Mu Xueqing weighed the two guns in her hands again, then without hesitation, she handed the Mauser back to Wang An.
She remarked, "Actually, I don't like revolvers; they don't look imposing. I like this Type 54; it's beautiful and lightweight. This Mauser is too big and heavy, it's inconvenient to hold."
Wang An naturally ignored the first half of what she said and replied in a cheeky tone, "Mm-hmm, we really are kindred spirits, honey. I like the Type 54 too."
Seeing Wang An's cheeky expression, Mu Xueqing let out a "pfft" and burst into laughter, saying, "You're acting silly again!"
This laugh instantly reminded Wang An of their school days; whenever he put on that handsome expression, Mu Xueqing would smile and say the exact same thing to him.
Unable to resist, Wang An's wide mouth descended and pecked Mu Xueqing's vivid, drippingly fresh little lips.
This continued until a crisp shout came from behind: "Big Brother, you're not allowed to bully Big Sister-in-law!"
Though the voice still held the innocence of a child and was slightly lisped, it was exceptionally solemn, sounding brave and powerful!
Wang An released Mu Xueqing and turned around with a look of helplessness. Looking down at this little tot brimming with justice and righteousness, he curled his lip, thought for a moment, and couldn't figure out what to say.
A burst of giggling erupted from behind him, and then Mu Xueqing stepped forward, picked the little tot up from the ground, and said with a smile, "Our Xiaoli has grown up; she knows how to protect her sister-in-law now. How wonderful!"
Wang An sullenly placed the Mauser into the *kang* cabinet, then walked into the outer room. Seeing Wang Dazhu scraping the black grime off the black bear paws, he found a carving knife and started scraping as well.
Although Wang An had killed several black bears, he had only eaten bear paw twice—and that was two paws shared among the whole family. The rest had been forced by Liu Guilan to be sold by Wang Dazhu.
Actually, Wang An usually didn't care about these things, but he had been puzzled that they caught bears yet never ate the paws. When he asked about it, the answer was that they were sold!
This had caused Wang An a great deal of heartache, and he had complained, "We aren't short on money, why sell them?"
However, all he received in response was Liu Guilan's machine-gun mouth. Her words were like free bullets, rattling off at Wang An in a barrage that immediately silenced him.
As for exactly what she rattled on about, Wang An hadn't even listened, so he remembered almost nothing, except for one sentence: "You've got a broken mouth that only knows how to crave; if you're greedy, I'll slap it right off your face."
Every single day it was like this!
So this time, when Wang An caught the black bears, there was no way he was selling these four paws. Let her rattle on all she wanted; he simply wasn't selling. Whatever happens, happens!
Bear paws are actually quite easy to process, similar to pig trotters. After burning off the hair, you scrape them with a knife, then scald them with boiling water. Once they are sufficiently scalded, you scrape them one more time and the job is done.
However, when stewing them, you have to add a large amount of mountain pepper, white liquor, and soybean paste to remove the greasiness and smell; otherwise, the gamey odor is too strong and they aren't tasty at all.
After lunch, Wang An rode his big horse toward his Great-Aunt's house. The money was in hand, so he should deliver it early; keeping it with him wasn't a good idea.
Riding the horse, Wang An was still thinking about that pot of bear paws. Bear paws take a long time to stew until tender, so he hadn't been able to eat any for lunch.
The distance was five or six li, and he arrived quickly by horse.
Riding straight into the courtyard, Wang An saw his Great-Uncle, Feng Chengmin, feeding the horses. He had likely just returned from the mountains; there were still three wild boars and many lynxes and pheasants on the sled that hadn't been unloaded.
"Aiya, isn't this my great-nephew? What's up? You looking to get scolded by your Great-Uncle?" seeing Wang An ride into the yard, Feng Chengmin immediately joked.
Wang An gave a hehe laugh, unbothered, and said cheerfully, "Mm-hmm, I definitely want a few scoldings from Great-Uncle. It's been a while since I've been scolded; I'm starting to feel uneasy without it."
Feng Chengmin laughed loudly, "Hahaha, you kid, you really are asking for it."
As they talked, Wang An stepped forward to help Feng Chengmin unload the prey from the sled.
"How's the harvest been lately?" Feng Chengmin asked.
"I'm doing alright. A while back I dug out some snow holes and picked up quite a few yellow sheep and wolves, and I bagged a bear. The day before yesterday I shot a lot of blue sheep and took them to the county seat to sell yesterday," Wang An replied.
"You're doing well, kid; you managed to get both of those rare things," Feng Chengmin praised.
"Haha, isn't that because Great-Uncle taught me well?" Wang An flattered him with a smile.
Following that, the two discussed their recent catches. Feng Chengmin shared many experiences that are usually easy to overlook, from which Wang An benefited greatly.
While they were chatting, Great-Aunt Wang Yulian returned from outside the yard leading the eldest cousin Feng Weidong and the youngest cousin Feng Ruosi. Seeing Wang An, they naturally exchanged a round of pleasantries.
Wang An pulled out a handful of candies and distributed them to his cousins, who were naturally delighted.
Although Feng Chengmin's family wasn't short on money, candy wasn't something you could just buy whenever you wanted. A small shop might sell you a few pieces at a high price, but for more, you needed coupons. In this era, sugar coupons were rare commodities everywhere.
The "small shops" of this era were actually, more accurately, called agency outlets. Basically every large village had one, but Northeasterners just liked to call them small shops; no harm in that!
After unloading the prey, the group went inside. Once everyone was settled on the *kang*, Wang An brought out the 600 yuan he had prepared at home, explaining that he had found a friend to sell the tiger cub pelt to in Harbin, which is why it fetched a high price.
Feng Chengmin naturally didn't believe this. Left with no choice, Wang An mentioned another tiger cub pelt and a leopard pelt, though he didn't say how much the leopard pelt sold for.
Feng Chengmin tactfully didn't ask, as it's not good to ask too specifically about money. However, he believed Wang An's words and took the money, repeatedly saying he was taking advantage of his great-nephew.
Wang An, of course, kept declining, saying it was exactly what it should be and there was no such thing as taking advantage.
Then, Feng Chengmin counted out 340 yuan and handed it to Wang An, saying the two black bear galls had been sold for a total of 850. Twenty percent, which was 170 yuan, had already been given to the informant.
Wang An didn't refuse and accepted the 340 yuan. After chatting for a while longer, Wang An prepared to take his leave. His Great-Uncle and Great-Aunt naturally tried to keep him for a meal, leading to another round of polite refusals.
That's how it is in the Northeast; when relatives or friends visit, if you don't feed them and give them a drink, how can it be called "hospitality"? It would be a loss of face if word got out!
Finally, using the excuse that he had to deliver money, the Great-Aunt and Great-Uncle stopped insisting, because for mountain hunters, such a matter was a serious priority!
Money—what is the point of risking one's life in the mountains? Everyone understood.
Feng Chengmin and his wife watched Wang An's figure recede into the distance. Feng Chengmin sighed and said disdainfully to Wang Yulian, "Let those girls who thought my great-nephew had a bad reputation and were too stupid to marry him regret it. Every one of them thought they were something special, without looking at their own behavior."
Wang Yulian was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter and said, "You still haven't gotten over this? Little An is already married, why are you still talking about this?"
"I'm just angry that those people gave me attitude; damn it, not one of them had a kind word!" Feng Chengmin said with some resentment.
"You... you really are narrow-minded..."