"Jiang Dongcheng?"
Director Jin looked completely lost.
"What did he invent?"
An Ning could tell Director Jin’s confusion wasn’t an act, but she remained cautious.
She explained her encounter with Jiang Dongcheng.
"Could I trouble you, Director Jin, to help find out what Jiang Dongcheng’s three new inventions are?"
"Yes, I’ll go. I’ll definitely go."
Director Jin also realized sothing fishy was probably going on.
The world wasn’t short on geniuses, but Jiang Dongcheng certainly wasn’t one of them.
"Thank you. I’ll be going now. I’m heading back to the village tomorrow, so please call if anything cos up."
"I’ll see you out."
How could Director Jin let a young girl leave by herself in the middle of the night?
An Ning placed a hand on Director Jin’s shoulder. "No need. I’ll be fine on my own. Thank you."
And she left.
Director Jin didn’t react until An Ning had already walked into the courtyard.
SLAP!
He slamd one hand down on the table.
"Talented in both literary and martial arts!"
"Incredible, just incredible!"
Director Jin was stunned, surprised, and impressed. He quickly stood up, belatedly seeing An Ning out the door.
After closing the door, Director Jin’s eyes filled with disgust at the thought of Jiang Dongcheng.
’A self-serving, sycophantic little man.’
"Sigh... It’s always these petty people who end up in important positions."
Director Jin went back inside, pondering who he should ask about this.
anwhile, An Ning returned to the inn and knocked on An Sancheng’s door.
"Dad, I’m back."
"Okay."
An Sancheng opened the door a crack. Seeing An Ning’s silhouette as she entered her room, he felt relieved and went back to sleep.
The next day, just as the sky was beginning to brighten, An Guoming arrived at the guest house.
An Ning was already up and heading downstairs with An Sancheng and Sun Dazhuang.
"Second Brother, what are you doing here?"
"There happens to be a truck heading to Sanhe Town. I wanted to ask if you all were heading back today."
An Sancheng and Sun Dazhuang both looked at An Ning.
"We are. Let’s go now."
The four of them paid the bill, left the guest house, and rode the truck back to Sanhe Town.
On the truck, An Sancheng and Sun Dazhuang were chatting, with their main topic of conversation revolving around how uncomfortable the beds were.
"It wasn’t even warm. My whole body feels sore after sleeping on it."
"You can say that again. Nothing beats lying down on our heated kang at ho. It just lts the fatigue away."
Sitting to the side, An Ning listened to them and silently agreed.
She had also grown to like sleeping on a kang.
After the truck reached Sanhe Town, the three of them—An Ning, An Sancheng, and Sun Dazhuang—got off and started walking toward Shili Gou.
Over an hour later, the three of them finally arrived back in Shili Gou.
"Thanks, Team Leader."
As soon as he was back in the village, An Sancheng felt completely at ease, and his voice carried more confidence.
"It’s nothing. I’ll hold a eting tomorrow and tell everyone that the mountain is yours now, and they can’t go up it anymore."
"There’s no rush. You should rest first."
An Ning watched the two of them exchange pleasantries, waiting patiently on the side.
Only after An Sancheng had finished did she head ho with him.
Once they got ho, An Sancheng told everyone about leasing the mountain. Lin Cuihua felt dizzy. Two hundred and eighty thousand—how much money was that?
She truly had no concept of it.
"So what do we do next? All this money... when will we ever earn it back? Can we even earn it back?"
Lin Cuihua was extrely worried. What would they do if they lost it all?
The thought of it was enough to keep her from sleeping.
"Mom, don’t you always say that you jinx things by speaking ill of them?"
As soon as An Ning said this, Lin Cuihua imdiately spat twice.
"Ptui, ptui! It’s fine, it’s fine, I spat it all out."
"We’ll definitely make money. Making money is good."
An Ning chuckled to herself but still said comfortingly, "Don’t worry, Mom. We won’t lose money."
"People always need to eat and drink. Those are the things consud the most and the fastest. We’ll make money."
Next, An Ning pulled An Sancheng and An Guoqing aside to start discussing what to do next.
"Dad, Big Brother, we definitely need to clear the mountain. Let’s go up tomorrow and see what should be kept and what needs to be cleared out."
"Also, we need a barrier around the periter of the mountain. I was thinking of buying so stones from the village to build a wall."
After An Ning finished, An Guoqing added, "The cheapest kind of wall will do. Then we can plant black locust trees on both the inside and outside. That should keep most people out."
"Big Brother is right. Let’s do that."
An Sancheng chid in, "There are quite a few black locust trees on the mountain. We can just transplant so of them."
"I rember there’s also a patch of hazelnut trees on that mountain. We could group them together, in sections. It’s better to plant trees on the mountain anyway. Trees grow better there than grain."
An Ning strongly agreed. A thought struck her. "We could plant fruit trees."
"Fruit trees? Yes, that’s a great idea! I can’t rember the last ti I had fruit."
An Sancheng said with a sigh of nostalgia.
The few of them discussed for a long ti, sharing all their ideas and then combining them.
In the afternoon, An Ning and An Guoqing went straight to Stone Mountain and began to quarry stone.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! The sound of hamrs striking stone echoed through the mountains.
"Little Sister, when we’re clearing our mountain, there will be a lot of stones there too. We can use those then, save ourselves the trouble of hauling them up."
As she was breaking rocks, An Ning realized for the first ti that An Guoqing had a real talent for this.
"Got it, Big Brother."
But they still needed so stones now, so the two of them kept working until the sun set, bathing the mountains in its lingering glow.
An Ning and An Guoqing walked ho together. Halfway there, An Ning made an excuse about going to check on the river, and An Guoqing went ho ahead of her.
An Ning, ostensibly heading to the river, walked to the area behind Jiangxia’s house.
She picked up a stone and threw it into the yard, hitting the outer wall of the house.
"WOOF WOOF!"
"You little brat, how dare you throw—"
Jiang Xia ca out the back door, but his shout died in his throat halfway through.
"An Ning, want a rabbit? I just caught it."
Jiang Xia tried to salvage the situation, smiling sheepishly.
"I’ll take one."
An Ning didn’t stand on ceremony. She beckoned to Jiang Xia, who, looking sowhat obedient yet a little awkward, walked over.
"What’s up? You didn’t really just co for a rabbit, did you?"
"I saw Jiang Dongcheng in the county seat. I ca to give you a heads-up."
As soon as An Ning finished speaking, Jiang Xia’s expression changed instantly, his eyes filled with loathing.
"Thanks. I got it. I’ll go get you that rabbit."
Jiang Xia turned around and ran back in less than a minute, a rabbit in one hand and a grass carp in the other.
"Take these and eat them. I caught a lot."
"Alright, thanks."
An Ning accepted them without any fuss, took the rabbit and the grass carp, and looped back ho around the back of the mountain.
Grandpa Jiang Xia was leaning against the back door, sighing as he spoke to Da Huang.
"Da Huang, looks like it’s just plain rice for us tonight. No more bones for you."
Jiang Xia returned empty-handed and t his grandfather’s teasing gaze. "What’s with that look, old man?" he said defensively.
"This is what you call a fair trade. She brought information, so shouldn’t I give her a thank-you gift?"
"Have you forgotten, sir? You’re the one who taught that."
Grandpa Jiang Xia slapped a hand to his head, feigning confusion.
"Did I say you were wrong? What are you explaining for?"
Jiang Xia’s mouth twitched. He let out a haughty huff.
"I’m going to make dinner!"
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