Chapter 838: Playing Along

Around 7:30 in the morning, the people coming to take over the shift for protecting the young crops arrived.

The ones who arrived were the two brothers, Sun Xiangfeng and Sun Xiangwen.

As soon as they met, Sun Xiangfeng said to Wang An and his brother with a face full of smiles

"You two brothers are truly *xiehu*! You just went into the fields yesterday and killed that many wild boars. I'm afraid we brothers are going to get gored by boars now, hahahaha!"

Under normal circumstances, Sun Xiangfeng was a man of few words. The fact that he was taking the initiative to speak this time clearly showed that he was shocked by the harvest of Wang An and Wang Li.

Actually, the word "*xiehu*" was pronounced as "*xiehu*" in the local dialect.

The meaning of this word was similar to "formidable," "badass," or "fierce," but the degree was deeper than "formidable" or "badass," though just below the level of "fierce."

Of course, none of that mattered; the locals all understood.

Hearing this, Wang An said with a chuckle

"I was just so angry yesterday. More than one mu of our family's wheat was ruined by wild boars. In a fit of rage, the two of us took the dogs and chased the pigs, hehehehe."

Sun Xiangfeng said, appearing very pleased

"This piece of land probably won't have any issues until the autumn harvest, hahaha. That's great, truly great."

Wang An was stunned for a moment and instinctively asked

"What do you mean, Uncle Sun? This land doesn't need to be watched anymore?"

The reason Wang An didn't understand was that in his previous life, he had never participated in protecting young crops, so he had no idea what the rules of this practice were.

Sun Xiangfeng explained

"It's not that it doesn't need to be watched. Generally, the wild boars that ruin crops in a certain area belong to only one litter. If you can kill off that entire litter, then for a short period of time, this area will be safe. Usually, other wild boars won't come."

After Sun Xiangfeng finished speaking, Wang Li asked blankly

"Then why, during the annual crop protection, don't people just go into the mountains and kill the boars? Just standing guard in the fields every day is such a hassle."

Before Sun Xiangfeng could speak, Sun Xiangwen said with a bitter smile

"Look at what you're saying. Who wouldn't want to go into the mountains and kill all the boars? Is it that easy to hunt them? Do you think everyone is as *xiehu* as you two brothers? You actually managed to take down a whole group in one go."

It was clear that Sun Xiangwen was telling the truth, as his tone was noticeably sour and envious, though not jealous.

After Sun Xiangwen finished, Sun Xiangfeng added helplessly

"In previous years when we protected the crops, we wouldn't even see a shadow of a wild boar during the day. It was only around one or two in the morning that we'd occasionally kill one or two with random shots. Usually, we couldn't even kill a single boar."

Once Sun Xiangfeng finished, Sun Xiangwen added in a sour tone

"If everyone had your skills, we wouldn't need to protect the crops every year. Every year at this time, we could just find the boar dens and wipe them out, and that would be the end of it."

Wang An nodded and said

"That's true. This time, our dogs did the heavy lifting. Otherwise, that group of boars would indeed have been hard to find."

What Wang An said was a fact. Without the dogs tracking the scent, Wang An and Wang Li would never have found the location of the boars.

Sun Xiangfeng sighed and continued

"With my marksmanship, killing a boar isn't hard, but these things are truly difficult to find. Sometimes I wander around all day and don't even see a single boar hair, damn it."

It had to be admitted that Sun Xiangfeng's words made a lot of sense.

When everyone has a gun, the act of killing prey is, in essence, very simple.

You just blast it with the gun; who doesn't know how to do that?

But "killing prey" and "hunting" are two completely different things.

The most time-consuming and difficult part is finding the prey.

Otherwise, no matter how divine your marksmanship is or if you never miss a shot, you might spend a whole day in the mountains without firing a single bullet, eventually returning empty-handed.

Thus, Wang An and Wang Li nodded in agreement and did not argue.

Mainly, if they hadn't relied on Da Hei and Xiao Hei to track and scent the prey, they would have been stuck waiting in the crop fields, unable to do anything.

Because during this season, you couldn't perform a "perimeter sweep."

Who could have imagined that after ruining the crops, the wild boars would travel so far before stopping.

After a while, Sun Xiangfeng said with a face full of anticipation

"Xiao An, how about we discuss something?"

Wang An blinked and asked with a hint of caution

"What is it, Uncle Sun? Tell me."

It must be said that although Sun Xiangfeng was usually quiet and didn't manage much in the militia squad, he was a very decent person.

Simply put, he was straightforward, just like his uncle Sun Dafu, and didn't like playing games.

After Wang An asked, Sun Xiangfeng said

"I was thinking we could get a few people together and do a sweep around our village to clear out all the wild boars nearby. Once that's done, everyone can be at ease."

Hearing this, Wang An couldn't help but feel uneasy, and a refusal almost slipped out of his mouth.

Ever since the incident with Li Biao, Wang An had become very wary of partnering up for mountain trips.

Mainly, Wang An discovered that whether it was hunting in the mountains or doing anything else, as long as one idiot appeared in the team, the entire team was basically wasted.

To put it bluntly, staying in such a team was far less practical than working alone.

However, refusing directly would make Sun Xiangfeng lose face. So, after a couple of forced laughs, Wang An's mind raced to figure out how to phrase the refusal.

Just then, Wang Li suddenly spoke up sensibly

"Uncle Sun, to be honest, when it comes to hunting, we can't trust anyone. Besides, bullets don't have eyes. If someone accidentally gets hit, wouldn't that be a disaster?"

After Wang Li finished, Wang An said to him in a complaining tone

"What are you saying, Lao Wu? Even if we aren't joining in, you can't put it that way. Uncle Sun isn't an outsider."

However, although Wang An said this, the intent to refuse was instantly conveyed.

It had to be said that this "good cop, bad cop" routine was actually quite effective.

As mountain people, who didn't know that for a mountain trip, "the people must be in harmony and the heart must be aligned"?

So, although it was obvious that Wang An and Wang Li were playing off each other, Sun Xiangfeng didn't get irritated, and even Sun Xiangwen wore an expression of complete understanding.

It had to be admitted that Sun Xiangfeng truly had good intentions and was genuinely trying to solve a problem for the villagers, but involving everyone in the matter changed the nature of the task entirely.

(End of Chapter)