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

Upon hearing this, Meng Changshun said with a very firm attitude:
"That's not 20 yuan. My older brother works at the forest farm and only makes about 40 yuan a month. A half-grown dog for 20 yuan? You're making this up. That's absolutely not true."

And so, Mu Xueli and Meng Changshun went back and forth for a long time before Wang An finally couldn't help but speak up:

"Uncle Meng, Xue Li, if you ask me, you two shouldn't fight anymore. Let's just settle for 80 yuan for these five dogs. Nobody loses out, and nobody gains either. What do you two say?"

Feng Chengmin also chimed in:
“Brother Meng, I’d also like to say something on behalf of the kids. Let’s do as Xiao An said, 80 yuan is a good price. If it’s too cheap, it would be a disservice to the good dogs you’ve raised.”

Meng Changshun blinked, looked at Feng Chengmin, then at Wang An, and then at Mu Xueli, before reluctantly saying:

"Alright, that's settled then. Xue Li, you little rascal! What can your uncle say about you?"

Mu Xueli chuckled, took out two bills from the 100-yuan note, then handed over the remaining 80 yuan, saying:
"Uncle Changshun, the main thing is that your five dogs are worth this price. It wouldn't be right to sell them cheaply, hehehe."

After saying a few more useless words, the group put the five dogs in sacks, loaded them onto the car, and said goodbye to Meng Changshun's house.

Meng Changshun looked at the 80 yuan in his hand, then at the two remaining half-grown puppies, but his face did not show any particular joy.

At this moment, Meng Changshun's wife came out of the house and said:
"You've got it! Five dogs isn't a small number."

Meng Changshun looked at his right arm and said with a face full of resentment:
"If my arm were still intact, I would keep all these puppies for myself no matter what. When the time comes, I would lead more than 10 dogs into the mountains. Damn it, what kind of beast wouldn't I be able to take down?"

Meng Changshun's wife grabbed his arm and offered a perfunctory word of comfort:
"Yes, yes, you need to pee, you're so capable, you're really something else. Let's go back inside, it's so cold outside."

Meng Changshun said with a face full of dissatisfaction:
"I'm already terrible at hunting, and if it weren't for that lazy bum Su Guangjun who can't even figure out how to fight, I wouldn't have been ruined by the wild boars like this. I'm so damn angry."

On the bus, Mu Xueli and Wang Li were both very happy to have bought the dog they needed.

Although Mu Xueli went through a lot of trouble to buy the dogs, the result was very good, and she managed to buy five good dogs at once.

So, these two idiots started discussing the pros and cons of their respective dogs.

However, Feng Chengmin brought up the old matter again, and took the initiative to say to Wang An:
"Xiao An, can you spare any of your wolf cubs from your mother wolf? You haven't given me a definite answer yet."

Wang An thought Feng Chengmin had already given up, but who knew he would remember it again.

So, Wang An thought for a moment and said:
"At most, it can be divided between the two of you; no more than that."

Wang An thought Feng Chengmin would try to negotiate, but to his surprise, Feng Chengmin said quite decisively:
"Sure, but you have to let me choose first. Dogs are easy to find, and I want a good-looking dog."

Wang An originally wanted to say, "Then you only need one dog, isn't giving you two redundant?", but after thinking about it again, he swallowed his words.

The offspring of Big Black and the mother wolf are bound to be excellent, but Wang An's family has far too many dogs and wolves; keeping so many wouldn't be of much use.

However, Wang An had already made up his mind: he would no longer bring those four embarrassing spotted dogs when going into the mountains in the future. Their role would be the same as Zhaocai and Wangcai: simply to guard the house. They wouldn't be of much help in the mountains anyway, so they were just useless. It would be better to leave them at home to guard against bad guys; it would be a good way to make use of them.

As Wang An was dropping Mu Xueli and his dog off at home, just as Mu Xueli was about to get out of the car, he suddenly said:

“I just remembered something. Let’s stop collecting bezoar and bear bile for now. People from above are coming down to investigate speculation and profiteering. We don’t want to get involved. We’ll start collecting again after the first month of the lunar calendar.”

Feng Chengmin frowned, his face full of worry, and said:

"Even if we stop accepting it now, it's too late. Someone will definitely implicate us."

Although things have been loosened up now, they are not completely loosened up, so Feng Chengmin's concerns are not unreasonable. As long as a peddler mentions Feng Chengmin, the people in charge of the investigation can easily find him and he will definitely not be able to escape.

The key point is that the goods Feng Chengmin received already accounted for two-fifths of Wang An's total receipts. What does more than 200,000 yuan worth of goods mean in those days?
Wang An said with a completely indifferent expression:

"It's alright. My older sister sent people to investigate with the anti-voting office. If anyone questions you, just say that I received this stuff, that you don't know anything about it, and that's all. Don't worry about anything else."

Feng Chengmin said subconsciously:
“What are you saying? Everyone else has made money, but you’re the only one pushing yourself to take the fall. What kind of situation is that? No way. When I get home, I’m going to go into hiding. Then the three of you will all push the blame onto me. I’ll come back in a year or two when things have calmed down.”

It was obvious that Feng Chengmin didn't trust Zhang Shuya and her group's abilities, and he was considering running away.

It's understandable that they don't trust him. After all, how could a hunter who is nearly 40 years old easily entrust his safety to someone else? That's completely out of character for an old hunter!
In this day and age, it's quite normal to run away after committing a crime. As long as you hide in the deep mountains and forests, ensure your safety, and don't starve, you can basically live a good life.

Upon hearing Feng Chengmin's disheartening words, Wang An looked at Feng Chengmin speechlessly and said:

"Uncle, are you just being too righteous by doing this?"

Feng Chengmin's face turned bright red as he defended himself, saying:

“This isn’t about being righteous or not. I’m your elder, so I should be the one to take responsibility. You’re all so young. If you get arrested now, your lives will be ruined. Do you understand?”

To be honest, Wang An was very moved when he heard this, because it was already quite an achievement for Feng Chengmin to say such a thing.

It should be noted that Wang An was only Feng Chengmin's wife's nephew and had no blood relation to Feng Chengmin whatsoever.

Even so, Feng Chengmin never considered letting Wang An take the fall, which was already quite remarkable.

Wang An smiled and said to Feng Chengmin:
"Uncle, don't worry about it. Just do as I say and it'll be fine. If I can't even handle this little thing, then I've really wasted all these years."

"Besides, we'll still need to make money after the Lunar New Year, so don't worry about anything." (End of Chapter)