Looking at the beautiful, graceful young woman before them, Liu Guilan and Wang Dazhu’s faces were filled with smiles of astonishment!
Not only did their son have a wife, but she was so tall and beautiful! It was as if he had brought a wife straight out of a painting!
The two little sisters ran over and asked Mu Xueqing, "Fairy sister, are you going to be our sister-in-law?"
Hearing this, Mu Xueqing felt even more flustered and at a loss!
However, she quickly calmed down.
She seemed to feel that being shy in front of such young sisters-in-law was embarrassing!
Putting on the air of an eldest sister-in-law, she gently patted the two little girls on their heads and said, "That’s right, from now on I’ll be your eldest sister-in-law! You must be good and listen to me, okay?"
"Let’s all go inside! Why are you all standing out here?" said Wang An, who had just finished tethering the mule cart nearby.
"Yes, yes, let’s go inside, let’s go inside and chat," Wang Dazhu quickly agreed.
The whole family sat on the *kang* and began a lively discussion surrounding Mu Xueqing and Wang An’s marriage, making a series of decisions.
Ultimately, they decided that although they couldn't hold a full wedding ceremony right now, it was still very necessary to invite a few close neighbors and relatives to have a meal together!
The time was set for three days later!
Wang An decided to head into the mountains tomorrow to prepare for the banquet.
Just before 5 o'clock, Wang An returned the mule cart to the brigade headquarters.
He happened to catch several brigade leaders and some of the village's more prestigious figures holding a meeting. They were discussing the "household responsibility system"—dividing the land among households!
He heard the brigade secretary, Niu Yiqun, say that the results in the south after dividing the land were very encouraging.
The higher-ups had issued instructions to begin working with the villagers now, with the expectation that land division would begin after next year's autumn harvest!
By the spring of 1982, every household would be farming their own land!
Wang An listened for a moment before heading home; it was exactly as it had been in his previous life.
Around 6 o'clock, the family sat around the large *kang* table for dinner. The spread was quite impressive!
There was stewed pork ribs with pickled cabbage, braised pork with potatoes, stir-fried pork intestines with dried chili, Northeast "pig-slaughtering dish" (pork belly stewed with dried cabbage), and *youzhiliao* (lean meat chunks preserved in lard).
There were also pig trotters, braised roe deer meat, stir-fried dried mushrooms with meat, cold-dressed dried wild vegetables, and the indispensable Northeast staple—vegetables with dipping sauce.
In the Northeast, there is no fixed set of vegetables for dipping sauce, not to mention in the summer!
In winter, it’s usually sliced radishes, cabbage hearts, pickled cabbage hearts, green onions stored from autumn, garlic, and blanched dried cabbage. All of these taste great with sauce!
In this era where supplies were still very scarce, Liu Guilan had insisted on preparing 10 dishes for Mu Xueqing’s first meal as a bride!
This level of treatment was unprecedented in the Wang household, and it was Liu Guilan’s way of proving to Mu Xueqing just how satisfied she was with her as a daughter-in-law!
Mu Xueqing was deeply moved when she saw these dishes; she had never eaten so many dishes in her life!
At the same time, the previous nervousness and anxiety about her future life vanished along with the food on the table!
Looking at her bowl, piled high with various meats until it couldn't hold anything else, Mu Xueqing realized for the first time in her life that there could be a time when she couldn't finish her meat!
When she looked up, she saw her mother-in-law picking up a piece of meat, staring at her bowl, seemingly pondering how to place it on top!
Finally, Mu Xueqing had to decline her mother-in-law’s kindness.
She said to Liu Guilan, "Mother, please don't give me any more; I’m truly stuffed!"
...
At night, the family went to sleep.
By the light of two candles, after much coaxing, pleading, and endless chatter, Mu Xueqing finally agreed to stand on the *kang* for Wang An to admire her.
Her peerless, breathtaking beauty, her long jet-black hair draped naturally over her smooth, jade-like back!
