Chapter 47: The An Family’s Ending
It took five days for An Ning to go from her family preparing for her death to miraculously waking up.
After the doctor finished his examination and left, only An Ning, Lin Cuihua, and her sister-in-law remained.
"Mom, can I come in?"
Peeking in from the doorway was An Guoming. In just five days, the already slender young man had become even thinner.
An Ning called out, feeling a pang of guilt, "Second Brother, hurry and come in."
"Oh, Little Sister! You scared us to death."
An Ning looked guiltily at the three people in the room and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "I’m sorry, I didn’t..."
"Don’t listen to your second brother! As long as you’re okay, that’s all that matters. Have some water. In a little while, Mom will go make you some chicken soup with noodles."
"Whatever else you want to eat, just tell Mom, and I’ll make it for you."
They all comforted An Ning with a few reassuring words, and she learned that she was no longer in town, but had been moved to the county city.
For the first two of those five days, An Ning had been in the town hospital with Lin Cuihua and An Guoming watching over her, while her sister-in-law stayed home to continue working on the sewing machine.
On the third day, An Sancheng decided to move An Ning to the county hospital. An Guoming, meanwhile, took all the backpacks to go sell them with his eldest brother.
The An family split their forces: one group sold backpacks while the other watched over An Ning.
If she hadn’t woken up, An Sancheng had intended to take her to the city. As for preparing for her death, that was out of the question.
’My daughter’s still breathing. Prepare my ass!’
An Ning watched the three of them bustling around her, a lump forming in her throat. ’They’re all so good to me. Why was their fate so tragic in my past life?’
For the past five days, An Ning had been sifting through Miao Xiaohua’s memories, keeping the useful information while discarding all the emotions and habits so they wouldn’t influence her.
This process had been so strenuous that it caused her to run a fever for all those days.
But An Ning had no regrets.
In Miao Xiaohua’s memories, she had seen the An family’s fate in her previous life.
According to Miao Xiaohua’s memories, a dozen or so years later, Chen Mingliang was wealthy, but the An family was far from well-off.
An Guoping was in prison, An Guoming had died young, An Guoqing was crippled, and Lin Cuihua was bedridden with illness.
An Sancheng, though only in his fifties, was already stooped with age, barely scraping by as a farmer.
Her sister-in-law had suffered several miscarriages and was in poor health, but she and her husband, the eldest brother, never abandoned one another.
Now, An Ning’s mind was calm. She had a few suspicions about Miao Xiaohua’s memories.
First, Chen Mingliang didn’t seem like the type who had a head for business. An Ning felt something was off about how he had made his fortune.
Second, the An family members were capable and resourceful. It seemed unlikely they would end up in such a miserable state. Some unforeseen disaster must have struck.
’No matter what, none of that will happen again. Not now that I’m here.’
Despite the short time she’d spent with them, An Ning had grown to genuinely love this family.
At that moment, An Ning silently promised the body’s original owner that she would ensure the An family lived happy, healthy, and peaceful lives.
An Ning was awake. After coming in and exchanging a few words, An Guoming rushed to call home with the good news.
An Sancheng, An Guoqing, and An Guoping were all back in the village, since they couldn’t all stay at the hospital.
That’s why An Sancheng had left the quick-witted An Guoming, his second son, at the hospital. They communicated by phone every evening.
The person who answered the phone in Shili Gou also happened to have the surname An. Upon hearing the message from An Guoming, he didn’t waste a second, racing off toward the fields.
"An Sancheng! An Sancheng! Phone call!"
An Sancheng, who had been working with his head down in the fields, felt his heart instantly begin to pound. He was terrified it was bad news.
’If it’s bad news, I won’t even have gotten to see my daughter one last time!’
An Sancheng was afraid, and so was An Guoqing. Uncle An and his family all gathered around as well.
From an unnoticed corner, Jiang Xia also quietly drew near.
’The sika deer... she’ll be okay, right?’
Jiang Xia didn’t quite understand his own feelings, but he didn’t want anything to happen to An Ning.
’It took me, this young master, so long to find a worthy opponent. She can’t just...’
Jiang Xia didn’t even know why he was being so superstitious, but he refused to say the word "die."
"Sancheng, your... your..."
The messenger was so out of breath he couldn’t speak, ratcheting the tension up to the breaking point. A few of the more timid onlookers looked ready to faint.
’Just say it already!’
"Your An Ning is awake! She’s fine!"
"An Laoqi, always with the dramatic pause!"
The surrounding villagers started teasing An Laoqi for his dramatic delivery. An Laoqi, looking rather sheepish, just gave An Sancheng a goofy grin.
"Sancheng, it was your second son who called. He said An Ning woke up this morning. The doctor examined her and said she’s fine. She can come home after one more day."
Tears and snot streamed from An Sancheng’s face as he nodded again and again, unable to speak. His joy was a quiet, restrained thing.
An Guoqing, standing nearby, was far more extroverted in his delight. He swept An Laoqi into a fierce bear hug, slapping his back so hard that An Laoqi started coughing.
In the end, it was Uncle An who stepped forward to offer thanks, and the crowd slowly dispersed.
To the side, the corners of Jiang Xia’s mouth lifted into a smile. ’I knew it. That sika deer is a tough one.’
Back at the hospital, An Ning was already eating the chicken noodle soup Lin Cuihua had made for her. It came with two poached eggs and a handful of leafy greens.
When An Ning finished the entire large bowl of noodles, broth and all, Lin Cuihua’s heart finally settled.
"It’s a good sign that you can eat. As long as you have an appetite, you’ll be fine."
An Ning chuckled and handed the bowl to Lin Cuihua. "I could eat more. I’m still not full."
"That’s enough for now. The doctor said you shouldn’t eat too much."
With An Ning awake, everyone could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"Mom, I’m fine now. Let’s go home."
Lin Cuihua thought it over. The doctor had said she could be discharged, so they might as well leave.
In the eyes of ordinary folk, a place like a hospital was considered unlucky, and they preferred not to be there.
An Guoming bustled about, handling the discharge papers, while Lin Cuihua and her sister-in-law packed their things. An Ning got out of bed to stretch her legs and go to the restroom.
As An Ning came out of the restroom, she saw An Guoming waiting for her.
"Second Brother, this is the women’s restroom. The men’s is over there."
"I know. I was waiting for you."
An Ning pulled An Guoming a few steps away. "Don’t stand so close next time. You’re liable to get slapped, and the key thing is, you’d probably lose the fight."
"So, what did you need, Second Brother?"
An Guoming completely ignored her teasing and launched right in. "Over the past few days, I sold all the backpacks we made. For thirty a piece."
"Thirty?"
An Ning hadn’t expected that. ’Second Brother really is a natural-born merchant.’
"But I’ve looked at them, and there’s no real technical skill involved. It won’t be long before the big factories can churn them out. When that happens, their prices will be lower and they’ll be faster. Our stuff will be hard to sell."
An Ning nodded repeatedly.
"Second Brother, just tell me what you’re thinking."
"Heh heh, I knew you were smart, Little Sister. I want to sell our backpack designs and build a relationship with a bag factory. It’ll open up another avenue for us to do business in the future."
An Ning was in complete agreement. "Second Brother," she suggested, "I have a few other designs. I’ll draw them up, and you can take them all."