Seeing his mother's expression, Wang An suddenly felt a deep sense of guilt. It was one thing to pretend to be lame, but he really shouldn't have "shuffled" his way over.
The shock had frightened his mother so much that her voice had changed pitch, and it looked as though her tears wouldn't stop.
What a mess... just making things worse!
Fortunately, Wang An reacted quickly. He immediately began blaming himself, shouting loudly
"It's nothing, I just sprained my ankle. When I got off the sled just now, I twisted it again. Man, this really hurts!"
Hearing Wang An say this, Liu Guilan visibly relaxed. She stepped forward to support him, saying with heartache
"You're a grown man, how could you still sprain your ankle? You never sprained it while foraging in the mountains, yet you manage to do it just going to a market!"
Listening to his mother's nagging, Wang An didn't find it annoying at all; instead, he felt it was actually quite blissful.
While Liu Guilan was nagging, Wang Dazhu and the others crowded around. Once they heard that Wang An had only sprained his ankle, everyone immediately stopped taking it seriously.
In this day and age, perhaps due to malnutrition, spraining an ankle was practically a common occurrence; there was truly no need for great concern.
Wang Dazhu saw the blue horse tied to the back of Wang An's sled and frowned deeply, but he asked nothing.
Mainly because none of the horses or mules in Wang An's house had been bought normally.
Furthermore, including the mules, horses, and donkeys, the family already had five large livestock. If the female donkey had a foal, there would be six.
Thus, Wang Dazhu felt that this blue horse certainly wasn't bought by Wang An. If he asked now with so many people present, it definitely wouldn't do.
Seeing everyone approach, Wang An immediately said to Wang Li
"Old Fifth, come over here. Give everyone a bottle of soda, and then give these cigarettes out for everyone to smoke. Tell them not to be polite."
Wang Li took the soda but didn't take the cigarettes, saying with a smile
"Fourth Brother, my family has already prepared cigarettes. You should take them back."
Wang An said loudly, unconcerned
"Then give them to those who are helping. Among fellow villagers, no one should work for free."
In truth, Wang An said this intentionally for the helpers to hear.
One must know that the cigarettes Wang An handed to Wang Li were Changbaishan!
In this era, as long as cigarettes came in a pack, they were considered high-quality cigarettes in the countryside.
Because the cigarettes people generally smoked at the time were raw tobacco leaves grown at home.
Since they weren't processed, smoking raw tobacco leaves was truly spicy and choking. Someone not used to it could be completely dazed after a single puff.
Even if they endured it, they would feel their head "buzzing," with a feeling of pressure pushing against the forehead.
To put it bluntly, people couldn't even afford flue-cured tobacco.
Flue-cured tobacco was the kind of tobacco leaf Wang An had traded for with roe deer meat when he first returned through rebirth; it had been processed in a curing barn.
Although flue-cured tobacco was also quite strong, it was indeed much easier to smoke than raw tobacco leaves.
The Changbaishan in Wang An's hand had truly exceeded the highest smoking standard of ordinary people at this time.
This was why Mu Xueli had been so proud when telling Wang An that he now only smoked Changbaishan.
Actually, Mu Xueli's behavior back then couldn't be called boasting, because even if he wanted to boast, he wouldn't dare do it to Wang An.
To be precise, Mu Xueli's behavior at the time was a kind of sharing—sharing the excited little mood of being able to afford Changbaishan.
As for why Wang An brought both cigarettes and soda, it was simply because the timing was right; there wasn't a shred of calculation. Besides, these things truly meant nothing to Wang An anymore.
Hearing Wang An say this, Wang Li took the cigarettes with a chuckle.
Whether it was when Wang An's family was unloading bricks or when his father-in-law's family was, any villagers who happened to be nearby would always lend a hand to some extent.
Although they wouldn't help from start to finish, even helping unload three or five carts was still a favor.
Therefore, good cigarettes—meaning packed cigarettes—naturally had to be provided. You couldn't have someone help you work and not even let them get a single smoke.
Wang An looked at the people unloading the bricks and found that one bundle of soda wasn't enough to share, so he said to Wang Li again
"One bundle of soda doesn't seem to be enough. Go to my sled and take another bundle down. It's not often people get to drink soda; no one should miss out."
Wang Li also scanned the crowd. Although he felt a bit embarrassed taking Wang An's things, he couldn't act with partiality. Wang Li agreed, saying
"Alright, Fourth Brother. I'll bring the bottles back to you once they're finished."
After everyone had their soda, they continued unloading bricks with cigarettes dangling from their mouths. It was time for Wang An to go home, so he said to Wang Li
"My ankle is acting up, so I'll head home first."
As Wang An spoke, he turned and climbed onto the sled. Wang Li's shout came from behind
"Take it slow then, Fourth Brother! Tell my sister-in-law not to start the fire in a bit; you all come over for lunch later."
Wang An waved his hand and said, "We'll eat at home, don't make portions for us!"
After saying this, Wang An drove the sled toward home.
However, what Wang An didn't notice was that not far behind him, Niu Daming was staring at Wang An's back with a distorted, menacing expression.
It was clear that Niu Daming had basically recovered by now, but he had developed a complete grudge against Wang An.
It was only natural; thinking about how he had been beaten into that pathetic state that day—even though the fault was indeed his—who wouldn't be resentful after being beaten?
Beside Niu Daming was another person surnamed Niu and someone from another village.
The man from the other village frowned and whispered
"Why do I find that blue horse tied behind that lunatic's sled looks particularly familiar?"
It must be said that Wang An was indeed cunning. While waiting for the clothes to burn away, he had untied all the red cloth strips from the big blue horse and thrown them into the fire.
Furthermore, Wang An had used a knife to cut short all the long mane hair on the blue horse's neck.
Therefore, even if the owner of the big blue horse rose from the dead and saw it again, they would have to examine it very carefully to be sure.
The man surnamed Niu heard this and said
"You're in the county every day. Aren't most of the horses at the big market like this?"
The man from the other village didn't answer him, but continued to frown and say
"No, I should have seen this horse before."
After the man finished speaking, Niu Daming glanced at him and said irritably
"Out of ten horses around here, five look like this. I don't know about other places, but from the start of spring until now, this village has added over twenty blue horses. I think they all look about the same; what's so special about one horse?"
The man from the other village didn't argue, but nodded and said
"That's true. If you don't buy a horse, you have to buy an ox or a mule; otherwise, the land is in your hands but you're always borrowing livestock to use, which isn't a sustainable way to do things."
Niu Daming and the other man surnamed Niu nodded almost simultaneously.
(End of Chapter)