Chapter 54: Advanced Translation Exam

"Nan Nan is here." Seeing An Yinan from afar, Chen Shao hurried out the door to welcome her.

"How is Auntie?" Although she had already received the system notification, An Yinan still asked with concern.

A look of joy appeared on Chen Shao's face, "She has already been discharged. The hospital said there was nothing they could do and they didn't even know what medicine to use, but they asked us to come back for a follow-up checkup once a week to monitor the situation."

An Yinan nodded, opened her basket, and took out the things she had prepared, "Please don't stand on ceremony with me regarding these blood-nourishing items. Also, this medicine is for iron supplementation; have Auntie drink one bottle a day to replenish her blood and slowly restore her vitality."

Chen Shao had originally intended to refuse, but upon hearing this—it was a medicine he had never even heard of—he quickly accepted it. He was becoming more and more indebted to her.

"Then I won't refuse. Thank you. If you hadn't come to the hospital today, your aunt and I were already prepared to say our goodbyes." Chen Shao smiled; thinking about it now, he still felt a lingering fear.

"The exam?" An Yinan wanted to end this topic and quickly asked.

Chen Shao did not delay and quickly took out the envelope sent from the City, "This is your translation fee from last time, three hundred and seventy-four yuan, plus some ration coupons."

An Yinan took a look and stuffed it into her small military-green backpack.

"This is the translation test paper; you have half an hour." Chen Shao tore open another envelope and pulled out a handwritten translation test.

After taking the paper, An Yinan looked through the questions from start to finish, then picked up her fountain pen and began writing rapidly. The entire bookstore was very quiet, with only the "swish-swish" sound of the pen tip writing on paper to be heard.

After checking it once and finding no issues, An Yinan handed the paper to Chen Shao. Chen Shao glanced at the time...

Eighteen minutes.

"Won't you check it again?" Chen Shao asked kindly.

An Yinan shook her head, "No need."

"Alright then, I'll seal it up for safekeeping first." Chen Shao put the paper into an envelope, sealed it, wrote the specific mailing address and zip code on the outside, and after sticking on stamps, placed it in a drawer.

"How many translation magazines are you taking this time? I estimate that by the time you come to the County again, the exam results should be out."

"Let's do the same as last time." An Yinan thought for a moment and decided on the same amount. Although she loved making clothes and it was very profitable—not to mention she had plenty of fabric in her space, having emptied the warehouses of several Textile Factories back then—

the country needed translators. Every bit of material she translated was a help to the country.

She did not want to give up the profession of translation, nor did she want to focus solely on making clothes. Although she loved it, she had choices.

"Here you go. This batch is thicker, so be careful with it." Chen Shao found the materials to be translated from the back room and handed them to An Yinan.

An Yinan placed them directly into her large basket.

"Uncle Chen, I'll be going now."

After saying goodbye, An Yinan went to the State-run Restaurant, packed the one hundred Deer Meat Buns that Liu Meijie had prepared in advance, and bought another one hundred Steamed Buns.

"Can you finish eating so many?" Liu Mei was somewhat dumbfounded.

An Yinan rubbed her forehead helplessly, "There are many people in my family, and many big eaters. It can't be helped."

Liu Mei understood now. Before, she had been worried that one hundred buns might go bad, but now it seemed she had underestimated the number of people in the girl's family.

"Then see when you'll be coming next time, and I'll have Ershu prepare in advance." Liu Mei thought about it and set this plan.

If she suddenly took away Steamed Buns and buns every time, there might not be enough left to sell, and that wouldn't do.

"In seven days, I suppose. If you could make some braised pork, sweet and sour hairtail, or something similar, that would be even better. I'll take as much as you can make." An Yinan winked at Liu Mei.

Liu Mei nodded, "I'll keep that in mind. If there's good food, I'll try my best to save some for you."

A young girl who could spend over a thousand yuan without blinking an eye was clearly not someone short of money.

An Yinan settled this matter and felt much more at ease. From now on, aside from steaming rice, the family's staple food was well taken care of.

She packed ten Deer Meat Buns into a cloth bag, put half a jin of Sorghum Liquor into a canned food jar, and then went to the Waste Recycling Station.

Going back and forth between these three locations every week seemed to have gradually become a habit.

After seeing An Yinan, the old man pointed his finger toward the Erjin Yuan, "Go to the place where you looked at the paintings last time. There is a broken wooden box under the table; take the things inside the box."

The old man didn't dawdle at all; he told her the location directly without a single word of nonsense.

An Yinan didn't hesitate either; she bypassed the people picking through items and went straight into the Erjin Yuan.

"Big brother, what's in this Erjin Yuan? Why let that little girl go in?" An older woman straightened her back, moved the kindling newspapers she had selected to the side, and said with some displeasure.

The old man laughed and said, "In the back are all old, discarded woods. They've been soaked by rain too much, so the wood has turned pithy and doesn't burn well. Since there's too much piled up, I'm letting the little girl take it back to burn for fire."

Upon hearing that the wood was pithy, the woman thought that buying wood at the waste station wasn't as good as letting the good-for-nothings in her own family go to the mountains to pick some up.

An Yinan naturally heard the conversation in the front courtyard. She first put the items from the wooden box into her space, then placed the things she brought onto the wooden table.

Only then did she go into the wood pile to pick and choose. She actually found a few pieces of Red Sandalwood. She hugged the wood and returned to the Yijin Yuan.

"Grandpa, see how much these few pieces of wood are. The wood in the back is too rotten; if I take it back, my mother will beat me to death. These few are the only ones that are okay." An Yinan looked at the pieces of wood with disdain.

The old man looked up at An Yinan with amusement. An Yinan squeezed her eyes, "Take two mao and be done with it." The old man understood perfectly.

An Yinan immediately took out two mao and handed it to the old man, and the old man wrote it in the ledger.

"The food is on the table. Drink less liquor." Before leaving, An Yinan whispered a reminder.

The old man waved his hand, "Want a refund? No, no, it's already recorded in the ledger, no refunds, no refunds, hurry up and go."

An Yinan rubbed the center of her brows. Fine, the Oscars owe you an Academy Award, old man.

Having not received news from Chen Xun for over a week, An Yinan went to the Post Office and asked if there were any letters for her. After receiving a negative answer, she bought every type of stamp available at the counter.

It was the same service clerk from the morning. Looking at An Yinan, she could only shake her head. This little girl really didn't know how to live frugally. She had spent over ten yuan just sending those bottles and jars in the morning, and now she had spent over twenty more buying these stamps. How many letters would she have to write to use them all up?

"Big sister, I'd like to ask, is it still possible to find the 'National Mountains and Rivers All Red' stamps now?" She hadn't found this stamp in the few times she had bought stamps recently. This was a premier stamp; having lived through this era, she always wanted to keep a memento.