In the mountains and wilderness, foxes are always present.
I don't particularly love animals. I don't know how many times I've cooked up the old yellow cow that died at home.
But now, because of my experience with wearing a red hat, every time I see a small animal, I have an inexplicable feeling in my heart. I unconsciously wonder what this animal is thinking about, whether it also has emotions like love and hate or if it can understand us but just cannot speak?
The little fox trapped in the trap is all blue and its breed is unknown. It obviously fell into the hole due to lack of experience.
It's helpless and pitiful now; I need to rescue it or else whoever set up this trap will catch it and immediately skin it alive as soon as they get their hands on it.
The trap is too deep for me to reach out directly without risking getting bitten by the little fox so instead, I looked for a stick to poke it out with when suddenly someone shouted from afar: "Hey! What are you doing?"
I turned around only to find that person was Wu Xiaofei - a notorious troublemaker in our village who's almost forty years old but still unmarried despite his parents being deceased. He spends his days loafing around doing nothing while being disliked by everyone including dogs who would bite him whenever they saw him.
Wu Xiaofei had even been imprisoned before for robbing people outside of our village where he once dragged an elderly woman over sixty years old into a ditch and raped her there.
After serving three years in prison for this crime, that same elderly woman came looking for him afterwards pointing at his door cursing him all day long which embarrassed his parents so much they wanted to disappear underground.
When asked why he was so brutal even towards such an elderly lady back then Wu Xiaofei could only stutter saying that night was too dark and he couldn't see the situation clearly.
This incident became a popular joke in our area and even gave rise to an insult that went like this: "Hey, you're so perverted that you wouldn't even let go of a sixty-year-old lady? You're just like Wu Xiaofei."
From all these things, it's easy to imagine what kind of person Wu Xiaofei is. He's not only disliked by people but also dogs who would bite him whenever they saw him.
I didn't expect that this trap was dug by Wu Xiaofei himself - a notorious troublemaker. I had a headache when I realized this.
"Hey kid, do I have something in my trap? Are you trying to steal from me?" As he spoke, Wu Xiaofei ran over in three steps and two steps while looking down at the little fox with joy saying: "Hahaha! Not bad! Skinning it alive will earn me several tens of dollars; my luck has been good lately."
As he spoke, he threw his sack on the ground and held onto its opening with one hand while grabbing a pair of pliers with the other hand ready to clamp down on the little fox.
"This little fox is pitiful; can you release it?" Seeing this scene unfold before me, I quickly stepped forward and asked.
"Release it? If I release it then what am I going to eat? Liu Yiheng let me tell you - stop talking nonsense or get out of here!" With one glare from Wu Xiaofei followed by clamping down on the little fox's neck with his large pliers, he lifted it up into his sack as it screamed and struggled until finally being caught.
After he caught the little fox, he immediately wanted to put it in a sack. At this point, I couldn't help but shout and point to the nearby woods: "Quick, look! There's a wild boar!" Wu Xiaofei turned his head to look and I took the opportunity to shake his clamp. The little fox slipped away and ran into the grass. Wu Xiaofei was shocked and angry that the little fox had escaped. He tried to hit me with his pliers but I grabbed them before he could swing them at me. He then kicked me but I pushed him forward into a trap that was almost two meters deep. After struggling for some time, he couldn't climb out of it so I left him there and warned him not to mess with my family or else he would face dire consequences.
I didn't hit him, I just gave him something to lean on so he could climb out. After all, this whole thing was my fault from the beginning. Now that I've let him go, I hope he can move on and forget about it. Otherwise, he's just asking for trouble.
Leaving the hill behind me, I walked towards the southern village and before I knew it, I had arrived near Bai Xinghua's house.
I hesitated for a moment but eventually decided to walk over. Yes, I should have my own opinion and not be bound by other people's thoughts. Bai Xinghua is a decent person and although I do like her, what does that matter? Does liking someone mean you can't get close to them? Does getting close mean you have to sleep with them? What kind of logic is that?
Soon enough, I arrived at Bai Xinghua's doorstep.
The door was open and there were water marks on the ground indicating she had just fetched some water. Smoke was rising from the kitchen as she seemed to be cooking breakfast.
I went straight into the kitchen.
"Who?!". Bai Xinghua was startled by my sudden appearance but when she saw who it was she couldn't help but laugh: "YiHeng! You scared me! How come you made no sound?"
"Hehehe...I just wanted to secretly see what sister-in-law is doing," I laughed as I sat down on a pile of grass.
"You're becoming more impudent," Bai Xinghua glared at me before continuing to add firewood into the stove.
Watching her focused expression reminded me of something so without thinking twice about it; "By the way sister-in-law...you live alone every day...aren't you afraid? What if bad people come in? Why don't you keep a dog or something? At least they could guard your home."
"Keep a dog?" Bai Xinghua laughed at my suggestion, "Do you see any living creatures in my house besides me? I've told you before, I like things clean. Chickens, cats and dogs are too dirty; they poop everywhere and I can't stand it.