The tiger penis Su Yaquan sold wasn't particularly large, weighing less than one and a half liang—just over 70 grams. When Wang An first bought it, he had intended to find an opportunity to sell it for a hefty profit.
However, realizing he was now a wealthy man and didn't actually need the money, he figured he might as well soak a jar of "Three-Penis Wine" for himself.
And so, Wang An brewed a jar of "Li Yuan Edition Three-Penis Wine."
After Mu Xueli finished speaking, Wang Li and Mu Xueli both burst into laughter. Once the laughter subsided, Wang Li added with a look of shared experience
"Right on. I remember my fourth brother was bored before the first lunar month, so he bought 300 jin of loose liquor from Old Han the Wine Vat."
"He soaked everything in there—leopard penis, roe deer penis, red dog penis, wolf penis, Asiatic black bear penis, bear kneecaps, and even those damaged 'clubs.' There's a room in the back of his house that's completely full of soaking wine now; the whole room is packed."
As Wang Li finished, the two of them roared with laughter again.
Chatting and laughing, the two of them carved off a complete tiger penis.
Wang Li weighed the piece in his hand, then mimicked the way Wang An used to clean various soaking materials before brewing. With a grin on his face, he said
"I'm telling you, Brother Mu, before my fourth brother soaked those big penises, he cleaned them *real* thoroughly. He'd grab a big one and just give it a fierce rubbing—man, he almost rubbed sparks out of the thing!"
As soon as Wang Li finished, the two burst into laughter once more.
It was a good thing Wang An wasn't around; otherwise, he would have definitely given them both a savage kicking.
The main issue was that everything these two said was just gossiping about Wang An.
It took a full two and a half hours before the two of them finished butchering the entire tiger, which weighed over 600 jin.
Of course, because the temperature was too low, some tiger meat was still clinging to the bones. To strip the meat clean, they would have to wait until they descended the mountain and let the bones and meat thaw together.
They packed the tiger into several gunny sacks, loaded the sacks onto the sled, and then drove the large stallion toward where the blue and white horses were tethered.
Hitching the three sleds together, the two of them raced along the path toward the place where they had killed the wild boars yesterday.
Perhaps because Wild Boar Ridge was tiger territory, the 26 wild boars had not been scavenged by other carnivorous mountain animals despite the time that had passed.
Working together, Wang Li and Mu Xueli distributed 20 whole wild boars and 6 boars—which had been gutted but not yet skinned or butchered—across the three horse-drawn sleds. They also loaded all the trotters, stomachs, and the heads of all the yellow-haired boars onto the sleds.
Finally, they loaded the remaining hearts, livers, and lungs that hadn't been fed to the dogs yesterday, and then drove the sleds down the mountain without a single lingering glance.
As for the wild boar hides, they were inedible, worthless, and not very practical. Since Wang An and the other two already had plenty of stock at home, they left them all on the mountain to be eaten by insects and rodents and rot naturally.
On the way down, the two of them took the opportunity to check the snares and traps they had set yesterday morning.
With 300 rabbit snares and 200 traps spread across various areas along the route, the harvest was quite good.
In total, they caught 91 rabbits, 16 pheasants, 34 hares, and 9 flying squirrels.
It had to be said that during the season when heavy snow sealed the mountains, life was truly difficult for the small birds and beasts living in the wilderness. To find food, they had to wander constantly every day.
Yet, in the process of wandering, they not only had to dodge carnivorous beasts but could also be caught by a hunter's trap if they weren't careful.
How the hell were they supposed to survive day by day?
On the third day of Wang An's injury, Wang Li and Mu Xueli each drove a sled—each carrying 10 wild boars—and made their way toward the county seat.
The reason they killed 26 boars but only brought 20 was that each of the three families had kept two boars for their daily meat supply.
There was no other choice; they had to keep some. It was foreseeable that because of Wang An's severe injuries, the three of them wouldn't be able to go into the mountains to hunt together for a while.
If Wang Li and Mu Xueli went into the mountains alone, they were fine with setting snares and traps for small game, but they felt insecure about organizing a dog hunt.
By the time the two arrived at the county hospital with the sleds, Wang An was already able to stroll slowly, though his steps were still unsteady, and he could only take tiny, shuffling steps.
Furthermore, he couldn't walk for long. Even going to the bathroom would cause him such pain that he would break into a cold sweat.
Of course, the cold sweat was also related to the fact that Wang An hadn't been able to eat. As the saying goes, "Man is iron, food is steel; miss one meal and you're starving." Wang An had gone nearly three days without eating; it was impossible for his body not to be weak.
Wang Li stayed behind to watch the carts, primarily to ensure the whole boars weren't stolen, while Mu Xueli entered Wang An's ward alone.
Seeing Mu Xueli arrive, Wang An remained lying on the hospital bed and asked
"Is everything tidied up? Is the 'Big Bear-Ba' brought back too?"
Since people were constantly coming and going outside the ward, he used "Big Bear-Ba" as a code for "Big Claws."
Mu Xueli understood instantly and said
"Yeah, Old Five and I brought it back last night. We butchered it into pieces and packed it in sacks. Right now, it's buried in the snow pile in Old Five's backyard. We figured we'd arrange things after you get home."
At this point, Mu Xueli suddenly chuckled
"That Big Bear-Ba really smells pungent. Last night, the wind happened to be blowing from the southwest. As soon as we entered your village, the dogs must have caught the scent, because they all started barking like crazy. The sound of their barking wasn't even normal, hahaha..."
Wang An nodded and laughed along
"There's nothing they can do but bark. Let them bark. The whole village's dogs barking together—now that's lively, hehehehe..."
After laughing, Wang An asked
"Where's Old Five? He didn't come?"
Mu Xueli smiled
"He's here, watching the sleds outside. There are a few gangs of thugs who just finished a fight, and it looks like they're going to go at it a few more times. Old Five said he didn't feel safe, so he's standing there clutching his Type 56 semi-auto."
In those days, fighting was a common occurrence, especially before the era of the great hygiene campaigns.
In Wang An's previous life, around this time, he spent his days leading a gang of people in fights.
Hearing this, Wang An instinctively asked
"You two brought the wild boars to the county? How many? You didn't leave some at home?"
Mu Xueli replied
"We did, we all did. We brought 20 whole boars. We left one year-old and one big yellow-haired one for your house, and the two of us each kept two yellow-haired ones."
Wang An's family was larger, so they always kept a bit more meat.
Wang An said
"Alright, no need to keep too many, as long as there's enough to eat. Okay then, don't stay here. Go straight to the compound next to the government office. Just tell them Wu Dong sent you to deliver pork, and they'll call Brother Wu over for you."
Mu Xueli instinctively scratched his head and asked
"If Brother Wu asks what happened to you, what should I say?"
Wang An frowned in thought and said
"Just say I was injured by Big Bear-Ba and I'm lying in the hospital right now. I'll tell him the details before he arrives."
Regarding the killing of the tiger, Wang An didn't want to hide it from Wu Dong.
The key was that if Wang An had killed a tiger privately and failed to hand over the carcass, and the matter came to light later, he would still need Wu Dong's help to smooth things over.
How could anyone ask for a favor without telling the truth?
Mu Xueli nodded
"Got it. I'm heading out then, Brother-in-law."
Wang An nodded
"Yeah, go on." (End of Chapter)