Chapter 24: Chapter 24: Turns Out Money Is Really Important

Sun Dazhuang agreed, and An Ning immediately perked up. She was deeply interested in anything related to farming.

"Captain, I need three iron posts, three meters long and twenty centimeters thick; one hundred meters of steel cable; four spur gears with a module of one millimeter, an addendum of one millimeter, and a dedendum of 1.5 millimeters; and I also need..."

"Hold on!"

An Ning looked directly at Sun Dazhuang, who had cut her off, and asked in confusion, "What’s wrong?"

’What’s wrong?’

Sun Dazhuang wanted to know what was wrong, too. Never mind that he hadn’t understood most of it—he didn’t even have the steel cables and iron posts she mentioned at the beginning.

"An Ning, do you think our village has any of that stuff? We don’t even have enough hoes to work the fields."

"We don’t?"

An Ning didn’t understand the local level of technology. All she knew was that Ancient Earth had a vast variety of crops, which in her mind already made it an incredible place.

"Then what does our village have?"

Sun Dazhuang spread his hands. "Nothing. The stuff you’re talking about is only found in big city factories. We don’t have access to things like that. Besides, all of it costs a lot of money."

’So that’s how it is?’

An Ning recalled what her second brother, An Guoming, had said: you can’t do anything without money. It turned out to be true.

Suddenly, she connected the dots in her mind.

Quarrying stones was to get money. Getting money was to buy fertilizer. Buying fertilizer was for farming. Therefore, she had to earn money to be able to farm better.

"I understand now, Captain."

An Ning shouldered her basket and prepared to go back up the mountain. Today, she would haul stones. Tomorrow, she would work in the fields, and she also needed to find her second brother to figure out a way to make money.

"Huh? Why are you going up the mountain again? I can’t give you that many work points. The most you can get is twelve."

With the basket on her back, An Ning reached the foot of the mountain and glanced back with a smile so brilliant it was dazzling.

"It’s fine. I want to trade for more fertilizer."

She turned and headed up the mountain.

Down below, Sun Dazhuang was momentarily touched by An Ning’s words. ’What a silly kid,’ he thought.

An Ning spent the whole afternoon hauling stones on the mountain. She lost count of how many trips she made up and down. By evening, even with her superb constitution, she was exhausted.

On her last trip down the mountain, she could feel her calves trembling.

After delivering her final basket of stones, a brilliant smile lit up her grimy little face.

"Captain, I’m done hauling for today."

"I told you to stop long ago. Hurry home now. Can you still walk?"

Over the course of the afternoon, Sun Dazhuang’s impression of An Ning had improved immensely. He looked at her with concern, then shouted to An Sancheng in the distance:

"An Sancheng, hurry up and go home!"

"Everyone, head back! Stop working."

The people on the mountain started to come down one after another. An Sancheng moved a bit faster because he saw that An Ning had stopped.

So many people had tried to persuade An Ning to stop that afternoon, but she always insisted she still had energy.

"Daughter, what’s wrong?"

An Sancheng looked at An Ning worriedly. An Ning shook her head. She was already feeling much better. After circulating her spiritual power a few times, she was mostly fine.

"I’m fine. I’ve finished my work and I’m ready to go home."

"Really?"

An Sancheng didn’t quite believe her, but it wasn’t his place to check. He decided he would ask Lin Cuihua to take a look at her when they got home.

"Alright, hurry on home. Everyone go get some proper rest."

With Sun Dazhuang’s dismissal, everyone started heading home. Soon, only Sun Dazhuang and the village’s Accountant Liu were left.

"Liu, for that young An Ning, find a way to make up the rest of her work points for today."

"Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to record it."

After they agreed, they packed up and headed home as well.

Meanwhile, An Ning walked the fastest, occasionally looking back at An Sancheng and An Guoqing behind her.

"Dad, Big Brother, I’m heading back first."

"Okay, okay, you go on ahead."

Behind her, An Guoqing watched the fast-walking An Ning with envy.

"Little Sister’s even stronger than me now."

An Sancheng nodded. Watching An Ning disappear around a bend, he said, "She must take after your grandpa. Back in his day, your grandpa was unbelievably strong. None of us could compare."

"Really? Stronger than an ox?"

"Just about."

"Wow, that’s seriously strong. I know I couldn’t beat an ox. I wonder if Little Sister could?"

The two of them debated the topic of who was stronger—a person or an ox—all the way home.

As they entered the courtyard, An Sancheng didn’t see An Ning. He first called over Lin Cuihua and whispered a few words to her. Lin Cuihua nodded, then picked up a basin and went to the backyard.

In the backyard, An Ning was cutting chives.

"An Ning, come here."

Crouching on the ground, An Ning turned around and held up the small sickle in her hand. "I’m not done cutting yet."

"I know. Leave it there and come here first."

An Ning didn’t know why, but she put down the sickle and went over to Lin Cuihua.

"Mom, what did you need me for?"

"Come on."

An Ning followed Lin Cuihua into her own room. Lin Cuihua turned, shut the door, and even drew the curtains.

’What is she going to do?’

An Ning watched Lin Cuihua in complete confusion.

"Take off your clothes, let me see."

"Take off my clothes to see what?"

"What else? To look at your shoulders. To see if they’re scraped raw."

As Lin Cuihua spoke, she felt a mix of anger and distress.

"I thought you were just going along to watch. Even if you were going to work, you shouldn’t have done so much!"

"You blockhead. You’re driving me crazy."

Hearing Lin Cuihua’s words, An Ning immediately tried to defend her, saying:

"Mom, don’t be angry. I’ll go beat up this ’blockhead’ to vent your anger for you."

For a moment, mother and daughter stared at each other. An Ning was ready to avenge Lin Cuihua, while Lin Cuihua was so amused by An Ning’s unique response that she burst out laughing.

"HAHAHA, you... you’re hilarious! Alright, alright, I won’t scold you anymore. Hurry and take it off, let me have a look."

An Ning obediently started to take off her clothes. Watching Lin Cuihua, who couldn’t stop laughing, she figured she must have misunderstood something again. ’But what on earth does ’blockhead’ mean?’

She didn’t quite dare to ask, so she could only listen in confusion.

"Hm? There’s nothing wrong?" Lin Cuihua glanced at An Ning’s shoulders. They were fair and unblemished. There wasn’t a single red mark, even after she’d been hauling things all afternoon.

"Did you even work? Is your father just codding me?"

Lin Cuihua’s first instinct was to suspect An Sancheng, but then she wondered what reason he would have to lie about this.

"Cuddling you? When did Dad cuddle you?"

Lin Cuihua, who had already been confused, was once again left speechless by An Ning’s interpretation. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and a slight blush even appeared on her face.

"What nonsense are you spouting? When did your dad ever cuddle me?"

After saying this, Lin Cuihua opened the door to leave, not forgetting to shout, "Get back to cutting those chives!"

"I was already cutting the chives," An Ning muttered.

An Ning got dressed, came out of the room, and went back to the yard to continue cutting chives.

An Ning took the fresh chives and cleaned them with her sister-in-law.

That evening, Lin Cuihua made scrambled eggs with chives. There were also some small greens that had grown in the yard over the past couple of days, which they washed and ate dipped in soybean paste. The staple food was watery sorghum rice.

After dinner, her second brother, An Guoming, asked An Ning, "Little Sister, are you still going to the literacy class?"

"I am!"