Anning's smile was so warm that it took away some of the harshness of the cold winter day.
She had guessed what Lin Anjie was up to.
Thinking about Xue Feng's infatuation with Lin Anjie and his current determination to better himself, Anning wondered if Lin Anjie would regret it if Xue Feng got into university and their lives improved.
Soon, Anning arrived at Lin Hongjun's home, gave Wu Pan'ni the fried meatballs, and chatted with the two elders for a while before leaving.
This year, the Lin Family had a rather good time.
On New Year's Eve, they paid homage to their ancestors, and Lin Jiugen actually had Anning copy her report card to burn for the ancestors. On the first day of the New Year, the whole family went to Lin Hongjun's house for a reunion meal.
On the second day of the New Year was the day for married daughters to visit their parents' house, and Wang Cuihua got up early to busy herself with preparing the meal.
In fact, Anning didn't want to prepare such a lavish meal for Lin Anjie and Su Zhiqiang.
Anning didn't like these two, especially Lin Anjie; she was too self-centered, too willful, and too selfish, not knowing gratitude.
Seeing Wang Cuihua so busy, Anning still got up to help.
She couldn't let her dislike for Lin Anjie wear Wang Cuihua out.
After over an hour of busy work preparing many dishes, Wang Cuihua asked Lin Anping to go out and see if An Jie and Su Zhiqiang had arrived.
Lin Anping was reluctant, but he couldn't argue with Wang Cuihua and had to keep running to the doorway to check.
By the time Lin Anjie and Su Zhiqiang arrived, it was already mid-morning.
As they entered the house, Anning carefully observed Lin Anjie and noticed she had lost weight and looked somewhat haggard, which meant her life at the Su family wasn't very good.
Anning realized this, and naturally, Wang Cuihua noticed too. After boiling the dumplings for Su Zhiqiang, Wang Cuihua pulled Lin Anjie into the room.
"How come you've lost so much weight?"
Looking at her daughter, whose eyes seemed even bigger on her now thinner face, Wang Cuihua felt extremely distressed.
Lin Anjie waved her hand: "Being thinner looks better."
"You... are you not doing well at the Su family?"
Wang Cuihua asked softly.
Lin Anjie's eyes narrowed: "How can it be good? You already know how poor the Su family is. Since I married in, I've never had a full meal."
Hearing this, Wang Cuihua's heart twisted in pain.
She turned away to wipe her tears, took out a handkerchief-wrapped bundle of notes from her pocket, and stuffed it into Lin Anjie's hands: "Take it. If you ever get hungry, sneak into town to buy some food. Eat your fill before going back, or just come home, and mom will cook for you."
Lin Anjie accepted the money without hesitation: "Mom, I was thinking of finding a job in town after the New Year. I can't keep eating idle meals at home."
"What work is there in town?"
Wang Cuihua felt unsure about Lin Anjie's idea: "Our family has no connections; we can't find work for you. You know there's fierce competition for temp jobs in the factories."
Lin Anjie pouted: "I'll go look around, and if all else fails, I'll do something on my own."
She thought that in today's world, it was a time to make money doing anything; why should she be content with a temp job earning pittance? With that effort, she might as well start her own business.
Wang Cuihua was startled by Lin Anjie's words.
Wang Cuihua quickly said: "Don't do that. What can a woman do by herself? There are so many ruffians in town. If you set up a stall, there would be no end of troublemakers."
An Jie simply wasn't listening, she didn't take it to heart at all.
After chatting with Wang Cuihua for a few more sentences, An Jie left.
Anning had already finished cooking the dishes, and Lin Aiguo started drinking with Lin Anping and Su Zhiqiang.
After eating dumplings and some dishes, Anning went into the room to read.
She was in her senior year of high school, which started early. School began on the fifth day of the new year.
Anning, carrying various homemade snacks prepared by her family, was sent to school by Lin Aiguo on his bike. After studying for two days, Anning ran into Xue Feng on campus.
Xue Feng looked much more spirited than before the new year, and he greeted Anning with a smile when he saw her.
Anning smiled back and nodded to him. Xue Feng came over, quite embarrassed, and asked Anning, "I, I feel like I've missed a lot of lessons these past two days. Could I ask you to help me catch up?"
Anning thought for a moment: "Sure, write down what you don't understand, and come look for me in our class after dinner each day. I'll explain it to you."
Xue Feng immediately smiled, expressing his sincere gratitude to Anning.
After that, Xue Feng really did come to Anning every day with his books and notebooks for her help explaining problems.
Xue Feng was quite smart, and he had a good foundation, so it wasn't hard for Anning to tutor him. It didn't take long for Xue Feng to catch up with the coursework. He was quite happy about it, and on Sunday when he went back home, he brought a lot of snacks and insisted on giving them to Anning.
Just like that, time slipped away bit by bit. Soon, the late winter had passed, and the earth was quietly painted with vibrant colors.
When the spring blossoms had all fallen, the time for the college entrance examination was also creeping closer.
The teachers in the senior classes were busy, and the students were even busier. Anning had to write a lot of homework each day and practice countless exam questions, wishing she could split her time into several parts.
It had been a long time since she had paid any attention to An Jie. She had no idea what trouble An Jie had stirred up, and she was even unaware that Su Zhiqiang and An Jie had already had a big quarrel, with Su Zhiqiang nearly beating An Jie up. It was only because the Lin Family hurried over to back up An Jie that the incident managed to blow over without escalation.
Today was Saturday, and Anning packed up her things to go home early.
She had originally thought someone from home would come to pick her up, but after waiting a while with no one coming, she thought about walking back on her own. Just as she left the school gates, she ran into Xue Feng.
Xue Feng was riding a brand-new bike. Seeing Anning, he flashed a bright smile, "Anning, hop on, I'll give you a ride home."
Anning didn't decline; she smiled and sat on the rear seat of the bicycle.
Xue Feng pedaled the bike swiftly along the road.
The wind at the end of spring and beginning of summer was warm, with a slightly intoxicating quality. As the warm evening breeze blew, Anning's mood improved significantly.
"Brother Xue Feng, did you just buy this bike?" Anning asked.
Xue Feng beamed with pride: "Yeah, it's new. My exam scores have improved a lot recently, so my dad was happy and rewarded me with a bike. He said if I get into a university this year, he will buy a TV for our house."
Anning laughed: "Then you'll have to work hard."
Xue Feng responded firmly: "For the sake of the TV, I will definitely work hard."
Xue Feng dropped Anning off at her house and watched her enter before leaving. When he got home, he saw his mom sitting in the courtyard. Upon his entry, she smiled, "Did Anning come back too?"
Xue Feng, while parking his bike, replied: "Yeah, just ran into her, so I gave her a lift."
Mrs. Xue paused her work: "That's perfect, recently when your dad went out for work, I asked him to find a way to buy a big bag of walnuts. I'll go give some to Anning later. I heard walnuts are good for the brain. You and Anning have heavy study loads; you both need to nourish yourselves properly."
Mrs. Xue was genuinely grateful to Anning. Although Xue Feng's grades were not bad before, they had only been mid to upper-level. Ever since Anning helped Xue Feng with extra lessons, his grades had improved rapidly, and now he was among the top of his class.
Mrs. Xue credited all this to Anning's help and tried every means to show her gratitude, always making an effort to send good things to Anning through Xue Feng.