Back in the 1980s, hiking in the mountains was also a way of life

Chapter 1172 Two Sticks
After just one glance, Liu Ruxin said with a smile:
"These two kids look just like Xiao An, they're practically identical, hehehehe."

Upon hearing this, Liu Guilan immediately smiled and said:
"If you ask me, these two kids take more from Xueqing. Xueqing is so beautiful, hahaha."

The words of the two mothers made Wang An's eyebrows twitch several times.

The main problem is that the way these two mothers talk is just too fake!!

To be honest, both children have very wrinkled skin. Happy looks like a little old man, while Happiness looks like a little old woman.

And this morning, they had just opened their eyes, but only for a short while, before they closed them again and started crying.

So any normal person wouldn't be able to tell which of the two children looks like; to be precise, they don't look like either of them.

But these two mothers are now discussing who their child resembles, which is truly absurd.

However, when the two mothers spoke, neither Wang An and his wife nor Mu Xueli would refute them. So the two mothers went on and on, praising the two children profusely.

Mu Xueli and Wang An were discussing when to go into the mountains.

Mu Xueli, her face beaming with excitement, said to Wang An:
“Brother-in-law, a few days ago I went to help Lao Xiaopao gather firewood. Lao Xiaopao told me about two granaries, one called the Heavenly Granary and one called the Earthly Granary. These two granaries are quite far away, the farthest one is more than 150 li away. I was thinking of asking you, when should we go and raid these two granaries?”

Mu Xueli's three blue dogs were bought from Lao Xiaopao. Because of his leg injury, Lao Xiaopao could no longer go mountaineering, so he was obviously looking for someone to sell his resources.

You should know that none of the veteran hunters who can be called "cannons" are easy to deal with; they all have a lot of bear fodder resources at their disposal.

Wang An thought for a moment and said:
"Old Xiao, are you sure there are bears in both warehouses? By the way, what percentage should he get?"

Mu Xueli held up three fingers and said:

"Judging from his tone, he seemed to be sure. He said if he hit the target, he would get 30% of the prize money."

Upon hearing this, Wang An said with some dissatisfaction:

"Damn, this old Xiao is pretty ruthless and domineering. He doesn't do anything, but he wants 30% of every place he mentions. If he only provides two gallbladders, this job isn't worth it."

Based on current bear bile prices, two ordinary grass bile gallbladders would cost around 600 yuan.

If you take away 3%, Wang An and the other two will only have about 400 yuan left.

Based on the profit-sharing ratio among the three, Wang An would likely only receive a little over 160 yuan after all his hard work.

For a mere 160 yuan, Wang An was reluctant to travel over 150 li (approximately 75 kilometers) and take certain risks.

Normally, when it comes to giving Xiongcangzi her address, the money is split 20/20.

Mu Xueli said with a forced smile:

"If a golden gallstone were to appear, wouldn't we get everything back?"

Wang An rolled his eyes at Mu Xueli, glanced subconsciously at the two children, and then said to Mu Xueli:

"More than 150 li? We can't get back in one day!"

In fact, at the speed of a horse-drawn sled, it is possible to travel more than 150 miles in a day. However, the speed of a horse and its physical strength are two different things. The mountain road is difficult to travel, and if the horse runs like that, it will be exhausted to death.

Mu Xueli nodded and said:
"If we can't come back, we can just stay in the mountains for one night. It's not like we haven't stayed in the mountains before."

Wang An pondered for a long time, feeling uneasy no matter how he thought about it, and then said to Mu Xueli:

"No way. Let him go find whoever he wants. Supporting those two bastards and going all that way, and then having to give them 30% of the profits? That's just pure bullshit." After Wang An finished speaking, Mu Xue looked at Kaba Kaba without saying a word, her mind seemingly lost in thought.

Mu Xueqing, who overheard their conversation, chimed in:
"Yeah, that old Xiao is too greedy now, who would ask for 3%?"

Turning her head, Mu Xueqing said to Mu Xueli:

"If your brother-in-law doesn't allow you to go, then you're not allowed to go either, or I'll skin you alive."

To be fair, even though Mu Xueqing is married, she still has no problem controlling Mu Xueli, which may be due to a kind of bloodline suppression.

Mu Xueli glanced furtively at Mu Xueqing and said awkwardly:
"I know, I'm not going."

After a while, Mu Xueli suddenly asked Wang An:

"Brother-in-law, the mountains are all snowed in now, it's a good time for hunting, so when are we going into the mountains?"

For some reason, ever since having these two children, Wang An has felt that he has two more burdens on his heart.

Most importantly, Wang An now wants to stay by his two children's side all the time and doesn't want to go anywhere else.

Of course, on the one hand, he wanted to keep an eye on the two children, and on the other hand, the babies are very vulnerable in the first month after birth, so if he found something was wrong, Wang An could send the children to the hospital in time.

Ultimately, it all boils down to Wang An being too worried about his two children, fearing that something might happen to them.

So after Mu Xueli asked the question, Wang An said with a completely indifferent expression:

"We won't go for now. We'll have to wait until your sister finishes her postpartum confinement period."

Upon hearing this, Mu Xueli looked utterly astonished and said:
"Huh? So what are we going to do for the past month or so?"

Wang An said again, with a completely nonchalant expression:

"How about you do some small-scale hunting for the next month? Just set some rabbit snares and traps around your village. If you catch too many rabbits or pheasants, bring some over to your sister so I don't have to go into the mountains anymore. What do you say?"

After Wang Anyi finished speaking, Mu Xueli's eyes widened immediately, but in the end, Mu Xueli nodded.

There was no other way; Wang An had spoken, and the matter wasn't serious, so Mu Xueli had to listen.

As they chatted, it became noon.

Wang An originally wanted his two mothers and Mu Xue to go to a restaurant for a meal, and then he would buy food as usual and eat with Mu Xue. However, both of his mothers disagreed.

Therefore, Wang An said to Mu Xueli:

"Xue Li, grab those lunchboxes and come with me to buy food."

With his two mothers and brother-in-law arriving, Wang An naturally couldn't keep his diet bland just to cater to Mu Xueqing's tastes.

So after arriving at the restaurant, Wang An ordered several meat dishes, and also ordered a bowl of noodles and an egg custard for Mu Xueqing. Then he and Mu Xueli waited in the restaurant.

While Wang An was waiting, the proprietress squeezed in and sat down opposite him. During a pause in Wang An and Mu Xueli's conversation, the proprietress suddenly asked:
“Brother, you said there’s an old Taoist priest at the south end of the county. He went up there last night, and I told your brother to go find him. That old Taoist priest gave your brother two sticks.”

As she spoke, the proprietress pulled out two pieces of wood, each about an inch wide and as long as chopsticks, from her pocket.

(End of this chapter)