Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Selling Mushrooms and Chopping Chicken

An Sancheng really meant it!

Wielding a shoe, he chased An Guoming while hopping on one foot, and was somehow still able to keep up.

An Guoming howled as he ran, his legs churning. But miraculously, he managed to trip over his own feet, falling flat on his face every few steps.

This was a first for An Ning. ’In the interstellar age, genetic development made everyone incredibly athletic. I’ve never seen anyone so clumsy.’

"Little Sis—"

An Guoming ran toward An Ning for protection, but she nimbly dodged out of the way.

"If Dad’s hitting you, he must be right."

’An Ning didn’t actually know who was right, but she could tell An Sancheng wasn’t hitting him hard. It just sounded worse than it was.’

’Besides, in the An family, An Sancheng was the big boss, and she was just a grunt. Naturally, she had to listen to the boss.’

An Guoming looked at An Ning, who had dodged him, then his gaze swept across the yard. Everyone avoided his eyes, their expressions screaming, ’I can’t see anything. Don’t look at me. It’s useless even if you do.’

He let out a couple of whimpers, gave up running, and plopped right down on the ground.

"Dad, go ahead and hit me. I can’t run anymore. Another step and I’ll be out of breath."

An Sancheng snorted coldly and put his shoe back on.

"In your dreams! You think I’ll hit you just because you tell me to?"

An Sancheng was just trying to scare his second son. He sat down across from An Guoming, waiting until he’d caught his breath before speaking.

"Second Son, do you know why I hit you?"

"Because I didn’t make any money."

An Sancheng immediately slipped his shoe off again. Just as he was about to strike, An Guoming covered his head and flinched away.

In the end, An Sancheng didn’t strike. He put his shoe back on again and called to the others, "Everyone, inside."

The people outside followed An Sancheng into the house. An Ning was last, pulling An Guoming to his feet.

"Heh heh, Little Sis is the best after all."

An Ning just smiled. ’She didn’t tell An Guoming that she was actually enjoying the show, and it wouldn’t be complete without its star.’

In the west room of the main house, An Sancheng and Lin Cuihua sat on the kang. The three brothers, An Ning, and their eldest sister-in-law stood opposite them.

"Second Son, you’ve been clever since you were a boy, but you always use that cleverness on the wrong things. I know you’re not cut out for village work, and you can’t stomach the hardship of learning a trade. That’s why, even when times were tough for the family, we scraped together money for you to go out and find your own way."

"But what about you? You come back and just tell us you didn’t make any money. We don’t even know what happened. Is it because you think we’re not as smart as you, that we wouldn’t understand even if you told us?"

"But look at why you lost money both times. Was it about being smart? No! It was because you were being stupid!"

An Sancheng’s voice rose uncontrollably as he reached this point.

"I’ve told you all since you were children to rely on each other. If you had just come home and explained things clearly the first time, then taken your big brother or your little brother with you, you wouldn’t have been double-crossed the second time."

"If you can’t do it on your own, why can’t you ask the family for help? If you won’t even talk to your own family, who do you expect will truly help you?"

An Sancheng’s words made An Guoming’s head hang lower and lower.

’He really had been wrong.’

An Ning, who had been planning to enjoy the drama, felt the oppressive atmosphere and didn’t like it. Thinking about what had just been said, she spoke up. "Second Brother, I’ll go with you from now on. I’m strong. I can help you fight."

"Me too, you punk. When we were kids and you got bullied, you knew to come find me. How come now that you’re in real trouble, you’re acting all meek and not saying a word?"

"That’s right, Second Brother. I may not be able to beat Eldest Brother in a fight, but I’m definitely stronger than Sis. I can go with you too." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

As soon as An Guoping finished speaking, he was met with the gazes of several people.

"What? Did I say something wrong?"

An Sancheng smiled. "It’s nothing, you didn’t say anything wrong. Your job right now is to study. You don’t need to worry about anything else. Whether you pass the exam or not, you have to at least try."

An Guoping said, "Oh." He wasn’t confident about the college entrance exams. His grades were good in the village, but in high school, he was only average.

’But he couldn’t shake the feeling that something had happened in the family that he didn’t know about. What was it, though?’

An Guoming raised his head, and with a THUD, knelt down before An Sancheng.

"Dad, I was wrong."

An Sancheng waited a moment, then told An Guoming to get up. "Get up. Remember, brothers must help each other, but you must also keep clear accounts even with your own brother. That’s the only way to go far."

"Alright, everyone get back to what you were doing."

The people in the room all went out, showing they had learned their lesson. An Ning took over the job of tending the fire, pondering An Sancheng’s words.

Lin Cuihua prepared the pheasant. The eldest sister-in-law got the mushrooms, potatoes, and cornmeal ready to make some flatbreads later.

An Sancheng also came out of the house and shouted into the courtyard, "Eldest Son, you and Second Son go sell the mushrooms! Go now and come back quickly."

Outside, An Guoming shot up from his small stool, his eyes a little moist.

"I’ll go right now."

He excitedly got things ready. An Guoqing didn’t bother with any of that; he knew his role: bodyguard.

The two brothers quickly left the courtyard. An Ning felt nothing about not being able to go to town; instead, she asked An Sancheng a question.

"Dad, can we work in the fields tomorrow?"

"Yes. With this much sun, we can work this afternoon."

Hearing they could work in the afternoon, An Ning grew even more energetic.

"Are we still weeding this afternoon?"

An Sancheng shook his head, pointing to the west of the house. "No, I reckon we’ll have to go work on West Mountain."

An Ning nodded. Whatever the task, it was all for the sake of the autumn harvest. She was determined to go.

"An Ning, get Mom a fresh basin of hot water."

"Okay."

An Ning stood up, took the iron basin from Lin Cuihua’s hands, rinsed it clean, then ladled out more than half a basin of hot water from the large iron pot and carried it out.

She watched as Lin Cuihua placed the pheasant, which already had its large feathers removed, into the iron basin. She quickly scalded it, then turned it, plucking the small feathers with her fingers.

Understanding, An Ning squatted down, extended a hand, and helped with precision. With both of them working, it went very quickly.

"You have such good eyes."

Lin Cuihua saw that most of the larger downy feathers were gone and had An Ning carry the chicken into the house. She took out the family’s fire poker, heated it in the stove pit until it was red-hot.

"Quick, quick, sear it."

Lin Cuihua took the red-hot end of the poker and rolled it over the pheasant’s body several times. The finest layer of downy fuzz was mostly burned away, and the kitchen filled with the smell of scorched sparrows.

Finally, it was clean. After another wash, it was ready to be chopped.

"Eldest Son is gone. I’ll have to chop it myself."

Lin Cuihua picked up the cleaver, but before she could start, the chicken was gone from her grasp.

"How should I cut it?"

An Ning held the cleaver in one hand and steadied the pheasant with the other, waiting for Lin Cuihua’s instructions.

Lin Cuihua knew from An Sancheng that An Ning was quite strong.

"First, cut off the head and neck. Then chop it in half. Use a lot of force, or you won’t get through the bones inside."

"Oh... I see."

An Ning held the cleaver, and with a WHACK, the pheasant’s head came off.

But with another BANG, a corner of the cutting board smashed onto the floor.

Lin Cuihua stared at the cutting board on the floor, which had been used for who knows how many years, then looked at An Ning’s raised arm.

"Stop cutting!"

An Ning gave a guilty smile.

"It’s my first time chopping a chicken. I don’t have any experience. I’ll get it on the second try."