Chapter 261

Early the next morning, Wang An was counting the equipment for entering the mountains.

Mu Xueli drove the sled and brought the dogs; as soon as he entered the courtyard, Mu Xueli shouted: "Brother-in-law, I've almost grown fur from staying idle; shouldn't we be entering the mountains by now?"

Wang An laughed loudly: "Yeah, didn't you see me packing things?"

Mu Xueli was happy upon hearing this and wanted to come forward to help, but it was just counting equipment, so it didn't need two people at all.

Wang An didn't wait for Mu Xueli to get his hands on it, took out the 1820 yuan he had prepared, handed it over, and said with a smile:

"The fur and bear gall we hunted before, we sold them all yesterday; we sold them for a total of 3640, this is your half, 1820, you count it."

Mu Xueli saw the money, his eyes lit up immediately, and he said with a grin: "What's there to count? Don't I trust brother-in-law?"

After Mu Xueli finished speaking, he casually put the money into his inner jacket pocket and put it away.

Wang An took out another 170 yuan and handed it over, saying at the same time: "This is the money from selling the meat last time; it was 570 in total, I'll give you 170."

Mu Xueli saw this 170 yuan and suddenly laughed happily; it was obviously much more exciting than when he took the 1820 just now.

He saw Mu Xueli put this 170 yuan into the deep pocket of his overcoat, and after putting it away, he patted it, looking quite happy.

Wang An didn't understand why, so he asked: "What are you doing? Is the money pricking your hands?"

Mu Xueli heard this and explained with a very rich expression:

"Brother-in-law, you don't understand this; this extra part has to be handed over to my mother, while this smaller part is what I can use freely, hehehehe..."

After Mu Xueli finished speaking, he still had a happy and blissful look, which left Wang An speechless.

After another while, Wang Li also drove the sled and brought the dogs.

Seeing Wang An and Mu Xueli counting equipment in the courtyard, Wang Li was immediately beaming with joy, looking like he couldn't wait to enter the mountains.

It could be seen that this first lunar month, besides eating and sleeping every day, had bored everyone enough.

Mu Xueli and Wang Li had obviously gained quite a bit of weight, but for people in this era, this was a good thing, proving that nutrition was sufficient and the body was strong.

Besides, the bit of fat accumulated in just one lunar month would be consumed completely after just a few days of mountain trekking.

Seeing Wang Li come over, Wang An handed over the 170 yuan and said it was meat money.

He saw Wang Li's expression was almost identical to Mu Xueli's just now, with happiness overflowing from his face.

No need to ask, this money also went into Wang Li's own pocket, which Wang Li could dispose of at will.

However, Wang An suddenly discovered that many people's definition of "happiness" is actually quite simple! It's just that it's really not generally difficult for more people to obtain this kind of "happiness."

If one had to say, the meat money Wang An distributed was also not handed over to Liu Guilan and Mu Xueqing, so everyone was the same!

Because in Wang An's view, a grown man, how can he not have some money in his pocket?

After preparing, the three of them still tied the sleds into a string; Mu Xueli and Wang Li both sat on Wang An's sled and walked toward the mountains all the way.

This time entering the mountains, Wang An also brought all 5 puppies; after nearly half a year of feeding, these five puppies had all grown into half-grown dogs.

Four of the dogs already weighed over forty jin, and the little black dog even weighed nearly 60 jin; if he didn't train them, it would be a bit late.

Because after spring begins, mountain trekkers generally don't enter the mountains much besides hunting some meat.

Besides needing to be busy with farming, animals also begin to shed their fur; at this time, besides bear gall, the fur of the prey has no value.

Of course, at this time, it is the turn of the mountain callers, that is, the ginseng seekers, to make money.

However, in this season, digging for ginseng is very difficult.

Because digging for ginseng at this time is called "releasing the sprout market," which is about April or May every year; in this season, all kinds of grass are just born, tree leaves are budding, and ginseng seedlings are also just sprouting, and the ginseng seedlings are hidden in the weeds, which is very difficult to identify.

Next is the second stage, where digging for ginseng is even more difficult.

