After returning to the village, Wang An and the other two went to their respective homes and went to bed early. The next day, just as the first light of dawn broke, the three of them set off on horseback into the mountains, bringing along dry rations, luggage, stoves, and other essentials.
Wang An also packed binoculars and a camera into his backpack.
Mainly, Wang An wanted to observe whether anyone would appear near the places where the markers were hung while he watched the deer herds.
By the time the three of them reached the site of the blind, an hour had passed. After checking the trees with the markers for any signs of other wild beasts, the three crouched in the blind, chatting and waiting while observing the saline-alkali land.
Last time they caught that large deer herd, Feng Chengmin, Wang An, Wang Li, and Mu Xueli had kept watch on that hilltop for several days in a row. They didn't know how long they would have to wait this time before the sika deer reappeared.
But that was the nature of hunting; prey could not be caught or killed smoothly. It was perfectly normal for a hunter to end up with nothing in the end.
Suddenly, Wang Li asked Wang An
"Fourth Brother, how's that motorcycle factory business you guys set up? Are the motorcycles selling well?"
For the past half-month, Wang An had been busy with the motorcycle factory, which Wang Li and Mu Xueli were aware of.
Wang Li and Mu Xueli had even wanted to put in money to become shareholders, but Wang An hadn't included them.
It wasn't that Wang An wanted to hog the profits or didn't want Wang Li and Mu Xueli to make money, but rather that Wang An and the other "second-generation" youths lacked neither money nor connections.
Furthermore, the fact that this motorcycle factory could even open was primarily due to the abilities and various connections of those few second-generation youths; Wang An's role was merely to provide ideas and set the guidelines.
Therefore, if Wang An were to squeeze Wang Li and Mu Xueli into the shareholders, Wu Dong and the others would certainly not be pleased.
Wang An said indifferently
"It's alright. For now, it looks average. I reckon it'll take three or four years to break even."
In reality, according to Wang An's estimates, the motorcycle factory would basically break even by this time next year, but there was no point in mentioning things that hadn't happened yet.
Wang Li nodded and changed the subject
"Fourth Brother, it's almost time for planting. When are we going to buy fertilizer?"
Wang An thought for a moment and said
"We'll go after we catch the deer. We need to buy more this year. Don't be like last year, being so stingy that you only bought that tiny bit of stuff. You think five pounds of fertilizer per mu is enough? Fuck, how much grain was lost last year because of that? With the way you guys calculate, you're just counting pennies while losing dollars."
Last year, because Wang An had been injured by a tiger, he hadn't participated in any family affairs.
This resulted in Wang Dazhu and Wang Dali, the two older brothers, along with the two younger brothers Wang Shun and Wang Li, and Mu Xueli—five people in total—buying a mere 3,000 pounds of urea and 800 pounds of diammonium phosphate when they went for fertilizer.
One must realize that Wang An's family had over 360 mu of land, and Wang Li's family had over 230 mu. Adding in the fields of Second Brother Wang Shun, Shen Wei, and Mu Xueli, 3,800 pounds of fertilizer simply couldn't make much of a difference.
Hearing this, Wang Li gave an embarrassed smile and said
"Wasn't it because when we went back later, the agricultural supply station had run out of fertilizer?"
Ever since people realized the massive effect fertilizer had on crops, it had become a very sought-after and scarce commodity during the spring plowing of the last two years. Trying to successfully buy enough fertilizer was truly no easy feat.
Wang An rolled his eyes at Wang Li and said crossly
"Cut the bullshit. If you can't do something, just say you can't do it. Stop fucking making excuses. Did I tell you to go find Brother Wu? Or did Brother Wu refuse to help? Fuck, just shut up, you make me angry just listening to you."
Wang Li didn't shut up, but instead said with a face full of grievance
"It was my dad and my uncle who decided to buy that much, not me. What use was I in that situation?"
Wang An rolled his eyes at Wang Li again and said irritably
"Get the hell out of here, you're useless."
Just as the two brothers were chatting about various trivial matters, Huang Zhong suddenly spoke up
"Big Brother, people are coming. Someone is heading toward the saline-alkali land."
Hearing this, Wang An quickly grabbed the binoculars and looked toward the saline-alkali land.
Sure enough, there were four people carrying guns, acting sneakily and glancing left and right as they walked toward the saline-alkali land, completely ignoring the "markers."
When the three of them had built this simple blind yesterday, they hadn't brought straw mats into the mountains, so they had bundled shrub branches to make the roof, using a few close-standing pine trees as supports.
Consequently, if viewed from a distance, this blind didn't look like a blind at all.
Clearly, these four people had not discovered the blind, nor had they noticed that Wang An and the other two were crouching inside watching them.
Wang An put down the binoculars, stood up, and said
"Xiao Zhong, stay here and don't move. Old Fifth, come with me. Dammit, those two old bastards Lyu Deshu and Zhang Tiegang really are asking for a beating."
Wang Li instinctively said
"They actually have the nerve? Fuck, they must be tired of living."
As they spoke, the two of them quickly ran toward the horses that were grazing.
They leaped onto the horses with agility, each shouting "Giddy-up!", and the two horses galloped along the ridge toward the saline-alkali land.
It was less than two li in total; with the sprint of the Oroqen horses, it took only a few minutes for the two of them to arrive.
However, to avoid startling any deer herds that might be coming, Wang An didn't dare shout. Fortunately, the sound of the galloping horses naturally alerted Lyu Deshu and his three companions.
Upon reaching the four men, Wang Li was the first to dismount and shouted
"Do you fucking want to die? Can't you see all those markers we cut and hung out here?"
As soon as Lyu Deshu and Zhang Tiegang saw that Wang An and Wang Li had arrived, the expressions on their faces immediately became awkward.
Being from the same village, the fact that they were doing this made them feel that their behavior was quite shameful.
Just as Zhang Tiegang was blushing and about to speak, Wang An said with a dark expression
"Brother Lyu, Brother Zhang, this is a bit unsportsmanlike, isn't it? We've already put up markers and you're still sneaking in. What are you trying to do?"
Scanning the eyes of the four men one by one, Wang An continued unhappily
"Besides, this place is full of fucking wolf traps and explosives. What if they blow you to bits? Even if they don't kill you, would it be fun if a big wolf trap snapped your legs off?"
Wolf traps were large steel jaws specifically for dealing with large animals like wild boars and Asiatic black bears; even in this era, one cost over ten yuan.
However, the power of these things was formidable, capable of easily snapping a wild boar's leg.