Chapter 118

The dumplings were cooked. Mu Xueqing used a skimmer to scoop them out and placed them in the two largest bamboo steamers to drain the water.

The dumplings were wrapped quite well; only one was broken during boiling, and even the broken one was just a whole little meatball.

Mu Xueqing used chopsticks to pick up the little meatball and put it in her mouth. Her eyes lit up instantly, even though the meatball's flavor had faded quite a bit after being soaked in hot water!

But the flavor of this filling seemed to give Mu Xueqing a big surprise!

After washing their hands, everyone sat around the table eating dumplings, their eyes shining, chopsticks flying, eating with such speed!

It must be said that the dumplings Wang An wrapped were still very much to everyone's taste.

The crystal-clear dumplings were crowded in the steamer, thin-skinned and big-filled; one could vaguely see the meat filling inside!

Putting them in the mouth and biting down gently, the fragrance instantly permeated!

Following that was the sensory enjoyment the soup gave the tongue. This soup was too delicious! It was truly hard to swallow!

Finally, as the dumpling went into the stomach, it left an endless aftertaste, and the chopsticks in hand couldn't wait to pick up the next one!

The two little girls, Wang Xiaomei and Wang Xiaoli, were also busy eating dumplings and couldn't spare the time to talk, only nodding from time to time to show their appreciation for their eldest brother!

While eating, Wang An said to his family: "In a while, I'll go to my aunt's house, my old aunt's house, and my uncle's house. When you finish, just load the meat onto the sled. Load as much as the sled can hold."

Then he turned his head to Mu Xueli and said: "Xueli, the day after tomorrow, come over early with the sled. Put the remaining meat on your sled, and we'll go to the county together."

Mu Xueli was busy eating dumplings, hissed and puffed from the heat, gave a muddled answer, and continued to focus on battling the dumplings.

After eating, Wang An hitched the horse to the sled, greeted his family, pulled 3 whole yellow sheep and 3 red dogs with damaged fur, and headed straight for Linjia Village.

Ten minutes later, Wang An arrived at his aunt Wang Yuqin's house.

His aunt Wang Yuqin's family were ordinary farmers. Their life was basically the same as Wang An's family before he started hunting; no money to spend, not starving, but not eating well either!

Wang An drove the sled directly into his aunt's yard and shouted: "Aunt, are you home?"

Actually, this way of shouting is the most normal way to go to someone else's house in rural areas of the Northeast. It's just to give people a sign so they know someone has arrived!

It's the same principle as knocking on the door or coughing when you arrive at someone's doorstep!

Because in rural Northeast, if there are people at home during the day, the main gate is generally not closed, the house door is also closed, and every family's yard is not small; the distance between the main gate and the house door is relatively far!

And to keep warm, the gaps in the windows are sealed with newspapers or cloth strips, and the doorways are hung with straw curtains or cotton curtains. The soundproofing is quite good; if the sound is too low, the people in the house can't hear it at all.

If you break into someone's house without making a sound and run into something not suitable for outsiders to see, that would be embarrassing!

Hearing the shouting outside, Wang Yuqin ran out of the house. Seeing that it was her nephew Wang An, she was naturally overjoyed and greeted him with a full face of smiles: "Little An is here, come in quickly. You must have frozen on the way, right?"

Although Wang An's reputation was really not great, for close relatives, there was only concern and missing; perhaps there was occasional disgust, but it was definitely directed at the matter, not the person!

"I'm not cold, Aunt. I'm here to bring meat to you and my old aunt." Wang An said while pulling a sheep and a red dog out of the sled.

Seeing this, Wang Yuqin hurriedly declined and said: "You should eat it at home, or sell it! Why bring me these? You say you do this life-risking business, how hard it is to hit these things!"

"Hi! It's just that we hit a lot this time! Besides, these yellow sheep are rare things, let the relatives taste them too! Hehe!" Wang An said with a laugh.

Wang Yuqin said: "It's not like we don't eat meat at home often; your old aunt also brings me some from time to time."

Wang An smiled indifferently and said: "Her bringing it is the sisterly affection between you two; my bringing it is my filial piety to my aunt. Can that be the same? Don't you think so, Aunt?"

