Chapter 422 - 435: Our Family Are Lunatics
Mrs. Luo opened her palm.
In her fair palm lay a small piece of iron, the same material as the gate.
"An Ning, our family’s poverty is a bottomless pit."
An Ning was amused by Mrs. Luo’s bluntness. She raised her index finger and said, a hint of mystery in her voice, "I did a divination for myself. I’m going to win."
Mrs. Luo looked at An Ning, then at Luo Li beside her.
Luo Li spoke up to explain, "An Ning’s side job is a Feng Shui Master."
Mrs. Luo turned her head, a bit stunned. "That’s a very unusual side job."
An Ning smiled faintly. "It’s quite good, actually. I think this line of work has a lot of potential."
At this, An Ning’s expression grew much more serious. "Please, don’t worry. I have plenty of spare cash. You can also go back and discuss it amongst yourselves."
"After my tour, I’ve realized that the Luo Family’s research is actually very promising. It just needs time, and I’m willing to be the person who buys that time with money."
"Also... these security measures could use an upgrade."
An Ning placed her hand on the dilapidated iron gate. Mrs. Luo said, not hiding anything, "All our money goes into experiments. The exterior is a bit... well, it’s definitely lacking."
With an agreement reached, An Ning and Luo Li left, the results of the gene test in their pockets.
On the path leading out, Luo Li looked like she wanted to say something but held back.
"If you want to ask something, just ask."
"Do you have any idea how much money you’ll have to spend? My family is more of a bottomless pit than a bottomless pit."
Once Luo Li started talking, she couldn’t stop.
"You don’t know, but the Luo Family used to be a prominent family in Beijing. But now, aside from this old estate, we have nothing left."
"Everyone in my family is a research maniac. They spend money more lavishly than someone burning Joss Paper! They’ll bleed you dry!"
An Ning stopped, standing face-to-face with Luo Li on the dark, deserted path, looking down at her.
"Thank you, Luo Li. But please believe that I have the resources. More importantly, it’s the Luo Family that has the real strength."
Recognized by an outsider for the first time, Luo Li felt her nose begin to sting as she asked, "Do you really think the Luo Family has strength? Don’t you know, everyone out there calls us the ’Luo Lunatics’? They look at us like we’re a virus."
"After all, we’re monsters who would even dissect our own family members."
As she said this, Luo Li lowered her head.
A hand rested gently on Luo Li’s shoulder, while another tilted her head up.
"Luo Li, throughout history, anyone who has achieved great things has been a madman."
"You, and I, are the same."
A smile gathered in Luo Li’s eyes, and she broke into a grin. "Are you calling yourself a madman?"
An Ning nodded affirmatively.
"I’m bound to be."
The two looked at each other and smiled. Luo Li extended her hand, and An Ning took it.
"An Ning, we won’t let you regret today’s decision."
"I don’t regret it now, and I won’t in the future."
Two young hands clasped together, and a partnership unknown to the outside world began.
When they returned to school, An Ning directly handed Luo Li a passbook. It contained her earnings from the past year for designing blueprints and other work.
When Luo Li took the passbook, she asked several times, "You’re just... giving this to me?"
An Ning nodded nonchalantly, making Luo Li feel as if she’d just been handed a head of cabbage.
In any case, Luo Li took the passbook and went back to the Luo Family estate. When she returned, she handed An Ning a document.
An Ning looked at the contract on the table, which was as thick as a dictionary, and asked just one question: "I have to sign all of this?"
"Yes! My mom said we can’t betray your trust. We need not only your signature, but also your thumbprint."
"This lists all the research projects the Luo Family is currently conducting. For any that bear fruit, you can take sixty percent of the profits."
At this, Luo Li glanced at An Ning and asked, "Sixty percent is a little low, I know, but the lab needs to stay operational..."
"That’s not low at all."
An Ning had already picked up a pen and started flipping through from the first page, occasionally signing her name and pressing her thumbprint.
That day, An Ning spent her time hugging a stack of documents, signing and fingerprinting them nonstop. The professor in class didn’t bother her, as long as she didn’t look up.
After their Friday classes, An Ning and the others went to Yin Xuemei’s little shop for a group meal.
After everyone had finished eating, they started talking about their plans for the weekend.
Yang Jianguo was going to check out some student clubs and planned to sign up for one. An Guoping was preparing to hole up in the library; studying medicine was just too hard.
Yin Xuemei, of course, had to go back to watch her shop. She also planned to wander around the nearby suburbs to look for some good ingredients to add to her brine.
As for Zhou Xiaoshan, he had no time.
The homework An Ning had assigned him already left him with no time for anything else.
As for An Ning, she was going to give lessons to Yu the Elder and Li Chengze. After class, she needed to find Jiang Xia to talk about something.
After the brief get-together, An Ning and her friends walked back toward the dorms, chatting along the way.
As they were talking, Yang Jianguo suddenly asked, "It’s about time for the autumn harvest back home, isn’t it?"
An Ning and An Guoping both stopped in their tracks and looked at each other.
"Did you call?"
"Did *you* call?"
"No!"
"Nope!"
The siblings rolled their eyes at the same time. Speechless, a great sense of panic washed over them, and they said in unison, "Make the call!"
Yang Jianguo, still standing where he was, raised a hand and shouted after them, "Isn’t it too late?"
But neither of the siblings answered, singularly focused on calling home.
It was past nine at night when the village phone rang, causing the village chief next door to throw on some clothes and run out before his shoes were even properly on.
About ten minutes later, Lin Cuihua picked up the phone.
"What is it?! What’s wrong?! Who’s in trouble?!"
"Mom— my brother and I are fine. We just realized we hadn’t called to tell you we were safe."
An Ning said guiltily. For a while now, everything had been happening all at once, and it had truly slipped her mind.
On the other end, Lin Cuihua heard this and her tense nerves relaxed. What followed was a mother’s loving concern.
On the other end of the line, An Ning held the receiver a little way from her ear as a powerful, resonant voice continuously poured out of it.
After a few minutes, Lin Cuihua finally stopped and said, "Don’t call so late next time, you hear?"
"I know."
An Ning obediently agreed, and the call was disconnected.
On the other end, Lin Cuihua muttered, "Little brat!"
But the smile on her face couldn’t have been wider.
In fact, early on, both Grandpa Jiang Xia and Master Tang had come to tell the An Family that Jiang Xia had run into some trouble and An Ning was helping him.
The family was truly worried, but they didn’t want to cause any more trouble, so they could only wait for news.
Fortunately, Jiang Xia had called a few times in the last couple of days to report that the matter was resolved and everyone was fine, which finally put the An family at ease.
However, along with their relief, Lin Cuihua had started to get angry, nagging every day about her two "heartless" children.
Maybe her constant grumbling had worked, because the two siblings had only just called today.
Lin Cuihua walked back, still muttering to herself, while An Sancheng lit the way with a flashlight. The old couple headed home.