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

When Qin Bowen took the teacup, his hand trembled, and the tea almost spilled.

He quickly lowered his head and drank his tea in silence, but the roots of his ears quietly turned red.

Zhao Lei and the others sat in the courtyard for about the time it takes to smoke two cigarettes when Zhou Defu hurriedly ran out.

With the last bite of rice still in his mouth, he mumbled, "Come on! Come on, come on! I'll take you to the threshing ground!"

Zhao Lei stood up, slung his hunting rifle over his shoulder, and waved behind him: "Let's go."

The five followed Zhou Defu along the village road toward the riverbank.

In 1978, rural areas were extremely poor in resources, and most roads in the villages were dirt or muddy.

There was no cement to build a dam for drying rice, so they had to make do with a natural stone dam.

The grain drying ground of Zhoujiacun Production Brigade is just this one place, which is quite different from the large stone dam of Heping Brigade.

Sanhe Township is named after the confluence of three rivers within its borders, which give it abundant water resources.

Near the river in Zhoujia Village, there is a large, naturally flat stone dam carved out of the mountain by the river over the years, which is perfect for drying grain.

However, this place is quite far from where the villagers live, and it takes more than 20 minutes to walk there and back, which is very inconvenient.

But this is the only condition we have right now, and the harvested grain can only be dried here.

Zhao Lei and his group walked onto the stone dam, just as it was getting dark.

He took out a flashlight and shone it forward, startling Zhou Defu.

Zhao Lei and his four companions each held a flashlight in their hands, and when they all lit up, the entire stone dam was illuminated.

Zhou Defu was secretly astonished.

This group has three 28-inch motorcycles and each person has a flashlight. Is this hunting team that rich?

These kinds of things, like the 28-inch steel rod and the three-section flashlight, weren't something everyone could afford back then.

Just talking about the 28-inch motorcycles, there are no more than five in the entire Sanhe Township.

Zhao Lei didn't notice Zhou Defu's expression; he was already squatting by the stone dam, carefully examining the marks on the ground.

Zhou Defu quickly stepped forward to explain the surrounding situation.

According to their observations, the prey that came to ruin the grain were mainly weasels, foxes, wild goats, and wild boars.

Two people remained on duty at the stone dam; they were cousins ​​from the village named Zhou Jianping and Zhou Jianjun.

The two men guarded the threshing ground during the day and took turns keeping watch at night, but they had no guns and could not scare the beasts with sticks and shouts.

Zhou Jianping's eyes lit up when he saw Zhao Lei and his men carrying guns and knives.

He leaned over to greet Zhao Lei: "You must be Comrade Zhao Lei! I've heard so much about your hunting skills, it's great to meet you in person today!"

Zhou Jianjun chimed in, "Yeah, Jianping and I spent a day with that pest control team from our brigade. But their marksmanship was absolutely terrible. The first shot went astray, and by the time they reloaded and fired the second shot, the prey was long gone."

Zhao Lei smiled and didn't say much. He just squatted down and carefully examined the hoof prints and claw marks on the stone dam by the moonlight and the light of his flashlight.

He observed for a moment, then straightened up and said to the people behind him, "The situation isn't too serious, but there are quite a few. The weasel and fox paw prints are relatively fresh, so they'll probably come back tonight. The wild boar and goat hoof prints are two or three days old, but they should still be roaming around nearby."

Qin Dashan leaned closer and asked, "Lei Zi, what's going on?"

Zhao Lei thought about it for a moment and then began to make arrangements.

"We'll split up later. Bowen and Zongbao will be in charge of both ends of the stone dam, guarding the entrances and exits. If you see any animals running in that direction, fire your guns to scare them away and prevent them from getting too far."

Big Mountain, Uncle Changlin, and I will lie in wait in the middle, with the best marksmen taking out the smaller, faster ones. Weasels and foxes are small and fast, so we don't need to specifically target them, but their running will scare out the wild boars and goats – those are our main course!

Qin Changlin nodded and held the homemade gun in his hand to test its weight.

Wang Zongbao tightened his grip on his hunting knife. "Brother Lei, what do we do when the wild boar comes? Last time at Dashi Dam, we fired at close range, but this time it's farther away, what do we do?"

Zhao Lei patted him on the shoulder: "Don't worry, we'll shoot when they get closer. Wild boars have thick hides; you can't penetrate them from a distance. We'll be more reliable when we're up close. You and Bowen will be responsible for providing backup fire from both sides of the stone dam..."

With everything arranged, the five people took their places.

After waiting for less than half an hour, a rustling sound came from the bushes by the stone dam.

Zhao Lei immediately raised his palm, signaling everyone to be quiet.

He turned off the flashlight, leaving only the faint moonlight shining on the stone dam.

A moment later, a large, dark creature emerged from the bushes.

Adult wild boar!

It weighs at least 150 or 160 pounds.

It lowered its head and burrowed around on the ground, its long beak constantly turning over the remaining grains on the threshing floor, making humming and chirping sounds.

Immediately afterwards, two smaller ones emerged from behind and followed one after the other.

Zhao Lei held his breath and slowly raised his gun.

He glanced at it for two seconds, then pulled the trigger.

boom!

Gunshots rang out, and the wild boar in the lead fell to the ground.

The two animals behind were startled by the loud noise and immediately turned around to run back.

"Hey you on the right! Bowen!" Zhao Lei shouted.

Qin Bowen had been waiting for this. He pointed his gun and fired another shot.

The second wild boar staggered forward a couple of steps, then collapsed headfirst onto the edge of the stone embankment, thrashing its limbs a few times before becoming still.

The last one was quick-witted and turned around to rush towards Qin Changlin.

Qin Changlin stood guard at the intersection, raising his gun.

boom!

The third shot rang out, and the last wild boar was also knocked down in its frantic run.

Three shots, three hits.

From the first shot to the third, it took only a dozen seconds.

.......

The stone dam was deathly silent for a moment.

Zhou Defu stood at a distance, his mouth agape, unable to close it for a long time.

Zhou Jianping, standing nearby, slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "My God! Three shots, three heads! This...this is too fast!"

Zhou Jianjun could barely speak: "What the hell... are they even human? We've only been firing one shot and reloading, and they've already taken down three people!"

However, Zhao Lei did not relax.

His ears twitched, and he turned to his left, raising a hand: "Zong Bao! There are more in the bushes!"

Wang Zongbao reacted extremely quickly, turning the gun and firing in the direction Zhao Lei indicated.

boom!

A wild goat darted out of the bushes and was shot down on the edge of the stone dam.

Immediately afterwards, another noise came from the right side of the stone dam. Another wild goat, startled by the gunshot, rushed out from the shadows and headed straight for the exit of the stone dam.

Qin Dashan held his position, calmly raised his gun and aimed, bang!

This animal was extremely agile; the moment it saw Qin Dashan, it turned back, sustaining only a scratch.

Fortunately, Zhao Lei caught up and fired a shot, causing him to fall to the ground as well.

Finally, there were a few weasels scurrying around in the corner of the stone dam.