The three people driving were scared out of their wits, and the three passengers weren't faring much better, their faces etched with lingering terror.
Even the 41 captured sika deer failed to attract the attention of Wang Dashu, Wang Daliang, and the other two; it was evident just how terrified these four had been during the journey.
The eldest uncle, Wang Dashu, said to Wang An with trembling legs
"Xiao An, once the truck is loaded, I think I'll just walk back. Riding in that thing was way too damn scary. There were several times I felt like I was going to slide right into the ditch."
After Wang Dashu finished, the second uncle, Wang Daliang, added with trembling lips
"We can't mess around like that again. That tractor is completely out of control; it kept damn well trying to slip into the ditch."
Truth be told, driving this sort of thing was better left to the young. Although Wang An and Wang Li also looked shaken, they weren't nearly as affected as the two old brothers, Wang Dashu and Wang Daliang.
Wang An looked back at the winding mountain road. He recalled how, during the trip up, the rear of the truck had skidded sideways several times because the road was too steep. He suddenly realized that while an empty truck could barely manage the climb, bringing a heavy load back down would be an absolute nightmare.
After thinking it over, Wang An said to the group
"How about you guys load the truck first? Then I'll go back and drive the crawler tractor up to push and level this broken road. Otherwise, if we lose control on the way back, what happens if the truck falls into the ditch?"
As soon as Wang An spoke, the eldest uncle, Wang Dashu, exclaimed
"Oh my god, that would be great! It wouldn't be worth it if something happened to us on the way down."
The second uncle, Wang Daliang, agreed
"I think it's a good idea. It looks like the hazelnuts, pine nuts, and walnuts are all about to come into season. When the time comes, we won't have to be so terrified when bringing horse-drawn carriages into the mountains."
Wang Dashu suddenly said with a smile
"Putting it that way, pushing out a road here could be considered an act of accumulating merit, hehehehe."
Since ancient times, building bridges and paving roads had been seen as acts of great merit. Although Wang An's only goal in clearing the road was to transport the deer down the mountain, the villagers would undoubtedly benefit from it in the future.
Once the two old brothers finished speaking, the others also agreed that clearing the road was feasible. Thus, Wang An rode Mu Xueli's horse back down the mountain, while the rest stayed behind to lift the deer onto the truck.
Who would have thought that what started as a deer hunt would somehow turn into a road construction project?
But there was no other way; the three vehicles were currently in a "ride the tiger" situation—they couldn't simply stop or turn back.
To put it bluntly, the trip up had been heart-stopping, and now, no one dared to drive or even sit in the vehicles for the return trip.
The reason was simple: everyone was afraid to die.
By the time Wang An drove the crawler tractor, dropped the large blade, and pushed his way to where the three vehicles were located, two hours had passed.
The reason it took so long was that the crawler tractor was naturally slow, and moving while pushing soil slowed it down even further.
However, it must be said that Wang An did a proper job. He specifically pushed the areas prone to skidding into flat paths.
Now, even a large Jiefang truck could drive straight into the mountains.
By this time, all the deer had been loaded. However, the men were just smoking and chatting; it was obvious that none of them had any desire to drive home yet, and they were all waiting for Wang An to finish the road.
When they saw Wang An appear in the crawler tractor, their expressions immediately relaxed. Clearly, the road home was now completely safe!
Without further delay, Wang An drove the crawler tractor, while Wang Daliang, Wang Li, and Mu Xueli drove the walk-behind tractor and the four-wheeler, returning all the way to Wang An's house.
After returning, the group didn't leave immediately but instead helped remove the snares from the deer's legs.
Deer have powerful healing abilities. Even if a leg bone is broken, as long as it is set correctly, it can generally recover in three or four days.
As for holes made by nails, as long as the nail is pulled out, they can heal in a few hours even without medicine. Therefore, there was no need to worry about the health of the sika deer.
While everyone was working feverishly, Wang Dazhu, his wife, and Shen Wei returned carrying flower baskets.
Truth be told, the current Shen Wei did look a bit like Wang An's second wife. Although Wang An's family had started paying her a salary, almost all of Shen Wei's daily focus—aside from caring for her mother-in-law—was centered on Wang An's household.
If her mother-in-law couldn't be left alone for long periods, Xiao Lai-jie would have stayed at Wang An's house all day and not even returned to her own home.
Wang Dazhu, his wife, and Shen Wei were naturally surprised to see so many sika deer suddenly appearing in the deer pen. However, since these deer belonged to four people, Wang Dazhu and his wife didn't say much and simply joined in the work.
Working together, they quickly removed all the snares from the deer's hooves.
Satisfactorily, none of the 41 deer were injured, which made Feng Chengmin, Wang An, and the other two very happy.
Wang An decided to slaughter two sheep tonight to celebrate.
Mainly because they had been eating pork for the past few days, so they had to change things up today.
The reason for slaughtering two was that the yellow sheep were relatively small; even after being raised by Wang An's family for so long, the largest and fattest didn't exceed 60 jin.
To be honest, this was why Wang An felt raising them was pointless. It was better to raise local mountain goats, large wool sheep, or small-tailed Han sheep.
Crucially, Wang An felt that the taste of yellow sheep meat wasn't much different from ordinary mutton.
When Wang An announced this decision, Liu Guilan, for once, didn't say anything to dampen the mood; instead, her face was full of smiles.
It was clear that the 41 deer caught by the four of them made Liu Guilan very happy.
Although the 41 deer belonged to four people and Feng Chengmin was the general commander of the hunt, Wang An, as the organizer and the one who invested the most, would naturally receive a larger share of the deer for it to be reasonable.
And so, two plump, round yellow sheep became the celebratory ingredients for the successful deer hunt.
It must be said that the yellow sheep died quite unfairly. The success of the deer hunt was clearly a happy event, yet it was the yellow sheep who paid with their lives. Who the hell could they complain to?
Wild boars are skinned for their meat, but yellow sheep are plucked of their wool and eaten with the skin on.
Only those who have eaten sheep skin know how delicious it is.
After eating and drinking their fill, the relatives dispersed. Feng Chengmin, Wang An, Mu Xueli, and Wang Li then arrived at the time to divide the loot—or rather, distribute the harvest.
Wang An didn't propose a distribution plan first. Instead, he asked Feng Chengmin
"Uncle-in-law, you were the leader of the hunt this time. Looking at this herd, how do you think the four of us should divide them fairly?"