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

The five older men, including Yang Shuwen, were already panting heavily after only a short while, probably because they didn't fight often. In fact, Yang Shuxin, Li Baozhu, and Li Baoshuan even got bruises.

Yang Shuxin's left eye socket was about to turn blue and was swollen, as if someone had hit him. Li Baozhu's nose was bleeding, and Li Baoshuan's right cheek was scratched, with three blood-like wounds hanging on his face.

Fortunately, Li Baoshuan's face was already pockmarked, so he wasn't worried about getting three more bloody lines.

Only Li Sanmeng and Yang Fuqiang, those two young men, looked alright. You could tell at a glance that they must have been the kind of petty thugs who used to get into fights all the time.

To put it simply, it means knowing how to fight and how to protect oneself from injury to the greatest extent possible.

Looking around, he saw that all of them were lying on the ground.

Some people clutched their stomachs, their faces pale, but they didn't utter a sound.

Some people clutched their ribs, their expressions contorted, and wailed loudly.

Some people were clutching their crotches, trembling all over and curled up in a ball; they looked like they were in real pain.

Some people lie there stiffly, and it's unclear what part of their body is malfunctioning.

Feeling that the other party was incapable of resisting, Wang An turned to look at Yang Shuwen and the others.

Wang An never expected that Yang Shuwen and his group were actually quite decent and principled, and that they would dare to lend a helping hand under such circumstances.

Although Wang An and his four companions could have easily dealt with these people without the help of the seven, it would have just taken a little longer, but Wang An still accepted the favor.

Keep in mind that this is a chaotic brawl, or more accurately, a mass brawl. You could easily get killed or maimed if you're not careful, especially since the opposing team outnumbers you by four or five.

In a group fight with bare hands, under normal circumstances, who would think that the side with fewer people could win?
Anyone with half a brain would think that the side with fewer people is the most likely to lose.

However, Yang Shuwen and his six companions resolutely took action, joining in immediately after Wang An and his group of four made their move.

Although Wang An and his three companions displayed great bravery, bravery alone is not enough in a fight, because when the numbers on both sides are too disparate, individual bravery often proves ineffective.

Therefore, Wang An also had to accept this favor.

Wang An looked at them one by one and found that only Yang Shuxin and the other two were injured, so he asked them with great concern:
"Brother Shuxin, Brother Baozhu, Brother Baoshuan, are you three alright?"

Yang Shuxin touched his bruised eye socket and said with a smile:
"It's okay, it's okay, nothing's wrong, you'll be fine in a few days."

Li Baozhu bent down and picked up a clod of dirt from the ground, saying nonchalantly:

"I'm fine. It's not uncommon for nosebleeds to happen. Just plug it with a clod of dirt and it'll be fine."

As he spoke, Li Baozhu broke off a small piece of the clod of earth in his hand and stuffed it directly into his still-bleeding nose.

However, this is also a common practice among rural people. If their nose bleeds, they will plug it with clods of soil. If they cut their hand, they will grab a handful of sand and press it onto the wound.

If the wound is too deep and sand cannot effectively stop the bleeding, then apply some tobacco powder or tobacco oil from your pipe to the wound, and then wrap it with a piece of rag.

Such minor injuries are treated so simply and roughly; nobody takes them seriously. Wang An then looked at Li Baoshuan, who twitched his face and said awkwardly:

"I'm perfectly fine. Damn it, I don't know who it was, but they always have to learn to fight from old women. They scratched me, damn it."

As he spoke, Li Baoshuan twitched the cheek with the three bloody welts on it and gave an awkward laugh.

Over the past few days, everyone has gotten to know each other to some extent. Li Baoshuan is usually a man of few words, like a silent gourd. The fact that he was able to talk so much this time clearly shows that he was very dissatisfied with the other party's provocative behavior.

Wang An nodded, then turned to the remaining people and said:

"Are you all alright? If anything feels wrong, tell us right away. Don't try to tough it out. Let's hurry down the mountain and get home."

In the mountains, neither a cold nor an injury should be ignored, especially when it gets really serious, sometimes it's too late to save someone.

After everyone assured him that they were alright, Wang An bent down and began searching among the group.

After searching for a long time, Wang An finally found the person among the dozen or so people lying on the ground who had been babbling incoherently from the beginning and did not follow the rules of the mountain rafting.

There was nothing that could be done. By this time, the boy's cheeks were swollen from being slapped by Wang Li, and his eyes were almost covered by his swollen eyelids. Wang An almost didn't recognize him.

After finding the person, Wang An walked over to him, squatted down, and said with a smile:
"Come on, get up. You thought you were so tough? You didn't follow the rules of the mountains, did you? Now you know what the consequences of not following the rules are, right? Hehehehe."

After saying that, Wang An reached out and patted the boy's cheek.

Immediately afterwards, Wang An asked:

"Tell me, you've been stealing our cornfields, delaying our work and our chance to make money, and you even fought with us, and then you injured one of our men. How are you going to compensate us?"

The boy lay on the ground, his cheeks swollen, and mumbled incoherently:

"You've beaten us up like this, and you still want compensation from us?"

Wang An grinned, his face full of self-righteousness, and said:
"Nonsense, of course we have to pay compensation! We finally found this den of idiots, and you guys just barged in without even saying hello. What? You think you're the King of Heaven? Let me tell you, even if the real King of Heaven came, it wouldn't make a difference. Who do you think you are?"

In fact, the kid knew he was in the wrong, because although their behavior of freeloading off ginseng was not within the scope of the law, it was still unacceptable no matter where you went.

There's a saying: "When you go to a nomadic land, follow the nomadic customs; when you visit a Mongol family, eat fried rice." In other words, you should adapt to local customs.

Therefore, when going into these mountains to graze ginseng, one must naturally abide by the rules of grazing in these mountains.

In those days, the deep mountains and forests were not peaceful to begin with. If everyone who went into the mountains did what they did, the mountains would be in complete chaos.

The reason these people dare to do this is simply because they are shameless and brazen, and they also rely on their numbers, which makes them untouchable by ordinary gangs.

(End of this chapter)