Chapter 163: Chapter 163: The Boy Riding a Pig

After An Ning spoke, An Sancheng agreed.

"Let’s go. Let’s go home."

An Sancheng stomped his feet, his boots landing on the newly swept dirt path as he headed for the gate to their home.

An Ning stomped her feet as well. Her shoes were cold through and through, especially around her ankles, and she couldn’t help but stamp them to get the feeling back.

As the group walked away, the big rooster that had been chasing An Guoping gave up the pursuit and strutted home, looking smug.

An Guoping ran to catch up with everyone, hurried into the house, and sat on a small stool beside the stove pit.

"I’m freezing to death!"

An Guoping pulled off his cotton-padded shoes, propped them open with a stick, and set them in front of the stove pit to warm up.

"How did you manage to get your shoes wet just from sweeping snow?"

Lin Cuihua picked up a water ladle and, with a SPLASH, poured water into the wok. She grabbed a small brush and gave the wok a few good SCRUB SCRUB SCRUBS, then used a different ladle to scoop the dirty water out.

"Ma, that rooster of ours is something else. I mentioned killing it for meat, and it started squawking and chasing me all over the place."

"Kill the rooster? You’ve got some nerve! You just try it and see what happens!"

Lin Cuihua wasn’t having it. That big rooster did more work than a dog and ate less, too.

If anyone wanted to kill that rooster, she’d be the first to object.

An Guoping, still warming his shoes, instinctively ducked his head.

"No, no, I wasn’t going to actually kill it. I was just joking."

"Scoot over."

An Ning came in too, sitting down on a small stool with some effort. Her new wool pants were a little stiff.

She squeezed in next to An Guoping and, copying him, took off her own cotton-padded shoes to warm them by the fire.

Lin Cuihua felt her head start to buzz with exasperation.

"You’re both old enough to know better! Acting like little kids, going out for a bit and coming back with soaked shoes."

The brother and sister lowered their heads, sharing a secret smile, not daring to say a word.

Seeing them act this way only made Lin Cuihua angrier. It was a good thing they had plenty of cloth this year and a spare pair of cotton-padded shoes. If they didn’t, the two of them could just wait for their feet to go bare.

"What’s all this, then?"

An Sancheng walked in right into Lin Cuihua’s line of fire.

"What does it look like I’m doing?!"

Lin Cuihua, still holding the small scrub brush, said to An Sancheng, "Since it’s snowing and you’ve got time, you can get those twig brooms tied and ready."

"I know, I was already planning on it."

An Sancheng agreed readily. Chuckling, he grabbed a small stool and sat down in front of the stove pit as well, warming himself by the fire.

"It’s going to be cold the next few days. We’ll have to burn more firewood at night."

"Go ahead. Bank the fire with a big log, and it’ll stay warm all night long."

Lin Cuihua deftly set the table and brought out the food. It was time to eat.

An Guoping and An Ning both went back to their rooms, found their other pair of cotton-padded shoes, and put them on.

Breakfast was a two-grain porridge, large steamed buns, stir-fried radish with vermicelli, and a small dish of pickled vegetables that had been brining in a crock since autumn.

An Ning particularly liked the long, crunchy pickled cowpeas; they were especially delicious with the porridge.

After breakfast, her sister-in-law called out to An Ning, and the two of them went into An Ning’s room.

Her sister-in-law took out a piece of string and measured An Ning’s waist for a pair of pants.

"I can have them done by tonight."

"There’s no rush, Sister-in-law. I have other pants I can wear."

Her sister-in-law, Zhou Guifen, didn’t reply, simply taking her little string and returning to her own room.

The village was especially quiet after the snow.

Quiet, that is, except for the children.

The children from every household, irrepressible, ran outside to build snowmen and have snowball fights, inventing a hundred different ways to play in the snow.

While the children ran wild in the village, most of the adults were busy sweeping snow.

