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

After loading the truck, Zhang Zhenbang turned around and shook hands with Wang An in a friendly manner, saying:
"Well then, Mr. An, we'll take our leave now. We look forward to our next collaboration."

Upon hearing this, Wang An looked utterly astonished and said:

"Farewell? What farewell? You're already home, you have to have a meal before you leave."

He Liang also said:
"Yeah, but we can't leave now. We have to finish our meal first."

Ma Guoqiang also said with a smile:

"That's right, we're all home now, how can we not have a good meal? Let me tell you, my brother's family has a lot of good wine, you'll know what I mean after you drink it."

Immediately afterwards, Wu Dong and Wang Shuai also spoke up to dissuade him, leaving Zhang Zhenbang speechless.

Unable to refuse such hospitality, Zhang Zhenbang said somewhat embarrassedly:

"With so many of us, isn't it inconvenient?"

Wang An said with great pride:
"It's so convenient, so incredibly convenient! If you're not too busy, stay here for a few days. I'll let you experience the fun of these mountains, like hunting squirrels or digging for fish in ice caves—it's all so much fun, hahaha."

Wang An would be very happy to build a closer relationship with a Hong Kong businessman like Zhang Zhenbang.

This isn't to say that Wang An has power, but it's undeniable that the existence of someone like Zhang Zhenbang was extremely beneficial to Wang An's future development.

However, Wang An would only interact with Zhang Zhenbang with a normal mindset. As for racking his brains to flatter or fawn over him, given Wang An's personality, he would absolutely disdain doing such things.

This is something that even if Zhang Zhenbang's father came, it wouldn't make a difference, let alone Zhang Zhenbang.

After considering for a long time, Zhang Zhenbang finally said:
"Then, I shall respectfully comply."

After everyone returned to the house on the west side, Wang An had Huang Zhong make tea for them, and then served them pine nuts, hazelnuts, as well as snacks such as melon seeds, peanuts, walnuts, and jujubes. Only then did he speak to Wu Dong, Wang Shuai, and the others:

"Brother Wu, Brother Wang, Brother Liang, Brother Qiang, you guys take good care of Boss Zhang and the others. Xiao Zhong and I will go and slaughter a sheep for you to eat."

Wu Dong laughed:

"Didn't you say last time that you'd kill a roe deer when we came? Why are you thinking of killing a sheep now?"

Wang An said with a completely indifferent expression:

"Then let's kill a roe deer. We'll make whatever you want to eat, it's no big deal. If you can wait, we can kill one of each, hahaha."

Like sheep, roe deer only need one male in a herd; any extra males are for meat.

Wu Dong said with a smile:

"The main purpose is to let Boss Zhang taste what our Northeast roe deer taste like."

Zhang Zhenbang quickly said:
"No need to spend so much money, just have some simple home-cooked food, simple home-cooked food is fine."

Wang An waved his hand and said:

"It's not expensive at all. Even if you didn't come to our house, you'd still have to eat meat, right? Hehehe."

Wang Shuai suddenly said with great interest:
"I'll go with you guys. It's been so long since I've participated, I'm still feeling a bit restless."

As he spoke, Wang Shuai stood up.

Wang An glanced at Wang Shuai's uniform and said:

"Hey, Brother Wang, you should stay inside. It's not worth getting all dirty."

Wang Shuai looked at his clothes and said unwillingly:
"Just give me one of the coats you wore when you went into the mountains, that'll do."

After thinking for a moment, Wang An instructed Huang Zhong:
"Xiao Zhong, go to the back room and get Brother Wang a coat."

A few minutes later, Wang An dragged a male roe deer, weighing over 100 pounds and so fat it was practically dripping with fat, out of its enclosure by its horns.

To be fair, these farmed roe deer were much fatter and bigger than those from the mountains. Seeing that Wang An was about to kill the roe deer, Huang Baoguo and Wang Dazhu immediately rushed over to help.

While skinning the roe deer, Wang Dazhu said to Wang An:
"With so many people, one roe deer probably isn't enough, right? How about we kill another sheep?"

