Chapter 905 - 883: Top Student in the 1980s 11

Chapter 905: Chapter 883: Top Student in the 1980s 11

Steel factory dormitory

The Zhang Family and Ge Family had a meal together, Zhang Heping was happy and pulled Ge Dazhuang to drink, getting him drunk. The meal lasted until one o’clock before it ended.

After the meal, Anning got up to clean the table.

Secretary An quickly stopped her: "It’s okay, mom will tidy up here, you go and play with Hongmei."

Ge Hongmei cheerfully pulled Anning to sit and play on the side.

Hongmei’s mother helped Secretary An to finish tidying up and even swept the house clean, then finally took her family back home.

Before leaving, Ge Dazhuang helped Zhang Heping to lay down in the bedroom to sleep.

When the house was quiet, Secretary An pulled Anning over and asked: "See if there’s anything else missing, mom has time this afternoon to go buy it for you."

Anning quickly shook her head: "Nothing is missing, really, there’s nothing we need to buy."

She looked up at Secretary An, but her small hands secretly tugged at her clothes, clearly showing some nervousness: "Mom, when can I go to school?"

Secretary An couldn’t help but laugh.

She touched Anning’s head: "Ningning, don’t be afraid, I’m your mom, you can tell me anything, okay? Say whatever you’re thinking, but never feel distant from mom and dad."

Anning nodded.

Secretary An then said: "You rest at home for a couple of days, during these days mom will take care of your enrollment."

She thought of something and quietly asked Anning: "Which grade are you planning to attend?"

Anning thought for a moment: "Mom, I’ve learned all the primary school textbooks, going back to primary school would be a waste of time. Can I go directly to first year middle school? Once I’m in first year, I don’t want to skip grades anymore, I’ll follow the routine since I’m still young, there’s no rush, I can catch up."

Having a plan made Secretary An very pleased: "Alright, you can read some books at home these days, mom will visit First Middle School, it’s estimated there might be a test before enrolling, but we are not afraid, just do well in the exam."

"Okay, I’m not afraid."

Anning looked up smiling: "I dream of going to school, I used to often sneak outside the classroom in the village to listen in, I kept thinking about when I could legitimately sit in the classroom to listen to the teacher. When I saw the teacher asking students questions, I thought, if I could attend school, I would answer questions very seriously..."

Listening to this, Secretary An felt a pang of sourness and bitterness in her heart, this few words showed how tough it had been for the child.

"From now on, it won’t be like that anymore. We will openly go to school and study whatever you want."

"I will definitely study hard."

Anning happily promised Secretary An.

Secretary An chuckled: "Alright, definitely study hard. Now it’s time for a nap, go back to your room and sleep for a while, I’ll take you out for a walk in the afternoon."

She sent Anning back to her room to sleep, then went into her own bedroom.

After entering, she was hit by a strong smell of alcohol.

Secretary An shook her head, picked up a towel to wipe Zhang Heping’s face, just as she was about to leave, she heard Zhang Heping muttering on the bed: "Drink, I’m happy today, I have a daughter too, I’m happy, I used to envy other families’ children, but no more envy."

Hearing this, Secretary An suddenly burst into tears.

Zhang Heping kept mumbling nonsense: "My daughter is great, really great... woo, if only our Lingling could be found, it would be better. So many years, is the child alive or dead?"

Thinking about the daughter they hadn’t found in over thirty years made Secretary An also feel waves of misery.

This kind of pain cannot be erased by time; time can soften, but never eradicate it.

Secretary An wiped her tears, grabbed the towel and left, closing the door behind her.

Anning was asleep in her own bedroom, sleeping soundly and sweetly.

This was much more comfortable than sleeping at the police station, the house was warm, the mattress beneath was soft, and the blanket was downright warm. Lying down, Anning didn’t want to get up.

Honestly, she had been dragging this broken body busy everywhere, really exhausted, but couldn’t show it, always gritting her teeth and enduring.

Now, finally able to rest peacefully, Anning slept until evening.

When she opened her eyes, the room was slightly dark.

Upon opening her eyes, she saw Secretary An sitting beside the bed.

"Mom."

She softly called out.

Secretary An reached out to help her get up: "Waking up puzzled, aren’t you?"

"Yes."

Anning smiled and nodded: "Our home is just too comfortable, I lay down and just couldn’t get up."

