When Wang An arrived home, Wang Dazhu was scorching sheep heads and trotters.
Of course, this "scorching" wasn't barbecue; it was burning off the hair.
As for the horns of the yellow sheep, Wang Dazhu had already sawed them off. Since the yellow sheep is a type of antelope, its horns are a type of medicinal material.
The primary efficacy of this stuff is to clear heat, detoxify, and reduce inflammation; it is also effective for colds.
Whether it is a fever or a cold, one only needs to grind this stuff into a powder and decoct it into a soup for an excellent therapeutic effect.
Additionally, it can treat "lamb's madness," otherwise known as epilepsy.
In short, the horns of a yellow sheep are genuinely quite useful, and Wang An's family had a genuine abundance of them.
However, such a good item wasn't very valuable in this era. The procurement price at the supply and marketing cooperative was an average of 1 yuan per pair of yellow sheep horns, meaning a single horn was only 50 cents.
Although 50 cents was not a small sum in this era, in Wang An's view, a single horn should be worth over 2 yuan. Therefore, Wang An hadn't sold a single one.
In reality, a yellow sheep weighing less than 70 jin didn't have particularly large heads or trotters, and there was basically no meat on them.
Seeing his father fussing over them with such effort, Wang An couldn't help but speak up
"Dad, what are you doing with those things? There are barely two bites of meat in total; it's not worth the effort."
Wang Dazhu stole a glance at Liu Guilan standing nearby, then rolled his eyes at Wang An and said
"Your mother loves eating this stuff, didn't you know?"
Wang An blinked, truly unable to recall when his mother had started loving sheep heads and trotters.
Consequently, Wang An also stole a glance at his mother. Upon discovering her unfriendly gaze, he quickly changed his tune
"Mm-hmm, this stuff is great. This stuff is genuinely quite delicious."
As he spoke, Wang An turned and ducked into the house.
Based on Wang An's years of experience, his father and mother had started a war, but looking at the situation, it was obvious that his father had lost.
Sure enough, just as Wang An entered the room, he heard Liu Guilan shout at Wang Dazhu
"Tell me, did you give that pair of sheep horns to Widow Li?"
Widow Li's original surname wasn't Li, but Zhao; she was of the same generation as Liu Guilan and Wang Dazhu.
The reason she was called "Widow Li" instead of "Widow Zhao" was due to local custom.
That is to say, if the man in the house died and the woman did not "walk the path," the woman would be addressed by the dead man's surname followed by the words "Widow."
As for "walking the path," it meant remarrying.
For example, if the dead man's surname was Li, she was "Widow Li"; if the dead man's surname was Zhao, she was "Widow Zhao."
Of course, these were terms used behind their backs; they would absolutely never be said to their faces.
For instance, in Kaoshan Village, because Shen Wei's deceased husband's surname was Chen, some people referred to her as Widow Chen.
He heard Wang Dazhu say aggrievedly
"That woman's child came by; I couldn't let them go back empty-handed."
After Wang Dazhu finished speaking, the sound of "pang pang" from hands slapping clothes echoed from outside. It was clear that his father was getting a beating.
Accompanying the slapping sounds was Liu Guilan's roar
"What does that have to do with you? Huh? Look at you, acting all eager and sleazy. Besides, giving one would have been enough, but you gave two! What are you trying to achieve? Do you think you're 860,000 times as generous?"
Hearing this, Wang An finally understood. His mother was clearly pained—or more accurately, jealous—because his father had given two sheep horns to Widow Li's child.
To be honest, in Wang An's view, it was completely unnecessary for Liu Guilan to blow up over this.
Although that Widow Li was only in her 40s, because her husband had died and she had to raise three children, she had been worn down by the burdens of life to the point where she looked significantly older.
Looking at her now, it wouldn't be wrong to say she was in her 60s.
Immediately after, Liu Guilan scolded Wang Dazhu a few more times, finally making him lose his temper.
Wang Dazhu shouted exasperatedly
"You just think I've got something going on with her, don't you? I'll tell you one more time, there is nothing between me and her! Look at how she looks—can she even compare to you? Is she even half as pretty as you? Every single day, you've got a knot in your brain, haven't you?"
Wang Dazhu's words immediately made the eavesdropping Wang An and Mu Xueqing burst out laughing, though neither made a sound.
It had to be said that while Wang Dazhu was usually a man of few words, his mouth was genuinely powerful in critical moments.
Most importantly, his emotional intelligence was genuinely quite high. By using the harshest tone to say the softest words, he instantly silenced Liu Guilan.
After a long while, perhaps feeling she had lost face, Liu Guilan said to Wang Dazhu
"What are you shouting for? Trying to show off how loud your voice is?"
Wang Dazhu knew Liu Guilan well. He knew that once her tone shifted, it meant she was no longer pursuing the matter of the sheep horns.
However, Wang Dazhu continued to be stubborn
"It's just the truth. You're just bored every day, imagining things because you've got nothing better to do."
Liu Guilan, clearly lacking momentum, said
"Say it again. What happens if I say a few words to you?"
After Liu Guilan finished, there was no more noise outside.
Wang An quietly lifted the door curtain and saw that the old couple were now very harmonious, scraping the black soot off the sheep head and trotters together.
To be honest, in Wang An's memory, whenever his father and mother started a war, his mother had never lost. He hadn't expected his father to actually win once; it was quite a rare occurrence.
Two days later, it was the day for the return of Wang An's brother from his previous life—Cui Tianjiang's elder brother, Cui Tianbing.
Early in the morning, Wang An prepared the tobacco paste, ginseng, and deer blood intended for Fang Xiu'e.
Of course, there was also a Mauser C96 "box cannon" and 40 rounds of ammunition prepared for Qiao Xiaohu.
The box cannon was also called the "German Twenty-Rounder," so 40 rounds were equivalent to two magazines.
After breakfast, Wang An drove the horse carriage toward the county town, still with the big chestnut horse in the lead and the big blue horse in the harness.
Although the carriage had wheels and the sledge did not, pulling a carriage was considerably heavier than pulling a sledge.
This was because the carriage itself was not light, the roads of this era were not very smooth, and most importantly, the lead animal had to bear the burden of pushing, pulling, and stabilizing.
The reason for using the carriage was that the sledge had completely gone out of business from now until the next snowfall.
In the Northeast, although it is frozen and snowy year-round in winter, once the snow begins to melt in early spring, it proves that temperatures elsewhere have already risen significantly.
Moreover, people often find that the snow covering the mountains and fields seems to vanish overnight.
However, having the snow melt by day and freeze into ice by night was genuinely quite irritating.
The journey was without incident; even at that one bend in the road, things remained quiet, so Wang An was in a very good mood.
(End of Chapter)