Chapter 1745
No Sand in My Eyes
Wang An waved his hand and said with a smile:
"Hey, no thanks needed. Everyone gets what they need. As long as we don't cause any trouble, that's fine. If anyone's hands get messed up and we chop them off, then we won't say anything useless. If it's time to chop off hands, then we'll just have to do it. Anyway, people in the underworld who know me know that I'm a man of my word, and I don't tolerate any nonsense."
As he said this, Wang An gave the young man named Li Sanmeng a rather unfriendly look.
Because during the afternoon's ginseng-pulling game, Wang An saw the boy snap off a ginseng seedling with four leaves and stomp it into the soil, then nonchalantly continue pulverizing the ginseng.
He neither called out to the mountain as required by custom, nor did he inform Wang An and the other three about the existence of the fourth-grade leaf seedling. Therefore, in Wang An's view, he must have intended to secretly plant the fourth-grade leaf seedling.
However, Wang An did not react at the time, mainly because the work was not yet finished. Wang An still needed these seven people to help him find the big goods.
Of course, Wang An also wanted to give this kid a chance to admit his mistake, and it remained to be seen whether he could seize it.
To be honest, Wang An would feel a little guilty about chopping off someone's hand just because of a single ginseng seedling. After all, the reborn Wang An was no longer so cold-blooded and cruel, and he really didn't want to ruin someone's life just because of a ginseng seedling.
After Wang An finished speaking, Yang Shuwen hurriedly added:
"No, no, that's for sure. We're not like that, brother, don't worry."
Wang An nodded, then gave Li Sanmeng a half-smile before beckoning Mu Xueli and the other two to lead Xiaobai and Xiaohei back to their lodgings.
As soon as Wang An and his three companions disappeared into the woods, Yang Shuwen turned around and slapped Li Sanmeng across the face, drawing blood from the corner of Li Sanmeng's mouth.
Li Sanmeng was stunned by the slap, but then he saw Yang Shuwen's face turn red, his eyes wide with anger, and he cursed Li Sanmeng viciously:
"What the hell? Tell me, did you do something wicked?"
Before Li Sanmeng could answer, Yang Shuwen punched him in the chest again, causing him to stagger back two or three steps. It was clear that Yang Shuwen hadn't held back at all in this punch.
After the punch, Yang Shuwen continued his angry rant:
"Fuck you, if you want to die, go die somewhere else, don't drag us down with you. Tell me, what exactly happened?"
Wang An glanced at Li Sanmeng twice with meaningful looks. Anyone present who wasn't an idiot could tell that Wang An was doing this on purpose, which meant that something was definitely going on.
The main reason is that Wang An didn't know them before, nor did he know their names. He only knew the three Gao brothers because they were from the same village, so he cooperated with them to dig for ginseng.
But as the afternoon passed, Wang An didn't look at anyone else, but only at Li Sanmeng, with a look full of disdain. How could this not make people suspicious?
Most importantly, while Wang An was staring intently at Li Sanmeng, he said again, "Don't cause any trouble, or I'll chop off your hand."
You should know that such words are very hurtful. When normal people are interacting, who would say such words over and over again?
If two groups of people who know each other suddenly said this, they would definitely start fighting and then break off all ties.
Who the hell are you threatening? So what if you don't cooperate? Who are you trying to convince with this bullshit?
In Yang Shuwen's view, the reason Wang An didn't directly address Li Sanmeng's issues was that he didn't want to escalate the situation and was saving face for both sides, hoping that Yang Shuwen, as the leader, could resolve the problem himself. If Wang An were to truly turn hostile, the situation would definitely reach a very serious point, and all pleas for leniency, mediation, and compensation would be useless.
That's why Yang Shuwen readily agreed when Wang An said those hurtful things, but was actually furious inside.
Mainly, in the eyes of someone like Yang Shuwen who strictly adheres to the rules of mountain climbing, this is extremely shameful!
After Yang Shuwen finished cursing Li Sanmeng by pointing his finger at him, a man named Li Baozhu next to him, also looking grim, asked Li Sanmeng:
"Sanmeng, what exactly happened? Did you do something shameful this afternoon?"
This man named Li Baozhu is Li Sanmeng's uncle, a true elder of Li Sanmeng.
The main reason is that in the ginseng digging industry, especially in ginseng gangs with old masters, the vast majority of the business is passed down from father to son or from uncle to nephew in a family model.
There's no way around it; wild ginseng has always been extremely valuable, and nobody wants outsiders to know about the Lao'anzi area they know about.
Even those gang leaders whose families are small and who have to temporarily assemble a team every time they go hiking will take the long way around and circle several times when leading the way into the mountains, mainly to prevent the gang members from remembering the exact location of Lao'anzi.
To be honest, those ginseng gang leaders are all experts at taking detours. What should be a two-day journey can take four, five, or even six or seven days.
The most impressive are those experts who can travel through the woods at night.
So even someone with an excellent sense of direction can get completely lost and confused, unable to find their way back.
To Yang Shuwen and Li Baozhu's surprise, Li Sanmeng, with his neck stiff and face full of indignation, shouted:
"Why should they get all the big clubs we found? In these mountains, isn't it always the case that whoever finds it first owns it? Why should they get the big ones while we only get the small ones?"
As soon as Li Sanmeng said this, Yang Shuwen, Li Baozhu, and the others stared at him in shock, speechless.
The main point is that Li Sanmeng's words clearly admit that he had done something immoral.
After a long while, Yang Shuwen angrily pointed at Li San and cursed:
"What the hell? Are you even human? Do you even know that in these mountains, whoever finds something first owns it? This is the old burrow that they found first. If they don't let us set up our sticks here, then we'll have to get out of here, you know that?"
Although Li Sanmeng was young, about the same age as Huang Zhong, he certainly understood such an obvious principle.
But after Yang Shuwen finished speaking, Li Sanmeng curled his lip, spat a mouthful of bloody saliva on the ground, and said with a face full of disdain:
"There are seven of us, and only four of them. In the end, it's up to us to decide who owns this old place." (End of Chapter)