Volume One, Chapter 8: He Must Be Faster Than Us
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By the time the Seventh Production Brigade was distributing pork, dawn had already broken. Half the village had gathered outside the production team’s office, eyes fixed on the wild boar meat laid out on the long table, their mouths watering uncontrollably.
Last night, Dongfang Shen had only slept five hours, yet he felt wide awake now.
Energetic as an eighteen-year-old!
Standing in front of everyone, Dongfang Shen announced, “This wild boar weighs 250 jin! After removing the teeth and fur, and deducting the amount owed to the team’s quota, there are 203 jin left!”
“The boar was shot by Ao Dong Shen, so his family will receive fifteen jin!”
“We will also reward the Shen family with work points based on this year’s task pork quota!”
“The rest of the pork will be distributed by household! Line up, sign the register, and then come collect it!”
Having emphasized these points, Dongfang Shen cheerfully chatted with everyone, praising Ao Dong for being so much like his father—his marksmanship was impeccable!
Secretly, there was also a hint of self-praise for his strategic brilliance.
After all, he had just handed the hunting rifle to Ao Dong, and Ao Dong had immediately bagged such a hefty, robust wild boar!
What he said turned into an incomprehensible babble in the ears of the villagers—they only saw the meat!
This year, because the production team fell short on the task pork quota, every household had received less pork than usual.
The villagers were worried about having a tight year, but unexpectedly, the wild boar appeared!
“Before they skinned and cleaned it, the boar stank terribly! Now the smell isn’t so strong.”
“Look at this meat, the texture is even finer and more tender than any wild boar we’ve caught before; it should take less firewood to stew!”
“If you hadn’t said it, I wouldn’t have guessed it was wild boar. This looks even more tender than the task pork we usually get.”
When every family brought the meat home, boiled water, cooked vegetables, and simmered the pork soup, the villagers slowly came to their senses.
“I heard this boar was shot by Ao Dong Shen?”
“That boy is a bit slow, but who would’ve thought he inherited his father’s shooting skills?”
“Inherited? When Lao Er Shen passed away, the boy was still dazed, barely able to learn much.”
“So by your logic, Ao Dong is a genius then!”
“Genius or not, their family definitely made up the difference in work points this year thanks to this boar.”
“Yeah, I heard Dongfang Shen opened the team granary and gave them twenty jin of grain!”
“Looks like the Shen family’s days are finally going to get better.”
All across Shuangjingping Village, the atmosphere was filled with joy.
Neighbors came to congratulate Lan Fang Li, while Ling Shuang Shen listened at the door with a heart full of happiness.
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But Ying Xue Shen quietly reminded her, “Sister, it seems like big brother isn’t happy.”
“Huh?” Ling Shuang Shen was momentarily stunned.
Taking the chance to fetch some hot water, she sneaked a look at Ao Dong Shen chopping firewood.
He wasn’t very spirited.
Though surrounded by praise, his brow was clouded with gloom.
Ling Shuang Shen immediately recalled the last shot that hit the wild boar the previous night.
She had just finished pleading with the system when her brother shot the boar.
Was that shot really his, or was it the system’s doing?
Ling Shuang Shen quietly hid in the kitchen corner and asked the system, “Afu Afu! Was that last shot last night you?”
Afu: [It was Afu guiding the owner’s brother to shoot!]
Ling Shuang Shen was puzzled. “Guiding how?”
Afu: [Afu cannot enter the owner’s world but can give strong psychological suggestions, forcing him to curl his finger and pull the trigger!]
Ling Shuang Shen: “……”
Forced, huh?
No wonder her brother was troubled.
Afu thoughtfully added: [Proxy shooting service consumes 200 blessing points.]
[After the owner exchanged for the wild boar yesterday, remaining blessing points: 560.]
Just one night, half of the blessing points were used.
But Ling Shuang Shen didn’t mind.
For 200 blessing points, saving her and her brother from danger was well worth it.
However, proxy shooting causing her brother to become withdrawn was a problem.
Would this give him a new mental burden?
No!
Her brother—she would protect him!
...
After dark, Ao Dong’s worries seemed even heavier.
Ling Shuang Shen pretended not to notice and urged him to go up the mountain.
“Brother, I brought a knife today! No matter what we meet, it won’t be a match for us!”
Ao Dong frowned. “From now on, I have to patrol the mountain every day. Will you come with me every day?”
“You wish!” Ling Shuang Shen wrapped a scarf around her neck, muttering, “It’s just because it’s winter break that I’m going out with you now. Once school starts, I’ll go to bed early every day and won’t be coming with you!”
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Her words seemed to sway Ao Dong; he grunted softly, tidied up, and they began to ascend.
Just as the siblings reached the foot of the mountain, Ao Dong suddenly turned back and looked behind. “Who’s there?”
Ling Shuang Shen was startled and raised her firewood knife.
But she saw no one.
Had her brother become jumpy after being scared by the boar yesterday?
She was about to persuade him to rest today and go tomorrow when suddenly a figure emerged from behind a nearby tree.
Ling Shuang Shen’s eyes widened. She took two steps forward to meet the newcomer. “Xianglin Gu? What are you doing here?”
Gu Xianglin hurried over, explaining, “I mean no harm, I just want to come up the mountain with you.”
As he spoke, he brushed past Ling Shuang Shen.
His eyes were bright as stars, but unfortunately, they were fixed solely on Ao Dong.
Ao Dong, standing 1.87 meters tall, noticed the small gestures of these two kids—one smiling disdainfully, the other coldly indifferent.
“Ling Shuang.”
He called Ling Shuang back and pulled her behind him.
Then, frowning deeply, he said to Gu Xianglin, “Patrolling the mountain is hard and unsafe; you better not come along. If anything happens, I won’t be able to answer to your father.”
“I can take care of myself!” Gu Xianglin pulled out a palm-sized slingshot from his pocket and jingled the small stones inside.
“Brother Ao Dong, I promise I won’t slow you down!”
He glanced subtly behind Ao Dong and added, “Maybe I can even help you.”
“Not today,” Ao Dong firmly refused. “I already have one extra person with me, and adding you will distract me. Then no one will be safe. So, maybe next time.”
Gu Xianglin pressed his lips tightly, looking determined.
Ling Shuang poked her head from behind Ao Dong and pleaded, “Brother, please bring him! He can climb trees, and if we run into a wild boar again, he can definitely run faster than both of us!”
Gu Xianglin: “…”
Ao Dong: “…”
Seeing joking was useless, Ling Shuang switched to a serious tone. “Brother, you can tell how stubborn he is. Even if you don’t agree, he’ll come on his own. If it’s dark and you mistake him for prey and shoot him, that would be terrifying!”
Ao Dong’s frown deepened.
But Gu Xianglin couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, Brother Ao Dong, just let me come along! I’ll stay behind and won’t cause you any trouble!”