After eating and drinking their fill, the three of them began loading the pile of things onto the sled.
Wang An asked the two of them, "How much meat are you two keeping? The rest will all be sold tomorrow."
Mu Xueli said, "I'll keep five sheep loins; I don't want anything else."
Wang An's question left Wang Li stunned. After pondering for a long while, he said, "I don't know... my family doesn't have any meat at all."
Hearing this, Mu Xueli couldn't help but be taken aback. Back then, his family also had no meat and rarely saw anything greasy; now, he had to be selective about the meat he ate.
Wang An also knew the situation of Wang Li's family, so he said, "Normally, we'd just split it into three equal portions. If you want to handle your share of the meat yourself, I'll give it directly to you. If you want to sell it, I'll sell it all together and split the money later. Got it?"
Before Wang Li could speak, Wang An continued, "Even between brothers, accounts must be clear. There's no shame in discussing this."
Hearing Wang An say this, Wang Li smiled and said, "Then I'll keep a bit more, and the rest can be sold. Just give me a smaller share of the money."
Wang An smiled and said, "The three of us are hunting in the mountains; the meat we keep for eating is separate and doesn't count toward the split. As long as no one is greedy, there's no problem. Since your family has no meat, just keep a bit more; it's no big deal! Besides, it would be ridiculous for hunters to lack meat to eat."
Wang Li thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll keep one sheep loin, one black bear, and one wolf loin. Does that work for you guys?"
Wang An said cheerfully, "Of course it works! Why be embarrassed? We go into the mountains all the time; we won't run out of meat."
At this time, Mu Xueli smiled from the side and said, "Hehe, I advise you to keep more sheep loins. That stuff tastes good no matter how you cook it."
Wang Li glanced at the sheep loins and said with great confusion, "This stuff has no fat, it's all lean and dry. I don't know why you guys fancy this stuff."
Mu Xueli was stunned for a moment, then said sheepishly, "Fine, forget I said anything."
Once the three had loaded the sled, they headed back.
On the way, the three of them bragged, chatted about nonsense, and smoked Mu Xueli's Changbai Mountain cigarettes, each of them feeling utterly blissful!
Although this trip into the mountains had been very dangerous—and if Wang An hadn't arrived in time, either Mu Xueli or Wang Li might have ended up dead or crippled—the danger was matched by a massive harvest!
Twenty-one complete blue sheep skins; because they varied in size, they averaged at least 70 yuan each, totaling around 1,500 yuan.
Four damaged blue sheep skins, even if the price was halved, would be around 140 yuan!
Four complete wolf skins were around 120 yuan!
Three iron-gallstones were worth at least 1,000 yuan!
Three black bear skins were 75 yuan!
Then there were the black bear noses and kneecaps; a nose was 5 yuan and a kneecap was 5 yuan, so for three bears, that was 45 yuan!
If you added the meat and the black bear paws, the total would be at least over 3,000 yuan!
However, Wang An didn't intend to sell the black bear noses and kneecaps, because once a bear's nose is air-dried or oven-dried, it can be stored for a long time.
As for the kneecaps, they were like pieces of "galaha" (hard bone/calcification); they could be kept for years without any problem and were known as "fake tiger bone," making them a top choice for soaking in liquor in Northeast China!
One must know that in the Northeast, due to the temperature, most people suffer from "old cold legs" (chronic joint pain). While not exactly a disease, it affects one's ability to walk.
When it flares up, the knees feel as if cold air is leaking out, and it's very painful—it's absolutely miserable!
Mainly, the older one gets, the more severe it becomes, because as people age, their qi and blood decline. Simply put, their "internal fire" isn't strong enough, so they become less resistant to the cold!
Wang An clearly remembered that in his previous life, while in the fence (prison), his parents had chatted about their "old cold legs" acting up again. Every time the old couple left the visiting room, they had to support each other to walk; it was evident how much pain this caused them!
But now, the family had deer bone liquor and wild leopard bone liquor. In terms of effect, they were similar to black bear kneecap liquor; all could combat "old cold legs"!
However, with this kind of thing, the more the better—it's best to be prepared. Selling them wouldn't fetch much money anyway!
Wang An and the other two first went to Mu Xueli's house and unloaded five sheep loins. After thinking it over, Mu Xueli also kept four black bear paws.
After some pleasantries, Wang An left two black bear kneecaps for Mu Xueli, reminding him not to forget to soak them in liquor. Mu Xueli was stunned at first, then realized his brother-in-law's intention. He seemed quite guilty because his brother-in-law had thought of something he had overlooked!
Returning to Kaoshan Village, to avoid causing a commotion among the villagers that would lead everyone to come demanding meat, Wang An drove the sled directly back to his own house and told Wang Li to go home and tell his family to come collect the meat.
In fact, the people in the village now knew that Wang An was hunting, but Wang An's house was on the far west side of the village, and he always returned from the western mountains, so the villagers rarely saw him.
Furthermore, Wang An's reputation preceded him; basically, no one dared to proactively come to his door to demand meat. If they didn't get the meat and got a beating on top of it, it just wouldn't be worth it!
Aside from a few people who managed to get some meat while Wang An wasn't home, many others were waiting for Wang An to proactively distribute the meat. But would Wang An actually do that?
Therefore, there were certainly people in the village gossiping or dissatisfied with Wang An's family, because from the time Wang An started hunting until now, they hadn't received a single feather!
However, this gossip or dissatisfaction could only be whispered among a few people or kept bottled up. If they dared to let Wang An hear it to his face, getting a beating would be considered a light punishment!
Of course, Wang An knew all this, as Liu Guilan had heard it from a few relatives in the village and mentioned it to him during their casual chats at home.
But after hearing it, Wang An didn't care at all. They were just sycophants and petty people; if they really dared to act up, he'd just crush them!
While he wouldn't tolerate three, five, or ten of them, becoming the public enemy of the entire village would be a real pain in the ass!
So, to avoid this situation, Wang An certainly couldn't parade a sled full of meat through the village; he could only let Wang Li go home and tell people to come collect the meat!
In truth, the other hunters in the village also kept their catches hidden. Although they were now under a collective system and the rules of hunting dictated that one should give some if asked, who would actually be that generous? Absolutely impossible!
Who doesn't know that it's warm inside the house? Running around the mountains in this deadly cold, risking various injuries or even death! And after working themselves to death and risking their lives to catch prey, they're supposed to give it away for free?
Go to hell with that!
I'm not freaking Buddha; do I have to deliver you to salvation or something? No, do I have to provide universal salvation for you?
Although no one followed this bullshit rule, the person who came up with it certainly wasn't a hunter!
If they were a hunter, they must have been a hunter who lived in a cesspool! Because unless their brain was filled with too much shit, they couldn't have come up with such a rule!
Keep reading! Please, please, please!
If you've finished, please leave some votes! Thank you, thank you!
(End of Chapter)