Whether one likes it or not, the verbal onslaught from Wang Dazhu and his wife, along with Mu Xueqing, was genuinely fierce.
It wasn't until Wang An guaranteed repeatedly that he wouldn't easily get into fights or reach for his gun again that the three of them finally let him off, and the family sat down to eat.
Although he had been subjected to their rotating scoldings and his head was still "buzzing" from it all, to be honest, Wang An actually felt quite happy.
This was because Wang An clearly felt that before he started practicing martial arts, he was fine; at the very least, he would think things through before fighting—considering whether he could beat the opponent and how to escape if he couldn't.
But since he started practicing, Wang An had become a bit flighty, and he had increasingly stopped taking others seriously.
Truthfully, this was not a good omen. If he continued like this, Wang An felt that sooner or later he would suffer a massive loss.
As the old saying goes, "Rain follows the arrogant sky, and disaster follows the arrogant man." Therefore, Wang An felt it would be best for him to settle down and be more steady in the future.
The night passed without incident, and dawn arrived in the blink of an eye.
In the morning, as per his routine, Wang An practiced the Scorpion Reverse Crawl and the Eighteen Hands of Grappling for an hour and a half. After feeding the four eagles, he brushed his teeth, washed his face, and had breakfast with his family.
The main thing was that there were simply no shortcuts to practicing martial arts; the only way was persistence, practicing every single day.
Not long after breakfast, Wang Li arrived on horseback, carrying his gun and leading his four yellow dogs.
Starting today, the village hunters and militia were beginning their duty to protect the autumn crops.
As soon as he entered the yard, Wang Li asked Wang An
"Fourth Brother, are we still spending the night in the mountains? If not, I'll take the black bear skin back now."
The reason Wang Li asked was that there weren't many wild boars or black bears coming down to ravage the crops this autumn, and the damage to the crops wasn't severe. This mission to protect the autumn crops was more of a routine effort to clear out potential threats to people, so it wasn't of great significance.
Consequently, the matter of spending the night in the mountains was optional; they could do it or not.
Actually, according to previous years' customs, the mountain beasts should have come down half a month ago, and the crop protection operation should have started then as well.
The reason for the current situation was that during the spring protection of the young seedlings, Wang An and Wang Li had wiped out the entire large herd of wild boars around the village in one go, leaving only a dozen or so "striped sticks" (piglets) to escape.
As for how many of those dozen piglets were still alive, that remained to be seen. Regardless, for such small things to survive in the mountains was truly no easy feat.
Wang An glanced at the bear-skin bedroll on Wang Li's horse, thought for a moment, and said
"Bring it along. We should stay the night in the mountains anyway, just to keep the villagers from gossiping."
Wang Li was stunned for a moment, then said with a chuckle
"Since when did you care about people gossiping, Fourth Brother? Besides, who in our village dares to gossip about you now? Hmph, I'd beat them to death, hehehehe."
It was clear that in Wang Li's mind, Wang An had always been the type of person who did things his own way and acted without restraint regardless of the situation.
Wang Li's words also stunned Wang An.
Mainly, hearing Wang Li put it that way made Wang An suddenly feel like he was some kind of village bully.
Had he always left this impression on people?
After his momentary daze, Wang An began adjusting the saddle and said with a smile
"Look at how you put that. Of course I care. As they say, a person lives by their face and a tree by its bark; your Fourth Brother is someone who cares about his reputation."
Just as Wang An finished speaking, Wang Dazhu's voice came from behind him
"Cut that crap. Since when did you care about that? I think Old Fifth is almost there; after following you around for another two years, he'll be just like you."
"Following around" (呼大) was local dialect, meaning to follow and learn, or simply to hang around and mess about.
Wang Dazhu knew his sons well.
Wang An didn't respond. Noticing that Wang Dazhu was holding several sickles, he asked
"Dad, what are those sickles for?"
Wang Dazhu replied
"It's time to harvest the miscellaneous grains. Your mother and I are going to cut the sorghum and millet first today."
Wang An nodded and said
"Would it be okay to wait a couple of days? I reckon this crop protection will be done in two or three days. Once it's over, I'll go to the fields with you."
Wang Dazhu was momentarily stunned, as if it were unbelievable that a lazybones like Wang An would say such a thing. However, he quickly reacted and said
"Just go do what you need to do. We don't need you for this little bit of land. Your mother, Little Shen, and I can finish it in two days."
Wang An packed his things, untied the dogs' ropes, and said
"Alright then, Dad. I'm heading out with Old Fifth."
For this mission, Wang An brought Da Quan, Xiao Quan, and the four half-grown wolf cubs. Da Quan and Xiao Quan were mountain dogs by nature, and after staying at Wang An's house for so long, their health had fully recovered.
As for the four half-grown wolf cubs, they now needed to learn how to hunt; otherwise, once they grew larger, they would be difficult or even impossible to tame.
As for the two old dogs, Zhao Cai and Wang Cai, they were house dogs who had performed great service for the family, so Wang An planned to let them stay home and keep them until they died.
As they spoke, Wang An and Wang Li each mounted their horses, followed by a noisy crowd of dogs and wolves, heading straight for the dugout they had stayed in during the spring protection.
On the way, Wang An pointed at the four half-grown wolf cubs and told Da Hei
"Da Hei, those four little fellows are in your charge. If anyone is disobedient, you beat them. If you can't handle them alone, let Er Hei and Xiao Hei help you beat them. Do you hear me?"
Da Hei barked a few times at Wang An, indicating that it understood.
The intelligence of wolves was superior to that of dogs, and moreover, these four wolf cubs had been eating Spirit-Opening Powder since they were small. Wang An wasn't worried about whether they could be trained, but rather whether they would listen to Da Hei's commands.
The main issue was that these four half-grown wolf cubs were now no longer matches for the four spotted dogs; only Da Hei, Xiao Hei, and the other two black dogs could still beat them for the time being.
Especially Xiao Bai, the white wolf. Although it had looked frail as a cub and still didn't look as large as Da Lang, Er Lang, and San Lang (the three grey wolves), it was very strange that the three grey wolves all listened to Xiao Bai, as if Xiao Bai were born to be their leader.
Wang An didn't understand the world of wolves, but this situation was truly quite mysterious.
(End of Chapter)