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

One of the worst fears, the "money getting soaked in water," has actually happened!
The two brothers couldn't help but exclaim in unison:
"Holy crap, we're doomed now."

To be fair, Wang An and Wang Li are truly brothers; even at a time like this, they can still come up with the same excuse.

However, after exclaiming in surprise, the two of them didn't pay any attention to what the other was saying. Instead, they jumped into the ditch at the same time and walked together toward the small sack.

The ditch, eroded by the rain, is noticeably deeper than it was when the two hid the money before the Lunar New Year.

Furthermore, at this time, more than half of the depth of the ditch was filled with snow. After Wang An and Wang Li jumped into the ditch, the snow reached their waists, which was quite thick.

Of course, natural snowfall wouldn't be this thick. The reason the snow in the ditch is so thick is because the wind blows snow into the ditch.

The two of them struggled to get to the cave entrance, grabbed the small section of the sack that was sticking out, and pulled hard, pulling the entire sack out.

Looking at the dense black and white mold that had grown on the sack due to dampness and mildew, both of them felt their hearts sink to the bottom.

The sack is so damp, how can the money inside possibly be any good?
Wang An was about to open the sack to check when he suddenly stopped and said:
"We're already in this state, what are we doing standing here in the snow? The cold air in the snow is chilling us to the bone. Let's go up and check on things. It's not worth getting sick from the cold."

Wang Li stared blankly at the burlap sack in Wang An's hand, mainly at the white and black fur on it, and nodded heavily.

At this point, Wang Li and Wang An still shared the same thought: the money was most likely gone.

After climbing up the ditch, the two found a sheltered, sunny spot and pulled off the outermost burlap sack.

But looking at the burlap sack inside, still covered in white fuzz, their hearts remained heavy.

It's impossible not to feel heavy-hearted; this is money! Tens of thousands! Tens of thousands in the 1980s!

Wang An clicked his tongue, looking at the white fuzz on the inner burlap sack, and turned to Wang Li, saying:
"Quickly, spread the sacks we brought on the ground. I remember there are a lot of gold jewelry and such inside. We can't let them fall into the snow and get lost again."

Wang Li snapped out of his daze and quickly laid the two burlap sacks side by side on the snow. Wang An untied the sacks and emptied out a large pile of contents.

In an instant, a huge pile of money and various tickets, as well as watches of all styles, gold earrings, silver earrings, gold rings, gold bracelets, silver bracelets, gold necklaces, silver necklaces, a few gold bars the size of a little finger, and a few jade pendants and peace and safety plaques, all fell onto the burlap sack.

Wang An and his companion didn't even glance at the watches, gold and silver jewelry, or jade pendants. They tossed aside the tickets and coupons as if they were worthless, focusing all their attention on the money.

The two of them quickly sorted out the large bills, and their expressions and moods gradually brightened.

The reason for this was that although the money in the sack had indeed been soaked in water, it was still frozen solid because it hadn't dried, and there were also many moldy black spots on the money.

However, perhaps because the paper quality of the banknotes is very good, the money in them can generally be spent normally, and even if it cannot be spent, it can be exchanged at the bank.

To put it bluntly, there was basically no financial loss.

As he picked out the money, Wang Li said with a grin:
"This money isn't a big deal, it won't stop me from spending it, it's great, really great, hahaha."

Wang An also laughed and said:
"Yeah, those ones with too much hair on them, we can just exchange them at the bank later, it won't cause any problems, hahaha."

Wang Li asked Wang An with a puzzled look:
"Can the bank exchange it? Once I went to our commune savings office to exchange a missing coin, but they wouldn't give it to me."

Wang An chuckled and said to Wang Li:

"With your temper, you didn't yell at him when he wouldn't give you the money back, did you?"

Wang Ligang was about to show off, but then he suddenly remembered something and said in a calm tone:
“I didn’t curse at him, but I yelled at him. I said, ‘If you don’t change it for me, do you know that’s illegal? Do you dare tell me your name? I’m going to report you to the county government. My older sister works at Anju in the county.’”

"Then he asked me what my older sister's name was. I didn't think about it at the time, and just blurted out that my older sister's name was Zhang Shuya. Do you know Zhang Shuya? You can't mess with me now."

Upon hearing this, Wang An reached out and smacked Wang Li's head, then said in an annoyed tone:
"Are you crazy? You've even started using someone else's name to intimidate others. Where did you learn all this from? Huh?"

