After eating and drinking, Wang An and Wang Li went into the dugout to sleep.
With a pack of dogs and wolves guarding the outside, neither Wang An nor Wang Li kept watch; they simply bolted the door and fell fast asleep together.
The night passed without incident, and dawn arrived in the blink of an eye.
Though it wasn't entirely without incident, as Wang An was woken up several times by Wang Li talking in his sleep.
However, every time Wang Li mumbled in his sleep, it was all about Li Xiuyu.
Things like, "Xiuyu, your mouth is so sweet," "Xiuyu, you smell so fragrant," "Xiuyu, your *zhazha* are so soft..."
It is said that people of this era were quite conservative when it came to dating, but from Wang Li's sleep-talking, it wasn't hard to tell that the progress between Wang Li and Li Xiuyu had been extremely rapid.
Mainly, since he had even let out the phrase "zhazha are so soft," one could imagine what the two of them had been doing when they were alone.
One must know that while the word "zhazha" might describe someone as "scum" in other places, in the Northeast, it is local dialect—a noun referring to a woman's large breasts.
Thus, when they woke up in the morning and packed their things to head down the mountain, Wang An teased Wang Li
"Old Fifth, were you dreaming all night long?"
Wang Li froze upon hearing this, scratched his head, and said
"Uh-huh, but I can't remember what I dreamed about."
It was obvious that Wang Li's face was flushed with embarrassment.
Wang An laughed heartily, patted Wang Li on the shoulder, and said
"Be careful when you're hanging out with Xiuyu from now on. Don't go getting her belly big. You two can't get married for another three years, hahaha!"
According to local customs, Li Xiuyu could not marry or have children during her mourning period. Furthermore, the two of them were still quite young; if a premarital pregnancy actually occurred, it would be dangerous for Xiuyu to be pregnant at such a young age, and it would also have a significant impact on her reputation.
Hearing this, Wang Li hurriedly argued
"We were just hanging out together, we didn't actually do anything."
Wang An had originally wanted to ask Wang Li what the phrase "Xiuyu, your zhazha are so soft" meant, but discussing his brother's future wife in such a manner felt a bit inappropriate. Therefore, Wang An only gave a few wicked chuckles and did not expose Wang Li.
After packing their things and waiting a while, the relief crew arrived. Wang An and Wang Li—one on horseback and one on the sidecar motorcycle—led the pack of dogs back home.
Before even entering the village, Wang An and Wang Li divided the "cannon-egg" boar meat on the sidecar.
He gave about 100 jin to Wang Li, leaving about 300 jin for himself, though he had given over 30 jin to Huang Baoguo, otherwise he would have had more.
This "cannon-egg" meat was useless for anything other than feeding dogs, and since Wang Li only had four dogs, this amount of meat was plenty.
As Wang Li led the horse carrying the meat home, Wang An said to him
"Old Fifth, I'm going to be wiring up the electricity and installing light bulbs in a bit. If you want to learn, come over after you've eaten."
Wang Li agreed
"Uh-huh, Fourth Brother, I'll come over as soon as I've had a bite to eat at home."
Just as Wang An stopped the sidecar at the door, Wang Dazhu and his wife, Mu Xueqing, Huang Li, and the two little girls came out to greet them.
"Xueqing said you two killed a 'cannon-egg' yesterday?" Wang Dazhu couldn't help but ask upon seeing Wang An.
Wang An said with a smile
"Uh-huh, that cannon-egg was so huge, at first glance it looked like an old ox."
Wang Dazhu looked over the dogs and wolves one by one and asked
"With a wild boar that big, are the dogs all okay?"
The pack of dogs at home could certainly be called the great contributors of the Wang household, so the family cared for them deeply.
As Wang An unloaded the meat from the sidecar, he said
"One of them got bumped while blocking the cannon-egg, but it doesn't stop him from eating or drinking, so he should be fine."
At this moment, the dogs noticed there was an extra person in the house and proactively stepped forward to sniff Huang Li.
This scene terrified Huang Li, turning her face pale; she stood there stiffly, not daring to move an inch.
Seeing this, Mu Xueqing explained with a smile
"It's okay, Little Li. Our dogs don't bite our own people. They're just smelling your scent to get familiar with you, hehehe, don't be afraid."
Liu Guilan also said with a smile
"Our dogs are very loyal. Look at how fierce they look, but they don't bite people."
That being said, regardless of who it was, being surrounded by over a dozen strange dogs—it would be impossible not to be afraid.
One must remember that Da Hei weighed over 130 jin, and the other three black dogs were all over 120 jin. As for the four spotted dogs and Da Quan and Xiao Quan, they were now around 100 jin. Even the four half-grown wolf cubs now weighed a full fifty or sixty jin.
Therefore, let alone being surrounded by a pack of dogs, even just having a pack of dogs standing there staring at a person would be terrifying.
Just as Mu Xueqing said, after the dogs finished smelling Huang Li, they all went back to their dens to lie down, which finally allowed Huang Li to relax.
Only then did Wang An have the time to glance at Huang Li.
Currently, Huang Li's hair had been carefully washed and combed, tied together and falling naturally to her lower back, with a hair clip that Wang An had brought home perched on top of her head.
She wore one of Mu Xueqing's floral shirts and a pair of deep blue pants that Mu Xueqing had worn. Only the cloth shoes on her feet—who knew where Mu Xueqing had dug them up—looked neither new nor old, but they fit perfectly.
Due to the height difference, Mu Xueqing's clothes and pants were a bit large on Huang Li, but it had to be admitted that the saying "clothes make the man" was absolutely true.
If one said that the current Huang Li was a student in school, it would be entirely believable.
Overall, today's Huang Li was like a completely different person compared to yesterday, as if she had been reborn.
However, what Wang An found most strange was that Wang Dazhu and Liu Guilan accepted Huang Li so naturally, without saying anything unpleasant to Wang An.
Wang An had originally thought that the first thing greeting him upon returning home would be the roaring of Liu Guilan and Wang Dazhu.
After unloading the meat, Wang An asked Wang Dazhu
"Dad, are you going to the fields today? If you are, I'll go with you."
Wang Dazhu shook his head
"We didn't plant much miscellaneous grain; it was all finished yesterday. Little Shen's family is finished too. We won't be in the fields for a few days, just waiting to harvest the wheat and rice."
After speaking, Wang Dazhu asked Wang An with a face full of joy
"Xueqing said you managed another 5 mu of land last night?"
Wang An said with a bit of pride
"Uh-huh, Old Fifth and I did 5 mu each. Hehehe... your eldest son is the best, right?"
Rarely, Wang Dazhu did not snap at Wang An, but instead praised him
"Uh-huh, my eldest son is the best, hahahaha!"
It was clear that because of those extra 5 mu of land, Wang Dazhu was genuinely very happy.