1983, Northeast China

Chapter 53 Sparrow

The broken sieve scraped against the ground, making a rustling sound all the way.

Chen Shi was awakened by the noise.

He had just put on his cotton-padded coat when Ya Ya came over, dragging a sieve.

The sieve is missing a piece. Aunt Wang mentioned it yesterday. We can only use this broken one. It doesn't leak much, so it won't affect catching sparrows.

"Uncle, get up. You said you'd catch sparrows today."

After she finished speaking, she stood obediently to the side and waited.

Chen Shi glanced at her.

These days I'm eating and dressing a bit better than before, and I've gained some weight in my face, but that timid air is still there, especially when I have something to ask for.

If it were any other child wanting to catch birds, they would have already hopped out into the yard by now. She, however, would just stand by the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) with her tattered sieve, waiting for someone to give the order.

Even if it weren't for those birds, I'd still let her have some fun today.

"Come on, you'll be the little manager today." Chen Shi finished dressing, took the sieve from him, and said, "I'll teach you how to arrange them, and you can see if they go in or not."

"Can I set it up too?"

"Why not? Aren't you better than Grandpa Zhao's little tiger?" Chen Shi patted her head encouragingly.

Li Cheng finally woke up, lying on the bed and squinting as he looked around. "So what should I do?"

Aunt Wang came over with a towel that had been soaked in hot water and wiped Ya Ya's face. "Just make sure you don't scare the birds away, that's all you have to do."

"When will I...?"

"Don't make me count for you." Aunt Wang threw the towel into the basin and took the basin out.

Chen Shi led Ya Ya to the door. Bai Weiba also wanted to squeeze out, but Huang Er yelled at it, and it started pacing around anxiously inside the house.

There was a woodpile outside the courtyard wall, where people usually piled up the chaff and grass seeds they swept up.

Chen Shi grabbed a small handful of chaff, mixed it with some broken corn kernels, and poured it into Ya Ya's palm.

A few grains fell to the ground, and Ya Ya immediately picked them up, blew on them, and put them back in her palm.

"Sprinkle it here, don't scatter it in a bunch, spread it out." He gestured with his finger to demonstrate for Ya Ya.

Ya Ya imitated him and scattered a few grains of rice.

Li Cheng, trying not to laugh, remarked, "Are you treating birds to a feast? Three birds a table?"

Ya Ya felt a little embarrassed after Li Cheng said that.

Chen Shi tossed the rope to Li Cheng, saying, "If you say another word, Huang Er won't even give you the rope later."

Ya Ya sprinkled the snow a few more times, this time spreading it out a bit. Chen Shi placed the broken sieve over the snow, propped up the sieve edge with a thin stick, and finally tied the hemp rope to the stick, dragging it all the way into the crack in the door.

The white-tailed bird paced anxiously in circles inside the door, its nose burrowing into the crack. Ya Ya quickly hugged it and whispered, "You can't go in, or the bird will be gone."

The sieve was set up, but the sparrows didn't come immediately. It took quite a while before two finally arrived.

They tilted their heads to look at the snow, then flew to the woodpile and hopped a couple of times.

After a while, a few more emerged from the cracks in the woodpile, their claws landing on the snow, hopping and stopping, their black bean-like eyes fixed on the grains of grain.

One of them jumped onto the woodpile twice, then jumped down, hopping and stopping on the snow, its head peeking out towards the pile of grains.

Ya Ya squatted by the crack in the door, leaning forward so much that her knees were almost touching the threshold. She didn't dare to breathe too loudly, afraid of scaring the bird away.

The largest one went under the sieve first, pecked twice, and then came back out.

Li Cheng's hands were so tense they looked like they were about to cramp.

After the second and third ones crawled in, Ya Ya gently nudged Li Cheng with her toe.

The rope tightened, and the thin stick fell down.

The sieve covered the snow, making a rustling sound inside.

"Gotcha!" Li Cheng had just jumped up when he was slapped by Aunt Wang.

Are you chanting mournful words?

