Just as he had started shouting, Liu Chunan walked out of the main gate with a guilty look on his face. He lowered his voice and scolded, “Stop howling! What is the matter? You act like you’re stealing something.”

“What’s wrong with you? Acting like a thief in your own home,” Du Jianguo said, looking Liu Chunan up and down. “Did you secretly sell your father’s prized hunting rifle?”

“You’re the one talking,” Liu Chunan snapped, glaring at Du. “My father is home! He heard your noise and thought you were trying to get me to play cards again. He chased me around the house with a stick!”

Liu Chunan had a gambling problem, and his family knew it well, but there was nothing they could do. He never learned his lesson. Over time, his father, the village head Liu Chang An, had given up trying to stop him. He would just beat him to calm his anger and watch helplessly as his son squandered the family’s wealth.

Fortunately, Liu Chunan didn’t gamble for large amounts. He might lose half a yuan or a couple of yuan. The Liu family was wealthy enough to absorb this small loss.

“Anyway, what are you here for today? You didn’t really come to play cards again, did you?” Liu Chunan blinked and moved closer. “You said you’d never gamble again. Haha, I can tell you’re itching to play. Old Wu’s house has cards. Let’s go ask them.”

Liu Chunan started to leave, but Du Jianguo grabbed him urgently. “I said I’m not playing cards anymore. I didn’t come to play today. Look what I caught!”

Du Jianguo whistled, and the big dog, Da Huang, trotted over from the side of the road.

The moment Da Huang saw his real owner, Liu Chunan, the dog got very excited, circling him and licking his hand.

“Go away! Don’t jump on me!” Liu Chunan kicked the dog away. “Why did you call the dog over?”

Du Jianguo took off his small bag from Da Huang’s back and pulled out a lively muskrat, holding it up in front of Liu Chunan. “Do you want this?”

Liu Chunan’s eyes widened. He grabbed the tail of the muskrat and exclaimed, “What a big ground rat! My goodness, did you catch this too?”

Du Jianguo nodded confidently. “Of course. Do you want it? If not, I’ll sell it to someone else.”

Liu Chunan swallowed hard. Most people found ground rats disgusting, but for them, these hungry foodies, it was a top delicacy. It was no less tasty than donkey meat or beef.

He swallowed again, rubbed his fingers together, and gritted his teeth to ask, “How much are you selling this ground rat for?”

“I’ll sell it whole,” Du Jianguo weighed it in his hand. “It’s a little over two jin. I’ll count it as two jin. Three yuan per jin. How does that sound?”

Liu Chunan’s eyes bulged as he cursed, “You’re robbing me! I haven’t moved out of my mother’s house yet. All the money is under her control. I don’t have that much cash!”

“I’ll accept any kind of coupons or ration tickets. I’m not picky,” Du Jianguo said.

Liu Chunan rolled his eyes. “No way! Those are precious items. If I gave them to you, my father would kill me!”

They were talking about essential ration coupons like grain tickets, cloth tickets, and oil tickets. Back then, these hard-currency coupons were very scarce, especially in rural areas. Each household received very little, often only enough for one person’s clothes.

People usually saved these coupons for years, prioritizing clothes for adults and letting children wear the leftovers. After saving hard for several years and pleasing their parents, they might finally get a new set of clothes. This showed how scarce these coupons were.

“Then you don’t want it?” Du Jianguo pretended to pull the muskrat back toward himself. “Alright, Old Zhang at the village entrance also loves this. I’ll ask him.”

Liu Chunan immediately panicked. “No! That old man is toothless. What does he know about cooking? Selling it to him is a waste!”

He paused, then bit his lip. “I don’t have money, but I have two iron objects at home. Do you want them?”

“Iron objects? What are they?” Du Jianguo stopped and asked.

“My father found them on the road. They look like car parts. They are very heavy, like a scale weight. They must weigh at least ten or twenty jin. Do you want them? We can exchange them.”

Iron was precious at this time. One jin of iron was worth about two mao, and high purity iron could be even more expensive.

Du Jianguo calculated in his mind and nodded. “Okay, I’ll take them.”

“Wait a moment, I’ll go get them.”

Liu Chunan grabbed the muskrat and slipped through the gate, sneaking into the storage room. Not long after, he came out carrying two heavy black objects, panting heavily as he reached the door. “It’s these two things.”

Du Jianguo reached out to touch them but couldn’t tell what they were. They didn’t feel exactly like iron; they seemed like some other metal, though he couldn’t be sure. Even if it was another kind of metal, he knew he wouldn’t lose out.

“Okay, it’s a deal.”

Du Jianguo stuffed the iron blocks into his bag and shouldered them.

The weight was too much for Da Huang to carry, so he had to carry them himself.

Just as Du Jianguo was about to leave, Liu Chunan grabbed him. “Hey, don’t go yet. I have something else to ask you.”

“Don’t worry, you loser. You steal things from home all the time,” Du Jianguo joked, assuming Liu Chunan was afraid his father would discover the missing iron. “Even if your father finds out, he’ll just beat you up. Will he break your legs?”

“Hey, what are you thinking!” Liu Chunan waved his hand. “That old man doesn’t even care about these broken things! I wanted to ask you about Li Ergou.”

“Li Ergou?” Du Jianguo immediately perked up. “Why do you want to know about him?”

Liu Chunan looked hesitant and sighed. “Yesterday, Li Ergou came to see me and arranged a card game for a few days from now. But this time the stakes are high. One hand could cost one or two yuan. I feel something is wrong. Don’t you think it’s too much?”

Du Jianguo stared at him, his tone becoming serious. “Liu Chunan, do you trust me?”

“What are you talking about? We grew up together. How could I not trust you?”

“If you trust me, listen to my advice. Stay away from Li Ergou.” Du Jianguo emphasized. “He is not a good person. This time, he definitely wants to set you up.”

“That can’t be right?” Liu Chunan paused, frowning. “Li Ergou grew up with us too, didn’t he?”

“Trust me or not, I’m leaving. These iron chunks are heavy,” Du Jianguo said and started to leave with Da Huang.

Du Jianguo carried the heavy iron chunks and turned to leave. Liu Chunan stood there, thinking over and over about what Du Jianguo had said.

“It probably won’t be that serious… we are all from the same village,” he muttered to himself. In the past, people often gathered to play cards. Although Liu Chunan knew Li Ergou liked to play tricks and wasn’t very honest, the other had never dared to openly cheat him of his money before.

He felt that Du Jianguo was overthinking it.