After listening to the old village chief's words, Li Lanzhen immediately understood the words Han Mingjiang had warned her about.
Her heart sank, and her face darkened.
Just as he was about to say a few words, Han Shunde and Han Zhaoxiong, who were following behind the old village chief, immediately pulled him away.
Han Shunde stepped forward and said.
"Sister-in-law, you're so lucky, neither of you were injured, right?"
Li Lanzhen glanced at the old village chief with a cold expression and said, "My arm is injured."
Then, pointing to Xue Laohu and the other two behind him, he said, "The three of them also suffered different injuries."
These big guys were too powerful; it wasn't easy for us to catch them. It took us more than an hour to tame them.
Fortunately, Xue's in-laws and his son, Xue Bao, spent many years traversing the mountains and were familiar with the habits of wild animals. This allowed them to tame the wild boars and cattle somewhat and drive them down the mountain.
Turning around, he pointed to a herd of wild boars and bison, "These bison and wild boars, we were just thinking..."
Before Li Lanzhen could finish speaking, Han Shunde quickly followed up.
"If you're injured, hurry home, get your wounds bandaged, and get some rest."
Where do you want to pen the wild boars and bison? If they don't have pens yet, we'll lend a hand and help you build them.
If you don't have time to gather pig feed or herd cattle, we can ask the village children to help.
Li Lanzhen smiled upon hearing his words, thinking to herself, "This Han Shunde does have some brains after all. That's good. As long as he's not greedy and doesn't take the grain, cotton quilts, and seeds I gave him for granted, things will be easier in the future. It seems I should be a little more selfish in the future."
Just as Xue Laohu and Han Mingjiang said, he had already given them food to help them through the hardships of fleeing famine. Now that they had arrived here, he had given the village so much food, cotton quilts for the winter, farm tools, and seeds free of charge. That was enough. Let's stop here.
He continued, "Yes, we're thinking of keeping them in enclosures and taming them a bit more. Once they're more docile, we'll raise them as livestock so they can help us with farming."
After Han Shunde said those words, the old village chief immediately realized that there was something wrong with what he said.
Actually, he didn't intend to take these wild boars and bison for the village; it was just that Li Lanzhen had gotten used to giving them to the village, so he blurted it out.
Habits can be terrifying!
At this moment, he patted his head and said to Li Lanzhen with annoyance.
"Lanzhen, don't be angry with me. I'm just confused from happiness, but I'm not senile yet."
You have made so many contributions to our Forget-Worry Valley!
You helped us on our journey to escape famine, and that goes without saying. When we arrived at Forget-Worry Valley, we were nestled against the bountiful mountains.
You gave us so much food, cotton quilts for the winter, grain, seeds, farm tools, and even cattle and donkeys, all for free.
We are extremely grateful; how could we possibly greedily possess these wild boars and buffaloes that you risked your lives to obtain!
Then he turned around and spoke loudly to the villagers of Forget-Worry Valley who had come to watch the commotion.
"Villagers of Forget-Worry Valley, I made a mistake and said the wrong thing. I hope you won't make the same mistake again. Look at yourselves, even in Han Family Village, you can't live such a comfortable life. All of this is thanks to Lanzhen."
I won't call her a lucky star here, but everyone should know and remember Li Lanzhen's kindness to us!
We should be grateful and not take the supplies Lanzhen gave us for granted.
So from now on, whoever finds the plants and animals in the mountains keeps them! Live as well as your abilities allow, and don't be envious of others!
Apart from the hunting activities organized by the village, where the spoils were shared among everyone, the spoils from hunting at other times belonged to each household individually.
Han Shunde continued, "That's how it is. Actually, this rule was mentioned before, but my father brought it up again today. Of course, we all know that everyone in Forget-Worry Valley is a grateful, hardworking and kind person."
Now, everyone around here, young and old, says that the old village chief was right, and they all remember Li Lanzhen's help to them.
Seeing that the old village chief and his son said so, and that everyone in the village agreed, Li Lanzhen felt a little relieved. She then looked around the crowd again.
Seeing the joy and happiness on everyone's faces, without any jealousy or desire to possess it, I realized that...
He chuckled and said to the old village chief, "Old village chief, you're right. We live off the mountains and the water. There are so many treasures in these mountains."
However, we left our hometown and fled here all the way from famine. All our chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, sheep—all our livestock—are gone. So I thought I'd give one of the wild boars and wild cattle we caught today to the village.”
After thinking for a moment, glancing at his in-laws, and finally exchanging a glance with Xue Laohu, he nodded.
Li Lanzhen added, "Our families have decided to give the village a cow and a sow."
If our bison and wild boar have calves, people in the village who want to raise them can buy them with silver or as collateral for their labor.
Anyway, we're building a house next year, and we'll need a lot of workers.
Upon hearing this, everyone realized that the old village chief had just warned them not to be envious, and now Li Lanzhen had given them a big surprise!
The old village chief laughed heartily, "Alright, thank you, Lanzhen. On behalf of all the villagers of Forget-Worry Valley, I accept your kind offer. We'll also set up a pig farm and a cattle farm. Slowly, the wild boars and cattle will become domesticated pigs and cattle, hahahaha!"
At this moment, Xue Bao and Han Mingjiang led over a cow and a sow and handed them to Han Shunde and Han Zhaoxiong.
At that moment, a thin old man stepped out from the crowd.
He walked up to the female wild boar and bison with a grin and touched their bellies.
Turning to the old village chief, he said, "Village chief, we've gotten a huge advantage from Lanzhen."
Both the sow and the cow are pregnant!
Li Lanzhen was very happy to hear this.
Searching through my memory, I realized that this man was a widower in the village, without any children. Everyone called him the shepherd. When he was in Hanjia Village, he raised four or five sheep and two big fat pigs.
Every year when the sows gave birth, they would exchange the piglets for silver to make a living.
Therefore, he was very experienced. Standing in the crowd, he could tell at a glance that the sow and cow that Li Lanzhen had given to the village were both pregnant.
Because he was unsure, he went out and touched it. Only after he made a judgment did he say these words to the village chief.
The village chief, hands behind his back, laughed heartily, looking up at the sky.
"Lanzhen, thank you! Thank you so much. Before long, there will be a bunch of piglets and at least one calf in the spring!"
Li Lanzhen smiled happily.
Thinking to myself, this is good. Only when everyone in the village is doing well, can they live a better life, and will no longer be envied or jealous by others, thus feeling more secure and happy.
Upon hearing this, Han Mingjiang immediately pulled the shepherd towards his own herd of bison and wild boars.
"Uncle, come and take a look at our house. See if any of the cows or sows are pregnant?"
Everyone listened intently to the news.
The old shepherd looked at a cow in Li Lanzhen's herd of wild cattle, touched it, and shook his head.
The cow wasn't pregnant, but the sow chuckled and said, "The cow isn't pregnant, but the sow is!"
This unexpected gain caused everyone to cheer.
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