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

After returning to the village, Wang An and his two companions went home and went to bed early. The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Wang An and his two companions took their dry food, luggage, cooking utensils, and other necessities for going into the mountains and rode into the mountains.

Wang An also packed his binoculars and camera into his backpack.

Wang An mainly wanted to observe whether anyone would appear in the places where the omens were hung, while also observing the deer herd.

It was an hour later when the three arrived at the location of the hut. After checking the tree with the sapling for any traces of other wild animals, they squatted down in the hut, chatting and waiting as they observed the saline-alkali land.

When they caught that large herd of deer last time, Feng Chengmin, Wang An, Wang Li, and Mu Xueli guarded that hilltop for several days. They didn't know how long they would have to wait before the sika deer reappeared.

However, that's how hunting is; prey can't be caught or killed easily. Often, in the end, it's quite normal for the hunter to come up empty-handed.

Suddenly, Wang Li asked Wang An:
"Fourth Brother, how's business at that motorcycle factory you guys are running? Are the motorcycles selling well?"

For the past two weeks, Wang An has been busy with matters related to the motorcycle factory, a fact that Wang Li and Mu Xueli are aware of.

Wang Li and Mu Xueli wanted to invest as well, but Wang An didn't take them with him.

It wasn't that Wang An wanted to monopolize the profits and didn't want Wang Li and Mu Xueli to make money; rather, it was because Wang An and his group of second-generation rich kids had neither money nor connections.

Furthermore, the motorcycle factory was able to start mainly due to the abilities and connections of these second-generation heirs. Wang An's role was merely to offer suggestions and draft the regulations.

Therefore, if Wang An were to include Wang Li and Mu Xueli as shareholders, Wu Dong and the others would definitely not be happy.

Wang An said nonchalantly:

"It's alright, it looks average for now, and I estimate it will take three or four years to break even."

In fact, Wang An predicted that the motorcycle factory would basically break even by this time next year, but it's pointless to talk about things that haven't happened yet.

Wang Li nodded, then changed the subject and asked:

"Fourth Brother, we're about to start planting. When should we go buy fertilizer?"

Wang An thought for a moment and said:

"We'll go after we catch the deer. We need to buy more this year, not like last year, when we were so stingy and only bought so little stuff. You think you can get 5 jin of fertilizer per mu? Damn, how much less grain did we harvest last year? The way you guys do it, you're just making up ridiculous calculations."

Last year, because Wang An was injured by a tiger, he did not participate in any family matters.

This resulted in the five of them—Wang Dazhu and Wang Daliang, Wang Shun and Wang Li, and Mu Xueli—only buying a mere 3,000 jin of urea and 800 jin of diammonium phosphate when they went to buy fertilizer.

It should be noted that Wang An's family owns more than 360 mu of land, Wang Li's family owns more than 230 mu of land, and there are also the farmland of his second brother Wang Shun's family, Shen Wei's family, and Mu Xue's family. 3,800 jin of fertilizer would not have much effect at all.

Upon hearing this, Wang Li gave an awkward smile and said:

"That's because when we went back later, the agricultural supply station didn't have any fertilizer left."

Since people have realized the enormous role of fertilizers in crops, fertilizers have become a very scarce and sought-after commodity during the spring planting season in the past two years. It is extremely difficult to buy enough fertilizers smoothly.

Wang An rolled his eyes at Wang Li and said with a look of annoyance:
"You'd better shut up already. You can't do anything, so you just say you can't do anything. You're just making excuses. Didn't I tell you to go find Brother Wu? Or did Brother Wu not help you? Damn it, just shut up. I get angry just listening to you."

Wang Li didn't shut up, but said with a wronged expression:
"That was my dad and my uncle's decision to buy so much, not mine. What use am I?" Wang An rolled his eyes at Wang Li and said again, somewhat annoyed.
"Get the hell out of here, you're nothing."

Just as the two brothers were chatting idly about various trivial matters, Huang Zhong suddenly said:

"Brother, someone's here. Someone's headed towards the saline-alkali land."

Upon hearing this, Wang An quickly grabbed the binoculars and looked towards the saline-alkali land.

Sure enough, four men carrying guns were sneaking around, looking left and right, as they walked toward the salt flats, completely ignoring the "signs".

When Wang An and his two companions built this makeshift shelter yesterday, they didn't bring any straw mats with them into the mountains. So, they tied bundles of shrub branches together to make a roof and used several pine trees that were close together as supports to build it.

Therefore, from a distance, you wouldn't even know that this shack is a shack.

Clearly, the four men hadn't discovered the shack, nor that Wang An and his two companions were squatting inside watching them.

Wang An put down his binoculars, stood up, and said:
"Xiao Zhong, you stay here and don't move. Lao Wu, you come with me. Those two old bastards, Lü Deshu and Zhang Tiegang, are really asking for a beating."

Wang Li said subconsciously:

"They actually have the guts? Damn it, they're really asking for it."

As they spoke, the two men quickly ran towards the horse that was grazing.

They nimbly mounted their horses, each shouting "Giddy up!" and the two horses galloped down the hillside towards the saline-alkali land.

The distance was less than two li (approximately 2 kilometer), and thanks to the galloping Oroqen horses, the two arrived at their destination in just a few minutes.

However, in order not to disturb the deer herd that might come over, Wang An did not dare to shout. Fortunately, the sound of the horses running naturally alerted Lü Deshu and the other three.

Upon reaching the four men, Wang Li dismounted and demanded:

"Do you guys have a death wish? Can't you see all those guys we're chopping down outside?"

When Lü Deshu and Zhang Tiegang saw that it was Wang An and Wang Li, the two brothers, their expressions immediately became awkward.

They were both from the same village, yet they did this, so they considered their behavior extremely despicable.

Zhang Tiegang, his face flushed, was about to speak when Wang An said with a gloomy expression:
"Brother Lü, Brother Zhang, this is a bit inconsiderate of you. We've already hung up the sign, and you're still squeezing in. What are you trying to do?"

After scanning the eyes of each of the four people, Wang An continued unhappily:

"Besides, this place is full of wolf traps and bombs. What if they kill you? And if they don't kill you, would it be fun if those big wolf traps broke your legs?"

Wolf traps are large barriers specifically designed to catch large animals like wild boars and bears. Even in this day and age, they cost over ten dollars each.

However, this thing is incredibly powerful; it can easily break a wild boar's leg. (End of Chapter)