Chapter 88: Chapter 88: First Time Cooking

"Hiss—"

"So despicable."

"Lacking? He doesn’t have a single shred of decency."

"Even if you split your eyes in half, you still couldn’t stand the sight of him."

Many of the spectating villagers curled their lips in disgust. They despised Gao Guangzong through and through, and by extension, the entire Gao family.

The captain who’d come over was also thoroughly disgusted.

In this part of the country, it was one thing to dote on your sons, but no one treated their daughters so atrociously.

And that wasn’t even getting into people like Gao Guangzong, whose actions were utterly inhuman.

"Gao Guangzong, do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"I didn’t know Gao Guifen was pregnant!"

The moment Gao Guangzong screamed that out, An Guoqing charged forward to beat him up.

The captain made a show of trying to hold him back, looking for all the world like he was giving it his all but just couldn’t manage, and let An Guoqing rush past.

An Guoqing was fast, ruthless, and precise. A single punch landed squarely on Gao Guangzong’s nose, and bright red blood instantly started to flow.

Gao Guangzong howled in pain as his parents desperately shielded him, tucking him beneath their bodies.

"Go on and hit us! If you’ve got the guts, then beat us to death!"

"Guangzong, Guangzong!"

The old couple had just finished shouting when two more women rushed in, planting themselves in front of Gao Guangzong with looks of anguish.

"An Guoqing, what right do you have to hit Guangzong!"

"That’s right! You bastard, hit me! Go on, hit me!"

One of the women puffed out her chest and threw herself at An Guoqing.

An Guoqing backed away in disgust. ’What a shameless bunch.’

"SLAP!"

An Ning rushed out, stepping in front of An Guoqing. She swung her hand in a slap, then blinked her pretty eyes and said, "You told me to."

"I can even give you another one, free of charge."

"SLAP!"

With another slap, the woman spun in a full circle, too dizzy to get her bearings.

Behind An Ning, An Guoqing’s eyes lit up. ’This is great!’

Every time a fight broke out, those two sisters would pull the same stunt, even daring to strip off their clothes in the dead of winter. It always left him completely helpless.

But now, things were different. Their family had a little sister.

"Alright, alright, everyone stop! Stop fighting."

The captain finally stepped forward again to resolve the matter.

In the end, the Gao family had to give five hens, thirty-seven eggs, a pound of brown sugar, and three pounds of millet as compensation. They handed over every nourishing food item they could find in their house.

As they left, An Guoqing looked at Gao Guangzong with a hint of regret. The punk was always being cradled and protected by his elders.

’But there will come a time when they can’t protect you.’

The members of the An family departed in a large, imposing group.

An Ning followed behind them, a chicken in each hand. Other villagers helped carry the rest of the items.

When the group got back to their village, An Guoqing thanked everyone who had helped.

They all waved his thanks away, telling him to just call on them again next time.

After An Guoqing had seen everyone off, An Ning approached him curiously. "Big Brother, don’t we need to give them thank-you gifts?"

"What gifts?"

An Guoqing was even more baffled than An Ning.

"For helping us. Don’t we need to give them something to show our gratitude?"

"Oh, that—no, we don’t. Next time they have a problem, we’ll do the same for them. Dad says that’s what being part of a clan is all about."

An Ning nodded, indicating she understood.

The three of them returned home. An Guoqing got on his bicycle, took two of the slaughtered chickens, and headed for the hospital.

That left An Guoping, An Sancheng, An Guoming, and An Ning at home.

However, An Guoming went out for a stroll to stretch his legs.

Now, in the kitchen, the three of them faced a choice: who was going to cook?

An Ning was eager to give it a try, and An Sancheng, not wanting to crush her confidence, let her.

An Ning recalled how Lin Cuihua cooked. She mixed some cornmeal, preparing to make griddle cakes.

She started a stew in the pot with potatoes, cabbage, and glass noodles. There was no meat for the time being.

The whole process seemed to be going smoothly until a pungent, choking smell wafted out.

"Sis, it’s burning!"

An Guoping had smelled it from another room. He rushed in, panicking, and yanked the lid off the pot.

An Ning got up as well and peered into the pot.

"COUGH, COUGH—"

"COUGH, COUGH—"

The brother and sister coughed one after another. Black smoke was billowing out of the pot.

When the smoke finally cleared, An Sancheng appeared and glanced into the pot.

"What are you two doing, making charcoal?"

An Sancheng casually picked up a piece of firewood from the floor and tapped it against the pitch-black, unidentified object in the pot.

A crisp tapping sound rang out.

"It’s pretty solid."

An Sancheng then looked at the cakes stuck to the side of the pot. He casually broke one off and, out of curiosity, tapped it against the pot’s rim.

"Holy shit!"

"Dad, the pot’s broken."

A small chip had appeared on the rim of the pot, a perfect match for the edge of the corncake.

"Impressive. If the village pickaxes ever break, honey, this skill of yours will finally be useful."

An Ning was mortified. She was sure she had followed Lin Cuihua’s process exactly. ’So what went wrong?’

It was the first time she’d ever tried to learn something and not only failed but ended up creating a weapon of destruction.

"How about... I try again?"

"Don’t!"

"No need!"

An Sancheng and An Guoping said different things, but their tone was identical.

The three of them looked at each other and finally couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

"Fire! Help!"

"Fire! Help!"

The sudden shouts of "Fire!" from the courtyard sent the three of them rushing outside. ’Whose house is on fire now?’

"SPLASH—"

An entire bucket of water splashed all over An Sancheng, and An Guoping, who was behind him, got caught in the spray.

"Sis, don’t come out!"

"Honey, don’t come out."

The first thought for both of them was to tell An Ning to stay inside; it wouldn’t be good for her to get wet.

The person who had thrown the water was none other than Uncle An. The moment he saw An Sancheng, he knew there had been a misunderstanding.

"What in the world are you doing? I saw the black smoke from a mile away."

It had scared him half to death.

An Sancheng wiped the water from his face. "Lao San insisted on cooking. He didn’t do a good job, so this happened."

An Guoping was instantly thrown under the bus by his father. Before An Ning, who was standing behind him, could say a word, An Guoping spoke up. "I don’t know how to cook either. I messed it up."

Standing behind them in the black smog, An Ning started to laugh. ’How could she not love this family?’

In any case, since there was no actual fire, the villagers took their tools and left.

As for the An family, Uncle An took them back to his house for dinner.

An Sancheng actually knew how to cook. His skills were average, but at least he could make something edible.

But just as he was about to start, he discovered that An Ning’s cooking had burned a hole straight through their large iron wok.

When An Ning saw the hole, she wished she could find a crack in the floor to crawl into. ’This is so humiliating.’

So, the family of four went to eat at their uncle’s house.

His wife, their aunt, had specially prepared a large platter of scrambled eggs with green onions for them—the best food they had in the house.

After finishing the meal, the four of them prepared to head home.

An Ning gazed at the distant mountain peaks. ’I should make a trip up there,’ she thought, ’and look for that ginseng.’

’She still remembered the doctor’s words.’