When Zhang Guoqing reminisced about Daqing Mountain, Zhang Family Village—or rather, all the teams at the foot of Daqing Mountain—were facing an extrely perilous crisis.
The black bear (black bear) made an appearance.
"Granduncle, two lazy guys from Xialin Village were slapped to death by a black bear on the mountain."
A young guy from the village ran towards the fields, shouting loudly as he ran.
The mbers who heard this imdiately put down their work and surrounded him.
Everybody was talking at once, asking what exactly happened?
Ever since Xialin Village rged with the nearby two villages to form the Red Sun Team, they have been living together. How could sothing happen so close to the foot of the mountain?
Especially since the once poverty-stricken Xialin Village, now part of the Red Sun Team, seed to have hit a streak of good luck. First, the entire village dined at the public canteen, and then last year, all the bachelors got married without spending any money.
It was hard for everyone to believe that people from Xialin Village were suddenly slapped to death by a black bear. Could those damn fortunate guys really be in luck to go up the mountain?
The Old Captain saw this, and shouted: "What are you all doing? Hurry up and get back to work." He glanced at the panting young man, "If they’re dead, they’re dead, why are you making such a fuss?"
The young man shrank back a little, "Granduncle, those two were bitten and shredded... uh, no, they were just bones left on the field near the monastery halfway up our mountain."
Upon hearing this, a few people, including the Old Captain, were taken aback. Usually, if outsiders died, they just died, as life was cheapest these days. But it was different hearing where the incident happened.
If the black bear really ca down to the village, it wouldn’t even take half an hour. And with the harvest coming, how could they go up the mountain? They’d always considered halfway up the mountain as the safety line.
The Old Captain didn’t think the kid was lying, but he asked again, "Did you see it with your own eyes?"
"I didn’t go halfway up the mountain. It was the team mbers searching for people who said it. Many people puked at the ti."
The Old Captain nodded, "Go have a drink of water first, good boy."
After saying that, he saw so young people getting restless, and glared as he said, "Anyone who’s tired of living should go up the mountain and mind their own hides."
"We won’t. I’m going back to work."
"I’m going to work too, hey, wait for ."
If it was normal tis, the Old Captain might have had more to say. But now he didn’t have the ti, so he just greeted Uncle Zhang and a few others, and wandered over to the neighboring teams with his hands behind his back.
He still needed to find the elders of each village. Don’t be fooled by those titles like Team Leader or Squad Leader; if sothing really happens, it’s the elders of the villages you need to find.
"Old Zhang, is it really because of the black bear?"
The Old Captain nodded with a frown.
"Sigh... the harvest is just around the corner. Who knows if anything else besides the black bear might co down the mountain."
The Old Captain impatiently waved his hand, "Alright, stop with the ominous talk. We old fellas need to get together to co up with a plan. I need to find people, are you coming or not?"
The white-haired old man got up with a cheerful laugh, "You’re still as impatient as ever. Let’s go. I think we need the hunters from a few villages to go up the mountain and have a look.
I’ve heard this black bear is over 2 ters tall, weighs over 600 pounds, and even has a cub with it. If we go up with too few people, it won’t work. If sothing happens, we need a lot of people to handle it, or else it could kill a person with one slap."
He spoke as he walked, stealing a glance at the Old Captain, chuckling, "Old Zhang, the incident happened so close to your village. Maybe you should offer so dry food?"
The Old Captain responded grumpily, "Your village isn’t any further. Maybe the black bear likes to move left and right. Dry food, huh? If our team isn’t starving to death, it’ll be a miracle, and you still talk about dry food."
"That’s not fair. Our few villages took in several refugee families; your village doesn’t have them, so you can’t be more comfortable than ours."
The Old Captain’s eyes shined as he forced a smile, "Last year we had two pigs, and this year we don’t even have a bristle of pig hair. If we were comfortable, wouldn’t we have raised so?
Now we’re just waiting for the wheat harvest; otherwise, the whole village will be slitting their throats. When I heard the news, I hurried over out of worry those beasts would co down and ruin our crops."
