The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

Ever since Anning started earning money, Pei Laoshi stood taller, grinning all day, looking several years younger, and dared to talk to people; he’d sit by the home and chat with folks, appearing nothing like his former self.

Besides, the Pei Family’s meals improved.

The Pei Family rarely had meat before, only when An Xian caused a fuss would they buy some meat to eat.

But now, Liu Dalian had confidence, so every few days, they’d buy meat; eggs laid by the chickens at home were not saved up, daily there’s boiled eggs, fried eggs, all ending up in the Pei Family’s bellies.

With that, An Xian was happy, not lying around sleeping all day anymore; when there’s work at home, she’s willing to lend a hand.

Zhao Chuan worked even harder, always in the greenhouse, overseeing those ten acres of seedlings daily.

When the seedlings were about ready, it was time to separate and plant them, and several of Anning’s family got busy.

Xiao Po also rode his bicycle over daily to help.

Xiao Po was Xiao Yuan’s cousin, different from Xiao Feng’s group; he was an honest guy, the sort you’d give a job, he’d complete it well, never slacking off, and he was particularly sincere and straightforward, so Anning hired him to help out.

Once all the seedlings were planted, Anning began mixing various Nutrient Liquid at home, while Xiao Yuan started buying parts to assemble some machinery himself.

The first thing he assembled was a sprayer.

In winter, there are no butterflies or bees; some vegetables need manual pollination, like beans and cucumbers. The cumbersome way is manually brushing pollen bit by bit, which is quite labor-intensive.

Xiao Yuan wanted to create a machine capable of spraying pollen. When various vegetables bloom, you’d need to gather some fresh flowers to make pollen, finish it, then load it into the machine for spraying pollination.

This process is rather complicated; typically, it takes a long time to pick fresh flowers and make pollen, so many farmers buy ready-made pollen for pollination, but for Anning, who studied agriculture for several lifetimes, preparing pollen medicine and such is no big deal.

The Nutrient Liquid was prepared, Xiao Yuan finished assembling the machinery, then the family started carrying sprayers to spray Nutrient Liquid in the greenhouse.

With high temperatures in the greenhouse and moist soil, it also breeds some pests and weeds; this is when you need to weed and control pests.

For common pests, weed killers and some pesticides are used.

But these sprays leave many harmful residues on vegetables; Anning didn’t use them.

She bought some Chinese medicines herself and prepared pest control and weed killer, preventing pests and avoiding pesticide residues on vegetables or damaging their taste.

While the Pei Family was busy, An Xian encountered something.

Lately, An Xian and Anjing stayed at home cooking.

An Xian wasn’t keen on working the land but was willing to cook and clean the house.

She’s much more diligent now, waking up early, checking the big truck first then lighting a fire to cook; while cooking, she cleans the house and yard too.

That day, after washing clothes, she cleaned inside and outside thoroughly; checking the time, she changed outfits to buy some meat and such.

Today, she wanted meat, and also smoked chicken; there’s meat and some side dishes at the village shop, so An Xian planned to buy some.

She carried a basket, wallet packed, and headed towards the village entrance.

Walking a bit, she saw some folks sitting by the threshing ground soaking up the sun and chatting.

Seeing An Xian, a few women smiled and greeted her: ”An Xian, where are you headed?”

An Xian smiled and approached: ”I’m preparing to cook, see, my dad and the others are worn out these days; Anning told me to buy some meat, to eat better these days.”

”You should buy more.”

An aunt chuckled: ”You have many mouths to feed at home now, buying little probably isn’t enough.”

Another woman commented: ”Right now, your family is the only one with three meals a day in the village this winter; others have two meals, except for your family.”

An Xian smiled good-naturedly: ”We have lots of work, exhausting every day; if we don’t eat well, how could we bear it.”

”True.” Another woman whom An Xian called ”Sister” joined in: ”Smelling your family’s stewed meat aroma daily makes us want to eat more meat too.”

The prior aunt subtly nudged An Xian, lowered her voice: ”I shouldn’t say much as an outsider, but seeing you as honest, let me advise you; you’re the eldest, with a live-in son-in-law, this house will be yours, yet it seems your family looks to Lao Si, the money’s with her, any home purchase must ask her too; your life is tough, that aside, worry if Lao Si transfers the family’s assets to herself, then you toil for nothing, ending up with none.”

An Xian’s eyes blinked subtly.

That aunt continued: ”You’re genuine, obedient since childhood, unlike sharp Lao Si; if Lao Si harbors bad intent... her mind holds double yours, stay vigilant.”

That woman added: ”Your family’s second daughter lives and dines at home, but she’s married off, no sense staying long-term, who knows if she’s siding with Lao Si, teaming up to squeeze you.”

An Xian tightened her grip on the basket handle: ”It’s getting late, I should hurry back to cook, let’s not chat.”

She smiled, turned, continued towards the village entrance.

Behind her, those two exchanged glances then chuckled.