Chapter 16: Qin Nian Caught a Rabbit

Last night, Ye Meizi picked out the wild vegetables Qin Nian had brought over, cleaned them, blanched them, then chopped them finely and mixed them into cornmeal.

Early this morning, she steamed warm, fluffy corn cakes, packed them in a clean cloth bag, and placed them in a small basket for Qin Nian to bring up the mountain to feed the two of them. Ye Meizi and Geng Zhenhai hadn’t eaten any themselves.

Qin Nian carried the small basket and hurried out the door, thinking of Geng Feng hunting on the mountain.

When she reached the most difficult mountain peak to climb, Geng Feng was already waiting.

Seeing his figure standing by the rock, Qin Nian felt as if she had seen a family member — her heart filled with joy.

“Geng Feng, have you been waiting long?”

Geng Feng’s smile was like the warm May sun: “No, I just came down too. You’re sweating — did you rush?”

Qin Nian shook her head: “No.”

She didn’t ask if he had caught anything last night; Geng Feng volunteered:

“Last night I only caught two wild chickens, not worth much. Don’t worry, I’ll keep hunting tonight — I’m sure I’ll catch something valuable.”

Qin Nian smiled: “Hunting is always uncertain. I’m not worried at all. Are you hungry? Eat first.”

Geng Feng took the basket from Qin Nian’s hands: “Let’s go up first, then eat by the field.”

After climbing over the mountain peak and passing the Shy Spring, the two arrived at the field.

After Qin Nian left yesterday, Geng Feng had turned over a large patch of earth.

Qin Nian imagined him under the moonlight, holding the iron fork, turning the soil alone.

He probably looked up at the moon, and when the night breeze brushed his face, he must have felt proud of his capability and courage.

Qin Nian glanced at Geng Feng: “Did you stay up all night?”

Geng Feng munched on the cake and said pleasantly, carried by the wind: “I hunted a bit, then turned some soil. It felt like a blink, then the sky brightened — I’m not tired at all.”

Qin Nian sighed inwardly — it wasn’t really as easy as Geng Feng said. He was just comforting her, and she understood perfectly.

Quietly, she took the water bag, filled it secretly with spiritual spring water, and returned.

Geng Feng threw a piece of cake into his mouth, poured a bowl of water, and drank it all.

Wiping water from his mouth with the back of his hand, he smiled: “Full now, time to work!”

“Geng Feng, gather some dry grass and put it somewhere sheltered. Take a nap before continuing.”

“No need, I’ll sleep at night.”

Geng Feng picked up the iron fork and continued turning the soil. Qin Nian took the sickle and cut grass for a while.

Thinking of last night’s plan, she stood and looked at Geng Feng: “There’s so much green grass here. Are there rabbit holes nearby?”

Geng Feng paused, pointed to a small hill: “There’s a rabbit hole up there. But rabbits are cunning; one hole leads to another. They run very fast, and even if they come out, it’s hard to catch them.”

Qin Nian smiled, put down the sickle, picked a lot of green grass into the basket, and poured all the spiritual spring water on it.

“I’m going to lure the rabbits at the hole’s entrance, see if they come out.”

Geng Feng’s laughter floated in the spring breeze. If Qin Nian’s method counted as hunting, she’d be the first ever — and almost guaranteed to fail.

Qin Nian didn’t argue. She carried the basket to the hill and found the rabbit hole Geng Feng mentioned.

She placed the grass at the entrance and squatted beside it, tilting her head to watch.

Before she could blink, a pure white wild rabbit jumped out.

It ignored Qin Nian squatting nearby and immediately began nibbling the tender grass by the hole.

Qin Nian was so startled she nearly fell.

Reacting quickly, she reached out and grabbed the big white rabbit by its ears.

Actually, the rabbit was so focused on eating it didn’t even try to run.

Even pinned down by the young girl, it kept eating like it hadn’t eaten for eight lifetimes, feeling guilty if it stopped.

Even more surprising, three more white rabbits rushed out and started furiously eating the grass.

The rabbit’s fur was very smooth. Qin Nian could only hold tight the first one that came out.

Her heart pounded loudly as she turned and shouted at a distance:

“Geng Feng, hurry over! Bring the basket and gather more long grass!”

The distance was a bit far, so Geng Feng didn’t see Qin Nian catch the rabbit. But when he heard her say to bring the basket over, he didn’t hesitate.

Geng Feng put down the iron fork, grabbed several handfuls of long grass from the field’s edge, stuffed it into the basket, and carried it over.

He didn’t believe Qin Nian could actually catch a rabbit, but he didn’t want to dampen her enthusiasm either—he was willing to humbly indulge her for a little while.

When he got close, he saw Qin Nian holding one rabbit by its ear.

The rabbit didn’t seem to notice at all. It was too busy nibbling on the grass at the hole’s entrance, completely ignoring its ear being held.

Even more astonishing, three other rabbits were also crouching at the hole, eating grass, acting as if Qin Nian wasn’t even there.

Geng Feng was stunned. Since when did rabbits get so brazen? Or maybe they thought Qin Nian was one of their own?

He even glanced at Qin Nian—she didn’t look like a rabbit at all.

Blinking hard several times—after a sleepless night, maybe he was hallucinating?

“Geng Feng,”

Qin Nian’s voice was full of joy and urgency, “I’m holding one rabbit, you quickly twist some grass ropes and tie these rabbits up.”

“Tie rabbits up?”

Geng Feng repeated, feeling something was off but unable to say what exactly. He had never heard of anyone tying up rabbits before.

First, he dumped the dry long grass from the basket, then bent down and tossed three rabbits one by one into the basket, along with the grass at the hole’s entrance.

Without food, the rabbit in Qin Nian’s hand struggled fiercely and broke free immediately.

“Geng Feng—”

Qin Nian shouted, trying to get him to catch it again. Unexpectedly, the rabbit kicked hard with its hind legs and jumped into the basket on its own.

It squeezed in with the other three rabbits and kept eating the grass eagerly.

Both Geng Feng and Qin Nian were stunned.

Geng Feng snapped out of his shock, quickly grabbed long grass from the ground, and twisted it into thin ropes.

He tied them across the basket horizontally, one rope after another, seven or eight times, until he was sure the rabbits couldn’t get out.

Then he looked at Qin Nian and asked, “How did this happen?”

Qin Nian knew the reason but couldn’t say it.

She pretended to frown in thought for a while, then suddenly relaxed her brow and said to Geng Feng:

“When I was picking grass just now, I saw some of it was dry, so I poured water from the water bag on it.

The water came from the Shy Spring—it must have an irresistible attraction for the rabbits.”

Geng Feng thought about it and said, “That’s probably it.”

Qin Nian hurriedly asked, “How much can we sell these wild rabbits for? Is it enough to buy seeds?”

Geng Feng nodded: “These rabbits are all fat. Selling one for 500 wen is no problem, and each weighs about two taels.

It should be enough to buy seeds.”

The two young people happily celebrated together.