Xing'an Mountains 1984: Starting from climbing mountains to support the family

Chapter 9 Going into the mountain to dig out the badger’s cave
Afterwards, Chen Weidong immediately went to find a lot of hay and wet firewood, piled them in front of one of the holes, and then blocked the other three holes.

"Okay, start the fire!"

After everything was ready, Chen Weidong took out a flint from his arms. Although matches were not as valuable these days as they were in the 1960s and 1970s, for a family with six children to support, matches were naturally unaffordable.

When the hay fire was lit, thick green smoke immediately came in from the badger hole, which was very choking!

However, one minute, three minutes, five minutes... ten minutes passed, and there was still no sound in the cave!

"Could it be that there was only one badger? And he caught it?"

The firewood had been burned for several times, but there was still no movement in the cave, which made Chen Weidong suspicious.

"Impossible! If you have any common sense, you will know that there is not only one badger in such a big hole with five exits."

Chen Weidong shook his head and looked around. In addition to the smoke coming out of the hole under his feet,

Then there was a faint smoke coming out from outside the blocked holes, but there was no smoke anywhere else.

Chen Weidong thought that he should wait a little longer. After all, the holes dug by the wild hog badger were relatively deep and curved. Once the thick smoke entered,
It must reach a certain concentration before the wild hog badger can be woken up (wild hog badger usually sleeps during the day).

Then, they will definitely lose their way in the panic, and it will take some time for them to get on the right path.

At this moment, Chen Weidong suddenly noticed some movement at the entrance of the cave and immediately became alert.

shhhhhh...

Not long after, one, one, and another wild hog came out of the cave! Each one was plump and weighed at least ten pounds!

After a long while, there was no sound in the cave. Chen Weidong counted them and found that he had caught four badgers in total.

After Chen Weidong put the four badgers properly into the sack, he did not let go of the badger hole, but picked up the shovel and started digging little by little.

The badger hole was really deep. After digging for a long time, Chen Weidong finally found a fork in the hole, and then the one hole turned into three holes.

Based on his experience, Chen Weidong knew that among the three holes, only the one on the left led to the badger hole. Regardless of the other two holes, Chen Weidong continued digging.

After digging for a while, a lot of food, berries and other things appeared in the cave.

Badgers are very particular about hygiene. Inside their caves, like humans, there are bathrooms, living rooms, bedrooms and storage rooms.

What has been dug out now is the storage room of the badger. There is a lot of food hidden in the storage room. This is the reserve food for a nest of badgers for a whole winter.

You know, it's late October now, which is the time when badgers store food.

The reason why Chen Weidong dug the hole was because he was thinking about the badger's food.

Chen Weidong skillfully took out a sack and filled it with grain.

The food in a badger hole filled half a sack, estimated to be around thirty or forty kilograms.

That's why farmers hate wild boars and badgers the most. Wild boars like to destroy farmland, and badgers are really good at stealing food.

I heard from the older generation that in the early years, when the village was short of food, many people went into the mountains to look for badger holes and dig them out. If they were lucky, they would dig out a big badger hole, and one badger hole could yield enough food for one person to eat for a whole winter.

Soon, when Chen Weidong had plundered all the food, he continued digging.
When there was nothing left, he packed up and went back. Suddenly, he heard the sound of a badger coming from the right fork that he had just given up.

Chen Weidong was delighted, thinking that there was a fish that had slipped through the net, so he turned to the right branch and sped up the digging.

Soon, he saw a hog badger lying in the cave, dying.

Chen Weidong knew at a glance that he was smoked like this! He wanted to escape, but failed.

Without any hesitation, Chen Weidong took the badger out of the hole and threw it into a sack.

Chen Weidong did not continue digging. The badger hole was connected in all directions.
Even if he dug for a whole day, he would not be able to finish digging. After all, situations like the one just now were rare. All the badgers in the hole should have gone into his sack.

"It's a good harvest! There are five wild hogs in total, the largest one weighs 16 or 17 kilograms, and there are 30 or 40 kilograms of food. Unfortunately, the berries have all gone bad."

then,

Chen Weidong used a shovel as a shoulder pole, hung a sack of grain on one side and a sack of wild hogs on the other, and hurried home.

At the nearest post to his home, Chen Weidong spotted three little girls squatting under a tree digging. When he got closer, he saw that they were his three daughters.

"Er Ni, San Ni, Si Ni, what are you two doing here when you are not at home?"

Chen Weidong shouted loudly.

As soon as he finished speaking, the three little guys looked up and saw Chen Weidong suddenly appear.

They were immediately startled, and Sanni and Sini hid behind Erni, who also protected her sister.
Chen Weidong felt that he was too serious just now and scared the three little guys, so he changed his tone and asked: "What are you three doing here?"

"Dad, we are digging mushrooms! There is no vegetables at home, my sister and I..."

Erni said timidly,

Chen Weidong then discovered the small basket in Erni's hand, which contained a few wild mushrooms.
His heart ached. Although people from the nearby village often came to dig wild vegetables, cut pig grass, and chop trees, wild beasts from the mountains would occasionally come in. If they encountered any of them, these three little guys...

"Aren't you afraid of the dangers in the mountains?"

"Don't worry, when we had no vegetables at home, my mother would often bring us here to look for all kinds of wild fruits and vegetables."

"And my second sister is really good. She always digs the most. The village boy Goudan bullied me and was beaten up by my second sister!"

Sanni said in a baby voice, while Sini said with admiration: "Yeah, last time dad spanked my second sister, she didn't cry! We are not afraid because my second sister is with us!"

Chen Weidong: "Uh... come at him!"

"Okay, go home with Dad, and don't go up the mountain again."

"Ah."

The three little girls nodded. They were still afraid of Chen Weidong.

"Dad, what are you carrying?"

On the way back, the three little ones who originally thought they would be beaten saw that their father was so kind and didn't beat them. In addition, he cooked for them and put meat in their mouths yesterday, so they became bolder.
Especially Erni looked at Chen Weidong carrying two large sacks and asked with concern.

"This is a badger. Dad just dug out a badger hole and dug up dozens of kilograms of food."

Chen Weidong said.

"Dad, are you tired from carrying so many things? If you are tired, let's take a rest."

This little guy is quite filial.

Chen Weidong naturally couldn't say he was tired, so he smiled and said, "Dad is fine."

(End of this chapter)