Chapter 43: The Backpack’s Debut
After dinner, An Ning continued her research.
Lin Cuihua and her daughter-in-law, Zhou Guifen, hurried to finish their work, making use of the last bit of daylight.
The task of washing the dishes fell to An Guoming. As for An Guoqing and An Sancheng, Lin Cuihua didn’t dare let them handle it.
Those two were the type to break eleven bowls if you gave them ten.
As the sky grew dark, those working inside also stopped. It was simply too dark to see.
An Ning, who was in the shed outside, missed having electricity for the first time.
"I’m back!"
An Guoping’s voice arrived before he did. He jogged into the courtyard, threw down his schoolbag, and went to wash his hands.
"I’m starving!" he yelled as he washed.
"The food’s in the pot for you."
Lin Cuihua took An Guoping’s schoolbag and tried it on. The corner of her mouth twitched in disdain.
"It’s no good. Not as good as ours."
"Mom, let me see."
His sister-in-law was also a little curious. She put on the schoolbag and walked a couple of steps, looking the part. It really wasn’t as comfortable as theirs.
This comparison put their minds at ease. They had been a little worried about what they would do if their investment didn’t make a profit.
Inside, An Guoping sat on the threshold with his bowl of rice, taking big mouthfuls as he took advantage of the last bit of light.
"What are you doing with my schoolbag?"
An Guoming took the schoolbag and shot An Guoping a look. An Guoping understood and shuffled to the side, letting An Guoming into the house.
In less than a minute, An Guoming came out holding a backpack.
"Lao San, a new schoolbag for you."
"Mmm... for me!"
An Guoping swallowed the food in his mouth, stood up with his bowl, and looked happily at the schoolbag before him.
"Two straps."
"That’s right. Try it on in a bit."
"I’ll try it now!"
An Guoping reached out, but An Guoming dodged away in disgust. Looking at his hands, he said, "Wash your hands."
It was their first backpack, after all. It deserved some respect.
An Guoping gave a silly laugh, finished his rice in a few more bites, took his bowl inside, washed his hands again, and gave them a couple of quick shakes to dry them.
"Guoming, is this okay now?"
"Stand there, I’ll help you put it on."
An Guoping spread his arms to cooperate. An Guoming helped him put it on, then placed a few books inside.
"How is it?"
The whole An family watched An Guoping. He walked a couple of steps with the schoolbag on, ran a couple of steps, and finished with two big jumps.
"It’s great! It doesn’t hit against me at all! I feel like I can run even faster with it on."
Everyone was very satisfied. An Guoming clapped An Guoping on the shoulder and said, "Wear this to school. If anyone asks, tell them it’s twenty yuan each."
"How much?"
An Guoping wasn’t the only one who asked. Lin Cuihua and her daughter-in-law, Zhou Guifen, both took a step forward, staring at An Guoming in disbelief.
"Twenty each. The design is new, it’s all canvas, and it has a pattern on the outside. We have to factor in the cost of labor and the work points we all lost. It all goes into the cost."
Calculated that way, it didn’t seem so expensive after all.
An Guoming’s reasoning was sound, but everyone was still shocked by the price. Twenty yuan! They might not even save that much in a whole year.
"Ahem—" An Sancheng coughed twice.
"Listen to your second brother. Let’s try it first. We’ll see if it works out."
That made sense. They would try it and see.
An Guoping, standing to the side, suddenly felt like he wasn’t carrying a schoolbag anymore. He felt unworthy!
’It’s too expensive!’
He felt uncomfortable all over!
’Should I take a bath and change my clothes?’
The sky was now completely dark. Everyone went inside, and exhausted from the long day, they all went to bed early.
When you go to bed early, you naturally wake up early too.
In the countryside, many people got up at four or five in the morning, like An Ning and An Guoming.
"An Ning... what are you doing!"
First thing in the morning, An Ning had dragged An Guoming out of his warm bed. Startled, he had hurriedly thrown on his clothes and was pulled out of the room by An Ning before he had even opened his eyes.
"Exercising. Didn’t I tell you beforehand, Guoming?"
An Ning’s reasoning was sound, but An Guoming looked like he was about to cry.
He held up his arm and said, "An Ning, with these skinny arms and legs, I really can’t run."
"I know. That’s why we need to train. It’ll get better with practice."
No matter what An Guoming said, An Ning wouldn’t back down.
She stared at An Guoming and held up a hand. "Guoming, are you going to run on your own, or am I going to have to drag you?"
"I’m not threatening you. Please don’t misunderstand."
An Guoming wanted to cry. ’How could I possibly misunderstand!’
An Ning smiled gently and patted An Guoming’s shoulder.
"Watch my feet, follow my pace, and listen to my commands."
"Breathe in... breathe out..."
"Breathe in... breathe out..."
"No slacking."
"I’m not!"
An Guoming jumped in surprise. ’How did she know?!’
Over the next few moments, An Guoming messed up his footing twice more, and An Ning noticed both times.
"Wait, how did you see that? Do you have eyes in the back of your head?"
An Ning said nothing, only turning back to give An Guoming a mysterious smile.
That smile made her seem so profound and inscrutable that An Guoming didn’t dare try any more funny business.
"WOOF WOOF WOOF!"
A familiar sound came from up ahead. Da Huang, who was out for a run with Jiang Xia, excitedly bounded over when he saw An Ning. He did an abrupt turn and came to a stop right beside her.
Jiang Xia, jogging over from the opposite direction, looked at the running An Ning and felt like he had discovered a great truth.
’So that’s how it is. No wonder she’s so fast—she trains every day.’
’This time, I can definitely beat her.’
Jiang Xia ran up beside An Ning and confidently shouted, "Da Huang, let’s go!"
But after he had run several meters, Da Huang still hadn’t followed.
Jiang Xia stopped and yelled, "Da Huang... what are you doing? I’m over here!"
Da Huang cheekily turned his head, stuck his tongue out at Jiang Xia, then turned back around and started running alongside An Ning.
Jiang Xia stood there stunned for several seconds before finally turning around and falling into step with An Ning.
"Da Huang, what are you doing?"
Jiang Xia asked. Unfortunately, Da Huang couldn’t talk. If he could, he would have definitely told Jiang Xia:
Like master, like dog.
Jiang Xia was competitive, and Da Huang admired strength.
An animal’s perception is different from a human’s. Da Huang felt that An Ning was the most capable person he had ever seen, so he subconsciously followed her.
Unable to get an answer, Jiang Xia simply started running next to An Ning. But after a couple of steps, something felt off. This pace was way too slow.
"Mei... An Ning, you’re running way too slow!"
An Ning tilted her head, seeming to think back carefully.
"I don’t recall inviting you to run with us."
"Heh... so you’re saying I invited myself."
An Ning shook her head and pointed at Da Huang. "You *two* invited yourselves."
"Da Huang, let’s go! We’re not wanted here, you know!"
Jiang Xia picked up his pace, but unfortunately, Da Huang didn’t follow. Exasperated, he shouted, "If you don’t come now, don’t come to me for meat later!"
Da Huang hesitated for a moment, looking first at An Ning.
"Don’t look at me. I don’t even have any meat for myself."
"WOOF WOOF WOOF!"
Da Huang’s paws instantly sped up, and he caught up with Jiang Xia.
For a moment, Jiang Xia didn’t know what to feel.
The girl made it clear she didn’t want the dog, but it wouldn’t leave. He, its master, had to resort to bribery just to call away the dog he’d raised from a pup.
’Da Huang, what kind of potion did she give you?’