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

After taking the family photo, Wang An and Mu Xueqing sat together, each holding a child for one photo. Then, Wang An held one child in each arm, with Mu Xueqing standing next to him for another photo.

Huang Zhong took a few more photos of Wang An alone before the camera was returned to Wang An's hands.

Once the camera returned to Wang An's hands, it was basically never stopped being used.

Wang An stopped taking pictures of Wang Dazhu and his wife, their happy and joyful moments, their younger siblings, Huang Zhong's family, Shen Wei and her daughter, and Zhao Cuiyun and her daughter, until a brand new roll of film was used up again.

All that could be heard was Liu Guilan complaining:

"Thirteen yuan, gone in such a short time. Sigh! It costs too much to take a picture."

At that time, 13 yuan was roughly equivalent to more than 2 yuan in later years, but in Wang An's hands, it was gone in less than an hour.

Wang An chuckled and reminded Liu Guilan:

"Mom, it's the New Year, you can't be sighing. Our family is doing well, what's there to sigh about?"

Liu Guilan was taken aback by his words, then rolled her eyes at Wang An with a smile, and said with dissatisfaction:
"You little rascal, if you weren't angry with me, would I be sighing? All you do is waste money all day long."

Wang An chuckled again, then smacked his lips and pretended to look troubled, saying:

"I have no choice. I make too much money, and I feel uncomfortable if I don't spend some."

Upon hearing this, Liu Guilan immediately rushed over and slapped Wang An on the back several times.

Wang An, with a forced smile, feigned a wronged expression and said confidently:
"Everyone says you shouldn't hit your child during the New Year, so it's wrong of you to hit your child during the New Year."

Liu Guilan paused upon hearing this, but the slap continued to fall, and she said defiantly:

"Who is he? You bring him here, and see if he dares to stop me. If he does, I'll beat him up too."

Wang An was speechless. The main problem was that his mother was being unreasonable, so what could a son do?
Liu Guilan's words, however, made everyone in the room burst into laughter.

After taking the photos, the adults changed back into their old clothes and then got back to work.

There's no other way; farmers have to work 365 days a year, and the Lunar New Year is no exception. So, the new clothes for the New Year can only be worn after dinner when there's absolutely no more work to do.

Of course, most of the work done by Wang An's family, such as feeding the livestock and cleaning the livestock pens, was done by Huang Baoguo and his wife, Zhao Cuiyun, and Shen Wei.

Therefore, Wang An's family wasn't very busy; they mainly prepared lunch and put up couplets.

After preparing the meals all morning, the four families had a big lunch, and it was already past 3 p.m.

It was only today that Wang Dazhu finally decided to give up the thatch that Wang An had given him.

That's right, I only drank it today.

A few days after Wang An bought the liquor, Comrade Wang Dazhu generously gave two bottles of Maozi liquor to each of the two brothers, Wang Dashu and Wang Daliang.

Wang An did not try to dissuade them, after all, Wang Dashu and Wang Daliang were his father's older brothers, and it would be absolutely inappropriate for him, as their son, to offer any advice.

So, Wang An chuckled and explained to Comrade Wang Dazhu how much the wine cost with wine coupons and how much it cost on the black market.

You should know that Wang An bought these bottles of thatch, but even Mu Xueli and Wang Li were only given one bottle each.

Unfortunately, although the price of the liquor wasn't expensive for Wang An, liquor coupons were really hard to come by. He was only lucky to have managed to snag one this time. Most importantly, even in Harbin, Maozi liquor was scarce; it was only available in larger state-owned stores, not even in smaller state-owned stores or supply and marketing cooperatives.

However, if you try to buy it on the black market, not only is the price of Maotai liquor extremely high, but whether you can even buy it at all is another matter entirely.

This is because the wine is produced in the south and is rarely circulated in the northeast.

On the other hand, this wine was mainly supplied to high-ranking officials and nobles in those days, and it was basically not available to ordinary people.

Even if it were possible to get a bottle of this wine, the chances of an ordinary person buying it would be slim. What kind of family would they be? Spending a month's salary just to buy a bottle of wine? That's simply unrealistic.

Upon hearing the price, Comrade Wang Dazhu, who had already given away the wine, was so distressed that he clenched his teeth and lit a cigarette.

Wang An ignored Wang Dazhu's distress and chuckled as he told Wang Dazhu the price of Hua Zi cigarettes purchased with cigarette coupons, as well as their price on the black market.

At that moment, Wang Dazhu subconsciously glanced at the half-smoked cigarette in his hand, and said to Wang An in a daze:
"So, I spent four or five cents on just this one cigarette?"

Wang An smiled and shook his head, saying:

"That's the black market price. I only spent 8 cents on a box, which is 4 cents per stick."

Although Wang An's words were meant to comfort his father, Wang Dazhu stopped showing off his Huazi cigarettes to others and completely stopped handing them out.

As for Maozi liquor, Comrade Wang Dazhu treasured it and kept it away. If it weren't for the New Year, Comrade Wang Dazhu would absolutely not be willing to take it out.

A bottle of liquor costs 80 or 90 yuan, or even over 100 yuan, on the black market. You can just drink it whenever you want? Are you kidding me?

After a big lunch, it wasn't long before it got dark, and the real New Year's Eve arrived!
Unlike previous years, this year's Lunar New Year's Eve featured a Spring Festival Gala program, which was broadcast live on television.

This novel program quickly drew everyone's attention to the television.

However, Wang An's gaze remained fixed on Liu Xiaoqing, who was wearing a red dress. He had to admit that Xiaoqing was incredibly beautiful when she was young.

Of course, compared to Mu Xueqing, she is still somewhat inferior.

Mu Xueqing's eyes were bigger than hers, her face wasn't as round, and most importantly, Mu Xueqing was taller and had a better figure.

However, Liu Xiaoqing, dressed in this red dress, looked truly pleasing to the eye and refreshing, attracting the attention of many men.

Overall, the Spring Festival Gala truly added a lot of joy and color to the New Year celebrations.

Time flies, the years are like a shuttle.

In the blink of an eye, half a month has passed. After the Lantern Festival, it will be clear that the New Year celebrations are completely over.

And the time came to March 1983.

During the first month of the lunar calendar, apart from driving his wife and two children to his father-in-law Mu Hua's house once, and only going out to pay New Year's visits to his elders, Wang An spent the rest of the time at home taking care of the children and didn't go anywhere else.

The main problem is that after his rebirth, Wang An became extremely attached to his home. Whether you say he lacked ambition or was old-fashioned, he didn't want to go out and had no interest in entertainment such as playing cards or gambling.

If it weren't necessary to go out, Wang An would just want to stay home and take care of his children, watching them change every day.

But Wang An's vow after his rebirth, or rather, his life's purpose—"to live freely and happily until death"—has never changed or wavered. (End of Chapter)