A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

After seeing off the two bigwigs, the people of Jiangjia Village continued their farm work as usual.

For them, being able to meet with high-ranking leaders is like throwing a pebble into a calm lake, creating a ripple.

That's it.

Jiangxia, who hadn't worked in a long time, spent the afternoon carrying water with Wuzhu to the cornfield halfway up the mountain. His whole body was sunburned.

Uncle Jiang felt sorry for Jiang Xia and specially climbed to the top of the mountain to pick some herbs for her.

He crushed the herbs and smeared them on Jiang Xia's body, saying with a serious expression to Grandma Jiang, "Auntie, while gathering herbs, I found some fresh footprints. They look like wild boar's!"

Jiang Xia grimaced from the sting of the herbs, but strangely enough, as soon as the herbs were applied, his skin felt a stinging pain, but soon he felt a cool sensation.

It felt like I'd taken a cold shower.

Wu Zhu, who was squatting to the side watching Jiang Xia, was amused. Upon hearing this, his eyes lit up: "That's perfect! Let's go and capture it for a meal!"

Grandma Jiang shook her head: "No rush, Sixth Brother, can you tell how many heads there are?"

Uncle Jiang lowered his head and thought for a moment: "Judging from the footprints, there should be 7 or 8 animals, all adults. Large chunks of the bark and grass roots around them have been gnawed off. They all look extremely hungry."

"Auntie, do you think it could be that group from Xiawa Commune?"

Grandma Jiang nodded: "Pretty much. The area over there is only two hills away from us. They must have jumped over to our side."

Uncle Jiang's expression also turned serious: "Then this will be difficult to handle."

"What's so difficult about it! We'll just grab our guns and run a few shots and be done with it."

"This is because the Mountain God saw that there was a happy event in our Jiangjia Village, so he drove these pigs over to give us some sweet food!"

Upon hearing that there were so many pigs, Wu Zhu stood up excitedly and wanted to find someone to go hunting in the mountains.

Uncle Jiang ignored him and continued to apply the herbs to Jiang Xia's body.

"If you want to die, go up the mountain."

"These pigs injured five people in Xiawa Commune a while ago. They ravaged their farmland."

Later, their commune organized a search party, using Type 56 rifles. They fired a dozen shots, leaving only a young child alive. The rest all fled.

Wu Zhu clicked his tongue in amazement, "Isn't this a spirit?"

Uncle Jiang snorted coldly, "In the mountains and forests, there's one pig, two tigers, and three bears. Do you think the old sayings are just nonsense?"

Those big pigs were covered in an unknown amount of pine resin.

I reckon they've got their eyes on the cornfields halfway up the hill.

Grandma Jiang nodded, took out the Mauser pistol from her waist and gently wiped it: "Look at them, they're even gnawing on tree bark, they must be starving."

"Have more people keep watch tonight, let's make sure they don't come back alive!"

The stars were sparse, and a torch was stuck in the cornfield halfway up the mountain in Jiangjia Village.

The flames flickered in the wind, casting an uncertain light on Jiang Xia's face.

"Sure enough, it's here!"

A group of wild boars, two large and five small, emerged from the mountain ridge, snorting.

Jiang Dazhu held the 56-and-a-half-inch pistol, adjusted the scale, and aimed it.

Grandma Jiang grabbed her arm and said, "Let them in, but don't let a single one escape. These pigs are stubborn; if we let any get away, it'll be disastrous!"

He then gestured to Uncle Jiang, who nodded. He led several villagers in a circle, subtly forming an encirclement.

Jiang Dazhu and the others also crawled on the ground for a distance.

Only Jiang Xia was intentionally or unintentionally protected behind everyone.

The wild boars on the mountain ridge grunted for a while, as if they were communicating.

But in the end, they couldn't resist the temptation of fresh corn stalks, so they lined up with the two larger ends in front and the five smaller ends behind, walking down the hillside in a straight line.

Halfway there, the two big pigs at the front of the line lowered their heads and crashed into the cornfield with a loud rumble, like small tanks.

