1940s: I supported my wife and sister-in-law by hunting.

As soon as Zhao Guanqun said this, the sled fell silent.

Xie Chengliang immediately frowned and reached out to grab Zhao Guanqun's arm.

"Old Zhao, are you crazy? You're the company commander of the Second Company, the backbone of the whole unit. If you go and act as bait, what will happen to the Second Company if something goes wrong?"

The young soldiers following behind, hearing this, also became anxious.

How sinister must this man-eating tiger be?

Several platoon leaders hurried over to the sled and joined in the persuasion.

"Company commander, let's try a different approach. You can't take the risk; if you must go, let me go. I'm younger and more agile than you."

He waved his hand. "Don't try to persuade me. I know what I'm doing. It's precisely because I'm the company commander that I should be at the forefront. Soldiers are soldiers, and civilians are civilians."

"What are we soldiers doing, carrying guns and cannons? Isn't it to protect the people? If it makes the villagers live in constant fear, afraid to sleep at night, afraid to go out during the day, afraid to close their eyes—that's not the discipline of our unit."

Zhao Guanqun took a deep breath and looked at the mountains and forests ahead.

"It won't take the bait with wild boar meat, which means this tiger has become a spirit. It's picky about food and only recognizes people. There's no quick way except to lure it with a living person. If we drag this out any longer, the villagers in that village might suffer again tonight."

No wonder Eighth Master Gray is so popular; he's truly willing to risk his life for his fellow villagers. Can any other team do that?

He's absolutely right. In the current situation, this is the only quick, ruthless, and risky move.

Chen Gaoshan tightened the reins, slowing the sled down, and looked back at him.

"Company Commander Zhao, are you really sure? Let me tell you this: you can't afford to be careless when you encounter a man-eating tiger. Once it shows up, it's either it or you. No matter how fast the people lying in ambush behind you are, they might not be able to protect you in time."

Zhao Guanqun nodded without hesitation.

"I've made up my mind, Brother Gaoshan. You're an old hunter from the mountains. You just lead the brothers to set up the ambush, and I'll go ahead and lure that beast out!"

Xie Chengliang saw that he had made up his mind, and he knew what kind of person the Second Company Commander was. Once he made up his mind, nothing could change it.

"Alright, since you've made up your mind, we'll stick by your side and protect you no matter what."

The Eighth Master Gray Warriors marched at a brisk pace, not daring to rest even for a moment to catch their breath.

In less than an hour, a company of men arrived at the entrance of Nangou Village.

Without further ado, everyone hurried toward Jiapigou.

A group of people trudged through the thick snow and followed the gully, and soon arrived at the place north of the gully where the man-eating tiger had previously been causing harm.

Chen Gaoshan stood in the snowdrift, his face grim, and told the patrol team brothers, as well as Old Zhang and Zhang Baoguo from Jiapigou, about the latest events.

"Not only did our Jiapigou suffer, ravaged by those man-eating mountain beasts, but the neighboring Xiajiabaozi suffered even worse, losing two villagers as well."

As soon as he finished speaking, both father and son turned pale, their hearts pounding.

Old Zhang rubbed his two hands, which were red from the cold, and pulled Gao Shan closer to discuss the matter.

"Shanzi, look at all these comrades from the Eighth Master's Gray Army have come back to support us. I'm thinking, why don't we just let those guys from your village's patrol team stay in Jiapigou to guard the village?"

Once you go into the mountains to hunt tigers, nobody knows how many days you'll be gone. The snow is heavy in the mountains, and anything can happen. There aren't enough people in Jiapigou Valley; those few guns are simply not enough.

Now everyone in the village is terrified. They stay inside during the day, afraid to go out. Every family is on edge. At night, with no one watching over them, we really don't feel safe."

Chen Gaoshan nodded decisively.

"Uncle Zhang, we're on the same page. Let's do as you say. This time, Uncle Wanzhong and I will go with the team into the mountains. Xiao Kouzi, Qian Zhuizi, and the others will all stay behind to guard the village and protect Jiapi Gully with the villagers."

Standing to the side, Zhang Baoguo's heart was pounding wildly, and his throat felt tight.

He clenched his fists, something weighing on his mind, and opened his mouth as if to say something. "Shanzi, I... I have something I want to tell you..."

But the words were already on the tip of his tongue, yet he hesitated and swallowed them back down, lowering his head and not daring to utter a sound, looking indecisive.

Old Zhang glanced at his son's cowardly appearance and assumed he was terrified of encountering a man-eating tiger in the mountains. He immediately became angry and started scolding him.

"Look at you, what are you dawdling about? This is our own disaster, our own misfortune, and the Zhang family must take the lead."

Stop acting like a spineless wimp. If you dare to back down, you're not a true member of the Zhang family.

After scolding his son, Old Zhang immediately changed to a grateful expression, turned around and shook Zhao Guanqun's hand.

The old man gripped it very tightly.

"Company Commander Zhao, we in Jiapigou really owe you a huge favor this time, and we've troubled you to come all this way. You wait here, I'll go back to the village right away and give a shout, and get all the old women in the valley to get moving and make pancakes for every household! Prepare plenty of dry rations for you comrades and Shanzi and the others, no matter what happens on the way into the mountains, you can't go hungry."

The group had left in such a hurry that no one had prepared any food. Zhao Guanqun shook hands with the old man.

"Sir, we appreciate the flatbread and we do need it. But we can't break the rules. We, the Eighth Master, have iron discipline. We will not take a single needle or thread or a single grain of food from the people. We absolutely cannot eat or take for free. We must pay for this dry food."

Upon hearing this, Old Zhang's eyes immediately welled up with tears. He raised his hand to wipe the corner of his eye, his heart warmed by the warmth.

Having lived most of my life, I've seen all sorts of teams and soldiers, and there are countless instances of people robbing grain and other goods. But I've never seen such a disciplined team that protects the common people like this!

"Now I completely understand why everyone praises you as the people's team. You truly protect us poor folks."

"You really stood up for us; you helped me out, we're so grateful, how could we possibly take your money? That's absolutely unacceptable."

Zhao Guanqun didn't waste any more words with him. He smiled, took out five Northeast Bank notes from his inner pocket, and forced them into Old Zhang's hand.

"Sir, rules are rules, you must accept this money!"

Old Zhang took it blankly, spread out the paper bills, and squinted at them in the sunlight to examine them carefully.

Each note had a face value of one thousand dollars, just like the red banknotes, all of which were such a large sum of money, and looked quite intimidating.

He secretly felt a little disappointed.

I was hoping they'd give me two silver dollars, but all they gave me was this piece of paper. Can I even spend this?

But then he tried to console himself.

Eighth Master Gray's gang was poor to begin with, and they didn't take advantage of ordinary people, so it was normal for them to live in poverty.

In these surrounding villages, people basically don't exchange money or goods; they barter for everything.

Besides, in those days, silver dollars were only used for large purchases in the countryside, such as buying cattle, horses, and land. Who used silver dollars for everyday small expenses?

The old red banknotes that my family had saved up in the early years are now worthless!

Bao Guo's mother felt it was a waste to throw them away, so she used them all as lining paper for the walls and ceilings.