Chapter 142: We

After shouting that, Lu Yuelue slumped onto Wang An's back and whispered, "Thank you!" Then, she fell completely silent.

On the road, Wang An handed 1,300 yuan to Lu Yuelue and said, "Keep the money in separate places. I'll give you the ration coupons once I've exchanged them in a moment."

Lu Yuelue took the money, thought for a moment, then took off her cotton-padded shoes. She tucked portions of the cash into her cotton-padded jacket pockets, the bundle on her back, and the satchel she was carrying.

Most amazingly, Lu Yuelue took a portion of the money in her hand, unbuttoned the second button of her jacket, and reached inside. When she pulled her hand out, the money had vanished!

Wang An had seen Lu Yuelue's undergarments; it was just a worn-out undershirt with a bodice underneath.

The bodice was really just a single layer of cloth. But where did the money go?

Wang An didn't ask. He figured it was tucked beneath her milky-white breasts!

Once Lu Yuelue had hidden the money, Wang An handed over the pistol, the ammunition, and the knife, asking, "Do you know how to use these?"

Lu Yuelue paused for a moment before taking them and saying, "I do. I received special training before I was sent to the countryside."

Wang An replied, "Good, as long as you've learned. There are all sorts of people out there, and it'll take you several days to get home. It's safer to carry them."

Lu Yuelue stowed the pistol and knife away. After a long silence, she said, "Wang An, I will definitely repay you!"

Wang An grinned, not taking it to heart. He didn't say anything, but he thought to himself: I'm in the Northeast, and you're in Shanghai—we're worlds apart. What kind of repayment could you possibly offer?

Arriving at the county grain station, Wang An first exchanged all the Heilongjiang-specific coupons for national ones before handing them to Lu Yuelue.

Lu Yuelue again hid them all over her body. There were plenty of pickpockets on the trains these days. Although Lu Yuelue's attire wouldn't usually attract their attention, one could never be too careful!

Pickpockets were just thieves and petty crooks!

When they reached the train station, the county station was just two mud-brick houses by the tracks. You bought tickets through a window, with the clerk inside and the passengers standing outside.

There was no waiting room, no ticket inspection, and not even a place to sit. You just stood on the platform by the tracks and waited.

Of course, nobody would stop you if you just sat on the platform! The platform was paved with red bricks, just a step higher than the tracks.

Lu Yuelue went to buy her ticket with her introduction letter. Watching her, Wang An was reminded of his own solitary journey to the South in his previous life, so he drove his sled toward the supply and marketing cooperative.

He bought two cans of fruit, four bottles of soda, and five pounds of biscuits for Lu Yuelue, then bought a flour sack to pack everything inside.

By the time Wang An returned to the station, Lu Yuelue had already bought her ticket and was standing there, looking around as if searching for him.

After looking for a while and not seeing Wang An, she likely assumed he had already left, so she lowered her head, looking quite dejected.

But when Lu Yuelue inadvertently looked up again and saw Wang An's sled, she immediately ran toward him, beaming.

Wang An handed her the sack and said casually, "I bought you some food to eat on the road if you get hungry."

Lu Yuelue took it happily and quickly opened the bag to look inside. After seeing what was there, she smiled and joked, "I didn't expect that playing the beast of burden for you would actually be the right choice."

Wang An didn't answer, just watched her with a smile. Lu Yuelue didn't feel embarrassed at all; instead, she suddenly stopped smiling.

She sighed and said, "Actually, I approached you on purpose. I thought if you didn't help me, I'd kill that cripple first and then end my own life. I never expected you to be such a good person!"

"What? Haven't had enough of being a beast of burden?" Wang An asked, teasing her.

Lu Yuelue said to Wang An solemnly once more, "Wang An, I will repay you!"

Wang An had heard this several times already. To be honest, a man like him had long since become immune to such verbal promises!

Still, it was best to just laugh it off; there was no point in being serious with her.

