After exchanging greetings, the two continued to chat for a while. However, they were speaking in the Oroqen language, so Wang An and his two companions had no idea what they were saying.
Once the pleasantries were over, Uncle Kuma introduced the two parties, asking Wang An and the others to call the middle-aged man Uncle Batu.
Immediately following this, Uncle Kuma stated the purpose of their visit.
This time, however, to avoid a repeat of what had happened at the Heishan Brigade, Wang An asked about the price of the horses in advance.
Specifically, he asked for the price of trained horses aged four or five years. Uncle Batu was straightforward and quoted a price of 500 yuan per horse.
Furthermore, out of respect for Uncle Kuma, Uncle Batu gave Wang An and his companions a mountain goat each.
To be honest, this made the three of them feel quite embarrassed.
As they talked, the group walked toward the horse farm of the Qingshan Gou Brigade.
The horse farm of the Qingshan Gou Brigade was completely different from that of the Heishan Brigade.
The Qingshan Gou farm consisted of a vast meadow; not only were trees few and far between, but there were no particularly large trees to be found.
Such meadows were essentially wetlands, with many areas being actual marshes.
Without exception, every meadow either had a small creek or river running beside it or through its center.
While large trees didn't grow well here, various smaller plants grew quite lushly every summer.
It had to be said that such a place was an absolutely perfect location for raising animals.
Kaoshan Village also had a few such spots.
Thus, Wang An looked at the place thoughtfully, his mind drifting toward the time when Kaoshan Village would lease out its meadows.
Wang An remembered from his previous life that when the meadows of Kaoshan Village were leased to the villagers, the starting term was 50 years, yet the villagers had reclaimed the meadows into farmland.
One must realize that the price of grain is quite stable, so he had never heard of anyone getting rich simply by farming.
Mainly, in years of harvest, grain was cheap and unwanted; when grain became expensive, it was inevitably a year where some disaster had caused a reduction in yield.
Truthfully, this situation was like a damn curse, firmly controlling the income of the villagers.
While Wang An gazed at the vast meadow, his head full of wandering thoughts, a series of whistles rang out.
When it comes to giving commands to horses or animals, the most important thing is making them obedient—something the Oroqen people were likely experts in.
Consequently, much like at the Heishan Brigade, after Uncle Batu gathered the herd, Wang An asked Uncle Batu to help him select the horses.
Upon hearing this, Uncle Batu paused for a moment, then dove into the herd without a word.
The number of horses at the Qingshan Gou Brigade was about half that of the Heishan Brigade, totaling around 100, but their quality was not lacking in the slightest.
After selecting the horses and returning to Qingshan Gou to pay, Wang An and his companions declined Uncle Batu's invitation to stay for a meal and tied the six horses to the crossbeam at the back of the wagon.
Then, Uncle Batu grabbed three mountain goats and placed them on the wagon. Unable to refuse further, Wang An had to accept.
On their way back, as they passed the county supply and marketing cooperative, the three of them bought a fair amount of goods—not only things needed for the mountains but also some daily necessities for the home.
After shopping, the three continued their journey home.
Two days later, Wu Dong and his group arrived as scheduled.
What Wang An didn't expect, however, was that Sun Nian had come along as well.
To be honest, aside from having seen Sun Nian's bare backside, Wang An didn't know much about her.
Although the two had worked together to hunt the tiger, they had barely spoken a few words to each other until now.
Seeing Sun Nian truly stunned Wang An for a moment; primarily because, from the beginning, Wang An had never intended to bring her on this gold-prospecting trip.
Of course, Wu Dong's group of four and Zhang Shuya were aware that Wang An hadn't planned to bring Sun Nian.
This was because Wang An had specifically listed the names of the nine people going into the mountains and had never mentioned Sun Nian. Moreover, Sun Nian's job had not been transferred to DJ County; she had been working in Ice City all along.
Yet here she was!
This instantly made Wang An feel as awkward as if a thorn had been stuck in his heart.
While for a gold mine, one extra person versus ten made little difference—since these few people might not be able to exhaust the mine even in several hundred years—this was something he feared people would find out about!
However, given Wang An's temperament, he didn't lose his composure and greeted the group with usual pleasantries.
Just as Wang An felt that having Sun Nian along would lead to more trouble, Zhang Shuya secretly pulled him aside and explained the situation.
The reason was that Zhang Shuya and Sun Nian were very close; they had grown up together and were practically inseparable.
Most importantly, Sun Nian's grandfather had put in a lot of effort regarding the incident at the Forbidden Land. Furthermore, when dealing with Xing Liwen, although Sun Xianghuo didn't seem very helpful on the surface, he had actually played his part.
Zhang Shuya's point was that Sun Nian was someone who could be absolutely trusted.
Hearing Zhang Shuya's explanation, Wang An finally let go of his annoyance.
At the end of the day, as long as the secret of the gold mine wasn't leaked, one or a few extra people didn't really matter.
Once everything was packed and they had waited a while longer, Feng Chengmin arrived on horseback.
Without delay, the 10 people and 20 horses set off toward YJ County.
The reason for 10 people and 20 horses was that the trip into the mountains would be lengthy, so each person rode one horse and led another.
The horse each person led was primarily used for carrying gear—specifically, the supplies needed once they entered the mountains.
Besides luggage, the main loads were grain and food, as well as tools like iron shovels, spades, axes, and pickaxes.
In addition to these, there were medicines, and of course, bullets and grenades were indispensable.
Furthermore, when Wu Dong arrived, besides the six of them each carrying an Type 81 rifle, he had brought one for each of the four people including Wang An and Feng Chengmin.
In other words, every person was equipped with both a long gun and a short gun.
It had to be said that with this weaponry and equipment, they wouldn't be intimidated by any ruthless thugs or bandit gangs they might encounter.
YJ County was not very far from DJ County, about 200 li away, but DJ County was very close to JY County, only about sixty or seventy li.
To get to YJ County, JY County was a necessary waypoint. Although they could take a detour, the distance would be significantly longer, and the mountain roads were truly difficult to traverse.
To avoid drawing attention, all 10 people wore hunting attire.
Even so, as they passed through JY County, the group attracted the attention of the local teams.
(End of Chapter)