Chapter 509 - 523: The Start of School

After An Ning got hurt, her family started treating her like an endangered species.

In everyone’s eyes, she was fragile, a rare specimen. In short, An Ning wasn’t human anymore.

While that statement was ambiguous, everyone was genuinely terrified.

It seemed to happen for no reason at all. She would just go out, and the one person who was supposed to be the strongest, the one they should never have to worry about, would come back half-dead every single time. Who wouldn’t be scared in that situation?

Not to mention, these were the people who cared about An Ning the most.

For once, Lin Cuihua wasn’t nagging. Instead, she just latched onto An Ning.

Going to the bathroom? ’Okay, I’ll go with you.’

Going to sleep? ’Okay, I’ll sleep with you.’

Eating? ’No problem, I’ll eat with you.’

In a nutshell, it was "I’ll be with you." Her entire focus was on constant companionship.

An Sancheng, who was usually a man of few words, took a different approach.

If Lin Cuihua’s strategy was companionship, then An Sancheng’s was to lecture.

During the time An Ning spent recuperating, the word that became most familiar to her was, "Daughter..."

As soon as that word came out, An Ning knew An Sancheng was about to start one of his "political lectures."

This was the elderly couple’s stress response. An Ning didn’t dare say a word and just accepted it silently. She knew they were scared.

The other patriarch of the An family, Uncle An, stuck to his usual spiritualism and performed rites to the ancestors for An Ning’s sake.

An Ning was even afraid that one day Uncle An would arrange for her to move in with them to get acquainted with the ancestors ahead of time.

Fortunately, Uncle An’s sanity was still intact.

Half a month had passed since An Ning’s return.

With only three days until Beijing University’s semester started, An Ning’s body was recovering at an incredible speed. It was this rapid recovery that finally allowed her family to start acting normal again.

At dinner that day, An Ning brought up her desire to return to Beijing. She still had a lot to take care of.

Lin Cuihua was the first to put down her bowl and chopsticks, staring at An Ning.

An Ning first gave an awkward smile, then said placatingly, "Mom... It’s not that I don’t want you to come, it’s just that it’s not very convenient for you to accompany me in Beijing. The professors don’t let people sit in on classes."

"Cut the sweet talk! I wasn’t planning on going with you."

After Lin Cuihua spoke, the rims of her eyes began to redden. That was all it took for An Ning to feel even more guilty.

In her muddled state, all she remembered was agreeing to many of Lin Cuihua’s "unequal treaties."

Once she had agreed to everything, Lin Cuihua picked up her bowl and resumed eating, even encouraging everyone else to do the same. The rest of the meal was an exceptionally cheerful affair for everyone else.

Sitting in her chair, An Ning couldn’t shake the feeling that she had been tricked.

"Sigh... ’Educating the public on the law is everyone’s duty,’" An Ning muttered to herself.

No one took the bait, and no one responded.

They were giving her the cold shoulder. It wasn’t for any other reason than the fear that she wouldn’t learn her lesson.

After dinner, An Ning stood up and headed out. The three brothers—An Guoqing, An Guoming, and An Guoping—shadowed her every step. This had recently become their most important duty: not letting An Ning go out alone.

During her recovery, An Ning went to work in the greenhouses every day. This was also the reason her physical injuries healed so quickly.

As for the damage to her spiritual power, that would still take some time.

She had focused all of her recovered spiritual power on "gaining weight."

Only when she looked physically better would everyone stop worrying so much.

Thanks to her tireless efforts, her weight finally returned to normal and she looked much healthier. In reality, she was still a wreck inside.

On this day, escorted by An Guoping, An Guoming, Yu Zheng, and a whole entourage of caregivers, An Ning finally left Shili Gou.

In truth, An Ning should have recuperated for longer, but she received a call from Yu the Elder. Beijing University was participating in an international mathematics competition, and both the university president and Yu the Elder had personally called to ask if she could take part.

An Ning couldn’t refuse such a moment to win honor for her country.

It wasn’t that she was overwhelmingly patriotic; she simply loved to win, especially on a grand stage like this. It gave her a great sense of accomplishment.

And so, with her appearance restored, her spiritual power still damaged, and her hair cropped to a black stubble, An Ning boarded the train back to Beijing.

At the same time, Jiang Xia was flying from Hong Kong to Beijing, his heart just as anxious as An Ning’s.

He had only found out about An Ning’s situation the day before. Grandpa Jiang and Master Tang hadn’t told him, waiting until they were sure she would truly recover.

The moment Jiang Xia found out, he raided his Uncle Jiang’s stash and flew back as fast as he could.

As for Uncle Jiang, he had to remain in Hong Kong to hold down the fort. Fortunately, his health had taken a surprisingly positive turn after treatment with miraculous traditional Chinese medicine.

In reality, what Uncle Jiang didn’t know was that An Ning had secretly treated him—not too much, not too little, just enough to make it seem like the work of a very good traditional Chinese medicine doctor.

The two arrived in Beijing one after the other. An Ning got home a step ahead of Jiang Xia and kept the staff that Director Zhao had arranged for her.

However, their duties were confined to the house. She didn’t need anyone following her when she went out.

After An Ning was settled, she shooed a reluctant An Guoping, who kept looking back, on his way home. An Guoming, on the other hand, didn’t leave. He moved right in, using the pretext that he was busy opening a store in Beijing and had no one to cook for him.

An Ning naturally had no objection and told An Guoming to make himself at home.

And so, An Guoming smoothly and logically stayed.

That evening, Jiang Xia finally arrived home and made a beeline for Anning’s house.

When a stranger opened the door, Jiang Xia took a dazed step back. ’This is the right place,’ he thought. ’There’s no way I got it wrong.’

"Jiang Xia, please come in."

The person knew him. Just then, Jiang Xia spotted An Guoming in the courtyard. He called out, "Second Brother," causing An Guoming to turn around.

"So you’re back, kid."

"Second Brother, An Ning—"

With a CLATTER, the door opened and An Ning came out. She greeted Jiang Xia with a carefree smile.

"You’re back so soon? I thought you’d be staying a while longer."

Jiang Xia didn’t answer, unable to tear his eyes away from her.

’She’s thinner. Her hair is shorter. Her demeanor... something feels off.’

Jiang Xia couldn’t put his finger on it, but he sensed that An Ning wasn’t doing as well as she appeared.

"I’m back," she said. "Didn’t you hear about the competition? I’m planning to participate. What are you doing out here? It’s cold."

Jiang Xia wanted her to go back inside, and An Ning didn’t object. The fact that she didn’t protest told Jiang Xia that her body was not as well as it seemed.

He and An Guoming exchanged a look, a tacit understanding passing between them, and followed An Ning into the house.

That evening, Jiang Xia stayed for dinner.

After the meal, he brought over all the nutritional supplements he had brought back with him.

An Ning tried to refuse some of them but couldn’t win the argument against Jiang Xia, so she ended up keeping everything. ’I’ll just give him some extra gemstones later,’ she figured.

It was already late, and An Ning was told to stay inside while An Guoming walked Jiang Xia to the door.

The two men stood at the doorway. With a FSSST, a small spark flared to life. An Guoming offered the lit cigarette in his hand to Jiang Xia, who simply waved his hand and shook his head.

"No, thanks."

"You don’t know how, or you just don’t smoke?"

"I don’t dare."