Good Man Operation Guide

“The only other thing that can be done is to sell things. But you’ve seen the vegetable farmers on our street; first of all, you would have to tend to your family’s land. Do you all know how to do that?”

Only two people in the group said they knew.

For an era where having land was more important than owning a house, a large number of them chose to become ruffians, whom people despise and fear, simply because they didn’t have land.

Oh, not quite right. Ruffians, who were once looked down upon and feared.

Everyone messily started to put forth ideas but were all rejected one by one.

By the end, everyone’s self-confidence was completely wiped out.

They hadn’t realized until now that they, once so dashing and unrestrained, who came with the wind and went with the rain, were such losers who couldn’t accomplish anything.

Finally, Liu Zi tentatively came up with an idea, “Why don’t we ask Shi-ge if there’s any solution?”

“Shi-ge is the smartest and our boss, so he might be able to figure out a way out.”

Everyone’s expression suddenly froze.

“That’s right! How did we forget about Shi-ge? This time, if it wasn’t for Shi-ge’s reminder, we’d be squatting in jail right now.”

“Previously, I thought Shi-ge could only fight, but who knew his mind was so flexible.”

“Okay, Shi-ge typically comes to the county in the afternoon. We’ll ask him at that time to give us some advice. Then we may be able to do something about it, but if it’s really not possible… Didn’t Shi-ge say he wanted to go to Shanghai before? After all, I have nothing tying me down, I may as well go with him. Even if I have to bear hardships outside, if I follow Shi-ge, my heart will be more at ease.”

At the thought of Lin Shiheng, their hearts started to settle and their facial expressions lost the previous fluster. After discussing to meet at the usual place in the afternoon, they all scattered.

Meanwhile, as time passed, the entire countryside became aware of this catch-and-release affair in the county.

The ruffians’ reputation was indeed quite good recently, and no one thought that the public security officers released the prisoners incorrectly. Those they have helped were happy about this, while those who had no connection with it would just idly discuss.

***

Recently, as he’s preparing to leave for Shanghai, Lin Shiheng, worried that Mother Lin would be left unattended in the village and also wanting to appear friendly to the neighbors, went to the mountain and caught a few rabbits and gave them to the neighbors. When he met someone in the village who couldn’t carry their water, he would also help.

Although everyone knew that he helped people because he was hoping the villagers would help look after his mother after he leaves, being helped would still leave them with some good impression of Lin Shiheng.

Before, they really didn’t notice that this young man grew up to be quite energetic and that he looked pretty good when he smiles. Moreover, the most important thing is that he was quite capable. The land on his side was rather strange. Don’t know if the mountain was eaten clean in the year of the disaster or because it was too close to the water source, but everyone who went up there to try to hunt down prey came back down without success; except Lin Shiheng, who once went up and brought back three rabbits, all of them mature.

Moreover, he went several times afterward and came back with a good harvest every time. Such capability… Even if he couldn’t earn money in Shanghai and had to come back to live, he could still live quite well just by hunting.

People will subconsciously pay attention to those who are capable, even if they had intentions in their hearts.

With their change of heart and Lin Shiheng’s intention to be closer, they were soon able to genially greet each other when they meet when he walks through the village.

***

This time around, after hearing about the arrest in the city, people gathered to gossip.

It was also a coincidence that while they were talking here, Lin Shiheng happened to be coming down from the mountain carrying two fat rabbits in his left hand and a beautiful, colorful pheasant in his right.

Seeing them, the handsome looking young man blinked and smiled broadly, greeting the middle-aged woman who was talking among them. “Aunt Wu, I just hunted a pheasant and the long feathers on this pheasant are yours. Your Xiao Yuan and I have agreed that if I hunt a pheasant, the long feathers will be given to him to play with.”

The middle-aged woman who was just called Aunt Wu was rather flattered and watched as Lin Shiheng came and handed her some beautiful long pheasant feathers. “Xiao Yuan, that child, he was just joking around, yet you really went to the mountains to hunt one?”

“Of course not. Aren’t I just hunting anything I run across? Last time grandmother gave me two chickens, didn’t she? I heard that wild animals are more nourishing. Having hunted this one today, I plan to send it to her later.”

Speaking of Old Lady Lin, the several people there looked a bit unnatural. Recently, there were quite a few people in the village who had a friendly relationship with Lin Shiheng. After all, if a good person suddenly becomes bad, they would be condemned by thousands. But if a guy who has been stubborn since childhood suddenly becomes better, such a big surprise was considered the return of a prodigal son.

What’s more, those that are filial are a favorite no matter who you ask.

They were increasingly convinced that Lin Shiheng had a sincere heart. While he was a bit of a jerk before but as soon as his mother got involved, he would return to his roots. Nowadays, although it wasn’t as bad as those years of gnawing tree bark, it still wasn’t so great that there is meat every day; even so, Lin Shiheng was willing to share the meat he hunted from the mountains with his neighbors, just so they could take care of his mother more when he is away.

What an amazingly wonderful child.

Everyone was praising, yet it was precisely, only, Old Lady Lin who didn’t.

Even if she just didn’t try to boast, that’s fine. However, she would come and belittle him every time she could.

