It's now the transition period from late spring to early summer, and there's plenty of work to do in the fields.
Lin Aiguo and his wife also didn't have time to constantly mediate the relationships between their children at home.
The next day, they went out to work in the fields.
Anning had initially said she wanted to go to the fields and help, but Lin Aiguo wouldn't allow it.
With just over a month left until Anning's college entrance examination, Lin Aiguo wouldn't let her engage in physical labor at this time; what if she became overly tired? Missing out on reviewing even just two questions could put her at a disadvantage during the exams.
Anning couldn't persuade Lin Aiguo, so she could only stay home and study.
Of course, she wasn't just idling at home.
She got up early to read for a while, then went to the vegetable garden behind the house and picked some fresh vegetables. Considering her parents were busy during this period and often skimped on good meals, she decided to make some dumplings.
Anning chopped some chives and picked them, then sliced some meat that had been cured last New Year into fine bits, followed by frying some eggs, and then mixing the dough and filling together.
By noon, just as Lin Aiguo and Wang Cuihua came back from the fields, the dumplings were ready.
Eating the dumplings Anning made, Lin Aiguo thought about how Lin Anjie, before she got married, never did any household chores.
When they went out to work in the fields, Lin Anjie either went out to play with others or just slept in at home, never expressing concern for their tiredness or helping out, not even cooking or boiling water.
People, it seems, are really shown up by comparison.
Comparing Anning and Lin Anjie, Lin Anjie just falls short.
After eating and taking a nap, Lin Aiguo went back to the fields in the afternoon.
He had just reached the fields when Lin Anjie came looking for him.
Lin Anjie's eyes were somewhat red, and her expression was not good.
She walked to the edge of the field, calling from a distance, "Dad, come over here for a moment."
Lin Aiguo glared at Lin Anjie: "Can't you see I'm busy working? If you have something to say, come over here."
Lin Anjie disdainfully glanced at the wheat, which was already tall, and seeing that Lin Aiguo really wouldn't come to the edge of the field, hesitantly stepped down into the field.
As she reached Lin Aiguo, Lin Anjie began complaining, "Dad, did Anning tell you not to go to the Su family? I was beaten yesterday, and you all didn't even come to see me, letting Wang Min that wretch laugh at me. Dad, Su Zhiqiang dared to hit me, you must teach him a lesson..."
Lin Anjie droned on, blaming Su Zhiqiang then resenting Anning.
Lin Aiguo felt his head swell with two big headaches, and his anger was stirred up.
He tossed the hoe he was holding, then pushed Lin Anjie a bit farther away: "Why are you telling me this? A daughter married off is like water spilled; you married into the Su family and you belong to the Su family now. Instead of living honestly and peacefully, you're always creating issues and haven't even settled in but ran back to your mother's house to complain. There's no one else in Xiaogou Village who behaves like that as a daughter-in-law. An Jie, try to come back home less in the future, to avoid gossip."
Lin Aiguo was determined to use this opportunity to really teach An Jie a lesson, to prevent her from becoming more willful.
Lin Anjie was nearly furious upon hearing Lin Aiguo's words.
She was sure this was all Anning's doing; it must have been Anning who badmouthed her to Lin Aiguo, making him unwilling to deal with her.
Thinking this, Lin Anjie felt even more resentment towards Anning.
She gritted her teeth: "Dad, I'm your daughter. Are you really not going to care about me?"
Lin Aiguo picked up his hoe to continue working: "Care about you? You also need to listen to me. Since you don't want to listen, just come back less often to complain."
He bowed his head, not wanting to look at Lin Anjie.
Lin Anjie was fuming with anger and didn't want to speak with Lin Aiguo anymore.
She stormed out of the fields, cursing Anning in her heart as she walked.
She felt that Anning was really good at hiding her slyness.
In her past life, she noticed Su Zhiqiang's advantage and quietly encouraged her to get along with Xue Feng. Knowing that she was planning to elope, yet not stopping her, eventually Anning married Su Zhiqiang and lived a life of glory and wealth.
In this life, seeing her married to Su Zhiqiang, Anning started tarnishing her reputation everywhere and even colluding with Su Zhiqiang and Xue Feng to stand up for her. Anning truly was a schemer.
Lin Anjie felt that a schemer like Anning was just a waste of air while alive and a waste of soil when dead.
She viciously thought she must never let Anning go to college; she wanted to make Anning live a downcast life forever, always trampled under her feet.
Lin Anjie looked terrible. Even when she ran into people on the road, she had nothing nice to say, causing people to think even lower of her.
All the way, Lin Anjie watched men and women toiling in the fields, bending their backs to the yellow earth, both tired and hot. The sweat dripped into the soil and splashed. The more she looked, the more disgusted she felt.
She did not want to live such a hard life; she wanted to enjoy comfort, not to suffer.
But thinking about the few arguments she had with Su Zhiqiang a few days ago about wanting to make a fortune, Lin Anjie realized it might not be too realistic to expect Su Zhiqiang to engage in animal husbandry now.
Her gaze shifted, and ultimately, she decided to start her own business first, earn a sum of money to show Su Zhiqiang how easy it is to make money, and then encourage him to rear chickens, ducks, and grow fruit trees.
Lin Anjie thought of many things in a moment. After returning to the Su family home, she packed some things and said she was going to the town.
Su Zhiqiang was not very caring towards her; whatever she wanted to do, Su Zhiqiang wouldn't ask.
The other members of the Su family wouldn't care even more.
Lin Anjie arrived in the town smoothly, and then went to the county.
Anning went to school for a while, and just when the college entrance exam was approaching, Anning went home, coincidentally running into Su Zhiqiang visiting.
Upon seeing Su Zhiqiang, Anning merely called him "brother-in-law" and then returned to her room, only coming out after Su Zhiqiang had left.
When Anning came out of the room, she saw Wang Cuixhua sitting in the main house, crying intensely.
Lin Aiguo was continuously smoking one cigarette after another.
Anning didn't know why: "Mom, what happened to you and dad?"
Wang Cuixhua cried a bit more: "Don't worry about it, just focus on your studies, and don't ask about anything else."
Anning did not ask further.
It was only later that Anning learned from others that Lin Aiguo and Wang Cuixhua were worried because of Lin Anjie's situation.
Lin Anjie started causing trouble once she reached the county.
She originally thought of selling some food, but she had hardly cooked before, her cooking skills were poor, and no one bought her food.
Later Lin Anjie talked about designing clothes.
But that wasn't her forte at all. She couldn't draw, nor could she do measurements, and nobody liked the designs she drew. She took her designs to a clothing factory, and they chased her out thinking she was mentally ill.
After such attempts, Lin Anjie still did not give up her plans for making a fortune.
She then went to a wholesale market, bought some trendy clothes, and set up a stall to sell them.
The clothes did sell, but someone also smashed Lin Anjie's stall.