Chapter 821: Killing the Chicken to Warn the Monkey

It had to be admitted that what Sun Dafu said was actually flawless.

Although everyone lived their own lives, when facing this kind of collective event, unity became extremely important.

Beasts ravaging the crops was a collective responsibility; trying to be slippery or lazy in this matter was absolutely unacceptable.

After Sun Dafu finished speaking, he scanned the villagers, seemingly as a warning to those who were excessively selfish.

Immediately following this, Sun Dafu said

"Regarding the protection of the young seedlings this time, a few of us studied it for a long while and came up with two optional plans. Once I've finished explaining, we will all vote by a show of hands."

"The first plan is that every household in our Kaoshan Village must provide one young adult male to participate in the seedling protection operation unconditionally. Those who do not participate must pay 1 yuan per household per day until the protection period ends."

As soon as Sun Dafu finished these words, the expressions of the villagers immediately turned ugly. One yuan a day was truly a death sentence.

The main reason was that the common folk at this time were truly penniless; saying their pockets were cleaner than their faces might be a slight exaggeration, but it wasn't far off.

Household by household, any family that could produce thirty or fifty yuan was considered a wealthy household.

Of course, the hunters and those who carried poles for hire were exceptions.

Sun Dafu didn't pay any mind to the change in the villagers' expressions and continued

"The second plan is to do as in previous years, letting the village hunters and militia protect the seedlings. However, everyone knows how difficult this work is. Even putting aside the difficulty, the work certainly cannot be done for free, so appropriate compensation must be provided to them."

This time, after speaking, Sun Dafu began to scan the villagers one by one, as if searching for anyone out of step or any discordant voices.

Meeting Sun Dafu's sharp gaze, the crowd lowered their heads one after another.

However, as the old saying goes, "When there are a hundred people, there are a hundred different types," and this was especially evident in those who were extremely selfish.

Because just as Sun Dafu finished scanning the crowd and was about to explain the compensation method, a man in the village named Niu Qi spoke up

"Why bother with compensation? If they happen to kill another black bear, they'll become wealthy households in one go. Why would wealthy households need compensation?"

It had to be admitted that the way Niu Qi spoke made one absolutely want to hit him; he truly treated being unreasonable as if it were common sense.

Thus, the moment Sun Dafu heard this, he was instantly enraged and cursed directly

"Niu Laoqi, fuck your mother! You fucking know it's a 'maybe,' don't you? What if a black bear happens to lick you to death, are you going to pay for their life with yours? Besides, with a cowardly look like yours, no one would even want you to pay with your life, yet you still think you're so great."

Sun Dafu's words left Niu Qi no face at all; he had insulted Niu Qi quite ruthlessly.

After Sun Dafu finished, the accountant Li Youcai also said angrily

"Niu Laoqi, let me tell you, since you're so capable, you'll be counted as one of the people protecting the seedlings this year. You must go. Since you're so good at killing black bears, fine, let's do it your way—no matter how many you kill, they all belong to you. Not only will the black bears you kill be yours, but the compensation the village owes will certainly not be missing a cent for you."

After Li Youcai finished, someone in the meeting asked

"What if he doesn't catch any?"

Just as Li Youcai was about to speak, the militia captain Sun Xiangfeng, who rarely spoke, said through gritted teeth

"Doesn't catch any? That definitely won't do! If someone as capable as him can't catch any, how could anyone else? If he doesn't catch any, he can go to the farm for two years of reform. Dammit, the farms are short on workers right now."

No one expected that even Sun Xiangfeng, who usually didn't interfere in matters, would be this enraged; it showed just how infuriating Niu Qi's behavior was.

Moreover, while Sun Dafu's words had merely been a disregard for face, Sun Xiangfeng's words were a direct tearing of the skin—a killing blow.

The reason it was called a "killing blow" was that the farms in Heilongjiang Province were quite famous at this time.

However, while these farms were famous, a portion of that fame came from the "labor reform" that made people turn pale at the mere mention of it.

Mainly, there was basically no difference between the people sent to the farms and those locked behind fences.

It was just that sending a person to a farm was a quite arduous task.

Yet, such an arduous task was precisely something the village leaders could manage.

It was the final trump card used against villagers who were truly ungovernable.

As long as the village chief, the accountant, and other leaders, along with the militia, passed it by a collective vote and submitted authentic, effective, and concrete evidence, which was then verified by the township, they could send someone who didn't act like a human being and refused to follow leadership to a farm for reform.

However, such things happened rarely, because it created blood feuds. If the person came out and sought revenge, it simply wasn't worth it.

Someone like Niu Dali previously—if not for the former village chief Niu Yiqun protecting him, had the chief been anyone else, he might have been sent to a farm long ago, the kind you enter and never leave.

After Sun Xiangfeng finished, Sun Dafu added with a face full of annoyance

"Niu Laoqi, since you're so capable, we'll do as Xiangfeng said. I won't make it hard on you; as long as you can kill one black bear, you'll be considered qualified."

It had to be said that when these three joined forces, they could absolutely keep Kaoshan Village under firm control.

With this combination of punches, the extremely selfish Comrade Niu Qi was directly hoisted up.

It was a perfect execution of "shooting the bird that sticks its head out," or rather, "killing the chicken to warn the monkey."

Niu Qi squinted his small eyes and didn't dare speak, completely stunned.

Fortunately, this behavior of the three was exactly what the vast majority of people hoped to see.

The reason Sun Dafu could become the village chief was that he possessed great prestige in Kaoshan Village.

Most importantly, this man was very upright!

Ignoring the stunned Niu Qi, Sun Dafu continued

"Everyone, listen to me. Our compensation is also very simple. There are those 1,000 mu of wasteland intended to be contracted to our village; we will take 100 mu of that land as compensation and rewards for this seedling protection."

"We've done the math; our village's strength is relatively weak, with only 16 people total among the militia and hunters. So, each person will get 5 mu of land. But it's agreed: these 5 mu can only be farmed for 3 years."

"The remaining 10 mu will be reserved for those with the greatest merit and as compensation for those who are injured."