Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Stones for Fertilizer

An Ning was oblivious to the man’s silent complaints. As she carried her second basket of stones down the mountain, the villagers she passed gawked, their eyes wide with disbelief.

An Sancheng also watched An Ning. He knew her strength had grown—he had seen and felt it for himself—but he was still in a bit of a daze.

"An Ning, once you’ve done enough, you should go home."

An Sancheng couldn’t help but add. An Ning, who was carrying the bamboo basket, stopped in her tracks. She turned her head and said knowingly, "Dad, I’ll be over to help you in a minute."

With that, An Ning walked away, even quickening her pace. An Sancheng reached out a hand, muttering, "That’s not what I meant."

’He was just trying to show he cared for his daughter, alright?’

"Dad, how can you make my little sister help you?"

An Guoqing, who was standing to the side, took her at her word and shot An Sancheng a disapproving look.

"If you can’t handle the work, come get me."

An Guoqing’s muttering wasn’t quiet at all, and before An Sancheng could even argue, the people nearby chimed in, agreeing wholeheartedly.

"Lao San, that’s no way to work your daughter."

"You got that right. Here in Shili Gou, we don’t treat our girls so rough."

"It doesn’t matter if she’s strong. This is work that requires endurance. You can’t let An Ning keep at it like this."

An Sancheng couldn’t get a word in to defend himself. ’I didn’t!’

"I know, I didn’t—"

"Lao San!"

Hearing his name, An Sancheng looked to his left. It was Uncle An, An Dacheng, staring at him with a dark expression.

An Sancheng’s heart sank. ’I’m done for,’ he thought. ’Big Brother is mad.’

An Sancheng reluctantly walked over and spent a long time explaining himself to An Dacheng. Just as An Ning returned with her empty basket, An Dacheng beckoned her over.

An Ning was very obedient. Carrying the basket, her steps were light as she trotted over the rocks.

"Slow down!"

An Sancheng cried out in alarm, and a flicker of worry also crossed Uncle An’s eyes.

The An family only had this one girl.

"Uncle, Dad, is something the matter?"

An Ning stood obediently and greeted the two of them. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"An Ning, was it your dad who told you to come carry stones?"

"Yes, I’m going to help him in a bit."

Thinking her uncle was about to stop her from working, An Ning immediately used her father as a shield. Standing to the side, An Sancheng felt like even ten mouths wouldn’t be enough to explain the situation.

’He hadn’t. He really, really hadn’t.’

Uncle An shot An Sancheng a fierce glare before turning to An Ning with his most pleasant smile.

"An Ning, you don’t need to do this work. Your dad can handle it himself."

An Ning didn’t understand why everyone was trying to stop her from working.

’In the interstellar age, all humans were genetically modified. Tasks were assigned based on ability, not gender.’

"Uncle, why are we carrying stones?"

An Ning didn’t rush to answer his question, instead asking one she was more concerned about.

"Ah, that." Uncle An sat on a rock and gestured for An Ning to squat down.

As soon as An Ning squatted, An Sancheng started to squat beside her, but a sharp look from Uncle An made him spring back up instantly.

"Heh... well, I’ll just, uh, get back to work."

An Ning watched An Sancheng’s retreating back thoughtfully. ’It seems the highest authority in the An family isn’t Dad.’

She retracted her gaze, looking at Uncle An with the wonder of someone who had just discovered a new continent.

Uncle An, completely oblivious to the gears turning in An Ning’s mind, simply explained, "This whole West Mountain is covered in these rocks. There’s a plant in the county that wants to buy them from the village. We’ll use the money we save to buy fertilizer."

’Fertilizer?’

An Ning didn’t understand and asked directly, "What’s fertilizer?"

"Fertilizer... it’s something you spread on the crops to make them grow well and increase the yield."

An Ning had a sudden realization. So fertilizer was for crops! She shot to her feet.

"Uncle, I’m strong. I’m willing to work."

With that, An Ning was even more motivated. She slung the basket on her back and started loading rocks, moving even faster than before.

Uncle An watched An Ning quickly fill a basket and head down the mountain. ’What did I say?’ he wondered. ’How did she end up working even harder than before?’

’I was clearly trying to persuade her to go home.’

An Sancheng had appeared silently by Uncle An’s side at some point. He asked, a little cheekily, "Big Brother, what did you say to her?"

"Weren’t you telling her to go home? How come she’s working even more enthusiastically now?"

"Nonsense! If the kid’s capable, are you going to stop her?!"

Uncle An declared righteously, shooting An Sancheng a disdainful look. "What are you gawking at? Get back to work!"

An Sancheng dejectedly walked back to his spot and started working, also with renewed vigor.

’Even if I can’t beat An Ning, I can’t lose too much face.’

For a while, everyone on West Mountain was working with exceptional energy. But after half an hour, that momentum slowly faded.

’Can’t compete. Just can’t compete.’

Every one of them was dog-tired, but An Ning’s speed over there hadn’t slowed a bit. ’Doesn’t she get tired?’

When An Ning was carrying her tenth basket of stones down the mountain, Sun Dazhuang, who had been waiting nearby, stopped her.

"An Ning, take a break. Take a break."

After dumping out the stones, An Ning straightened up. She turned to look at Team Leader Sun Dazhuang and said in a steady voice, "Team Leader, I’m not tired."

"No! I’m getting tired just watching you. You have to rest."

Sun Dazhuang’s eyes showed he wasn’t joking. Given that he was the highest authority here, An Ning carried her basket over and sat on a rock.

Three minutes later, she went to get up, but Sun Dazhuang stopped her again.

"It’s not time yet. Wait a little longer."

An Ning looked up, confused. "Time for what?"

Sun Dazhuang sat down on a nearby rock and said, "An Ning, the most anyone on this mountain carries in a day is ten baskets of stones. I give them twelve work points for that, and that’s the maximum."

"If you keep carrying more, I can still only give you twelve points. I can’t give you any more. Just do enough and call it a day."

Sun Dazhuang’s main concern was that he felt embarrassed having a young girl do so much work for a mere twelve work points.

Forced to rest, An Ning sat on the rock, gazing at West Mountain before her.

In her mind, the entire outline of West Mountain was gradually absorbed, forming digitized lines.

"Team Leader, why don’t we use tools?"

"Huh?"

Sun Dazhuang grunted without turning his head. "Don’t we have baskets?"

"This thing might not look sturdy, but it’s free. We can make them ourselves."

An Ning stood up and walked over to Sun Dazhuang’s side.

"I’m not talking about the baskets. I mean we could use a pulley to transport the stones down the mountain. It wouldn’t require manual labor, it would be faster, and we could move more stones."

"More stones means more fertilizer, a bigger harvest, and more seeds."

"A pul-what?"

Sun Dazhuang glanced at West Mountain and continued, "We’ve always done it this way. We don’t know any other way."

"Can I try?"

An Ning was willing to do anything that benefited farming and seeds.

’A simple pulley system isn’t hard to make.’

Sun Dazhuang didn’t really understand, but he gathered that An Ning wasn’t going to be carrying stones anymore.

"Alright, go ahead and rig something up."