Li Qingxia was still clumsy with the double-barreled shotgun. Li Long and Li Jianguo had already loaded their rifles, but he was still pushing shells in. Once they were in, he tried several times to close the gun without success.
"Dad, let me." Li Long put his safety on and slung his rifle over his back, then reached for the gun in his father's hands.
Li Qingxia did know not to point a muzzle at anyone. He held the gun angled upward as he handed it to Li Long.
Li Long checked where the shells were seated. Nothing was wrong, so he gave it a firm push and closed the gun.
Handing the gun back to his father, Li Long said:
"Dad, I'll take the ones on the left, and my eldest brother will take the ones on the right. Shoot whichever one you like in the middle."
"All right!" Li Qingxia smiled.
He was actually laughing at himself, too. He was over sixty, yet he was getting a little nervous about hunting.
Never mind. If he missed, he missed. His two sons would certainly hit something anyway. Of the three of them, he had had the fewest chances to use a gun. He had only spent a few days in his youth fooling around with a single-shot break-action gun, something a little like this shotgun.
In any case, it could not shoot as far as a rifle.
Li Long unslung his rifle and knelt on one knee to aim. Li Jianguo did not; he simply stood there with his rifle raised. Li Qingxia hefted his gun, felt no need to crouch, and stood to aim as well.
"Dad, that gun kicks hard. Hold it tight and brace it firmly against your shoulder, or it'll slam into you and hurt!"