When Wang An and Wang Li returned home, the house was unusually empty because the front gate was closed.
Wang An didn't mind. He opened the gate, drove the sled into the courtyard, and told Wang Li to carry the sacks inside. The sacks contained one sheep's stomach, four lynxes, two pheasants, and two flying dragons.
Wang An found the key in the doghouse to open the door. He put the black bear gall and the lynxes and pheasants he wanted to keep for food inside the house, then locked the door and turned to leave.
As he reached the front gate, he turned back to the sled, packed four pieces of black bear meat, two lynxes, and two pheasants into sacks, covered the sled with a straw mat, and headed out again with the sacks in hand.
No need to ask; the answer was that Wang An missed Little Sister Wei.
Strolling over to Shen Wei's house, he cleared his throat twice and pushed open the door.
At that moment, Shen Wei was in the outer room tinkering with a pile of dried mushrooms and wild vegetables. Seeing Wang An enter, her face immediately lit up with joy. Just as she was about to greet him, Wang An quickly made a shushing gesture.
Then, like two thieves, the two of them slipped into the west room.
After Wang An threw the sacks on the floor, the two of them began attending to their own business.
A few seconds later, they were both completely stark naked.
And then, abnormal sounds began to emanate from the west room.
It sounded as if someone were eating noodles, slurping them into their mouth.
No, it was clearly a woman weeping.
No, it was a woman singing.
Yes, she was singing, and she actually sang quite well, though she couldn't hit the high notes, as if she had run out of strength to sing.
After a long time, everything went quiet.
A while later, voices were heard: "Did you miss me?"
"Mm-hmm. Would I have come if I didn't?"
"You just missed those two, didn't you? Ow, be gentler! There are bruises everywhere; the ones from last time just healed."
"To be precise, it includes those two."
"Then why did you have to leave me all bruised up?"
"Because it's fun. Why ask that? Now be good and don't move."
"Are you sick in the head?"
"Yes."
"..."
After another while, Wang An lay there and asked, "What's the deal with Lu Yueyue? How did my wife find out about it?"
After speaking, Wang An mounted his "horse" once again.
"The other day we were chatting about the female educated youths in the village. Mu Xueqing said Lu Yueyue had finally escaped her sea of bitterness, and I accidentally let it slip that you helped her go back. I didn't say anything else," Shen Wei said, her voice trembling slightly.
The reason for the trembling was that Wang An was busy.
Wang An didn't press further because there was no point; it wasn't as if he could beat someone to death over it.
However, the necessary punishment could not be skipped, which was why Wang An was working so hard.
Of course, people from different perspectives view problems differently.
Therefore, whether this was a punishment or a reward was actually up to Shen Wei to decide.
Once everything ended, Wang An dressed while looking at the fainted Shen Wei, feeling an immediate sense of immense satisfaction.
After a while, Shen Wei slowly woke up, appearing to be very happy.
Wang An looked at the large ink-like stains on the "steamed bun," felt that it shouldn't hinder eating, and took two more bites.
After tasting it, it was actually quite good, with no flaws at all.
After walking out of Shen Wei's gate, Wang An strolled over to the convenience store and bought two packs of Changbai Shan cigarettes before leisurely heading home.
While at the store, Wang An heard some news: that this morning, the uncle and nephew Niu Yiqun and Niu Dali had been taken away by the public security officers. They had left in a car and hadn't returned yet.
If it was the county public security car, Wang An knew what it was—a dilapidated GAZ-69 that had been retired for years, also known as an "Old Gas," produced by the Russians. That piece of junk was much older than Wang An himself.
However, no one in the store knew what had happened because the officers hadn't asked anything. Upon arriving in the village, they simply asked where Niu Dali's house was, and Li Er-lengzi had led the way.
Li Er-lengzi currently harbored a great deal of resentment toward Niu Dali. He had given Niu Dali a perfect tip about a bear's den, but Niu Dali had not only failed to loot the den but had lost a foot in the process.
Meanwhile, Li Er-lengzi hadn't received a single cent, wasting a golden opportunity to make a fortune, which left him regretting it bitterly.
But Li Er-lengzi didn't dare speak out, because whether hunting or looting a den, failure was normal; no one could guarantee 100% success.
If Li Er-lengzi dared to voice his grievances, he would be drowned in the spit of the entire village.
Thus, Li Er-lengzi was extremely invested in the public security officers looking for Niu Dali. Given Niu Dali's character, the officers looking for him certainly wouldn't be for something good!
It was said that when Li Er-lengzi entered Niu Dali's courtyard, he was even more imposing than the officers, shouting, "Niu Dali, come out! Your crimes have caught up with you!"
However, just as he finished shouting, because the voice was too loud and sudden, he startled the officers. He was immediately kicked by one of them. Since Li Er-lengzi was small and frail, the kick sent him flying backward into the snow.
The public security officers of this era were mostly veterans, many of whom had seen combat. The power of that kick was easy to imagine!
After throwing Niu Dali into the car, the officers drove to Niu Yiqun's house. Some villagers saw that Niu Yiqun got into the car of his own accord.
Wang An couldn't help but ponder. Based on the timeline, Lu Yueyue should have reached home by now; he just didn't know whose handiwork this was.
It probably wasn't Wu Dong. Wu Dong wouldn't be bored enough to get involved in this—there was no benefit and it only offended people. Although Wu Dong's status meant he didn't fear offending people, that had nothing to do with whether it was logical to do so!
When Wang An got home, he found his family discussing the matter. The version was the same, except for one additional detail: after Li Er-lengzi was kicked over, one of his front teeth had been snapped.
Not knocked out, but snapped!
Wang An was somewhat puzzled. Teeth were so sturdy; could they actually snap?
In his previous life, he had never heard of someone's tooth snapping! Falling out was normal—whether knocked out or punched out—and Wang An had helped with plenty of those!
When preparing dinner, Wang An took charge and made "Braised Lynx and Half-a-Cat's-Weight of Meat."
When Wang An started caramelizing the sugar, Liu Guilan's heart ached terribly. In her eyes, putting sugar in a savory dish was pure nonsense—not just nonsense, but a huge waste!
And when Wang An poured half a bowl of white liquor into the sauce, Wang Dazhu's heart ached terribly. In Wang Dazhu's eyes, putting white liquor in a dish was no longer just nonsense and waste; it was tearing at Wang Dazhu's very heart and lungs.
Amidst the couple's grumbling, calling him a "spendthrift" and a "debt collector," Wang An finally finished the Braised Lynx and Half-a-Cat's-Weight of Meat!
The moment the dish was placed on the table, Wang Dazhu and Liu Guilan immediately grabbed a piece of meat and put it in their mouths. Just as they were about to continue scolding Wang An, they both chewed a couple of times and shut their mouths.
It wasn't until Liu Guilan took another piece of meat that she said, "This brat actually made it taste quite good! Xueqing, hurry up and eat, what are you looking at?"
Seeing this, Wang An smacked his lips and didn't dare say anything, lowering his head to eat. But after a few bites, he realized: how could such a great dish be eaten without alcohol?
Thus, Wang An ran to the west room and poured two bowls of white liquor, placing one in front of Wang Dazhu. Wang Dazhu immediately laughed, "My eldest son is the only one who understands me!"
After saying this, he felt his words might invite a scolding and subconsciously glanced at Liu Guilan, but Liu Guilan didn't even look at him.
Perhaps the meat Wang An made had put Liu Guilan in a good mood, or perhaps speaking would interfere with eating meat. In any case, Liu Guilan's mouth did not start rattling like a machine gun at Wang Dazhu.