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

As Mu Xue left the GAZ truck and walked past the miners, they acted as if they hadn't seen her, continuing to devour the food Wang Li had given them. Wang Li glanced at them, then looked away with a pained expression.

After walking quite a distance, Wang Li said in a low voice:
"Fourth Brother, do you think no one is doing anything about those illegal coal mines operating like this?"

Looking at the scenery rushing past the car window, Wang An calmly said:

"Manage? How can we manage them? Who will manage them? Anyone who could manage them has already been fed up with the 'Great Unity' (a term referring to a large sum of money)."

Mu Xueli interrupted angrily:
"Then they're really in a terrible situation. I just looked at some of them, and a few of them were only about the same age as Xiao Zhong. I bet they're even younger than Xiao Zhong. Their lives are completely ruined!"

Wang An twitched the corner of his mouth and said:

"There's nothing we can do about it. We can only watch; there's nothing we can do to help."

Wang An never expected that his two younger brothers, Wang Li and Mu Xueli, would have such a compassionate side.

However, this is normal. After all, everyone has a kind heart. When they see the tragic experiences and slovenly state of those "foolish miners," anyone would be deeply shocked.

After Wang An finished speaking, Wang Li suddenly turned his head and said:
"Fourth Brother, what do you think about us pulling off a heist? Let's shoot all those inhuman beasts to death, then drive off. I bet they'll never find us."

Upon hearing this, Wang An was taken aback at first, then raised his hand and slapped Wang Li across the head, saying in an annoyed tone:

"If you want to die, go die yourself. I'm not going to argue with you. What's wrong? Watch too much TV? You think you're some kind of hero? Damn it."

Although these foolish miners were indeed pitiful, Wang An felt only a tiny bit of pity for them.

That's right, there's only a tiny bit, absolutely no more.

Unfortunately, although Wang An was reborn, his abilities were limited. Besides, as the old saying goes, "everyone has their own destiny," so it was impossible for Wang An to go after the owners of illegal coal mines for the sake of these poor miners.

Besides, even if Wang An wanted to deal with that mine owner, he might not be able to!

It's no exaggeration to say that anyone who can organize people to operate illegal coal mines, regardless of the time, is someone with exceptional abilities in every aspect. Whether it's illegal or legitimate, they can handle it all with remarkable skill.

These mine owners are all people, money, guns, and connections.

In terms of raw strength alone, even if Wang An were to rebuild his gang from when he was a hoodlum and equip each member with a gun, he still wouldn't be able to beat them, unless he got Wu Dong and Zhang Shuya to lead a team to help him.

But why would Wang An work with a black coal mine for a bunch of completely unrelated people? That would be just plain crazy!
Wang An's slap instantly sobered Wang Li up, and the fervor and fighting spirit that had been in his eyes just moments before vanished.

Along with that, Mu Xueli's anger and compassion from just now were completely extinguished by Wang Li's slap.

The rest of the journey went relatively smoothly. Although there were still many robbers and places that charged fees, Wang An and his two companions simply fired their guns and paid their dues as usual, and there were no major disturbances.

Along the way, as they passed through various cities, Wang An and his two companions bought quite a few things, such as clothes, shoes, hats, and even thermal underwear for their family members.

Moreover, Wang An not only bought these clothes for his family, but also for Shen Wei and her daughter, Zhao Cuiyun and her daughter, and Huang Baoguo's family.

Besides clothes, Wang An and his two companions also bought a considerable amount of famous local snacks.

Of course, Wang An also bought a huge pile of toys for his two little ones, including tin frogs, tin roosters, tin mice, water guns, and so on. Basically, Wang An bought every toy that the supply and marketing cooperative or department store had in stock.

Fortunately, there weren't many types of toys at that time, otherwise Wang An's GAZ truck wouldn't have been able to hold them all.

Even so, the things that Wang An and the other two bought filled the roof rack and trunk of the GAZ truck to the brim, and even took up almost half of the space on the back seats and the floor.

This shows just how much money these three people are willing to spend on shopping while they're driving.

However, this is all normal. After all, after deducting the cost, Wang Li and Mu Xueli each earned and received more than 16 yuan each.

Wang An earned and received even more money, a full 24 yuan!
In fact, Wang An had planned to take Wang Li and Mu Xueli on a big shopping spree at Wangfu Department Store while they were in Yandu. However, due to the incident with the watch shop owner, Wang An had no choice but to run away.

There was no other way; if Wang An were to still be thinking about making purchases under those circumstances, how much of a headache would he have!

If he were caught on someone else's turf, the consequences would be something Wang An could not possibly bear.

And so, two days later, on the afternoon of the 12th day since Wang An and his two companions left, they finally drove back to Kaoshantun.

It took Wang An and his two companions more than 40 hours to drive the 2,400-2,500 kilometers home.

Back in Kaoshantun, Wang An drove into the courtyard and honked the horn several times, sending a signal to the whole family that "we're back."

Mu Xueqing, who was watching TV inside, heard the car horn and immediately smiled and said to the two little ones playing on the floor:
"Happy, blissful, your father is back! Come on, let's go greet him."

In winter, Wang An's family used a floor fire pit, where the temperature on the ground was almost the same as, or even higher than, the temperature on the kang (heated brick bed).

So ever since the two little ones learned to walk, to make it easier for them to play and wander around, they have spent most of their daytime playing on the ground since the beginning of winter.

As soon as the two little ones heard the words "Daddy's back," they immediately threw down their toys, giggled, and stood up to run outside.

Seeing this, Mu Xueqing and Huang Li quickly stood up and pulled the two of them back, then picked up their little clothes and hats and dressed them up.

The main issue is that the temperature difference between the outside and the inside is more than 50 degrees Celsius. If you don't wear a thick cotton coat and a cotton hat before going out, the chances of catching a cold are extremely high.

After the horn sounded, people came from various places, including the house, the backyard shed, the deer enclosure, and the old courtyard.

As soon as Wang An got out of the car, he saw his two adorable little babies running towards him from inside the house, shouting "Daddy! Daddy!"

Actually, they can walk quite steadily now, but they are wearing thick cotton pants, thick cotton coats, and thick cotton hats, which makes the two little ones look like two balls. It's a bit difficult for them to take a step, so they walk in a crooked way.

There's no way around it, kids in Northeast China are all like this, they all get through the winter like this, all huddled up in a cowardly manner!
It's just too cold, freezing cold. You can't stand it without wearing thick clothes!

Seeing his two adorable little babies approaching him like two tiny balls, Wang An's heart, which had always been as firm as a rock, almost melted.

Wang An laughed heartily as he took a few quick steps, then bent down and picked up the two little ones, one on each side.

Hearing his two little ones calling "Daddy" one after another, Wang An's heart was instantly filled with joy and warmth. He opened his mouth wide and kissed the two little ones' cheeks, making them giggle again. (End of Chapter)