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

The deer's head, along with its antlers, was tied to the roof rack of the car, and the headless carcass of the deer was dragged behind the vehicle. Wang An and Huang Zhong continued driving home.

In just a short time, the two men had killed a Siberian leopard and a large red deer, so they were in a very good mood.

Huang Zhong, as Wang An's loyal follower, has always been very devoted to his work, so Wang An decided to give Huang Zhong a larger share this time.

Wang An chuckled and said:
"You killed this big deer, so we'll split the meat and bones fifty-fifty, half for each of us. The hide and tail are yours if you want, but don't even think about the deer penis, hahaha."

Deer are arguably at their least valuable during this season because they don't have antlers.

Although deer antlers can be sold for money, compared to the price of deer velvet, the price of deer antlers is negligible.

As for deerskin, it is valuable, but not a lot of money. The supply and marketing cooperative buys it for 20 to 30 yuan a piece, depending on its size.

The main reason is that deer hide cannot be used as fur. It can only be made into leather after the hair is removed, or like donkey hide, it can be processed into glue after the hair is removed and used in medicine.

The same goes for deer tendons, hooves, and tails; they can all be sold, but they're not worth much—five or eight yuan, at most a dozen yuan.

Of course, in this day and age, ten or eight yuan is actually a considerable sum of money.

Upon hearing this, Huang Zhong immediately refused:
"I didn't do anything, how could I possibly get so much? Just give me a deer leg, brother."

Wang An didn't even listen to what Huang Zhong said, and continued speaking:
"Well, you've done your part, you little leopard. I'll give you 2 yuan when we get home, so your parents and sister can have some fun too, hahaha."

At this moment, Wang An was extremely happy.

While a complete and undamaged Siberian leopard may not be as valuable as a Siberian tiger, its actual price is still considerable.

Most importantly, at that time there were no protection measures or documents for the Amur leopard. Unlike the Siberian tiger, the Amur leopard was not only prohibited from being traded, but it also had to be hidden away and kept secret.

The total value of leopard skin, leopard bones, leopard penis, and leopard gallbladder could easily exceed 1 yuan, even in the supply and marketing cooperatives at that time.

If you happen to encounter an extremely wealthy person who finds this rare item rare, it's not impossible for it to sell for over 20,000 or even 30,000 or 40,000.

Of course, it's rare to encounter such wealthy people, so Wang An could only estimate the price at 1 yuan.

Regardless, while 2 yuan was a considerable sum for Wang An to give Huang Zhong, it was actually less than 2% of the price of the entire leopard.

After Wang An finished speaking, Huang Zhong couldn't help but chime in:

"Big brother, it's me."

However, before Huang Zhong could finish speaking, Wang An interrupted him directly:
"Alright, you'll definitely be treated well if you follow me. Just take whatever I give you, I know exactly what I'm doing."

Huang Zhong turned his head and looked at Wang An's smiling profile. His face was full of very complicated emotions, but it also strengthened Huang Zhong's determination to serve Wang An.

Huang Zhong nodded heavily and said:

"Okay, I understand, big brother."

A year and a half ago, Huang Zhong and his sister shared only one set of clothes, and the family was struggling to make ends meet. Huang Zhong even had to go to the fields with his father to steal corn cobs, and then they got caught stealing them.
But ever since they got on Wang An's good side, Huang Zhong's family not only had enough to eat and wear, but even the clothes they wore when they went out were no longer patched. Most importantly, Huang Zhong's family had savings.

The life Huang Zhong's family enjoys now would have been an unattainable dream in the past. Even now, it remains an unattainable dream for the migrant families in Weizigou.

You should know that the people in Weizigou are still living a life where they don't know where their next meal will come from.

After Huang Zhong finished speaking, there was a long silence in the car. Suddenly, Wang An asked Huang Zhong with a smile:
"Xiao Zhong, your family has money now. What do you want to do with it?"

Huang Zhong smiled憨厚ly upon hearing this and said:

"My uncle asked the village head for help, and he said that if we buy a plot of land in the village and build a house, our family can register our household registration in the village. After that, I'm thinking of using that money to buy some farmland, and then our family will also be residents of Kaoshan Village, hehehehe."

It's clear that Huang Zhong and his family are very concerned about no longer being vagrants.

Wang An frowned and said:

"There's no need to buy land. As long as you register your household, you'll have land before the land is redistributed. What's the rush?"

At this time, there are actually a certain number of quotas available each year for the household registration and land issues of migrant workers.

The only requirement is that you must buy land, build a house, and settle down in one place.

Of course, if there are existing houses in each village and the original owners have moved away, then you can simply buy someone else's house.

All the new settlers did not have land to cultivate at that time; they were all waiting to be allocated land together with the other villagers.

For example, in Kaoshantun, land was distributed to individual households in 1981, and the next land redistribution was three years later, in 1984.
So Huang Zhong's family only needed to wait until the village distributed land in 84, and they would automatically receive land according to their family size.

Of course, the intervals between land redistributions vary from place to place. Most redistribute land every 3 years, some every 5 years, and some even every year.

This issue depends on the local people's wishes. After all, some families have a large number of newborns and want the land to be redistributed as soon as possible so that they can get more land.

However, some families not only have no newborns, but also have elderly relatives who have passed away. They certainly do not want to redistribute the land, since one less person means one less piece of land.

As for Huang Zhong's statement about buying farmland to cultivate, it is different from contracting land.

Even if Huang Zhong's family bought land from the village collective, it would still be considered temporary land. When the land was redistributed, the land they bought would still be incorporated back into the collective for unified allocation.

Therefore, buying such land is actually not a good deal.

Huang Zhong lowered his head and said:

“My dad said that you have to own a house and land to live a decent life.”

Upon hearing this, Wang An's eyes widened, and he was immediately speechless, only able to nod and say:

"Yeah, that's true."

Everyone has their own thoughts. For a family of drifters who have been living a nomadic life, what they want most is a stable life.

Only when things are stable can one feel at ease! (End of Chapter)