Chapter 30: Making Money
"Good."
The lead mugger across from her heard what An Ning said and lifted his chin, a hint of pride in his expression.
"We who walk this path have to have some honor. Leave the money, and you can go."
After the leader spoke, An Ning responded.
She took the basket off her back, gently setting it on the roadside with both hands. She glanced sideways at the sun, her brow furrowing slightly.
’I need to be quick.’
"Right, be quick. It’s better for everyone—"
"THUMP!"
The leader felt as if his insides were on fire. The scenery on either side of him rushed forward at an incredible speed. The next second, with a resounding CRACK, he felt his butt shatter into eight pieces.
This time, An Ning didn’t hold back.
’Why should she show mercy to someone trying to overpower her with brute force?’
After sending the leader flying with a single kick that rendered him completely immobile, An Ning’s other foot shot out and struck the man behind him. The man sailed through the air, landing squarely on top of his boss.
From that point on, it was An Ning’s show.
There were seven muggers in total. Before they could even react, An Ning sent them all flying with powerful blows, creating a human pile on the side of the road.
Brother Fatty and his men, who had been following An Ning, had all taken a step back in unison when the lead mugger went flying. When another man flew, they took another step back.
By now, for fear that An Ning might misunderstand their intentions for being there, they had retreated a hundred meters away.
"Brother Fatty, are we still going?"
"Go for what? To make the pile higher?"
Brother Fatty swallowed hard, then let out a long breath. "No wonder she said it was safe," he said. "This is as safe as it gets."
"Let’s move!"
Brother Fatty led his brothers away. When they got back, they held a meeting about An Ning and An Guoming’s group. The core takeaway was this: do business properly, avoid arguments, and whatever you do, do *not* start a fight.
An Ning’s spiritual power had been monitoring Brother Fatty and his group. Seeing them retreat, she remained unfazed, hoisted her bamboo basket onto her back, and headed home.
’If I’m any later, my family will start to worry.’
As An Ning walked past the human pile, she gave a very formal introduction.
"My name is An Ning. I’ll be using this road often. If you’re not satisfied, you’re welcome to come find me anytime."
"Satisfied, satisfied, satisfied, satisfied..."
"Satisfied, satisfied, satisfied!"
With the seven men behind her endlessly repeating that one word, An Ning smiled in satisfaction, shouldered her basket, and ran for home.
"Boss, she’s gone."
"Get the hell off me! You’re crushing me!"
With a chaotic series of thumps and groans, the men disentangled themselves and lay in a row on the ground, every inch of their bodies aching. They had surely suffered broken bones and internal injuries.
"Boss, next time let’s bring knives!"
As soon as the underling finished speaking, the leader, lying nearby, weakly shot him a look.
"You, next to him, give him a kick for me! Knives? You think you’ve lived too long?!"
"That woman tossed you aside like you were a leaf, and you want to fight her? You really must have a death wish!"
After a thorough tongue-lashing from their leader, everyone was finally cowed. Not only that, but they also etched the name An Ning deep into their minds.
"Listen up and remember it! From now on, if you run into An Ning, you get the hell away from her, you hear me!"
Finally, they helped each other up. Those with injured legs used their good arms, and those with injured arms used their good legs.
Grimacing in pain, the seven grown men hobbled away, their bodies twisted and crooked. The first thing they did was go to the hospital.
At the hospital, their story was perfectly aligned: it was dark out, and they all fell into a ditch.
As for An Ning, not one of them dared to utter her name.
Meanwhile, An Ning had already reached the An family home. As she was entering the main gate, her younger brother, An Guoping, was just about to leave for school.
He was always the first person in the An family to leave each day. Rain or shine, he would walk to school in town.
"Sis, where’d you go?"
"Here!"
An Ning reflexively held out her hand, and in her palm was a warm egg.
An Guoping was in his senior year of high school and needed the nutrients. A daily boiled egg was the one thing the An family could consistently provide, so he got one every morning.
The egg triggered a memory in An Ning. An Guoping would often sneak his egg to her—the body’s previous owner.
They were twins, but they couldn’t have been more different at birth. One was as small as a mouse, the other as sturdy as a calf.
An Guoping felt guilty, believing he was the reason for An Ning’s poor health. So, whenever he got anything good, he would give it to her.
"Wait."
An Ning stopped An Guoping, pulled a one-yuan bill from her pocket, and pressed it into his palm.
"Take this. If you run out, just ask me for more."
An Guoping looked at the one-yuan bill in his hand and immediately tried to return it, but he found he couldn’t move An Ning’s hand.
An Ning said with a determined look, "I’m your big sister. You’ll listen to me."
"Besides, you’re going to be late for school."
An Guoping didn’t dare delay any longer. He decided to hold onto it for now, saying to An Ning, "We’ll talk tonight!"
He ran off, a single-strap green bookbag banging against his side. The sight made An Ning frown.
’That bag is no good.’
"Little Sis... where’d you go?"
The shout from her second brother, An Guoming, broke An Ning’s train of thought. She entered the courtyard and said to him, "I’m going up the mountain by myself tomorrow."
"What? No way. It’s not that *I* won’t let you, it’s that Mom will never agree!"
An Ning didn’t answer An Guoming, simply walking into the kitchen alone. Lin Cuihua was setting the table, and her first words upon seeing An Ning were also, "Where have you been?"
"I went up the mountain."
After she spoke, everyone in the room stared at her. She continued unflinchingly, "I already know the way. I don’t need Second Brother to guide me. I won’t get into trouble, and if something does happen, I can run fast enough on my own."
"Taking Second Brother with me just slows me down. So I’m going alone tomorrow."
Having said her piece, An Ning took a cloth bundle from her basket and placed it on the table.
"This is what I earned today."
She presented a logical argument and even proof of success. An Sancheng realized that the most decisive person in his family wasn’t his second son after all.
He opened the cloth bundle on the table. The neat stacks of banknotes inside left everyone dumbfounded.
They had assumed it would be like the compensation money they’d gotten before—just a pile of loose change. No one expected to see large-denomination banknotes. ’This must be several hundred yuan, right?’ they thought.
An Sancheng closed the bundle, his heart pounding. His mouth felt a little dry as he asked, "What did you run into on the mountain?"
"A deer. It ran right into a tree. I’m not hurt."
Even though An Ning spoke of it so casually, her family couldn’t help but worry. Lin Cuihua, in particular, was dead set against An Ning going up the mountain alone.
"I’m still going."
Lin Cuihua’s temples throbbed with frustration at An Ning’s stubbornness. Finally, An Sancheng spoke up.
"Let her go. It’s better that we know she’s going, rather than her sneaking off on her own, right?"
An Sancheng’s words hit Lin Cuihua right where she was weakest. Still, she nagged An Ning endlessly, the central theme of her lecture being safety.
"Alright, we’ll keep some of the money. An Ning, you can put the rest away."
An Ning didn’t move. She looked at her crestfallen second brother and said, "I want to earn money together with my big brothers. This is our startup capital."