Chapter 292: Almost Wept with Joy
Just as Wang An walked out the door, Mu Xueli and Wang Li arrived.
Because Wang An had decided to go to the county town on a whim, the two of them hadn't known beforehand.
After a brief greeting, Wang An told them he had business to attend to in the county town and told them to go about their own business.
Upon hearing this, the two told Wang An that the mud pellets were almost dry and would soon be fired, then they each drove their sleds away.
Wang An drove his sled at full speed. The road was very peaceful, and nothing happened.
Soon, Wang An arrived at the county town. He checked his watch; it wasn't even 8 o'clock yet, so he headed straight for Wu Dong's house.
During a previous chat, Wu Dong had mentioned that they started work at 8:30 in the winter and 7:30 in the summer.
When Wang An arrived at Wu Dong's house, the main gate was not yet open.
Left with no choice, Wang An shouted toward the courtyard, "Brother Wu, open the door! I'm here!"
The gate of Wu Dong's house was a rarity for this era, made of welded steel bars. The entire gate was like a fence, allowing one to see both inside and outside the courtyard.
The gate had a double-leaf structure with a large iron bolt in the middle. One end of the bolt was flattened to serve as a stopper, while the other end had a screw nub welded on to hold the padlock.
Furthermore, the protruding steel bars at the very top of the gate had been hammered flat and ground into sharp points.
Even with Wang An's height, he felt that if he tried to climb the gate, he would have to be very careful with his backside.
If one of those steel bars were removed, it would be a stabbing spear. If one were poked by such a thing—holy crap—the consequences were simply unimaginable.
Wang An's shout failed to bring out Wu Dong, but it did bring out Wu Dong's grandfather.
Seeing Grandpa Wu smiling, he inserted the key into the lock and said
"Young man, have you brought more wine for this old man?"
Hearing this, Wang An replied with a smile, "Last time Grandpa Wu drank until he was dazed; I can't let you drink any more."
Grandpa Wu's eyes immediately widened, and he said with great dissatisfaction
"You didn't bring wine? If you didn't bring wine, what are you here for? Fine, go back. Remember to bring wine next time."
Wang An was completely stunned. This old man didn't play by the rules at all.
As soon as Grandpa Wu finished speaking, he unhesitatingly stopped unlocking the gate, turned around, and prepared to go back inside.
This move by Grandpa Wu left Wang An at a loss. However, the business wasn't done yet, and he still needed to get inside.
Thus, Wang An shouted, "Grandpa Wu, I do have wine! Open the gate for me!"
In all his days, who kicks a guest out like this?
It should be noted that Wang An could change his expression faster than a dog, but upon hearing Wang An's shout, Grandpa Wu's expression changed even faster than Wang An's!
As Grandpa Wu nimbly turned back around, his face was already full of smiles, and he said cheerfully
"You child, you're not honest at all, playing mind games with your elders."
It had to be said that Grandpa Wu was definitely a cunning old fox.
Wang An remained silent, waiting for Grandpa Wu to open the gate.
Grandpa Wu walked back to the gate, but instead of opening it, he said with a smile
"What are you looking at, young man? Bring the wine over."
The corner of Wang An's mouth twitched. He forced a smile and said, "Please wait a moment, Grandpa Wu, I'll get it for you right now."
After speaking, Wang An returned to the sled and pulled out a leather skin.
Seeing the leather skin, Grandpa Wu's eyes instantly lit up, and he hurriedly unlocked the gate.
However, after unlocking it, Grandpa Wu didn't open the gate wide. Instead, he walked straight out of the courtyard and snatched the leather skin from Wang An's hand.
Then, unable to wait, he opened the skin and took three large gulps: "glug," "glug," "glug."
After finishing the drink, Grandpa Wu let out a long sigh and said, "Why didn't you come sooner? I was dying for this wine."
Looking at Grandpa Wu, Wang An truly didn't know what to say.
After a while, Wang An tentatively said, "Grandpa Wu, how about we go inside the courtyard? I have some business with Brother Wu."
Perhaps satisfied with the drink, Grandpa Wu said cheerfully, "Come in, come in. I'll open the gate for you now."
Just as Wang An was reaching for the bear paws, Wu Dong came out of the house, fully dressed.