"Haha, you little brat, lecturing your aunt on human feelings! Come in quickly, it's so cold outside!" Wang Yuqin stopped declining and patted Wang An's arm twice, saying.

"Is everything at home good! Aunt." Wang An dragged the yellow sheep and red dog and followed Wang Yuqin into the house.

"Everything is good! They all went out for a stroll, I'm the only one at home. You come in and sit on the kang." Wang Yuqin threw the yellow sheep and red dog on the ground outside to thaw, greeting Wang An.

Immediately after, she went into the house to get Wang An walnuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, and soft dates, mountain goods picked in the mountains in autumn.

After sitting at his aunt Wang Yuqin's house for more than ten minutes, Wang An said goodbye to Wang Yuqin and left. When he left, Wang Yuqin gave Wang An half a flour bag of soft dates.

Wang An couldn't decline, so he had to accept them!

Soft dates are wild kiwifruit, about the size of an adult's thumb, without thorns, and without pits. You can throw them into your mouth and eat them whole! Very delicious!

They are one of the few fruits available in the Northeast in this era.

Coming out of his aunt's house, Wang An drove the sled directly to his old aunt's house. The two families were in the same village, not far apart, only four or five hundred meters.

After arriving at his old aunt Wang Yulian's house, Wang An sent a yellow sheep and a red dog into Wang Yulian's house. Naturally, there was another round of greetings and declining.

After chatting, he learned that his old aunt's husband and his two brothers had gone deep into the mountains and had been gone for two days.

It could be seen that his old aunt's full face of worry couldn't be hidden!

But it was just for a living; every family has its own difficulties, and many things have to be endured!

After sitting at his old aunt's house for a while, Wang An said goodbye and headed straight for Liuji Village, where his uncle Liu Deyuan lived.

Liu Deyuan was in the business of "calling the mountains," which is digging for ginseng. His family's life was relatively good in the circle of relatives!

However, calling the mountains and rushing the mountains were both synonyms for hardship and danger! Of course, no matter what era, if you want to make money, it's impossible not to pay a price!

Originally, Wang An planned to learn how to dig for ginseng from his uncle, but after thinking about it, he gave up this plan!

Because calling the mountains and rushing the mountains are different. The ginseng patches are fixed, while the prey runs all over the mountains!

Mountain rushers have their own bear dens!

And mountain callers have their own known ginseng patches!

Rushing the mountains, you can roam the mountains and hit prey; at the very least, setting traps can also have gains!

But if mountain callers look for ginseng all over the mountains, in these thousands of miles of mountains, the possibility of gains can't be said to be non-existent, only that it all depends on whether your fate is good or not!

It's just that fate is truly a bit mysterious! There's really no need to discuss it!

Wang An's visit made his uncle very happy, because Liu Deyuan had liked this nephew very much since Wang An was a child.

When Wang An was a child, he often caught small animals like sparrows, gray dogs, and big-eyed thieves, roasted them, and gave them to Wang An to satisfy his cravings!

Making Wang An's childhood not lack meat, and his nutrition didn't lack that severely!

Wang An always believed that he could grow so tall, and the small animals his uncle caught were definitely indispensable!

Therefore, Wang An's feelings for Liu Deyuan were quite deep.

Seeing Wang An bring yellow sheep and red dogs, Liu Deyuan felt even more that his nephew had grown up and was sensible, feeling very gratified!

Because from the time Wang An started junior high school, he was either not going to school or messing around. After being expelled from school, he became even worse, not walking on the right path, which made Liu Deyuan very worried about this nephew he had watched grow up!

Fortunately, since his nephew got married, he suddenly became an adult!

Wang An chatted with his uncle's family for a while. When he left, his uncle gave Wang An two ginseng roots with damaged roots. Wang An didn't want them!

His uncle said lightly that these were 3-leaf grade, not worth much, and with damaged roots, they were worth even less!

Wang An couldn't help but be stunned, because Wang An knew the price of ginseng purchased by the supply and marketing cooperative. 3-leaf grade was over 100 yuan! But he also understood that damaged ones weren't worth much!

And his uncle said they weren't worth much, which showed how wealthy his uncle was at this time!

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(End of chapter)