Chapter 183: Chapter 183: Preparing for the New Year
The turn of events left An Guoming utterly bewildered.
He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He’d never heard of robbers having a change of heart!
’It must be a new trick!’
An Guoming had been driving his truck all over the country for so long. The number of tricks and schemes he’d seen was endless, so he didn’t dare let his guard down.
"Brothers, times are tough for everyone with the New Year coming up. How about I give you some money so we can all have a good holiday, alright?"
An Guoming got ready to reach into his pocket.
Across from him, Li Erniu, who was wearing a scarf, wouldn’t have it. He grabbed An Guoming’s hand with one of his own and used the other to pull off his scarf.
"I didn’t see anything! My eyes are closed!"
An Guoming reacted even faster than Li Erniu. The moment Li Erniu started pulling at his scarf, An Guoming shut his eyes.
"I didn’t see what you look like! I saw nothing! I saw nothing!"
An Guoming really did squeeze his eyes shut as tightly as he could.
Li Erniu finally understood. This was all a big misunderstanding.
He went right ahead and used his hands to pry An Guoming’s eyes open.
By now, all seven men had taken off their scarves or neck gaiters, revealing their faces.
For a split second, An Guoming was sure his life was over.
’Who would have thought...’
’One moment of carelessness ruins everything.’
’He was right at his family’s doorstep!’
’Forget it. I don’t need the goods. All that matters is staying alive.’
Just as An Guoming was about to negotiate, he saw Li Erniu take out a piece of paper and hand it to him.
"Second Brother An, take a look. An Ning wrote this for us. It’s a... a letter of introduction."
"She told us to come find you. See? This has all been a big misunderstanding."
An Guoming looked down at the writing on the note.
It was his little sister’s handwriting.
The characters were standard, perfectly formed blocks, just like the ones printed in a dictionary.
"You were really sent by my little sister?"
The seven men nodded frantically.
An Guoming stood there and chuckled foolishly a few times. ’What a thrill, and right before the New Year!’
An Guoming was quick to recover. He took out a pack of cigarettes, lit one for each of the smokers, and the group stood by the truck, chatting idly.
He finally understood that these were bodyguards his little sister had specially arranged for him.
Li Erniu didn’t go into any more detail than that.
After they finished talking, An Guoming drove the truck with the men back to the An’s house.
He only half-believed them. He would wait until he saw his little sister to believe the rest.
The truck wasn’t far from Shili Gou to begin with, so in less than ten minutes, An Guoming arrived at the An’s house.
After getting out of the truck, An Guoming gave a piece of candy to each of the village children who had been watching and running after it.
He stood at the gate and called for An Ning.
Once An Ning came out and confirmed their story, An Guoming gave her the keys. He then took the seven men aside to talk.
An Ning put the keys away, ready to head back inside.
"Wait a minute! Let’s see what he bought. Where’s my oil?"
Lin Cuihua rushed out. She had been waiting for the oil An Guoming bought to prepare the New Year’s provisions.
Stopped by Lin Cuihua, An Ning simply hopped into the truck bed and started looking for it.
Soon, she found the oil Lin Cuihua needed.
"Second Brother bought a lot. There are several canisters here."
An Ning handed down a flat, rectangular white oil canister, which Lin Cuihua took.
"There’s definitely a canister for your uncle’s family."
An Ning nodded in agreement, but figured they could grab it later.
Lin Cuihua carried a canister of oil inside, and An Ning followed her in for the time being.
The moment An Ning stepped inside, Lin Cuihua gave her a task.
"Your second brother’s back, so it’s time to get ready for the New Year."
"We can finally have a proper New Year this year."
Lin Cuihua was incredibly enthusiastic about the New Year.
"You two, sweep the dust from every room and wipe everything down. Around noon, clean the windows, you hear?"
"I’m going to wash these bedsheets. Everything should be spotless for the New Year."
With a rag in her hand and An Guoping holding a basin of warm water, the two of them had their orders from Lin Cuihua loud and clear.
Neither of them dared to object. Lin Cuihua’s passion for the New Year was so intense it was almost frightening to An Ning.
Besides, she also wanted to experience a full New Year’s celebration from start to finish.
"Mom, I—"
Her sister-in-law, Zhou Guifen, had just started to speak when Lin Cuihua cut her off.
"Don’t you do a thing. No bending over, no heavy lifting, nothing. You’re about to give birth any day now, so don’t you get restless."
An Ning agreed. "Sister-in-law, Mom’s right. Your belly is huge. You should just rest."
Zhou Guifen rubbed her belly and sighed in amazement. "It is pretty big. Mom, do you think there could be two in here?"
At this, Lin Cuihua’s spirits soared even higher.
"Could be! Aren’t those two twins?"
"One would be great, and two would be great, too. As long as they’re born safe and sound, that’s all that matters."
Everyone nodded at Lin Cuihua’s words. A safe delivery was what was most important.
Everyone in the An family got to work.
The moment An Guoming stepped over the threshold, Lin Cuihua assigned him a task.
"Go get all the New Year’s goods you bought and bring them in. We didn’t know what was what, so we only grabbed one canister of oil."
"Alright, I’m on it!"
An Guoming hurried out, and An Ning and An Guoping followed him.
Where was there any dust in the house? Lin Cuihua probably wiped every surface down eight times a day.
The two siblings had finished their small chore long ago!
The three of them, joined later by An Guoqing, made several trips back and forth. The four of them finally managed to move everything inside.
After all those trips, it was really starting to feel like the New Year.
Inside, An Guoming showed Lin Cuihua the items one by one, explaining what each of them was.
"Mom, these are dried jujubes. You can fry some up for a snack."
"This is yellow croaker fish. It’s delicious when you deep-fry it."
"These are sea prawns. I even asked the seller for a recipe."
"Oh, this is great! These are big red lanterns. Once we hang these up, it’ll feel like the New Year right away."
"And these couplets! Take a look, aren’t they beautiful?"
"This is a New Year’s print. Sister-in-law, I know it’s a little late, but you can still enjoy it for a few days. Take it back with you and hang it up."
In Zhou Guifen’s hands was the print: a big, chubby baby hugging a koi fish. It looked so festive, and she absolutely loved it.
"Oh, right, and there’s this desk calendar—I bought the tear-off kind—and this wall calendar. Both look great."
"Here’s candy, melon seeds, roasted peanuts, and all this dried fruit."
"Right, I also bought several boxes of fruit—apples, tangerines, oranges, and the like."
"And these bananas. Don’t worry that they’re green; they’ll be ripe in a few days."
"And sugarcane!"
An Guoming took out one thing after another.
An Ning and An Guoping were like two little kids, squatting beside the pile of goods, looking left and right, unable to take it all in.
They spent over an hour just looking at everything, but no one could bear to move.
This New Year was truly different for the An family.
Last year, the entire family had only ten pieces of candy. After everyone took one, the rest were given to An Ning.
But this year, there was enough candy to make a meal of it.
An Guoming wanted to make up for all the meager New Years of the past, and wasn’t the bustling Lin Cuihua the same?
In previous years, she had wanted to prepare for the holiday, but there was never anything to prepare with.
But this year, her children were home, they were in a new house, and a new member of the family was on the way. Life was prosperous enough that she could finally keep busy, and she didn’t want to stop for a single moment.
She was afraid that if she stopped, it would all disappear.
