Chapter 19: The Mother-in-law's House

The mule cart drove directly into the courtyard and was hitched to a wooden post used as a clothesline pole!

Scanning the courtyard, there were three earthen houses, each about the size of his own family's side room!

The roofs weren't covered in clay tiles, but were actually made of earth. This kind of earthen roof is extremely troublesome; after heavy snow or rain, one must get on the roof immediately!

After a heavy snowfall, you have to get on the roof to clear the snow right away! Otherwise, if even a little bit of snow melts and then refreezes, the entire roof will be covered in a layer of icy slush!

The "big smoke puffs" (blizzards with howling winds) in the Northeast are incredibly fierce; scattered grass can't hold the clumps of earth in place at all! After one winter, the earth on the entire roof is basically ruined!

Not to mention after heavy rain—the entire roof gets washed into small gullies. If not repaired promptly, after a few heavy rains, not only will the house leak, but the connection between the roof, the wattle fences, and the purlins (the horizontal roof beams) will all rot away. If you're lucky, you might even harvest a pile of mushrooms from it!

The courtyard was kept very tidy. There was only one side room, connected to two sheds!

Aside from some wooden planks, wooden stumps, and those two wooden posts, there was nothing else in the courtyard! It was spotless!

Seeing the mule cart enter from outside, Mu Hua led Mu Xueli and Mu Xueting out!

When Wang An saw the three of them, he immediately grabbed his sack and stepped forward with a wide smile to greet them: "Hello, Uncle! I'm Wang An, Xueqing's classmate!"

He then turned to Mu Xueli and Mu Xueting and said, "You must be Xueli and Xueting, right? Xueqing mentions you all the time!"

It had to be said, the looks of this family were incredibly striking! Never mind Mu Xueqing—even if you didn't consider her on a national level, she was at least unrivaled in Heilongjiang Province!

Although Liu Ruxin was no longer in the prime of her youth and the hardships of life had taken their toll, she was a mature woman with lingering charm!

Mu Hua had passed his fortieth year; the torment of illness had left deep marks on his face, yet he still appeared gentle, refined, and elegant!

Mu Xueli was at that age of youthful vigor and high spirits; though a bit reserved, he was a genuine handsome guy!

Mu Xueting was still young, with bright eyes and white teeth; her large, sparkling eyes were expressive and moving. Although her hair was yellowish and she looked malnourished, she could still be seen as a beauty in the making!

This family of beauties and handsome men was impressive!

Hearing Wang An's greeting, a hint of a smile appeared on Mu Hua's face, and he beckoned, "You're here, Xiao An. Come in and take a seat!"

A large group of people swarmed into the east room. "Get on the *kang*, get on the *kang*! It's warm on the *kang*!" Mu Hua greeted Wang An politely.

The simplicity of the room went without saying, but what truly shocked Wang An was a wooden bookshelf against the north wall. It was filled with books, many of them very old thread-bound volumes that looked extremely ancient!

After experiencing so much over so many years, to still have such a large collection of old books in such a small mountain village! The shock was immense!

Seeing Wang An staring at the bookshelf in shock, Mu Hua asked with a smile, "Does Xiao An like reading too? I only brought these books out in the last two years. I don't even know when many of them were passed down! They are all written in traditional characters! And they are all in classical Chinese; I can barely understand them. Does Xiao An have any expertise in traditional characters?"

Hearing this, Wang An gave an awkward smile and said, "What expertise could I have? I didn't even graduate middle school! I spend my days trekking through the mountains and hunting; I haven't spent much time with books!"

After a thought, he added, "But I do know that those old books are quite valuable now. The older they are, the more they're worth! In Beijing, there are many people who collect this kind of book!"

Wang An felt that if he remembered correctly, antiques and cultural artifacts had already started becoming popular these past few years! He decided to give them a heads-up; he didn't want them to take it lightly or be targeted by someone looking to buy them for a pittance. It would be devastating for the family to find out later!

