Perhaps it was because the Wang An of his previous life had experienced too many beauties when he had money.
Consequently, after his rebirth, no woman other than Mu Xueqing could evoke that indescribable feeling of fluttering in Wang An's heart.
In truth, whether for a man or a woman, a first love is forever the most unforgettable presence in one's heart.
Even until the day they die, one can clearly recall the other's voice, appearance, and smile, because that person lives within the heart!
To be fair, there would certainly be a small handful of people who had no first love, or perhaps one that had long been buried deep in their hearts, for fear of mentioning it.
However, regardless of who they were—even a heinous murderer and executioner—there would inevitably always be a piece of pure land in their heart, reserved solely for the shadow of a certain person to be deeply branded upon.
It cannot be blown away, driven out, covered up, smashed, scraped off, or gouged out...
In this life and this world, there is absolutely nothing one can do about this shadow!
Therefore, whether it was Shen Wei, or Lu Yueyue and Fang Xiu'e, to Wang An, they were all merely forms of a disguised transaction.
It wasn't that there were no feelings between Wang An and these three women; there certainly were, but these feelings had absolutely nothing to do with romantic love.
Of course, it might be different for the three women, because men and women are inherently different.
A man's nature is to grow fearful over time, while a woman's nature is to develop feelings over time!
If it were any other woman being this proactive, Wang An might have tried to persuade her otherwise; if he truly couldn't, he might have reluctantly accepted.
But as for Sun Nian, Wang An truly wanted to keep his distance.
Being ordinary friends was fine, being "iron bros" was fine, but the prerequisite was that neither side could ever take that final step.
One must understand that Sun Nian was not like Shen Wei, Lu Yueyue, or Fang Xiu'e. Regardless of the circumstances, those three had nominally belonged to other men.
Most importantly, before they started fooling around with Wang An, those three shared a common trait: they were all educated youths who could not return to the city.
Furthermore, their eagerness to fool around with Wang An each stemmed from their own specific goals.
Under such circumstances, Wang An playing around with them was actually not a problem.
At most, one could say Wang An was indecent, his thoughts were impure, and his self-control was damn poor—that he was a genuine, rather scoundrel-like man.
Other than that, what else was there to say?
But regardless of her family background or her own status, Sun Nian was not someone Wang An could touch. If he did, the trouble would be immense.
With the power of Sun Nian's father, Sun Xianghuo, dealing with Wang An would be like crushing an ant.
Besides, there are thousands upon thousands of women in the world; why throw oneself away just for one beautiful woman?
Just as Wang An realized he had said the wrong thing and might cause an unnecessary misunderstanding, the misunderstanding arrived exactly as expected.
Sun Nian asked Wang An with a beaming smile
"So, tell me, who is prettier, me or Xueqing?"
It seemed as though Sun Nian was joking, but at that moment, everyone froze.
This damn unmarried female comrade was asking a married male comrade who was prettier: his wife or herself?
Setting everything else aside, one had to ask this female comrade: what exactly are you trying to do?
Although Wang An had been mentally prepared, he never expected Sun Nian to ask such a question.
One must remember that not only was the elder Feng Chengmin present, but even Mu Xueli—Wang An's brother-in-law and the biological younger brother of Wang An's wife, Mu Xueqing—was right there on the scene!
If he gave a bad answer, Wang An might be completely finished.
Fortunately, Wang An's reactions were quite fast. After a brief stun, he spoke with righteous conviction
"It has to be my Sister Nian! You are my biological sister from different fathers and mothers. How could a younger brother think his own sister is ugly? Just kidding, it must be Sister Nian! No one else compares."
The crowd, having just recovered from Sun Nian's lethal question, heard Wang An's perfect response.
It had to be said that Wang An's sixty-plus years in his previous life were not lived in vain; he managed to keep the atmosphere from turning cold while skillfully ensuring Sun Nian didn't lose face.
Most importantly, Wang An successfully blocked the "Death Glare" launched at him by Zhang Shuya, Feng Chengmin, and Mu Xueli.
Even so, once the others regained their composure, the way they looked at Sun Nian changed. Everyone was likely wondering what on earth Sun Nian saw in Wang An.
The looks from the crowd and Wang An's words made Sun Nian realize the immense power of the question she had just asked.
Thus, Sun Nian immediately lowered her head in silence, playing the shrinking turtle.
To be honest, what Sun Nian should have done at this moment was not to remain silent, but to follow Wang An's lead and solidify the fact that she was the "older sister."
Only by doing so could she have directly covered up her previous question.
But Sun Nian had no intention of hiding her thoughts, as if telling everyone: *I am exactly this daring in thought and action, what are you going to do about it?*
Seeing Sun Nian's demeanor, everyone wore expressions of contemplation or deep worry.
Just like that, the atmosphere Wang An had worked so hard to build plummeted back to rock bottom. One by one, they silently fiddled with the slingshots in their hands.
Soon, following Wang An's method, everyone finished tying their slingshots.
To avoid adding too much weight, Wang An hadn't bought steel balls at the supply and marketing cooperative that morning. Now that the slingshots were ready, Wang An called everyone over to make mud pellets.
Only then, perhaps because everyone had come to terms with the situation, did they regain their previous vitality.
Mainly, it was truly inappropriate to bring this matter up again now; they could only try to persuade Sun Nian later, though it was unclear if she would listen.
The night passed without incident, and dawn arrived in the blink of an eye.
With the slingshots, the joy of the journey increased significantly.
However, a group of people who were all quite good with guns turned out to be utterly hopeless when it came to slingshots.
After Wang An and Feng Chengmin taught them a few times, there was simply nothing left to teach. The key to using a slingshot was almost entirely based on "feel."
By noon, aside from Wang An and Feng Chengmin, who had shot quite a few sparrows and squirrels, no one else had hit a single thing.
It had to be admitted that marksmanship and slingshot skill had absolutely nothing to do with each other.
For lunch, they naturally ate stewed sparrows and squirrels.
Though a whole morning had passed, they had only traveled about thirty li.
It wasn't until the afternoon that something genuinely happy happened.
(End of Chapter)