Chapter 97: Chapter 97: To the Machinery Factory Again

An Ning and An Guoming left home and waited at the village entrance for a while until the oxcart heading to town arrived.

The old man driving the oxcart was using the village’s ox, as there was no farm work for it at the moment.

So, the village chief had the old man take the oxcart to town every few days to make things convenient for the villagers.

The two of them got a letter of introduction from the village chief, rode the oxcart to town, and then bought bus tickets to the county seat.

An Ning felt a little nauseous after getting off the bus. When she saw An Guoming throw up again, she couldn’t hold it in any longer and threw up too.

Riding that bus in the middle of summer was truly an... experience.

"No wonder humanity had to develop technology."

An Ning remarked wistfully as she watched the bus drive away.

She took the slightly queasy An Guoming by the arm and started walking slowly toward the textile factory.

"Need a ride?"

A cycle rickshaw had pulled up beside them.

"How much?"

"Where to?"

"The textile factory."

"Twenty cents."

An Ning pulled An Guoming onto the rickshaw. Twenty cents was worth spending.

An Guoming didn’t object; he really felt awful from throwing up.

When they arrived at the textile factory and paid, the old man at the gate recognized them immediately.

"Come in, quick! I’ll go get the director for you." The old man warmly ushered them into the small gatehouse.

The siblings decided to just stand in a shady spot and enjoy the breeze.

Before long, Director Li came running out from inside.

"An Ning, you’re finally here!"

"Why didn’t you give me a call?"

An Ning gave Director Li a polite smile, greeted him, and then pointed to An Guoming beside her. "This is my second brother, An Guoming."

"Hello, hello! We met last time. Are you here to start working now?"

Director Li naturally remembered his promise to An Ning. In fact, he was even happier than she was.

’I must treat An Guoming well to solidify this connection.’

Director Li personally led the way, learning about An Guoming’s current situation as they walked.

"How’s your health now? Can you start by learning to drive?"

"No problem. Thank you, Director Li."

Director Li was decisive. He knew An Ning appreciated efficiency, so he first took An Guoming to complete the hiring paperwork and personally arranged for an instructor to teach him how to drive.

Not only that, but he also arranged a spot for him in the staff dormitory—a room with bunk beds housing eight people.

An Ning wasn’t fond of the environment, but An Guoming accepted it happily.

’I need to interact with more people and experience more things.’ This was the path he had set for himself.

Although An Ning didn’t like it, she knew to respect An Guoming’s choice.

Everyone likes different things, just as she couldn’t force An Guoming to be a farmer.

After settling An Guoming in, An Ning left the textile factory with Director Li.

The two of them hitched a ride on one of the textile factory’s trucks, sitting in the back.

"An Ning, you must be hungry, right? Let me tell you, the food at the machinery factory is excellent. Let’s go mooch a meal."

"Mooch a meal?"

This was a local expression An Ning hadn’t heard before. Just as she asked, she heard Director Li say, "That’s right! We eat at the machinery factory and make Old Zhang pay for it."

"Okay."

An Ning understood now. Eating at someone else’s place and having them foot the bill was called "mooching a meal."

The truck quickly arrived at the machinery factory. As soon as An Ning got off with Director Li, she saw a large banner stretched across the factory’s main gate.

"A Warm Welcome to the Visiting Leadership from Beijing."

After reading it, An Ning turned her head to look at Director Li.

"Is today a bad day to mooch a meal?"

"Huh?"

The banner had caught Director Li off guard too. He had heard people from Beijing were coming, but he didn’t know it was today.

This meant their timing was truly terrible.

"You’re right, today’s timing isn’t great. An Ning, are you in a hurry to get home?"

"I can wait a night."

An Ning wanted to go home, but she believed in mutual help. Since Director Li had helped her second brother, it was the same as helping her, so she could wait one night.

Having agreed, the two prepared to leave.

As luck would have it, Old Master Zhang Qihua, the machinery factory’s Level 8 worker, came storming out, cursing under his breath.

The old man was seen standing at the entrance, facing a wall, jabbing a finger at it while continuously spouting a stream of... choice words.

After a few minutes, the old man finally let out a long breath and turned around, hands on his hips.

As soon as he turned, he saw An Ning and Director Li.

The old man’s face instantly turned red. "Ate something too salty for lunch," he explained awkwardly.

"Right, right, you ate something too salty. It’s quite impressive you can still talk so much after eating something so salty."

Director Li was very familiar with Old Master Zhang Qihua and had even been cornered by him in the bathroom several times. Now that he had the chance, he felt it would be a disservice to the Li family ancestors not to get a laugh in.

"I can do what I want!"

Old Master Zhang Qihua shot a glare at Director Li. But when he turned to look at An Ning, his eyes became incredibly gentle.

"You’re An Ning, right? It must be fate that we meet. If it weren’t for you last time, my little grandson would have been in big trouble."

"You did me such a huge favor. We must stay in touch from now on."

The old man walked over to An Ning as he spoke. He’d only said a few sentences, and while An Ning didn’t think much of it, Director Li next to her was getting upset.

’Is he trying to steal her from me?’

"An Ning, let’s get going. Their factory is busy today. I’ll treat you to a meal. Let me tell you, the head chef at our state-run restaurant makes an absolutely killer fish dish."

An Ning gave Director Li a tempted look. ’Fish?’

She didn’t think she’d ever had it before.

No one in the An family ever thought about catching fish. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to; it was that the fish in the river were too clever. The effort was better spent on other things.

"You haven’t eaten yet! Then hurry up and eat here! What’s the point of going to a restaurant?"

"Our cafeteria made braised pork belly and ribs today! I’ll go get you a plate. Eat your fill before you leave. How could I let you leave on an empty stomach?"

Old Master Zhang Qihua looked at Director Li with displeasure. "Xiao Li, this is where you’re wrong. I have to call you out on this. How can you let the kid go hungry? She still needs to grow."

"I can’t grow any taller."

The current An Ning was about 1.7 meters tall. This was already her state after being improved by her spiritual power; it wouldn’t be easy to grow any taller.

"Exactly, exactly! She’s this tall already, that’s more than enough."

After saying this, Director Li shot a smug look at Old Master Zhang Qihua.

The two men exchanged a volley of glares as An Ning, completely oblivious, walked between them into the machinery factory and toward the cafeteria.

Old Master Zhang Qihua was one of the most respected figures at the machinery factory. Even though the cafeteria was past its operating hours, the head chef still managed to whip up a meal.

As the three of them started eating in the cafeteria, Director Li began to probe for information.

"So, who got you so worked up just now?"

Director Li’s single question instantly reignited Old Master Zhang Qihua’s anger.

"Don’t even mention it. Some damn good-for-nothing leader from Beijing who’s never even touched a screw is out there telling the workers what to do, saying this is wrong and that’s wrong."

"A complete armchair strategist, trying to act all high and mighty with me. I couldn’t be bothered with them."

An Ning, who had been eating, paused and put down her chopsticks.

"I’m an armchair strategist, too."