Chapter 36: Water-Linked Pearls, Brother-in-law

No one in the family expected that such fragrant, delicious pork would be accompanied by such a harrowing ordeal!

Mu Xueqing’s beautiful face was flushed with anger, her brows furrowed and her phoenix eyes wide, looking as if she were about to explode with rage!

It took a long while before she spoke: "How can Li Biao be like this! I knew he wasn't a good sort even back in school! He causes trouble every day but can never settle it, and he has the nerve to act so cocky with everyone. If you hadn't protected him and helped him smooth things over, he would have been beaten to death long ago!"

Hearing this, Wang An couldn't help but smile. He hadn't expected his wife to care so much about his actions!

"Hehe, it doesn't matter anymore. The bridge is already burned anyway!" Wang An laughed.

After calming down for a moment, Wang An thought for a bit and said to his brother-in-law, "Xueli, come to my house with me in a bit to get my Shuilianzhu (repeating shotgun). For these next few days, stay near the village, hunt some wild chickens or cats, and practice your marksmanship seriously!"

Suddenly remembering something, he added very seriously, "You are absolutely not allowed to enter the mountains. Even if someone asks you to go, you must refuse! I'm going to learn hunting properly from my uncle. When I get back, we'll go mountain hunting together!"

The moment he heard there was a gun, Mu Xueli jumped straight off the kang (heated brick bed), abandoning his meat!

Like a child about to receive a new toy, he began bouncing up and down on the spot, unable to stop!

Bouncing and shouting excitedly, he cried, "Brother-in-law, I hear you! If you tell me not to go, I definitely won't go! Brother-in-law, you're the best! Brother-in-law, you are truly too good to me!"

Wang An looked at Mu Xueqing speechlessly, gesturing toward his brother-in-law with his eyes, as if to say, *Quick, restrain your brother, he's going crazy!*

Mu Xueqing understood Wang An's look and was quite obedient!

She set down her utensils, turned around, and swung a palm strike toward the back of her brother's neck—*thwack!*

After the strike, Mu Xueqing turned back, sat on the edge of the kang, and continued eating as if she had never moved at all, displaying the poise of a true master!

Watching this, Wang An's mouth twitched. This woman looked so delicate and soft, but she was actually quite fierce!

However, the effect was immediate and highly effective. It instantly tamed Mu Xueli; he stopped shouting and stopped bouncing!

Mu Xueli immediately wilted. He scratched his head and said in a pitiful, weak voice, "Big sister, why did you hit me? What did I do?"

Mu Xueqing ignored him, eating her food expressionlessly.

Seeing his sister wouldn't talk, Mu Xueli didn't dare ask further and lost all his momentum. He sat back on the kang sheepishly to continue eating.

Mu Hua and his wife, the father-in-law, didn't even lift an eyelid, seemingly used to this.

Seeing how the brother-in-law didn't even dare to keep asking questions after being hit, one could tell that the sister's "bloodline suppression" over her younger siblings at her natal home was truly intense!

After the meal, Wang An, having drunk two bowls of plain water, felt a wave of drowsiness and fell asleep at the end of the kang.

He didn't know how long he slept before being woken up by a full bladder!

Passing through the outer room, he saw his wife and mother-in-law chatting, but he ignored them and walked dizzily toward the latrine.

When he returned, he saw his brother-in-law and father-in-law building a fire in the courtyard to roast pig heads, trotters, and tails.

Helping was out of the question; who would bother with such messy things?

Checking the sun, it was about 2:00 PM.

He called out to Mu Xueqing and prepared to head home. Seeing this, Mu Xueli hurriedly dropped the half-roasted pig head and went inside to wash his hands.

He seemed terrified that if he left it, his gun would be lost!

The three of them rode together on a sledge toward Wang An's house.

The two families lived close to each other, making trips back and forth very convenient.

Upon arriving at Wang An's house, Liu Guilan saw that her daughter's brother had arrived and naturally went to serve him.

She busied herself opening cans and boiling water to make malted milk, working tirelessly!

Liu Guilan's hospitality made Mu Xueli feel embarrassed.

In this era, whether it was malted milk or canned goods, they were incredibly precious!

