Chapter 878
A Herd of 45 Wild Boars
"Okay! If you get the chance, help me find out! It's a great opportunity for you to hang out with the descendants of those important people, you have to seize it!" Du Chonglai whispered to Yue Feng.
Yue Feng grinned slightly.
For those navigating the officialdom, these connections are indeed extremely valuable; a single remark from someone can directly impact their future.
However, for Yue Feng, a man who had lived in the village, his mentality was far from being obsequious to his superiors.
To put it more bluntly, desires lead to suffering, while being free from desires makes one invincible. Yue Feng had no direct need for the power of these important figures, so his mindset naturally became much more relaxed.
Yue Feng said in a calm tone, "When I interact with these friends, I rarely have to ask for help. Most of the time, we help each other out, and we're all on equal footing."
The only exception is my brother's side, the Wang family!
That's the respect I earned through countless adventures and sacrifices, almost risking my life!
Perhaps those arrogant young masters who look down on me aren't really looking at me, but rather at the Wang family behind me!
Du Chonglai also knew about Yue Feng's antics with Wang Hu at the criminal investigation team, and he had a much deeper understanding of the Wang family's background in Beijing than Yue Feng did.
After listening to Yue Feng's words, he couldn't help but say, "If we could recommend my cousin to Old Master Wang and get him some exposure, his life would be secure!"
"Hehe, I'll look into that later! The Wang family's foundation is in the military, which doesn't quite match my uncle's situation, does it?" Yue Feng continued to ask.
"There is indeed a difference in direction, but it's not unacceptable! We don't have any better options, do we?"
Yue Feng immediately thought of his friends in Beijing, such as Jinlong, Feng Huanping, and even Xiaodong and Mingkai.
"Don't worry! Once the club is up and running, you'll meet all sorts of people! I'll get some knowledgeable guys to give me their opinions, and then we'll figure out the specifics of how to run it!"
There are quite a few taboos surrounding paying respects to influential figures! If we make a mistake because of our ignorance, it's better to be on the safe side! Don't you agree?
Yue Feng's words also make sense. Du Chonglai is just a local official, and he naturally has a greater sense of awe for many things than Yue Feng.
"Alright, I'll listen to you! You have to take this seriously! You know my temper, I rarely ask for favors so earnestly!" Du Chonglai said solemnly.
"Don't worry! If my nephew dares to agree, it means he's confident and won't let us down!" Yue Feng assured him again, his relaxed demeanor immediately becoming more relaxed as he spoke.
……
Yue Feng and Du Chonglai stayed in Du Chonglai's office for more than two hours. It was almost lunchtime when Yue Feng finally said goodbye and left.
Yue Feng already had a good idea about his father's promotion, and he was no longer as anxious as he had been when he left the Forestry Bureau.
Having figured out what had happened, Yue Feng hummed a tune and rode his bike home. His wife, Wang Xiaona, had left some food for him in the pot. Yue Feng held the bowl and ate heartily, clearly feeling more relaxed.
"Honey, what's making you so happy? I see you're even humming a little tune!" Wang Xiaona asked softly as she hugged Kaixin.
Yue Feng picked up a piece of ribbonfish with his chopsticks and said, "This morning I went to Dad's workplace and to Uncle Du's place at the Forestry Bureau! I managed to get the old man's job promotion sorted out!"
"What did you say? Is there any progress?"
"Hmm! Zhou Jianchun, that old wall lamp in the forest farm, is playing tricks, trying to please both sides and gain favors!"
I've already discussed it with Uncle Du, and we won't fall for his tricks!
Let the dust settle! Let's leave him hanging and wait for the right opportunity before the end of the year to take the next step!
"Then... will there still be a chance for this? I think Dad takes this matter quite seriously. If it doesn't work out, he'll find out you weren't serious and he'll punish you!"
"Who says I didn't care! I also gave gifts to Zhou Jianchun! It's just that I didn't want to do what he wanted and make Uncle Du owe him a favor!"
I worked so hard to maintain these relationships, why should he get a free favor? Grandpa Du said, if this brat keeps showing off, he'll get what's coming to him!
"Oh! Then it's good that you know what's going on!" Wang Xiaona nodded, no longer dwelling on the matter.
As the daughter of a village cadre, Wang Xiaona was quite clear-headed in these matters.
She may be quite assertive, even domineering, in small family matters, but when it comes to important things, Wang Xiaona always knows how to give her husband the most appropriate reminders and support.
……
For the next month or so, Yue Feng's pace of life slowed down again.
The construction of new houses by Xiao Tao and the Zhang brothers is nearing completion, as the land for their new houses is not far from Yue Feng's new house.
