Chapter 49: Shen Wei's Request (Please keep reading, please recommend)

Who was Niu Dali? He was the notorious "Number One Menace" of Kaoshan Village!

A thief and a scoundrel who never did a single good deed, and a man who even drove his own wife to her death! What woman would ever dare marry him?

How much water had to be in Shen Wei's head for her to agree to it!

And regarding Shen Wei's drowning, the always-upright Niu Yiqun also bore responsibility. For the sake of his nephew, Niu Yiqun had actually persuaded Shen Wei to marry Niu Dali!

How could Shen Wei have jumped into a fire pit of her own volition? Thus, Niu Yiqun left, feeling helpless!

But Niu Dali was never a decent person to begin with, so naturally, he wouldn't let Shen Wei go!

Then came the harassment—if it wasn't him knocking on her door in the middle of the night, it was him smashing her windows, or running to her house in broad daylight to pester her relentlessly!

After beating Niu Dali a few times, Niu Yiqun found he simply couldn't manage it anymore and eventually turned a blind eye!

Although Wang An's reputation in his past life wasn't great and he was a domineering brute, he never proactively bullied people!

Moreover, he possessed a shred of chivalry! He certainly couldn't stand seeing such things happen!

But there is much trouble at a widow's door, and the Niu family was powerful. In Kaoshan Village, the Old Niu family was truly not to be trifled with!

The Niu clan in Kaoshan Village was even more dominant than the Feng Chengmin family in Linjia Village!

That was how rural life was back then; no matter how much of a piece of work Niu Dali was, as long as he was being bullied by an outsider, the Niu family had to step in!

Therefore, Wang An only dared to secretly strike a few heavy blows against Niu Dali!

Alas, it was ultimately useless!

But no matter how tough Wang An was back then, he didn't dare to kill anyone!

In '82, the year before '83, everyone had only two words for a man like Niu Dali: "helpless."

A female urban youth in her twenties, arriving with a child, unable to eat her fill or sleep soundly every day. She was all alone in Kaoshan Village with no kin, and no one had the power to lend her a hand!

How could she possibly endure such constant mental terror and life-altering suffering?

And so, at only 26 years old, in a state of utter despair where heaven did not answer and earth did not respond, Shen Wei took her child and threw herself into the river!

One year after Shen Wei's drowning, the great wave of '83 rolled in, and Niu Dali finally received his "reward"—a single bullet—and stepped onto the cycle of reincarnation!

Although back then, no matter where you were, it was a time when there were many broken lives!

But in Kaoshan Village, there was guilt!

Looking at the beautiful widow before him, Wang An's thoughts drifted for a moment!

Yet, he still greeted her with a smile: "Sister-in-law is here! My mother and the others are working in the courtyard. Come on in!"

Shen Wei's late husband had been a very good person when he was alive. He was a few years older than Wang An, and Wang An used to call him "Brother"!

Driven by the struggle for survival, he had chosen to go poaching, but unfortunately died on that very path!

Seeing Wang An grooming a dog, Shen Wei said somewhat bashfully, "Little brother, it's like this... I saw you coming back with a mountain beast just now?"

Shen Wei was a southern youth; although she had been in the Northeast for many years, her accent hadn't been completely assimilated, giving her a slightly coquettish tone.

As soon as she spoke, Wang An understood—she wanted some meat!

Wang An didn't mind giving some mountain meat; if you were going to give, you had to give a decent amount. That was the rule, and it was perfectly acceptable in the village!

Besides, when the first wild boar was caught, Liu Guilan had already sent meat to Shen Wei's house.

Of course, kindness was the primary reason, but Wang Dazhu and Liu Guilan also had intentions regarding Shen Wei.

Their son Wang An had a bad reputation, and no girl had agreed to marry him. If they couldn't find anyone else, Liu Guilan wanted to suggest Shen Wei to marry Wang An!

Even though Shen Wei was a widow, five years older than Wang An, and had a child, it was still better than her son being a bachelor for the rest of his life!

That is how parents are, constantly worrying about their children!

This was also why, when Wang An married Mu Xueqing, Wang Dazhu and Liu Guilan felt as if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted from their backs, instantly feeling years younger!

Wang An said with a smile, "Yeah, it was a black bear. Sister-in-law, go into the courtyard and let my mother cut you a piece of meat."

Having said that, he prepared to squat down and continue grooming the dog. Although Shen Wei was curvaceous and full of charm, she was still just a young widow!

Compared to Mu Xueqing, she was truly a level below! Mu Xueqing's beauty was perfect in every single detail; it was an invincible beauty!

Therefore, Wang An didn't care much about this beautiful widow!

However, things would not develop in a plain, disconnected manner just because Wang An didn't care!

Some people and some matters, once they stick to you, they stick!

But having lived a second life, setting aside the nonsense of saving China or saving the world, he couldn't let such a wretched tragedy repeat itself!

Although Wang An wasn't exactly a saint, he had to at least be able to live with his conscience!

Just then, he heard Shen Wei stammering, "That... um... could you give me the black bear's paw? No, I mean, I'll buy it. I'll give you money later!"

Wang An's eyes widened instantly; he was genuinely shocked!

When it came to black bear meat, anyone could ask for some, and it wouldn't be strange whether it was a little or a lot. But asking for a black bear's paw? He had never heard of such a thing; who would dare ask for that!

The history of eating black bear paws and bear palms in China was very long; everyone knew they were delicacies!

Although black bear paws weren't worth much now, a front paw weighed about 5 jin, and a hind paw was at least 7 jin, selling for about 2 yuan per jin at the market!

Even though the little widow said she would "buy" it, it would cost at least one "Big Unity" (a 10-yuan note)!

A ten-yuan note was no small sum in this era! It was more than half a month's salary for a temporary worker!

A hardworking farmer working for a whole year, after calculating his work points and excluding the grain rations, might only see three or four such notes!

When would this little widow ever save up one?

To be honest, Wang An didn't know how to refuse and was feeling conflicted!

Shen Wei stammered again, "My... my mother-in-law... her health... her health hasn't been good lately! She said... she said she had it once when she was young... and before she passes, she wants to... taste it again!"

She struggled through every single sentence! It made a man like Wang An, who was somewhat impatient, feel incredibly uneasy!

But Wang An understood. To put it simply, her mother-in-law wanted to eat it!

However, he, Wang An, was not a man of boundless charity or a saintly helper!

But since they were neighbors in the village, refusing directly seemed a bit impolite!

Day after day, why was this old lady so greedy? Isn't she just making things difficult for me? I'm not even that close to you!

What the hell was he supposed to do!

*Sigh! Forget it! This poor youth has had a hard enough life; I'll help her just this once!*

"Come on, Sister-in-law, come into the courtyard with me. Don't just stand there at the gate," Wang An said with a sigh.

Shen Wei nodded and followed behind Wang An into the courtyard!

The family was in the courtyard, busy near the doorway, but they could faintly hear the voices at the gate, though they couldn't make out the words!

In a village, greeting someone and chatting for a bit was perfectly normal, so no one paid it much mind!

It wasn't until Wang An led someone into the courtyard that the family stood up to look.

"Oh, it's Xiao Wei! Why didn't you come straight in? Why were you chatting at the gate?"