"You guys have also encountered wild boars? Are they really as ferocious as everyone says?"
Lin Dongfang didn't even blink. Oh, finally, he got to the point.
He knew as soon as I mentioned the mountain.
"Yes! The villagers have lived here for decades. Their first reaction when they hear that wild boars are coming is to hide as fast as possible to save their lives."
Moreover, according to the village elders, every time wild boars come down from the mountain, the village is like it has been ransacked. Houses collapse and homes are severely damaged, not to mention people. There are almost always people with broken arms and legs or pierced by tusks.
Tell me, how powerful is a wild boar?
Chen Heping's eyes widened.
"Then, then,"
Lin Dongfang looked up and glanced at it.
"What are you trying to say? Wild boars are so ferocious, why is everyone in the village talking about Jian Zhiqing as a hero who hunts wild boars?"
Chen Heping and Li Bing showed a hint of embarrassment at having their thoughts exposed. After a few seconds of hesitation, they readily admitted it.
"Yes, since I arrived, I've heard that Jian Zhiqing is exceptionally capable. I initially thought the other educated youths might be exaggerating, but the villagers are very straightforward and affirmative. When they talk about Jian Zhiqing, they're full of praise, saying she's very capable."
"Tch, you just don't believe that a sent-down youth can get the whole village to approve of him, do you?"
Although Li Guang's words were blunt, they precisely expressed the doubts of Chen Heping and Li Bing. The two hesitated for a moment. Although it was hard to believe, it was not surprising for them, as they were newcomers.
Because they were indeed newcomers, Lin Dongfang and Li Guang were very calm. Although Li Guang was a little unhappy, he only said one thing and then said nothing more.
"Well, we don't quite understand. What did she do to earn such high praise from the villagers?"
In recent years, with the surge of the "sent-down youth" movement, more and more educated youth have gone to the countryside, and they have gained a better understanding of their role.
Those who have never worked in the fields are mostly unable to lift heavy loads, so most villages wouldn't welcome them. They say they're supporting construction, but really, isn't that just distributing their food?
Especially those who are good at nothing and cause trouble all day long, there are many who seek refuge in the village in order to avoid working. Which village doesn't have a girlfriend or even get married to an educated youth?
Ninety-nine percent of the villages do not welcome these outsiders.
Everyone has their own standards. How much effort does someone who is not welcome have to put in before others change their opinion of them?
Chen Heping and the others naturally understood this point, which is why they were even more confused about this issue.
In particular, there were a few people in the village who were known to be lazy and slackers at work, as well as a few old ladies who were obviously difficult to get along with, yet they praised Jian Dan without the slightest reluctance.
"Or is it because you have a relative stationed in the military?"
Li Guang was displeased.
"Hmph! You're mistaken!"
"That's right, quite the opposite. It's really not because of that. My relatives are also stationed in the military, and their positions are similar. Have you ever seen the village praise me like that?"
Chen Heping thought for a moment, and realized that there really wasn't one; at most, he could say that Lin Zhiqing was also quite good.
"Jian Dan was among the first group of educated youth to arrive, and she was the only one in that group."
During the year of the severe drought, I heard from the villagers many times that when she came, the village had been without food for a long time. There was no food, no water, and many families were just waiting to die on their kang (heated brick bed).
After she arrived, she bought the house at the entrance of the village and hired someone to repair it. Knowing that the village was running out of food, she gave all the grain she had painstakingly brought to the village, even though it was in exchange for wages. But as you all know, that year, even with money, you couldn't buy grain.
It was those two hundred-odd kilograms of grain that saved the lives of the villagers.
But with so many people and just thin porridge, it's not easy to do anything!
At that time, the crops in the fields were half dead, and they had dug up all the surrounding mountains.
Later, unable to bear it any longer, she went deep into the mountains and searched for several days before finally finding a patch of wild yam, which saved the villagers once again.
"Tell me, in a situation where food is scarce, if you find life-saving food, would you immediately tell others?"
Chen Heping and the others thought about it for a while, but they couldn't bring themselves to nod.
The normal person's thinking would be to hoard it, right? They say having food in hand gives you peace of mind, and besides, who knows when this famine will end?
Although it is all collective property, who doesn't make sure they have enough for their own family before considering others?
Lin Dongfang could tell what they were thinking just by looking at their expressions.
"And then, as you'd like to know, the wild boar."
Her house is at the foot of the mountain, and wild boars come down the mountain right to her doorstep. I know that three or four times, she would stop the wild boars at the foot of the mountain, just in case they were let into the village and not only wreak havoc but also hurt people.
You're right, she's just a little girl, how good could she be at fighting?
But there was nothing she could do. She was guarding the foot of the mountain, and she couldn't just pretend she didn't see it and let that beast go into the village and wreak havoc. Everyone's things were earned with hard work, and it would take a long time for them to recover from a wild boar attack.
Moreover, there are elderly people and children in the village who have difficulty moving around. You see, she may not seem very enthusiastic, but she remembers them all in her heart.
There was another downpour before the New Year.
In broad daylight, we were all together, watching helplessly as a whole pack of wild boars charged down. Without saying a word, she rushed in. It was almost Chinese New Year, and the incident had just happened. The villagers were all standing outside. If the wild boars had entered the village, there would have been injuries and fatalities.
Me and the militia members, a few of us men, couldn't match her. She kept going until the village had settled everyone in, and then she killed half of them herself. Her back was kicked by a wild boar, and she vomited blood right then and there. She didn't fully recover until the New Year.
Liujiatun has scoundrels, lazybones, shrewish women, and opportunists, but there's one thing: there are absolutely no ungrateful people. They might not be expected to repay kindness, but they certainly wouldn't stab someone in the back, take something from someone, and then badmouth them. There are no such people.
Perhaps because of this, even though she's not a particularly enthusiastic person, she'll still step in to help if she can't stand by and watch.
If you ask why the villagers all praise her, it's because of the life-saving grace—not just once, but by not just one person, but by an entire family and village.
Even if he doesn't care about himself, how can he not care about his parents? How can he not care about his wife and children?
Now, my simple identity is that of an educated youth sent to the countryside, but my status in Liujiatun is different. I am a benefactor, one of our own, and someone who truly cares for us.
Chen Heping nodded thoughtfully, then after a long pause, he suddenly remembered something, staring wide-eyed at Lin Dongfang.
"But how do you know so much about her?"
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