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

After Wang Daliang and Wang Li finished explaining, the whole room fell silent.

Neither Wang Dazhu and his wife, nor Mu Xueqing, nor Shen Wei expressed any opinions or views.

These four people didn't even give Wang Daliang and his family a friendly look; their attitude was incredibly cold and indifferent.

If it weren't for their long-standing kinship and very good friendship, Liu Guilan and Mu Xueqing, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, would very likely have verbally abused Wang Daliang and his family of three and kicked them out.

Yes, that's true, because the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were extremely unhappy, their faces were so gloomy they looked like they were about to burst with tears.

The main topic is Shi Qinghe's injury. Wang An's family discussed it yesterday, and everyone is aware of it.

Both Wang Dazhu and his wife, as well as Mu Xueqing, disagreed with Wang An standing up for Shi Qinghe.

Unfortunately, although Wang Xiaofeng's family did suffer because of this, as Wang An's family, they certainly didn't want Wang An to take any more risks.

Now everyone is hearing that most of the men in Shima Village have been beaten by coal miners, and many have been injured.

This is enough to prove that this coal mine is absolutely a den of thieves!

How many knives, guns, and cannons must there be inside that coal mine?
Therefore, no matter how capable Wang An is, he absolutely cannot defeat someone from a coal mine!

But Wang Daliang and his family of three were quite something. As soon as they arrived in the morning, they started babbling on and on.

The three of them clearly wanted Wang An to use his connections to help them get revenge, mainly to get the medical expenses for Wang Daliang's son-in-law, Comrade Shi Qinghe.

Therefore, it would be strange if Liu Guilan and Mu Xueqing gave them a friendly look.

There was no other way; Liu Guilan didn't want anything to happen to her son, and Mu Xueqing didn't want her husband to risk his life.

These are all perfect! Absolutely perfect!
Shen Wei and Huang Li went to clear the dishes. Wang An looked around the room, mainly at the expressions on his parents' and wife's faces, before asking in a deep voice:
"How much money has my second brother-in-law spent since he was hospitalized?"

Wang Daliang sighed, his face full of bitterness, and said:
"Sigh, it's already cost over 4,000. The doctor said it will cost another 3,000 or 2,000, and even that might not be enough."

Subconsciously, Wang An asked again:
"So, to completely fix up my brother-in-law's place, it'll cost around 8 yuan in total, right?"

Eight thousand dollars in 1983 was a considerable sum for ordinary people.

If we compare it to the wages of regular employees at that time and in later generations, 8 yuan at that time would be roughly equivalent to more than 160 million yuan in later generations.

Wang Daliang nodded, and said with a hint of helplessness:

"Yeah, if 8 yuan can be used, it's probably pretty good."

Wang An nodded and said casually:

"Alright, I'll try to find someone and see if we can at least get my brother-in-law's medical expenses covered. Otherwise, how are they going to pay back this huge sum?" After Wang An finished speaking, Liu Guilan suddenly said with a troubled expression:
"Half of the people from Shima Village went there, and they were all beaten to a pulp. What good will it do you to go? You're no good."

After Liu Guilan finished speaking, Mu Xueqing raised her eyebrows, widened her almond-shaped eyes, and said very unhappily:

"Mother is right, Xiao An, you can't go. No matter how good you are at fighting, can you beat someone from a coal mine? Are you going to your death?"

Turning her head, Mu Xueqing glared at Wang Daliang and his wife with eyes full of anger, and said in a very dissatisfied tone:

"Second Uncle, Second Aunt, I'm not trying to be mean, but you can't find good things to talk to my Xiao An about, so why are you telling us this mess? What can we do? Are we supposed to risk our lives against them?"

"Hey, isn't it enough to listen to your babbling first thing in the morning? What do we owe you? If you want to risk your lives, go do it yourselves. It's not like you don't have men in your family. Why do you keep bothering us? We're not going."

To be fair, Mu Xueqing's mouth is just as sharp as Liu Guilan's; they're equally eloquent and equally shrewd.

However, her comfortable and happy life had completely suppressed her fiery and irritable side.

Aside from Wang An occasionally chatting nonsense with other women and causing Mu Xueqing some trouble, Mu Xueqing's life was generally smooth sailing, and she didn't have the opportunity to be shrewish or irritable.

It must be admitted that only Mu Xueqing, as the daughter-in-law, was appropriate to say these words. If Wang Dazhu and his wife had said them, it would have been quite inappropriate.

After Mu Xueqing finished speaking, the entire living room fell into complete silence; it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

After a long while, Wang Dazhu finally sighed and said to Wang Daliang and his wife:
"Second brother, second sister-in-law, it's not that Xueqing is criticizing you, it's just 8 yuan, it's not like your family can't afford it, just give it to Qinghe and that's it!"

"That's true. Xiao An is quite well-connected in the county town and has some social connections. But even with connections, you still have to do favors."

"Let's not go back too far. Take that time when we caught the sika deer. There were two such big sika deer, and all we had left were 20-odd catties of mutton and 3 catties of sheep blood, as well as deer antlers and deer blood. You see, we have so many sika deer at home. Every time we extract a lot of deer blood, we also make a lot of deer blood powder. In the end, how much did we have left for ourselves? We gave it all away."

Wang Daliang felt a little embarrassed upon hearing this, and said in a trembling voice:
“We know all this, but we just can’t swallow this anger. Last night, before I went to the hospital, I saw Qinghe’s miserable state and no one was taking care of him. Xiaofeng just cried. When I asked Xiaofeng, she said that just for Qinghe’s treatment, we’ve already spent more than 1,500 yuan. Hearing this, I, as his father, felt terrible.”

As he spoke, Wang Daliang, this middle-aged man, had red eyes and tears streaming down his face.

After Wang Daliang finished speaking, his second aunt Yao Ping also said in a tearful voice:

"We're not afraid to spend the money, but we can't swallow this insult. A perfectly healthy person was ruined for no reason. The doctor said that even if Qinghe recovers, he'll be disabled for the rest of his life. Xiaofeng isn't even 30 yet. What are we going to do for the rest of our lives? Waaaaah..."

As she spoke, Second Aunt Yao Ping covered her face and began to cry, sobbing uncontrollably with tears streaming down her face.

In fact, anyone who knows the situation can empathize with how Wang Daliang and his wife are feeling right now.

This feeling of being both frustrated and stifled, both humiliated and powerless, is truly unbearable.

But as parents, they lacked the ability to seek justice for their children, which is perhaps the real reason why they couldn't bear it any longer and shamelessly begged Wang An for help. (End of Chapter)