Da Huang left proudly. Jiang Xia’s mouth rounded wide once more. She cupped her hands around it, and another howl rang out.
An Ning walked ahead, smiling. An Jing, who was trailing behind, finally gave in after the third howl and followed after An Ning.
One walking in front of the other, the two arrived at Uncle An’s house. An Ning kept playing outside while An Jing went into the house.
Around one in the afternoon, Aunt An called everyone to co and eat.
The two children cheered and ran inside. The group of adults and children who had been playing outside, all covered in sweat, followed suit, rushing into the house.
Aunt An, carrying a large bowl of food, called out with a beaming smile.
"Look at the state of your clothes! Hurry up and wash your hands. It’s ti to eat."
All the washbasins in Aunt An’s house were brought out. SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH—the sound of water was constant. After everyone washed up, they took off their thick padded jackets and got ready to eat.
Two round tables were set up in Aunt An’s house: one on the kang and one on the floor.
The group of n who were drinking all gathered around the table on the floor, toasting each other and taking their ti with the al.
The won, children, and the non-drinking An Guoping all sat at the table on the kang.
An Ning was the last to join the table, carrying twelve bottles of orange soda.
THUD—CLINK, CLANK.
The sound of the bottles clinking together was exceptionally crisp.
An Ning casually grabbed a bottle of soda, flicked the cap with two fingers, and with a FIZZ, it popped off.
An Guoping, who had been about to use the edge of the kang to pry a bottle open, dusted off his hands and climbed onto the kang.
’This job... really doesn’t require my help.’
"Wow, An Ning, you’re really skilled with your hands."
Aunt An praised her, and An Ning handed her a bottle of soda with a beaming smile.
"Aunt An, this is for you."
"Oh, wonderful. Our An Ning is the best."
Aunt An took the soda and set it on the table, waiting for everyone else.
Then, with a series of FIZZES, An Ning opened bottles for everyone, including Du Guijuan and An Jing.
The n at the table on the floor, however, didn’t need An Ning’s help. They opened their own beer bottles, knocking the caps against a stool and popping them open with a smack of their palms.
Seeing she wasn’t needed, An Ning took off her shoes, climbed onto the kang, and got ready to eat.
Once everyone was seated and all the glasses and bottles were full, Uncle An stood up, raising his glass.
"I’m not much for speeches, but it’s the New Year. I hope each year is better than the last for all of us, and that our lives are prosperous and bright. Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
Everyone raised their glasses, bowls, or bottles high, shouting "Cheers!" The al had officially begun.
At the table on the kang, Aunt An also raised her soda bottle and said a few words.
"It’s the New Year, so let’s all be happy. We should celebrate it properly."
"As the saying goes: eat well, drink well, and have a good ti. Cheers!"
Everyone raised their drinks again, took a small sip, and then picked up their chopsticks to eat.
There were ten dishes on the table, a number symbolizing perfection.
Braised carp, pork ribs stewed with green beans, red-braised pork belly, chicken with wild mushrooms, stir-fried sliced conch, braised prawns, atball and shrimp ball soup, a platter of deep-fried treats, shredded potato with celery, and scrambled eggs with garlic sprouts.
The ten dishes were mostly served in large bowls.
Bai Jingjing’s rice, two huge basins of it, was placed on the kang for everyone to help themselves.
An Ning’s family and Uncle An’s family were used to such dishes, but An Ercheng’s family of three was so astonished they didn’t know where to start.
Du Guijuan had her suspicions, but she didn’t have the full picture. She had tried to probe for information while the al was being prepared, but no one had engaged.
Now she was looking for an opportunity to ask. Not getting a clear answer was really bugging her.
She’d thought they were just poor farr relatives, but they were now living ten, even a hundred tis better than her family. The stark contrast made her heart itch with envy.
Not even a table laden with delicacies could distract Du Guijuan from her troubled thoughts. She casually picked up a piece of sothing and put it in her mouth.
