After Wu Dong finished speaking, Wang Shuai said with a look of disbelief and a smile
"It's not easy to scrape together this much deer antler blood. Did your family not save any for themselves? You brought it all for us?"
Hearing the two of them talk, He Liang and Ma Guoqiang each picked up a bottle, opened the cap, and began to smell it.
However, after smelling it for a long while, neither of them could figure out what kind of blood it was.
Wang An stopped playing hard to get and said in a boastful tone
"Even if I didn't save a drop, I still couldn't have gathered this much deer antler blood. What I brought you is Xuan-yang blood—genuine Xuan-yang blood, hahaha!"
As soon as Wang An said this, the four of them simultaneously brought the bottles to their lips. Then, their heads tilted slightly back, and their throats bobbed as they swallowed.
This scene terrified Wang An, and he hurriedly tried to stop them
"Holy shit! Are you guys crazy?! This stuff is incredibly potent; is it really okay to do it like that?"
One must realize that Wang An had only drunk a small half-spoonful, less than 1 tael, and his body was already reacting. But these four had just downed a mouthful of at least 1.5 taels.
This was pure Xuan-yang blood that hadn't been diluted with liquor. For men in their late twenties like Wu Dong and the others to drink such a large gulp... he simply didn't dare imagine the consequences.
Hearing Wang An's shout, the four didn't continue drinking and promptly capped their bottles.
Wang An looked at them, speechless, and asked
"Uh, are your wives all here at home, brothers?"
Wu Dong replied with an indifferent look
"It's fine. That deer blood wine you made the other day—each of us drank more than 4 taels."
Pausing for a moment, Wu Dong added with a grin
"I'm telling you, that deer blood wine was actually pretty good, hehehehe... really gave us a boost."
Wang An's mouth twitched. He said
"4 taels of deer blood wine only contains about 6 qian of deer blood. What you just drank is pure Xuan-yang blood; 1.5 taels could dilute seven or eight taels of liquor."
Wang Shuai looked at the bottle and suddenly realized the difference, but he remained nonchalant
"It's fine. At worst, I'll just go practice a few sets of boxing to burn it off."
After Wang Shuai spoke, He Liang and Ma Guoqiang also insisted they were fine. He Liang even bragged
"It would be great if this Xuan-yang blood really were that powerful. I'm not afraid of it being too powerful; I'm just afraid it's a dud."
However, He Liang's words immediately drew surprised looks from everyone. Their expressions clearly said, "So you're not that capable!"
He Liang immediately realized the loophole in his statement and hurriedly added
"Hey, hey, hey, what's with those looks? My wife just came over from Harbin yesterday, you know? We're in that 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' phase!"
"Damn it, take those looks back!"
No matter how He Liang explained, the others remained astonished and made various strange noises, leaving He Liang red-faced with anger.
Mainly, as a man, how could he admit he was lacking? Even if he was struggling to keep up, he couldn't let people find out!
Only when He Liang was so agitated he was about to jump around did the group burst into loud laughter.
After the laughter subsided, Ma Guoqiang asked Wang An curiously
"Xiao An, isn't it said that Xuan-yang are incredibly hard to hunt? How did you get them?"
After Ma Guoqiang asked, the others also turned their questioning gazes toward Wang An.
Wang An shook his head and smiled
"We didn't hunt them; we caught them."
Seeing their continued confusion, Wang An recounted the story of the golden eagle catching the Xuan-yang. The group listened in utter amazement, repeatedly marveling at the feat.
After a while, Wang Shuai suddenly asked
"Xiao An, your eldest sister and Sister Nian have been looking for Xuan-yang blood for two or three years. Did you know about that?"
As soon as Wang Shuai finished, Ma Guoqiang said to Wang An
"If you don't have any extra, give my portion to them first. I already know what this stuff tastes like anyway."
After Ma Guoqiang spoke, He Liang also said with a smile
"Yeah, they need this stuff more. If you catch any more Xuan-yang in the future, you can give some to us then."
Wu Dong chimed in
"They developed some ailments before they retired. The doctor said Xuan-yang blood could treat it. It doesn't matter if we have it or not; treating their illnesses is more important."
Wang An waved his hand and said
"Of course I know about my sister's situation. You can all relax. I've already given some to my sister and Sister Nian; I gave them even more than I gave you."
Pausing, Wang An explained with a smile
"Now, brothers, don't complain. I gave them more because it's for treating their ailments, not because I'm playing favorites as a younger brother."
Their relationships were all similar, and Wang An usually divided things equally. However, the amount of Xuan-yang blood was truly limited; even if he wanted to divide it equally, he couldn't. Since Zhang Shuya and Sun Nian urgently needed it to treat hidden ailments, he naturally had to prioritize them.
Wang Shuai patted Wang An on the shoulder and laughed
"What are you talking about? We know exactly what kind of kid you are."
Wu Dong also laughed
"Exactly. What kind of people do you think we are?"
Wang Shuai added
"Xiao An, I really have to lecture you on this. How long have we known each other? Is that really how you see us in your heart?"
After Wang Shuai spoke, He Liang and Ma Guoqiang also joined in, instantly pinning the label of "judging gentlemen by the standards of a petty man" on Wang An.
Seeing that things were going south, Wang An hurriedly pointed to the bag of meat
"Uh, brothers, there's also Xuan-yang meat in here. Two pieces each—don't take more. This stuff is high quality; I heard it's a great tonic."
The four of them were stunned and instinctively looked toward the bag of meat.
Wu Dong said with some surprise
"There's meat too? Xiao An, you've handled this quite well. I have to give you a few compliments."
Wang Shuai also patted Wang An's shoulder, saying with a face full of smiles
"Very good, very good. We've eaten basically every kind of meat, but we've truly never tasted what Xuan-yang meat tastes like."
After finishing the talk about the Xuan-yang, the group moved on to discuss the pharmaceutical factory.
Of course, it was mainly He Liang and Ma Guoqiang speaking, with Wu Dong and Wang Shuai adding supplements, while Wang An was the one responsible only for listening.
Since the solar New Year had already passed, the pharmaceutical factory had completed the summary of all data for 1982—last year—and had discussed the shareholder dividend plan.
The purpose of telling Wang An about this was to see if he had any other opinions.
Although Wang An was the youngest among the ten shareholders, no one ignored his opinions and ideas.