To put it bluntly, the newly built house of the hunting team brothers is the most impressive large tile-roofed house in the surrounding rural areas of Xing'an Village.
The hot summer arrived quickly, and the villagers' crops in their respective fields entered the management period.
After the land was contracted to individual households, the villagers' enthusiasm for farming far exceeded that of the production team era. The situation of slacking off, which used to be commonplace, has long since disappeared.
Farmers take great care of their crops, and the crops will reward them. They go to the fields together to weed and tend to the seedlings as soon as it gets light, showing their dedication.
Compared to the enthusiasm of ordinary villagers for farming, Yue Feng is currently basically completely off-the-job.
The land allocated to the family was all leased to familiar villagers in the village. They only received a symbolic contracting fee, and most of their energy and enthusiasm was devoted to taking care of the birds of prey and other high-value animals in the mountains and on their own land.
As the seasons changed, September arrived in no time.
The hot summer passed quickly, and after autumn arrived, the cornfields that were widely planted in the village reached their most crucial stage.
Since the beginning of spring this year, there has been a lot of rain. During the spring and summer seasons, there has been a heavy rain every few days. Compared with the weather in the previous two years, this year can be described as having favorable weather.
However, heavy rainfall also has its drawbacks.
Sure enough, just as autumn began and the corn ears were filling out, a herd of wild boars came down from the old forest.
That day, Yue Feng was at home playing with his son, using the fledgling peregrine falcon he had already trained to fly, when the woman from the Ma family behind the village came running up to Yue Feng's house, the village secretary, and knocked on the door.
"Secretary Yue, something terrible has happened!!"
Yue Feng stood up and glanced at her: "What's wrong, Auntie? Speak slowly, don't rush me!"
"I was working in the fields just now and I found that the cornfields on the north slope at the foot of the mountain had been destroyed by a herd of wild boars! A huge group, at least thirty or forty of them!"
"What the hell? Thirty or forty?" Upon hearing this number, Yue Feng's voice immediately rose.
After several hunting seasons, he is now a seasoned hunting team leader. Under normal circumstances, there are no wild boar herds that big.
On the mountain, a group of ten or so pigs is considered a large herd. Only last time did the Wild Boar King gather such a large group of wild boars using an unknown method. "Really, I'm not exaggerating at all!"
My husband and I witnessed firsthand how the older children, leading the younger ones, scurried away from the edge of the field for at least seven or eight minutes before they finally ran away!
Many of them were large pigs with tusks, so we didn't dare get too close!
Yue Feng could tell from the other person's eyes that it was mostly true, so he immediately took it seriously.
"Auntie, wait a moment, I'll give the child to his mother, let's go see what's going on!"
Yue Feng handed his son to his wife, put the eagle away, took the AK47 from the kang (a heated brick bed) and slung it over his shoulder, then followed the aunt who had come to deliver the message out of the village.
At Yuefeng's level, the usual hunting trips into the mountains to catch a few wild boars or roe deer no longer excite him. However, the wild animals that come down from the mountains in autumn and damage the farmland, affecting the villagers' harvest, are a different matter.
Grain is the foundation of farmers' livelihoods. Wild animals coming down from the mountains to plunder crops have a huge impact on crop yields. To put it more seriously, if the grain harvest fails, the livelihoods of the whole family will be in jeopardy.
This kind of thing carries a heavy responsibility. If it's not handled properly and things escalate, Yue Feng's term as village secretary will be over.
Yue Feng followed Aunt Ma out of the village and hurried along the production road on the north slope.
After walking for about forty minutes, Yue Feng and Aunt Ma arrived at the place where they had witnessed the wild boar herd coming down the mountain.
Yue Feng had a gun, an automatic rifle with 30 rounds, so he wasn't afraid of wild boars. He boldly walked into the farmland area that had been ravaged by the boars.
This was a large cornfield. From the edge of the production road outside, you couldn't tell anything. Yue Feng walked up to it with his gun and inspected it. After walking around the green cornfield and seeing the actual situation inside, his mind exploded.
The part of the field that obstructs the view is fine, but further in, at least several acres of corn in the grain-filling stage have been ruined by the pigs.
The corn, which had been growing well, lay sprawled on the ground, its stalks trampled and rotten after being rooted around by the pigs.
The villagers worked so hard in the summer and autumn, but this whole area was ruined, resulting in a complete crop failure.
Yue Feng forced a deep breath, suppressing his heartache.
Children from farming families always have a deep affection for food.
Now that the crops have been destroyed by the pigs, Yue Feng is both heartbroken and furious.
