Lu Xiao Shu and Lu Qi buried many firecrackers in the snow together with a few other kids. They made sure the snow was hard solid by stepping on it and got ready to watch the snow get blown up beautifully when they lit the firecrackers up. Then, they decided to have a snow battle tomorrow in the forest when the snow got thicker. When they saw their mother and auntie waving at them, the siblings exchanged glances.
“Why is Mother here?”
“Probably to get us home. Come on before she scolds us. We’ll come out again tomorrow.”
“Oh, okay!”
Lu Xiao Shu unwillingly followed Lu Qi as she patted her reddish hands. Lu Qi announced to everyone, “We’re going home, but we’ll meet tomorrow for the snowball fight!”
The two of them had always been the leaders among the kids. If they were not present, everyone would have less fun because there would not be anyone to guide them. So, the kids happily agreed to meet tomorrow.
“Look at how cold your hands have gotten, and your face is flush red too! How could you be so careless? Don’t you know that you should be inside when it’s cold outside?” Miao Cui Lan patted the snow off Lu Xiao Shu’s body as she scolded. Then, she pulled Lu Qi over to check on him, “Let’s go home! You’ll all get sick from the cold! You! Even if you’re not afraid of the cold, have you ever thought about your sisters?”
Tong Yu Er smiled and tried to carry Lu Xiao Shu up, but she did not want to be carried. Instead, she struggled away and grinned, “I can walk on my own, auntie! Mother, don’t blame Lu Qi, it’s not cold at all!”
“Are you sure? You’ll get a taste of what’s cold when the cold wind comes blowing!” Miao Cui Lan glared at them as they walked towards their house. Eventually, the adults from the other homes came looking for their children too.
The snow got heavier in the evening. The outside world had changed entirely into heaps of uneven and soft snowfields. Snowflakes were wafting everywhere more densely than flowers falling during spring. On the whole, it had obscured everything in sight. If someone was out without an umbrella, they would be covered in a layer of snow just by standing outside for a while.
A little grey sparrow flew over from nowhere and landed in the snow-filled yard. It hopped and chirped before flying away.
Lu Xiao Shu watched as she laid by the door. It prompted her to run towards Mr Wu and begged him, “ Mr Wu! Can we catch some sparrows tomorrow? Can you teach me, please?”
Without a choice, Mr Wu smiled, “Alright, I’ll teach you, but you can’t go causing trouble again! If I see you making a scene at someone’s house, I won’t teach you anything in the future!”
Mr Wu had a specialty in making traps to catch all sorts of animals, such as hares, otters, badgers, hedgehogs, foxes, etc. Each of his traps was made with detail. Lu Xiao Shu had talked him into teaching her to make a simple one. In the beginning, Mr Wu thought that she was just curious. Unexpectedly, Lu Xiao Shu was exceptionally well at crafts, and it was a good skill to pick up.
Since she was still little, she could not try her skills out in the mountains, so she resorted to testing her traps out in the yard at home. However, the chicken and ducks at home were used to her. It was too easy to trap them, so she ended up trying out her traps at someone else’s farm.
Entertainment was rare among the village kids’ daily lives. They did not care if the chicken belonged to their family, as long as they were having fun. When they saw their “prey” falling into their trap, they would clap and cheer, scaring the other animals into a noisy mess. Then, the kids would clap harder and laugh happily. However, that angered the adults, and after some scolding, everyone was asked who started it. Eventually, someone went to complain to Lu Xiao Shu’s family.
When Mr Wu agreed, Lu Xiao Shu’s eyes lit up in excitement. She nodded and promised not to cause more trouble, but murmured under her breath, saying that it was not her fault.
Mr Wu chuckled, “The snowfall is heavy enough, but we will have to wait another two or three days before catching sparrows. It won’t be tomorrow.”
Lu Xiao Shu grew disappointed at that, but she knew that he would not break his promise once he made it. So, she happily agreed to it.
In response, Mr Wu smiled, “Teaching you is easy. How about we hear a couple of poems related to snow from you!”
“Should I recite the ones that you taught me?” Lu Xiao Shu thought for a bit then she recited with a smile, “Nothing blooms when it’s the New Year. Early Spring, there’s only budding; the white snow hates that the color of Spring comes late, so it covers the trees to pass off as flowers.” and she continued, “While the snowflakes fall, I sit and watch through the window as everything becomes as beautiful white as jade. Now, as I gaze afar, every evil in this world is covered with whiteness.”
Her tender and crisp voice halted, and everyone, including Lu Zhong, smiled.
“Good! Good! Your memory is exceptional!” Mr Wu patted her small shoulder and grinned, “You’re so smart! After another two years, you should go to the academy to study. Wouldn’t it be great if I can take you in as my student?”
Lu Zhong, Miao Cui Lan, and the others did not find it weird. Instead, they were very happy as her parents. After all, any parent would be happy to see their child praised by others, especially by someone who was quite exceptional himself.
