Jiang Gougou?

Jiang Xia ignored the name for the moment and retorted, "A different one? You mean I had a nickname before? How come I don’t know about it?"

An Ning looked at Jiang Xia disapprovingly and corrected him with a serious expression, "How could you not know, Da Huang’s big brother?"

After saying this, An Ning’s face blossomed into a smile. The unpleasantness brought on by the Jiang Dongcheng incident was greatly alleviated.

"Jiang Gougou, you can keep lying there comfortably. Goodbye."

Lying in the trench, Jiang Xia didn’t get up, but poked his head out to watch An Ning’s cheerful retreat.

"I fell in a ditch, and that makes you this happy?"

For some reason, he started laughing too.

Grandpa Jiang, who had come out to use the restroom, happened to see Jiang Xia giggling foolishly in the drainage ditch.

"Jiang Xia, have you found yourself a new bed?"

Grandpa Jiang’s teasing finally got Jiang Xia to climb out.

"I was just checking if the drainage ditch was deep enough."

Stubborn as ever, Jiang Xia patted the dirt off his backside and went inside without looking back.

Behind him, Grandpa Jiang muttered suspiciously, "Why has his intelligence been so erratic lately?"

Meanwhile, An Ning returned home in a cheerful mood and ate with her family.

After dinner, she tutored An Guoping. Once it was completely dark, there were no more activities.

After washing up, An Ning returned to her room and sat on the kang.

’When will we finally get electricity?’

With a sigh, An Ning snuggled into her warm blankets, sleeping at the head of the kang.

As the weather grew colder, the head of the kang was true love.

Early the next morning, An Ning was teaching her three students when a call from Director Jin came through.

An Ning put down the chalk in her hand.

"Class is dismissed for today."

The three people sitting across from her naturally had no objections.

An Ning hurried past them and ran out of the courtyard.

Just as she reached the telephone room, the phone began to ring.

"RING RING RING—"

"Hello?"

An Ning snatched up the receiver.

On the other end was Director Jin, his voice laced with anxiety and fury.

"Jiang Dongcheng’s three designs are identical to ours!"

"That son of a bitch! I knew that bastard was no good!"

Director Jin was truly livid!

In the telephone room, however, An Ning was surprisingly calm.

In fact, she was less anxious now than she had been before answering the call.

"Director Jin, I’ll come see you today. We’ll talk more when I get there."

An Ning hung up the phone, as calm as ever. She gave a polite thank you and left the brigade headquarters.

An Ning walked along the dirt path in the early morning, planning her next move in her mind.

Jiang Xia, who had a habit of jogging in the morning, ran toward her from the opposite direction with Da Huang.

"Morning."

"Hm? Morning."

An Ning was a bit distracted.

Jiang Xia, who was about to run past her, stopped and turned around.

"Something wrong?"

An Ning turned as well, looking at Jiang Xia.

"I have some information about Jiang Dongcheng. Do you want to hear it? But let me remind you, I’m on the opposing side to Jiang Dongcheng."

"What a coincidence. So am I."

Jiang Xia’s casual attitude changed in the blink of an eye when he heard Jiang Dongcheng’s name.

His hostility was even stronger than An Ning’s.

So strong, in fact, that you would think they had a life-or-death feud, not that they were father and son.

Jiang Xia glanced around and asked quickly, "What is it?"

An Ning didn’t hide anything. "I designed three pieces of agricultural machinery. Jiang Dongcheng has designed three pieces of machinery that are identical to mine. The blueprints are my blueprints."

Jiang Xia scoffed, an ’I-knew-it’ look on his face.

"That’s Jiang Dongcheng for you. He has no damn skills of his own but insists on pretending to be a genius."

"Most importantly, he’ll sacrifice others to get what he wants."

An Ning could clearly sense that something was off with Jiang Xia’s emotions.

’Could the person who was sacrificed have something to do with Jiang Xia?’

Jiang Xia’s emotional outburst came and went quickly. He calmed himself and looked at An Ning.

"I’m guessing you’re not going to just sit back and take this. Are you heading out of town?"

"Yes, I’m leaving today."

Jiang Xia’s gaze was more serious than ever before.

"An Ning, if I said I want to go with you to take down Jiang Dongcheng, would you be willing to trust me?"