From the time Lin Shiheng refused to call her grandmother as a child, all the way until he tricked her of her three chickens.

Bah!

Don’t think they don’t know, Granny Wan had told them. That time it was clearly the old woman herself who happily took the initiative to bring the person into her home to eat chicken. She even felt repulsed by her talking to Lin Shiheng and having delayed the two of them.

After Lin Shiheng took the two chickens, he met a person on his way back and said that his own grandmother had given him the chicken to eat. That small-expression really reminded people of his stubborn appearance when he was so hungry without even having a mouthful to eat, yet Old Lady Lin just kicked him out.

He was so miserable as a child, yet grew up to so easily believe that Old Lady Lin was truly good to him just by those two chickens.

On his side, he was very happy, but little did he know that the Old Lady Lin keeps telling everyone that Lin Shiheng forced her to give him the chickens.

If he really wanted to do that, Lin Shiheng would have done it a long time ago. He wouldn’t have waited until now to just get only two chickens.

Who doesn’t know how stingy she was, if she was really forced, she would tun to the Lin family, sat down, and wailed – blocking their front door. Before giving the chicken, she was probably scheming something bad in her heart.

It was only Lin Shiheng who believed that his grandmother cared about him and so she gave him the chickens. This kid, how did we not see how gullible he was before?

***

The group of women each had different thoughts. Still, it was Aunt Wu who felt that she had received something and couldn’t just stand by, watching Lin Shiheng be deceived by that Old Lady Lin and opened her mouth to advise him. “Shiheng, your grandmother has raised a large flock of chickens and wouldn’t mind whether she gets yours. It’s better not to send it over, why not keep it for your mother to supplement her body?”

“Those that grandmother has raised belongs to her, what I give is a token of my sincerity. My mother is not in a hurry, I’ll be going back to the mountains tomorrow. I’ll hunt another one. Aunt Wu, you guys go ahead and talk, I’ll go home first. I have to cook this chicken and then send it to my grandmother.”

“Um, um, um… Wait!”

Seeing that Lin Shiheng was not listening to the advice, having finished his greeting, and was about to continue walking, Aunt Wu directly stopped the person with worry. When he stopped again, as the young man in front of her looked at her strangely, waiting for her to speak, the words got stuck in her throat and wouldn’t come out.

Although they all knew that Old Lady Lin wouldn’t have been so kind, in the end, she was also his real grandmother, and to speak ill of his grandmother behind her back to her own grandson, it was something that only someone with no sense of propriety could do, such as Old Lady Lin.

She choked for a few seconds and finally changed the topic, “That… Did you hear about the arrests in the county?”

“Arrests? What arrests?”

Lin Shiheng’s facial expression immediately tensed up. “I have been in the mountains this whole time, what happened in the county?”

“It’s nothing really, just that the boys you played with were reported, and when the public security comrades went to arrest them, they discovered it was a mistake and so released them again.”

“So it was like that…”

Lin Shiheng’s face relaxed again, carrying the wild games in his hand and smiled. “Last time I went to the city, there was a crackdown on crime – thefts and robbery. In the past, when caught, they would beat you up to teach you a lesson. Now, people that have been caught would be directly put in jail. If it’s too serious, they may even be executed. But my brothers are fine since they haven’t done those kinds of things.”

“Aye, we also know that. Otherwise, the public security comrades would not release them either. I’m just telling you so that you won’t be anxious when you hear other people muddly speaking about it.”

“Aye, I know. Then if there’s nothing else, I’ll leave first.”

After waiting for Lin Shiheng to walk away, the group of people again gathered around to gossip.

***

At first, they spoke about how cruel and unpopular Old Lady Lin was, then they mention how Lin Shiheng, that young man, was really not bad. Before he looked so easy to provoke, presumably because he was an orphan with a widowed mother. The mother usually doesn’t stand up for herself, if he didn’t become a bit more ruthless, they would have been bullied to death.

At some point, they started talking about the arrests again.

Some people felt that being executed for stealing and robbing was too much, while others felt it was appropriate. Otherwise, people’s hard-earned money will just be stolen and taken away.

They spoke intensely but it was just a moment of interest; after a while, they all scattered to work again.

But these words have a different meaning in the ears of those with intent.

And this was Widow Zhang.

After she recovered from her injuries, she began to torment her daughter-in-law and her young granddaughter again, but not her son, yet still treated him as if his she can’t look at him without feeling upset

Widow Zhang was different from the other widows who consider their only child as more important than life itself. Her husband died to save his son, a cripple who can’t even take care of the fields.

Often, she would think, if only the son had died instead of the husband, then she could just give birth to another. However with her husband dead, with this crippled son around, it was difficult to even find someone else.

She was not stupid either, knowing that she only has such a son to rely on. Therefore even if she wasn’t happy, she didn’t display her anger on her face. At most, she would only be a little cold. When her son finally married, she took all her anger out on this daughter-in-law.

Previously, Widow Zhang fought and sprained her waist so she was in bed for a good two days. She didn’t expect that just as she went out, she actually heard this.

You can be shot for stealing money?!

If Lin Shiheng didn’t steal all that money, where could he have gotten it from?

This is more blackmail material.

Widow Zhang then aggressively and confidently went to the Lins.