Chapter 197: Chapter 197: New Year’s Eve 3

An Guoming followed in An Guoping’s footsteps, scrambling up the slope.

When he reached the top, An Ning waved at him and said coolly, "I’m off!"

"WHOOSH—"

An Ning slid down again.

An Guoping was right behind An Ning. After she’d slid a fair distance, he also sat on a silk sack, gave a hard push, and down he went.

An Guoming, who had just climbed up, stood to the side watching them. He leaned forward to get a better look.

"AH— AH—"

His foot slipped, and down he went.

An Ning, who had just gotten to her feet at the bottom, waited where An Guoming came tumbling down and looked down at him.

"Second Brother, that’s a novel way to slide down."

An Guoming spat a couple of times, but the snow had already melted in his mouth.

"Give me a hand."

An Ning chuckled and pulled An Guoming up. Along with An Guoping, who had just arrived, the three of them climbed back up to slide again.

Simple sledding, a silk sack that couldn’t be simpler—it was enough for a group of people in their twenties, plus a bunch of kids, to have the time of their lives.

The three of them went up and down countless times before finally stopping.

It was because An Guoming was too exhausted to climb up anymore.

An Ning looked at An Guoming, who was sitting on the ground, not even minding the cold, and said, "Second Brother, can you still walk? Or should Little Brother and I pull you back?"

An Guoming could still walk, but he was quite interested in An Ning’s proposal.

"I think that’ll work. You two can pull me."

In the end, An Guoming sat on the silk sack. An Ning and An Guoping were in front, each pulling a corner. An Guoming sat facing away from them.

The two pulling in front exchanged a look and raised an eyebrow. The tacit understanding of twins was on full display.

The two of them suddenly took off, picking up speed rapidly.

"Slow down, slow down."

An Guoming grabbed the edges of the silk sack. His whole body twisted and turned; the inertia from their speed made it impossible for him to sit still.

"What are you two doing? I get the feeling you’re up to no good."

An Guoming had just turned his head, not even having time to widen his eyes, when he was forced to clamp his mouth shut the next second.

"THUD!"

With a muffled sound, An Guoming was thrown into a snowdrift.

"Sis, run!"

An Guoping absolutely bolted. An Ning even had time to laugh twice before taking off after him.

By the time An Guoming emerged, the two of them were already dozens of meters away.

"You two little brats, just you wait ’til I get my hands on you!"

An Guoming could only make empty threats; he simply couldn’t catch up to them.

The three of them—two in front, one behind—headed home one after another.

An Ning entered the kitchen, called out "Mom," and then went into her room to change her cotton-padded shoes and outer pants.

One look was all it took for Lin Cuihua to know what they had been up to.

Both exasperated and amused, she said, "How old are you, still playing and getting covered in snow."

Jiang Xia, who was working nearby, lowered his head with a faint smile and continued his tasks.

Not two minutes after Lin Cuihua said that, An Guoming came in, covered in white.

"Hey, the two younger ones aren’t covered in snow. What happened to you?"

Lin Cuihua walked over and patted him down several times. The snow from his front and back fell to the kitchen floor, melting into water in the blink of an eye.

"What else could have happened? Those two threw me into a snowdrift."

As soon as An Guoming finished speaking, he saw Lin Cuihua laughing.

"Mom, what are you laughing at?"

Lin Cuihua didn’t bother hiding her laughter anymore. She said openly, "You never learn. How many times did they throw you in when you were little?"

"Go outside and brush yourself off, then go change. Your Uncle An and his family will be here soon."

Sure enough, just as An Guoming went outside and An Ning finished changing, people started arriving at the main gate.

Uncle An and his entire family had arrived.

Suddenly, the An family’s large house seemed small.

Uncle An’s wife, along with her two daughters-in-law, started helping out the moment she entered the house, not resting at all.

While working, she chided Lin Cuihua.

"What time did you have to get up to do all this? What’s the rush? There are so many of us to help."

Lin Cuihua pointed to Jiang Xia at the side and said, "It was alright. Jiang Xia did a lot of the work."

Uncle An’s wife took the opportunity to praise Jiang Xia a couple of times, and the group continued working in the kitchen.

Partway through, Jiang Xia wiped his hands and made a trip back to the Jiang family home. Grandpa Jiang Xia came back with him, carrying quite a few things.

An Sancheng and Uncle An went out to greet them, and everyone exchanged pleasantries.

Mr. Jiang Sr. waved his hand dismissively and pushed the items into An Sancheng’s arms, saying, "Go on, take them. Let’s not stand on ceremony."

"I didn’t bring anything too special. These are some firecrackers Jiang Xia managed to get. We can set some off during the meal and some more tonight. It’ll be nice and lively for everyone."

"And this, mahjong and playing cards."

Mr. Jiang Sr. pointed to a bamboo box Jiang Xia was carrying and said happily, "This thing... I haven’t played in years. There are plenty of people today, so you can play a few rounds with this old man."

"Great, great, that sounds wonderful."

"Uncle Jiang, let’s talk inside."

The group of people filed into the house one after another.

In An Sancheng’s room, a table was quickly set up and covered with a clean cloth. The bamboo mahjong tiles were poured out with a CLATTER.

Mr. Jiang Sr., An Sancheng, Uncle An, and Uncle An’s wife sat down at the table, ready to play mahjong.

Uncle An’s wife said, a little embarrassed, "I was supposed to be helping with the cooking. How did I get dragged over here?"

An Sancheng said while shuffling the tiles, "Nobody else knows how to play. Let’s play a couple of rounds first and let the young ones learn."

"That makes sense. Let’s play a couple of rounds first."

Mr. Jiang Sr. had spoken, so Uncle An’s wife no longer declined.

Besides, there were so many people working in the kitchen that one person more or less really didn’t make a difference.

The four people at the mahjong table had all experienced a more prosperous life, except for An Sancheng, who could barely play. He played while asking questions and trying to recall the rules. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

An Ning, An Guoming, and An Guoping gathered around to watch the fun.

On the other side, An Guoqing, An Guoyang, and An Guoqiang took two decks of cards and started learning from An Guocheng, who was back from the machinery factory. Before long, their game was getting intense.

An Ning was very interested in the mahjong game on the table. After watching two hands, she basically understood how it worked.

After four or five hands, Uncle An’s wife gave up her seat. An Ning was entrusted with the important task and sat down at the table full of elders.

To keep things fair, An Ning didn’t use her spiritual power and just played casually with everyone.

She won some and lost some, feeling very relaxed. It was even a little addictive.

"Five of Characters!"

"Three of Bamboo!"

"A pair."

"Eight of Bamboo."

"Mahjong—"

Mr. Jiang Sr. won the hand, and the CLATTER of tiles being shuffled sounded once again.

Meanwhile, the other group playing cards on the kang bed was also in the heat of a fierce battle.

"Hold on, you think you can win with a pair of Twos?"

Squatting on the kang bed, An Guoqing raised his arm high, a pair of cards in his hand, and slammed them down with a SMACK.

"A pair of Twos! How about that? Can you beat it?"

"A pair of Twos makes you hot stuff? Take this."

An Guoyang drew two cards from his hand and slammed them onto the surface of the kang bed with the force of a thunderbolt.

"A Rocket!"

"Can you beat it?"

This time, no one really could.

An Guoyang drew another card from his hand and, with a SMACK, threw it onto the kang bed.

"A single Three!"