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

The area near the train station is quite bustling and densely populated.

Therefore, Wang An and his companion didn't even need to observe the terrain in such a place, and simply skipped over it in a hurry.

They walked for more than an hour, which is about fifteen or sixteen miles. Along the way, the landscape became more and more desolate and remote. Now, the two of them had completely reached the outermost edge of the city and towns.

In such places, apart from the occasional footprints left by railway maintenance workers in small snowdrifts beside the tracks, only the marks left by rabbits or mountain rats are visible a few meters away from the tracks.

Wang Li surveyed the mountains to the east of the railway and subconsciously said to Wang An:
"Fourth Brother, if I remember correctly, we jumped off the train on the inside side, right? If the train was traveling from north to south at that time, then we just need to keep an eye on the east side of the tracks and we'll be fine, right?"

What Wang Li referred to as the "inside" was actually the "left side," because in the local area, people at that time mostly used the terms "inside" and "outside," rather than "left" and "right."

The inside is left, so the outside is naturally right.

Upon hearing this, Wang An nodded and said:
"Okay, just keep an eye on the east side and look for it."

After a pause, Wang An said helplessly:

"It was so dark back then, you couldn't see anything from inside the train, otherwise how could it have been so hard to find it?"

Wang Li also said:
"That's for sure. If there had been even a glimmer of light at that time, our eyes would have been able to remember it."

Wang An suddenly smiled and said:

"Actually, we should think of it this way: it's pretty good that we have a chance to hide money. Besides, the three of us have each taken 3 yuan, so we're already quite respectable, hahaha."

Upon hearing this, Wang Li immediately changed his attitude, laughing along with Wang An as he said:

"Yeah, the big color TV only cost a little over 2, less than 3. It's just that we can't find the money we hid, so we still made a profit, hehehehehe."

As they chatted, Wang An and his companion continued their search.

But after walking for about an hour, the two of them stopped and stared in disbelief at the scene before them.

The reason is simple: many large trees in this forest have been cut down.

Even the trunk and thick branches had been pulled away, leaving only withered branches scattered on the ground, along with a few withered leaves that hadn't yet been blown away by the wind, seemingly telling Wang An and his companion:

"Didn't expect that, did you? You idiot, didn't you? We got hacked to pieces."

In other words, this forest was selectively cut down by the local forestry department.

Selective logging is quite common in Northeast China, whether in the Greater and Lesser Khingan Mountains of Heilongjiang Province or the Changbai Mountains. It has been selective logging for the past few years.

Unfortunately, by this time many people had realized that logging in the way it had been before was wrong, and the most scientific and sustainable method was "selective logging".

To put it bluntly, it's about selective logging: cutting down mature trees and leaving all the saplings that don't meet the standards.

Only in this way can we preserve the original ecology as much as possible.

While selective logging is perfectly normal, for the two young brothers, Wang An and Wang Li, it was a complete shock. They were already unfamiliar with the area's geography, and now this unexpected turn of events was utterly ridiculous!

After a long pause, Wang Li finally closed his half-open mouth and said with a bitter expression:

"Fourth Brother, we're doomed now. All the trees have been cut down, and that big tree you shot at several times is definitely gone too. We're probably not going to be able to find our money."

Wang Anka blinked, pursed his lips, and suddenly found himself at a loss.

People who often stroll through the same grove of trees may notice the differences between each tree.

However, for people unfamiliar with this forest, no matter where they go, they will feel that all the trees look the same, and they cannot tell where they are by the appearance of the trees.

This was the situation Wang An and Wang Li were facing at that time, and almost a year had passed, and it was still the season when heavy snow blocked the mountains.

Without the large tree that had been riddled with bullets as a reference, finding the location where the money was hidden was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

After a long while, Wang An finally spoke, exasperated:

"Damn it, this is going to be a real pain. It's all because of that big claw. If it weren't for that big claw that made me heal for half a year, we would have already taken the money. Why would we have had to wait until now to come over? Ugh, I'm so damn angry!"

The money in those two sacks together must have been at least 60,000 to 70,000 yuan. Even if Wang An and Wang Li took 9,000 yuan, there should still have been at least 50,000 yuan left in those sacks.

And this doesn't even include the gold and silver jewelry, watches, and various tickets that were stolen by the bandits from the sack.

A rough calculation shows that the gold and silver jewelry and watches could be worth several thousand or even tens of thousands of yuan. As for the coupons, apart from the grain coupons, most of them have probably expired and become worthless.

However, those tickets and such were not of much use to Wang An and his two companions.

After Wang An finished speaking in a fit of anger, Wang Li comforted him instead:

"Fourth Brother, why don't we keep looking? What if we find it? That money is no small amount."

Wang An sighed and said:
“Let’s go. I remember that area didn’t have many bushes and was quite flat. After that, if you walk east from the railway track, there’s a gentle hillside.”

Wang Li also recalled as he spoke:
"Yeah, I remember that as soon as I got out of the car, there was a really big rock under the pile of rubble that almost tripped me."

Wang An then said:
"Yes, yes, now that you mention it, I remember now. There was a small elm stump next to that rock, but I don't know if it was cut down this year."

And so, the two brothers, one after the other, told each other all the details they could remember.

To be honest, this kind of thing is just too sensitive, and it must involve many other issues.

Otherwise, they could simply check the railway department's temporary parking records for that day to pinpoint the exact location of the incident, allowing Wang An and his companion to quickly find where the money was hidden.

Given the sensitivity of this case, Wang An and his two companions dared not even tell their families, let alone look for anyone.

The main reason is that this involves stolen money from a train robbery with extremely serious consequences; what's there to publicize about that? (End of Chapter)