Chapter 98

Hearing Wang An's muttering, Niu Dali's expression clearly changed.

Even his previous anger vanished, and he seemed to be thinking about something.

But after Wang An finished speaking, he didn't take it to heart; he had done his part and left the rest to fate!

If Niu Dali didn't go find Li Erlengzi, then so be it; it didn't matter!

But that possibility was slim; someone like Niu Dali, who had lost his mind gambling, was so desperate for money that there was nothing he wouldn't do.

If someone were to buy his wife right now, he'd probably sell her without hesitation!

Niu Dali took a few cents out of his pocket and played a few more rounds, but he clearly lacked his previous state and seemed very distracted!

Sure enough, after losing his few cents, he stopped playing and left the table; Wang An played one more round, then folded without even looking at his cards, and stopped playing too!

After coming out of the small shop, Wang An discovered that Niu Dali was indeed walking toward Li Erlengzi's house!

Wang An didn't pay any more attention and turned to go home.

Back home, after telling his family he was going into the mountains tomorrow, he continued to study the three deer skins.

Now, whenever Wang An saw these three deer skins, it was as if he saw a pile of "Great Unities" (10-yuan bills) beckoning to him, as if saying: "Come here! Come here quickly!"

——

The next morning

After Wang An was fully prepared, he filled a flask with wine, tied the dogs to the sled, thought for a moment, took a few firecrackers left over from the New Year, and drove the sled to find his brother-in-law.

Unexpectedly, before he even reached his father-in-law's house, he saw his brother-in-law in hunting gear, already on the road into the mountains.

"Xueli, where are you going?" Wang An shouted hurriedly; this kid was too diligent day after day!

Seeing Mu Xueli looked back, discovered it was his brother-in-law, and was immediately overjoyed, smiling and saying: "Brother-in-law, I was thinking of wandering around nearby to hit a few hares or pheasants, and practice my marksmanship while I'm at it."

"Forget it, don't go; go home and tell them, then come into the mountains with me," Wang An said very decisively.

"Hey, brother-in-law, I'll go home right now," Seeing Mu Xueli was very obedient and ran off in a flash.

Wang An had nothing to do and wanted to smoke a cigarette; he had just taken it out but hadn't lit it yet.

Seeing Mu Xueli ran back, carrying a cloth bag, which probably contained dry rations!

Wang An didn't ask, but heard Seeing Mu Xueli say happily: "Yesterday I went to my fiancée's house, and my mother-in-law gave me a pot of sticky bean buns; let's take them into the mountains to eat."

"Sticky bean buns? You have such good stuff?" Wang An was also very happy.

This thing is a rarity in this era; he had eaten it only a limited number of times since he was a child, so naturally, he was craving it.

Northeast sticky bean buns are made from yellow millet ground into flour and bean paste.

Yellow millet, also called sticky rice, is a grain called broomcorn millet, obtained after grinding off the husk.

Of course, there is yellow millet and small yellow millet, but small yellow millet is sticky foxtail millet; the flour ground from it isn't as sticky as yellow millet flour, and it's a completely different thing from broomcorn millet!

It's an even more different concept from the sticky rice in the south, which is glutinous rice!

Broomcorn millet stalks are different from foxtail millet stalks; they are covered in fine, soft thorns that don't prick people. When the grains mature, they resemble foxtail millet, but they are orange-red and feel very smooth to the touch.

Northeast rice cakes, bean buns, sticky pancakes, fried cakes, and zongzi are all made with this stuff!

There are many kinds of bean paste: cowpeas, red beans, kidney beans—all are fine.

The best texture comes from cowpeas because they are the softest when steamed; this cowpea is mainly for eating the beans, as the skin is too fibrous to eat! It's different from the long cowpeas people eat.

Next are red beans, which are also very soft.

Kidney beans remain hard even after steaming, but everyone has their own taste, so there's no distinction between good and bad!

Sticky bean buns are one of the favorites of Northeast people; if you add a few grains of saccharin to the bean paste, the deliciousness of the buns rivals any pastry!

Storing this stuff is also extremely simple; when hot, it's sticky.