The few remaining birds on the wall all flew away in a flash.

Aunt Wang came out with a water ladle, saying, "If you shout again, they'll fly around Kaoshantun tomorrow."

Chen Shi held down the edge of the sieve, reached into the gap, grabbed the sieves one by one, and put them into his cloth bag.

The sparrow is small, with fluffy feathers, and feels warm when held in your hand.

"Uncle, can we keep one?"

"They won't survive." Chen Shi put the sparrow into a cloth bag. "These things are temperamental. They'll bump into things when they're put in the cage, and they won't eat properly when fed."

Ya Ya didn't let go; she was still clutching his sleeve.

"I'll give you two to raise for now, but you're not allowed to cry if they don't survive," Chen Shi said, looking at the little hands that were clutching his. "When spring comes, if any hen is brooding, your uncle will get you two chicks."

"Can that be raised?"

"Yes, it's possible to hatch more chicks, just make sure the white tail tip doesn't snatch them."

The white tail tip was licking its paws when it heard the noise, so it raised its head and shook its tail tip.

Ya Ya pressed it into her arms, "It won't pick it up."

Li Cheng immediately handed over the rope, "Next time, you'll pull the rope?"

This time, Ya Ya was a little bolder than the first time; she didn't care that the back of her cotton-padded coat got covered in snow when she squatted down.

After scattering the grain, she picked up two broken corn kernels from the threshold with her fingers and placed them on the edge of the sieve.

"These two are for the chubby one."

Li Cheng laughed at her, "You can still recognize which one is fat?"

"Yes, there were two with short tails that didn't go in," Ya Ya said.

"Alright, this time we'll catch the two fat ones."

Ya Ya is a timid girl, but she is very meticulous. This time, she put the sieve down more steadily than Li Cheng.

In the end, they caught about ten birds. The group didn't try to catch more, mainly because the flock had been startled twice, and it wouldn't be easy for them to come back after they had been guarding the area.

Aunt Wang kept two of them, scalded their feathers with hot water, and said she would cook minced meat porridge for Xiaoman and Yaya that night.

Chen Shi picked out a few, took the weasel with him, and pulled Li Cheng out the door, heading straight for the commune.

As the year draws to a close, the number of people in the commune increases.

People lined up outside the supply and marketing cooperative to buy salt and kerosene. Inside, the counters were high, and the women selling goods tapped on the glass with rulers. If anyone asked too many questions, she would just lift her eyelids.

Sparrows are not suitable for serious acquisition; bringing them to the counter will only make people dislike them.

As soon as he and Li Cheng turned past the back wall of the supply and marketing cooperative, Li Cheng slowed down.

The backyard was next to the cooperative restaurant, with piles of firewood next to the woodshed, and a black cotton curtain hanging at the back door of the kitchen. The snow under the threshold was trampled gray, and there was a row of firewood at the base of the wall, big enough to hide half a person.

Chen Shi looked at him, "What's wrong?"

"I heard it from right behind here that day."

There was a man by the woodshed, his face was indistinct, and he was missing half of the ring finger on his left hand. He wielded the axe steadily and chopped accurately with each stroke.

Sensing someone behind him, the person stopped what they were doing and glanced from Chen Shi to Li Cheng's face.

He sized up Li Cheng for a while, making Li Cheng uncomfortable, before finally saying, "Hey you behind the woodpile? What are you doing at the restaurant again?"

Upon hearing that it was from the restaurant, Chen Shi stepped forward and said, "Uncle, we'd like to get some sparrows. We'd like to ask if the kitchen staff wants any."

The man wasn't very interested in the sparrow, but continued to look at Li Cheng with great interest. "You still know how to come back. You've got some nerve."

"I haven't done anything wrong, so why am I afraid to come back?"

"You ruined someone's plans, aren't you afraid of retaliation?"

Chen Shi asked, "What's your name?"

"My surname is Meng." The man leaned the axe against the woodpile, reached out, and said, "Let me take a look at the sparrow."