Chapter 45: Candle

An Yinan thought about it; it really seemed like she should get a bicycle. Before, she felt that bringing a bicycle back to the village was too much trouble—leaving the village, the vehicle pulled the person, but returning to the village, the person had to pull the vehicle.

But the village was too far away; the time interval between going and coming back was too long, and she always had to wait for time.

If she had her own bicycle, she wouldn't even need to pedal when leaving the village; she could just glide down along the slope and reach the County.

It was just that going back required walking slowly, though she wasn't afraid of walking.

However, bicycle coupons needed to be traded for, which was somewhat troublesome.

After swaying her way back to the village, An Yinan went straight back to the Educated Youth Station and saw Xie Yuanyuan and Beibei sitting in front of the dining table, one doing problems and the other yawning out of boredom.

"You're finally back." Xie Yuanyuan's eyes lit up when she saw An Yinan.

An Yinan smiled, "When are you planning to start working? It should be a few days before the rush harvest for yams, sweet potatoes, mustard greens, and sugar beets begins."

Later, after asking the wife of the Brigade Captain, she learned that these crops were relatively small in quantity and not mandatory for work, which put An Yinan's mind at ease. Since it wasn't mandatory, it meant she didn't have to work.

As long as she didn't need a letter of introduction and returned to the village every day, there wouldn't be any issues. Moreover, whether she was doing translation work or making clothes, it was much more cost-effective than farming for Work Points.

"I'm not going; I've given up." Xie Yuanyuan was completely devoid of fighting spirit, lacking the desire she previously had to prove herself.

Reality had taught her a lesson, making her learn how to admit defeat~

After entering the room, An Yinan took the braised pork stored in the lunch box out of the back basket, went back to the shelf, placed the meat buns into a porcelain basin, and only then brought over eight meat buns.

"New food I bought back, Beibei, heat it up." An Yinan handed the braised pork and the meat buns to An Xiangbei.

They had already cooked millet porridge, but once the few of them smelled the overbearing fragrance of the braised pork, how could there be any hesitation?

"Heat it in my room; Beibei cooked porridge here." Xie Yuanyuan hurriedly stood up, then took some firewood and brought An Xiangbei back to her room.

Heating the food was quick, taking only about ten minutes.

When the braised pork was being heated, the smell wasn't as overbearing; one could only smell it when close by, but the scent didn't drift out of the room, which saved a lot of trouble.

"Is it heated? Take these three meat buns and send them to Brother Zhang Qian." An Yinan put three meat buns in a bowl and then handed it to An Xiangbei.

An Xiangbei trotted off to the Yijin Yuan.

Recently, Zhang Qian had brought over several wild rabbits. After she cleaned them, she made them into cured rabbit and air-dried rabbit, which were still hanging there. Once they were thoroughly dried, she could mail them to her godmother to taste.

The rabbits in her own space hadn't been touched yet; that would have to wait for a while longer.

The three of them enjoyed a hearty dinner. The braised pork was tender, flavorful, and melted in the mouth without any greasiness, leaving a lingering fragrance on the lips and teeth.

"Are we going up the mountain tomorrow?" Xie Yuanyuan asked.

She discovered that the colder it got, the faster the firewood was consumed; her own storage was simply not enough to get through the winter.

An Yinan was a bit surprised and looked up at Xie Yuanyuan, "Why go up the mountain? Didn't you say you were going to admit defeat?"

Speaking of this, Xie Yuanyuan looked a bit dejected, "Even if I admit defeat, Lao Xie won't mail me firewood. When it comes to gathering firewood, I still have to rely on myself."

An Yinan remembered the two bundles of firewood that this little girl had stored...

"Not these two days, I still have things to do. In three days, I'll accompany you up the mountain to gather firewood. If you don't have enough firewood these few days, just take some from the side passage," An Yinan replied.

Whether it was An Yinan or An Xiangbei, both were conscious of storing firewood. Recently, An Yinan had moved quite a bit of firewood out of her space, and every time An Xiangbei went up the mountain, he would bring back a bundle, filling the entire hallway with firewood.

"That works, I'll wait. If I have to go up the mountain by myself, I'm really scared. I heard from people in the village that there are fierce beasts on the mountain, and many people who went in never came out." Xie Yuanyuan immediately agreed and started gossiping with An Yinan about the village legends.

After An Xiangbei tidied up his things, he went back to his room to read. Recently, he had already reached the second half of the fourth-grade textbook and planned to master the fourth-grade curriculum this winter so he could start fifth grade directly when school opened.

An Yinan felt that Beibei was pushing himself too hard, but Beibei took joy in it, so she didn't interfere too much.

After seeing Xie Yuanyuan off, An Yinan knocked on An Xiangbei's door, "Beibei."

When Beibei opened the door, he still looked a bit dazed. He had been working on a problem for the whole evening and was just about to get the answer when he heard the knocking.

Seeing him like this, An Yinan was speechless. How could someone love studying so much? At least she wouldn't...

"I went to the County to buy things today and happened to see candles. They are much brighter than kerosene lamps. From now on, use candles when studying." An Yinan handed a pack of candles to An Xiangbei. One pack had ten candles; based on Beibei's level of diligence, one pack would probably last about twenty days.

"Sister, these must be expensive, right?" An Xiangbei hesitated.

"Let me show you something." An Yinan thought about it and decided to take out the Translator Certificate and hand it to An Xiangbei.

"Your sister is now an external translator for the National Compilation Bureau and can earn over a hundred yuan every month. You don't need to worry about food or candles."

She had wanted to keep it hidden before, as letting others know would be troublesome, and having people ask questions all day would be too distracting.

But Beibei was precocious; once these things were explained, he could study with peace of mind without worrying about the family's livelihood, and he wouldn't be so overly frugal—sometimes he would only boil eggs for himself while being reluctant to eat them.

An Xiangbei's eyes lit up, and the stone in his heart lightened slightly. He had heard about his sister earning Work Points, but he also knew their family's standard of living; not to mention the Educated Youth Station, even the entire Quanshui Village didn't have this level.

Other families could only eat a bit of meat every few months, and only when a pig was slaughtered once a year could they eat a little, but their own family had meat every few days, and they never lacked for it. Such a life required money and coupons.

Moreover, his primary school tuition cost six yuan a year. To make his sister spend less money, he studied hard at home on his own, hoping to skip a year so he could spend less.

"Are you at ease now? You little housekeeper." An Yinan tapped An Xiangbei on the forehead.

An Xiangbei nodded with a smile, took the candles with both hands, and was overjoyed. He immediately returned to his room and lit a candle, which instantly illuminated the entire small room, brighter than lighting three kerosene lamps.

"It's so bright." An Xiangbei looked up at the surroundings of the room.

"Use candles from now on, but be careful with safety and don't cause a fire." An Yinan gave a word of advice and then returned to her room; Beibei was a child who had his own plans.

She returned to her space to wash up, then took out the cloth she had bought. The bolt of military green cloth was forty feet long. An Yinan thought about An Xiangbei's measurements, and the "click-clack" sound of her hands never stopped; the scissors and cloth constantly changed positions in her hands. In less than three minutes, two pieces of cloth appeared on the workbench.