Families who could eat such things once a year were considered quite well-off!

Mu Xueli certainly felt too shy to eat such good things, but Liu Guilan knew his family's situation was even worse than her own, so she wouldn't take no for an answer!

After arguing with Mu Xueli for a long time, Mu Xueqing spoke up. Feeling bad for her brother who had never eaten such things in his life, she said, "Xueli, just eat it. Don't let your aunt's kindness go to waste!"

Hearing his sister's command, Mu Xueli—whose mouth had been watering—finally began to eat and drink, enjoying it immensely!

Ever since Mu Xueqing married into Wang An's family, she had long since finished her portion of soda.

A small spoonful of malted milk could make a bowl, and one tin could make dozens of bowls, so she had certainly had plenty!

In this era, a single can of food was quite substantial; once opened, everyone in the family could have two or three pieces plus a bit of the gravy!

One could never eat enough!

But in this era, being able to eat a few pieces of canned meat every time was a great happiness!

Especially when the gravy hit the tongue—the taste was akin to nectar!

Meanwhile, Wang An was in the western room, sorting through bullets on the kang!

The ones he had picked out that day, he had casually tossed into a drawer, but since this pile of bullets looked different, it wasn't much trouble!

In the pile of three or four hundred bullets, the Shuilianzhu rounds made up more than half, totaling 186 rounds! This was normal!

A double-barrel shotgun holds two rounds, a single-barrel holds one, but the Shuilianzhu holds five at once!

With the three of them acting together, the Shuilianzhu would definitely be the main weapon if they fired. It made sense to prepare extra ammunition!

He picked out six rounds and threw them back into the drawer as a souvenir!

He put the remaining 180 rounds into a sturdy, old cloth bag. The pile didn't look like much, but it was quite heavy when lifted!

He pulled the Shuilianzhu out from under the kang and inspected it; it was truly a fine gun.

If he didn't already have a Type 56 semi-automatic rifle—and two of them at that—he wouldn't have given this gun away under any circumstances; even a brother-in-law wouldn't be enough!

Thinking back to when he actually considered giving it to Li Biao, he really wanted to slap himself!

Carrying the gun and the bullets to the eastern room, he found that Mu Xueli had finished eating and the three of them were chatting.

Seeing the Shuilianzhu in Wang An's hand, Mu Xueli jumped straight from the kang to the floor. He was about to bounce, but then he remembered that strike to the neck—it had been quite heavy!

Subconsciously glancing at his elder sister, he didn't dare bounce. Suppressing his excitement, he carefully took the Shuilianzhu with both hands!

As he examined it, he gently stroked it. His gaze and movements were even more focused and obsessed than when Wang An had been admiring and stroking the lovely Mu Xueqing on the kang!

He was completely lost in it, not saying a word, just staring and touching.

The more Wang An watched, the more he felt something was wrong. He frowned—what was up with his brother-in-law?

He turned to Mu Xueqing and gestured toward the boy with his eyes.

Mu Xueqing understood instantly and raised her hand, looking at her brother. But Mu Xueli was so focused that if she actually struck his neck now, he might actually get hurt!

Mu Xueqing lowered her hand and shook her head at Wang An.

Seeing his wife wouldn't strike, Wang An realized he didn't dare either!

If he delivered a blow to the neck, it might not just scare him; it might knock the kid senseless!

After thinking for a moment, he gave a loud, forceful cough.

The sound startled Mu Xueli, finally snapping him out of it.

"What's wrong with you? What's the situation? Is this really necessary?" Wang An fired off a series of serious, dissatisfied questions. His brother-in-law was being a bit much!

Mu Xueli scratched his head and said sheepishly

"Brother-in-law, you don't understand. I've dreamed of having a gun my whole life, but I always dreamed of a break-action gun. I never even considered a Shuilianzhu."

Wang An sighed helplessly and rubbed the boy's large head. The brother-in-law was slightly shorter than Wang An, about 1.76 meters!

Even though Wang An was only a year older, he always felt like his brother-in-law hadn't grown up, acting just like a child!

He didn't stop to think that his soul was actually that of a man in his sixties!