Having returned to the An Family, the courtyard was eerily quiet without a soul in sight, and the snow from last night lay thick on the ground, untouched by any sweeping.
Stepping on it, there was a crunching sound.
"Dad, An Ping!" An Hao called out loudly, "Which room are you all in? How come none of you thought to sweep the snow?"
At that moment, An Ping stuck his head out from his room and, seeing An Hao and Qin Jian had arrived, immediately brightened up, "Sis! You’re here? Is the happy event all taken care of?"
"All done!" An Hao pushed aside the curtain to enter and was immediately greeted by a gust of warm air and the rich scent of roasted sweet potatoes. Her eyes instantly fell on the coal stove in the corner, where two sweet potatoes were roasting, steaming and piping hot, "I’m dying for one! Haven’t had roasted sweet potato in so long! I’ll start with a piece."
As she spoke, she walked over, picked one up, and broke it open to reveal its golden flesh.
She handed half to Qin Jian and couldn’t wait to bite into the other half herself.
"Tastes good, doesn’t it? I specially roasted these for you," An Ping quickly stepped forward to take credit.
"You knew I was coming today?" An Hao gave him a sideways glance, "You can’t even lie properly."
An Ping chuckled sheepishly, "You caught me!"
"It’s quite cold outside, isn’t it? Get on the kang bed quickly!" An Shuchao made room for his daughter and son-in-law, inviting them to sit down.
After finishing the sweet potato, An Hao threw away the skin and washed her hands before coming over.
Seeing the kang bed table covered in draft papers, she asked, "What are you all up to here?"
"Tallying accounts," An Shuchao said, "The year’s coming to an end, and we felt we worked really hard, but in the end, the income doesn’t seem much better than last year’s."
"How can that be? Last year was just retail, but this year we developed several big clients! Isn’t wholesale supposed to be more stable than retail?" An Hao couldn’t figure out where the problem lay.
"Sis, this fall’s rain wasn’t plentiful! Our fields are too large, and the water supply couldn’t keep up. This autumn, hiring people to bring water to the fields cost quite a sum. The ponds in the village dried up, and the wells nearly ran dry too. Because of this, the villagers didn’t even allow us to draw water—even offering money didn’t work! Several acres of seedlings died of drought." The thought of it made An Ping’s heart ache; failing to supply the vegetables meant they would have to pay penalties according to the contract.
"Why didn’t you tell me about this!"
"You mentioned something about your schoolwork being stressful, something about advancing to the third year ahead of time?" An Ping didn’t quite understand.
"Yes. I plan to graduate early to start working sooner. But with such a big issue at home, you should have at least let me know, right?"
"I told him not to mention it. We thought it wouldn’t cost much," An Shuchao sighed, "Indeed it didn’t cost much; we just earned less."
"We were really hoping for more rain this year!" An Ping said.
"You’re relying on the heavens to eat," Qin Jian felt this was imprudent, "If a drought strikes for a year, not to mention earning, we might end up losing everything."
"That’s true," An Shuchao likewise was a bit worried.
"Unless we dig a well ourselves," An Ping had thought for a long time and felt that this would improve the irrigation.
"It’s better not to," Qin Jian shot down the suggestion, "The procedures for private well digging are difficult to approve. Plus, well digging is a rather dangerous endeavor. Any mishap causing injury or death could lead to bankruptcy. Many of these private well-digging teams have unsafe practices."
"Ah? Then what do you suggest? With such large fields, we definitely need a well," An Ping voiced his concerns.