Early the next morning, while Uncle Lao Luo was still making breakfast, Li Long, Tao Daqiang, and Yang Yongqiang were already on their way to East Big Ditch.
It was still bitterly cold, but they were all in high spirits, especially Yang Yongqiang and Tao Daqiang, who felt they had someone to rely on again.
The whole village and the surrounding fields were silent at this hour. There were not even any birds calling; all Li Long heard was the swishing of their three pairs of feet through the snow.
By the time they reached East Big Ditch, all three were panting, their hats coated in white. Their breath condensed into mist, like the exhalations of immortals.
Using the terrain as his guide, Li Long began searching for the snares he had set before.
He headed off to one side, where the footprints were faint. Although it had not snowed lately, every day before the sun rose high, the wind blew up the powdery snow nearby and let it drift down again. Much like snowfall, it covered the tracks.
"Huh? Brother Long, you set snares over there too?" Yang Yongqiang sounded surprised. "I remember there weren't any over there."
"I did. Seven or eight, I think," Li Long said, vaguely remembering. "I think I even caught a rabbit when I checked them the day after setting them."
There were no fresh rabbit tracks here anymore. The old ones had also been lightly covered by snow and were hard to make out. Relying on his memory, Li Long found a snare beside a red willow.
There was nothing in it.
That was actually to be expected. After so many rounds of checking, anything caught had most likely been taken away. If nothing had been taken, then the snare probably was not