Chapter 109: Chapter 109: Big Brother Learns

An Ning first thanked Secretary Cheng, then called Sun Dazhuang over to talk with him.

"Secretary Cheng, could you wait a moment? I’ll go find my cousin."

"An Ning, you stay here. There are plenty of people around; no need for you to go running off."

Sun Dazhuang had a better grasp of social niceties. He gestured for someone else to find An Guocheng, and An Ning took the opportunity to stay put.

Just as expected, Secretary Cheng’s smile widened when he heard this. He turned to Sun Dazhuang and thanked him.

"Thank you, Captain Sun. I’ve delivered the tractor. This is our instructor who drives it. Who do you think should learn how to operate it?"

"Right, right. Let me see... who’s a good fit?"

For a moment, Sun Dazhuang couldn’t think of a suitable person, his eyes scanning the crowd.

"I can drive it."

At An Ning’s words, Secretary Cheng was the first to react. He looked at her and slapped his forehead. "Look at me, of course An Ning can drive it."

"An Ning, you can?"

"Yes."

An Ning nodded with certainty.

Sun Dazhuang was no longer worried. If An Ning knew how, that was all that mattered.

The three of them stood together chatting. It was mostly Secretary Cheng and Sun Dazhuang who spoke, with An Ning just keeping them company.

However, she was a very important presence. Out of every few sentences Secretary Cheng spoke, he would inevitably bring An Ning into the conversation, and she would simply hum in agreement.

"An Guocheng is here!"

An Guocheng was practically sprinting toward An Ning.

"Little Sis, what’s going on?"

"Third Brother, this is Secretary Cheng from the machinery factory. If you’re ready, you can go with him to the factory today. If you aren’t prepared—"

"I’m ready, I’m ready! I’ll go home and get my things right now."

An Guocheng wasn’t stupid; he couldn’t possibly make them wait.

His father had warned him countless times. Even though he was getting this job through his connection to An Ning, he absolutely could not slack off once he was there.

That would bring shame to his Little Sis.

His father told him that once he started, he had to work harder than anyone else, stay grounded, and not get arrogant.

"Alright, we’ll wait for you then."

After An Ning spoke, An Guocheng bowed and nodded at Secretary Cheng before tearing off toward his house.

It didn’t take long at all for him to return.

Following An Guocheng were Uncle An and his family.

"Uncle, Aunt, First Brother, First Sister-in-law, Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law."

An Ning greeted everyone politely. Beside her, Secretary Cheng watched her, a thoughtful expression on his face.

’It seems An Ning has a very good relationship with her uncle’s family. An Guocheng might be worth placing in an important position.’

Secretary Cheng mentally filed this away, planning to report it all to Director Jin when he returned.

After the group exchanged greetings, An Ning got behind the wheel of the tractor. Sun Dazhuang sat in the cargo bed in the back, personally seeing Secretary Cheng off.

An Guocheng, of course, went with them.

The villagers at the entrance to the village watched the tractor chugging away, belching black smoke, and sighed with endless admiration.

"The An family is really something else."

"You can say that again. What’s that old saying? When one person makes it big, even their pigs, dogs, and ducks get to ride their coattails."

"You mean, ’When a man becomes a god, his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven.’"

"Right, right, that’s the one! And An Ning is the one who’s become a god."

The villagers gossiped, filled with a mix of admiration and quiet jealousy, each wondering why it wasn’t their own child who was so successful.

Some of the more opportunistic villagers started getting ideas about An Ning.

After all, An Ning wasn’t married yet.

Many people had the same thought, including the Chen family.

Chen Mingliang watched the new, completely different An Ning, and his heart was in turmoil.

’If he hadn’t gotten together with Miao Xiaohua, would all of this have been his?’

Miao Xiaohua, who had tagged along, gave Chen Mingliang a knowing glance and commented casually, "An Ning is so capable, and so strong, too."

Her words, "and so strong, too," doused most of the fledgling hope in Chen Mingliang’s heart.

He’d been beaten up by An Ning several times, and the image of her crushing a stone with a single stomp was still vivid in his memory.

"Let’s get to work!"

Chen Mingliang stormed off, and Miao Xiaohua followed behind him without a word of complaint.

The crowd gradually dispersed. Jiang Xia, who had been at the very back, also turned and quietly left.

’As expected of my rival. She’s really something.’

Jiang Xia walked away in high spirits. From the look of him, anyone who didn’t know better would have thought he was the one responsible for all this.

Meanwhile, An Ning drove the tractor back toward the village after dropping off Secretary Cheng, the instructor, and her third brother, An Guocheng.

Captain Sun was still sitting in the cargo bed. He looked at the several barrels of oil beside him, his heart filled with a profound sense of awe.

’An Ning... she’s really the most incredible person in all of Shili Gou.’

Director Jin hadn’t just sent them a tractor; he had also included three large barrels of diesel fuel.

When the tractor got back to the village, Sun Dazhuang hopped out of the cargo bed. "An Ning," he asked, "do you want to be the one driving this tractor from now on, or do you have other plans?"

An Ning climbed down from the tractor. "I won’t be driving it. Captain, you should find someone to learn."

Sun Dazhuang had anticipated this and already had a plan.

"How about we have your older brother learn?"

"My older brother?"

An Ning hadn’t considered it, but then she remembered her older brother’s obsession with his bicycle.

"Alright. Let my older brother learn."

An Ning agreed without hesitation. As for whether this was nepotism—well, the tractor was only here because of her, so she felt she had every right to decide who drove it.

Sun Dazhuang immediately went to find people. First, someone to learn how to drive the tractor, and second, people to build a shed for it.

Right now, that machine was more precious than any person.

Before long, An Guoqing came running over.

"Little Sis, I get to drive the tractor?"

An Guoqing was overjoyed. He loved driving.

"You can. I’ll teach you."

An Ning began teaching An Guoqing how to drive the tractor while Sun Dazhuang started on the shed.

The tractor wasn’t difficult to operate, and An Guoqing was a fast learner. He had it down in a single afternoon.

Having passed on her duties, An Ning went off to work in the fields.

The village was bustling with excitement all afternoon.

While An Guoqing practiced, many of the village children clambered into the back, each one beside themselves with excitement.

It wasn’t just the kids; even several of the grown men couldn’t resist hopping on for a few laps.

When the workday ended, the shed for the tractor still wasn’t finished, so it was temporarily parked in the courtyard of the commune office.

However, Captain Sun took the hand crank and all the diesel fuel for safekeeping, ensuring no one could drive it off.

Throughout the night, Captain Sun Dazhuang lost count of how many times he got up just to check if the tractor was still there.

The night passed and the tractor was still there, but Sun Dazhuang had dark circles under his eyes.

Sporting his new dark circles, he went to find An Sancheng to ask about something.

"Lao San, what’s the deal with your boy Guoping? Is he going to school or not?"

"My Guoping?" An Sancheng wiped the sweat from his neck with his towel. "He got into a junior college, but he doesn’t want to go."

"What? He doesn’t want to go?"

Sun Dazhuang hadn’t known An Guoping was accepted into a junior college. Most families would have broadcast such news long ago; only the An family would keep it so quiet.

An Sancheng explained the reasoning, and Sun Dazhuang nodded in understanding. "Well, that’s fine too. An Ning is very capable. It’s good for him to learn from her."

"So what are Guoping’s plans for this year?"