Wang An nodded and said:

"No need, there's still plenty of venison from before the New Year. Just stew the venison, then I'll go to the fishpond and dig out a big sturgeon, then stew those half-pound bastards and pheasants with dried mushrooms, and finally stir-fry some greens and that'll be it."

Upon hearing this, Wang Dazhu whispered:
"Would people be happy to eat venison? How about we just slaughter a sheep instead?"

To be honest, Wang An's family has become quite picky about food and drink these days.

The large red deer that Wang An and Huang Zhong killed together with the leopard before the Lunar New Year was eaten by Wang An's family for two meals and then never eaten again.

The main problem is that red deer meat is famous, but in terms of taste, it is not as good as sika deer meat or mutton. In addition, red deer meat has a coarse texture, is a bit tough to chew, and has a very strong gamey smell.

After Wang Dazhu finished speaking, Wang Shuai, who was helping out from the side, laughed and said:

"It's alright, Uncle. They're from Hong Kong and have never tried these mountain delicacies before. Whether they taste good or not, it's the thought that counts."

Wang Dazhu looked at Wang An with a completely bewildered expression, about to say something, when he saw Wang An say with a smile:

"Dad, you don't understand. Rich people like to eat things from remote places. Red deer are only found in Northeast China. They probably haven't even eaten them before. Don't worry, Dad, we've arranged it this way, and it's guaranteed to be very impressive."

The phrase "the things in the corner of Machu" is a dialect term referring to things that are uncommon or unusual.

Wang Dazhu nodded hesitantly, still seemingly a little incredulous.

After a while, Wang Dazhu said to Wang An:

“I’ll take care of this roe deer with your Uncle Huang. After that, you can take your Brother Wang to fish. The pond is frozen really deep, so it’s probably not easy to fish out most of them.”

Wang An nodded and said:

"Okay, before you unload the meat, leave more meat on the bones, don't remove it too clean. After you're done, just have my sister Shen Wei put the meat in the pot to stew."

After saying that, Wang An led Wang Shuai and Huang Zhong toward the warehouse where the tools were stored.

Ever since Wang An remembered seeing many people using chainsaws to chisel holes in ice on television in his previous life, he started using the chainsaw his family used for logging.

To be honest, although the chainsaw chain wasn't as deep as the ice, it still saved a lot of effort in chiseling holes in the ice.

Two hours later, a pot of stewed roe deer bones, a pot of braised venison, a pot of stewed half-pound pheasant and hazel mushrooms, a pot of stewed sturgeon, a pot of boiled mandarin fish, a plate of cold cucumber salad, a plate of scrambled eggs with chives, and a plate of stir-fried bok choy and wood ear mushrooms—a total of eight dishes were served.

Amidst the shocked gazes of Zhang Zhenbang and his men, Wang An pointed to the dishes on the table and said:

"Come on, Mr. Zhang, and all you brothers, pick up your chopsticks and try our Northeastern cuisine."

After a pause, Wang An pointed to the dishes on the table and said them one by one:

"I forgot to introduce them all. This bowl contains the meat of the roe deer, which is unique to Northeast China. This bowl contains the meat of the sturgeon, which is also unique to Northeast China. This sturgeon is quite different from the sturgeon in the south. And this is the meat of the red deer, which is also unique to Northeast China."

"This is a mandarin fish, the top three of the 'Three Flowers, Five Luos, and Eighteen Sons' fish. This is a wild pheasant from the mountains and half a catty of hazel mushrooms picked from the mountains, stewed together. I won't mention the rest, you all know them. Come on, everyone, start eating, don't be shy, there's more in the pot if you're not full."

Zhang Zhenbang picked up his chopsticks, looked at the large bowl on the table, and said, somewhat dumbfounded:

"Do you usually use basins?"

Wang An said with a smile:

"No, we usually use plates. But there are so many people, it's more practical to use bowls to hold the food. Those plates are so small, they can't hold much."

Zhang Zhenbang nodded and remained silent. (End of Chapter)