Taking one quick look, Liu Ruxin said with a face full of smiles
"These two children look just like little An; they're practically carved from the same mold, hehehehe."
Hearing this, Liu Guilan immediately said with a chuckle
"If you ask me, these two take more after Xueqing. Xueqing is so handsome, hahahaha."
The words spoken by the two mothers caused Wang An's eyebrows to twitch several times.
Mainly because the way these two mothers talked was just too fake!!
To be perfectly honest, the skin on these two children's faces was currently all wrinkled; Kuaile looked like a little old man, and Xingfu looked like a little old woman.
Furthermore, their eyes had only just opened this morning, but they had only stayed open for a short while before closing again as they started crying.
Therefore, any normal person would be unable to tell who these two children looked like; to be precise, they shouldn't look like anyone at all.
Yet these two mothers were already discussing who the children resembled; it was truly absurd.
However, regardless of whether it was Wang An and his wife or Mu Xueli, no one was going to contradict the two mothers. Thus, the two mothers went back and forth, showering the two children with lavish praise.
Meanwhile, what Mu Xueli and Wang An were discussing was the matter of when to enter the mountains.
Mu Xueli said to Wang An with a face full of excitement
"Brother-in-law, a few days ago I went to help Old Xiaopao blast some wooden logs, and Old Xiaopao told me about two dens—one sky-den and one ground-den. These are the two, right? They're both a bit far; the furthest one is over 150 li away. I was thinking of asking you, when should we go and clear out these two dens?"
Mu Xueli's three green dogs had been bought from Old Xiaopao. Because of a leg injury, Old Xiaopao could no longer hunt in the mountains, so he was clearly looking for people to sell resources to.
One must know that no old hunter who earned the title "Pao" was a pushover; they all had a huge amount of bear den resources in their hands.
Wang An thought for a moment and said
"Is Old Xiaopao sure there are Asiatic black bears in those two dens? Also, what percentage does he want?"
Mu Xueli held up three fingers and said
"From his tone, he should be sure. He said if we hit the jackpot, he wants a thirty percent cut."
Hearing this, Wang An said with some dissatisfaction
"Holy shit, this Old Xiaopao is pretty damn greedy. So he doesn't do a damn thing, just gives a location, and wants thirty percent? If we only find two grass-galls, this job isn't even worth it."
Based on current bear gall prices, two ordinary grass-galls would be worth about 600-some yuan.
After taking away thirty percent, the three of them would only be left with 400-some yuan.
And according to their profit-sharing ratio, after all that hard work, Wang An might only pocket about 160-some yuan.
To travel over 150 li and risk his neck for a mere 160-some yuan, Wang An really didn't feel like moving.
Besides, normally, giving away the location of a bear den would only warrant a twenty percent cut.
Mu Xueli said with a sheepish smile
"Well, if we find a gold-gall, wouldn't that make up for everything?"
Wang An gave Mu Xueli a sidelong glance, subconsciously looked at the two children, and then said to Mu Xueli
"Over 150 li? We wouldn't even be able to make it back the same day!"
Actually, at the speed of a horse-drawn sledge, a round trip of 150 li was possible in one day, but a horse's speed and its stamina were two different things. Mountain roads were difficult; if a horse ran like that, it would be worked to death.
Mu Xueli nodded and said
"If we can't make it back, we'll just spend a night in the mountains. It's not like we've never stayed overnight in the mountains before."
Wang An pondered for a long while, but the more he thought about it, the worse it felt. He said to Mu Xueli
"Not going. Let him find whoever the fuck he wants. To run that damn far for these two bastards and still give him thirty percent? That's just pure nonsense."
After Wang An finished speaking, Mu Xueli blinked a few times without saying anything, who knows what was going through his head.
Overhearing the conversation, Mu Xueqing chimed in
"Exactly. This Old Xiaopao is too greedy now; who asks for as much as thirty percent?"
Turning around, Mu Xueqing said to Mu Xueli
"Your brother-in-law said no, so you're not allowed to go. Otherwise, I'll skin you."
It must be said that although Mu Xueqing was married, she still had no problem controlling Mu Xueli; perhaps it was a form of bloodline suppression.
Mu Xueli stole a few glances at Mu Xueqing and said sheepishly
"I know, I'm not going."
After a while, Mu Xueli suddenly asked Wang An
"Brother-in-law, now that the heavy snow has sealed the mountains, it's a good time for hunting. So when are we heading in?"
For some reason, since having these two children, Wang An felt he had two more ties weighing on his heart.
Most importantly, Wang An now wanted to stay by the children's side every waking moment and didn't want to go anywhere.
Of course, on one hand, he wanted to watch over the children, and on the other, infants are very fragile during their first month. If he noticed anything wrong, Wang An could promptly rush the children to the hospital.
At the end of the day, it was simply that Wang An was too nervous about the two children, fearing any possible mishap.
So after Mu Xueli asked, Wang An said with a nonchalant expression
"Not for now. At the very least, we have to wait until your sister is out of her postpartum confinement."
Hearing this, Mu Xueli said with a look of astonishment
"Huh? Then what are we going to do for this month?"
Wang An said with a nonchalant expression once again
"How about you just do some small-scale hunting this month? Just set some rabbit snares and traps around your village. Then, if you catch a lot of rabbits or pheasants, send some to your sister so I don't have to go into the mountains. What do you think?"
As soon as Wang An finished, Mu Xueli's eyes widened, but in the end, he nodded.
There was no helping it; Wang An had spoken, and since it wasn't a big deal, Mu Xueli had to listen.
As they chatted, it became noon.
Wang An originally wanted the two mothers and Mu Xueli to eat at the restaurant, and then he would buy food as usual to accompany Mu Xueqing, but neither of the mothers agreed.
Consequently, Wang An said to Mu Xueli
"Xueli, grab those lunch boxes and come with me to buy food."
With the two mothers and his brother-in-law visiting, Wang An naturally couldn't keep everything bland just to accommodate Mu Xueqing's diet.
So upon arriving at the restaurant, Wang An ordered several meat dishes, and also ordered a portion of noodles and a steamed egg custard for Mu Xueqing, then waited in the restaurant with Mu Xueli.
While Wang An was waiting, the proprietress sat herself down opposite him. In the gap between Wang An and Mu Xueli's conversation, the proprietress suddenly asked
"Big brother, you know there's an old Taoist at the south end of the county? Well, a few days ago, I had your elder brother go find him, and that old Taoist gave your elder brother two slips."
As she spoke, the proprietress pulled out two pieces of wood from her pocket, each about a finger wide and as long as a chopstick.
(End of Chapter)