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

Chapter 1217 We're No Different
After draining the pig's blood, Wang An was about to stir the blood in the basin to ensure it was fully mixed with the salt water, so that the fresh blood wouldn't coagulate.

As soon as Wang An made a move, He Liang immediately came over and snatched the rolling pin from Wang An's hand, saying:

"Come on, I'll do it. You don't need to lift a finger today. Just give instructions and then teach us what to do."

Wu Dong followed up with:

"Yeah, you have to learn everything. Once you master it, you can use it. We're having fun, but we're also learning something along the way, hehehehe."

After the two finished speaking, Wang An subconsciously looked at Wang Shuai and Ma Guoqiang.

It's clear that these two people share the same idea.

So, Wang An was secretly pleased, and said with a smile:
"What's going on here? You all felt bad seeing me working so hard and taking advantage of you, and then suddenly you had a change of heart?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Shuai rolled his eyes at Wang An and said with a smile:
"You don't know how to talk. If someone like you were in our old days in the team, we would beat you up eight times a day."

He Liang also said with a smile:
"Eight times isn't enough to vent my anger. I have to make him squat to pee and stand to sleep."

Wu Dong immediately chimed in, pointing at Wang An and laughing:

"Yeah, this kid's not old, but he's really infuriating. One of these days we should bury him in the snow and let him reflect on his actions."

Ma Guoqiang also said:

"I think I can handle this, but that kid runs like a rabbit, so fast we'll have a tough time catching up with him."

It has to be said that Wang An may not be very good at other things, but when it comes to offending people and making enemies, he is second to none. He can turn himself into the target of everyone's attacks with just one sentence.

It must be said, however, that Wang An's actions instantly made the atmosphere in the entire shed more cheerful.

Since arriving at Wang An's house, Huang Zhong has helped slaughter several pigs and sheep, so he is now very familiar with the slaughtering process.

After killing the pig, the next step was to remove its hair. Huang Zhong took a ladle and poured hot water from the pot evenly over the pig, one ladleful at a time. After only a few scoops, Ma Guoqiang snatched the ladle and said:
"Let me try, this thing looks pretty fun."

The water ladle was snatched away, but Huang Zhong didn't say a word. He just stood there quietly watching. Ma Guoqiang imitated Huang Zhong's actions of pouring water on the pig, and noticing Huang Zhong was still there, he grinned and said to Huang Zhong:

"Xiao Zhong, you need to learn to speak up. You can't just stay silent all day long. Tell me, has your older brother ever been bullying your sister, or rather, bullying both of you sisters?"

After asking the question, Ma Guoqiang, perhaps sensing something was amiss, immediately added:
"It's okay. If he dares to mess with you, a few of us will beat him up. We'll beat him to death."

Huang Zhong didn't even glance at Wang An's expression before shaking his head without saying a word.

Seeing that Huang Zhong remained silent, He Liang immediately said with a gossipy look on his face:

"Your sister, no, I mean, have you two been mistreated by your older brother?"

It was clear that Ma Guoqiang and He Liang were being evasive; their question about whether Huang Zhong had been bullied was just a side note, their main purpose being to find out from Huang Zhong whether Wang An had... well, you know. Unfortunately, Huang Zhong didn't catch on at all, nor did he understand the veiled meaning in their words, and simply replied:
“My older brother doesn’t scold us; he’s really good to us.”

Wu Dong's eyes darted around, and he asked casually:
"Is your older brother better to your sister or to you?"

To be honest, although Huang Zhong was quite clever, he was completely unprepared for these kinds of cliché questions, or rather, questions where he had no idea what the other party wanted to know the answer to, and he had no idea what the purpose of these questions was.

Huang Zhong didn't know, but Wang An did!

Before Huang Zhong could speak, Wang An couldn't help but say:

"Hey Wu, Qiang, and Liang, are you guys always so idle? Why are you always worrying about these useless things? If they were at my house, would I be able to do anything?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Dong immediately adopted a serious and righteous expression and said:

"How can you say this is useless? We're monitoring you to prevent you from having thoughts of exploiting and oppressing others, do you understand?"

Ma Guoqiang also went further, saying:
"That's a big deal! We, the working class, have finally turned our backs on the world and become masters of our own destiny. You can't let things go back to the way they were."

He Liang, not one to shy away from making things worse, turned to Huang Zhongyi and said in a serious tone:

"Xiao Zhong, from now on, all of us are your brothers. If anyone dares to bully your sister, and... and you too, just tell us, and we'll definitely get justice for you two. Tell me, is your older brother better to your sister or to you?"

If Wang An hadn't interrupted, Huang Zhong might have just thought Wu Dong and the others were chatting idly. But after Wang An spoke, although Huang Zhong still didn't know Wu Dong and the others' purpose, he realized that there was something wrong with it.

So Huang Zhong looked at Wang An, and seeing Wang An's expressionless face, he said with a troubled expression:

"It makes no difference to either of us, everything is fine."

Huang Zhong's answer instantly put Wang An's mind at ease. If Huang Zhong had said something like "I'm even better to my sister," Wang An would have been in deep trouble, unable to clear his name no matter what.

The main reason is that although Wang An is thick-skinned and doesn't care about other people's ridicule, when it comes to matters of men and women, especially matters of young girls, it's a different story.

It's important to understand that "prejudice" is an insurmountable obstacle in people's minds. Once formed, it's something that no matter how hard Wang An tries, he can't shake.

Huang Zhong's words pleased Wang An, but immediately dampened the enthusiasm of Wu Dong and the others. He Liang seemed to want to guide Huang Zhong to give them the answer they were looking for, but Wang An directly addressed the group:

"Hurry, hurry, the pig hair is scalded. Quickly scrape off the pig hair, otherwise the skin will be cooked and it will be difficult to scrape off later."

Although removing pig hair from a pig seems simple, there's a trick to it. You have to get the timing right. Pour boiling water over the pig hair, scald it for a while, and then scrape it off with a knife while it's still hot.

If you don't scrape it for a long time, it will cool down again. But if you scald it repeatedly, it will stick to the pigskin and become impossible to scrape off.

At Wang An's urging, the group temporarily stopped their banter and got to work again.

(End of this chapter)