Chapter 55: Little Brother Bought Meat
An Ning ate quickly. Just as she finished and was about to get up, Lin Cuihua yanked her back, making her stumble.
The force of the stumble made An Ning look at Lin Cuihua with suspicion. ’Is my own mother the real hidden master?’
’She’s incredibly strong.’
"Who said you could get up? Even a workhorse gets to eat some grass and drink some water after a hard day’s work. What’s your rush?"
"Sit down!"
At Lin Cuihua’s roar, An Ning plopped down cross-legged and rested obediently.
Watching the spectacle from the side, Jiang Xia pressed his lips together to hide a smile. ’So there *is* someone she’s afraid of.’
"Jiang Xia, get going once you’re done eating. Don’t dawdle."
Jiang Xia turned his head to look at the grandfather who was rushing him off to work.
"You really are my dear grandfather, aren’t you?"
"Heh, I wouldn’t be so sure."
Jiang Xia rolled his eyes at his grandfather’s joke, but he still obediently got up and went to work.
Seeing Jiang Xia get up to work, An Ning grew a little antsy.
"Don’t worry, An Ning. Men are tough. A little sun won’t hurt them."
After packing up the food basket, Grandpa Jiang Xia didn’t leave right away. Instead, he started chatting with An Ning.
"An Ning, that suction pump of yours, it uses the principle of negative pressure, doesn’t it?"
His words immediately captured her attention.
The old man stroked the beard on his chin a couple of times and said with a warm smile, "I studied it a bit when I was young."
Her interest piqued, An Ning scooted closer and began to chat with the old man.
The more they talked, the more they hit it off. She became so engrossed in their conversation that she didn’t even notice when Lin Cuihua left.
"Excellent, excellent! An Ning, with a mind like yours, it’s a real shame not to be in school."
Grandpa Jiang Xia had a great appreciation for talent, and he was also thinking about the future.
Someone this talented would be vital to the country’s development.
This was also why he wanted Jiang Xia to take the college entrance exam and leave the village.
Unfortunately, Jiang Xia was too stubborn. No matter what his grandfather said, the boy refused.
"I don’t want to go to school. I like farming."
With that, An Ning stood up, bid Grandpa Jiang Xia farewell, and went off to work with her shovel over her shoulder.
In that moment, Grandpa Jiang Xia was the only person left under the big tree. All the other villagers had gone back to work.
He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ’I’ve finally met someone even more stubborn than Jiang Xia.’
Carrying the neatly packed basket, Grandpa Jiang Xia ambled back toward his house at the foot of the mountain.
Da Huang trotted obediently by his side, a perfect bodyguard.
An Ning, who was back at work, wasn’t the least bit affected by what Grandpa Jiang Xia had said. ’Still, why does everyone insist I go to school?’
Even now, An Ning didn’t quite understand that way of thinking.
In her opinion, as long as you knew a skill, that was enough. You didn’t need the diplomas or school names that everyone else seemed to value.
"An Ning, what did my grandpa say to you?"
Jiang Xia, who had been cranking the pump handle, had just been relieved by someone else. He dragged his two aching arms over to An Ning’s side, ready to dig ditches.
"He tried to convince me to go to school."
An Ning saw no reason to hide it, but she did take a second look at Jiang Xia as he worked.
Jiang Xia was holding a shovel with both hands, but his arms, uncooperative from overuse, kept wanting to repeat the cranking motion.
"You should take a break. Working like this is inefficient."
Jiang Xia knew that, of course. "Don’t pay any mind to what my grandpa said," he began. "Being able to do what you want in life—that’s what success is."
An Ning stopped what she was doing and looked at Jiang Xia in confusion. "I wasn’t paying it any mind."
It was Jiang Xia’s first attempt at doing something nice, but he was immediately shut down by An Ning’s uniquely blunt way of speaking.
He immediately switched to his signature roguish, "I’m-the-greatest-in-the-world" expression as he stared at An Ning.
"How come you talk to me differently than you do to my grandpa?"
"When you get to be his age, you can, too. Don’t worry, judging by your physical condition, you should be able to live that long."
An Ning lowered her head and went back to work, no longer answering him.
Jiang Xia took a deep breath, trying to calm his frustration. It didn’t work. He took another, but he still couldn’t quite suppress it.
He was absolutely fuming. ’I lost again!’
Luckily, Jiang Xia’s moods came and went quickly.
Now he was actually hoping An Ning would go to school. If she did, he would follow.
’With my brains,’ Jiang Xia thought, ’I’d definitely do better in my studies than An Ning.’
The mere thought of being better than An Ning in at least one area was enough to make Jiang Xia happy.
An Ning, working nearby, glanced at Jiang Xia’s foolish grin and silently moved to a different spot.
All afternoon, the men, along with some of the women, were busy irrigating the fields.
They worked until the sun set behind West Mountain, only then did everyone gradually stop.
But there was still one matter to resolve: who would watch the machine that night.
Sun Dazhuang was instructing the several people who were preparing to stand watch.
"Don’t you dare doze off. I don’t care if you get lost, but you have to watch that machine for me."
"Don’t worry, Captain. We’ll definitely keep a good eye on it."
From the back of the crowd, An Ning abruptly raised her hand.
"Quiet, quiet! An Ning has something to say."
Sun Dazhuang pushed his arms down in a hushing motion. Everyone fell silent at once and looked at An Ning.
An Ning lowered her hand and said, "Captain, the machine can be disassembled and taken home."
Sun Dazhuang hadn’t expected that. He asked anxiously, "If we take it apart, can we put it back together tomorrow? It won’t break, will it?"
"It won’t. This will be a good chance to clean the mud out of the parts. It’ll work even better tomorrow."
’Even better?’
’Then what was there to even think about?’
Everyone gathered around An Ning, watching as she took the machine apart and carefully put away the components one by one.
"An Ning, when you go to sleep tonight, make sure you keep these parts in the house. Don’t leave them outside, you hear?"
"I know."
An Ning agreed, but Sun Dazhuang was still uneasy. He gave another warning to An Sancheng before finally letting the matter rest.
Once everything was settled, An Ning took the parts and headed home.
The moment she stepped into the courtyard, she smelled a wonderful aroma, so fragrant it instantly made her stomach GROWL.
"Mom, what’s that smell?"
Lin Cuihua, wearing an apron, stood in the doorway. "What else could it be? Meat."
"Your little brother came home early and bought some."
Lin Cuihua turned and went back inside to continue cooking.
An Guoping, who was in the courtyard, called out to his sister, then added, eager for praise, "Sis, I spent the whole two yuan. I bought two pounds of meat, and with the rest I got soy sauce and even a little white sugar."
"Mom said she’s making us braised pork."
’Could you really buy all that with just two yuan?’
Ever since arriving here, An Ning had never gone shopping for herself. The time she’d bought the plastic, she had gone straight to her destination without looking at anything else.
She took a deep sniff of the sweet scent in the air, mingled with the aroma of meat, and a spark of interest suddenly lit up her eyes.
’Maybe I’ll go into town tomorrow to have a look.’
’Not for the food, of course. I’m going to buy a thank-you gift for Jiang Xia.’
’Yes, that’s exactly it.’