"Uncle, I've got two and seven mao here. Take it for now."
Er Gouzi also pulled out one and three mao from his pocket. "Brother Zhuzi, I don't have much, but take this first."
Liu Tiezhu waved his hand and pushed the money back. "Uncle, Gouzi, how could I take your money? The meat at home can fetch over twenty yuan, enough for me to buy parts and rice."
Seeing Liu Tiezhu's firm stance, Uncle and Er Gouzi didn't insist and stuffed the money back into their pockets. "Zhuzi, your uncle still says the same thing—if you need money, just say the word."
Liu Tiezhu nodded. "Don't worry, Uncle. If I really need money, I won't be shy about it."
The family chatted until past seven in the evening, and Uncle even had some drinks in high spirits. When it was time to leave, Liu Tiezhu took out dozens of jin of cured roe deer meat and told Er Gouzi to take it back.
"Brother Zhuzi, I can't take this. I didn't do anything..." Er Gouzi started.
Liu Tiezhu cut him off. "No more nonsense. Take it back and let Uncle have some good meals. Come over early tomorrow."
Hearing this, Liu Er Gouzi nodded, slung the meat over his back, helped Uncle home, and left.
After seeing Uncle off, Liu Tiezhu said to his older brother, "Brother, I plan to trade this meat for some rice and assembly parts. It's going to snow heavily in the next few days. You and Sister-in-law don't need to go anywhere. I'll handle the meat."
Liu Tieshan said, "Zhuzi, we still have about two hundred jin of meat left at home. Should we send some to the Liu family?"
"No need. The Lius are ungrateful wolves. Sending them meat might just bring trouble. If you have time, send some more to Sister-in-law's family tomorrow," Liu Tiezhu replied.
Hearing this, Huang Xiumei immediately waved her hand. "No way. We just took ten bamboo chickens back yesterday. We need to save some meat for the New Year."
"Sister-in-law, don't worry. From now on, I promise we'll have more meat than we can eat." Liu Tiezhu patted his chest confidently. Once he got the compound bow assembly parts, he could even hunt leopards.
"I want meat! I want meat!" Yao Yao cheered happily.
"Alright, let's keep the meat for a few days. When the snow eases up a bit, we'll send some over." Liu Tieshan pulled three yuan from his pocket and handed it to Liu Tiezhu. "Tomorrow, go to town and buy more rice. I reckon this snow won't let up anytime soon."
Liu Tiezhu pushed the money back. "Brother, if we take a hundred jin of meat, we can trade for hundreds of jin of rice. Keep this money for Yao Yao's tuition when spring comes."
Hearing this, Liu Tieshan said no more.
Early the next morning, Er Gouzi showed up, holding a dozen or so meat buns in his hands. He had made them the night before with some of the roe deer meat he'd taken back.
"Brother, Sister-in-law, no need to bother with breakfast!" Hearing Er Gouzi's shout, Huang Xiumei, who was about to cook porridge, opened the courtyard door.
"Gouzi, why are you here so early? What's wrapped in your clothes?"
Er Gouzi grinned. "Roe deer meat buns, fresh out of the steamer."
Huang Xiumei said, "Why did you bring so many? Did Uncle eat?"
"He did. There are still dozens left at home." Er Gouzi walked in as he spoke and set the buns on the table.
Just then, Liu Tiezhu and Liu Tieshan woke up.
"Gouzi, you made this many roe deer meat buns? Did you use up all those dozens of jin of meat in one go?" Liu Tiezhu asked.
"No, my dad cut eight jin of meat and stored the rest," Er Gouzi said.
Hearing this, Liu Tiezhu breathed a sigh of relief.
After breakfast, Liu Tieshan said he was going to gather some dry firewood and left with Huang Xiumei and Yao Yao. Liu Tiezhu cut three jin of roe deer meat and one jin of snake meat, then headed into the village with Er Gouzi.
Er Gouzi looked puzzled. "Brother Zhuzi, where are we going? Aren't we heading to town?"
"Of course we're going to town. How else would we trade for rice and buy parts?" Liu Tiezhu said.
"Then this isn't the right way."
Liu Tiezhu explained, "We're going to Liu Guang's place first to borrow his tricycle. Otherwise, how are we supposed to carry hundreds of jin of rice back from town?"
"Liu Guang?" Er Gouzi looked incredulous. "That miser wouldn't lend us his tricycle for free."
Liu Tiezhu shook the meat in his hand. "Of course he won't lend it for nothing. That's why I prepared this meat."
When they arrived at Liu Guang's house and stated their purpose, Liu Guang flatly refused without a second thought. He treasured his tricycle and rarely rode it himself, so he wasn't about to let Liu Tiezhu mess with it.
Liu Tiezhu didn't beat around the bush and showed the meat. "Uncle Liu Guang, I'm not asking to borrow the tricycle for free. How about this meat as payment for borrowing it? Does that work?"
Seeing the meat, Liu Guang's eyes lit up instantly. He took the meat, and his attitude did a complete 180. "Zhuzi, your uncle isn't unreasonable. I can lend you the tricycle, but you have to write a guarantee that you won't damage it."
Liu Tiezhu nodded. "No problem. I'll write it now."
Soon, Liu Tiezhu wrote a guarantee as Liu Guang requested, then hopped on the tricycle with Er Gouzi and rode off.
"What the hell is his problem? A crappy tricycle, and he treats it like a precious gem," Er Gouzi grumbled, his face dark.
Liu Tiezhu gave a bitter smile. Er Gouzi was good in many ways, but he just didn't get how the world worked.
They returned home, loaded the prepared meat, wolf skins, and civet cat skins onto the tricycle, and pedaled toward town. The snowy road was covered in slush, making the ride tough. After just a kilometer, Liu Tiezhu was drenched in sweat and couldn't go on.
Er Gouzi told him to sit in the back and took over. They swapped places.
Just as they were about to leave, Liu Yusheng blocked the road ahead with a group of men.
"Damn, lucky day! Running into you two bastards," Liu Yusheng cursed, walking over with three burly men. He had been lurking there, hoping to rob some women heading to town, but instead, he ran into Liu Er Gouzi and the others, who had threatened him the day before.
"Er Gouzi, I'll fuck your mother. Go ahead, act tough now," Liu Yusheng sneered, standing in front of Liu Er Gouzi with a look of superiority.
"I'll fuck your mother. What if I act tough?" Er Gouzi, hot-tempered as ever, jumped off the tricycle and cursed back.
Liu Tiezhu grabbed Er Gouzi and gave him a look, signaling him to stay calm. The four men across from them were all sturdy, and a fight wouldn't end well for them.
Seeing Liu Er Gouzi curse back, Liu Yusheng flew into a rage. "You still dare to talk back? Don't you know this is Liu Family Village? Looks like you need a beating."
Liu Yusheng gestured to the three men behind him. They understood, cracked their knuckles, and closed in.
Liu Tiezhu stepped in front of Er Gouzi. "Liu Yusheng, what do you think you're doing?"
Liu Yusheng glanced at Liu Tiezhu and spat, "Get the hell out of here. This isn't your place to talk. Squat down and behave."
Liu Tiezhu took two steps back, quietly reaching for a wooden stick stashed behind the tricycle's cargo bed, while giving Er Gouzi another look.
Seeing Liu Tiezhu refuse to squat, Liu Yusheng raised his hand to slap him. "Fuck, you won't squat, huh? I'll—"
Before he could finish, Liu Tiezhu swung the stick and cracked it against his forehead. "Fuck your mother. Gouzi, move!"