The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

An Xian bought two kilograms of meat, some sausages, and a whole smoked chicken and headed home.

On her way home, she glanced again at the threshing ground and then hurried along with her basket.

When she arrived home, Anjing was already preparing the dough.

An Xian put the meat she bought on the kitchen table, took a handful of small spinach picked from the greenhouse, sat on a small stool, and began to pick vegetables: ”Second Sister, has the fungus been soaked enough? Let’s stir-fry some ragu later.”

After kneading the dough, Anjing let it rest and sat down with An Xian to pick the vegetables: ”It’s all soaked, the carrots are chopped too, will you fry it or should I?”

”I’ll fry it.” Despite being lazy, An Xian wouldn’t let her pregnant sister constantly work around the stove: ”You shouldn’t be moving around later; I’ll roll out the noodles.”

”Okay.” Anjing finished picking the vegetables and put some water in the basin, preparing to wash them.

An Xian got up to roll out the dough: ”Second Sister, in the future if you hear people gossiping, don’t get upset, let’s pretend we didn’t hear it.”

”What?” Anjing was puzzled: ”Who did you hear talking?”

An Xian sneered: ”Those women at the threshing ground gossiped as I passed by, saying I’m the eldest daughter, so everything in the house is mine, and I should be cautious of Lao Si, claiming she’s crafty and might end up taking all the family’s assets, leaving me with nothing. They also said you’re a daughter who’s married off, and it doesn’t make sense to stay long at your mother’s place, implying you’re back home to freeload.”

”What the hell.”

Before An Xian could finish, Anjing started cursing: ”Who has such a loose tongue? They can’t even manage their own affairs yet meddle in others’. Sister, tell me who it was, see if I won’t tear their mouth apart.”

An Xian didn’t say who it was: ”Let her say what she wants, why get angry? I admit I’m lazy and gluttonous, but I’m not foolish. I know who’s close and who’s distant. You and Lao Si are my sisters; if things don’t work out for me in the future, I can stay at your place, eat, drink, and borrow money. If you do particularly well, maybe you can help me out occasionally. But those gossipers are outsiders; whether I have a good life or not, it won’t matter to them.”

Anjing stood up to chop the vegetables: ”Busybody nuisances, never doing anything useful, just inciting trouble in other families.”

An Xian finished rolling out the noodles and covered them with a cloth, then started cooking the ragu: ”Among us four sisters, Lao Si is the smartest and sharpest, but she’s honest in her cunning. Lao Si is not the type to cheat her sisters. If the family makes money, would Lao Si let us suffer losses? Oh, we could listen to their gossip and break off with Lao Si, but would I be capable of supporting a household? Or would your honest husband be able to hold the fort? Neither works. Your husband is the kind who only follows instructions and is suitable for honest work, but dealing with outsiders? He can’t manage that. We stick with Lao Si, and life will only get better; if we work on our own, we’d be lucky just to eat enough. Hmph, I’m not that foolish; these are easy calculations.”

Anjing also laughed: ”You talk about Lao Si being smart, yet you’re pretty savvy too. I’ve already figured it out; I’ll stick with Lao Si in the future. Whatever she says, I’ll do. With Lao Si’s character, she might prefer to suffer a bit herself, but she’d never mistreat us.”

Once the meal was prepared, Anning and the others returned from the fields.

Anjing quickly prepared warm water for everyone to wash their faces and hands, while An Xian busied herself serving the food.

”Today’s noodles are really good.”

Anning couldn’t help but praise the ragu noodles served in the bowl: ”They look nice and smell even better.”

An Xian laughed: ”I added some tomato sauce mom steamed in the summer for a better color.”

As she spoke, she placed the sliced sausages, fried peanuts, and shredded smoked chicken on the table.

Only after Pei Laoshi and Liu Dalian were seated did everyone else sit down to eat.

After eating, the family sat for about twenty minutes before heading back to the fields.

As Anning left, An Xian pulled her aside: ”Lao Si, did you offend anyone?”

Anning frowned: ”I’m busy all day; no time to offend anyone.”

”Then why are people in the village trying to sow discord between us?” An Xian recounted the events of the morning to Anning: ”Who do you think started it?”

Anning thought for a moment, then pointed across the street: ”I think it’s that family.”

An Xian pondered for a while: ”It’s possible, let’s keep an eye out.”

As time passed, the spinach, chives, and other crops in the field were ready for harvest, making the Pei family even busier.

These days, many families in the village didn’t have much to do, staying home to eat and sleep, visiting each other, or gathering to play Mahjong. They were idling their days away, while the Pei family busily worked, making the others envious.

That midnight, Anning woke everyone up, and Xiao Yuan drove the car to take the family to the fields.

On top of Xiao Po staying at the Pei Family these days, even Chen Qiang had been staying for several consecutive days just to help with the harvest.

In the middle of the night, the family reached the fields and started cutting vegetables, collecting and bundling the chives, spinach, and more, efficiently packing them into the car.

With a full load of vegetables packed, Anning, Xiao Yuan, and Chen Qiang drove together to the city to sell the produce.

When they arrived in the city, it was still dark. Xiao Yuan had been to the city twice before, finding a spot at the morning market. When they arrived, they settled into their place right away. Anning unloaded the electronic scale, Xiao Yuan grabbed the bag of change, and the three of them began shouting to sell the vegetables.

It was already winter, and people usually saw only radishes and cabbages, hardly any green leafy vegetables. When they saw the fresh spinach and chives Anning and the others were selling, many people gathered around immediately.

Anning shouted through a loudspeaker: ”Come have a look, just harvested greens, take a look, take a look, fresh spinach, first-harvest chives, and more...”

Those who gathered saw the freshly harvested vegetables, tender and enticing, prompting them to want to buy and cook them right away.

”How much are these vegetables?”

Chen Qiang smiled and said from the side: ”Chives are one yuan per jin, spinach is eighty cents...”

”That’s expensive.”

”Expensive? Not at all. Think about it; what season is it now? It’s the middle of winter. Is it easy to get fresh greens? We invested a lot just to grow these, and brought them all the way here, hardly making any money.”

Anning smiled and said: ”Today is our first day selling, so we’re setting the price low. If you miss today, tomorrow won’t be the same price; it’ll likely be higher, and come next month, you’ll find it hard to buy for two yuan a jin.”

She continued, untying a bundle of chives: ”Smell this, this is the first harvest, with strong chive aroma, and our vegetables haven’t used pesticides or fertilizers. They’re all-natural and green, guaranteed to make you healthier and live longer.”

”This young lady sure is persuasive.”

An elderly lady listened with a laugh, took a few chives to sniff, then examined them closely: ”Indeed, no pesticides or fertilizers used, I can tell, the aroma is authentic.”

As she said this, people started asking Anning to weigh the vegetables for them: ”Give me five jin of spinach.”

”Give me two jin of chives...”

Chen Qiang quickly weighed the vegetables and handed them over, while Xiao Yuan started collecting and giving change.

The three of them worked together, and in a short time, sold quite a bit of the carload of vegetables.

By mid-morning, most of the vegetables were sold.

Xiao Yuan took the money and went to the side to buy some food, bringing it over to Anning and Chen Qiang: ”Have some food quickly.”

While the three of them were eating, two vegetable vendors came over.

They came to inquire how many vegetables Anning and the others had left, how much they had grown, and the wholesale price.

Xiao Yuan negotiated with the vendors on the side for half an hour before they exchanged contact information and bought all the remaining vegetables from Anning and the others, saying they would try the taste back home.

Having sold all the vegetables, with nothing else to do, Xiao Yuan decided to find a small restaurant for a hearty meal before driving back home.