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

Zhao Lei is not only capable, but he also volunteered to deliver meat to the collective.

They are the ones who are in the wrong, yet they are still making trouble and causing a scene.

After resolving the conflict, Zhou Minghong and his family stood outside the crowd, feeling deeply disappointed.

They thought that Zhao Lei, as his nephew, had taken so much meat, he should at least give some to his uncle.

As a result, Zhao Lei treated him like a stranger, not even wanting to glance at him.

Zhou Minghong shamelessly tried to approach Zhao Lei several more times, but each time he was met with indifference; Zhao Lei didn't even give him a second glance.

He was seething with anger, but looking at the delicious-looking wild game, he couldn't help but swallow hard.

Next, Zhao Lei, Qin Changlin, and the others began to butcher wild boar and goat meat on the spot for sale.

Those who had money could buy it with money, and those who didn't could exchange it with grain coupons or cloth coupons.

Alternatively, they could exchange eggs, dried vegetables, or other similar items.

The five people worked together seamlessly, some chopping meat, some weighing it, and some collecting money, keeping themselves extremely busy.

"I want five catties of wild boar meat! The fatty kind!"

"Give me three catties of goat meat, from the hind leg!"

"I have twenty jin of grain coupons here, how many jin can I exchange them for?"

"Can I trade you thirty eggs?"

The villagers lined up and received their meat one by one, each thanking Zhao Lei before leaving.

"Comrade Zhao Lei, thank you! I'm sorry about what happened earlier!"

"Comrade Zhao Lei, don't take it to heart. You're truly capable; we all admire you!"

"If wild animals cause trouble in the village again, we'll have to trouble you to come and help again!"

As Zhao Lei chopped the meat, he nodded with a smile, his expression much gentler than before.

Zhou Minghong and his family of three stood outside the crowd.

As Zhou Shijie watched as pieces of plump wild boar meat were carried away, he swallowed hard, his mouth watering.

He couldn't help but complain to his father again: "Dad, look how much money they make! Zhao Lei earns several hundred yuan just from selling meat in one night! Doesn't he care about us at all?"

"Shut up!"

Zhou Minghong was furious. He gritted his teeth and pulled out a few crumpled bills from his pocket.

Finally, she gritted her teeth and squeezed into the crowd, handing the ticket to Zhao Lei.

"Lei Zi... your uncle won't take your money for nothing. Uncle will pay for it, okay? Can you get me a few pounds for a treat..."

Zhao Lei glanced down at the few crumpled bills.

With the mindset that "a fool wouldn't make money if he didn't want to," even if Zhou Minghong was annoying, she couldn't turn down money.

Zhao Lei was silent for two seconds before reaching out to take the money.

With a swift stroke, he cut off a piece of wild boar hind leg meat weighing about five pounds, wrapped it in a lotus leaf, and handed it over.

Zhou Minghong took the meat, feeling its weight in his hands, but he felt a pang of unease.

He awkwardly withdrew from the crowd.

The family, carrying meat and looking disheveled, walked along the village road towards their home.

Behind them, Zhao Lei and the others continued to busy themselves cutting and selling the remaining pieces of meat.

Almost all of the wild boar and goat meat was sold out.

In the end, only a few internal organs and bones were left that no one wanted. Zhao Lei divided them up on the spot and told Zhou Defu to take them home to make soup.

After counting the earnings, Qin Dashan counted the money and whispered the number to Zhao Lei.

"Lei Zi, we've made almost three hundred yuan in cash alone. The grain and cloth coupons will add up to another two hundred, and the eggs and dried vegetables will be worth several dozen yuan. You've made quite a bit on this trip."

Zhao Lei nodded, patted the blood off his hands, and a satisfied look appeared on his face.

In reality, Zhao Lei sold them to the villagers of Zhoujia Village at a low price.

If I had taken it to the supply and marketing cooperative or sold it privately, today's harvest would have been worth at least seven or eight hundred yuan.

However, it was getting late, and Zhao Lei didn't want to go through any more trouble.

Since these prey were indeed hunted on the other side's territory, selling them off for a smaller profit would at least silence public opinion.

If someone deliberately reports it, it will be troublesome to be accused of speculation and profiteering.

After finishing his work, Zhao Lei turned to Zhou Defu and said, "Captain Zhou, I don't think these beasts will come out again tonight. If we come back tomorrow night to stake out and hunt them a few more times, there shouldn't be any more beasts to damage the crops."

Zhou Defu nodded repeatedly, too grateful to say anything: "Comrade Zhao Lei, you've really worked hard tonight! It's also the fault of these people in my village for being so ignorant; they almost caused a misunderstanding..."

Zhao Lei waved his hand: "It's nothing, it's all for protecting collective property."

Zhao Lei and the others had just finished cleaning up the pieces of meat on the ground and gathered the empty hemp rope and banana leaves aside.

Just as I was about to sling my hunting rifle over my shoulder and head towards the large stone dam on the riverbank, I heard a series of hurried footsteps coming from the other end of the village road.

A tall, thin figure ran quickly over in the moonlight. When he got closer, it was clear that it was Zhu Kaitian, the village head of Zhujia Village, who had come to visit with Zhu Defu that afternoon.

Zhu Kaitian, panting heavily, rubbed his hands excitedly as soon as he saw Zhao Lei: "Brother Zhao Lei! I finally made it! You...you guys fought this much tonight?"

Seeing the bloodstains on the ground and the banana leaves scattered everywhere, and seeing the villagers smiling as they carried meat home, Zhu Kaitian had already guessed seven or eight parts of the story.

But when he got closer and heard Zhou Defu briefly recount tonight's results, Zhu Kaitian couldn't help but gasp.

"Three wild boars! Two wild goats! Five weasels!"

Zhu Kaitian counted on his fingers, then slapped his thigh. "Brother Zhao Lei, you guys are amazing! How long have you been here? At most two hours, right? And you've already done so much!"

Zhao Lei tightened his grip on his hunting rifle: "Luckily, we caught those bastards coming down the mountain. Captain Zhu, weren't we supposed to go to your Zhu Family Village tomorrow? Why are you here now?"

Zhu Kaitian quickly waved his hand: "Since you've come all the way to Sanhe Township, why don't you visit our Zhu Family Village too! The situation there isn't much better than here; wild boars and sheep are causing serious damage, and I'm really worried!"

Zhou Defu, standing nearby, added with a smile, "Old Zhu, Comrade Zhao Lei just arrived tonight and helped us resolve things here. As for your side… I remember you hired people yourself?"

A hint of embarrassment flashed across Zhu Kaitian's face as he rubbed his hands together. "I really had no other choice. I hired a hunting team from Huangshi Township; they arrived yesterday, six men with three guns."

Zhao Lei's brows twitched slightly upon hearing this.

Qin Bowen muttered under his breath, "Huangshi Township? Never heard of it."

Zhu Kaitian quickly explained, "This hunting team is quite famous in Huangshi Township. The leader is named Huang Hongbo, and he and his men hunt year-round. I invited them over, and they hunted for a day and a night, managing to kill two wild goats. But the problem is..."

He sighed again, "After killing two of them, those beasts stopped coming out so often. Things still come and ruin the grain in the threshing ground at night. It's completely useless..."