"Sigh..."
The two old n sighed in unison at the challenges ahead, not saying another word.
Before long, several old n gathered at Mr. Wang’s house, their faces full of anticipation, and their eyes full of hope as they looked towards Mr. Wang at the head seat.
Mr. Wang internally cursed Zhang Guoqing fiercely at this mont...it was all that brat’s fault, otherwise he wouldn’t have had to step in last ti. And now, once started, it just keeps happening, damn it all.
In Beijing, Zhang Guoqing sneezed three or four tis in a row, and Wan Dayong privately teased him about overworking himself. No matter how Zhang Guoqing rebutted, he insisted that Zhang’s health was frail.
Leaving Zhang Guoqing aside, right now Mr. Wang stretched out his legs, pointing at his aged skin, "Look how old I am, still expected to go up the mountain? Not to ntion black bears, even black rabbits would be too much for . You all know how tough the mountain paths are. The old really can’t handle it.
I think we should notify the authorities; nowadays they have advanced weapons. Not just a black bear but even a black leopard wouldn’t be a problem. If you send hunters from each village up, what if sothing happens again? Those hunters are the mainstay of their families. We can’t win with our makeshift cannons."
The Old Captain rolled his eyes. One mont it’s "old ," the next it’s "old one." Damn old man, just say if you don’t want to help. Hope the black bear visits your village next ti and let’s see what you do then.
One of the old n nodded, saying, "We definitely have to notify the authorities, but if we report it to them, they’ll just tell everyone not to go up the mountain. If it drags on, what about the wild fruits and mountain treasures ripening on the mountain? Those are lifesavers, and everyone is eyeing these harvests."
What could Mr. Wang say? He could only advise them to report the matter to the authorities and let them deal with it. He couldn’t possibly send his own children up the mountain. His family wasn’t short of food or clothes, so who would want to risk their lives for strangers?
That day everyone went back and indeed reported to the town, waiting at ho for news.
But...
Early the next morning before dawn, a large and a small black bear broke into a massive cornfield in the adjacent team next to Zhang Family Village.
The cornfield, which was about to be harvested, was trampled down in large patches overnight, with the immature corn mostly destroyed. The ten or so strong n patrolling the area faced the two black bears with no ability to resist, suffering one serious injury. It was only after so ssy shooting with hunting rifles and the use of firecrackers that they managed to drive them away.
This ti, the Old Captain was almost driven to death with worry. Just a bit more, just a few miles, and the crops in their village would have been completely ruined.
Watching the neighboring team’s weeping won wailing to the heavens, he silently prayed to the ancestors for protection. At this mont, he didn’t preach to the descendants of Old Zhang’s family about having a conscience.
Unable to wait to see how things developed with their team, the Old Captain led the villagers back to the drying yard.
Under the scorching sun, his steady and powerful voice ca through the loudspeaker.
"From now on, everyone must devote themselves wholeheartedly. Whether we have enough to eat next year depends on this. If anyone at this critical mont is still thinking of slackening off, I’ll personally kick your family out of the team. Go wherever you want to go, whichever team you want to stay with.
These harsh words are upfront, and there’s one more thing I need to inform you about.
After the busy farming season, the canteen will disband, and if you want to fill your stomachs, you’d better pay attention. This ti, I won’t distribute food by headcount; everyone except the babies in arms will earn their food by work points.
If anyone feels unjust about this, go ahead and report to the town about my corrupt practices; it happens that I don’t want to be the captain anymore either.
As long as I’m the captain for a day, I’ll do the captain’s work for a day.
Next, all n aged sixteen to sixty in the team will patrol at night. Arrangents will be announced by the militia captain.
Finally, and most importantly, if you see the black bear coming, don’t sacrifice yourself, just fire the firecrackers to scare it away. Got it?"
The Old Captain’s authority, together with his words, made the people in the drying yard shout that they understood.
Uncle Zhang, seeing this, pondered if he’d have the sa guts if he were promoted to Team Leader. Soon, he shook his head in private...except for the Old Captain, no one else could hold these villagers together.
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