Chapter 1783
Finally Home
When Wang An and his three companions, along with twelve horses and two dogs, reached the territory of Kaoshantun, Wang An, seeing the familiar grass and trees, couldn't help but shout excitedly:
"I'm home! I'm finally home! Hahahaha!"
After Wang An shouted, Mu Xueli, Wang Li, and Huang Zhong immediately shouted excitedly as well:
"Finally home."
"I'm home too."
"I'm home! Hahahaha!"
Instantly, the laughter of the four men echoed through the mountains.
Counting the days, Wang An and his three companions had stayed in the mountains for a full month and two days, from September to October, and the weather had turned completely cold.
That's right, it's getting colder.
Because the weather in the Lesser Khingan Mountains starts to cool down in September, the nighttime temperature is only around 10 degrees Celsius, or even less than 10 degrees Celsius.
By October, the nighttime temperature drops below zero, and you can't stand it outdoors without wearing a light cotton-padded jacket.
Although Wang An and his three companions had a very successful ginseng-digging expedition, they also found themselves in dangerous situations several times during the past month.
They fought against the scumbags from TS, outwitted and outmaneuvered tigers, robbed gold and ginseng buns, fought several battles with the gold mine crew in batches, and even on the way home, they got into a fight with a large group of wild boars.
Each and every one of these incidents was a dance on the edge of a knife. A slight misstep could mean losing one or two lives, or even losing all of them.
Fortunately, Wang An and the other three made it through unscathed.
After laughing, Wang An said to Mu Xueli and the other three:
"When we get to my house, we'll boil two big pots of water and he'll take a good bath. Damn it, I stink."
After Wang An finished speaking, Mu Xueli and the other two did not immediately agree. Then Mu Xueli said:
"Brother-in-law, I won't stay at your house any longer. After I finish unloading all this stuff, I need to hurry home to see my wife. She's due in about two weeks, and I'm always thinking about her. I'll come back tomorrow or the day after."
After Mu Xueli finished speaking, Wang Li also said:
"Fourth Brother, I won't stay at your house any longer. I need to go back and check on things. I'll go to your house with Brother Mu tomorrow or the day after."
Huang Zhong remained silent, because Huang Baoguo and his wife were both working at Wang An's house, Huang Li was also at Wang An's house helping Mu Xueqing take care of the children, and Huang Ying was either at school or at Wang An's house, so there was no one at Huang Zhong's home.
After Mu Xueli finished speaking with Wang Li, Wang An didn't pay much attention. After all, no matter who it was, after staying outside for a month, everyone wanted to go home as soon as possible.
Wang An looked ahead and said with a smile:
"You two can do whatever you want, it's fine if you don't come. Then all these good things will be mine and Xiaozhong's, hahaha!"
After Wang An finished speaking, he patted the horse's rump, shouted "Giddy up!", and spurred the horse forward.
The spoils from Wang An and his three companions' trip into the mountains haven't been divided yet, so it's absolutely impossible for Mu Xueli and Wang Li not to come to Wang An's house. Of course, even without the spoils from this trip, Mu Xueli and Wang Li would still run to Wang An's house whenever they had free time.
Wang An spurred his horse to speed up, and Mu Xueli, Wang Li, and Huang Zhong also spurred their horses to gallop. As for Xiao Bai and Xiao Hei, they had already sped up and were heading home.
A few minutes later, Wang An and his three companions, along with 12 horses, arrived at a spot not far from the gate of Wang An's house.
At this moment, Wang Dazhu and his wife, Mu Xueqing and Huang Li with their two children, younger brother Wang Yi and two younger sisters, Shen Wei and Xiao Lai, Huang Baoguo and his wife and Huang Ying, and Zhao Cuiyun, a total of 14 people, all appeared outside the gate of Wang An's house.
It was obvious that Xiao Hei and Xiao Bai had arrived home early to let everyone know that Wang An and the others were back, so they all came out to greet them.
From quite a distance, Wang An called out with a grin: "Oh my goodness, why are you all out here? It's so cold outside, come inside quickly, let's talk inside."
However, after Wang An finished speaking, none of these people turned around and went into the courtyard; instead, they remained standing there.
Wang An laughed heartily, spurred his horse to the gate, and before the horse had even come to a complete stop, he jumped off.
As soon as Wang An landed, Liu Guilan immediately stepped forward and slapped him on the arm. At the same time, Liu Guilan angrily complained:
"Didn't you say you'd be back within a month? How many days has it been? Huh? You little brat, you never give me a moment's peace."
It's clear that Liu Guilan was really anxious waiting for Wang Anwan at home, who had been back for two days.
However, this is all normal. After all, her son was digging for ginseng in the deep mountains and forests, enduring wind and rain, not only eating and sleeping poorly, but also facing attacks from various wild animals and ferocious beasts, as well as threats from bandits and all sorts of scoundrels. How could Liu Guilan, as a mother, not worry?
However, Liu Guilan was a strong-willed and shrewish woman who had lived half her life, and her way of expressing concern was a little different from that of normal people.
Wang An chuckled, omitting the fact that he was late because he took a detour, and instead grabbed Liu Guilan's arm with a cheeky grin, saying:
"Hey, it's only two days late, it's not late at all, hehehehe. Besides, we actually wanted to go home earlier, but we couldn't. So, Mom, what do we do when we run into a big stick? We can't just leave that big stick in the mountains, can we? Don't you think so, Mom?"
Liu Guilan didn't care about "Big Stick," but instead glared at Wang An, then brushed the dust off him and said:
"You should have just stayed home and kept quiet. What's the point of all this? This guy has ruined everything. He's completely unrecognizable."
Wang An, while blocking Liu Guilan's hand from brushing off the dust, said:
"Mom, please stop taking pictures. These clothes are filthy. I'll have to change them soon."
Liu Guilan then stopped what she was doing and turned to talk to Wang Li and Mu Xueli. However, unlike how she treated Wang An, Liu Guilan was very kind and gentle to Wang Li and Mu Xueli, showing the concern of an elder for a younger generation.
Wang An turned around and greeted Wang Dazhu and the others one by one, saying a few words. Then he asked his younger brother Wang Yi and his two younger sisters a few questions. After learning that the three of them were at home because of the busy farming season, Wang An did not continue to ask.
In this era, whether they were primary school teachers, junior high school teachers, or high school teachers, many of their families also farmed. In order to prepare for spring planting or autumn harvest, they would take a few days off, which was called "farming holiday".
However, due to the improvement of teachers' salaries, their land was taken back, and the agricultural leave was gradually abolished.
After briefly learning about the family's current situation, Wang An finally focused all his attention on his two little babies.
There was no way around it; for Wang Anchu, who had just become a father, the things he thought about most and dreamed about most in the past month or so were his two little babies, Happiness and Joy.
However, Wang An's face was unshaven, and his clothes were not only dirty but also torn in many places by tree branches.
Furthermore, Wang An reeked of sweat and stench, and looked no different from a beggar; he was truly inhuman.
As a result, the way the two little ones, who were still too young to understand, looked at Wang An changed, and they looked at him with obvious disdain.
Therefore, Wang An decided to take a shower and shave immediately to get back to his previous appearance as soon as possible.
Turning his head, Wang An instructed Shen Wei:
"Sister Shen Wei, please boil some water for me. We need to take a shower as soon as we finish unloading the goods." (End of Chapter)