Mu Hua froze for a moment upon hearing this and didn't speak, lowering his head in deep thought, as if contemplating something!

The scene fell into a quiet lull. Just now, when Mu Xueli heard Wang An say the words "trekking and hunting," he had wanted to interject! Seeing that no one was talking, he quickly spoke up

"Brother Wang An, are you good at hunting? I've gone into the mountains with the hunters in our village before. They all carry guns and lead dogs, and they drag wild boars and roe deer home on sleds! They eat the meat to their heart's content, and if they can't finish it, they can sell it for money! That's so great!" His envious gaze was completely exposed!

Wang An couldn't help but smile upon hearing this. He said, "I'd say my hunting is just okay. I can hunt wild boars and roe deer, but they're only good for eating; you can't make much money selling the meat!"

Mu Xueli immediately looked at Wang An with eyes full of admiration and said in surprise, "They can sell twenty or thirty yuan every time! Everyone gets to split ten or eight yuan!"

It seemed that ten or eight yuan was a massive fortune in Mu Xueli's eyes. However, in this era, a single ten-yuan note was indeed a significant amount of money!

Wang An smiled and asked, "Then why don't you join in? Mountain trekking is done by shares; you'd get a portion regardless!"

Mu Xueli said dejectedly, "I want to go, but I don't have a dog or a gun, so they won't take me! The few times I did go with them, I had to shamelessly pester them to let me come! In the end, they only gave me a small piece of meat. That meat was so delicious!"

Wang An laughed inwardly: *This little brother-in-law is truly straightforward! He doesn't hide anything!*

Suddenly, Mu Xueli's eyes lit up: "Brother Wang An, since you're so good at it, can you take me with you next time you go into the mountains? I have plenty of strength, and I've already learned how to gut them!"

Looking at his glowing eyes, Wang An felt somewhat helpless. Mountain trekking wasn't exactly a safe business; if something happened, he wouldn't be able to take responsibility!

After thinking for a moment, he said, "You can't ask me about that. You have to ask your Uncle, Auntie, and your sister if they agree. If they agree, I'll take you!"

At that moment, Liu Ruxin, who had been outside busy with something, entered the room!

Wang An quickly stood up and said to Liu Ruxin, "Auntie, what have you been busy with? Why are you just coming in now? I've been waiting for you for a long time..."

As he spoke, he pulled the forty ten-yuan notes from his pocket, added the 200 yuan he had taken from the dead man's pockets, and handed it all to Liu Ruxin!

He then said, "Auntie, let's handle that matter with the matchmaker first. Once it's done, we can have peace of mind!"

Mu Hua had been watching silently this whole time, which made it clear that in this house, just like his own, the mother was the one in charge! Or perhaps Mu Hua simply didn't know what was going on yet!

"Alright, son-in-law. I'll take it to her right now. She's been nagging me every day; it's driving me crazy!" Liu Ruxin seemed to finally breathe a sigh of relief!

"Auntie, what is she like? Do I need to go with you?" Wang An asked.

"No need. She's in the west courtyard, a neighbor for over twenty years. Even if she doesn't give me a receipt, I'm not giving her the money!" Having said that, she turned and left.

The people in the room exchanged a few bits of idle chatter before Liu Ruxin returned, holding a slip of paper! It hadn't even been five minutes! That was fast!

Wang An took the slip of paper and looked at it. *Holy crap, it's actually a promissory note!!* What a calculating person, with such strong defenses! He pulled out the matches from his pocket and lit the paper!

Watching the paper turn to ash, Wang An smiled and spoke: "So, Uncle, Auntie, what do you think about my marriage to Xueqing?"

Dear fellow villagers, brothers, and sisters!

I love you all!!

Please recommend and bookmark!

Please recommend and bookmark!

Please recommend and bookmark!

Thank you all! Thank you!

(End of Chapter)