Just then, a commotion erupted nearby.
Liu Xiaomei yelled over to Juhua, "We caught a pheasant! Juhua, come and look, we caught a pheasant!"
It turned out that, just as an unlucky person can get water stuck in their teeth, this pheasant was having a terrible day. Its luck was no better than the rabbit from the old story that ran headfirst into a tree stump. With the mountainside covered in shrubs and thatch, the bird was normally far too quick for anyone to catch. But this time, cornered by the crowd, it panicked and shot right toward Liu Sanshun. He promptly tripped, landing in a sprawl that pinned the bird right under him, and he snatched it up.
The poor pheasant. Its entire family, wiped out in one fell swoop! It was tied up by these heartless humans, dangled from a hand, and paraded around like a trophy of war. Liu Xiaomei paid it no mind, still pestering Juhua to come over for pheasant soup that night.
