CHAPTER 147: CHAPTER 147: DID YOUR BROTHER MAKE YOU ANGRY?

"Nianhua, is there a ghost chasing you or something?" Zheng Jin teased Xu Nianhua with a giggle, as she ran so fast. The next moment, seeing Xu Nian’an approaching with a worried look on his face, Zheng Jin’s eyes widened, and she leaned in to whisper, "Did your brother make you mad?"

Although Zheng Jin said that, she couldn’t really believe it. Xu Nian’an had always been very protective of his little sister. How could he possibly bully her and make her angry?

"It’s nothing." Xu Nianhua pursed her lips and started to work on her exercises. She didn’t believe that the things she knew before couldn’t be picked up again now.

"Little sister, I, I really didn’t mean to scold you," Xu Nian’an said in a low voice.

Xu Nianhua moved aside and continued to write her homework seriously, completely ignoring Xu Nian’an.

Xu Nian’an wanted to say something, but with the teacher occasionally glancing in his direction, he had no choice but to keep quiet, thinking that on the way back, he would surely cheer up his sister.

It took roughly fifteen minutes to walk from the school to their rented house. If one walked fast, it might take only ten minutes. The route was along a main road with street lights. Right after class, Zheng Jin followed Xu Nianhua, claiming she wanted to see where they lived so that it would be convenient to visit in the future.

Zheng Jin and Xu Nianhua chatted the whole way, leaving Xu Nian’an no chance to speak with his little sister.

"Little sister, I said the wrong thing. If you’re upset, just scold me," Xu Nian’an said, admitting his mistake with a good attitude.

As soon as he entered the house, he apologized to Xu Nianhua.

"Second brother, you didn’t say anything wrong. It’s just that I fell into the lake and got a high fever, right?" Xu Nianhua had actually stopped being angry a while ago, but seeing how worried Xu Nian’an was made her feel sweet inside.

"Little sister is smart, indeed. Even if you got a fever, that doesn’t affect your cleverness," Xu Nian’an praised her generously, his words gushing out like they cost nothing.

Seeing that she seemed no longer angry, he suggested, "How about tomorrow morning, we recite classical poetry together?"

"Okay," Xu Nianhua agreed immediately, and they divvied up the tasks: one watched the bean sprouts, and the other boiled water for a bath.

By the time they had finished bathing, it was already past eleven o’clock, and Xu Nianhua fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.

"Little sister, it’s time to get up," Xu Nian’an called out to wake Xu Nianhua early in the morning.

He had already poured out the bean sprouts they needed to sell for the day and soaked a new batch of soybeans.

"What time is it?"

Groggy, Xu Nianhua opened her eyes. It was light outside, and as she sat up, she noticed that their older brother had arrived.

She yawned as she got out of bed.

"Big brother, how is everything at home? Did you get the chili peppers?" Xu Nianhua asked as she washed her face with cold water, inquiring about the chili peppers.

"The villagers practically want to give us all the chili peppers they have; how could we not get enough?" Xu Nianji recounted the events from the previous night. "Second Aunt and Grandma gave up all the peppers they had. I reckon they’ll still want to buy peppers later on to eat."

"Don’t they leave any peppers to eat at home?" Xu Nianhua couldn’t help but feel speechless. Selling chili peppers was profitable now, but later, when they ran out at home, wouldn’t they have to spend money to buy them?

It would be better to keep the peppers they needed to eat and just sell the surplus.

"They just couldn’t bear to pass up the money," Xu Nianji explained, then changed the subject, "I washed most of the bottles yesterday, but did you finish the label you mentioned?"

"I finished it."

Xu Nianhua was fairly good at drawing, and there was no problem with simple sketches.

She had drawn a profile of a smiling mother, which made people think of their own moms as soon as they saw it. She also designed the words "good mom" in an artistic font.