Chapter 1647 - 1591: The Group Favorite Counterpart 21

Anning spoke up, and Xiao Feng was seriously displeased.

"Get lost. When men are talking, what right does a woman have to butt in."

Xiao Yuan was not having that.

Who the hell did Xiao Feng think he was? Sure, people called him Xiao Yuan’s brother, but did Xiao Yuan look like someone who’d be tied down by one word "brother"? Once you really pissed him off, he’d even screw over his own parents, let alone some so?called brother.

As for who he was closest to, of course Xiao Yuan was closest to Anning. Most of the time, whether Anning was right or wrong, he couldn’t bear to say half a harsh word to her. How could he just stand there and watch someone talk down his wife?

"In my home it’s the woman who calls the shots. If you don’t like listening, then we’ve got nothing more to say."

Xiao Yuan gave Xiao Feng a hard shove to the side, grabbed Anning’s hand and walked off. As they walked he kept talking: "And you too, why bother explaining anything to this kind of person? His brain’s not clear, whatever he says is the same as farting..."

Xiao Feng nearly exploded on the spot: "If I ever call you my brother again, then I’m a damn idiot."

In the end Xiao Yuan still found a three?wheeler; he rode the bike and took Anning back to Xiaxi Village.

By then it was already afternoon.

It was well into autumn, winter almost at the door, so folks in the village were all idle. The sun was good today, and a bunch of people were sitting out by the threshing ground, basking and chatting.

Then they all saw the Peis’ Lao Si, who was rumored to have eloped, coming back.

That news was something else.

Everyone had just been bored stiff; now that Anning was back, she brought them piles of new gossip.

Quite a few people followed along to watch, wanting to ask where exactly Anning had gone, and also why An Yi and Pei Yu hadn’t come back.

When Xiao Yuan and Anning got to the Pei Family home, Pei Laoshi was holed up at home.

Seeing Anning come back, Pei Laoshi was overjoyed: "You wait here, I’ll go call your mom back."

Anning grabbed Pei Laoshi’s arm: "Big Sis, you go call Mom back."

An Xian, who’d been inside napping, got up, clearly annoyed: "What’s with all the yelling, I just managed to fall asleep, you..."

Anning glared at her, and An Xian instantly backed down: "Wait."

She threw on a thick jacket and went out.

In no time, Liu Dalian came back, all smiles.

Seeing Anning, she was delighted: "You two didn’t run into any trouble out there, did you? Where’s your aunt and your third sister?"

Anning brought the family into the room, then said: "Dad, Mom, we’re fine. See, this trip out, Xiao Yuan and I actually made some money."

As she spoke she pulled out a stack of cash and laid it on the table: "This is just the pocket money we brought back. We’ve got a lot more saved in the bank."

"What?" Liu Dalian gave Anning a hard push: "You put it in a bank over there? Then if we want to take it out, do we have to go all the way to Dream City?"

Anning laughed: "No. Now if you deposit money over there, you can withdraw it over here too, as long as it’s the same bank."

Only then did Liu Dalian relax.

It was Pei Laoshi who asked Anning instead: "So, did we pay off that loan yet?"

Xiao Yuan cut in: "No rush. The due date’s not here yet. Let’s spend this money first."

Well, that made sense.

Pei Laoshi didn’t ask further.

But Anning still explained where Pei Yu and An Yi had gone: "Dad, Mom, this time in Dream City we really had our eyes opened. You don’t know how prosperous that place is. When we’ve got the time, I’ll take you to see it. Once we’re there we’ve got a place to stay: my third sister and my aunt both bought apartments there, and their household registrations are all moved over."

"Really?" This time Pei Laoshi and Liu Dalian were truly dazzled: "Where’d you get that kind of money?"

Anning made up a story: "We went over and originally just planned to pick up some job to earn a bit. Who knew we’d get lucky—my third sister, my aunt and I saved a big boss from Mingzhu City. That boss’s family is loaded. In Mingzhu City their family is like this—"

As she spoke she gave a thumbs?up: "One of the top families, proper rich folk. To thank us, he bought apartments for Third Sis and Aunt, and took care of their household registrations while he was at it. I turned down the apartment, so he gave me cash instead, and he took Xiao Yuan around to see the world. Xiao Yuan used the money that boss gave him to follow along with his investments, and the more he followed, the more he earned. If we weren’t thinking about you two, we’d still be out there making money."