After exchanging pleasantries, Wang An learned that Wang Shuai and the other two did not live with Wu Dong, which was why they hadn't appeared.
While explaining his purpose to Wu Dong, Wang An unloaded two bear paws, four rabbits, four wild pheasants, and four flying dragons from the sled.
After listening, Wu Dong sucked on his teeth with a troubled expression and said
"Brother, I've noticed that every time you come to me for a favor, not a single one of them is simple."
Wang An said with a grin, "Brother Wu, look at it this way: if it were a simple matter, I could handle it myself. Why would I trouble you?"
Wu Dong thought for a long time before saying, "I've never paid attention to that kind of thing; I have no idea where to find one. How about we check the government's logistics department first?"
Hearing this, Wang An immediately moved the bear paws and other items to the doorway and pulled the remaining leather skin of wine from the sack. Just as he was about to turn around, the wine in his hand was snatched away.
Wang An looked up and found that Grandpa Wu had somehow darted over and was now smiling while holding the leather skin.
Wang An immediately looked at Wu Dong, who gently shook his head, meaning he didn't need to worry about it.
With Wu Dong's signal, Wang An felt at ease. However, he heard Grandpa Wu say cheerfully
"Young man, this wine is quite good. Bring more next time, alright?"
Because Wu Dong was beside him, Wang An felt reassured and had no more reservations. He said with a smile
"Sure thing, Grandpa Wu. I'll definitely bring you more next time."
After speaking, Wang An and Wu Dong drove the sled away.
On the road, through chatting with Wu Dong, Wang An learned that the jar of deer blood wine he had brought last time had been completely monopolized by Grandpa Wu.
Furthermore, after drinking the deer blood wine, Grandpa Wu's health had improved significantly. Because of this, Wu Dong had specifically called back to Heilongjiang Province.
After Wu Dong told his father about the situation, the next day, Wu Dong's father and an old traditional Chinese medicine doctor came over from Harbin.
After the old doctor felt Grandpa Wu's pulse, he said that Grandpa Wu's health was generally very good, likely due to drinking the deer blood wine.
What puzzled Wang An was that, given Grandpa Wu's status and position, could he not get deer blood wine in Harbin?
When Wang An voiced this question, Wu Dong's answer was actually affirmative.
Because Grandpa Wu found the smell of deer blood wine too fishy, he had never drunk it before.
If it weren't for his craving for wine this time, Grandpa Wu wouldn't have drunk the deer blood wine Wang An brought.
Finally, Wu Dong also signaled for Wang An to bring more deer blood wine next time, leaving Wang An truly caught between laughter and tears.
However, such a thing was a small matter for Wang An, so he agreed very readily.
The two arrived at the logistics department. Wu Dong went in to ask, but the logistics department didn't have a chainsaw.
However, the staff there kindly gave Wu Dong a large hand saw, saying that this thing was very fast for sawing wood.
Wu Dong wasn't polite at all and tossed the brand-new large saw onto the sled.
Then, Wu Dong and Wang An drove the sled around the county town—the supply and marketing cooperative, the public security bureau, the hospital...
Wherever Wu Dong knew someone, they visited.
But the annoying part was that none of these units had the item.
Instead, the sled now had two more large saws, both obtained from the supply and marketing cooperative.
Finally, a helpless Wu Dong frowned and said
"Let's check the logistics department of the garrison compound. If they don't have it either, we'll have to find a way to get it from Harbin for you."
Wang An naturally had no objection and drove the sled straight toward the compound.
It had to be said that whether it was Wang Shuai, Wu Dong, He Liang, or Ma Guoqiang, these four were truly dependable.
Arriving at the compound, they left the sled outside the main gate, and Wu Dong led Wang An inside.
Upon arriving at the logistics department, Wang An almost wept with joy. After visiting so many units across the entire county town, it turned out the soldiers were the most helpful.
In the logistics department, there were a total of four chainsaws used by the cooking squad for chopping firewood. However, normally one chainsaw was enough; there was no need for so many.
Therefore, without a second thought, Wu Dong wrote a requisition slip and borrowed one.
In Wu Dong's words: the army and the people are one family, so there's no problem.