Sika deer with firm, plump hides and glossy, smooth coats, looking very fresh, were certainly young and strong sika deer.
Such deer were naturally better and more valuable.
After Wang An finished speaking, everyone together drove the 16 sika deer into the deer pen before proceeding to catch and divide them.
Once the deer selected by Wang Li were caught and tied up, the group removed the leg-snares from the rest of the sika deer.
After running for so long, the serrated edges of the snares had embedded themselves deeply into the deer's hide; in severe cases, the skin on the deer's legs had even been scraped raw.
However, for wild animals, these were minor injuries, as they could heal quickly on their own.
But to help the legs heal faster—primarily to avoid infection—Wang An used the medicinal paste prepared by Fang Xiu'e to apply some to the wounds of every deer.
The largest deer in the group brought home this time weighed only about 150 jin. Although they struggled violently during the removal of the snares and the application of medicine, they were obediently pinned down under the combined strength of several grown men.
Wang Dazhu took the opportunity to saw off five pairs of antlers from five sub-adult male sika deer. Naturally, since two of the bucks belonged to Wang Li, those two pairs of antlers also belonged to Wang Li.
After helping Wang Li send the six deer he had chosen back to his house, Wang An finally asked Huang Baoguo and Huang Zhong
"Uncle Huang, Xiao Zhong, for your two deer, do you want the deer themselves, or would you prefer the equivalent value in cash?"
Although Huang Baoguo was happy, he still declined, saying
"Forget about those two deer for Xiao Zhong. It's already good enough that he can get some meat while following you. Besides, he can't really do much, so it wouldn't be appropriate to give him deer..."
Before Huang Baoguo could finish, Wang An interrupted with a frown
"Stop, stop, stop. Uncle Huang, I don't like the sound of that. You get divided based on how much work you do; there's no such thing as working for free. Besides, Xiao Zhong hasn't been idle in the mountains these past few days. Why wouldn't it be appropriate to give him two deer?"
Seeing that Huang Baoguo still wanted to decline, Wang An said with a hint of impatience
"Enough, Uncle Huang. Let's stop with this constant back-and-forth politeness. That's just how mountain hunting works. What should be divided cannot be missed, and what shouldn't be divided cannot be over-given. Everyone gets what they deserve."
After Wang An spoke, Wang Dazhu chimed in
"Exactly. No one works for nothing in the mountains. Xiao An knows exactly how to handle things."
Hearing this, Huang Baoguo was naturally full of gratitude. After thinking for a moment, he said
"Alright then, we'll take them, hehehe..."
Pausing for a moment, Huang Baoguo added
"Even if we take the deer, we'd just sell them for money. He and his mother manage the greenhouses every day; we have no time to look after them. It's better to just convert it to cash."
Wang An nodded and said
"Dividing live deer means one large and one small. That's how Lao Wu does it, so we can't make an exception for Xiao Zhong. A large sika deer is 300 yuan, and a small one is 200 yuan. That's 500 yuan in total."
Normally, for an adult female sika deer without antlers or a penis bone, the combined value of the hide, bones, meat, blood, tail, and heart would be around 250 yuan.
For a smaller sika deer of about a year, it would normally be worth around 150 yuan.
However, for live sika deer used as breeding stock, the price was certainly higher.
Thus, the price Wang An gave was reasonable; he neither lost out nor took unfair advantage.
Having said that, Wang An reached into his pocket and counted out 50 "Big Unity" bills, handing them to Huang Zhong.
Although Huang Baoguo made the decisions for the big and small matters of the household, Wang An insisted on handing the money directly to Huang Zhong.
There was no other way; in Wang An's view, money was given only to the person who did the work. No one could collect it on another's behalf—not even a biological father!
With the money distributed, the gains from this trip into the mountains were completely settled.
In the afternoon, the three of them rode horses back into the mountains to retrieve all the snares that hadn't been triggered, saving them for the next time they caught deer.
Snares were not only expensive to produce but also quite time-consuming to make, so they certainly couldn't be wasted.
At night, as soon as he had coaxed the two little treasures, Xingfu and Kuaile, to sleep, Wang An impatiently stripped off Mu Xueqing's clothes.
Indeed, he was incredibly direct and domineering, leaving Mu Xueqing no room to resist.
Fearing she would wake the children, Mu Xueqing struggled, but her strength was useless against Wang An's power.
However, this was a kind of "little mood" for the couple.
During the time he was busy with the motorcycle shop, Wang An had inadvertently discovered a very perplexing issue.
The issue was that both Sun Nian and Fang Xiu'e possessed a strange, convoluted, or perhaps slightly twisted psychology.
This psychology manifested primarily when Wang An was fooling around with them; they preferred it when Wang An treated them in unconventional ways.
One could call them "new tricks," or say they were no longer satisfied with the old ways.
Normal intimacy, conversely, didn't make them as excited.
Of course, this didn't mean they wanted Wang An to hit them or turn into a demon.
Rather, during "that" activity, they wanted him to be more forceful and domineering.
It was somewhat similar to a certain trope, but not exactly.
Regardless, this abnormal, strange psychology left Wang An feeling very puzzled.
One must know that Wang An had been with quite a few women in his previous life, but he had truly never encountered such a profound issue.
Consequently, after returning home, Wang An applied this method to Mu Xueqing as well.
Strangely enough, although Mu Xueqing was initially flustered and indignant, feeling that Wang An was disrespecting her, once he pinned her down and engaged in "that" without any tenderness, her reaction was no different from Sun Nian's or Fang Xiu'e's—she became different than usual.
It was clear that when they were on the kang, they enjoyed this and liked Wang An treating them with such strength and dominance.
Wang An then confirmed one thing: these women were all "sick," and damn, they were seriously sick.
And today was naturally no different.
After a bout of scuffling, Mu Xueqing was pinned down firmly by Wang An in a very humiliating position.
Yes, pinned down firmly.
To the point where, aside from breathing, her entire body could not move.
Then, amidst Mu Xueqing's "unwilling" and "unyielding" gaze, her beautiful large eyes suddenly widened.
This was because Mu Xueqing discovered that something had suddenly intruded.
Then Mu Xueqing shouted angrily
"Damn Wang An, I'm going to fight you to the death!"
Wang An grinned ferociously
"Fight to the death? You stinking woman, you want to fight me to the death? Come on then, fight me to the death! Hahahaha..." (End of Chapter)