Everyone looked toward the door. Sure enough, An Guoming was back.

An Guoming hadn’t been back since he left to open his small store.

An Guoping was the first one out, and everyone else followed. An Ning, holding Hei Dan’er, put a little hat on him and trailed behind them all.

"Dad, Mom, Big Brother, Sister-in-law."

An Guoming greeted them, and his very next sentence was, "Mom, I’m hungry."

"Hurry inside and eat."

There was no need for formalities with family. They all went back inside one by one. The ever-observant An Guoping went to fetch some water for An Guoming to wash his face.

After washing up, An Guoming looked at Hei Dan’er and asked, "How is Hei Dan’er still so dark?"

"But his eyes have opened up a lot. If you look closely, his features are quite handsome. He looks like one of us."

"How can you tell? I can’t see it."

An Guoqing, the boy’s actual father, was itching to get a closer look.

Unfortunately, Lin Cuihua didn’t give them the chance.

"Alright, hurry up and eat. We can talk after dinner."

"Right, right, eat. I’ve been dreaming of a home-cooked meal."

An Guoming and the others all sat down, filling up the round table. Hei Dan’er played by himself in his playpen.

The playpen had been An Ning’s idea; she’d asked a carpenter to make it.

At first, the family had been against it, calling it a waste of money.

But once it was finished, they discovered how convenient it was. They no longer had to worry about the baby falling off the kang.

Best of all, you could put the playpen anywhere you wanted, so you could watch the child and get work done at the same time.

Hei Dan’er was hardy enough. Lying alone in his playpen with a small wooden toy, he was perfectly content, not disturbing the family’s dinner at all.

For dinner, Lin Cuihua had made a chili and egg sauce and washed a variety of small vegetables to be eaten with it.

She also made a large basin of white rice, washed lettuce leaves, fried peanuts, and cooked potatoes and eggplant, all for making simple rice wraps.

"Go on, eat. We don’t have any napa cabbage leaves, so make do with these lettuce leaves for now."

Everyone started making their wraps, but An Guoming just stared, dumbfounded.

"Mom, where did all these vegetables come from?"

"Where else? We grew them ourselves."

Lin Cuihua skillfully rolled a large wrap, took a big bite with a CRUNCH, and mumbled in satisfaction, her mouth full.

"Mom, this is delicious!"

An Guoping exclaimed after swallowing a mouthful.

"It’s so good."

An Ning chimed in. One bite was incredibly satisfying, and the flavor was just fantastic.

Everyone at the table was eating happily. An Guoming stopped gawking and joined in.

The large lettuce leaves were no smaller than napa cabbage leaves. A finished wrap was as big as a large bowl of rice.

You take the potatoes and eggplant that have been stewed until tender, mix in some chili and egg sauce, add a few peanuts, a sprinkle of cilantro if you like it, and a bit of rice. Then, you stir it all together and wrap it in a lettuce leaf.

Open your mouth as wide as you can and take a bite.

The combined flavors of all the ingredients, plus the crispness and unique taste of the lettuce—delicious.

They were all people who had worked hard all day. By the end of the meal, the feast of rice wraps had turned into a free-for-all.

"Pass me some of those peanuts!"

"Save a bite of rice for me."

"Big Brother, share some with me!"

"The vegetables are gone!"

When the meal was over, even those who hadn’t felt full were rubbing their round bellies. They leaned against the kang and the walls, groaning, unwilling to get up or move an inch.

Lin Cuihua was both amused and exasperated watching them.

"Look at you all. There were plenty of vegetables, wasn’t there? What was there to fight over?"

"A bunch of grown-ups acting like little kids."

Lin Cuihua started clearing the table and washing the dishes, with her daughter-in-law helping.

As for An Ning, she was definitely in the group that couldn’t move.

"Mom, I’m not even married yet. Technically, I’m still a baby."

An Guoming’s shameless remark earned him several glares from Lin Cuihua, who was momentarily at a loss for how to scold him.

"You have the nerve to say that? A young man in his twenties with no girlfriend to speak of. What’s there to be smug about?"

An Guoming lowered his head and said no more.

’I must have eaten myself stupid,’ he thought. ’Why else would I bring up such a sore subject?’

At his age, not being married was a big deal in the village.

Lin Cuihua and An Sancheng were the only ones who didn’t pressure him about it. He had just walked right into the line of fire.

"Hehehe, serves you right."

An Guoqing, who had been gloating on the side, had just finished laughing when he was hit by Lin Cuihua’s indiscriminate friendly fire.

"What are you laughing at? You’re a father now, yet you’re not the least bit mature. Still bickering with a child every day."

An Guoqing, successfully chastened, hung his head. His silent muttering was his last act of defiance.

Lin Cuihua’s gaze swept over to An Guoping and An Ning. The two instantly dodged her eyes and stood up in perfect sync.

"Come on, I’ll help you with your homework problems."

"Sis, there’s a problem I don’t understand."

They spoke at the same time and got up at the same time—a moment of twin-like synchronicity that had started happening more often as An Ning settled in.

"You two are something else. Ganging up to annoy me every single day."

The brother and sister duo quickly fled the scene, escaping Lin Cuihua’s verbal barrage.

An Guoming and An Guoqing didn’t linger either; they also got up and ran.

Lin Cuihua was so exasperated by them she had to laugh. They were all such a handful.

In reality, all four siblings ran out into the yard. None of them went to do chores or study.

"Little Sister, where are our vegetables?"

"In the greenhouses."

An Ning said pointedly, "Should we go take a look?"

"Let’s go!"

The four of them headed toward the greenhouses, ready to check on the vegetables they had planted.

As they walked, An Ning saw many children with baskets or bags, picking "elm coins" from an elm tree.

"What are they picking elm coins for?"

An Ning had never eaten them and didn’t know how they were used.

An Guoqing, An Guoming, and An Guoping, however, all remembered.

"Sis, you can mix this stuff with cornmeal and steam it. It’s edible and tastes pretty good."

"It’s delicious, kind of sweet."

"When we were kids, everyone would go pick them around this time of year. The more you picked, the more it supplemented your grain supply. Use less cornmeal and more elm coins, and you’d have a full meal."

The three brothers explained, and An Ning understood.

"Big Brother, should we pick some to take back?"

"Sure, why not!"

The brothers discussed it and decided to pick some on their way back from the greenhouses.

The group of four soon arrived at the greenhouses. An Ning unlocked the door with a key and led everyone inside.

"It’s only been a few days, and they’ve grown so much! The eggplants are already bearing little eggplants. They were just flowering last time I was here."

An Guoqing squatted down, looking at the lush eggplant plants.

"Little Sister, you’re an amazing farmer. These eggplant stalks look so sturdy, and there isn’t a single insect bite on them. This is great."

An Ning just smiled without a word. She couldn’t explain it. Luck was the only reason.

An Guoming took a look as well. They were indeed good.

’But in his eyes, all he saw was money!’

"Little Sister, did you plant something different in each greenhouse?"

"That’s right. There are thirty greenhouses in total, with twenty-five different types of vegetables."

"How big is each greenhouse?"

"One mu per greenhouse."

With every word An Ning spoke, the greenhouses before him transformed into little sprites, waving at him and offering up money.

They endlessly tempted An Guoming.