Chapter 56 The Weasel Switches Nests with the Rabbit

Summer brings frequent torrential rains, often accompanied by brief periods of strong winds. When the wind picks up and the rain pours down, it can make people feel uneasy.

The only advantage is that it can take away the summer heat, allow crops to drink their fill, and bring more cicadas and mushrooms after the rain.

The downside is that the house leaks when it rains. Their house is still considered good though; it's a traditional brick and tile house built by the older generation, not an adobe house. It's sturdy and doesn't leak rain because of the eaves and corridors. When this courtyard house was built, it must have cost the ancestors a lot of money and manpower.

The roof tiles were also blown off by the wind, but they can be repaired easily. After all, this house is of good quality and cannot be compared to ordinary adobe houses.

Grandpa and Dad both knew how to repair roof tiles. They would find a sunny day, buy new replacement tiles, use a ladder to climb onto the roof, and carefully repair them. In half a day, they could restore all the tiles in the house, big and small.

In those days, windows were relatively small and covered with paper, so they weren't very breathable and didn't let in much light. In winter, to keep warm, a layer of insulating felt had to be nailed on the outside. As for light, people hardly cared about it. Anyway, the days were short and the nights were long in winter, so once you got used to the darkness, it wasn't a big deal.

However, this type of tiled roof has one advantage in the summer: it doesn't make you feel particularly stuffy. At least without a fan, Xiaojiu can stay cool and quiet. If it weren't for the mosquitoes, she could get a good night's sleep.

Putting aside factors such as environmental and food scarcity, the 1950s, an era before industrialization, were indeed suitable for retirement and living.

That evening, Xiao Jiu had just finished eating a dragon fruit in her spatial dimension when she heard the chickens in the backyard squawking frantically, as if they had been threatened.

She quickly emerged from the spatial dimension, startling her sisters awake. Before they could even put on their shoes, they rushed to the backyard, only to find Grandpa and Father already chasing something. As they approached, they cried out, "Quick, stop the weasel! It's stealing the chickens!"

Xiao Jiu stumbled out and bumped into a weasel that suddenly darted over. Heaven knows what she was thinking, but she grabbed something nearby and threw it at the creature.

After a few loud thuds, the boy was hit on the head by the basin she threw, howling in pain. Then, his grandfather and father, who rushed over, hit him hard with brooms several times, and he stopped moving, but was still panting heavily.

"Luckily we arrived early, and the chickens were all in their cages, so it didn't succeed. But we have to remember to keep the chicken coop doors closed from now on. This thing will come back again if it comes once, so we can't let it get away with it if we catch it."

The weasel was beaten to the point of near death. Grandpa and Dad wouldn't even think of eating something like that. Even though food is scarce these days, they are generally averse to wild animals, including snakes and the like. But weasel fur is a valuable commodity, so after dawn, Grandpa took it out.

They didn't eat them, but someone else did. With the addition of fur, Grandpa traded them for a litter of baby rabbits, some white and some gray. When Xiao Jiu saw them, her eyes lit up.

"Bunny, grandpa, bunny, cute bunny, a bunny as cute as a little wine!"

"You like them, right? I knew you would. How about you take care of these rabbits?"

"Okay, Xiao Jiu, go and catch some grass for them to eat."

Grandpa affectionately patted her head, then found some wooden planks to nail together a burrow for the rabbit, and lined it with wheat straw.

There are six little rabbits in total, they look like they are just a month old, four are white and two are gray, they are fluffy and very cute.

Grandma asked, "Who did you trade with? How could you trade one weasel for so many little rabbits?"

"You know how prolific rabbits are. Old Zhang didn't want to raise so many. This weasel is quite big, and he doesn't eat it, but someone he knows likes to drink, eat dog meat, snake meat, and all sorts of other things. He'll eat any kind of meat, so he traded this litter of rabbits to me. I thought we have so many kids, maybe they'd like them, so I brought them back."

Grandma turned her head and glanced at Xiao Jiu, who had already grabbed a handful of grass from the corner and was happily feeding the rabbit. She couldn't help but smile.

"Be careful, don't let it bite your fingers."

"Okay, Grandma," Xiao Jiu replied. Grandma waved to Pan Di with satisfaction, "Come on, Pan'er, go and keep an eye on your sister."

Then he brought a bowl of cool boiled water to his grandfather.

“That’s true. Look, it’s because Xiao An and the others aren’t home. Otherwise, your cage could probably hold a whole bunch of kids.”

"Let them feed it to them for fun. Maybe we can even eat rabbit meat by the end of the year."

Grandma couldn't help but roll her eyes at him, "I'm afraid you'll feed her more and more, to the point that your granddaughter won't be able to bear it, then what will you do?"

"This..." It seems they really hadn't thought of it, but they overlooked the fact that Xiao Jiu's core is not a child, but an adult. How could an adult be reluctant to part with a rabbit? What is the purpose of raising a rabbit if not to eat it?

How could you eat a rabbit?

For some reason, Xiao Jiu, who was feeding the rabbit, suddenly remembered that video that was popular on the internet and felt a chill run down her spine.

In summer, there's nothing else but plenty of grass. Plus, they have sheep. Although they don't raise pigs, the sheep and rabbits love to eat grass, as do the chickens, ducks, and geese. They usually only roam in the backyard because they're worried about letting them out and laying their eggs outside. So they keep the gates to the backyard and front yard closed, allowing them to roam freely in the backyard.

We cut grass and threw it in, and also brought home some small pebbles and sand to help them digest their food.

Having raised poultry for so many years, Grandma has her own ways of dealing with them.

To ease the burden on the elderly, the brothers would take advantage of the opportunity to collect cicada shells every day to habitually go out to cut grass with wicker baskets on their backs. Each of them would carry a small basket, so when they returned home, the poultry, sheep, and the newly arrived rabbits would all have fresh food to eat.

If the distance is close, Xiao Jiu will go along too. It's good to have many children in the family; Grandma has basically never worried about the food for these things.

It's okay if you bring back too much; you can dry it and store it for winter. Anyway, there's so much grass outside that you can't cut it all; it grows back in one crop after another. If you don't go out for three days, it'll be covered in grass again.

In this season, another wild vegetable proliferates in the cornfields: purslane.

There was so much food that we couldn't finish it all, so Grandma dried the vegetables to save for winter.

Wild amaranth and lamb's quarters are the most abundant wild vegetables here besides purslane. They are so plentiful that they can be described as an overabundance. As long as you are diligent, you can eat fresh amaranth every day. You can make dumplings, steamed buns, or cold dishes with them. You can eat them however you like, and they taste pretty good. More importantly, they are good for your health. So, if you can't finish them, Grandma will find a way to steam and dry them to make dried vegetables.