Chapter 497 - 511: The Arrival

An Ning and Jiang Xia smoothly joined the team clearing snow from the road. From a distance, the dark figures were all steaming, looking just like freshly steamed buns.

An Ning greeted the villagers, the exchanges all following a familiar pattern.

"You’re back?" "Yep, I’m back."

"When did you get back?" "Just got back."

"How’d you get back?" "By train."

...

That was the gist of the small talk.

Answering questions as she walked, An Ning finally found An Guoming and An Sancheng in the crowd, along with all the men from Uncle An’s family.

She called out to them one by one, and the tone of everyone’s voices grew warmer and friendlier.

An Sancheng even invited Uncle An over for dinner that night, but Uncle An declined, saying, "Let’s do it in a couple of days. A few days won’t make a difference. You just got back today, so get some proper rest."

Since Uncle An had spoken, An Sancheng didn’t dare to object.

Everyone continued shoveling snow. An Ning was right next to An Guoming, shoveling away, one scoop at a time.

"Guoming, why don’t you head back? I get the feeling you aren’t being much help here anyway."

An Guoming, beside her, was truly running out of steam. Although he exercised every day and practiced martial arts with Master Tang, the work he typically did was different from the villagers’ and didn’t require so much physical exertion.

Being suddenly thrown into this kind of manual labor, he was truly exhausted.

However...

"It would look bad if I just went back like this. It’s better to stay here and pretend to work."

If he left now, he would really stick out like a sore thumb.

"You wouldn’t. Everyone knows what you’re like."

Words so blunt they pierced the heart... they could only have come from An Ning.

An Guoming forced a pained smile and said, "Well, thanks ever so much!"

"You’re welcome!"

An Ning knew what he meant, but she still replied with a cheerful grin.

"Guoming, who exactly is comi—"

"RING RING—OUT OF THE WAY! OUT OF THE WAY! OUT OF THE WAY!—CRASH!"

A middle-aged man on a bicycle rode from the thick snow onto the just-cleared ground, skidded, and slid—bike and all—wiping out right in front of An Ning.

With lightning-fast reflexes, An Ning stuck out her foot, stopping the sliding bicycle and blocking its path.

"You’ll break the bike!"

The man yelled from where he’d fallen hard on the ground. After he shouted, An Ning removed her foot and even gave the bike a discreet little nudge. She watched as it continued to slide while the villagers behind her dodged out of the way, clearing a perfectly smooth path for it.

CRASH—CLANG!

It fell into the ditch.

Wheels in the air, slightly askew.

"My bike— What are you all doing! Don’t you know how to help someone up?"

The middle-aged man struggled for several moments on the slippery ground. He’d manage to get his footing, only to squat down, then stand up again, his hands flailing wildly in the air.

"What kind of dance is this? Never seen it before."

An Guoming leaned on his shovel with both hands and asked An Ning in a mock-serious tone. An Ning played along perfectly, saying, "The Slippery Ground Shuffle."

"Ohhh—that’s a perfect name for it. Spot on. You’re right."

The two siblings, making light of a situation that wasn’t happening to them, earned a vicious glare from the middle-aged man. But he could barely save himself, his feet slipping as if they were greased.

"Which village are you from? Shili Gou, right? Are you from Shili Gou?"

The man named Shili Gou with such certainty. ’Could he be the person coming for the inspection?’

At that moment, An Ning and An Guoming shared a look, the siblings both feeling the sudden urge to dump all the snow they’d just cleared right back onto the road.

Sun Dazhuang stepped out from the crowd, raising a hand and shouting, "I’m the village chief of Shili Gou. And who might you be?"

"I’m the one who called you! Who else would I be? Hurry up and give me a hand!"

Sun Dazhuang handed his shovel to someone else and pursed his lips. As he turned his back, his face became as wooden as a mannequin’s. He went and supported the wobbling middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man finally found some support. After steadying himself, he said frantically, "You’ve only cleared up to here? Didn’t I tell you to hurry up!"

"The new county head will be here any minute! Can anyone even use this crappy road?"

Sun Dazhuang, still holding the man steady, said in a measured tone, "This crappy road was built with our own money. What’s it got to do with the county?"

"Besides, aren’t these all people on it? It’s not like a bunch of ghosts are going to appear in a snowstorm. It’s not their season, after all."

The middle-aged man was stunned by Sun Dazhuang’s remarks. He wanted to angrily shrug off Sun Dazhuang’s arm, but he couldn’t stand on his own, so in the end, he didn’t.

"Cut the nonsense and get to work! And someone get my bicycle out of there!"

"Hurry up, now. This is a chance for your village to make a good impression. How can you people not know what’s good for you? When he comes and sees this road is clean, won’t he be in a better mood? In the future, if anything comes up, wouldn’t he be more likely to show you some favor?"

The middle-aged man, having changed his tack, left Sun Dazhuang with no retort; after all, what he said did have a sliver of truth to it.

Sun Dazhuang told everyone to keep working. He then called some people over to dig up some loose dirt from a nearby field and sprinkle it on the icy ground.

"Step on it."

"What?"

"The dirt will keep you from slipping."

Sun Dazhuang repeated, much louder. The middle-aged man stamped each of his feet on the dirt, and sure enough, he stopped slipping.

"Hey, it actually works... What do you think you’re doing?"

Before the middle-aged man could finish his remark, he saw Sun Dazhuang hand him a shovel.

"We’re shoveling snow. Isn’t this very important? Or... are you unwilling?"

That single phrase, "are you unwilling," left the man with no choice but to reluctantly take the shovel and get to work.

Watching the sly Sun Dazhuang, An Ning whispered to An Guoming, "The village chief is really something."

"That’s for sure."

Everyone continued to shovel snow. Half an hour later, they saw two small dots in the distance.

"Is that two people?"

"Looks like it. Who would be out in a blizzard like this?"

The villagers’ idle chatter drew the middle-aged man’s displeasure.

"Get back to work! Enough with the chatter!"

The man acted like a harsh taskmaster, earning the dislike of everyone present.

The only reason everyone stayed was because Sun Dazhuang and An Ning’s large family were still there. Otherwise, many would have already thrown down their tools and left.

They were all people with nothing to lose, so they weren’t particularly afraid of the well-shod man.

The work atmosphere grew a bit oppressive. Everyone shoveled in silence, heads down, clearing the road for the official who was about to inspect the village.

An inspection wasn’t a problem, but giving last-minute notice and expecting them to clear the snow for it was a bit out of line.

"Folks, is Shili Gou up ahead?"

The voice had a refined quality to it, a suspicion that was confirmed when they looked up at the speaker.

The newcomer didn’t look old, perhaps in his thirties. His face was immaculate, but not with the indoor pallor of someone who never sees the sun. It was a clean, healthy complexion.

He wasn’t conventionally handsome, but there was something remarkably pleasant and approachable about him.

"We’re from Shili Gou."

"That’s right. Just follow this road we cleared, and you’ll see Shili Gou."

"Whose relative are you? I don’t recognize you."

"Stop your goddamn chatting—and get back to shov— Coun... Coun—"