"Oh dear, the field has been completely ransacked by wild boars! Such a large area!"
The woman from the Ma family mustered her courage and followed them into the field, where she saw more details. She immediately burst into tears of heartache at the edge of the field.
"Auntie, don't cry! Let's go back and gather everyone together! We'll kill all those wild boars that are ruining the crops and make up for the damage to the land!" Yue Feng comforted her.
"I don't know if they'll come back! Several acres of corn have been ruined!" Mrs. Ma said, wiping away her tears, her eyes red.
Yue Feng knew the habits of these wild boars very well, and comforted them, "Let's go back first! These wild animals must have come down from the deep mountains!"
Once they've chosen a feeding area, they won't give it up so easily!
We need to hurry! We must organize the villagers today, otherwise they will most likely come again tonight or at the latest tomorrow!
Judging from the actual damage to these cornfields, this damage only took one to two days at most! If there is any delay, the cornfields next door will also suffer!
If the wild boar herd consists of at least forty or fifty animals, then the corn on the north slope will be completely wiped out in no time.
Upon hearing Yue Feng's words, Aunt Ma immediately forgot about wiping away her tears: "Let's go, we'd better hurry!"
We planted several dozen acres of corn on the north slope. Today the rain was good, and we were hoping for a good harvest! If the wild boars destroyed it all, we wouldn't be able to survive!
"Don't panic, let's go back and get help!"
Yue Feng gave a shout and turned to head back.
Once inside the village, Yue Feng went straight to the village office.
Soon, the village's loudspeaker blared.
Attention all residents of Xing'an Village! Attention all residents of Xing'an Village!
Just now, a large herd of wild boars was spotted in the cornfield on the north slope outside the village. At least several acres of Aunt Ma's cornfield have been damaged!
All able-bodied villagers who hear the broadcast, please gather at the village office!
All able-bodied villagers who hear the broadcast, please gather at the village office!
I will work with everyone to arrange autumn protection and farmland safety to ensure the safety of farmland during this period before the autumn harvest!
The village office's broadcasts are the highest directives in the village.
Soon, the villagers, having heard the announcements over the loudspeaker, gathered in small groups at the small square outside the village office to hold a meeting and await further instructions from the village.
These are villagers who have all come together from the production team stage. Although the land is now contracted to individual households and the communal dining system is over, everyone is in complete agreement when it comes to wild animals damaging farmland.
The land on the north slope was ravaged by wild boars, and the land on the east slope might not be immune. This matter is closely related to every villager, except for families like Yue Feng's who don't farm themselves. But in such a large village, how much land can be leased out?
Soon, Xiaowen, Xiaowu, and Xiaotao, along with their two brothers, arrived at the scene with guns slung over their shoulders.
Xiao Tao asked excitedly, "Brother, how many wild boars came down the mountain?"
"This year's frequent rains, could it be the livestock outbreak on the mountain that Grandpa Zhao mentioned before, a bumper year?"
There is indeed a saying about good and bad years in the mountains. Some years have plenty of rain and the vegetation is lush, while other years have little rain and the edible plants and animals do not grow well.
This effect is also reflected in the cyclical changes in the size and density of wild boars, bears, roe deer, and other mountain animals.
Frequent rainfall leads to more offspring born to female animals during the breeding season, resulting in a larger population.
When the food production in the mountainous areas where they originally ate became insufficient, the pigs would naturally leave their original territory and explore new foraging areas.
These wild animals, once they came down from the mountains to the farmland, became a scourge that destroyed production.
Yue Feng replied, "At least forty or fifty wild boars, a huge herd! Aunt Ma saw it with her own eyes!"
The cornfields were completely destroyed, affecting at least several acres. I saw the muddy footprints left behind; they belonged to wild boars of varying sizes!
"Holy crap! A herd of forty or fifty wild boars? Could it be another wild boar king?" Xiao Wu, who had recovered from his injuries, also had his eyes light up when Yue Feng mentioned the scale.
Yue Feng scratched his head and sighed: "Whether the wild boar is a king or not, let's not worry about that for now! We need to gather the good guys together and deal with this scourge first!"
If left unchecked, they'll ruin several acres of land in a single night. The crops on the north slope probably won't even have time to ripen before these wild boars completely wipe out the harvest!
Xiao Tao waved his hand: "Why bother gathering people? We brothers can just take the dogs and go get them!"
Make sure all the villagers who are going to the fields are well-remembered, don't wander off and get accidentally injured! Just like the year before last, set up a platform on a tree, grab a gun and go! (End of Chapter)