But when it cools or freezes, it becomes a hard lump of dry ration, and it's very filling! It's simply one of the best dry rations around!

The two happily drove the sled into the mountains; Wang An didn't choose the "Heaven Den" but went directly to the further "Earth Den."

If nothing goes wrong, Niu Dali will definitely have gone to the Heaven Den himself or with others; if he isn't greedy and takes an experienced hunter, he might succeed, but if he's greedy and goes alone, then the result... is hard to say!

Not thinking about those useless things, Wang An and his brother-in-law were already picking up hares!

That's right, picking them up; in less than three days, these traps were truly effective! Of course, there were quite a few that had been half-eaten or had disappeared along with the traps.

But regardless, there were more left than lost!

This time into the mountains, Seeing Mu Xueli also brought quite a few traps—probably fifty or sixty made from wire he'd scrounged up over the last two days—and the two were busy, picking up and setting traps as they went.

Finally, after a rough count, there were nearly 50 hares, including whole ones and half-eaten ones!

A quite significant harvest!

Selling them whole at the market for 40 cents a jin, this pile could sell for over 60 yuan! If they ate the meat themselves and sold only the complete pelts, they could still sell for over 30 yuan!

That's how mountain trekking is; although it requires climbing mountains and crossing ridges, wading through water, and facing all kinds of dangers, the joy of the harvest is a very powerful stimulant!

After checking the traps, the two didn't delay and drove the sled straight toward the Earth Den.

This Earth Den was truly not close; it took over two hours of sledding to reach the place.

After tethering the horses and feeding them fodder, the two walked around nearby and soon discovered marks on the trees.

Forty minutes later, they finally found the entrance to the Earth Den.

The marks were all twisted and turning; the actual distance wasn't far at all!

Wang An couldn't help but curse: "This damn Li Erlengzi isn't slow at all; this is so much effort, it's a real waste of time!"

Seeing Mu Xueli smiled from the side without speaking; at this moment, Seeing Mu Xueli was a bit nervous and holding his breath!

Last time they fought the big bear, he hadn't been able to help; that big bear was killed entirely by Wang An himself!

For this reason, Seeing Mu Xueli had blamed himself for a long time, feeling he was useless and as if he were just taking advantage of his brother-in-law!

Mainly, Wang An didn't dare let the dogs loose; he was truly afraid that the dogs' frantic barking would wake up whatever was in the den, although the possibility was very small.

But if a bear or a black bear really ran out before they were ready, that would be a huge problem!

And a damn tragic problem at that!

This Earth Den was a hole in the wall of a ten-meter-high mountain ridge!

The entrance was less than 1 meter from the ground, but there were vines hanging down above the entrance and tree brush growing on the side, so the entrance was quite hidden.

Who knows how Li Erlengzi discovered it!

Could it be that he discovered it by wandering in the mountains every day? But the distance from here to the village is quite far...

There was white frost above the entrance, very thick, which could confirm there was a black bear or a bear inside! Just didn't know how many!

The two turned and left to do preparation work, which was cutting tree trunks and picking up dry branches!

The shitty thing was, there were no ash trees nearby; Wang An felt that in these mountains, among all tree trunks of the same thickness, ash was the strongest!

So for safety, the two ran to a very far place before cutting ash trunks and coming back.

After marking the escape route, everything was ready!

Lighting the firewood, the fire started to burn; Wang An handed the 56-semi to his brother-in-law, letting him aim at the entrance and prepare to shoot.

He held the Mosin-Nagant in his left hand and took the firecrackers out of his pocket with his right.

Using firecrackers to call out the den was Wang An's sudden inspiration; Wang An felt this thing was more useful than a gun!

He used the charcoal from the fire to light the firecrackers, lighting one and throwing it into the den.

When throwing the third one, the first one had already exploded! Hearing two "bangs," the sound, perhaps because of the cave's amplification, was truly loud!

Shaking the loose snow on the ridge, it fell down with a rustle~

After throwing three firecrackers in, Wang An turned and ran! Running "whoosh," that was fast!

The follow-up data has dropped again, and the monthly votes are even worse!

Please recommend and collect; thanks, dear big bosses!

(End of chapter)