It was quiet at Niu Lizheng's home.
Niu Li was sitting by the stove warming himself, staring at the fire in a daze.
Grandma Chen sat with him, warming herself by the fire and holding the soles of her shoes.
"Hey~" Satomasa suddenly sighed.
"Old man, what's wrong with you?" Grandma Chen turned to look at him, her face full of confusion. Why was she sighing like this?
"I was wondering how the group of people who just came here will survive this winter." These people carry so little luggage and don't have anything for winter. The weather is getting colder and colder every day, which is hard to endure.
"You're just worrying about it, aren't you saying that these people can receive relief food and they won't starve to death." Grandma Chen rolled her eyes.
These refugees are provided with relief food and are richer than the people in their own village, so they will not starve to death.
"By the way, didn't the official say that when the refugees come to resettle, they will ask the villagers of each village to go to the city to get their household registrations for them? When are you going to go there?"
"This..." Niu Li was looking at the heavy snow that was still flying outside, frowning. It was definitely not possible to go to the city in this weather: "Let's wait until the snow stops."
"Hey, if you can't, you can ask Niu Dadu's family, but if you go to the city, I'll take you there with me. It's not much better than walking there." Grandma Chen gave an idea.
"Isn't this taking advantage of others? I was embarrassed to ask him to pick someone up today, so I let Shan Bao go." Niu Lizheng waved his hands, but he couldn't help but look like this.
"Isn't this just a matter of course? If not, please give me a copper plate." Because of what happened last time, the Li Zheng family's finances are extremely tight right now.
"You have the nerve to ask for a copper coin. If you don't want to go, I won't go. I'll go by myself when the snow stops in a few days." Niu Lizheng still refused, stopped warming himself by the fire, and went back to his room to lie down.
The snowflakes outside are still falling with the wind, getting bigger and bigger, and the whole world is covered in silver and silent.
"Xiaodi, let's go, sister will take you to catch sparrows." After Niu Xiaodi recited the last paragraph, Niu Caohua nodded with satisfaction and decided to take him out to play for a while.
Reading should also pay attention to the balance between work and rest.
"Okay~" Niu Xiaodi jumped three feet high, quickly put the books away, tidied himself up, and looked at my sister eagerly: "Sister, can I bring my two dogs with me?"
He hadn't seen Ergou for several days and missed him.
"Okay, let's go find him together." Niu Caohua was happy to satisfy her brother with this little thing.
"Okay~"
After packing up the things for catching sparrows, the siblings went out together to Li Zheng's house.
The snow on the road was getting deeper and deeper, and there were deep footprints when you stepped on it. Niu Xiaodi walked and jumped all the way, his little face flushed.
When they arrived at the door of Li Zheng's house, they found that the courtyard door of Li Zheng's house was open, and there were several strangers standing inside, talking and laughing.
stranger?
Probably the refugees who came this time.
Two middle-aged men and an old man.
Niu Caohua hesitated whether going in now would disturb them, but the sharp-eyed Niu Ergou in the room had already seen them, and ran out directly with a smile on her face: "Sister Caohua, Xiaodi, why are you here?"
After not seeing each other for a few days, they missed each other very much. Niu Ergou and Niu Xiaodi greeted each other in their special way as soon as they met. You patted me and I pulled you, laughing and joking.
"Sister said she was going to catch sparrows, are you going?" Niu Xiaodi winked.
"Catch sparrows. How can you do without me!" Niu Ergou burst out laughing. It was cold these days and his mother wouldn't let him go out. He was almost bored to death.
Sister Caohua and Xiaodi are the best, thinking about him!
"Then let's go!"
"Milk~ I'm going out to play!"
Just as they turned around to leave, Niu Caohua glanced at the two small palm-sized faces exposed at the door inside. They were Niu Daya and Niu Erya. The two looked at them longingly.
Thinking of these two poor little girls who were almost betrayed by their cruel parents, Niu Caohua couldn't help but feel pitiful.
"Da Ya, Er Ya, do you want to go together?" Niu Caohua asked.
The two little girls didn't expect Niu Caohua to speak, so they couldn't help being stunned, then overjoyed, and turned to look at Granny Chen.
"Go, go, let's go together, be careful not to get your clothes dirty, or I will skin you when you come back." Grandma Chen said in an impatient tone.
"We're going!" After saying that, the two people quickly ran over, and the group of five went out to play happily.
"Haha, it's better to be a child. Even in winter, you are so happy." The strange old man in the room spoke. He was Li Zheng and Wang Jiaqiang of Wangjiacun.
"Children are naughty, please forgive me, brother." Niu Li was watching the children running out with a smile on his face.
"That's all. As for the children, good health is the most important thing." Wang Lizheng said with a somewhat gloomy expression. Their children all had a low-grade fever and it hasn't gone away yet. They hope to get better soon.
"Brother, how are you doing there? Are there any other problems?" Niu Lizheng quickly changed the subject.
At the mention of this, Wang Lizheng also cheered up and slowly revealed his purpose.
****
Niu Caohua found an open space, observed the surrounding situation, nodded, and motioned for everyone to stop: "Let's catch them here. Xiaodi Ergou, work, and Big Ya Erya, you can also come and help."
"Okay~" Niu Xiaodi and Niu Ergou have cooperated many times, and they are very familiar with the process of catching birdies. Only Niu Daya and Niu Erya were a little at a loss at first, but after working on the side for a while, they were able to No longer restrained at all, we got busy together.
On the pure white snow, there are a series of small footprints. In an open space, some grains are scattered, covered with a basket. One leg of the basket is supported by a branch, and a thin rope on the branch leads out the old tree. , the other end of the rope was held in Niu Caohua's hand, and the five people squatted in a hidden place, staring closely at the basket.
"Look, look, there's a sparrow flying over, and there's another one!"
"Keep your voice down. Look, it flew away. It must have been scared by you."
"Oh, then I won't speak."
Time passed by minute by second. On the empty snow, the hungry birds smelled the aroma of food. They couldn't help but stop nearby. They looked around flexibly and confirmed that there was no danger. Then they jumped into the radish basket one by one. Pecking at the grain below.
The cow grass flower was almost ready. The hand holding the rope exerted force, and the stick supporting the basket was pulled out. The basket was buckled on the ground. Some of the birds inside flew out, and most of them were tightly closed. In the radish basket, it flapped its wings in panic.
"Wow~ there are so many birds!" Niuergou, who had not eaten meat for many days, jumped up with his eyes shining.
"Hurry up and tie them up. There are a lot of birds in this area. We need to catch more!" The cow grass flowers were grabbed out one by one and passed to the people behind, who were responsible for tying them.
A great victory today, I caught eight for the first time!
I don’t know whether the winter birds are too stupid or they are too hungry. They are frightened away time and time again, and fly back again and again, and finally become food.
In one afternoon, more than sixty birds were caught in total, and the basket was filled to the brim.
"Okay, the grain I brought has been used up. This is for you. Go home quickly!" Niu Caohua split the birds in two and took more than thirty of them, leaving the rest for Niu Ergou. They are.
Although these little birds are not very big, there are so many of them that there is enough for a big dish.
Niuergou was also polite: "Hey, thank you, Sister Caohua~"
Niu Daya and Niu Erya thanked each other in unison.
