Chapter 342: Becoming Sworn Siblings
After Zhang Shuya finished introducing herself, she didn't hold back in front of Wang An and Jiu Ge, and gave a brief and concise summary of Jiu Ge's situation.
Upon hearing this, the young public security officer looked visibly shaken. After opening the interrogation room door and greeting Zhang Shuya, he turned and ran off to find the station chief.
Wang An felt that carrying Jiu Ge on his back was a damn exhausting task.
The key was that carrying such a bastard on his back for so long was just not right!
Thinking of this, Wang An placed Jiu Ge on the stool in the interrogation room.
Only then did Wang An feel that his mission was complete.
Thus, Wang An said to Zhang Shuya
"Officer Zhang, since everything's settled, I'll head back first. I'm hungry."
Hearing this, Zhang Shuya immediately said urgently, "Don't leave! I still have nowhere to eat and nowhere to stay."
Hearing Zhang Shuya say this, Wang An said helplessly
"This police station is the same unit you belong to. Just stay at the station; you can have a good chat with Jiu Ge while you're at it."
Zhang Shuya pouted her lips and threatened, "I'm more familiar with you than I am with them. You dare ignore me? Do you still want that new pistol or not?"
Wang An immediately widened his eyes, opened his mouth wide, and said with a forceful expression
"Aiya woya ha! My temper is flaring up. You dare play the ingratitude card with me?"
Zhang Shuya rolled her eyes at Wang An and said with utter disdain
"What? You think just because you glare your eyes out, you can beat me?"
Hearing this, Wang An subconsciously thought of the shoulder throw this woman had given Jiu Ge.
At the same time, Wang An thought of that big white butt—no, he thought of the kick to the solar plexus that woman Sun Nian had given him.
Wang An suddenly realized: why was his combat power so damn pathetic? He couldn't even beat a woman.
It had to be said, this was absolutely a tragedy for a man!
Suddenly, Wang An looked at Zhang Shuya, who was more than a head shorter than him.
He thought to himself: *This woman is so good at fighting. If I learn from her properly, wouldn't I be invincible under heaven?*
Thus, putting aside previous grievances, Wang An said to Zhang Shuya
"Officer Zhang, how about you teach me a few moves? As for the pistol, you've promised, so it can't be a bad deal. Teaching me martial arts would be equivalent to repaying the favor. What do you think?"
Hearing this, Zhang Shuya rolled her eyes at Wang An again and looked at him with a look of total contempt
"At your age, the most you can practice is grappling. Don't even think about anything else."
Wang An asked a very critical question
"Uh, Officer Zhang, how long would it take for me to graduate? After I graduate, will I be able to beat you?"
Hearing Wang An ask this, Zhang Shuya actually put some effort into thinking. After a long while, she said
"To get the hang of it, it would take at least two or three years. To beat me, it would probably take four or five."
Hearing this, Wang An basically lost all interest in practicing martial arts.
In Wang An's view, no matter how high one's martial arts were, they couldn't beat a bullet. Practicing martial arts was just a damn waste of time.
Then, Wang An didn't want to discuss the issue of martial arts any further.
He spoke again
"Then how long until you're finished? I can't just keep leaning here; I have things to do."
Just as Zhang Shuya was about to answer, the young public security officer from before returned, leading his superior—the station chief of the Xing'an Commune police station.
Seeing the two return, Zhang Shuya's face lit up with joy, and she said to Wang An
"Go wait for me outside. I'll be done in a moment."
Wang An had zero interest in the public security matters or Jiu Ge's affairs. Hearing Zhang Shuya say this, he turned and walked outside.
By this time, the sky had completely darkened, but because there was a moon, it wasn't so dark that one couldn't see anything.
Sure enough, before Wang An could finish the cigarette he had just lit, Zhang Shuya came out.
Zhang Shuya stepped onto the sledge and said happily to Wang An
"Let's go, little brother. Take me to your house for dinner."
Wang An pulled the reins, and the big horse headed toward Kaoshan Village.
