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"We’re old now, having gone through national calamities and all kinds of disasters. Seeing our remaining offspring, we only cautiously protect them, fearing their premature deaths, afraid that one day we won’t be vigilant enough, and they’ll be harmed!"
An octogenarian, upon hearing Yan Jinsu’s impassioned rhetoric, felt the last of his weakness peeled away, tears welling up as he spoke hoarsely.
"I..." As soon as Yan Jinsu saw the elderly gentleman speak a few words, she became tearful, which startled her, and she stood in front of him like a child who had made a mistake, restrained and uneasy.
The Old Master Xie was over eighty years old; she hoped she hadn’t upset him!
It took a while before the old man stopped crying and began to speak slowly, in a hoarse, aged voice:
"Some things, if you pay heed, it’s fate! If fate has not decreed it, do not force it!
We, the older generation, have watched our children die one after another. Which one of us did not raise them with careful protection?
But we only sheltered them under our wings, the only protection we could provide was from human harm.
Yet, in life, there are natural disasters and diseases to contend with!
If we do not properly cultivate our children’s instincts from a young age, accidents will always occur unexpectedly..."
Another elderly man sitting next to the old man, somewhat younger but also in his seventies, a clan elder from the third branch of the Zhou family, continued the conversation started by the elder from the fifth branch of the Xie Family, with a sigh:
"Just as Grand Master Xie has said, the more we fear, the more ferocious the problems become! Only by hardening ourselves, by daring to face all difficulties, can life be miraculous—
Children, you all shrink within this tiny place, afraid to confront hardships, afraid to meet challenges head-on. This time it’s the Wild Wolf returning; what will it be the next time?"
"We’re not as clear-sighted as a little girl!
Today, you fear for your children’s safety in the mountains, not daring to let them face danger because you yourselves are afraid of it, not strong enough inside. When the wolf comes, you all panic!
Had you dared yesterday to pick up the weapons at hand, to teach your children martial skills from a young age, to toughen their bodies and rouse their spirit, today when the wolf comes, you’d only say, ’Let’s go, Dad will take you wolf hunting!’
This is the difference!" Old Master Xie sighed, addressing Zhou Weimin and Xie Jingqiang:
"In the past, we feared the nation would burn and destroy our ancestral inheritance. Now, the national policies are different! Have you all given up, and do you intend to let your children and grandchildren continue to grow weaker generation after generation?"
"No! Elder, how could we..."
"Good! Then let’s decide. As long as half of the clan and village elders support, we will open the armory! Just as Jingchen’s wife has said, we have the Xie Family for literature and the Zhou family for martial prowess. The literary and martial traditions of our two families have been allied for a century; what kind of danger have we not faced? Could it be that we truly fear a pack of wolves?"
"I support!" "I support!" ...
"I support, too! If we don’t revitalize the martial prowess of our Zhou family soon, I fear my martial arts will truly go to waste!"
Yan Jinsu was most proactive, picking two men with unrelated surnames, along with Mrs. Zhou and her eldest daughter-in-law, to head into the mountains. It wasn’t far until she took them to her usual hunting traps and taught them the principles behind setting them.
They were instructed to collect some firewood on the side; the women dug up wild vegetables and picked mountain delicacies, while she, in the eyes of the four, took a sickle and after leaving for about ten minutes, returned with two wild chickens. Handing them to the women for preparation, in another ten minutes, she brought back three badgers and roe deer.
The mountains nowadays had plenty of badgers and roe deer because Yan Jinsu generally didn’t hunt these two creatures, finding their meat greasy and not to her taste, and she preferred not to bring them back.
If it weren’t for the fact that only bringing back wild chickens was too monotonous, she wouldn’t even want to hunt rabbits.
She only enjoyed eating wild chicken for its firm and tender meat.
After several trips, Yan Jinsu left and returned four times, bringing back two rabbits and two large blackfish, astonishing the four individuals.
After the two men carried the firewood down the mountain, about half an hour later, she set four new traps capturing two small game animals, one a mountain bamboo rat and the other a rabbit. The latter was fine, but the former made Yan Jinsu frown.
She made up her mind that she would not be eating at the village committee today!
Rats, how disgusting! In fact, although the mountain bamboo rat is called a rat, it is not really the same species as a common rat, but just hearing the word ’rat’ made Yan Jinsu frown.
Ah, she didn’t really consider eating at the village committee anyway...
Now that it wasn’t the apocalypse, Yan Jinsu never thought to compromise her dietary preferences.
Feeling that her tasks were completed, Yan Jinsu led the people back to the village committee.
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