An Sancheng made the final decision, and the matter was settled for now.

After a quick lunch, An Ning, for once, didn’t go to work in the fields. Instead, she stayed home and looked through all of An Guoping’s textbooks.

An Guoping didn’t dare make a sound, just stared at An Ning from the side. Only when An Ning closed the last book did he finally venture to ask, "Sis, do you get it?"

An Ning turned her head and looked at An Guoping with her calm, dark eyes. "I do."

"But, wait a minute. I need to find some other books to read."

Without a moment’s delay, An Ning got on her bicycle and left.

She left An Guoping alone in the room to look over his books, completely baffled.

’Did she actually finish reading them or not?’

He tidied up the books and went out to the fields to work.

In the An family, only one person recovering from an injury and another who was pregnant remained at home, with Lin Cuihua acting as their caretaker.

Meanwhile, An Ning had cycled out of the village and, partway to her destination, ran into a profusely sweating Jiang Xia, who was jogging.

He was also heading toward town.

Thinking of their partnership, An Ning called out directly, "Jiang Xia, I’ll give you a ride."

Jiang Xia saw An Ning ahead and immediately refused. "I don’t need it. A guy with my stamina needs a ride?"

Jiang Xia was just being stubborn; in reality, he didn’t want to be a bother to An Ning.

They weren’t related or particularly close, just a young man and woman. In those days, a woman giving a man a ride on the back of her bicycle was far too intimate an act. It just wasn’t done.

Unfortunately, An Ning didn’t know what Jiang Xia was thinking. Having been refused, she asked calmly, "Are you in a hurry?"

"Yes!"

Jiang Xia ran past An Ning.

An Ning pedaled hard to catch up, then hopped off and pushed the bicycle toward Jiang Xia.

"You can borrow it. Don’t break it."

This time, Jiang Xia didn’t hesitate. He swung a long leg over the frame and shouted to An Ning, "Thanks!"

He pedaled furiously and rode off.

Now without her bicycle, An Ning walked behind, planning to look for books at the bookstore. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

When she arrived in town, she went to the bookstore first, but the owner advised her to go to the scrap station instead.

"It’s cheaper there. With books, new or old, the knowledge inside is the same. If you can’t find what you need there, you can always come back here to buy it."

"Thank you, I understand."

An Ning left the bookstore and went to the scrap station.

She really did find a lot of what she needed there. There were even some very advanced books that had been carelessly tossed aside to be sold as scrap.

As An Ning sifted through the piles, she ended up buying more and more.

When they were weighed, the total came out to a staggering 187 pounds.

The old man running the scrap station was astonished.

"Are you buying these to use as firewood?"

"No, I’m going to read them."

The old man looked up again, glancing from An Ning to the books and back.

"How long is that going to take you to read?"

The old man took her ten yuan, and An Ning took all the books. She also got a burlap sack from him and stuffed it until it was bulging.

"Do you have a cart? How are you going to get all that back?"

An Ning reached out and grabbed a corner of the sack.

"I’ll carry it on my back."

To the old man’s utter astonishment, An Ning lifted the sack, swung it onto her back, grabbed a corner to steady it, and started walking.

"Goodbye, sir."

"G-g-goodbye."

The old man shook his head.

’Well, I’ll be. Lived all these years and never seen anything like that before.’

The old man fanned himself with his cattail fan and sat back down in his rocking chair.

Meanwhile, An Ning, with the large burlap sack on her back, began the walk home.

As luck would have it, she ran into Jiang Xia again.

They tied the burlap sack to the bicycle’s rear rack. Jiang Xia patted the sack and asked, "Are these books?"

"Yes."

That wasn’t the answer Jiang Xia was looking for, so he had to press on. "What did you buy all these books for? Kindling?"

An Ning was a little confused herself. "Why does everyone assume I’m going to burn them? Couldn’t I be planning to read them?"

Jiang Xia was stumped.

’That question did seem a little impolite.’

"That’s not what I meant. I’ve seen people who read, but I’ve never seen anyone with this many books at once."

"It’s fine. Now you have."

With that, An Ning started to push the bicycle away.

For once, Jiang Xia, who was behind her, didn’t make a smart remark and just called out her name.

"An Ning, what kind of books do you like? I can buy some for you. Consider it a thank you for letting me borrow your bike."

An Ning, who was ahead, stopped.

"I’ve already bought everything I could find."

"That’s not what I mean. I’m going to Beijing for a bit, and they have tons of books there."

Jiang Xia came forward and pushed on the sack from behind, gesturing for An Ning to get going.

An Ning didn’t ask any questions and just started pushing the bike again.

Jiang Xia, trailing behind, asked a bit awkwardly, "Aren’t you going to ask what I’m doing in Beijing?"

"Why should I ask? Does it have anything to do with me?"

An Ning was just stating her calm opinion. After a moment’s thought, Jiang Xia realized she was right.

Where he went or didn’t go really had nothing to do with An Ning.

"It’s fine, it’s fine. I just figured we could be considered friends by now, right?"

’Friends?’

An Ning finally reacted, stopping the bicycle.

"We’re friends? Okay."

She thought about it. Jiang Xia was a decent person, and their partnership had been pleasant. Being friends wouldn’t be so bad.

’She’d never had a friend before.’

Jiang Xia, having unexpectedly gained a friend, smiled a little foolishly for the first time. He had never had a friend before, either.

Perhaps because of this shift in his mindset, Jiang Xia, for once, dropped his prideful act and told An Ning a little about his situation.

"My grandfather can return to Beijing now. I have to accompany him on the trip back."

"Oh."

An Ning’s response was a simple "Oh." It wasn’t that she wasn’t moved or saddened; she simply didn’t understand the bitterness and suffering behind his words.

And Jiang Xia didn’t need anyone’s pity; he was just stating a fact.

"There’s something I need to ask you. My grandfather and I need to head back in a hurry. Could I ask you to look after Da Huang for me?"

"Don’t worry, I’ll pay for his food and board. I won’t let you help for nothing."

"Sure. Just bring Da Huang to my house."

"Thank you, thank you."

Jiang Xia was sincerely grateful. He took his hand off the sack he’d been pushing, gave it a pat, and said, "You should get going."

"Okay, goodbye."

An Ning hadn’t needed his help to begin with. She mounted the bike with perfect stability and rode off toward home.

Jiang Xia started running, heading home to pack his things for the trip back to Beijing.

’If he got back late, certain people would get audacious and pull some shameless stunts.’

Not long after An Ning got home, and before she had even finished sorting through the books she’d bought, Jiang Xia arrived with Da Huang.

"WOOF WOOF WOOF!"

Da Huang’s barking made An Ning get up. She said to Lin Cuihua, "Mom, I promised to look after Da Huang for a bit."

"Oh? Sure, of course. Why would that be a problem?"

Lin Cuihua had no objections. Jiang Xia was a good kid, and she was rather fond of him.

Da Huang had already run in affectionately and was now nestled against An Ning’s leg. The sight made Jiang Xia’s temples throb.

"This is for Da Huang’s food and board. Thank you."

An Ning calmly accepted the money. She glanced down at it and said very politely, "We look forward to your future patronage."