Reborn in 78, I made my fortune by working in the mountains, supporting three families on my own.

Qin Mancang and Qin Changlin also came to the Dashi Dam grain drying ground with Zhao Lei.

As soon as they arrived at Dashiba, all the women working nearby gathered around them.

They pointed east one minute and west the next, each saying their own thing, chattering away noisily.

"Captain Qin, you've finally arrived. I just saw a dark figure run away in a flash."

"Yes, Captain. It looks pretty big. Could it be a bear? I'm too scared to go near the woods now, so I had someone call you over right away."

Qin Mancang surveyed the large stone dam grain drying ground.

The entire Dashi Dam is now covered with freshly harvested rice, which is being dried.

Most of the women, children, and elderly people with limited labor capacity are responsible for drying clothes here.

But after looking around, he didn't find anything interesting, so he turned to look at Qin Changlin and Zhao Lei.

"Lei Zi, Cousin, you two are more experienced hunters and should be more familiar with the animals of Qingfeng Mountain. What kind of beast is causing this trouble?"

Qin Changlin thought for a moment and said, "I don't think it's a bear, because bears are carnivores, they wouldn't need to come to Dashi Dam to destroy our food."

Zhao Lei nodded in agreement: "Dad, Uncle Changlin is right. I also think it couldn't be a bear. It must be some other omnivore or herbivore."

Then, Qin Mancang called over the female comrades who had seen the shadowy figure and asked them about the situation.

"Captain, I was drying grain when I suddenly saw several dark figures acting suspiciously near the edge of the woods. But I couldn't see clearly what they were because as soon as I approached, they disappeared back into the bushes and woods."

"Yes, Captain. It looks like it might be a wild boar or something."

"Yes, these guys are very clever. They run away at the slightest noise. But as soon as you leave, they come back to eat our grain."

With that, Qin Mancang led his group to the scene of the incident.

Zhao Lei immediately raised his hand to stop others from disturbing the scene.

"Hey everyone, wait a minute! Be careful not to disturb the scene. Let me take a look first."

As he spoke, Zhao Lei bent down and examined the marks on the ground in detail.

Qin Mancang asked, somewhat puzzled, "Lei Zi, what are you doing?"

Qin Changlin immediately explained, "Captain, your son-in-law is examining footprints and activity traces. This method allows him to roughly determine what kind of animal it is."

Qin Mancang said with some suspicion, "Cousin, this is a large stone dam, there's no soil here, and these animals wouldn't leave footprints or anything. How can we tell?"

Upon hearing this, Qin Changlin realized that it made perfect sense.

As an experienced hunter, he had surveyed the surrounding area based on his experience after arriving here, but unfortunately, he was stopped by this problem.

Animals don't leave footprints on the rocks.

Therefore, he felt somewhat powerless and could only place his hopes on Zhao Lei.

On the other side, Qin Mancang followed Zhao Lei with great curiosity.

However, staring at the trampled rice paddies on the ground, he couldn't discern anything and felt that this place was no different from other places.

I wonder if Zhao Lei still has this ability now?

On second thought, it seems to make sense.

Otherwise, Zhao Lei would have been able to make a profit every time he went hunting recently.

He hunted more game than his cousin Qin Changlin, a veteran hunter with decades of experience.

Moreover, Qin Mancang recalled the last time a bear appeared. Zhao Lei also discovered the bear's tracks by observing the details in the forest.

as predicted.

After looking around, Zhao Lei gave his general assessment.

"Father, I just took a look. The marks left by these animals should be from hooves, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to leave scratches on the stone dam."

As he spoke, Zhao Lei pointed to a large stone dam where the rice paddies had been gnawed, revealing a patch of empty land.

Qin Changlin took a closer look and gasped.

hiss.......

It really is.

Sure enough, there was a scratch on the stone, as if it had been scraped by something hard.

Qin Changlin continued, "There aren't many hooves among wild animals. In our area, the most likely animals to be found are wild boars and wild sheep."

Upon learning that wild boars and goats might be damaging the brigade's grain, Qin Mancang asked Zhao Lei, "Leizi, these animals rarely come down from the mountain to the fields to damage the crops in previous years. How dare they? Aren't they afraid of people?"

Many people present had this question.

They occasionally encounter animals like wild boars and wild sheep while chopping firewood in the mountains.

However, most of these animals would run away in a flash after seeing people.

Therefore, it is extremely rare for a group of animals to be unafraid of people and come to Dashiba to eat everyone's food, as is the case today.

Most people felt sorry for the grain. This grain wasn't theirs; it was all used to pay public grain taxes and generate income for the production team. Only what was left over was theirs.

Normally, after a whole year of hard work, there are only two harvests of rice.

If the animals in the mountains cause any more trouble, life will be even harder for the entire production brigade.

"Lei Zi, what should we do? In just a few moments this afternoon when we weren't paying attention, those beasts ate at least dozens of kilograms of grain. How can we manage this?"

Qin Mancang was very worried.

If these beasts waste too much food, many people in the Peace Production Brigade may go hungry.

Qin Mancang's words immediately won the approval of many people present, and the crowd began to press Qin Changlin and Zhao Lei, the two hunters, with questions.

Zhao Lei and Qin Changlin exchanged a glance and smiled at each other.

Others might see this as a disaster caused by wild animals, but for the two hunters, it was simply money delivered to their doorstep!

Although neither of them spoke, they both saw the eager look in each other's eyes.

Zhao Lei said, "Dad, it's nothing. Everyone's working here anyway. Just be careful, and chase them away whenever you see them. It's not a big problem."

"Lei Zi, what you said makes sense, but what if it's a wild boar? That thing is completely different from a herbivore like a goat."

If the wild boars go berserk, the people drying grain here are mostly elderly people, children, and women. If anyone gets injured, it will be too late for regrets.

They were told that they, the elderly, women, and children, were to drive away wild boars and wild goats.

The older women immediately became anxious.

"Captain, this won't do! What if the wild boar suddenly attacks and hurts someone? There are so many children here; what if something happens?"

"Yes, Captain. It's dangerous for us to drive them away. Why don't you ask Dashan to call a few militiamen to come and guard them, to protect everyone's safety?"