Her entire body was as delicate as congealed fat, flawless. Her chest was high and firm, and her long, straight legs glowed with a pale light!
Seen from the side, her curves were stunning! It was incredibly beautiful and seductive!
Too perfect!! Truly too perfect!! The whole was like a work of art meticulously carved by the hands of a master!
In both his past and present lives, he had been intimate with so many women, but none could even compare!
She was one of a kind, a singular existence in this world!
After admiring her for a long while, he could no longer hold back and moved toward her.
The next day, Wang An rubbed his lower back, sighing to himself that he was only 19 years old!
Last night, the two of them barely slept, tossing and turning again and again. Relying on his youth, he had pushed himself hard!
The reason for Wang An’s back pain was that time when he had her stand on the *kang*!
Mu Xueqing was about 1.7 meters tall and weighed nearly 100 jin even at her thinnest; holding her up like that for half an hour was no small feat!
It was fortunate that Wang An was strong and robust; otherwise, he never could have maintained that position for so long!
After folding the quilt and placing it on the *kang* cabinet, he went to the outer room to wash up and saw Mu Xueqing and his mother, Liu Guilan, laughing and chatting while making breakfast.
It had to be said that Mu Xueqing was truly a capable worker; she handled all kinds of chores with ease, her movements fluid and graceful! It was a pleasure to watch!
The unique radiance of a woman in those few days after becoming a wife was truly rare.
She was transitioning from innocence to maturity; at this moment, a woman was at her most tender and charming.
Once she became truly mature, this tender, charming quality of the transition would disappear completely.
Mu Xueqing already possessed a peerless face, and combined with this tender charm, Wang An was once again captivated, unable to extricate himself!
Taking advantage of when Liu Guilan wasn't looking, Mu Xueqing stepped up and tapped Wang An, saying, "You’re making that silly face again!"
She then added, "Be careful, don't let Mother and the others see; how embarrassing!"
Wang An just chuckled foolishly. Seeing that no one else was in the outer room, he quickly kissed Mu Xueqing on the cheek!
After washing up, Wang An saw that the eight dogs, big and small, hadn't been fed yet!
He scooped half a basin of cornmeal with a bowl and brewed it with hot water.
He added a spoonful of lard and stirred it evenly.
Seeing this, Liu Guilan gritted her teeth in distress!
She loudly scolded Wang An for being a spendthrift, saying that dogs didn't need lard—it was a waste! Mu Xueqing stood to the side, giggling as she watched Wang An get scolded.
Wang An didn't look at them; after stirring the dog food, he carried it over to feed the dogs one by one, maintaining an attitude of "say whatever you want, I’ll do what I want."
Because Wang An knew deep down that trying to reason with women was a fool's errand! It was exhausting and thankless!
When feeding the five puppies, the little black dog was indeed bossy, not letting the four spotted puppies eat. Wang An gave it a sound thrashing!
He beat it every time it guarded the food, and after repeating this a few times, it finally settled down to eat with the others.
After breakfast, Wang An packed his gear, said goodbye to his family, and drove the sled into the mountains!
He couldn't take the dogs; they had to be tethered at home for at least ten days, otherwise, the dogs and the man wouldn't be familiar with each other!
There was also a chance the dogs would just run off and get lost, which would be a huge loss.
This sled was made by Wang Dazhu yesterday, and he had made two: one of normal size, and one that was narrow but longer!
Sleds for going into the mountains were usually narrow and long; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to pass through areas where the trees were too dense!
This time, Wang An planned to go to the Wild Boar Forest. However, the Wild Boar Forest was quite far, about 40 or 50 *li* away, which counted as the deep mountains in the true sense!
There was plenty of game, but also more danger!
Tickets, tickets, tickets!
I urgently need all kinds of tickets, dear family, brothers and sisters, please!
If you really don't have tickets, comments are fine too!! Even just commenting with a punctuation mark is the greatest support for me!!! Thank you! Thank you!! Thank you!!!
(End of chapter)