Lin Dazhuang, who was lying in bed, had already woken up. Seeing Song Anxin arrive, he quickly got up and said:
"Thank you so much, Second Sister-in-law, for saving me last night. Otherwise, I would have really lost my life to this wild boar."
Lin Dazhuang's face was filled with terror just thinking about it.
Song Anxin gestured for him not to get up: "Dad, it's good that you're alright. Just lie down and rest."
At this moment, Lin Erzhuang, the second son of the village head, came over. He looked a little tired, probably because he hadn't slept all night.
"Second sister-in-law, the doctor in the county said that the bleeding was stopped in time, which is why my eldest brother survived."
My dad said you're a great benefactor to our family. If you ever need anything, just let us know, and we'll do everything we can to help.
After hearing what Erzhuang said, Aunt Lizheng and Dazhuang's wife were even more grateful to Song Anxin, and they both told her that she must come to them if she ever had any difficulties in the future.
Lin Dazhuang, a big man, was lying on the bed with tears streaming down his face. If it weren't for Lin Ersao, he would have really died. It wouldn't matter if he died, but he still had his wife and children who were still so young.
Song Anxin waved her hand and said, "We're all family, no need for thanks. I appreciate the sentiment."
She then asked, "By the way, where is Uncle Village Head?"
Before Lin Erzhuang could answer, a villager rushed into the courtyard, looking flustered, and said:
"Sister-in-law Lin, you'd better go back quickly, the village head has brought the county magistrate to your house again!"
It turned out that the village head had gone to the county government early in the morning to report the matter. Last night, Linjia Village was not the only village whose rice was destroyed by wild boars, but Linjia Village suffered the least damage and the fewest casualties.
Early in the morning, many village heads from various villages arrived at the county government office, complaining incessantly. After hearing the report from the village head of Linjia Village about what happened last night, Yan Shuping immediately took his clerk and the village head to Linjia Village.
As soon as Song Anxin entered the courtyard, she saw the county magistrate sitting in the main room, with his clerk standing behind him. Lin Lizheng and Lin Fengnian were standing anxiously to the side, while Lin Fengyao had gone next door to play with Lin Dongzi.
Zhang Mei was serving tea to the county magistrate, her hands trembling so badly she almost spilled the tea. Lin Fenghe stepped forward, took the bowl, and served her tea instead.
She had no choice but to quickly send the younger children out first, as they were afraid that standing there any longer would terrify them.
The children all breathed a sigh of relief as soon as they reached the backyard.
Lin Fengshou patted his chest and said, "Third brother, why aren't you reacting at all? Aren't you afraid?"
Lin Fengnian said, "Yes, this is my first time meeting the magistrate. Meizi, are you alright?"
Zhang Mei shook her head, but seeing the magistrate up close made his legs even weaker.
Lin Fenghe tilted his head slightly, his beautiful eyes filled with confusion, and asked, "Why should we be afraid? The magistrate isn't some ferocious wild beast."
Lin Fengshou and Lin Fengnian looked at each other. Sure enough, people who are good at studying have different minds than others.
Meanwhile, in the main room.
Song Anxin: "This humble woman greets Your Excellency the County Magistrate and Your Excellency the Clerk."
Yan Shuping raised his hand: "Sister-in-law, there is no need for formalities. I am here today because of the wild boars that ruined the grain and attacked people yesterday. I heard that you killed one of the wild boars with one blow and led the villagers to drive away a large number of wild boars."
Song Anxin stood up and said, "It was just a coincidence that I was able to kill the wild boar. As for driving the wild boar away, I just happened to read in a book that wild boars are afraid of loud noises, so I came up with this method."
"Haha, it seems your wife reads quite a lot of books." Yan Shuping laughed heartily.
He lightly tapped the broken bowl beside him with his finger. He had already heard the villagers of Linjia Village recount the events of last night in detail. How could he possibly know that the beast's weakness was above its eyes? This was something he only knew by hunting in the wild.
He said, "Villages in Ningdu County and other counties have been harassed by wild boars. Last night, many villagers were injured while trying to protect their rice. This beast has tasted the sweetness of wild boars and will surely come again."
With the rice harvest imminent, people can run away, but rice can't. I wonder if your method of driving away the wild boars was just a coincidence?
Yan Shuping sighed again, "Today, many village heads came to the county government office, all asking for solutions."
In the past, he would lead troops to suppress these beasts, but in this remote place, the county government had few servants and low military strength, so he alone could not deal with such a large number of beasts.
Song Anxin frowned, not expecting that the wild boars had already caused such a large-scale disturbance. The county magistrate had come to her for a solution.
She looked up and said, "The method of driving away wild boars is not accidental; it frightens them so they dare not come down the mountain. However, this method requires the villagers to keep watch at night and cannot take a nap."
Master Fan said, "It's good that this method works. There are only three nights left until the autumn harvest. We can have the villagers from each village take turns patrolling."
Yan Shuping looked directly at Song Anxin and asked, "Does Sister-in-law have anything else to say?"
Song Anxin was puzzled; how did he know she had something to add? She didn't mince words and continued:
"I saw in the book that wild boars don't like the smell of silverwort, although it's too late to plant silverwort now."
However, to prevent this from happening again, I suggest that next spring the magistrate order all villages to plant [planting] around their rice paddies.
Yindan grass is the modern mint.
"Good, good! Master, you see, you haven't read as many books as this Sister Lin," Yan Shuping said with a smile.
"I am ashamed of my inferiority, I admire you greatly," said Master Fan respectfully.
Song Anxin also cupped her hands and said, "Master, you flatter me. I just like to browse through miscellaneous books. You read books on important matters concerning people's livelihood. How could I compare to you?"
Lin Li, who was listening from the side, admired Feng Nian's mother more and more. Not only did she negotiate with the magistrate with ease, but she was also able to provide him with such good ideas.
Hearing the magistrate and his advisor say this, she was even more astonished. What kind of books did Fengnian's mother read? She was even better than the county's advisor.
As soon as the magistrate's carriage left, Song Anxin's house was surrounded by villagers again.
The villagers asked one after another, "Village head, village head, what is the county magistrate doing at Aunt Lin's house again?"
Lin Lizheng said with a serious expression, "Of course it's something important. Tell your men to come back from the fields early. We'll have a meeting under the big tree in the middle of the village at 5-7 pm."
Seeing the village head's expression, everyone knew that things were definitely not simple, so they hurried back to tell their husbands.
When Song Anxin got home, she saw that the sun was still hot and told the younger children to take a short rest before getting out of bed. The room was stuffy, so the boys slept on makeshift beds on the floor in the main room. The door was open, and occasionally a breeze would blow in.
Song Anxin hadn't slept well last night either, and went back to her room to rest, but it was so hot and humid that she couldn't fall asleep no matter how much she tossed and turned. In the end, she had no choice but to get up and water the vegetable garden and try to play with the rabbits, but the rabbits were too hot and wouldn't come out to pay any attention to her.
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