Over the next ten days, aside from physical training, Liu Tiezhu spent all his remaining time training the nineteen puppies. Through relentless effort and professional training methods during this period, the dozen or so puppies had now learned some simple hand signals and coordination. Besides the modest progress with the puppies, the mule borrowed from Yang Haitian had also been trained to understand a few basic gestures. As for Er Gouzi's load-bearing capacity, it had increased from fourteen jin to fifty jin. Now, a single trip took only fifteen minutes.
Everything was progressing according to plan, except for one thing Liu Tiezhu hadn't anticipated: this snowstorm showed no signs of stopping. In his past life, he remembered the first snowstorm lasting a full seventeen days. After a week's pause, a second snowstorm followed. "Looks like some things don't overlap," he muttered, watching the falling snowflakes, a flicker of worry crossing his face. Seventeen days had already passed, and while the temperature had warmed up a few degrees, the snow continued to fall, indicating the situation was different from his previous life.
"Brother Tiezhu, when are we heading into the mountains?" Er Gouzi, less burdened by such thoughts, came over to ask. Now, jogging five kilometers with fifty jin of stones felt easy to him, and he thought it was time to go. "We can't go," Liu Tiezhu refused decisively. The climate had changed drastically from his past life, and he needed to observe a few more days. Er Gouzi's mouth fell open: "Huh... didn't you say once I could carry fifty jin and run five kilometers, we'd go into the mountains?" "The climate has changed, so our plan has to be postponed. Starting today, I'll teach you combat skills. Watch carefully." Without further explanation, Liu Tiezhu launched an attack on Er Gouzi as he finished speaking.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, another seven days passed. During this week, Liu Tiezhu spent his time either training the puppies or sparring with Er Gouzi. Er Gouzi was no match for him, getting beaten until he howled like a ghost almost every time. But as time went on, Er Gouzi's reflexes gradually improved. With his current abilities, handling one or two big men was no problem at all. The trained puppies had grown to about twenty-five jin, fully understood hand signals, and knew how to cooperate as a team. The mule was a bit stubborn; though it understood the hand signals, it sometimes refused to obey. But since the mule's role was to transport game, Liu Tiezhu didn't waste more time on it.
The snow stopped at night, but the cold remained biting. The snowstorm, lasting over twenty days, had depleted the stored food of many families to almost nothing. With snow piled dozens of centimeters thick outside, the villagers dared not risk hunting. As the New Year approached, some villagers in Liu Family Village grew anxious. They remembered the meat and rice they had handed over to Liu Shan. When they'd given those things, Liu Shan had said a communal New Year's feast would be held in three days. But over twenty days had passed, and Liu Shan had made no move. Several households no longer wanted to participate in the feast and went to Liu Shan to ask for their contributions back. But once meat was in his mouth, that bastard Liu Shan wouldn't spit it out. Faced with the villagers' demands, Liu Shan had only one response: he had never received their rice or meat. If anyone insisted he had, they'd need to provide proof. This infuriated several households, who threatened to break Liu Shan's legs if he didn't return their goods. Liu Shan laughed at that, directly sticking out his leg for them to hit. His "dead pig not afraid of scalding water" attitude left the villagers grinding their teeth in rage.
Soon, the news spread through the village. Other villagers, upon hearing it, banded together to confront Liu Shan. But no matter how loudly they shouted, Liu Shan wouldn't open his door. Enraged, the villagers smashed his door and dragged him out. Those sixty jin of rice and sixty jin of meat were now life-saving supplies to them, and they wouldn't let Liu Shan swallow them up. "You son of a bitch, if you don't give back our stuff today, I'll beat you to death!" Liu Changhai shook his fist, angrily threatening Liu Shan. Back then, to help Liu Shan collect the villagers' grain, he'd set an example by contributing a hundred jin of meat and a hundred jin of rice. Now that Liu Shan was denying everything, claiming he'd never received those things, Liu Changhai cast aside any pretense of courtesy. Facing Liu Changhai's threats, Liu Shan wasn't scared at all. He leaned his head forward and pointed at it. "Liu Changhai, if you've got the guts, hit me. I'm telling you now, if you don't kill me, you're my grandson. You say you gave a hundred jin of rice and meat? Where's the proof? No proof, then shut your mouth." Liu Shan was being a typical scoundrel, completely unafraid of Liu Changhai. "Kill this bastard!" "Cut off his dick and make soup!" "Dog, no conscience!" The villagers shouted, but no one dared to act. Liu Shan closed his eyes, letting them curse. Some villagers suggested searching his house. Liu Shan didn't stop them, letting them go in. They turned his house upside down but found nothing—not a single trace. Aside from Liu Shan himself, everyone else had vanished. In truth, after receiving the villagers' rice and meat, he'd dug a secret cellar behind his house and moved everything there. For these villagers to get their stuff back now was a pipe dream. "You dog, you're not fit to be village chief. Let's report him!" "Yeah, report that bastard!" "Pah, you piece of shit. I was blind to trust your old dog's words." The villagers beat their chests in anguish, spitting at Liu Shan. They regretted it bitterly, feeling like idiots for ever believing him. Within minutes, Liu Shan was drenched in spit, shivering from the cold. "Keep it up, you fools. If I die here today, none of you will get away. Anyway, I'm sixty-seven, I've lived long enough," Liu Shan said to the furious crowd. After this incident, he knew he couldn't remain village chief. So he abandoned all pretense of face and went all out. The villagers clenched their fists, itching to cut off Liu Shan's dick. But in the end, they held back, cursing his ancestors for eighteen generations before leaving in fury.
Liu Shan's affair quickly spread to nearby villages. When Liu Tiezhu heard the news, his face remained calm. He'd known how these villagers would end up, just not that it would come so soon. Er Gouzi's mouth nearly split from grinning when he heard. "Brother Tiezhu, that's karma! Remember what these big idiots were shouting at our place? 'Not joining the feast means harming village unity,' hahaha... Now these fools are probably crying at home. Serves them right!"