Wang An helped Lu Yuelue not because he sought repayment, nor because he had slept with her, and certainly not out of affection. Don't talk about affection with a man like Wang An just because you slept together twice—that's absolute nonsense! It was impossible!

The main reason was that this woman, Lu Yuelue, was truly pathetic.

What she said about ending her life was true. If things had followed the normal timeline, she would have hanged herself before long!

Since Wang An had been reborn, he had killed his fair share of people, so he felt quite good about being able to save one or two lives along the way.

Furthermore, Wang An, a cunning old fox who had seen through the coldness of human nature, still held to certain principles:

People are people, and dogs are dogs. A person can act like a dog, but a person shouldn't truly be a dog!

Wang An chatted idly with Lu Yuelue, occasionally checking his watch without being obvious. The waiting was truly agonizing!

The critical thing was that he still had a sled full of meat that hadn't been processed!

Most importantly, Wang An was still thinking about the blood sausage back home!

Finally, amidst Wang An's anxious waiting, the train arrived. Looking at the frost on the windows, the train must have been packed!

Regardless of how crowded it was, Lu Yuelue got on. Before the train departed, she waved at Wang An.

After seeing Lu Yuelue off, Wang An drove his sled and whipped the horse, heading toward Qiao Qiao Xiaohu's house.

He had to hurry; he couldn't let them eat all the blood sausage!

The sled full of meat Wang An brought made Qiao Qiao Xiaohu, who had been idling about and bored out of his mind, extremely excited. He was as full of energy as if he'd eaten something crazy.

"Big Brother, there's so much meat! We've struck it rich!" Qiao Qiao Xiaohu said with a smile.

"Rich? Look at your pathetic self, this is just pocket money," Wang An scolded Qiao Qiao Xiaohu, acting a bit arrogant.

But in truth, they couldn't get rich off this. Seven pigs—aside from the one yellow-haired one, they were all two-year-olds and sows, totaling over 600 pounds of wild boar meat.

There were also 37 unskinned hares, averaging a little over 4 pounds each, totaling about 150 pounds.

At an average price of 0.3 yuan per pound for the boar, that was over 180 yuan. At 0.4 yuan per pound for the hares, that was over 60 yuan.

Added together, that was over 240 yuan. After deducting Qiao Qiao Xiaohu's ten-percent commission, Wang An and Mu Mu Xueli would each get at most 110 yuan!

Qiao Qiao Xiaohu was good with words, though, and quickly replied, "I'm satisfied regardless. Working with Big Brother is great!"

Hearing this, Wang An smiled and said, "Stop showing off. Keep those few half-eaten hares for yourself to eat! As for the pork, keep ten pounds or so—don't sell it, give it to your grandparents. And leave two pieces of meat on the sled for me; I have a use for them."

"Hey, you got it, Big Brother!" Qiao Qiao Xiaohu was even happier and quickly agreed.

After unloading the meat, Wang An tossed two pig heads and eight pig trotters to Qiao Qiao Xiaohu! He also gave him two sets of offal—minus the heart, liver, lungs, and stomach—which were essentially just the pig intestines!

He added, "These are for you, too. Clean them up and eat them yourself."

Qiao Qiao Xiaohu thanked him repeatedly, full of praise.

Before Wang An had even left, Qiao Qiao Xiaohu pushed out the small cart he had prepared yesterday, which had an old hook scale inside.

It was clear that Qiao Qiao Xiaohu was very serious about making money and couldn't wait to start!

Wang An understood Qiao Qiao Xiaohu, so he felt quite at ease, because he knew that the only thing holding them back right now was the circumstances!

If they waited a few years for everything to open up, someone like Qiao Qiao Xiaohu would definitely be among the first to get rich!

At this moment, Wang An's sled still had two pieces of meat, three sets of offal (minus the stomachs), five pig heads, and 20 pig trotters!

Wang An drove the sled toward the house he had bought in the county town!

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(End of chapter)