Jiang Xia stared at An Ning without blinking.

"I don’t know, but I can give it a try."

Those words, "give it a try," were enough to satisfy Jiang Xia.

"That’s enough for me. This young master will go with you. I’ll see you at the station in town."

Jiang Xia let out a whistle. Da Huang happily bounded after him as he continued his run.

An Ning didn’t linger. She went home to pack.

’But... I’ll have to cancel class again.’

An Ning felt bad about that, but maybe she didn’t have to cancel it after all.

An Ning quickly arrived back at the An family home and waited for An Guoping, who was busy reciting his lessons.

"Little brother, come here."

"Sis?"

An Guoping, holding a book, looked at An Ning with wide, pleading eyes, like a large puppy.

"I feel like your studies have reached a plateau, so I’m planning a new learning method for you."

An Guoping squatted on the ground, nodding vigorously. He gazed at An Ning, waiting for her to continue.

An Ning felt a little awkward under his intense gaze and said, "I’ve decided that for the next half-month, you’ll complete one test paper every day. And you will be the one to teach the morning lessons to Yin Xuemei and Yang Jianguo."

An Guoping, who had been nodding, stopped. His eyes went wide with disbelief as he pointed a finger at himself.

"Me? Teach?"

"That’s right."

An Ning placed a hand on An Guoping’s shoulder.

"Don’t worry. If I think you’re ready, then you’re ready."

"Trust me."

Just two sentences from An Ning were enough to fill her most loyal fanboy with confidence.

"Sis, don’t worry, I’ll definitely do a good job!"

An Guoping stood up, stretched out his arm, and made a charging-forward pose.

"I will not betray your trust!"

An Ning felt a mix of awkwardness and guilt, but her strong emotional control allowed her to give a confident nod and walk away.

She left him with only her back to look up to in admiration.

From start to finish, An Guoping didn’t suspect a thing.

Lin Cuihua had already made breakfast, and everyone sat down to eat together.

As breakfast was winding down, An Ning spoke up.

"Dad, Mom, I need to make a trip to the county seat. It will probably take a few days. I’m not sure exactly how long, but I’ll call back once I’m there."

"Alright."

"Go ahead."

An Sancheng and Lin Cuihua accepted this very calmly; you could even say they were already used to it.

An Ning was slightly surprised but didn’t dwell on the reason.

She finished the food in her bowl in a few quick bites, packed a simple bag, slung a backpack over her shoulders, and got ready to leave.

When An Guoping, on his bicycle, had escorted An Ning to the station, he watched her back as she boarded the bus.

’Something’s not quite right here.’

It was finally starting to dawn on An Guoping. If An Ning was gone, she naturally couldn’t teach them.

’No, this must mean I’ve really improved.’

Clinging to this thought, An Guoping turned his bicycle around on the spot and rode away.

Meanwhile, as soon as An Ning got on the bus, she spotted Jiang Xia.

She sat down next to him. Neither said much as the bus started moving.

A little over two hours later, the bus stopped at the county seat’s bus station, and the two of them got off together.

Next to the bus, Jiang Xia stood wearing a hat and a high-collared jacket, a backpack slung over his shoulders.

"Where are you headed?"

"The machinery factory."

"I’m going to find Jiang Dongcheng. I won’t mention you. I’ll keep him tied up in the county seat."

An Ning understood Jiang Xia’s plan.

"Alright. Let’s be in touch."

An Ning turned and left, heading toward the machinery factory.

Jiang Xia pulled his hat down a little lower, took a deep breath, and went to find Jiang Dongcheng.

Jiang Dongcheng had only one reason for coming to the county seat: Jiang Xia.

Jiang Xia was well aware of this and had a good idea of where to find him.

The two of them, one heading north and the other south, walked further and further apart.

After arriving at the machinery factory, An Ning went straight to Director Jin’s office.

Director Jin had been waiting for An Ning. When she pushed the door open, Master Zhang Qihua was there as well.

"An Ning’s here! Come in, quick."

Master Zhang Qihua closed the door, and the three of them talked inside, their conversation unheard.

An hour later, Master Zhang Qihua stood at the entrance, waving at a truck.

An Ning and Director Jin were both on it, heading for the city.