“Over here! Come quickly; I’ve found a rabbit hole!” Svetlana shouted excitedly. “My sister and I will smoke it out. You guys take aim and shoot.”
However, after the waitress lit the cigarette, the rabbit did not come out. Then, just as she was feeling disappointed, she heard Zhang Heng say, “3 o’clock, under that tree.”
“I see it!” Svetlana’s brother-in-law was also a frequent hunter in the forest, so he immediately saw the target.
When a rabbit dug a hole, it typically wouldn’t only leave one exit. This was also the origin of the saying, “A cunning rabbit has three burrows.” The fire that the receptionist and her sister lit finally worked, and it smoked the rabbit out of another hole.
Her brother-in-law immediately raised the shotgun in his hand. His marksmanship was not bad, and one could tell from how he held the gun that he had practiced quite a few times. Considering the current tension between the Soviet Union and the Western world, no one knew when the war would start again, so there was no harm in a bit of marksmanship practice.
This was also why her sister told Zhang Heng that her man could teach him how to hunt.
However, this time, his opponent was also very alert. After coming out of the hole, he only stood there for a moment. As if he had sensed something dangerous, he immediately dashed out again.
Almost at the same time, the sound of a gun was heard.
The bullet grazed its fur and hit the short pine beside it.
“Damn it!” Svetlana’s brother-in-law cursed. The first bullet missed, and he hurriedly reloaded the gun. However, by the time he raised the gun again, the wild rabbit had already run quite a distance away. Probably shocked by the loud gunshot, it hadn’t stopped running for its life.
Facing the moving prey, Svetlena’s brother-in-law had no choice, especially since the hare’s fur and the color of the snow on the ground were very close, making it almost impossible for him to aim.
Just as he was about to give up, he heard a gunshot.
“It’s a hit!” Svetlana cheered.
When she saw the rabbit with her own eyes, her body shook, and she fell to the ground. “Vesta, how did you become so good at shooting after a few months?!”
“I only fired once.” Vesta was also confused. He turned to look at Zhang Heng, who had already put away the antique double-barreled shotgun.
“Ivan was the one who fired the shot just now.” Svetlana’s sister was standing between Vitas and Zhang Heng, so she clearly heard where the second shot came from. She asked curiously, “Ivan, you must’ve practiced shooting before, and you’re so accurate.”
“Yes, I met a hunter from the mountains. She taught me how to shoot,” Zhang Heng said.
Vitas found it hard to believe. “What kind of hunter could teach you to shoot like that? Or is it because you have a talent in shooting?”
“No, she taught me well. She’s much better than me,” Zhang Heng answered truthfully.
From the expression on Vitas’ face, it was apparent he didn’t believe a single word Zhang Heng said. According to Zhang Heng, the hunter who taught him how to shoot was probably unbeatable. However, since Zhang Heng was a guest, after all, he did not question him directly.
Svetlana ran to pick up the rabbit that had been shot, and the four of them continued to walk into the mountains.
On the way, Zhang Heng was also chatting with Vesta, asking him about the white mare.
“A pure-white horse? I’ve never seen one before,” Vesta shook his head. “There aren’t many people who raise horses in the village. The only two families that do raise working horses. The kind of horse you’re talking about should be costly, not something the people here would raise.”
“Okay.”
Of course, Zhang Heng had guessed what Vesta would say, but to be on the safe side, he still asked again. Zhang Heng himself could not imagine the origin of the white horse, so he could only try his luck with Vesta. The other thing was to see if they could run into it again during the hunt.
Unfortunately, although the four of them had gained a lot after that, they had caught two rabbits and a deer. The white mare Zhang Heng had met by the stream would never appear again.
After catching the deer, the four of them looked at the sky and decided not to go any further. Vitas and Zhang Heng carried the prey into the trunk of the car.
“I know a way to get home as soon as possible, but…”
“But what?”
“When you pass a place in the middle, you’d better slow down,” Vesta said.
“Hmm?”
“Is it Aunt Sauk’s residence?”Hearing this, Svetlana interjected. “Her temper has always been bad. It is said that the man died very early. After that, she lived alone and did not interact much with the people in the village. The only thing she kept a close watch on was her vegetable patch. I remember when I was young, some children went to play in her field. She directly rushed out with a gun, scaring the children and their parents! My mother even used her to scare me later. How is she now? Is she any better?”
“No, it’s even more exaggerated. A week ago, a car passed by her door, and she directly shot through her window. Fortunately, the people inside were fine. After that, she said that she heard wrong and thought that the villagers were driving a tractor to steal her vegetables.”
“That scary? We’d better not pass by her door, then,” Svetlana said worriedly.
“It’s fine. We just need to stay away from her. Although that old woman has a heart of stone and a weird personality, it’s a good thing that her marksmanship isn’t as good as Ivan’s. If we go that way, we can go home before nightfall.”
“It’s decided then,” Zhang Heng finally decided.
About 20 minutes later, Zhang Heng drove the car to the edge of a field. Vitas pointed in a direction. “Look, that’s where Aunt Sauk lives.”
Zhang Heng looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a dilapidated small house. The side of the house was half-collapsed, and it looked like a cave. It was hard to imagine that anyone would want to live in it.
“Aunt Sauk’s man died early, and they didn’t have a child. The villagers saw her and wanted to help her repair the house for free, but after the gun incident, it was over. She’s been living here alone ever since. “Speaking of which, she’s in her eighties. Everyone thinks that she won’t survive the winter, but they’ll still see her next year. At least she’s in good health.”
“Is that so?” Zhang Heng looked at the small house again. Although the place looked dark and run down, it was of quite the grand design. Whether the floor area or the height of the building, it was bigger than the average house in the village. It was also why Aunt Sauk could still live in the house, although half of it had collapsed.
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