NOVEL NEXT Chapter 8: is here, hopeless?
Chapter 8: is here, hopeless?
“Goodbye?”
Chen Guodong felt as if he had been struck by lightning, and his outstretched hand hung in the air. He forced a smile and said in a slightly trembling voice, “It’s fine, why are you leaving? Is it because you have objections to the distribution of the prey? If you have any opinions, we can talk about it, can’t we?”
Anyone could tell that he panicked.
The woman hugged the little boy and looked at the scene in front of her in panic. Her mind was so blank that she forgot to say something to make him stay.
Chen Fan was also shocked.
He remembered what Uncle Zhang had said before: the Wei brothers wouldn’t stay for too long. Who would have thought that it would come true so soon?
“Brother Guodong, it’s not what you think.”
A man who looked somewhat similar to Wei Tiangong, but younger, stood up. However, he was a little embarrassed to look into Chen Guodong’s eyes.
“We have no objection to the distribution of prey, nor to you, Brother Guodong. In the beginning, it was you who inspired everyone to dig deep barriers and repel the beasts.”
“Yes, yes.”
The two behind the brothers nodded sharply.
“Then why are you still leaving?”
Cold sweat broke out on Chen Guodong’s forehead.
There were not many adult men in the village, and now four of them, including the Wei brothers, were going to leave. Once they left, the already impoverished village would be even worse off.
Chen Fan’s heart also leapt to his throat.
Of course, he didn’t want these people to leave.
Wei Tianyuan glanced at his brother, who nodded slightly.
“Brother Guodong, let me tell you the truth, don’t be angry.”
“How could I?”
Chen Guodong said with a forced smile.
What he feared most was a choice made after weighing the pros and cons because it meant they couldn’t be persuaded to stay.
Wei Tianyuan took a deep breath, looked at Chen Guodong, and said, “Because if we stay here, there’s no hope.”
After he finished speaking, it seemed like something shattered in the room.
“Brother Guodong, we only have about a hundred people here, and less than twenty adult men. Including a few young boys, the rest are the old, weak, women, and children. With so many mouths to feed, it’s hard for just a few of us to manage.”
“Yes, it’s difficult,” Chen Guodong opened his mouth, “But we have persisted until today, haven’t we? We can still hold on.”
“What about us?”
At this moment, Wei Tiangong spoke.
His eyes were extremely calm. “The Zhao brothers of Zhaojiabao were like us a few years ago, only able to draw a 100-jin hunting bow. But in the past few years, with plenty of beast meat, they have reached the later stages of body tempering in martial arts and can now draw a 300-jin hard bow. If we had enough food, we could do it too.”
Chen Guodong was suddenly speechless and ashamed.
Indeed, every time the hunting team caught prey, more than half of it was due to the Wei brothers’ efforts. Yet, every time they came back, they only got a small portion.
“Guodong.”
Realizing that he had spoken too harshly, Wei Tiangong sighed and said in a gentler tone, “Listen to my advice, staying here is hopeless. It’s better to come with us to Zhaojiabao, where there’s more food and better living conditions. The most important thing is that you can learn some skills to strengthen your body. In this world, you can only survive if you have strength.”
“Yes, Brother Guodong, come with us.”
Wei Tianyuan’s eyes were full of hope.
The two brothers had done so much for the village, and their consciences were clear.
Now, they should also live for themselves, become stronger, and let their families no longer suffer from hunger and cold.
Chen Fan looked at his father. If he guessed correctly…
Sure enough, Chen Guodong took a deep breath, his eyes moist, and smiled with tears in his eyes, “I understand, Tiangong, going to Zhaojiabao is indeed the best choice. How could I blame you? All along, if it weren’t for your silent contributions, the village wouldn’t have persisted until today.”
Hearing this, Wei Tiangong and the others breathed a sigh of relief.
But there was also a slight guilt in their hearts.
“Brother Guodong, won’t you come with us?” Wei Tianyuan asked hastily after realizing it.
“No.”
Chen Guodong smiled slightly, looked at the houses not far away, and said, “Before the village was established, I promised everyone that I would live with them. This village is the result of everyone’s joint efforts, and it couldn’t have been built without any one of them.
Now, many of them are gone, like Zhu Zi, A Hua, and Xiao Gao, but their families are still here. I can’t abandon them.”
After he finished speaking, there was a dead silence around. The eyes of the men present were all red.
Wei Tiangong took a deep breath, his eyes were red. He stretched out his hand and patted Chen Guodong on the shoulder, “Brother Guodong, take care.”
After speaking, he glanced at Chen Fan and the others, then turned and left resolutely.
“Brother Guodong, I’m sorry.”
Wei Tianyuan bowed and quickly followed.
“Brother Guodong, we are leaving, take care!”
“Take care.”
The other two gave him a reluctant look, turned, and left.
As the figures disappeared into the night, even the sound of footsteps became hard to hear.
Chen Fan looked at his father, standing there petrified, with tears rolling in his eyes.
“Sigh.”
He sighed inwardly.
Although he couldn’t empathize, he could understand the complex emotions in his father’s heart.
Of course, the most important thing was that the village’s situation had worsened.
He had to upgrade the [Basic Archery] level as soon as possible!
“Let’s eat first, Guodong.”
The woman said with a pale face.
Chen Guodong ignored her, and after a long while, he nodded.
Although the dinner was “sumptuous,” the atmosphere at the table was eerily quiet.
The woman put several pieces of rabbit meat into Chen Fan’s bowl and said distressedly, “Xiao Fan, you’ve been practicing archery all day today, eat more.”
“Yes.”
The usually silent Chen Guodong also reacted at this moment. He picked up a few more pieces of meat and put them into Chen Fan’s bowl, causing the little boy beside him to drool.
There were only two pieces in his bowl, which was clear at a glance.
“Dad, you should eat more.”
Chen Fan was flattered and hurriedly put the meat back.
His father was the pillar of the family, especially since hunting would become more difficult after the Wei brothers left tomorrow.
“You eat, I have no appetite.”
Chen Guodong smiled slightly.
Chen Fan was silent when he saw this.
The meat in the bowl smelled delicious. He finally couldn’t resist and took a piece, putting it in his mouth and chewing. He felt the aroma overflowing between his lips and teeth. The meat was just cooked with a little salt, but it was so de
licious it made him want to swallow his tongue.
Just then, a prompt popped up.
[Potential point +0.1]
“?”
Chen Fan was stunned.