After sweeping the areas in front of their own homes, each family would clear a section of the path beyond. Eventually, these cleared sections would connect, forming a single, walkable path.

Back at the An family’s home, An Sancheng took some sorghum stalks and began making new items for the house.

He was making food covers, kang-sweeping brushes, and small brooms for sweeping the floor.

An Ning was very interested and squatted nearby to watch.

To make the food covers, he just needed the stalks. He wove them together with string into two layers, one horizontal and one vertical, then pulled them tight. Just like that, they were ready to use.

For the brooms and brushes, he needed the sorghum tassels, the part left after the grains were removed. He washed them clean and then bound them together.

An Sancheng secured a coil of iron wire to the doorframe.

He gathered a bundle of tassels as thick as his forearm to form a small brush, wrapping wire around it. Then, An Sancheng grabbed the brush with both hands.

The wire stretched taut between the brush and the doorframe. An Sancheng forcefully twisted the brush, using the tension to wind the wire as tightly as possible around the bundle.

An Ning thought she had it figured out. She stepped forward and asked, "Dad, can I try?"

"Sure. Just be careful not to cut your hands."

An Sancheng confidently stepped aside. Eager to try, An Ning took hold of the brush with both hands.

"Just twist it like this?"

"That’s right. Put some muscle into it."

As soon as he said it, An Sancheng had second thoughts.

"But not too much—"

An exceptionally loud CRACK echoed through the room.

An Ning looked at the doorframe she had cracked and the snapped wire, then gave An Sancheng an embarrassed smile.

"Dad..."

"Why don’t you go play in the snow."

An Sancheng was at a loss for words. He took back the small brush and inspected the doorframe.

"It’s fine. It just splintered a bit."

An Sancheng pushed the splintered piece back into place with one hand. ’I’ll find some glue for it later,’ he thought. ’It’s no big deal.’

He was about to tie on a new piece of wire when Lin Cuihua came into the room.

"An Sancheng!"

"What are you doing?! How did you break the door!"

Lin Cuihua’s heart ached to see it.

She cleaned this new house several times a day; she doted on it.

An Sancheng, now on the receiving end of the scolding, glanced over at An Ning, who was preparing to sneak away. He felt a complex mix of emotions.

’My daughter has finally grown up!’

’She knows how to let her own father take the fall for her now.’

An Ning hugged the wall and slipped out the door, deciding that retreat was the wisest course of action.

She had, after all, witnessed Lin Cuihua chasing An Guoping with a broom before.

Since An Ning had slipped away, An Sancheng naturally didn’t say anything to give her away.

Having made her escape, An Ning lifted the heavy door curtain and went out into the courtyard to see what was happening.

In the courtyard, An Guoqing was chopping firewood, while An Guoping was probably in his room reading.

For a moment, An Ning felt like she was the only one with nothing to do.

She couldn’t work the fields, and her plans for the mountain plot and the greenhouse were on hold because of the heavy snow.

Utterly bored, An Ning left the courtyard and began to wander along the swept path.

"It’s snowing again."

An Ning held out a hand, catching the snowflakes as they fell.

The snow began to fall thicker and faster, the flakes growing larger. An Ning decided to head home.

"Hya—"

"Hya— hya—"

A figure emerged from the swirling wind and snow, riding some kind of animal.

It created the image of a dashing hero returning from a journey, riding gallantly through the storm.

"Jiang Xia?"

An Ning called out, her voice uncertain.

"Whoa—"

Jiang Xia pulled on a simple, homemade rein, his voice laced with a hint of nervousness. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"An Ning?"

"Why so nervous? Did you get that horse through some shady deal?"

An Ning took a few steps forward, and through the snow, she finally got a clear look at Jiang Xia and his mount.

’Isn’t it a bit on the short side...’

Once she saw it clearly, An Ning clutched her side and burst out laughing.

"BWAHAHAHA—"

"Jiang Xia, where on earth did you find a pig!"