Chapter 250: Lunar New Year
When Wang An dragged the white wolf, which had died with its eyes wide open, back home.
Wang Dazhu and Liu Guilan had already dragged all the dead wolves from outside the main gate into the courtyard.
Including the one Wang An brought back, there were 13 wolf carcasses in total this time. If one counted the wolves and red dogs killed previously, it totaled exactly 30.
However, as Wang An dragged the white wolf into the yard, the female wolf in the cage suddenly began to howl.
One could tell that the cry was filled with sorrow.
The female wolf's sudden howling caused the pack of dogs at home to start barking wildly again.
The family was bewildered, but Wang An vaguely guessed the reason.
Wang An felt that this dead white wolf and the female wolf in the cage might have been a mated pair.
Because wolves are monogamous.
Of course, there are many such animals; for example, bobcats, foxes, and many types of birds are also monogamous.
These animals raise their offspring together, unlike Asiatic black bears, brown bears, and many other animals where the mother raises the cubs alone.
Hearing the female wolf's sorrowful howling and recalling the direction the white wolf's eyes were facing before it died, Wang An suddenly understood why the white wolf had died with its eyes open.
It was very likely that the white wolf knew where the female wolf was and was about to rescue her with its companions, only to be tragically beaten to death by Wang An's family.
Although Wang An didn't feel the slightest bit of psychological burden regarding capturing the female wolf or killing these wolves, he couldn't help but admire the love between wolves.
Wang Dazhu lit two large bonfires in the yard. Seeing this, Wang An realized his father intended to skin the wolves throughout the night!
Thus, Wang An immediately stopped him: "Dad, can't we deal with these things in a few days? It'll be New Year's by dawn, what's the rush?"
Wang Dazhu glanced at Wang An, then looked at Liu Guilan and said, "Is this something I get to decide?"
Hearing this, Liu Guilan said unhappily, "What about it? Will these things be easier to handle once they're frozen rock hard? Just get to work."
Wang An sucked on his teeth and helplessly began to get busy as well.
Of the 30 wolves and red dogs, Wang Dazhu and the other two had already skinned 6 while Wang An was on patrol, leaving 24 remaining.
The reason Wang An had been attacked by wolves upon returning home, and why the three of them were able to provide quick support after hearing the gunshots, was precisely because the three were busy skinning the wolves and red dogs.
Otherwise, it was truly hard to say what the outcome for Wang An would have been.
By the time the family finished skinning all the wolves and red dogs, Wang An checked his watch; it was already past 4:00 AM.
The New Year's Eve of 1980 began for Wang An's family amidst the slaughtering and skinning of wolves.
It had to be said, that was damn memorable.
The family tossed the wolf and red dog carcasses carelessly onto the outdoor table, washed up simply, and then climbed onto the kang to sleep.
Lying on the kang, Wang An lamented to Mu Xueqing, "Wife, you say our family isn't short of money, but look at how we live—there's not a single moment of leisure. Why the hell do we push ourselves so hard every day?"
Mu Xueqing didn't answer Wang An's complaint; instead, she tucked her head into the quilt and started giggling.
The whole family had been tossing and turning since the first half of the night; the two of them no longer had the desire for intimacy, so they embraced and drifted into dreamland.
When they woke up, it was already past 8:00 AM. Everyone in the family had already risen except for Wang An.
If it weren't for Wang Yi leading the two younger sisters in the yard setting off firecrackers with a crackle and pop, Wang An might have slept a bit longer.
However, although everyone was busy, no one took the initiative to wake Wang An.
The whole family believed that Wang An was the most exhausted person in the house.
Of course, only Wang An didn't think so, because he truly didn't feel that tired. At least compared to his previous life in the "fence," this life was simply the difference between heaven and earth.
After dressing, folding the quilt, brushing his teeth, and washing his face, Wang An sat at the dining table with his family.
In the Northeast, on the morning of New Year's Day, people generally eat noodles, symbolizing a long and lasting life.
The morning dishes were mostly stir-fried dried celery with vermicelli and stewed tofu.
Celery and vermicelli used the homophones for "qin" and "fen," meaning "diligent" (qinfen)!
Throughout thousands of years of Chinese civilization, there has been a common understanding: only diligence can fill the stomach.
"Tofu" also used a homophone, "dao fu," meaning "fortune has arrived."
A family with fortune is bound to be successful.
More food and dishes were prepared for breakfast because everyone had to eat their fill, and some had to be left over.
Even for families that weren't wealthy, they couldn't finish everything; they had to leave some.
In fact, it wasn't just breakfast, but every meal of the day—none could be finished; some had to be left over.
This symbolized having a surplus year after year.
After breakfast, Wang An led Wang Yi to start pasting the couplets.
Looking at the couplets he had written, Wang An asked Wang Yi, "Xiao Yi, how is Big Brother's calligraphy?"
Wang Yi studied them carefully for a while and said, "Better than Grandpa Sun's."
Hearing this, Wang An laughed loudly, "Alright, little brother has an eye for quality. When you start junior high, Big Brother will definitely buy you a bicycle."
"Big Brother, I'm starting junior high next year. Can you actually get a bicycle coupon?" Wang Yi asked skeptically.
Wang An rolled his eyes at Wang Yi and said, "Listen to you. Is there anything Big Brother can't handle? A mere bicycle coupon—is that even an issue?"
Wang Yi looked at Wang An and said, "Then can you get Mom to make me a schoolbag?"
Wang An imagined what his mother's attitude would be and felt that if he brought this up, she might become unfriendly.
So he said to Wang Yi, "Why go to Mom? Go to your sister-in-law. Let your sister-in-law make it for you; it's such a small thing."
Wang Yi said with a smile, "Thanks, Big Brother."
After the two brothers finished pasting the couplets, Wang An lay back down on the kang to sleep.
When he woke up again, it was time for the afternoon meal. The table was filled with nothing but meat.
Naturally, chicken and fish were indispensable, along with tofu and peanuts.
The staples were steamed buns or rice cakes.
The chicken was traded by Liu Guilan in the village for Asiatic black bear meat, and the fish were caught by Wang Dazhu and Wang Daliang by hacking an ice hole in the river, after which the fish simply jumped out of the hole on their own.
In Heilongjiang Province, eating fish in winter is truly a simple matter; there's no need for fishing rods or nets, just hack an ice hole and you're done.
The fish that could jump would jump up themselves; for those that couldn't, one just used a large strainer or a dip net to scoop them out of the ice hole.
Actually, "chicken" and "fish" also used homophones: chicken for "luck" (ji) and fish for "surplus" (yu).
In life, one needs the auspicious stars to shine, everything to go as wished, and to have a surplus year after year with ten thousand bushels of grain.
Additionally, "peanuts" symbolized that the family—whether in terms of people or wealth—should be endlessly proliferating.
As for the steamed buns and rice cakes, they were both steamed, symbolizing "rising steadily" (zheng zheng ri shang).
Of course, rice cakes also carried the meaning of being higher and stronger year after year.
After lunch, Wang An and Wang Yi helped Wang Dazhu clean the yard. This was also a custom; no matter how clean the yard usually was, on the afternoon of New Year's Day, one had to sweep it with a broom.
As for the specific reasoning, Wang An didn't know.
Time flew by, and evening arrived. The family listened to the radio and began wrapping dumplings.
Normally, only one dumpling among all of them would contain money, but Wang An had a sudden whim and found a total of 16 one-cent coins.
On a grand occasion like the New Year, how miserable would it be not to eat any money? The feeling of biting into money in every single mouthful—that's what I call satisfying!