Chapter 256

When Wang An dragged this white wolf, which had died with its eyes wide open, back home.

Wang Wang Dazhu and Liu Liu Guilan had already dragged all the dead wolves from outside the main gate into the courtyard.

Counting the one Wang An dragged back, there were 13 wolf carcasses this time; if you count the wolves and red dogs killed before, there were a total of exactly 30.

But when Wang An dragged this white wolf into the courtyard, the female wolf in the cage suddenly began to howl.

One could tell that this howling was filled with sorrow.

And the female wolf's sudden howling caused the pack of dogs at home to bark wildly again.

The family didn't understand why, only Wang An vaguely guessed the reason.

Wang An felt that this dead white wolf and the female wolf in the cage might be a mated pair.

Because wolves are monogamous.

Of course, there are many such animals, such as leopards, foxes, and many birds, which are all monogamous.

These animals raise their offspring together, unlike bears, big cats, and many other animals, where the female raises the cubs alone.

Hearing the female wolf's sorrowful howling and recalling the direction the white wolf was looking before it died, Wang An suddenly knew why the white wolf had died with its eyes wide open.

It was very likely that the white wolf knew the location of the female wolf and was about to rescue her with its companions, but was tragically killed by his own family.

Although Wang An didn't have even a shred of psychological burden about catching the female wolf and killing these wolves, he still had to admire the love between wolves.

Wang Wang Dazhu lit two big bonfires in the courtyard; Wang An saw this and realized they were going to skin the wolves overnight!

So Wang An immediately stopped them, "Dad, can't we talk about these things in a few days? It's almost New Year's, what's the rush?"

Wang Wang Dazhu looked at Wang An, then looked at Liu Liu Guilan and said, "Is this something I can decide?"

Liu Liu Guilan said unhappily, "What if I say so? Will these things be easy to deal with once they're frozen solid? Just get to work."

Wang An clicked his tongue and helplessly began to busy himself as well.

Of the 30 wolves and red dogs, Wang Wang Dazhu and the others had already skinned 6 while Wang An was patrolling; now there were 24 left.

And the reason Wang An was attacked by wolves when he returned home, and the three of them were able to support him quickly after hearing the gunfire, was also because they were all busy skinning the wolves and red dogs.

Otherwise, it would have been hard to say what the outcome for Wang An would have been.

By the time the family had finished skinning all the wolves and red dogs, Wang An checked his watch; it was already past 4 o'clock in the morning.

The 1980 New Year's Eve began for Wang An's family with killing wolves and skinning them.

It must be said that it was damn memorable.

The family threw the wolf carcasses and red dog carcasses onto the table outside, and after a simple wash, they went to sleep on the heated brick bed.

Lying on the bed, Wang An sighed to Mu Mu Xueqing, "Wife, you say our family isn't short of money, but the way we live, there's never a moment of rest. You say, working this hard every day, what the hell is it for?"

Mu Mu Xueqing didn't answer Wang An's complaint, but instead tucked her head into the quilt and giggled.

The whole family had been busy from the first half of the night until now, and neither of them had any desire to be intimate, so they hugged each other and drifted off to sleep.

Waking up, it was already past 8 o'clock in the morning; except for Wang An, the whole family was already up.

If Wang Yi hadn't been leading the two little sisters in setting off firecrackers in the courtyard, making a crackling sound, Wang An might have slept a while longer.

However, although the whole family was busy, no one took the initiative to wake Wang An up.

The whole family believed that Wang An was the most tired person in this house.

Of course, only Wang An didn't think so, because he really didn't feel that tired; at least compared to the labor camp in his past life, this life was simply the difference between heaven and earth.

After getting dressed, folding the quilt, brushing his teeth, and washing his face, Wang An sat at the dining table with his family.

In the Northeast, on the morning of the New Year, people generally eat noodles, which signifies a long and lasting life.

And the dishes in the morning are mostly stir-fried celery with vermicelli and stewed tofu.

Celery and vermicelli take the homophones of "diligence" and "effort"!

The thousands of years of Chinese civilization all share a common understanding: only diligence can fill one's stomach. "Tofu" also takes a homophone, "arriving fortune," meaning fortune has arrived.

A family with fortune will definitely be fine.

The morning meal and dishes should be made in abundance, because everyone needs to be full, and there must be leftovers.

Even for families that aren't wealthy, they shouldn't finish everything; they must leave some.

In fact, not just in the morning, but for every meal on this day, nothing should be finished; there must be leftovers.

This signifies that the days will have abundance year after year.

After breakfast, Wang An led Wang Yi to start putting up couplets.

Wang An looked at the couplets he had written and asked Wang Yi, "Xiao Yi, how is your big brother's calligraphy?"

Wang Yi examined it carefully for a while and said, "Better than what Grandpa Sun writes."

Hearing this, Wang An laughed heartily, "Alright, my little brother has an eye for things. When you start junior high, big brother will definitely buy you a bicycle."

"Big brother, I'm starting junior high next year, right? Can you get a bicycle coupon?" Wang Yi asked, not believing him.

Wang An rolled his eyes at Wang Yi and said, "What are you saying? Is there anything your big brother can't do? It's just a bicycle coupon; is that even a thing?"

Wang Yi looked at Wang An and said, "Then can you let Mom make me a schoolbag?"

Wang An guessed what his mother's attitude would be and felt that if he said this, his mother might become less than friendly.

So he said to Wang Li, "Why ask Mom? Ask your sister-in-law, let her make it for you, it's such a small thing."

Wang Yi said with a smile, "Thanks, big brother."

After the brothers finished putting up the couplets, Wang An went back to sleep on the bed.

Waking up again, it was time for the afternoon meal, and the table was full of nothing but meat.

Of course, chicken and fish were indispensable, as well as tofu and raw dishes.

The staple food was steamed buns or rice cakes.

The chicken was traded by Liu Liu Guilan in the village for bear meat, and the fish was caught by Wang Wang Dazhu and Wang Wang Daliang by chiseling a hole in the ice in the river, and then the fish just jumped out of the hole on their own.

In Heilongjiang, catching fish in winter is truly a very simple thing; there's no need for fishing rods or nets, just chiseling a hole in the ice is enough.

The fish that can jump will jump up on their own, and for those that can't, you just use a big strainer or a landing net to scoop them out of the ice hole.

In fact, "chicken" and "fish" also take homophones: chicken is "auspicious," and fish is "abundance."

To live one's life, one must have auspicious stars shining high, everything going as one wishes, and have abundance year after year, with ten thousand loads of surplus grain.

Also, "raw" signifies that the whole family, whether it's people or wealth, must flourish endlessly.

And steamed buns and rice cakes are both steamed, signifying "rising higher and higher every day."

Of course, rice cakes also mean "each year higher than the last, each year stronger than the last."

After lunch, Wang An and Wang Yi helped Wang Wang Dazhu clean the courtyard; this is also a custom. No matter how clean the courtyard is usually, on the afternoon of the New Year, one must sweep it with a broom.

As for the specific reason, Wang An didn't know.

Time flew by, and it was evening; the family listened to the radio and began to make dumplings.

Normally, among all the dumplings, only one contains money, but Wang An had a sudden whim and found a total of 16 one-cent coins.

It's the New Year, how uncomfortable it would be not to eat any money; the feeling of biting into money with every bite is what's truly satisfying!

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(End of chapter)