten meters away, bent over looking at something on the ground.
Xiaozao was closer to him. Earlier, she had been leisurely wandering in the snow, but now she had stopped there, nervously tapping her hooves.
Qiu Henian seemed to hear something in his ears. Before he realized what was happening, his heart skipped a beat and a look of horror and fear appeared on his face.
Immediately, he hurried towards Qingyan and Jindou’s direction, but dared not call out to them.
At that moment, Qingyan seemed to sense something wrong as well. He abruptly bent down and scooped up Jindou, then turned and ran towards Qiu Henian.
His expression was equally grim, his lips pale.
When they were three or four meters apart, Qingyan trembled as he said, “It’s… a lost bear cub.”
Qiu Henian quickly ran up to them, shielding them and staring warily into the depths of the forest.
Just then, they all saw in the dense woods not far away a large black figure slowly moving through the trees towards them.
In an instant, the figure revealed itself fully—it was an adult black bear. Its massive body was unkempt, appearing somewhat weak, but its eyes, characteristic of a fierce beast, exuded a cold ferocity and hunger.
This was a mother bear, supposed to be in hibernation at this time. Perhaps the energy expended by nursing cubs had depleted its resources, forcing it to temporarily abandon hibernation in search of food.
The sound Qiu Henian heard earlier was the bear cub calling out to its mother.
Maternal instinct in black bears is strong. To protect their cubs, they can become aggressive and even challenge tigers.
Although the bear wasn’t too close yet, running was no longer an option.
Though Jindou was young, the sight of the black bear was terrifying enough, especially seeing the grave expressions on his father and Qingyan. He sensed the danger and his small face tensed, tears welling up in his eyes.
Qiu Henian turned his head slightly and whispered to Qingyan, “Lie down in the snow with them, don’t move.”
Qingyan held Jindou tightly, his fingertips trembling unconsciously. He slowly crouched down, placing the child on the snow first, then himself, propping his body with his elbows, trying not to press down too hard.
Whispering near the crying child’s ear, Qingyan said softly, “Jindou, don’t be afraid. Dad and Father are here. Let’s see who can stay still and quiet longer. If anyone moves or makes a sound, they lose, okay?”
Jindou glanced at his dad’s eyes. Qingyan smiled slightly at him, and he felt somewhat reassured. He bit his lip, fighting back tears, and nodded.
Qiu Henian stood still, gazing intently into the woods, watching the bear approach the cub calling out, hoping the bear wouldn’t come closer.
But contrary to his hopes, the bear sniffed the cub and, finding no scent of blood, continued towards them.
Qiu Henian gave up any hope of luck. He gritted his teeth and glanced around. His bow, arrows, and other items were on the cart, and fetching them now was out of the question.
He bit his teeth and turned, lying down on Qingyan’s body, shielding him and Jindou securely beneath him.
Soon, a strong, animalistic odor drifted over them. Then they distinctly heard the crunch of crushed snow getting closer step by step, and the bear’s heavy breathing.
What happened next seemed both instantaneous and eternal.
The bear came right beside them. From Qiu Henian’s angle, he could see its paws and the drool dripping onto the snow.
Qiu Henian felt the bear sniffing his shoulder, then lifting its paw to touch his arm and shoulder on one side.
He gritted his teeth, not resisting, allowing the bear to investigate him without reaction. When its paw touched his arm, he deliberately returned it to its original position, shielding Qingyan and Jindou.
Qiu Henian pressed against Qingyan’s body. He could feel Qingyan half-turning, holding Jindou tightly in his arms, both of their bodies trembling.
After poking around once, the bear didn’t give up. It circled to the other side, leaning in to sniff the fur hat on Qiu Henian’s head.
After a moment, it lifted its paw again and swatted the hat away.
The blow nearly knocked Qiu Henian unconscious. The bear lowered its head again, sniffing behind his neck.
Just when Qiu Henian thought it might bite him, it circled to the other side once more.
As the bear moved to the other side, Qiu Henian felt Qingyan slowly extend a hand from beneath him, slipping around his neck and resting on the back of his head.
Qiu Henian tried to pull his hand back to place it under himself, but it was too late.
The bear lowered its head again, sniffing and poking around behind Qiu Henian’s head, back, and neck. This time, it seemed agitated, almost flipping Qiu Henian over.
After several unsuccessful attempts, panting heavily, it finally stopped.
Then, it stood there for a while. Just when Qiu Henian thought it might probe again, unexpectedly, it turned and walked away, heading towards the cub still calling in the woods.
Qiu Henian watched as the bear let the cub climb onto its back and disappeared quickly into the depths of the forest.
But they dared not move. It wasn’t until a long while had passed and the forest remained silent that Qiu Henian slowly sat up.
Qingyan also retracted his hand from behind Qiu Henian’s head. Qiu Henian helped Qingyan, who was pale-faced, and Jindou up. The three hugged tightly, Jindou finally unable to hold back and crying.
But it wasn’t a time to relax.
Qiu Henian said in a low voice, “Forget about the cart and everything on it. We need to leave this place now.”
Qingyan nodded shakily. Little Zao was nowhere to be seen, and Qiu Henian didn’t intend to look for her anymore. He grabbed the water bag and left everything else behind.
He took Jindou from Qingyan’s arms, letting Qingyan hold onto his arm, and the three hurried down the mountain.
It wasn’t until they were not far from the foot of the mountain that they breathed a sigh of relief. Qiu Henian suddenly noticed something wrong.
He stopped and pulled the hand that Qingyan had been keeping behind his back. He looked down and saw that the back of the hand was covered with bruises and scratches, with patches of flesh and blood exposed.
These were caused by the thorns on the bear’s tongue.
Qiu Henian’s eyes turned red. He looked up sharply at Qingyan.
Tears welled up in Qingyan’s eyes as he turned away, unable to look at his own hand.
He was so afraid of pain, but afraid of delaying their descent, he had bitten his lips until they bled, enduring silently until now.