Because digging for ginseng at this time is also called "releasing the black grass market" or "green hammer market," which is about June or July; in this season, the grass and trees are lush, and the ginseng leaves are mixed in various weeds, which is the most difficult to identify.

Then is the third stage, which is also the golden time for digging for ginseng.

Because digging for ginseng at this time is also called "red hammer market," which is about August or September; in this season, the ginseng seeds are mature, bright red and lustrous, just like a cockscomb, which is very eye-catching, so it is also particularly easy to be discovered.

At the same time, it is also in these two months of every year that the most people enter the mountains, and the most people die in the mountains or go missing in the mountains. The fourth stage, which is also the last stage, is very short, and the difficulty of digging for ginseng increases, relying purely on eyesight.

Digging for ginseng at this time is called "releasing the broom market" or "releasing the leek market," after September; in this season, the ginseng seeds are all mature and fall off, and the ginseng leaves are also withered and gone.

Mountain callers basically all go down the mountain and return home after mid-September, which is also called "dropping the stick," which is putting down the mountain-calling stick held in the hand when calling the mountain.

These were all told to Wang An by Han Shuisheng at the beginning, and for someone like Wang An who had never dug for ginseng, naturally, his head was full of question marks.

Wang An originally planned to go mountain calling after finishing the house, but because of the gold mine map on the deer skin, he decided to give up the two most difficult mountain calling stages.

And during these two time periods, besides building the house, Wang An decided to go to YJ County to pan for gold.

Gold is a serious hard currency, and it is very easy to store; just put it anywhere, as long as it doesn't get lost.

The most important thing is that compared to digging for ginseng, panning for gold is what Wang An is best at.

Then wait until August or September to directly catch the "red hammer market"; after all, for a newcomer to mountain calling, only the "red hammer market" is the most likely to have a harvest.

Anyway, whether it is gold or ginseng, Wang An will not let go.

The three of them were bragging and chatting, and they were galloping toward the mountains very happily all the way.

The first thing after entering the mountains was still checking the traps and clips.

After tying up the horses, Wang Li took out two big handfuls of rabbit traps from the sack, about 200 or so, and also took 100 or so thick iron wire clips.

Each person took about one-third of the traps and clips and began to act separately.

Having not entered the mountains for nearly a month, whether it was traps or clips, they had basically all caught prey.

But the current situation was that nothing was left; all the rabbits caught in the traps, as well as the pheasants caught in the clips, were all eaten by other animals.

Some had half a body left, some only had a head left, and even more, even the traps or clips disappeared together.

After the three of them wandered around, they only harvested 7 rabbits and 4 pheasants, which could be said to be the least harvest since entering the mountains so many times.

However, quite a lot of empty traps and empty clips were collected back; anyway, basically everything that could be collected was collected.

These traps and clips still had to be taken home to be processed before they could be used, otherwise, it would be useless to set them, and nothing would be caught.

The three of them were not unhappy at all, because whether it was traps or clips, if they weren't checked in time, this would inevitably be the result.

After simple packing, the three of them rushed to the place where the sable clips were set.

Mu Xueli suddenly said: "Brother-in-law, you say that our harvest is so small this time, why am I not sad at all?"

Wang An rolled his eyes at his brother-in-law upon hearing this and said unpleasantly: "Then how about I beat you up and make you sad?"

Mu Xueli laughed sheepishly and didn't dare to ask again.

However, Wang Li wouldn't let go of such a good opportunity and opened his mouth to say:

"Brother Mu, actually, it would be quite good for my fourth brother to beat you up; it could also tighten your skin. Look at how much you've eaten this first lunar month, your face has even gotten bigger."

Mu Xueli rolled his eyes at Wang Li and retorted: "What do you know? This is called being blessed; how can I be like you, eating to death every meal, and still looking like a mantis no matter how you eat."

Wang Li laughed and said again: "Really, Brother Mu, your face is about to grow cracks now, don't let it sag down one day."

Mu Xueli: "Don't need you to worry."

Then these two people started a verbal battle, you say a sentence to me, I retort a sentence to you, just like the old women in the village.

Actually, Wang An felt that these two people bickering was quite interesting; you have words to say, I have words to reply, no matter who speaks, it is all so forceful.

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(End of chapter)