It opened its tusk-filled mouth and began to gnaw on the fresh corn.

While munching, it also looked around warily.

Everyone felt a pang of heartache at the sight, but Grandma Jiang was determined to keep all those beasts alive. The smaller ones were still lingering behind; firing a shot now would be too risky.

After all, there aren't any sharpshooters like those in TV dramas here, the kind who can kill someone with a single shot from 8 kilometers away.

Everyone held their breath and waited quietly for the best opportunity.

The lead pig took a few more steps into the field, as if it felt safe. It turned its rear end towards the piglets behind it and grunted.

As if receiving instructions to feed the piglets, they happily ran into the cornfield one by one.

Grandma Jiang's eyes sharpened; she knew the time had come.

She winked at Jiang Dazhu, signaling him to prepare to fire. Jiang Dazhu took a deep breath, steadily raised his Type 56 semi-automatic rifle, and aimed at the large wild boar in the foreground.

Just then, Uncle Jiang and the other villagers quietly completed the encirclement, waiting only for Grandma Jiang's order.

Grandma Jiang looked around to make sure everyone was in place, then whispered to Dazhu, "You to the left, I'll be on the right, get ready."

"beat!"

Jiang Dazhu immediately pulled the trigger. The Type 56 submachine gun fired with a dull thud, the bullet striking the lead wild boar squarely in the neck. The boar let out a piercing scream and collapsed to the ground.

On the other side, a splash of blood gushed from the eye socket.

He was hit in the eye socket and was knocked down without even letting out a roar, lying motionless on the ground.

The man who had been shot in the neck gasped for breath, but somehow managed to get back up.

A large head was aimed at Jiang Dazhu, ready to charge at him.

Jiang Dazhu remained calm in the face of danger, pulled the bolt, and fired the gun—bang, bang, bang!

A series of bullets splattered blood onto the wild boar.

One bullet even hit him in the forehead.

But the wild boar must have rubbed something against its head, because the bullet just wouldn't go in. It was stuck there, clearly visible, with half of its rear end sticking out.

Jiang Dazhu cursed under his breath, rolled to the side, and tried to dodge by pulling Jiang Xia behind him.

"Snapped!"

A crisp gunshot.

Blood gushed from the wild boar's eye sockets again, and its body, which hadn't even started running, collapsed limply.

"clap clap"

Three more shots rang out as bullets pierced the boar's head through the bullet hole, ripping open its skull.

"Hmph, looking for death!"

Grandma Jiang helped Jiang Xia up, glancing disdainfully at the collapsed wild boar.

"Grandma is awesome! Grandma is so powerful!"

Grandma Jiang affectionately tugged Jiang Xia's ear: "Little rascal, were you scared?"

Jiang Xia shook his head, only looking longingly at the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle in Jiang Dazhu's hand.

He had originally hoped to get his hands on a gun and fire a couple of bullets for fun. But Grandma Jiang absolutely refused, saying that seeing blood with a gun would make people stupid.

Uncle Jiang and his group also finished their encirclement and capture, and one of them came over dragging a piglet.

"Wow, this guy must weigh more than 300 pounds!"

Jiang Erzhu kicked the wild boar and said to Grandma Jiang, "Grandma, it has to be you!"

Jiang Sizhu then pulled a sharp knife from his waist and began to bleed the wild boar.

Grandma Jiang frowned. "Alright, the rest is up to you. Keep the pig's stomach, bury the rest."

After saying that, he grabbed Jiang Xia and started walking back.

Jiang Xia was still a little reluctant to leave. It was his first time hunting, and he hadn't even gotten to touch a gun, let alone see a pig being slaughtered. What a loss!

But Grandma Jiang said, "It's getting dark, and I can't even see the road. What if this old woman falls down the mountain?"

Jiang Xia could only obediently help the old lady downstairs.

Well, given the old lady's marksmanship—she always shoots pigs in the eye sockets—it's perfectly reasonable that she can't see the road clearly.