Chapter 391 - 404: The Pretty Tool Person
I like it.
An Ning’s three confident words allowed Jiang Xia’s anxious heart to finally settle. "As long as you like it," he said, like a bashful teenager.
"I like it very much. Thank you."
An Ning carefully put the seeds away, treasuring them. After saying goodbye to Jiang Xia, she took her leave.
Inside the room, after An Ning had left, Jiang Xia began to dance for joy right where he stood, humming an unidentifiable tune.
"La la laaa—la la—la la—"
"Y-y-you—why are you back?!"
"How long have you been back?!"
As Jiang Xia spun around while dancing, he saw An Ning standing in the doorway again. He was so startled his heart nearly leaped out of his chest.
"I was just—moving around, getting some exercise. Exercising, exercising."
Jiang Xia feigned a couple of stretching motions, trying his best to cover up the awkward moment.
An Ning reached out, grabbed the keys from the nearby table, and said, "It’s fine. Good singing, even better dancing. Very... graceful."
After saying her piece, An Ning walked out of the room with a brazen laugh. Jiang Xia shouted indignantly after her, "Graceful? Make yourself clear! Who are you calling graceful?!"
Unfortunately, the only answer he received was the merciless sound of An Ning shutting the door.
An Ning got on her bicycle and started heading back toward Shili Gou.
When An Ning entered Shili Gou, she was met with a warm welcome from everyone.
"An Ning’s back! You’re incredible!"
"Number one! The top scorer."
"You bet! Our village has produced a top scorer."
"An Ning was always amazing."
"What an honor for the An family!"
One after another, the villagers congratulated An Ning. This was the first time they had seen her since hearing about her scores.
An Ning wasn’t in a hurry to go home. She spoke with everyone, and before she knew it, it was getting late. The crowd only let her leave when Lin Cuihua came to find her personally.
Lin Cuihua sat on the back of An Ning’s bicycle, tugging on her daughter’s clothes. "You should have come home sooner."
"Mom, if you’d come to get me earlier, I would have left earlier."
"So, this is my fault now?"
"Hehe, I didn’t say that."
The mother and daughter rode the bicycle to An’s house. The courtyard was bustling with activity; almost everyone from Uncle An’s side of the family was there, busily helping out.
After An Ning greeted everyone, she was called away by Uncle An.
A short while later, An Ning changed her clothes and followed Uncle An and An Sancheng, along with An Guoping, up the mountain—to pay respects to their ancestors.
In the summer, the mountain forest was excessively lush with grass and trees.
The deeper they went, the taller the vegetation grew.
The grass, which was taller than a person, made it difficult to find the path. Uncle An walked ahead, hacking away with a machete as he searched, muttering to himself, "I was just here a little while ago. It’s grown this tall in just a few days. Must be all the rain."
An Ning followed for a long time, having no trouble with the trek up the mountain and across the streams.
At that moment, she found herself wondering, ’Did some of the ancestors forbid women from worshiping them because they thought women couldn’t make the climb?’
Just as An Ning’s mind was wandering, Uncle An finally found a corner of the An family’s ancestral gravesite.
The An clan was large, and after the family’s fortunes had improved, this entire plot of graves had been properly maintained. It was just that the summer grass grew far too quickly.
"Since we’re here, let’s give them all a haircut."
This was Uncle An’s brand of humor. The group started pulling weeds.
They pulled weeds from east to west and from south to north. After more than two hours, they were finally more or less finished.
Throughout the entire process, Uncle An very ceremoniously introduced An Ning to each and every one of the An family ancestors.
"This is An Ning, our family’s top scorer."
"That’s right, a female top scorer."
"Times have changed. Girls can be incredible, too."
While Uncle An’s rambling introductions made An Ning feel a little creeped out, they also felt strangely heartwarming.
The tombstones no longer seemed like mere slabs of stone, but like living, breathing people.
"An Ning, look. Isn’t the Feng Shui of this spot pretty good?"
Uncle An pointed to an empty plot of land, asking An Ning to check its Feng Shui.
"It is indeed very good."
"Right? I had a master pick this spot. It’s reserved for you."
An Ning stared dumbfounded at the empty plot, as if she could see her own tombstone waving at her.
"Haha... Thank you, Uncle."
"Enough of that, enough of that. Let’s pay our respects."
This time, for the ancestor worship, Uncle An took a step back and had An Ning stand at the very front.
"It should be you."
An Ning didn’t refuse. She held three sticks of incense in both hands, paying respect to heaven, to earth, and to her ancestors.
Once the incense was offered, the ancestor worship was complete.
The group went back down the mountain to continue preparing for the school admission banquet the next day.
That evening, the An family’s courtyard was bustling with people coming and going. An Ning sat in the kitchen, acting as a smiling robot.
She listened as Lin Cuihua or her aunt introduced everyone to her, and she would smile and greet them. By the end, her face was stiff from smiling.
It wasn’t until after ten o’clock at night that An’s house truly quieted down.
That night, An Ning slept soundly. As for everyone else, who knows.
Before dawn the next day, An Ning was woken by the commotion in the house. She blearily glanced at her watch.
’It’s only three o’clock.’
She rubbed her face to wake herself up, then got dressed and went outside to see if she could help with anything.
Lin Cuihua, who was already up and busy, told An Ning to wash her face and handed her an outfit.
"Wear this. It’s pretty."
An Ning looked at the clothes in her hands. It was the qipao she and Lin Cuihua had had made in Jin City. She looked troubled and said, "Mom, isn’t this a little inappropriate for me to wear?"
"Is it?"
Lin Cuihua took the qipao, looked it over, and after a brief discussion with her sister-in-law, An Ning was given a different outfit.
An Ning took a look. It was still a dress, but not a qipao. Instead, it was the most popular style of one-piece dress at the time.
The fabric was a pale yellow, covered with a small floral print that made An Ning’s eyes ache just looking at it.
’Have I ever even worn a dress? How am I supposed to walk in this? I feel like it’ll be all drafty underneath.’
"Change into it after breakfast. You need to look pretty today."
"Our An Ning looks good in anything."
Her sister-in-law chimed in, then went back to her room and returned with a pair of black leather Mary Janes.
"An Ning, why don’t you try them on? I see other people wear these with dresses."
An Ning looked at her enthusiastic sister-in-law and the expectant Lin Cuihua. She gritted her teeth, steeled her resolve, and decided she would wear it. Just this once.
She took the clothes into her room, had breakfast with everyone, and then went back to change.
The moment An Ning opened the door and stepped out, all eyes were on her.
Lin Cuihua, An Sancheng, Gao Guifen, and An Guoqing all praised how pretty she looked. An Guoming’s expression was conflicted. She looked good, yes, but it also felt incredibly strange.
An Guoping felt the same way. It was as if the person standing before him wasn’t An Ning anymore.
"Beautiful, just beautiful. Now this is how a young woman should look."
Lin Cuihua praised An Ning, telling her she didn’t have to do any work.
An Ning understood. She found a chair, ready to be a pretty prop.
"Second Brother, Second Sister-in-Law—"
Outside, An Ercheng, having gotten the news, had arrived with his family.