Chapter 1777
My heart aches, my liver aches too.
Wang An glanced at Wang Li and Mu Xueli, who both looked completely bewildered, and, too lazy to explain further, simply said:
"Alright, you two, stop thinking about it. Let me tell you this: if we encounter something like this again, you should still shoot. Don't wait for me to make a move. Sometimes I don't have the conditions to shoot, nor is it suitable for me to shoot. If you're in a good mood, then you should shoot first."
After a pause, Wang An felt he had explained things clearly enough before asking:
"Did you two understand this time?"
Wang Li and Mu Xueli blinked and nodded, then Mu Xueli said:
"Okay, brother-in-law, I understand. You mean we shouldn't listen to everything you say, right?"
Wang Li also said:
"Hmm, I understand now, Fourth Brother. What you mean is 'a general in the field may disobey the emperor's orders,' right?"
Wang An thought for a moment, and feeling that the two of them understood things quite well, he nodded and said:
"Yes, that's what I mean."
Turning his head, Wang An then addressed Huang Zhong:
"Xiao Zhong, you too, you need to learn to have your own opinions."
Huang Zhong nodded, somewhat confused, and said:
"Yes, I understand, big brother."
Wang An didn't explain further, and pointed to the corpse on the ground, saying:
"Alright, hurry up and empty your pockets. Once you're done, throw these corpses into that big ditch over there."
As he spoke, Wang An squatted down and began to search a dead body, while Mu Xueli, Wang Li, and Huang Zhong also walked excitedly toward a corpse.
To be honest, the feeling of rummaging through dead people for money and treasures is actually quite exciting and something to look forward to.
Wang An and his three companions squatted there and searched around for a while, quickly finding quite a few good things.
The most valuable item was, of course, money. A total of more than 6 yuan was taken from the pockets of these five people, which was definitely a considerable sum in those days.
Besides money, there were also some food coupons and meat coupons, as well as five watches and a large gold coin inlaid with rubies.
Of course, "golden ring" is the local name; this thing should more accurately be called a gold ring.
However, it's not wrong to call this thing a gold ring, because it's different from a normal gold ring. The main difference is that a gold ring is heavier, but smaller than a thumb ring.
Besides these items, there were several unopened boxes of cigarettes, a few half-opened boxes of cigarettes, and several kerosene lighters.
The cigarettes and lighter were ordinary ones, nothing special, so Wang An and the other three kept them for themselves.
After checking his pockets, Wang An looked at the money in his hand and felt quite pleased. He said:
"Including the two thousand five yesterday, it's eight thousand six in total. We'll split the money when we get back. Let's hurry up and throw these guys into the ditch."
Just as Wang An grabbed a corpse by the thigh, intending to drag it away, Mu Xueli suddenly said:
"Brother-in-law, why don't we just throw this body into the swamp? I feel like throwing it into a ditch isn't a sure thing."
Wang An stopped, looked in the direction of the swamp, then in the direction of the ditch, and subconsciously said:
"The swamp is a bit far." After a pause, Wang An suddenly realized that Mu Xueli's words made sense, so he nodded again and said:
"Alright, let's just throw it in the swamp. The body will sink to the mud and disappear without a trace, saving us the trouble."
As he spoke, Wang An dragged the corpse back towards the swamp.
Wang Li, Mu Xueli, and Huang Zhong each grabbed a corpse and followed.
There are many swamps in the Lesser Khingan Mountains. In addition to the swamps formed in places where rainwater accumulates, swamps also form in low-lying areas along rivers or streams.
When the Great Northern Wilderness was being reclaimed, the most troublesome thing was the endless stretches of swamps.
It's hard to imagine how much hard work, sweat, and even lives the pioneers who came here to reclaim the land put in to transform the more than 5 square kilometers of wasteland and swamps into the grain production base it is today.
In this way, Wang An and his three companions worked for more than half an hour before finally throwing all five human corpses and two horse corpses into the mud of the swamp.
Of course, the most time was spent mainly on throwing away the horse's carcass.
Both horses were quite large, each estimated to weigh seven or eight hundred pounds. The horses' carcasses would have to be dismembered before people could move them.
When dismembering the two horses, Wang An instructed Mu Xueli and Huang Zhong to cut off four of the horses' hind legs, to keep for the four of them to eat that night and to feed the dogs.
To be honest, if it weren't so inconvenient to carry, and if Wang An and the other three hadn't had time to process the meat, they would never have just thrown the meat of those two horses into the swamp.
You have to understand that Wang An and his three companions were all born and raised in the countryside, and they had all truly endured hardship. So when they threw the two horse carcasses into the swamp, they felt an unbearable heartache. Not only did their hearts ache, but their livers ached as well.
There was no way around it; it was meat! Bright red meat! We just threw it away like that.
You have to understand that for ordinary people in those days, they could only eat meat a few times a year! Meat was an extremely precious thing!
Leaving aside Wang An, the reborn individual, let's talk about Mu Xueli, Wang Li, and Huang Zhong. Before they joined Wang An's group, what kind of lives did their families lead?
Mu Xue lived in a low, mud-brick house without tiles. There was a lot of debt in the house. If Wang An hadn't suddenly intervened, his family would have had to sell their daughter to pay off their debts and pay for their son's wedding.
Although Wang Li's family had no debts, they still lived a very hard life. It was a miracle if they could eat more grains and less potatoes, sweet potatoes, and pumpkins than meat, let alone potatoes and pumpkins.
The main problem is that while potatoes, sweet potatoes, and squash are filling, eating these three things as a meal is really bad for your heart, it's so bad that no matter how much cold water you drink or how much salt you eat, it doesn't help.
As for Huang Zhong, his situation was even worse. He didn't even have the chance to suffer from heartburn, because his family used to struggle to make ends meet, relying on digging for wild vegetables and stealing corn to survive. He had three children, but they only had one set of clothes patched upon patched, which only the one who went out could wear.
Of course, this situation was not unique to Huang Zhong's family; it was similar for everyone in Weizigou. You could tell how hard life was for the people of Weizigou by the fact that they had dug up all the wild vegetables and gathered all the edible leaves from the hills near Weizigou.
Therefore, one can only imagine how these people would feel if they were asked to throw horse meat into the swamp! (End of Chapter)