"Have me become a militiaman? Why don’t you ask if I can be town mayor?" This was the comment that slipped out of Yan Fei’s mouth, a beat after hearing Lin Baoguo’s proposal.
Out of all the unreliable ideas out there, Yan Fei was sure this was the most unreliable one he had ever heard.
"Why are you in such a rush? Just hear me out!" Lin Baoguo, looking at Yan Fei’s incredulous expression, felt a headache coming on. "The militia is not like being a full-time soldier, it won’t interfere with your schooling or cattle farming. There won’t be any significant operations regularly, just training once or twice during the agricultural off-season. Only in extraordinary emergencies, they will assemble and assist to maintain social stability."
After he finished, fearing Yan Fei may not understand, he further explained, "Just like during the incident with the giant serpent at our upstream paper factory. The armed personnel that arrived, most of them were actually militiamen."
"Really, they get to carry guns? Those who carry guns are all militiamen? Normally everything’s fine, but when there’s a problem, they issue guns for you to carry?" Immediately Yan Fei’s eyes lit up, but then that excitement faded almost as quickly. "Even if I have a gun, I wouldn’t join. I am too busy to become a militiaman!"
"It won’t disrupt your work much. Actually, the militia organization in our village had been relatively inactive before, almost disbanded. Now, given the frequent cattle thefts in rural areas and the lack of enough police, it’s impossible for every village to have security. So the county officials adopted this measure to have the militia reorganized, focusing mainly on assisting rural areas in preventing fires and thefts." Lin Baoguo patiently explained.
"But we don’t have cattle thefts in our village now, do we?" Yan Fei uttered this with pride. Indeed, the fact that there were no cattle thefts in Sancha River village was largely his achievement, though it was a shame that nobody else knew about it.
"When all other villages organize their militias to prevent fires and thefts, our village is the only one without one. Do you think the thieves are stupid? They’ll ignore our militiaman-less village to go steal from those villages that do have militias?"
"Well, that does make sense." Yan Fei sort of agreed with Lin Baoguo. It was like when nobody’s home, all other houses were locked, but you left your front door wide open. Wasn’t it an invitation to be robbed?
"As long as you understand. You know you’re underage, but you’re a special case. Because of your past experience in catching cattle thieves, you being a major cattle farmer in our village, enlisting you will solidify our militia’s organization." Lin Baoguo nodded in satisfaction.
"So, I’ve become a major cattle farmer in our village now?" Yan Fei said delightedly, then shifted his tone. "No matter how much you praise me, it won’t work. If there’s a thief, I’ll definitely catch them, but I won’t obey your commands. What if I’m busy and suddenly you guys have something going on, can I still manage to deal with it?"
"Oh... Can’t your consciousness be raised a bit? How often would you be used in a year? The real villagers have to patrol their own villages regularly, but you, living in the town, don’t need to do anything. Only during emergencies, you just have to help out, and you’re still reluctant?" Lin Baoguo nearly choked with anger at his words, instantly frustrated.
He thought he finally saw the light! Who knew it was not the case at all!
"No way! Even if you rush me, no means no! Anyway, I am not of age, so you don’t have the authority to conscript me. You need to be at least eighteen to join the army! You don’t think I know that. Hmph, my wife is a..."
"Get out! I know your wife is a student at the Provincial University Law School, you don’t need to remind me everyday!" Lin Baoguo once again felt this guy was his nemesis, was sent by the heavens to test him.
"If you want me to leave, then fine!" Yan Fei casually stood up, tidied up a few empty dishes, and walked towards the kitchen.
"Are you a mule? Can’t be led, only budge when there’s a stick?" As this guy really seemed to be leaving, Lin Baoguo was starting to panic.
Just as he turned around, Yan Fei reappeared with a small basin full of what looked like braised pork. The dish was so mouth-watering and appetizing that it would whet anyone’s appetite at first glance.
Fortunately, this guy still had some manners, as he handed Lin Baoguo a pair of chopsticks: "Give it a try, it’s definitely something you’ve never had before."
Lin Baoguo felt he needed to eat something to repress his anger, so he boldly took a big bite.
The meat was tender, smooth and delicious, truly unique!
Even though he had just finished his meal, after one piece, he couldn’t resist to have another one. After two large chunks of meat, he felt a bit bloated — the meat was simply too big.
"What kind of meat is this?" Putting down his chopsticks begrudgingly, Lin Baoguo asked.
"Python meat! An enormous python! The same one you just mentioned!" Yan Fei, knowing Lin Baoguo has never had this type of meat, uttered.
Lin Baoguo’s bloating suddenly went away: "What? That python made its way to us? When did this happen?"
"Look at you being a station chief! It’s just a python. You seem terrified. Ok, ok, it’s not that giant python. It’s just a small python I ran into when hanging out by the reservoir. Look at you getting all worked up!" Yan Fei immediately corrected himself, the big python quickly turned into a small one.
"What are you doing by the reservoir? Did you catch it yourself? Can’t you just let us have some peace of mind and stop doing these dangerous things? Also, aren’t you aware that pythons are a protected species, you can’t just capture them to eat..."