Just as Miao Cui Lan was about to ask her to agree to it, Lu Xiao Shu shook her head without hesitation, “But I don’t want to. I still want to have fun. The academy is… so boring!”
They must be joking! She only studied in her past life because her parents forced her into it and they would then ask her about it from time to time. Now, her parents in this life wanted her to study again? No thank you! Besides, what use is there to study all those poems and songs? As a girl, it would be even more useless to study the Four Books and Five Classics of Confucianism!
“She’s right! The academy is so… so…” Lu Qi naturally agreed immediately, but he paused at his mother’s piercing glare.
Mr Wu was startled, but he chortled, “Gosh, this little girl! In the end, you’re still too young!”
Lu Zhong laughed along with Mr Wu as well, “Of course! What would a kid so young know about studying? She would understand it more when she grows up.”
Eventually, they changed the topic and started talking about something else.
The siblings looked forward to catching sparrows in a few days, and Mr Wu kept his promise. Early that day, he brought bamboo strips, bamboo sticks, strings, nets, etc to their house. He had Lu Qi look for a flat dustpan, shovel, and broom to clear a part of the yard from the snow.
Miao Chu He brought a shovel to clear the snow as he curiously came to help out, saying that he had never tried anything like this in his life. Tong Yu Er also thought that it was rare to see something like that, so she watched them with a smile. The yard was filled with cheerful chatter.
A drawing from a textbook somewhere had a scene that showed people catching sparrows in winter. It showed up in Lu Xiao Shu’s mind as she realized that it looked exactly the same. It was a very interesting scene.
Mr Wu efficiently set his trap up and sprinkled some bait specially made with fried egg yolk and millet. Then, he clasped his hands and announced, “It’s done! Let’s wait for them to walk into the trap by themselves!” Thus, he led everyone away and hid in the dark as they watched.
After a heavy snowfall, everything was frozen, so the sparrows were hungry. A few of them soon flapped their wings as they landed near the trap to peck on the fragrant millet.
“Look! The sparrows are here!” The three children were excited to see it.
Mr Wu smiled slightly, “Keep it down. It’s not time yet!”
The eager Lu Qi had no choice but to wait patiently. He grew very anxious as he ogled at the sparrows eating happily.
“Mr Wu, what if they escape after they finish eating?” Lu Qi asked impatiently.
Mr Wu laughed, “If they escape, let them. There will be more that will come.”
“He’s right. What’s the use of catching little shrimps when we can catch bigger fishes?” Lu Xiao Shu added.
“It seems like you understand it clearly,” Mr Wu chuckled.
Soon after, another five or six sparrows landed while the previous sparrows flew away once they had their share. Just as Mr Wu had mentioned, some would fly away and more would come. Not long later, the little space they cleared was crowded with at least twenty to thirty sparrows. It looked like a blur of grey from afar.
Since they come and go, the sparrows did not even register any danger as they moved about freely. They hopped around and ate the bait while chirping and twittering cheerfully. Some would sing a melody while others groomed their feathers as if it was their playground.
“Alright, that should be good enough!” Mr Wu unhesitantly picked up the rope which was pressed against the ground. He titled his body slightly and yanked the rope diagonally. With a “snap”, the dustpan and bamboo sticks which were supporting the net crashed to the ground. In a blink, the net covered them firmly, trapping all the sparrows in it. The three children cheered before rushing forward, while Mr Wu hushed them, “Don’t scare them!”, and he followed them out from their hiding spot. Then, he carefully untied the net before holding all the sparrows inside it.
As Lu Qi watched the sparrows, which were terrified with their pea-sized eyes wide open, he suggested in excitement, “This is great! Sir, we should roast them! I bet they would taste very nice!”
“Alright! We should get two fishes and roast them together. There’s meat at home and vegetables in the garden,” Lu Xiao Shu could not hold back her happiness as well.
Mr Wu laughed, “I didn’t know you could roast vegetables. Where did you get that idea from?”
Lu Xiao Shu grinned, “You’ll know how it tastes as soon as you try it out!”
He smiled in return, “You’re right, we should try it out. Let’s get it ready in groups. Lu Qi and I will go to the fishing spot to take care of the sparrows while the rest of you will take care of the other stuff.”
The siblings agreed and moved out to complete their tasks.
As such, after finding a clean spot on the ground, Miao Chu He retrieved the stove and charcoal. At the same time, he asked Miao Cui Lan to prepare various spices, herbs and some meat. Lu Xiao Shu and her sister, together with Tong Yu Er, went to the garden with a basket to pick some vegetables, like coriander, leeks, vegetable sprouts, garlic sprouts, lettuce, etc. Lu Xiao Shu missed having roasted eggplants and green peppers, but where could she find them at this time? She could only make do with what they had.
