Chapter 371: Dividing the Money, the Guns, and the Gold
Seeing the pile of "Big Unity" notes on the ground, Wang An unhesitatingly gave ten stacks to each person. As for the remaining twenty-odd loose bills, Wang An didn't bother counting them and simply stuffed them into his crossbody bag.
As the leader, Wang An should have technically taken a larger share.
However, killing people is different from hunting in the mountains. Regardless of who they were, any normal person would feel a strong aversion to killing.
In China, even if a person is monstrously evil and deserves ten thousand deaths, their life is not something that one or a few individuals can deprive them of.
Theoretically, only the Law can do that!
It must be said that Feng Chengmin, Mu Xueli, and Wang Li followed Wang An in killing without any ulterior motives or utilitarian goals.
In other words, they helped simply to help, not for money or any other gain!
The fundamental meaning of this was different.
Even if Wang An had taken more, neither Feng Chengmin, Mu Xueli, nor Wang Li would have thought much of it, nor would they have had any objections or felt unhappy.
But Wang An could not do that; it was a matter of personal principle.
Therefore, aside from the Big Unity notes being split equally, there were a total of 25 gold bars. After Wang An gave 6 bars to each person, he tucked the one remaining bar into his own pocket.
Although everyone knew gold was valuable, in this era, people still placed a slightly higher value on Big Unity notes, as gold could not yet be circulated.
Casually stuffing a few food stamps into his pocket, Wang An looked at the six Type 56 semi-automatics before him and felt somewhat conflicted.
The money and gold had been divided equally, so there was no need for him to take extra guns.
Many things in life are like this: either you set the rules from the start, or if you are already in the middle of a process, attempting to change the rules midway is an absolutely foolish move.
As the saying goes, "Once your pants are already full of shit, one more piss won't make a difference."
Using that phrase here seemed a bit off-track, but it was understandable, as Wang An didn't have a diploma.
Trying to be pedantic with someone without a diploma was the mark of a fool.
So, how were four people supposed to divide six guns?
At this moment, Feng Chengmin noticed Wang An's hesitation and said very generously
"You're the leader; there's nothing wrong with you taking more."
Mu Xueli and Wang Li echoed simultaneously
"Yeah, Brother-in-law, just take them."
"That's right, Fourth Brother, we didn't get a small share. We're satisfied."
Hearing this, Wang An pointed at the guns on the ground and shook his head. "Not counting this one, I already have four. What's the point of hoarding more?"
To be honest, looking at the six guns, Wang An felt a mix of depression and speechlessness.
Mainly, for some reason, the serial numbers on these six guns, as well as the one from Ninth Brother, had all been filed off.
In other words, if he wanted to sell them for cash, it was fucking impossible!
Feng Chengmin blinked and looked at the SKS in his hand.
"My gun has reached the end of its lifespan. I was thinking about buying a new one; now I don't have to."
Hearing Feng Chengmin say this, Wang An's eyes flickered, and he immediately had an idea.
Thus, Wang An said to Feng Chengmin with a grin
"Old Great-Uncle, these Type 56 semis usually kick the bucket after firing fewer than 6,000 rounds. Plus, with the usual bumps and bruises, the lifespan might be even shorter. If you ask me, you should have at least two spares on hand, don't you think?"
Feng Chengmin was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood what Wang An meant.
With a look of helplessness, Feng Chengmin pointed it out directly
"What? You mean you want to sell these two guns to me?"
Wang An nodded rapidly like a chick eating rice. "Exactly! Given our relationship, I have to give you a discount."
Feng Chengmin stared straight at Wang An as if he wanted to say something, but after organizing his words for a long time, nothing came out.
Finally, Feng Chengmin looked at the guns, then at the three of them, and said helplessly
"Alright, tell me. What's the price?"
Wang An said without hesitation, "One gold bar per gun. Old Great-Uncle, how does that sound?"
Actually, Wang An had calculated this based on the gold prices of a few years in the future.
In his previous life, after going south, he had learned about the gold prices before 1985.
Although gold wasn't circulating now, it did have a value, basically around 10-plus yuan per gram.
This meant a formal employee's salary for about seven or eight days could only buy one gram of gold.
These gold bars were standard two-tael bars, so one gold bar converted to Big Unity notes was roughly 1,000 yuan.
However, the purity of gold in this era wasn't very high, so the price had to be lowered a bit.
Furthermore, considering that gold wasn't currently circulating, lowering the price a bit more was perfectly reasonable.
The price of a used Type 56 semi at the supply and marketing cooperative was fixed at 950. Although these guns were 90% new or better, guns without serial numbers would definitely be cheaper.
This way, whether it was the price of the Type 56 or the gold bar, the price Wang An offered was reasonable; no one was losing out.
The moment Feng Chengmin heard he could trade gold bars for Type 56s, his eyes lit up.
Everyone knew gold was a good thing, but the frustrating part was that it couldn't be liquidated!
Therefore, without a second word, Feng Chengmin took out two of the gold bars he had just received and handed them to Wang An.
He said with a laugh, "Hahaha, you kid are something. That big head of yours didn't grow for nothing, hahaha..."
As he spoke, Feng Chengmin randomly picked three guns from the six Type 56s.
Clearly, Feng Chengmin was extremely satisfied with this exchange.
Wang An used his survival knife to cut the two gold bars into segments, distributing them among the three of them while grinning
"Of course. I've got to make sure you're happy."
Gold in this era was mostly soft gold, making it easy to cut with a survival knife.
Feng Chengmin examined the Type 56s in his hands one by one and said with a smile
"Those bastards... these guns haven't even fired a few rounds."
"Exactly," Wang An and the others echoed.
Feng Chengmin, Mu Xueli, and Wang Li each took a Type 56. Wang Li then picked up the last remaining Type 56 and handed it to Wang An.
With that, the four of them had finished dividing all the spoils of war.
After a while, Feng Chengmin finally finished admiring his three Type 56s. Looking at the three of them stripping clothes from the corpses, he said with a laugh
"Your technique is alright. Actually, it's quite good."
As he spoke, Feng Chengmin gave them a thumbs-up.
The three of them looked at Feng Chengmin but didn't respond.
Seeing their proficient movements, Feng Chengmin didn't interfere. He turned around, pulled out his survival knife, and walked toward the three horses.
That was the good thing about mountain folk; they always saw what work needed to be done.