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

Zhou Shijie suddenly stepped forward with a smile and asked, "Cousin, what are you planning to do with all this meat?"

"Sell it!"

"Huh? Who will it be sold to?"

"We'll just sell them in the village."

Zhou Shijie was still somewhat incredulous when he heard that Zhao Lei planned to sell the game he had hunted to the villagers of Zhoujia Village.

"Cousin, what did you just say? You're planning to sell the game you hunted in Zhoujia Village to the people of Zhoujia Village? Are you kidding me?"

Zhao Lei's aunt, Li Xiuying, also stepped forward and pointed at Zhao Lei, questioning him: "Leizi, you can't go this far!"

Zhao Lei laughed: "Excessive? What's excessive about it? What I do with my prey is my own business, what's it to you?"

Immediately, Zhao Lei's remarks aroused dissatisfaction among other villagers in Zhoujia Village who wanted to take advantage of the situation, and they began to criticize Zhao Lei.

"Comrade Zhao Lei, you're wrong about that! Are you trying to kick us while we're down? If Zhoujia Village hadn't invited you here, where would you have gotten so much game?"

"That's right! These beasts are eating the collective grain of our Zhoujia Village, wasting everyone's food rations! The game was also hunted on our territory, so shouldn't we get a share too?"

"You guys did the work and used guns, but ultimately it was on our land. We can't keep all the spoils for ourselves, can we? Leave some for us!"

"You can't be so dishonest! We hired you to help rid us of a menace, not to make a fortune for yourselves! You sold everything without a word, who's going to compensate us for our losses?"

"Exactly! We, Zhoujia Village, are the ones who suffered the most! You took so much meat, but didn't leave us a single hair. That's not fair!"

The villagers watching became more and more agitated, their faces flushed, pointing at Zhao Lei and his companions and berating them all at once.

Qin Bowen and others nearby saw Zhao Lei being pointed at and cursed by the people of Zhoujia Village.

Qin Bowen and Wang Zongbao, the two young men, couldn't stand it anymore.

Qin Bowen stepped forward, glared at the men who were making the most noise, and launched into a tirade of insults.

"Hey! You ungrateful bastards! If it weren't for us, do you know how much more food would have been wasted on you?"

Wang Zongbao chimed in, "That's right! If you can't pay your grain tax, your entire production brigade will be punished! We were personally invited by your brigade leader to help you, not to do unpaid labor!"

These words really stirred up a hornet's nest.

The young men from Zhoujia Village were already holding back their anger, and they couldn't stand being scolded by these two hotheads in front of the whole village.

Immediately, someone pointed at Qin Bowen and Wang Zongbao and started cursing.

"Holy crap! You two kids who haven't even grown any hair yet, who gives you the right to speak here?"

"Exactly! Who do you think you are? Since when did outsiders have the right to interfere in the affairs of Zhoujia Village?"

"If you fucking utter another word, believe me, I'll kick you all out!"

"You're young, but you've got a tough tongue! Your hunting rifles may be powerful, but your fists might not be!"

Several burly men took two steps forward as they spoke, rolling up their sleeves as if to beat someone up.

The atmosphere became tense and hostile.

Just as the two sides were arguing fiercely, Zhou Defu came running up from the back of the crowd, panting.

Zhou Defu rushed into the crowd, waving his arms and shouting, "Stop arguing! Stop fighting! I invited Zhao Lei!"

The villagers immediately objected and turned their anger towards their own team leader.

"Captain! Why are you siding with outsiders?"

"That's right, Captain! This prey belongs to our Zhoujia Village, no matter what. We can't let those few hog it all!"

"Captain, you can't just think of outsiders and not your own people!"

Zhou Defu, his face flushed with rage, suddenly raised his voice and roared, "Shut the hell up! What do you know?!"

After catching his breath, he pointed at the few men in the crowd who were making the most noise and said, "I did give you a chance to hunt wild animals! I even formed a pest control team a few days ago, gave you guns, and found you men! But what did you catch? Just a little wild boar!"

"Do you know how many kilograms of grain these wild boars, wild goats, and weasels have destroyed in just three days? More than 500 kilograms!"

hiss......

The villagers present all gasped in shock.

The people who were just clamoring for a share of the meat instantly turned their resentment into shock.

"What? Over 500 jin? That much?"

"My God... that's enough food for several hundred people..."

"Our team only harvested so much grain, and now we've lost 500 jin..."

Five hundred jin of grain was no small amount in 1978.

Although some people were still resentful.

Then again, the loss of several hundred kilograms of grain every day was something the brigade collective could not afford.

After thinking it through, most people softened a bit.

Zhou Defu, catching his breath, continued, "Every day we delay, our brigade will lose two or three hundred catties of grain, or even more! We've issued you guns and found you men, but you can't protect the collective's grain! Aren't I allowed to call for outside help?"

He then glanced at the villagers present and said, "Comrade Zhao Lei led a group of people all the way to our brigade in the dark to help eliminate pests. Was it easy for them?"

Let me be frank with you: when I invited Zhao Lei, I had already promised them that they could distribute the prey they hunted themselves!

Zhao Lei is a kind-hearted young man who insisted on giving us a wild boar to improve our meals! And you all, you took his kindness for granted!

Upon hearing this, the villagers who had been arguing the loudest immediately lowered their heads.

The dissatisfaction on his face turned into embarrassment.

Zhou Defu snorted coldly: "Since you all want to fight over it, fine, we'll deduct the cost of the wild boar Zhao Lei gave us from the collective funds as payment for its food! Does anyone have any objections?"

"This... Captain, this isn't right..."

"What's wrong with it?"

Zhou Defu glared at the man, "When you were saying those things just now, did you even consider how Zhao Lei and the others felt? And now you're telling me this? I'm telling you right now!"

Today, every single one of you will have the money for the wild boar meat deducted from your work points! If you think my approach is unfair, you are welcome to petition the higher authorities!

Or, if you have any backbone, go hunt for yourself! Not only will I not take your prey, I'll also give you a three-yuan reward!

After he finished speaking, Zhou Defu stood there, and no one dared to utter another word.

The crowd was speechless.

Many people's initial envy and jealousy eventually turned into deep admiration.