Chapter 66 Special Privileges of the Mountain Keeper

Zhou Haiming smiled and nodded, continuing, "That's right, you can understand it that way. Moreover, once he becomes a mountain patroller, he can go to the commune to collect ammunition and be issued a firearm."

"His primary responsibility will be dealing with the large wild beasts in the mountains around our Lotus Village."

"If he encounters something he cannot handle, as long as he discovers the tracks of wild beasts, he just needs to notify our forestry team immediately, and we will definitely rush over to help at the very first moment."

"As you know, the incident that happened at the logging farm previously served as a wake-up call for us. Whenever the bitter winter months arrive, those fierce large wild beasts become even more unbridled in their search for food."

"Take what happened in the neighboring village last year, for instance; just thinking about it still makes my hair stand on end!"

"Our forestry team is under immense pressure right now! After all, there are only three small squads responsible for this vast region."

"Each squad has at most twelve people, making a total of just thirty-six people for us all together. Yet we have to patrol such a huge area, making it simply impossible to look after every single village."

"Besides, that kid's marksmanship is simply miraculous; calling him a sharpshooter would be no exaggeration at all!"

At this point, a look of admiration and praise inevitably flowed into Zhou Haiming's eyes.

He could not even help imagining that if Linyang were given a more powerful Type 81 assault rifle, given this kid's daring and marksmanship, he might actually run off to raid bear dens every single day.

However, whether this would turn out to be a blessing or a curse was truly hard to predict.

With this thought, Zhou Haiming smiled and added, "What's more, mountain patrollers receive a monthly salary—thirty-eight yuan and sixty cents! In addition to that, oil coupons and grain coupons will be distributed every month."

"Although this compensation isn't exceptionally generous, it can still help the family improve their living conditions quite a bit."

Upon hearing this, the old village chief's eyes instantly lit up like sparkling stars in the night sky. He slapped his thigh excitedly and said in a loud voice, "Then it's settled! I'm going to find Old Lin Hai right now; when he hears this news, he'll probably be so happy he'll jump three feet high."

Great events bring refreshing cheer to the spirit.

At this moment, the old village chief was overflowing with joy, having long since cast Sun Daqiang's affairs to the farthest corners of the universe.

In his eyes, the Sun family was just like a piece of rat droppings in the village, ruining the atmosphere of the entire community.

If Sun Daqiang could be sent away, the village would become much more peaceful, essentially removing a major scourge.

Zhou Haiming then walked to the outskirts of the village and saw Linyang standing there from afar.

An expression of utmost sincerity immediately appeared on his face. He quickened his pace, walked forward, and said, "Little comrade, the village chief and I have already discussed and settled everything. From now on, you are the official mountain guardian of our village! Of course, around here, we call it a mountain patroller. As for this bear..."

At this point, Zhou Haiming changed the subject, looking at Linyang with a hint of inquiry in his eyes.

Linyang was exceptionally clever and instantly grasped Zhou Haiming's meaning.

Since the bear had been killed, there naturally had to be an appropriate explanation given.

Besides, since they were planning to arrange a mountain patroller job for him, paying a salary of over thirty yuan a month along with oil and grain coupons, it was only right for him to show some gesture in return.

As the saying goes, courtesy costs nothing, and even if they might not care much about these trifles, his own attitude had to be proper.

Linyang had never been a stingy person. He had already taken the most valuable and finest parts of the bear, and he did not feel particularly heartbroken over a bit of bear meat.

As for his previous plan to nourish his parents' health, he believed he could still go into the mountains to search for other good things.

Especially since he had previously discovered deer tracks in the mountains, though he had not been able to track them down yet.

He was already pondering in his heart that to catch a deer, he would need to get a formidable hunting hound.

His current system locking range was only fifty meters because the system had been upgraded to the intermediate level.

To advance to the advanced level, he would still need ten thousand transaction values.

The auto-aim skill was currently still at the primary level, and upgrading it to the intermediate level would require one thousand transaction values.

Through this experience of hunting a bear, he had gained a deeper understanding of the system's powerful functions.

The duty of a mountain guardian was to protect the peace of this mountain village and prevent large wild beasts from attacking it.

To put it bluntly, it meant patrolling the mountains frequently and reporting immediately upon discovering the traces of those large ferocious beasts.

If he had the capability to eliminate those large ferocious beasts directly, that would be a tremendous merit.

Just like in his previous life, Sun Daqiang had relied on deceit, getting people to procure a bear and a few mountain wolves, coupled with a glib tongue, to actually swindle an official iron rice bowl.

Unfortunately, paper could never wrap up fire; the shady and shameful deeds he committed were eventually exposed after all.

If he chose to live a stable life as a mountain guardian, he would even be allowed to carry a firearm with him all the way until the millennium.

After all, facing large and fierce wild beasts every day constituted a special circumstance, which called for special handling.

Moreover, mountain guardians possessed a special right: in emergency situations where large ferocious beasts threatened personal safety, they could directly open fire in self-defense.

However, after the millennium, regulations across various aspects would gradually become strict, and the weapons in the hands of mountain guardians would also be uniformly confiscated.

When the old village chief went to inform Linyang's family, he was jubilant the entire way.

He beamed as he told everyone he met that Linyang had successfully finished off the bear that had attacked the logging farm personnel and was now the village's official mountain guardian.

This news spread through the entire village like a gust of wind, and everyone curiously followed along to join in the excitement and watch the spectacle.

Lin Dahai and Zhao Guixiang were frantic with anxiety, running at the very front with hurried footsteps.

There was not the slightest trace of joy in their eyes; instead, they were completely filled with worry for their son.

Although the old village chief had repeatedly emphasized on the way that their son was uninjured, how could parents possibly not worry?

It was not until they saw from afar that Linyang was laughing and chatting happily with a dozen members of the forestry team that their hanging hearts finally settled down a little, and they hurriedly quickened their pace to rush over.

As soon as Zhao Guixiang reached the spot, ignoring the other people around, she immediately gave her son a thorough and meticulous check from top to bottom.

Upon confirming that her son was indeed completely unharmed, her tears could no longer be held back and spilled over.

She raised her hand and delivered a heavy slap to the back of Linyang's head, scolding him out of a mixture of heartache and anger:

"You little scoundrel, I don't know how many times your mother has nagged you not to go deep into the mountains because danger is everywhere. Did you just treat your mother's words as wind passing the ear?!"

"If you had met with any misfortune, how would your mother live out the rest of her life?"

Lin Dahai also let out a long breath of relief at this moment, his suspended heart finally falling back into his stomach.

Afterward, he grinned, revealing a gratified smile.

Although there was still some lingering fear in his heart, pride predominated.

He thought to himself that Linyang truly was his own flesh and blood, actually managing to kill a bear!

From now on, let's see who would still dare to look down on his son and call him a cowardly, good-for-nothing failure!