As he spoke, Wang An ruffled Wang Li's hair again, and said in an even more annoyed tone:
"You bring up your older sister's name over such a trivial matter? Is your brain full of shit? I just don't understand, what are you thinking about all day long?"

As Wang An got angrier, he stood up and kicked Wang Li several more times.

Wang Li, clutching his head like a wronged child, hurriedly explained, "Fourth Brother, Fourth Brother, I just acted impulsively at the time, and I regretted it afterwards. Besides, I've never done it like that again since then. Really, Fourth Brother, please don't hit me anymore."

Hearing this, Wang An calmed down somewhat, but he still kicked Wang Li several more times before squatting down again to continue picking out money, muttering relentlessly:

"If I hear you using the names of Big Sister and Brother Wu to act all high and mighty with people outside again, I'll break your legs right now."

Wang Li's behavior clearly crossed Wang An's bottom line, so Wang An's tone was full of "I mean what I say."

Wang Li hurriedly said:

"Yes, yes, yes, if they hadn't said I was disturbing the order and insisted on arresting me, I wouldn't have thought of mentioning Big Sister's name. I definitely wouldn't dare to do it again."

Upon hearing this, Wang An was taken aback and suddenly realized that he might have misunderstood Wang Li.

The main problem is that they've already reached the point of being arrested. If they don't mention the person, what's the point of all the hard work in maintaining the relationship?

So, Wang An blinked, ruffled Wang Li's hair, and said:
"Then why didn't you say that earlier? What were you thinking about?"

After a pause, Wang An continued:
“When we’re in the right, we should still speak up for those people. Otherwise, if we wait until you’re locked up before we speak up for them, it will be too late.”

Wang Li was stunned for a moment, then asked again, still bewildered:

"Fourth Brother, if something happens again in the future, can I mention Eldest Sister's name?"

Wang An sighed, feeling quite helpless. His younger brother was clearly very clever and quick-witted, but he just couldn't seem to grasp the nuances of interpersonal relationships.

Of course, this is also closely related to Wang Li's age. After all, if Wang An hadn't been reborn, he would also be somewhat ignorant about human relationships and social customs.

Wang An thought for a moment and said:
"You have to find the right balance. You can bring up important matters, but for minor matters, you have to accept the loss if necessary. For example, in your case, if it doesn't involve them arresting you, would you be crazy to bring up someone just because of a few dollars? But if they're about to arrest you, and you still don't bring up someone, then you're a fool."

"Anyway, don't bother them with everything. We're all from the same county. Do you really think the savings bank won't verify your information after you mention your older sister's name? Then all the favors will fall on her shoulders, which isn't good."

Wang Li nodded and said:
"Okay, I understand, Fourth Brother."

And so, the two of them spent a full half hour picking through the coins before they finally managed to sort them out.

On Wang An's side, if we only count the "Great Unity" cards, there are 3469 cards, while on Wang Li's side, the number of "Great Unity" cards is 3505.

Adding them together, it's 69740 yuan. If you include the 9 yuan that Wang An and Wang Li took when they hid the money, the "Great Unity" alone amounts to 78740 yuan.

And that doesn't even include the 50-cent, 1-yuan, 2-yuan, and 5-yuan banknotes.

The main problem was that these loose change pieces were scattered in a large pile, not even in a stack, and Wang An and his companion were too lazy to count them, and they simply didn't have the time.

It's clear that when the robbers were robbing the money, they probably wanted to save space, so they didn't confiscate the one-cent and two-cent banknotes or coins, or those in cents.

However, what is certain is that they confiscated those small change items simply because they found it troublesome, not because they were kind!
As for those various tickets and industrial coupons, since the paper quality is not as good as currency, they were completely ruined after being soaked in water, so they could just be thrown away.

Anyway, most of these tickets have expired, and the few that haven't expired are unusable, so they're all basically worthless. I don't feel bad about throwing them away.

There was no time to sort through the watches, gold and silver jewelry, and jade pendants, so the two of them packed them all into two new burlap sacks along with the loose change, intending to deal with them back at the guesthouse.

After sorting out the most important large bills, the two packed the bills, loose change, jewelry, watches, and other items into their respective backpacks and headed towards the guesthouse.

Because the search for money had delayed them for another hour, it got dark after they had only walked about 10 miles. By the time they reached the guesthouse, it was almost 7 p.m., and they had truly been out all night.

Fortunately, because they successfully recovered all the money, Wang An and his companion didn't feel particularly tired.

Seeing the two people's smiling faces, Mu Xueli knew the money had been found, so the corners of her mouth also turned up in a smile. (End of Chapter)