Seeing Cheng Yousuo covered in blood, his wife, who had rushed over, collapsed to the ground, utterly dejected. "Husband! Ah!" Cheng's wife cried out loudly.
"Sister-in-law, my brother is alright, my brother is alright!" Cheng Youfu shouted.
Sister-in-law Cheng crawled to her husband's side, and Cheng Yousuo's voice came, "Stop howling! I've been given a second chance at life."
Sister-in-law Cheng felt around and found that her husband's face was covered in blood, but she didn't see any major wounds and he could still speak properly.
“It’s all pig’s blood,” Chen Xiaodong said.
The men working in the distance finally ran over, not because they were scared and hid. They were just being sensible; they found a stick or something to grab before coming over! With so many of them shouting, they thought they could scare the wild boar away. But they didn't expect this scene when they arrived.
It was Song Zhiqing who threw a cleaver, nearly slicing off the head of the wild boar that was about to kill Cheng Yousuo. Wild boar blood sprayed all over Cheng Yousuo's face, and then Song pinned him down.
Sister-in-law Cheng crawled over and knelt at Song Yan's feet. "Sister, you saved three lives in my family. I kowtow to you. From now on, you are my own sister. If you want my life, I'll give it to you."
The calmest one now was Song Yan. She had practiced countless times using her mind to control spatial objects and instantly attack the target. She was certain that her accuracy was not a problem; all she needed to do was lock onto the target with her eyes. The key was whether she had enough force. Now she had succeeded. In the chaos, no one noticed that the knife had appeared out of thin air.
"Captain Cheng has injured his leg, let's take him to the commune quickly!"
Song Yan's reminder brought it to everyone's attention. Surely someone in the cleanup team would take care of it. Song Yan picked up her machete. It belonged to Wei Ping's grandfather; it was very valuable to her family. Thankfully, it hadn't been used maliciously. There wasn't much blood on it. Song Yan wiped it lightly and put it in her basket. She had finished what she needed to do.
Watching Song Yan's retreating figure, someone asked, "You said Song Yan had nothing to do, so why is he carrying a machete?"
"Birds of a feather flock together. That knife flew so fiercely and accurately! This couple is truly a perfect match."
The group of men present asked themselves if they were sure they didn't have that kind of accuracy.
Widow Wang shivered uncontrollably.
Some people who disliked Widow Wang gloated, saying, "Of all people to mess with, she had to mess with Song, the educated youth."
Having saved Cheng Yousuo, Song Yan felt relieved; she wouldn't have to go to the fields every day anymore. Her mother-in-law was terrified when she found out.
Song Yan quickly explained that this was not the hunting trip she had wanted to take.
Aunt Wei had been itching to cause trouble, since Wei Aiguo wasn't home and she could give their family a good beating. Now she didn't dare. Song Yan was a bit too scary. Other women would run away at the sight of a wild boar. She was really something! The story had been embellished by everyone, definitely exaggerated. But one thing was certain: Song Yan carried a large machete in her basket. Why would a woman carry a knife? Song Yan's explanation was simple: she was carrying a knife to bolster her courage while picking mushrooms in the mountains!
Now Cheng Yousuo's family is standing behind Song Yan. Yesterday, Cheng Yousuo's wife beat up Widow Wang, supposedly because Widow Wang was blocking her way. Does blocking someone's way really warrant a fight? Everyone knows the real reason: this is to vent Song Yan's anger.
Now, Song Yan is most afraid of seeing Jiang Xiaoxiao. Xiaoxiao cries every time she sees her. Li Yuanzhao always scrutinizes her like she's visiting an exhibit.
Song Yan is troubled!
Each brigade had an unwritten rule: each person kept their own game. Hunting rifles were centrally managed, and without a gun, it was rare to catch anything large. If game was shot with the militia's gun, it had to be shared with the entire village. Hunting was risky. Since the game had to be shared, few people took militia guns into the mountains. Two wild boars were involved; one belonged to everyone, and the other to Song Yan. The brigade's boar was sold in half, with the other half kept. The money was used to treat Cheng Yousuo's illness and as a reward. The brigade leader directly decided to sell Song Yan's boar at the supply and marketing cooperative. The price was relatively cheap, six cents a pound. Cheng Yousuo's boar was large, and half of it sold for ninety-three yuan. Song Yan's sold for one hundred and seventy-three yuan. The head and offal were delivered to Song Yan, cleaned and prepared by Cheng's second son. When the meat was divided, Song Yan received the most, with plenty of large bones and intestines, and no one in the village complained.
That wild boar was truly enormous. 170 yuan was a huge sum! Song Yan knew that taking this money would attract attention. The village gave Cheng Yousuo a 50 yuan reward, and everyone else ten yuan. Wei Ping's surgery, including food and lodging, cost over 80 yuan, and Song Yan owed 83 yuan to repay the debt. Like Cheng Yousuo, she only wanted the 50 yuan reward. With 40 yuan left, Song Yan decided to donate it to education. She had the whole village supervise the use of the money for literacy classes. This way, the first batch of children to come to learn would receive free notebooks and pens.
Now, some families who can't even afford to buy notebooks and pens are deciding to send their children to these classes. It's the dead of winter, they have nothing to do, it's free, and they can even learn to read—isn't that great!
Lately, everyone in the village except a few people has been beaming with joy. Each family got a share of the pork, and many families didn't send their children to school because they were poor. Now that they can go to school for free, how wonderful! People like Widow Wang, standing by and making sarcastic remarks, say, "What kind of education can they possibly produce? They'll just be wasting their lives."
So what if we're just coasting along? My family's happy! Even if they only learn ten or eight characters there, isn't that still a good deal for our family? The only requirement for the literacy class is that the children bring firewood. Every family has plenty of that, right? Everyone decided to bring extra, and they'd even cover Song Zhiqing's firewood later. Wang Wenjuan urged everyone to chop the firewood neatly so it would be ready to use right away, so Song Zhiqing wouldn't have to go through the trouble of chopping firewood. Song Zhiqing was thin and small, and didn't have much strength.
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