"You’re really foolish." Hearing that, Liu Dalian felt a stab of frustrated pity: "If money’s that easy to earn, why didn’t you just stay out there and keep working with him? That’s such a good chance. Why not buy a place and move your registration too?"

Anning lowered her head.

Xiao Yuan grabbed the chance to explain: "Well, I got back in touch with a classmate from town a while ago, and he told us the way people in the village and in town have been talking is awful. They say I abducted Anning along with Third Sis and Aunt and eloped, and they say Anning and I sold off Third Sis and Aunt. After hearing that, how could we not come back?"

Both Liu Dalian and Pei Laoshi were seething inside.

They were already thinking that once they dragged out whoever started those rumors, they’d skin him alive. Their own kids had such a good opportunity, and they were forced to come back over this nonsense. Wasn’t that ruining the kids’ future?

Anning lifted her head and smiled, the smile with a bitter edge: "Dad, Mom, how could we just disappear and never come back? Even if we’re out there earning gold and silver mountains, you’re here, and my grandparents’ graves are here. We have to come back. This is our root. However much money you have, you still have to come home in the end."

As she spoke, tears fell from Anning’s eyes: "We know exactly what kind of reputation our family has. Even if we live it up outside, if folks back home say our name stinks to high heaven, that still won’t do. I can’t let our ancestors from the Pei Family lose face. So no matter what, I have to come back and make something of myself. I have to show them—what’s wrong with the daughters of the Pei Family? So what if we don’t have sons? We can still hold up the roof. Even if the Pei girls weren’t exactly proper in the past, we’ve still got it in us to stand tall. And it’s not just me—Third Sis and Aunt are both swallowing this anger too. They said if they can’t live like real people, they’re not coming back."

Those words made both Pei Laoshi and Liu Dalian’s eyes go red on the spot, and An Xian lowered her head, silent and gloomy.

Anning held Liu Dalian’s hand: "Mom, however good it is outside, that’s not home. Even if I do go out again, I have to wait until I’ve picked up every bit of face our Pei Family has dropped on the ground. I have to wash away those bad reputations, one by one, before I can leave."

This time Liu Dalian was truly moved. She hugged Anning and started sobbing: "It’s all my fault. I didn’t keep them in line, and now you’ve had to suffer, getting dragged into their mess and ending up with a ruined name..."

Anning patted Liu Dalian’s back: "Mom, I’ve never once blamed you, really. That’s my sister and my aunt. In other people’s eyes, maybe they’re wrong in a thousand ways, awful in ten thousand, but they’re good to me. They’ve treated me well since I was little. No matter what anyone says about them, I can’t say it. No matter how others complain about them, I can’t."

At that, even Pei Laoshi felt his chest ache with sadness.

He still felt it was their family that had dragged Anning down. Otherwise, this child—sharp, clever, knows how to deal with people, and she’s straight?dealing too—she’d be able to make it anywhere. But because of their mess, she’d been criticized by people ever since she was small.

After a moment, Pei Laoshi raised his head, looked at Anning, and said to her with firm resolve: "You said from now on you’d run this home. Then I’ll hand it over to you. You tell us what to do, and we’ll follow. Whether it’s your big sister or your brother?in?law, if they don’t fall in line, I’ll deal with them."

Liu Dalian added: "Your aunt and Third Sis, as long as they’re not married off, they’re still part of our home. They have to listen to you too."

Anning smiled: "Alright, then I’ll start with the first thing. We’ve got money now, but we can’t just sit around and eat it away. We have to work. When I went over to Dream City, I bought some books and studied, and on the way back I stopped by an agricultural university to learn a bit. I want to start with greenhouse vegetables, and I want my brother?in?law to quit his job and come back to help us."

This time An Xian didn’t object.

She might be lazy and fond of comfort, but she wasn’t completely without a sense of right and wrong.

And she did care about Anning; otherwise, when she and Anjing were fighting, Anning had beaten her with a broom and she hadn’t even fought back: "Okay, I’ll talk to your brother?in?law about it later."