Chapter 4: Simple Homemade Roasted Sparrows

Li Long hadn’t even taken the landing net down yet when he heard a flutter, and a sparrow not far from the edge of the net was startled and flew away.

What a pity.

Li Long glanced at the direction the sparrow had flown, then carefully took down the landing net, quickly reached inside, and grabbed the sparrow.

The sparrow pecked at Li Long’s hand. Li Long tightened his grip on the little creature slightly, and then he felt a wetness on his finger; the little guy had defecated.

Qiangqiang, here, you hold this one. Li Long handed the sparrow over. Don’t let go, otherwise, there won’t be any sparrows to eat later.

Uncle, I know. Li Qiang nodded solemnly, then carefully took the sparrow.

Li Juan’s eyes were shining as she looked at Li Long.

Li Long smiled and took the flashlight to continue searching.

In winter, it’s difficult for sparrows to survive the night, so there must be more than just these two in the haystack.

Sure enough, he soon discovered another sparrow and successfully caught it.

Li Juan now had one in her hands as well.

In this haystack, Li Long caught a total of four sparrows, two had escaped, and then there were no more.

Uncle, there’s a haystack at the He family’s place in the front yard! Li Qiang, with a sparrow in each hand, sniffed and volunteered.

Is it in the yard or outside the yard?

Inside the yard.

Then that won’t work. Li Long shook his head. To enter someone’s yard for a few sparrows, especially this late, was not proper etiquette.

Then… Li Juan thought for a moment and said, In the third house in the back yard, Uncle, do you remember? There’s a haystack on the side room of the Gao family’s yard. That stack faces outward; you can see it from outside the yard.

That works, let’s go take a look. Li Long also felt that four sparrows were really too few; it wouldn’t even be enough to fill the gaps in the children’s teeth.

Outside the yard, it was close to the wilderness, and trudging through tens of centimeters of snow wasn’t easy. Li Long walked in front, breaking a path, while Li Juan and Li Qiang followed, stepping in his footprints.

Even so, by the time they reached the Gao family’s haystack, everyone’s shoes were full of snow.

However, no one complained of the cold, including Li Long, who looked expectantly at the haystack, which was a third larger than the one at their own home.

A dog barked in the yard, and then someone could be heard shouting vaguely.

Li Long turned on the flashlight and shone it toward the haystack.

In less than ten seconds, he found a target.

But this time Li Long was smarter. He didn’t use the landing net immediately. Instead, after looking over the entire haystack and counting nine sparrows, he started from the bottom left corner and went after them one by one.

He successfully caught six.

These sparrows couldn’t be held in his hands anymore, so once caught, Li Long twisted their necks directly and dropped them onto the snow. He would gather them all together to take back once he had caught them all.

Uncle, further back, there’s another haystack at the Qin family’s… Li Juan said, still eager for more.

No more catching for tonight. Your shoes are all wet; your mom will scold you when we get back. Let’s go, back we go!

Then… alright, let’s go back. The two little ones were still somewhat unsatisfied.

Even the smallest sparrow was meat.

When the three of them returned to the yard, Liang Yuemei heard the commotion and walked out quickly. In the glow of Li Long’s flashlight, she saw the snow on the children’s pant legs and scolded:

Where did you run off to? Why are you covered in snow? Are you freezing? Go inside and change your shoes quickly!

No, I want to eat sparrows! Li Qiang stubbornly held up the sparrows in his hands, I want to eat meat!

Alright, alright, Li Long said with a smile before his sister-in-law could speak, You go change your shoes first. Even if we want to eat sparrows, you have to let me pluck the feathers and clean out their insides first, right?

Fine… Li Qiang felt that made sense. Together with Li Juan, he handed the sparrows to Li Long and went inside to change their shoes.

You just spoil them… Liang Yuemei complained to Li Long, You should go change your shoes too, they’re all wet!

Yeah. Li Long responded with a smile and turned to enter the house.

He changed into cloth shoes with thousand-layer soles—which his sister-in-law had made for him—placed his cotton galoshes on the fire wall to dry, and began to process the sparrows.

With the experience from his previous life, processing the sparrows was very easy. There was no need to pluck the feathers; he just twisted off the heads, grabbed the skin on the neck, and gave it a pull, and the skin and feathers came off together.

It might sound cruel, but for children who never had meat to eat, what is cruelty? Not being able to eat your fill or have meat was cruelty!

After plucking all ten sparrows and scooping out their insides, he set them aside. Li Long used a broom for cleaning the stove to sweep the iron cover on the stove, and then placed the sparrows on it one by one.

Before going out, he had suppressed the fire in the stove with coal dust, so the iron cover was quite hot but not red-hot, making it just right for roasting.

The stove was built with mud bricks, with four iron bars acting as the grate in the middle. The iron cover on top was made from cut pieces of a diesel drum. At this stage, not many families in the team could afford a standard manufactured iron stove. Although the mud stove didn’t conduct heat very well, it had the advantage of being cheap and convenient.

He had just arranged the sparrows and stood up when Li Juan and Li Qiang burst in.

Looking at the sparrows set on the stove cover, Li Qiang’s mouth was almost watering.

Uncle, when can we eat? He asked Li Long, tilting his head.

Wait a moment, I’m going to get some salt and chili powder. Li Long said, Be patient.

Okay. Unexpectedly, Li Qiang agreed.

Li Long went to the west room and saw Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei talking, so he said:

Sister-in-law, I’m taking some salt and chili powder.

Alright, I’ll get them for you.

Knowing that the seasonings were to roast sparrows for her own children to eat, Liang Yuemei said with a smile:

Xiao Long, you’re quite capable; you caught quite a few sparrows.

Hehe. Li Long smiled. In his previous life, he never would have done these things, but now, if he could let his niece and nephew suffer a little less, what did that matter?

He took the seasonings in two small bowls, and two enamel plates used for serving dishes, returned to the east room, closed the door tightly, and told Li Juan and Li Qiang not to be impatient. He placed the bowls on the edge of the mud stove and then sprinkled the chili powder and salt evenly over the sparrows.

The chili powder was produced in their own garden, and the salt was bought; not a bit could be wasted. In this era, waste was truly shameful, unlike in later generations where people would sprinkle seasonings casually when grilling as if they cost nothing.

After carefully sprinkling one side, he flipped them over and sprinkled the other side.

Soon, the room was filled with the aroma of meat mixed with the spicy scent. Li Long felt a bit of regret; it would have been even better if there were cumin.

This time, even Li Juan couldn’t help but swallow her saliva, staring at the sparrows on the stove cover without blinking.

After flipping them three times, Li Long took two sparrows, put them on an enamel plate, and said to them:

They’re cooked. Take these, and give them to your mom and dad; they have to eat first!

Li Qiang looked puzzled, but Li Juan was a sensible child. She took the plate carefully and seriously, opening the door with one hand and holding the plate with the other as she headed toward the west room.

Li Qiang still seemed confused, so Li Long asked him:

There’s no meat at home; don’t your mom and dad have nothing to eat either?

Yeah.

They work the hardest, don’t they?

Yeah!

Then shouldn’t they eat first?

They should!

Hearing this answer, Li Long nodded with satisfaction, picked up a sparrow, and after it cooled down a little, handed it to Li Qiang.

[End of Chapter]