"Boss, go and call all your uncles over here."
Uncle agreed and hurried out. The sudden appearance of so many large wild animals on the back mountain was a big deal. Most of the houses in the village were mud houses, which couldn't withstand the destruction caused by large animals.
Upon hearing about this, all the uncles and elders who had influence in the family came over. Sun Kaicheng also came with Grandpa Zhou, and the two of them recounted what they had discovered.
Qian Baozhu tapped his pipe: "We definitely have to kill this thing first, otherwise it could wreak havoc on most of our village if it comes down the mountain, and who knows how many people will suffer."
“Village chief, you’re right. We’ll do whatever you say.”
“Baozhu, we don’t have many hunting rifles in our village. I don’t think we can take down so many wild boars.”
Qian Baozhu nodded: "I was thinking of asking the commune's armed forces department for help. They have a lot of guns there, so it would be safer for us to come."
“Brother Baozhu, have you thought this through? Going to the Armed Forces Department will guarantee a better outcome, but we'll be lucky if we can keep a little bit of that meat. It won't even be enough for everyone in the village to have a bite to eat.”
If you hire someone to help you hunt, the lion's share of the meat goes to them. If you hunt within your own village, you can keep most of the meat, but it's impossible for you to keep it all.
With so many people talking, it's not good for their village if others find out.
"So what are your thoughts?"
"Have the children run to a nearby village to borrow a hunting rifle. There are plenty of people in our village who know how to hunt, so we can do it ourselves."
Their village has a large population and many able-bodied men; if all the able-bodied men were to come out, there probably wouldn't be a problem.
Qian Baozhu had the same idea, but he was worried about what would happen if someone in the village got hurt. The New Year was just around the corner, and he couldn't let anything happen.
"What do you think, Uncle?" The old man also came over. Whenever there was anything important in the village, people would ask the old man.
The old man squinted for a long time before speaking: "The harvest is clearly not good. If you can get it yourself, don't go out and ask others for help. Send someone out to borrow some hunting rifles first. If you don't have enough, play it safe. In the end, nothing is more important than people."
Although there are many people in the village, each family can get a fair share of the game. If they can catch the game themselves, who would want to share the meat?
"Then let's do as you say and try to borrow the gun first."
Grandpa Zhou spoke up: "If any of you go to the commune with my grandson, you can borrow a few guns. Just say you want to go for a walk in the mountains for self-defense."
One of Grandpa Zhou's students worked in the Armed Forces Department. At that time, the guards weren't very strict, so it wouldn't be surprising if they borrowed a gun to hunt. Didn't you see that every village had a hunting rifle?
Qian Baozhu chuckled: "Really? That's great! Let Sanbao take the boy on his bicycle."
Grandpa Zhou has been here for over a year and gets along very well with the villagers, especially the elderly. Otherwise, the village wouldn't have allowed Grandpa Zhou, an outsider, to participate in discussions.
Once the decision was made, the villagers began to take action.
Qian Sanbao also took Sun Kaicheng to the commune. Not only did Grandpa Zhou have students in the armed forces department, but the Sun family also knew people there, and their relationship was quite good. Otherwise, how could they have let Grandpa and Grandma come to such a far place to retire?
Qian Xiao refused to go out with him. She wasn't stupid. It was so cold that day. She would be frozen solid when she came back from riding her bicycle. It was nothing like lying on the warm kang at home.
Just as Qian Xiao lay down, Gouzi and Erhua rushed over in a flurry: "Erdan, why didn't you come to see us when you got back?"
"If you don't like to move, why don't you come and find me?"
"Hehe, I thought you just got back. I'll come visit you in a couple of days. I heard you spotted a wild boar in the mountains?"
I knew this couldn't be kept a secret. Look, in no time at all, the whole village probably knows: "Oh right, why are you two coming up the mountain with us?"
Erhua took off her shoes and climbed onto the kang (heated brick bed): "I'm not going. What if I get hurt? I know my own body. I just came here out of curiosity to ask you."
The dog was quite impolite, thinking there was no need to be polite at his own great-uncle's house. He took off his shoes, revealing socks with his toes sticking out, and even twitched his toes.
Qian Xiao looked disgusted: "No, can't you just ask Grandma to sew those socks for you?"
"Oh, that's not important. I only found out this morning when I was getting dressed. We'll talk about it tonight. First, tell me how big those wild boars were. Were there really that many? How much meat did they have?" As she spoke, she swallowed hard.
The dog looked on with longing, as if plates of braised pork were dangling in front of it.
"You don't want to go with us, do you?"
Gouzi shook his head with a regretful look: "My grandpa won't allow it. He said it's too dangerous this time, and only the best hunters in the village can go. Erdan, do you want to come with us?"
"Okay, I'll lead the way." To be honest, she was quite interested in seeing how real hunters hunted. She was completely untrained and relied entirely on her strength.
"Then you have to be careful. They say there are quite a few. We've seen wild boars before, they're so scary, boss."
Dog remembers when he was a child, the village hunted wild boars, and they were quite frightened when they saw them. They were completely different from the pigs they raised at home.
"Yeah, don't worry, I'll definitely be fine escaping. Oh, by the way, you two are here, I brought you some gifts."
Qian Xiao took out two schoolbags and two dough figurines from the cabinet: "Take a look and see if you like them?" The schoolbags were bought wholesale along with her younger brother's; they were also defective items and didn't require a receipt, so the price wasn't high.
Erhua's eyes lit up: "Wow, this schoolbag is so beautiful, and this clay figure is so well made. It's the first time I've ever seen such beautifully colored clay figures."
The dog petted him affectionately, saying, "Erdan is such a good friend. He even brought us things when we went out. Aren't these expensive?"
"It's alright, as long as you like it. Oh, and there are two bottles of wine. Gouzi, take them back for Grandpa to drink. They were bought especially for him."
Her own grandfather had two bottles of this wine, and of course, her second grandfather had one too. The three brothers of her grandfather's family had a very good relationship, so it was impossible for her to show favoritism to one another.
"Oh my, my grandpa would be overjoyed if he saw this. Yesterday, my third grandpa even gave him a box of cigarettes, which he treasures dearly. He wouldn't even let my uncles smell them."
"If you like it, that's fine. By the way, can you two tell me what's happened in our village in the last six months?" These two were his informants in the village.
"It was quite a scene. You wouldn't believe it. When those educated youth first arrived, they were always causing a ruckus. But they all quieted down after a while. Even the most mischievous one, Wang, has been quite well-behaved lately."
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