For lunch, An Ning ate four bowls of watery sorghum rice, some boiled potatoes, scallions with dipping sauce, and a few bites of pickled vegetables.
"Why didn't you eat the egg?"
Lin Cuihua pointed to the egg on the table with one of her chopsticks. An Ning put down her rice bowl and said, "I'll eat it now."
An Ning tapped the egg on the table a few times and peeled off the shell in just two or three motions.
It was white and slightly springy, completely lacking the fishy stench of interstellar eggs. An Ning took a bite. 'Soft and dense. Delicious.'
"Little Sis, it's even better with the dipping sauce."
Her second brother sitting beside her pushed the bowl of sauce over. An Ning dubiously dipped a bit. The egg gained a hint of saltiness and was indeed much tastier.
She grinned at An Guoming, her eyes crinkling. An Guoming asked playfully, "How is it? What's it taste like?"
'What does it taste like?' An Ning thought her second brother wasn't all that smart.
"Like an egg."
"HAHAHAHAHA! Little Sis is right. There must be something wrong with your head, Second Brother. What else would an egg taste like?"
Her eldest brother, seizing the chance to make fun of his sibling, nearly slammed the table with laughter. Opportunities to mock his second brother were rare.
An Ning looked at her laughing family and her second brother, who wasn't angry at all. She liked this feeling. Though she couldn't quite name it, she liked it. It was very comfortable.
As for her interstellar self, she had no family at all.
After the An family finished lunch, her eldest sister-in-law and Lin Cuihua cleared the table. Once again, An Ning couldn't get a chance to help. In Lin Cuihua's words: "There are only a few bowls. Do we really need three people for this?"
Unable to help, An Ning didn't stay idle. Instead, she went to the fields with the rest of the An family.
An Sancheng walked at the front, her eldest and second brothers were in the middle, and An Ning was at the back. Halfway there, they ran into Uncle An's family.
Uncle An, An Dacheng, had three sons. Two were married, and the last one was the same age as An Ning. They had no daughters in the family.
The An family had no living direct elders—that is, An Ning's grandparents had passed away early. The entire extended family was supported single-handedly by Uncle An.
In that generation, there were three brothers. In the middle was An Ercheng, but he had found a partner from the city in his early years and moved with her to the county seat. Although he wasn't technically a live-in son-in-law, it was more or less the same.
When An Ning got married, An Ercheng had mailed a gift. He couldn't get time off from his work unit, so he didn't come back for it.
"An Ning, is your head all better?"
Uncle An called out to An Ning. She jogged over to his side.
"Uncle, I'm fine now. The doctor said I'm in excellent health."
"That's good."
Uncle An wasn't a man of many words. Though only in his fifties, he looked particularly old, his back already slightly stooped.
The entire An family marched in a great procession toward the fields. Along the way, more and more people joined them, all heading out to work after lunch.
When they reached the edge of the fields, Accountant Liu and Team Captain Sun Dazhuang were already there, distributing tools. The work was the same as in the morning.
The members of the An family walked forward with the crowd. An Guoming was in front of An Ning.
"Don't you take that one. It's too good a tool. It'd be a waste on you."
An Guoming, one hand still on the hoe, looked at Accountant Liu with an exasperated expression.
"Uncle Liu, you're being really blatant with your disapproval of me."
Accountant Liu wasn't the least bit embarrassed. Instead, he picked up the good hoe and yelled to An Ning behind him, "An Ning, come here! This hoe is a good one. It's for you."
An Ning immediately took a few steps forward, accepted the hoe, and even remembered to turn her head and console An Guoming.
"Don't be sad, Second Brother. You're just not that strong, it's not that you're unworthy."
After saying that, An Ning shouldered the hoe and ran off, eager to get to work in the fields.
An Guoming, still standing in the same spot, mulled over An Ning's words. 'Was Little Sis trying to comfort me?'
Accountant Liu watched An Ning run off, then turned back and shouted in annoyance, "An Guoming, what are you still doing here?"
An Guoming immediately put on an aggrieved expression and said, "I'm waiting for you to pick out a tool for me, of course."
An Guoming's cheeky grin made Accountant Liu feel a mix of annoyance and fondness. He handed him a small hoe and waved him away dismissively, "Go on, go on."
"Alright, I'm going!"
The tools were quickly distributed. Those who got one worked with tools; those who didn't could only work with their hands.
Elsewhere, An Ning, who had a tool, quickly found her morning rhythm. Her spiritual power expertly reached out and began to interact with the seedlings at her feet.
She became completely immersed in this atmosphere. Her expended spiritual power was constantly being restored, and the work flowed more and more smoothly, her speed becoming astonishingly fast.
June weather is as fickle as a child's mood.
At noon, the sun had been shining brightly in a clear sky, but it wasn't long before the heavens began to change.
"The clouds are gathering. It's going to rain."
"It's probably already raining in the north. Those clouds look thick."
"Looks like it. Probably won't be a light one, either."
The old farmers working in the fields all knew how to read the weather. Hearing the discussion around her, An Ning also stopped her work and looked up at the sky.
'So "gathering clouds" means it's going to rain.' She had learned something new.
A moment later, raindrops as big as soybeans started pelting down.
"Quitting time! Everyone, head home!"
"Run for it!"
"This rain came on fast."
The workers scrambled to run. An Ning was no slouch either, following those with tools to return them to the storehouse.
RUMBLE—
Thunder shook the heavens as lightning CRACKLED, illuminating the sky that had been darkened by the downpour.
"Little Sis, you wait here a minute. I'll run home and get you a plastic sheet."
It wasn't good for a girl to get soaked in the rain, especially in the middle of summer.
An Guoqing was about to brave the rain and run back. He had just taken a step when he felt a slight pull from behind, but he paid it no mind.
With a cry of "Ah!", An Guoming, who had been pulling on An Guoqing, slipped and went into a perfect face-plant. Just as he was a few centimeters from the ground, An Ning, who was behind him, grabbed him by the collar and yanked him straight up.
"No need to thank me," An Ning said with a beaming smile.
An Guoqing stepped back and took An Guoming from An Ning's grasp.
"What do you think you're doing? Don't you know your own constitution?"
"Eldest Brother, what's a 'constitution'?"
An Ning, who lived by the principle of asking about anything she didn't understand, looked at An Guoqing with bright, curious eyes.
"Ask your second brother!"
An Guoming, now being pointed at, suddenly felt as if he'd been possessed by a mother hen.
"Little Sis, 'constitution' just means how strong your body is."
After explaining, An Guoming looked at the downpour outside and said, "Eldest Brother, there's no point going back for a plastic sheet in this weather. Let's just shelter here for a bit and go back when it lets up."
An Guoqing looked at the rain, which was now so heavy that you couldn't make out people's figures, and didn't insist on going back.
Beside them, An Ning, having learned something new, silently committed the meaning of 'constitution' to memory.
The people sheltering in the storehouse watched the lightning and thunder outside. It was clear the storm wouldn't let up anytime soon, so everyone started looking for a place to sit.
CRACK—
"Oh my god! Lightning struck a tree!"
"There's someone under the tree!"