Chapter 182: Chapter 182: A Classic Robbery Scene

An Ning had a plan, and she saw it through.

The results of the seven men’s training were extraordinary.

Of course, they couldn’t be compared to special forces, but they’d have absolutely no problem in a one-on-one, or even a one-on-two fight.

During the month of training, they only got four or five hours of sleep each day. The seven men, believing they wouldn’t get the job if they failed, truly trained as if their lives depended on it.

Seeing their drive, An Ning felt too embarrassed to rest herself.

In addition, An Ning would use her spiritual power to stimulate their muscles whenever their stamina was depleted, allowing them to recover exceptionally fast.

Even Jiang Xia thought at one point that these seven men were prime candidates for the army.

At this moment, the white snow on the mountain had not yet completely melted. The seven men stood downhill, while An Ning stood uphill from them.

Jiang Xia stood in the middle, at a lower elevation than An Ning. This was her arena.

"The one-month intensive training ends here. But if you want to do this job well, you need to keep training every day on your own. No slacking off."

"After you go down the mountain today, go find my second older brother on your own."

"You don’t need to come back tomorrow."

After An Ning’s brief and clear instructions, Li Erniu and the others were a bit dazed.

This past month, though difficult and exhausting, had been incredibly fulfilling.

Each day, they’d return, collapse onto the heated brick bed, and fall asleep instantly. They’d wake up and train, with no time to think about anything else. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

For now, though, they were all just happy to have successfully completed the month of training and passed muster.

The seven men descended the mountain in a staggered, orderly line.

"Doesn’t this look just like ’Seven Swords from Mount Heaven’?"

The more Jiang Xia thought about it, the more it seemed to fit. An Ning, who hadn’t read it, asked curiously, "What’s ’Seven Swords from Mount Heaven’?"

"A novel. Do you want to read it?"

"Okay!"

Having made their plan, the two descended the mountain one after the other, like two complete strangers.

Not long after An Ning returned home, she heard the rhythmic call of a cuckoo. She opened the door to go to the outhouse.

As she passed the kitchen, Lin Cuihua was looking outside.

"Where is that bird? How come I can’t see it?"

An Ning, her back to Lin Cuihua, felt a pang of guilt. ’There is no bird,’ she thought.

She walked to the backyard and returned two cuckoo calls. From the other side of the wall, a book was suddenly thrown over, then another.

Three books were thrown in total. Two more "COO-COO" sounds came from the other side, and then it fell silent.

An Ning looked at the books in her hand—it was the very one Jiang Xia had mentioned. She skillfully stuffed them into her padded jacket and went back to her room.

Her practiced motions made it clear this wasn’t their first time.

Of the two, one was starting to catch on, but still hadn’t considered the reasons behind his actions.

The other was completely oblivious, simply thinking they were very good friends.

However, they were in complete agreement on one thing.

Living in a village, they knew the power of gossip could bring shame to their families, so they were always very careful about how they interacted.

After returning to her room, An Ning lay on her stomach on the heated brick bed and opened the novel.

This book opened a door to a new world for her.

’So a person’s story can be this exciting!’

It was so exciting that when Lin Cuihua called her for dinner, she didn’t want to put the book down.

An Ning finally understood why someone as old as An Guoping was so obsessed with his picture books.

「Three more days passed.」

Lin Cuihua stood at the door every day, looking out and waiting for An Guoming to return.

An Guoping walked into the courtyard, carrying a bundle of firewood.

"Mom, you miss Second Brother that much?"

"Who has time to miss him? It’s my cooking oil I’m waiting for!"

Lin Cuihua glanced outside again. Seeing no sign of anyone, she sighed and went back inside.

"When is he coming back? I’m waiting to fry some things!"

As the mother and son headed inside, An Ning came over from the backyard.

"Why are you going to the outhouse again? Do you have diarrhea?"

At Lin Cuihua’s concerned question, An Ning shook her head.

"No, no, I just drank too much water."

This was the first time An Ning had lied, and she was a little uncomfortable. She shoved her hands deep into her pockets, covering the books she had tucked into her jacket.

An Ning had just finished the Mount Heaven novel and was left wanting more. When she asked Jiang Xia, he said he had others, so she’d just gotten a few more from him.

She felt like a good student trying to hide novels from her parents.

Lin Cuihua and An Guoping weren’t suspicious. The two went inside, one to start the fire, the other to cook.

An Ning went back to lying on her stomach in her room, reading her novel.

Meanwhile, An Guoming was driving his truck home. Another truck had been taken by the others to sell goods elsewhere.

In his truck were the New Year’s goods he’d bought, along with the Spring Festival couplets he planned to sell.

An Guoming didn’t think there would be any problems on the road from Sanhe Town to Shili Gou.

Besides, he was driving; as long as he didn’t get out of the truck, he would be fine.

But life is unpredictable. His stomach started to hurt.

A sudden, desperate urge from his bowels forced An Guoming to pull over.

With a SLAM of the door, An Guoming muttered, "You really can’t eat leftover seafood."

He had eaten some leftovers, afraid to waste them, and now his stomach was twisting in knots.

An Guoming found a large tree and squatted down, ready to answer nature’s call.

After relieving himself, he realized he had forgotten to bring any paper.

An Guoming was just about to reach out and break off a stick. It wasn’t like he hadn’t used one as a child.

"Need some paper?"

He hadn’t even broken off the branch when a wad of pink toilet paper appeared before his eyes.

If An Guoming hadn’t been clutching the branch, he would have fallen flat on his butt.

"Heh heh, here you go. I’ll go wait over there."

Li Erniu kindly placed the paper down and turned his back to wait.

They had been waiting for An Guoming for several days and had finally spotted him.

Hoping to make a good impression on his future boss, Li Erniu had kindly offered the toilet paper.

An Guoming had no idea what was going on, but the task at hand was urgent.

After he sorted himself out, he pulled up his pants and bolted.

"Hey, don’t run!"

"Quick, block him!"

Li Erniu panicked. ’He must be unhappy with me! That won’t do!’

The six other men, who had been waiting in the distance, all scrambled out and blocked An Guoming’s path.

’Holy shit!’

’I’m being robbed!’

’It must be almost New Year’s, so they’re all out ’working’ now.’

An Guoming still had the presence of mind to analyze the situation. What else could he do? He definitely couldn’t fight them.

"I advise you to think twice. My younger sister is a big name in Sanhe Town."

An Guoming wasn’t just bluffing when he brought up An Ning’s name; her reputation had indeed been widely spread by that fatty.

"Whoa, calm down, calm down! Please, whatever you do, don’t call your little sister! You can handle us yourself!"

Li Erniu appeared from behind An Guoming, his voice even more panicked than An Guoming’s as he faced him.

During their month of training, they had witnessed An Ning’s incredible feats with their own eyes: fighting a brown bear single-handedly, carrying a huge boulder with one arm, and snapping a thick tree trunk with a kick.

An Guoming, standing opposite Li Erniu, was stunned for a moment.

"It’s good that you know my little sister is formidable. Now get out of the way!"

"We can’t! We don’t dare let you pass! It was An Ning who sent us!"

"Please, sir, you have to take us on!"