Chapter 16: Digging for the Badger

Stepping out of the house, the heavy snowfall had lessened, but the ground was already blanketed thickly. Tang Jiancheng was fortunate—the snow only reached his ankles—but his ten-year-old third sister and eight-year-old fourth sister were at a disadvantage. The snow nearly swallowed their calves, making every step a struggle.

Neither of them complained about the cold nor the fatigue.

Tang Jiancheng nodded silently, deliberately quickening his pace to test them. To his surprise, though they found it exhausting, they kept pace with him without faltering.

“Shall we take a break?” he asked.

After walking for nearly half an hour, the three reached the back mountain. Here, the snow was deeper still, covering the children’s thighs.

Seeing them panting heavily and sweating despite the snowy weather, Tang Jiancheng quickly urged them to rest.

“Dad, are you tired? If you are, we can stop and rest,” said the third sister.

Heh! The little one was quite thoughtful, but somehow her words sounded like a challenge.

Naturally, Tang Jiancheng couldn’t admit to being tired. He smiled and said, “Dad’s fine. I just worry that you two might get too exhausted.”

“Dad, you don’t know. Back when we had no food, third sister would often go into the mountain to gather wild fruits and vegetables. She would run around all day without getting tired!” the fourth sister said admiringly. “She’s the strongest in our family.”

“Is that so? My third sister is really amazing?” Tang Jiancheng felt a mix of pride and sadness. He gently patted her head and said softly, “You’ve worked hard. Dad was ignorant before, but from now on, we’ll look for food together, okay?”

The third sister nodded happily, “Yes! Dad, let’s work hard together!”

“All right, we’ll work hard together!” Tang Jiancheng replied with a smile.

“Third sister, is that Stinky Egg and his dad over there?” the fourth sister suddenly pointed to the left front.

Both the third sister and Tang Jiancheng looked up.

The third sister nodded, “Yes, that’s Stinky Egg and the village chief. They’ve probably found some badgers.”

Found them?

Tang Jiancheng’s heart sank sharply. Was he too late after all?

---

No way.

In the previous life, the village chief had also found badgers in the back mountain, but it was a large area. He had mentioned finding them on the shaded side, whereas this was the sunny side—it seemed unlikely to be the same spot.

Yet Tang Jiancheng couldn’t be certain if the village chief had deliberately misled them.

To be safe, he decided to go have a look.

The third and fourth sisters had already rushed over.

“Shh!”

Just as they approached, Stinky Egg made a gesture to keep quiet.

In a very low voice, the third sister asked, “Have you found badgers?”

Stinky Egg, whose real name was Tang Junjiang, was a village boy. To ensure survival, every newborn was given a humble nickname—an ancient custom believed to protect them.

He shook his head and whispered, “My dad is still confirming. We’ve only found some badger fur so far, but haven’t located their den.”

Badgers hibernate. On snowy days when there’s little to do at home, digging for badgers was ideal.

Hearing this, Tang Jiancheng’s heart lifted. He nodded a greeting to the village chief, then quickly grabbed the third and fourth sisters and headed toward the shaded side of the back mountain.

The third sister wanted to ask Stinky Egg more questions, but her father tucked her under his arm and carried her off.

Curious, she tried to share her thoughts, but saw her father silent and striding quickly toward the shaded side, seemingly in a hurry.

Seeing Tang Jiancheng’s grim expression, both sisters felt uneasy but didn’t dare ask what was wrong.

The village chief glanced at Tang Jiancheng in surprise but had no time to ponder further.

He had found more badger fur and was increasingly convinced that badgers were hibernating here. His pace quickened as he dug through the snow.

---

Tang Jiancheng reached the shaded part of the back mountain. Scanning the area, he saw no one.

He exhaled in relief and set the third and fourth sisters down, speaking softly, “You two split up and search carefully. Be sure to watch your step—there could be snow-covered holes.”

“Okay, we’ll be careful,” the fourth sister nodded.

The third sister glanced around, her face full of puzzlement. “Dad, did you know there were badgers here all along?”

Tang Jiancheng sighed inwardly at how clever she was.

He denied it quickly, “No, I just thought since the village chief and the others were searching the sunny side, it wasn’t our concern. I figured we might get lucky on the shaded side.”

Seeing the third sister about to ask more, he urged, “Go quickly. Once you find them, you’ll have to dig. Time’s tight, so don’t dawdle!”

The third sister agreed and began searching in the opposite direction from her sister.

Tang Jiancheng went straight ahead.

---

After over ten minutes, he suddenly spotted a tuft of badger fur beneath a rock. His heart leapt.

“Here it is?”

He used his hoe to scrape away the snow and found a badger’s den entrance.

“Ha! It’s really here!”

Overjoyed, Tang Jiancheng didn’t shout but raised his hand to signal the third and fourth sisters over.

“Badger den?” The fourth sister gasped happily, covering her mouth.

The third sister looked at Tang Jiancheng with suspicion, sensing he was hiding something.

But being a child, she didn’t press. She knew from bitter experience over the past ten years that meddling in adult matters only invited trouble.

Tang Jiancheng instructed, “Center your search around this entrance. Look carefully for other den openings.”

Badgers usually have multiple entrances.

After another ten minutes, they found four more entrances nearby.

The third sister suggested, “Dad, let’s collapse three of the entrances and leave two intact. We can smoke one entrance to drive the badgers out, and set a sack trap at the other. Then, the badgers will crawl into the sack on their own.”

Tang Jiancheng’s eyes brightened. “Third sister, where did you learn this?”

“I figured it out myself,” she replied.

The fourth sister boasted, “Dad, third sister’s clever! She often uses this method to flush rabbits out of their burrows.”

“I see,” Tang Jiancheng nodded, approving the plan.

They gathered dry grass and damp twigs, piling them at one of the entrances.

Tang Jiancheng then collapsed three of the entrances and blocked them with stones for safety before setting the trap and sack at the last entrance.

“All set. Light it up!”

After more than half an hour of preparation, Tang Jiancheng gave the signal.

The third sister immediately ignited the damp and dry kindling mixed together. Thick, pungent smoke poured into the den, choking and harsh.

One minute passed. Three minutes. Five minutes... ten minutes.

Still, no sound came from inside the den.