"Then sleep more, at home you can do whatever you like, sleep as long as you want."

Secretary An smiled: "Lie down a bit more, I’ll call you when it’s time for dinner."

Anning didn’t lie back down, she got out of bed to put on shoes: "I won’t lie down anymore, otherwise I won’t be able to sleep at night."

"Alright then, play for a bit, I’ll go prepare dinner."

Secretary An got up to leave.

Anning followed her out: "Mom, let me help you, I can do chores."

Secretary An knew Anning must be feeling uneasy wanting to stick close to her, so she smiled and led her into the kitchen holding her hand: "Okay, you help mom choose vegetables, tonight we’ll make dinner together."

"Alright."

Anning nodded enthusiastically.

Once in the kitchen, she got a small stool to sit on.

Secretary An brought over some potatoes for Anning to peel, while she took some cabbage to wash, planning to stir-fry them.

Anning peeled the potatoes while watching Secretary An.

She quickly noticed Secretary An’s cooking skills were indeed poor.

She chopped the cabbage unevenly, placed the pan on the stove, yet hadn’t even chopped the scallions and ginger.

Anning sighed, brought the peeled potatoes to the stove: "Mom, let me cook."

Secretary An wiped her sweat: "I’ll do it, you’re still little."

Anning went over to turn off the gas stove: "Mom, let me do it, I feel worried seeing you cook, here’s what we’ll do, there’s still a stove in the house, steam the buns, I’ll fry the vegetables quickly, it’ll be done in no time."

She grabbed the knife as well, placed chopped cabbage in a bowl, then started slicing potatoes: "Mom, let’s stir-fry shredded potatoes. Do we have any chili? I’ll make spicy and sour shredded potatoes."

As she spoke, her hands moved quickly, the sound of chopping echoed, and under her knife the potatoes became fine shreds.

Those potato shreds were incredibly thin, they looked like they could go through the eye of a needle, each strand uniform, indistinguishable.

When Anning finished cutting the potato shreds, she filled a basin with water and soaked them.

Then she turned on the stove, poured oil into the pan, took the dried chili Secretary An passed to her, stir-frying it first for flavor before adding the potato shreds.

In no time, a dish of appetizing shredded potatoes was ready.

Anning then swiftly stir-fried some plain cabbage.

By then, Secretary An had steamed the buns.

She called Zhang Heping to get up.

Zhang Heping woke up and patted his head: "Time to cook."

He put on shoes and headed out, knowing his wife’s poor cooking skills, and wouldn’t dare rely on her for dinner.

Upon entering the kitchen, he smelled a delightful aroma.

Secretary An chuckled to Zhang Heping: "See how it is, these dishes were cooked by our daughter."

Zhang Heping looked at the two dishes, raised a thumbs up: "This cooking skill is amazing."

Since it was just the three of them, they didn’t bother eating in the living room, just gathered around the stove in the kitchen to enjoy the meal.

After dinner, Secretary An wouldn’t let Anning wash the dishes, instead told Anning and Zhang Heping to chat inside while she boiled some water and washed the dishes in the kitchen.

When she went inside, she saw Anning placing a bunch of garlic into a large dish and pouring water inside.

"What are you doing?"

Anning looked up smiling: "I noticed we only have potatoes and cabbage, with just a few big radishes, eating them all the time gets boring, so I wanted to make some side dishes myself. This soaked garlic is easy to sprout, doesn’t need soil, just put some water in the dish and place the garlic cloves inside, it will grow garlic sprouts in days."

Listening to this, Secretary An’s eyes lit up: "There’s such a thing? I can’t believe I didn’t think of it."

She also grabbed a dish, put in a bunch of garlic, and poured in water.

Anning laughed: "Once the garlic sprouts grow tall, you can cut them with scissors and fry them. They can regrow after cutting, yielding multiple times."

After sorting the garlic, she placed the dish on the windowsill, then turned to Zhang Heping and said: "Dad, when you have time, make me a few wooden boxes, I’ll dig some soil, and since the kitchen is warm, I’ll plant some chives in them. Once they grow, we can make chive dumplings with three fresh fillings."

Zhang Heping loved chive dumplings and chive pancakes the most, hearing Anning wanted to plant chives, he immediately said: "Okay, I’ll get some wooden boxes for you. Ah, my daughter’s really capable."

"Of course, look whose daughter you are."

Secretary An also proudly added.