A second later, her face twisted in a pained grimace.
It was a piece of ginger.
The piece of ginger was as thick as her little finger. Du Guijuan hated the taste, but mindful of the unpredictable An Ning, she didn’t dare spit it out.
She forced herself to swallow it and quickly ate a few bites of other food to get rid of the taste.
But before she could start probing, An Ercheng, from the table below, spoke up.
"Big Brother, where did you get this seafood?"
The one difference between An Ercheng and Du Guijuan was that he didn’t feel any jealousy.
He was happy that his older and younger brothers’ families were doing well, not envious.
Uncle An answered openly, "Guoming brought it back from the south."
An Ercheng glanced over.
An Guoming, sitting diagonally opposite, imdiately raised his hand. "Second Uncle, I’m An Guoming."
"Ah... you’ve all grown into young n. I almost didn’t recognize you."
An Ercheng asked a few more questions and learned that An Guoming worked at the county’s textile factory. An Guoming didn’t ntion that he was also running a side business trading goods.
But that alone was enough to earn An Ercheng’s admiration for quite so ti.
"Impressive, very impressive. Our county’s textile factory is second only to the machinery plant."
An Guoming spoke as if he’d just rembered sothing. "Guocheng is at the machinery plant. The benefits there are pretty good, right, Guocheng?"
An Guocheng had gotten five days off, a special approval from his supervisor.
He was gnawing on a chicken foot and quickly put it down to say, "Yeah, it’s great. They even gave us New Year’s gift packages."
As the table on the floor continued their conversation, Du Guijuan, at the kang table, listened intently. Without realizing it, she ate another piece of ginger.
She had just swallowed it when a huge chunk of ginger landed in her bowl.
An Ning smiled sweetly and said, "I saw you’ve already had a few pieces, Second Auntie. You must like it, so please, have so more."
"I can’t do it. I can’t stand ginger myself. You’re amazing, Second Auntie. It’s good for your health, too."
Having made a perfectly logical point, An Ning used a pair of serving chopsticks to give her the ginger. She then put those down, switched back to her own chopsticks, gave Du Guijuan an innocent smile, and resud eating.
Du Guijuan was in a bind, but she still managed a forced smile, picked up the piece of ginger, and put it in her mouth.
An Ning kept her head down, seemingly focused on her food, but a subtle smile flickered in her eyes.
"Mom, you can have mine, too."
An Jing, oblivious to the situation, also passed the piece of ginger she had accidentally picked up to Du Guijuan.
For a mont, Du Guijuan’s heart went cold.
’It’s one thing for An Ning not to know, but for my own daughter not to know that I don’t eat ginger...’
An Jing genuinely didn’t know; or rather, she had simply never paid attention. She just wanted to do what An Ning was doing.
Du Guijuan had barely eaten a few bites of the actual food, but she’d already choked down six or seven pieces of ginger.
"I cut the ginger into big chunks on purpose," Aunt An chid in, "so people who don’t like it wouldn’t pick it up by mistake. I had no idea you liked it so much!"
"Next ti I’ll make you stir-fried pork with shredded ginger."
Aunt An’s words made Du Guijuan’s smile beco even more forced as she struggled to utter a single word: "Okay."
An Ning kept her head down and continued eating, but after witnessing everything that had happened, she ca to a conclusion. ’Aunt An is the most impressive one here.’
After stewing for a while, Du Guijuan finally couldn’t take it anymore and spoke up.
"An Ning, we’ve t before in the county town, haven’t we?"
’Here it cos,’ An Ning thought.
She looked up, feigning ignorance. "Have we? Where? I don’t recall."
"It was at the savings bank. You ca in to make a deposit, and I was the one who handled the transaction for you."
Putting her acting skills on full display, An Ning’s mouth fell slightly open as if in sudden realization.
"Oh, so that was you, Second Auntie!"
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