Chapter 49: Going Home
With the help of the helpful gatekeeper, An Ning brought An Guoming into the textile factory and met with Director Li again.
"Please, come in. Xiao Wang, pour us some water."
Director Li had an excellent impression of An Ning. He thought she was kind, smart, enthusiastic, righteous, and brave.
Apparently, he had heard about how An Ning had saved a child at the gate of the machinery factory.
The three of them sat down in Director Li’s office, and An Ning, as always, got straight to the point.
"Director Li, have any machines needed repairs recently?"
"Everything’s been running fine recently. Nothing at the moment."
Nothing?
An Ning was a little disappointed.
’I’d originally planned to help him out first before asking for a favor. It’s only fair to trade one good turn for another.’
But now, she felt a bit embarrassed.
Although she felt embarrassed, An Ning remained as straightforward as ever and pressed on.
"Director Li, I’d like to buy a few sewing machine tickets from you, and some fabric as well. Do you have any?"
Director Li, who was holding his tea mug and hadn’t yet taken a sip, set it down and looked at An Ning, his eyes brimming with amusement.
"An Ning, you’re really one of a kind."
Director Li wasn’t the least bit displeased by An Ning’s directness; in fact, he quite liked it.
He even thought, ’If everyone conducted business like this, efficiency would be much higher.’
"Thank you."
An Ning’s simple "thank you" made Director Li burst out laughing.
"Alright, alright. Wait a moment, I’ll make a call and ask around."
"Thank you."
The room then filled with the sound of Director Li on the phone, trying to find sewing machine tickets for An Ning.
"Alright, I found five tickets for you. Is that enough?"
"Enough!"
An Ning stood up and thanked Director Li.
"Thank you."
After thanking him, An Ning felt a little awkward about receiving help without giving anything in return, so she asked, "May I take a look around your workshop?"
"The workshop? Sure, look all you want."
Director Li led An Ning on a tour of the workshop. An Ning was extremely thorough, carefully observing every stage of the process.
An Ning was so focused that for the first time, Director Li found himself trailing by her side like a junior assistant, not daring to say a word for fear of disturbing her.
An Guoming, of course, said even less. The dynamic between the three of them made the workers in the factory wonder if An Ning was the daughter of some important leader.
After touring the factory, An Ning walked out with Director Li.
"Director Li, are all the factory’s products woven like this?"
"That’s right. What else would a textile factory do?" Director Li said as he led them to get the sewing machine tickets, while An Ning kept asking questions.
"So, what is all your fabric used for?"
"Curtains, bedsheets, clothes, and even those schoolbags of yours—they all use it, don’t they?"
The three of them had reached the office door.
"What about other uses?"
"What other uses?"
Director Li had walked behind his desk and was counting the sewing machine tickets on it. There were exactly five. He handed them to An Ning.
"Here you go. You can buy the machines in the county town. Once you’re done, you can just catch a ride back on our factory’s truck. I’ve already arranged it all for you."
"And for the fabric, you two can go pick it out yourselves."
Director Li had been incredibly thoughtful, and An Ning was truly grateful.
"Thank you so much."
"It’s nothing, it’s nothing. I’m the one who should be thanking you. You were a huge help last time."
An Ning smiled faintly without a word, but her mind was already hatching another plan.
An Ning didn’t disturb Director Li any longer. She took An Guoming to the warehouse to pick out the fabric. They once again chose slightly flawed bolts, which cost less than half the usual price.
Once the fabric was selected, An Guoming went to buy the sewing machines, while An Ning wandered around the factory, chatting with several of the senior technicians for a good while.
After her conversations, she went to a nearby scrap collection station and bought a pile of discarded items for only five yuan.
Not only that, but she also bought a large plastic sheet and a pipe.
When An Guoming returned, the two of them found the truck Director Li had arranged. The favor they owed him had just gotten even bigger.
It was practically an empty truck.
Finally, the large truck set off for Sanhe Town, loaded with five sewing machines and several large bundles of fabric. Along the way, they stopped at the hospital to pick up Lin Cuihua and Gao Guifen.
After a journey of about three hours, it was dark again by the time the truck arrived in Sanhe Town.
They stopped where the truck could go no further and unloaded everything. Lin Cuihua went back to get An Sancheng and some others, while An Guoming went to get Uncle An’s family.
With five sewing machines, it was unrealistic for the An family to operate them all alone. Asking Uncle An’s family to join in was the most natural solution.
An Ning had no objections to this.
Well into the night, the An family members made two trips back and forth, finally getting everything moved.
By now, Uncle An and his three sons were all at the An family’s house.
The west room of the An house was too crowded to hold everyone. Uncle An’s three sons stood in the kitchen, leaving only the key people in the room itself.
Namely, An Sancheng, Uncle An, An Ning, and Lin Cuihua.
As for An Guoming, he was squatting by the threshold of the west room’s doorway.
"An Ning, did the doctor really say you’re okay? Did they prescribe any medicine?"
"I’m really fine. The doctor checked me several times. He didn’t prescribe anything, and I don’t need to take any medication."
After An Ning finished speaking, both An Sancheng and Uncle An nodded in succession. ’As long as she’s okay, that’s all that matters.’
Now that they knew An Ning was fine, it was time to discuss the sewing machines.
"An Ning, about those sewing machines..."
An Ning immediately cut in, stating her plan simply and clearly, "I bought the sewing machines to make schoolbags to sell in the city."
"I’d like to ask Uncle’s wife and my two older cousins’ wives to work with us. I’ll provide the fabric and sewing machines, and they’ll get paid thirty cents for every schoolbag they make."
Thirty cents might not seem like much to An Ning, but for the villagers, and even for the city factories, it was a very good rate.
A single person could make roughly four to ten schoolbags a day, which meant a daily income of one to three yuan. Over a month, that added up to an income of thirty to ninety yuan.
This income was comparable to, if not higher than, the wages of people working in the city.
"What schoolbags?" Uncle An had no idea what she was talking about, but he disagreed with her proposal. "We’re family. If you need help, we’ll help. Why are you talking about paying us? There’s no need for all that."
"Uncle, my dad always says to keep clear accounts, even with your own brothers. I have to pay whoever does the work. If you won’t accept the money, then I’ll have to hire outsiders."
When Uncle An heard that—’Give the work to outsiders?’ That would never do.
"Well... alright then."
It was too late to discuss the details, so the two families agreed to leave it at that and talk more the next day.
After such a hectic day, An Ning was physically exhausted, especially since she had consumed a great deal of her spiritual power.
She returned to her room, lay down on her kang bed, and quickly fell asleep.
「The next morning」
An Ning woke up a little late.
She had just opened her eyes when she heard voices right outside her door.
"Why isn’t she up yet? Is she okay?"
"She’s fine, Mom. She must just be exhausted from yesterday."
An Guoming’s words did nothing to reassure Lin Cuihua. Instead, she shot him a sharp glare.
"You heartless boy. You don’t have a shred of concern for your little sister, do you?"
Inside her room, An Ning listened to their voices and stared up at the ceiling, a smile playing on her lips.
’It’s good to be home.’