After Wang An finished speaking, he turned off the snow-filled television and walked toward the guest room door. Although Wang Li and Mu Xueli followed him, their faces were clouded with preoccupation.
Clearly, the matter of buying a television had left the two of them conflicted.
The public security guesthouse had a cafeteria that served subsidized meals; for 2 mao per person, one could eat as much as they liked. Thus, the three of them didn't leave the guesthouse courtyard, eating some steamed buns and fried dough sticks in the cafeteria, and each drinking a bowl of tofu brain.
After breakfast, the three stayed in the guest room for a while. Around 8 o'clock, Wang Li and Mu Xueli turned the television back on. Seeing that there was a program playing, the two of them beamed with joy once again.
And so, the three of them watched TV for a bit longer.
Fortunately, the television was no longer broadcasting *Love in Lushan*, but rather this year's new release, *The Mysterious Big Buddha*.
It wasn't until the movie finished that Wang An checked his watch, stretched, and said to the two
"Let's go. The train is at 11:30; it's the perfect time to head to the station now."
As he spoke, the three of them got up and began packing their things. While packing, Mu Xueli suddenly said to Wang An
"Brother-in-law, I still want to buy a TV. I've been thinking, once the TV is bought and brought back, I'll put it in the big west room so the people in our village can't see it, and then our family can watch it in secret."
Since Mu Xueli thought this way, Wang Li naturally followed suit, quickly adding
"I want to buy a TV too. I'm thinking of putting it in the old house, so we can watch it secretly at home."
Hearing this, Wang An couldn't help but laugh
"You two don't actually think that once you buy a TV and bring it home, you can just plug it in and watch, do you? In a mountain valley like ours, you'd have to install a TV antenna in the courtyard first."
After a few chuckles, Wang An continued
"The higher the antenna, the better the signal, and the fewer the snowflakes on the screen. Haven't you two thought about it? Once that TV pole is standing there, when people ask you what that thing is for, what are you going to say?"
Mu Xueli asked, "Brother-in-law, what is a TV antenna for?"
Wang An pointed to the two antennas behind the television and said
"See those? Those things receive the signal. But they work well in the city; if you put them in our village, they're completely useless. You'd need a separate outdoor TV mast to receive the station's signal, and then..."
After Wang An rambled on for a long while, Wang Li and Mu Xueli fell back into a state of conflict.
Wang An stopped paying them any mind, slung his sacks over his shoulders, and walked out. Mu Xueli and Wang Li followed, their faces still full of worry.
After checking out and leaving the guesthouse, the three of them hailed two "little mice" taxis and headed toward the railway station.
However, just as the driver had said the previous night, the daytime taxi fare was 1.2 yuan.
While passing a red sausage shop, Wang An immediately told the driver to stop. He ran into the shop and bought 10 jin of authentic Harbin red sausages.
Harbin red sausages were quite famous, but one had to buy the authentic ones; those that just rode the coattails of the name tasted no different from ordinary ham sausages.
After buying the sausages, Wang An immediately felt that something was missing: beer. One had to know that pairing red sausages with beer was in no way inferior to pairing barbecue with beer.
Consequently, Wang An ran to a general store and bought two dozen Harbin beers and a jar of pickled eight-treasure vegetables, and finally, a few pairs of chopsticks.
With the shopping done, they continued their journey. After arriving at the station and waiting for a while, the train bound for Fengtian began ticket checks and boarding.
The three of them, carrying sacks and clutching dozens of beers and bundles of red sausages, were quite eye-catching for this era. After all, both beer and red sausages were considered high-consumption items at the time; ordinary people rarely bought them in such quantities as Wang An did.
Fortunately, the three were traveling in sleepers, so many of the pickpockets and thieves eyeing them voluntarily abandoned their ideas.
This time, the three of them had one upper berth, one lower berth, and one middle berth. However, when they found their compartment, they discovered someone was lying on the lower berth that belonged to them.
This kind of berth-squatting was quite common on trains, so Wang An didn't mind. After putting his things away, Wang An nudged the person's arm and said
"Hey, buddy, excuse me, please move over. This is our berth."
Wang An nudged him twice and spoke twice, but the kid not only didn't get up, he actually rolled over, exposing his back.
Clearly, the kid was awake, but he simply refused to get up.
Wang An patiently nudged the kid's arm two more times and raised his voice
"Hey, buddy, get up. You're taking up my spot."
The man shrugged his shoulder and continued to pretend to be asleep without a word.
Thus, Wang An said with a cold smile
"Kid, I'm going to count to three. If you don't get up, I'm throwing you out."
Without waiting for the kid to speak, Wang An began counting
"1, 2, 3—"
The moment he finished the word "three," Wang An grabbed the kid by the scruff of his neck and, with a sudden burst of strength, hauled him off the berth.
Because the kid had been sleeping with his head toward the window, Wang An's exertion sent the kid's head flying straight toward the side of the table. Then, with a loud "bang," the kid's head slammed solidly into the side of the table.
The table was fine, but the kid let out a loud "aooo!" scream, sounding exactly like a pig being slaughtered.
Wang An guessed that the kid's head must have hurt terribly; otherwise, a grown man wouldn't have made such a sound.
To be honest, Wang An hadn't intended for him to hit his head.
But whether it was intentional or not, Wang An didn't care. He continued to grip the kid's collar tightly and dragged him toward the corridor.
For people like this, Wang An's consistent principle was "out of sight, out of mind," so throwing him outside was just right.
With a distance of only two meters, it took Wang An only three or four seconds to drag him into the corridor. One could say that before the kid could even react, he was already lying in the hallway.
After tossing him into the corridor, Wang An ignored him and turned back into the compartment.
Wang Li and Mu Xueli, who witnessed everything, as well as the other passengers in the compartment, were all shocked by Wang An's action.
Mainly, Wang An's speed was simply too fast. In less than ten seconds, the problem had been solved cleanly and decisively.
(End of Chapter)