Chapter 172 – Since there was no way to escape, fight
Initially, he and Xu Xiangdong did have a competitive relationship.
Although he didn’t want to see Xu Xiangdong, a younger person, surpass him and become the captain of the militia, he had to admit that Xu Xiangdong was indeed more outstanding than him.
They did have a competitive relationship at first, but they were not enemies.
Why couldn’t he help now?
Moreover, Xu Xiangdong now, even though he was no longer the captain of the militia, had an extraordinary background.
Just the fact that his little sister’s godfather was a top official in the Anren County Public Security Bureau was enough to make others take their family seriously.
Besides, lending out hunting guns meant that if they hunted a lot of wild boars, there would be rewards, which wasn’t a bad thing.
Actually, he had always wanted to get along with Xu Xiangdong, and this time happened to be a very good opportunity. Why not take advantage of it?
*
On Xu Jinning’s side, upon hearing that her older brother had borrowed 15 hunting guns from the militia, she felt a lot more relieved.
With these 15 hunting guns, even if they encountered the group of seven adult wild boars, even if they couldn’t kill them all, there would still be a chance to escape safely.
Finally, the day for the young people from Qinghe Production Brigade to organize the hunting trip to the back mountain arrived.
In the Xu family, both Xu Xiangdong and Xu Xiangbei went up the mountain.
Because both of them were quite capable fighters, they were each assigned a hunting gun.
“Big brother, second brother, please be careful and prioritize your safety.”
“Don’t be too aggressive. If you encounter too many wild boars and can’t handle it, just escape.”
“We can go without eating pork, but you all must come back safely.”
Before they left, Xu Jinning couldn’t help but express her worries, her voice rapid with instructions.
If it weren’t for her lack of ability, and that there wouldn’t be any girls going up the mountain this time, she knew that she would be a hindrance if she went along. Otherwise, she would have gone with them.
Only by going with them could she feel at ease.
“Don’t worry, little sister, we’ll listen to you.”
“Safety comes first.”
Hearing her brothers take her instructions seriously, Xu Jinning breathed a sigh of relief.
Soon, Xu Xiangdong and Xu Xiangbei followed the rest of the group up the mountain, watched by the villagers.
…
Today, Xu Fanghua, who had recently gotten married, had returned.
The primary school had already started its holiday break, so Xu Fanghua, a temporary teacher, didn’t need to go to work.
Even though she was married, she still cared about her younger sister’s studies.
So whenever she had free time, she would come over to help her sister with her studies.
However, today, Xu Jinning was clearly distracted.
“Are you worried about your older brother and younger brother?” Xu Fanghua asked.
“Yeah,” Xu Jinning replied, snapping out of her thoughts and nodding.
“No need to worry, they’re not foolish; they’ll be fine,” Xu Fanghua reassured.
However, Xu Fanghua’s reassurance didn’t quite calm Xu Jinning’s restless heart.
“Let’s keep studying, don’t overthink it. Focus on studying well and don’t get distracted, then you won’t worry too much. Don’t worry, they’re not kids.”
“Okay.”
Xu Jinning continued studying with Xu Fanghua. With each problem they solved, she gradually immersed herself, forgetting the worry in her heart.
Time passed unnoticed.
At noon, the people who went up the mountain hadn’t returned, and there was no news at all.
All they could do was continue waiting.
In the afternoon, Xu Jinning spent more time under Xu Fanghua’s guidance.
Until at some point, she suddenly heard a commotion outside.
Xu Jinning snapped out of her study trance, her heart jumping. Were her brothers back?
“Let’s go see if they’re back.” Seeing Xu Jinning’s distracted and worried expression, Xu Fanghua decided to go with her.
“Yeah, okay.”
The sisters went out together.
When they reached the doorway, they saw that everyone in the village had come out and was heading towards the threshing ground.
Seeing the sisters, they greeted them, “Hey, you two, come with us to the threshing ground quickly. The people who went hunting in the mountains today have returned. I heard they caught a lot of wild boars this time, and it’s taking up a huge space at the threshing ground.”
“Hurry, come with us.”
Hearing the villagers, Xu Jinning and Xu Fanghua couldn’t sit still anymore. They held hands and dashed towards the threshing ground.
Others from the village, including old people, children, and women, also ran towards the threshing ground with them.
When the sisters reached the threshing ground, it was packed with people.
They seemed to be surrounding something, talking excitedly, their faces flushed with excitement.
Xu Jinning was about to squeeze in with her sister when suddenly, someone grabbed the collar of her clothes.
A familiar voice came from behind, “Little girl, what are you looking for?”
Xu Jinning immediately turned around and saw Xu Xiangbei, her eyes lighting up. “Brother!”
Seeing that Xu Xiangbei was fine, Xu Jinning felt relieved and then looked behind him.
“Are you looking for big brother? He’s over there. Don’t worry, he’s fine.”
Finally, he added, “Everyone came back safely this time, and we also caught quite a few prey, especially adult wild boars. There were nine of them.”
“Really?” Hearing that her brother Xu Xiangdong and everyone else were okay and that they had caught so much prey, Xu Jinning’s heart, which had been tense all this time, finally relaxed completely.
Everyone was safe, which was really great!
Soon, under Xu Xiangbei’s guidance, Xu Jinning saw Xu Xiangdong surrounded by the crowd.
And on the threshing ground, there were so many prey laid out, astonishing everyone.
“So many wild boars, one, two, three… there are nine adult ones and two piglets. This is amazing!”
“This adult wild boar must weigh at least 300 pounds. Look at its size, it might even be 400 pounds.”
“There are also so many wild rabbits and pheasants.”
…
The villagers gathered around the prey, discussing excitedly, their eyes shining. After all, these prey represented meat, a valuable resource.
When had they ever seen so much meat before?
At this moment, everyone was also gathered around the hunters who had gone up the mountain, asking about the entire hunting process.
The hunters were excitedly recounting their experience.
“We initially thought there was only that group of wild boars, two adult ones and two piglets.”
“We didn’t expect that when we came back down the mountain, we encountered another group of wild boars, a total of seven adult ones. Look, those seven over there. That one’s head is really huge, and its tusks are incredibly sharp.”
As everyone followed their gaze, although the wild boars were dead, in the sunlight, their large and sharp tusks were intimidating.
If one of those tusks hit someone, it would be fatal.
“We were really scared when we encountered them.”
“We instinctively wanted to run, but those wild boars were too clever; they spotted us immediately.”
“Since there was no way to escape, we had to fight.”
“Fortunately, Xu Xiangdong had borrowed hunting guns for us before, a total of 15 rifles, and we fought against those seven beasts.”
Thanks for the chapter! 😀