On the way, Zhang Shuya suddenly asked
"Little brother, if I go to your house, your wife won't mind, will she?"
Wang An glanced sideways at Zhang Shuya and said irritably
"She'll mind. She'll mind a lot. Mainly, *I* mind a lot."
Zhang Shuya suddenly said airily
"What use is your minding? By the way, how about we become sworn siblings? We'll be siblings of different surnames. I'll be your eldest sister, and you'll be my little brother. What do you say?"
When Wang An heard the words "sworn siblings," he didn't feel much.
In this era, if people shared a debt of gratitude or felt the other person was a good sort, peers would choose to become sworn brothers.
If the age difference was too great, they would choose to become foster relatives, like foster fathers, mothers, sons, or daughters.
These were actually very normal things.
Furthermore, Wang An actually had a group of "sworn brothers" back in the county town.
It was just that now, Wang An had completely forgotten every single one of their names.
To be fair, if "sworn brothers" of this era truly got along, they were truly no different from biological brothers.
If nothing else, they would really step up when there was trouble!
As for becoming sworn siblings with Zhang Shuya, Wang An actually had no objection. To be honest, he did have a selfish motive; after all, Zhang Shuya was already a section-level cadre at such a young age, so her future would certainly be bright.
Who wouldn't want more "sworn siblings" like that?
However, the words "little brother" made Wang An feel very awkward. How did he become the "little brother"?
Thus, Wang An said, "I don't think—"
Zhang Shuya probably knew what Wang An was going to say and stepped forward to cover his mouth with her hand.
Then Zhang Shuya said, "Don't you think it's great? Uh, stop the horse. Let's go kowtow by the roadside."
Actually, at this moment, Wang An was trying to pry Zhang Shuya's arm away, but he was surprised to find that his strength was actually not as great as Zhang Shuya's!
One must remember that Wang An was a young, strong man over 1.8 meters tall, while Zhang Shuya was just a woman slightly over 1.6 meters.
Holy crap!
But when Wang An thought about how Zhang Shuya had eaten so much meat during one meal, he felt enlightened.
With Wang An's large physique and appetite, he had only eaten a bit more than half of what Zhang Shuya had consumed.
The key issue was that meat isn't something where the person with the biggest appetite can just eat it like rice.
Once you reach a certain point, you really can't swallow any more.
Because Zhang Shuya was covering Wang An's mouth, before he could speak, she shouted to the big horse, "Whoa!"
The big horse was indeed obedient and stopped right there.
Thus, Zhang Shuya dragged Wang An off the sledge.
Then, under the moonlight, the two knelt by the side of the road and performed the sworn sibling ceremony.
To make it seem more solemn, Zhang Shuya specifically took three cigarettes from Wang An, lit them, and stuck them upside down into the ground.
To be honest, seeing those three inverted cigarettes suddenly reminded Wang An of that turn on the way to the county town...
Before Wang An's thoughts could drift, he suddenly received a slap from Zhang Shuya. Zhang Shuya said sternly
"Behave yourself, or I'll beat you."
Then, Zhang Shuya seriously taught Wang An how to say the oath. Mainly, this kind of thing could be said however one wanted; there was no standard.
If the two said different things, it would be slightly lacking in "sincerity"!
Finally, after kneeling there, they both crossed their arms and shouted simultaneously
"I, Zhang Shuya (Wang An), today become sworn siblings of different surnames. From now on, we shall share blessings and endure hardships together, work with one heart, and never abandon each other. May Heaven and Earth witness this heart."
After shouting, they each kowtowed three times toward the three cigarettes.
After finishing the kowtows and standing up, Zhang Shuya impatiently said to Wang An, "Quick, call me Big Sister."
Wang An was stunned for a moment, then said naturally, "Big Sister."
Zhang Shuya laughed loudly, "Little brother!"
After she finished laughing, she said to Wang An again, "Did you think I didn't know what 'little brother' implies? Hahaha..."