The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

Very soon, it was New Year’s Eve.

On New Year’s Eve, the snow on the ground was still quite thick. The villagers had only cleared the snow from the roads and in front of their own houses, while the rest of the areas remained a blanket of white.

By the afternoon, they began setting off firecrackers and putting up spring couplets.

Yang Erchou stood on a stool to put up the spring couplets while the Old Madam watched from a distance with a teacup in her hand: ”No, a little higher, to the west, yes, just like that.”

Anning and Li Cuixia were making dumplings in the kitchen.

No one likes getting up early on the first day of the lunar new year, so they make the dumplings in advance, freeze them in the cold room, and then just cook them when they wake up on the first day, saving a lot of trouble.

Li Cuixia chatted with Anning while making dumplings: ”Your sister called a few days ago and said she’ll renovate the house in the spring. Your dad and I were thinking of doing our house at that time too, so if we want to live in the village, we stay in the village; if we want to live in the county, we live in the county.”

”Do we have enough money at home? If not, let me bring some more.”

Anning asked.

Li Cuixia laughed, ”It’s enough. Your dad stocked up quite a bit of timber before the New Year. We can start the factory in the spring, and the down payment will be enough for the renovation. Anyway, our house won’t be a big renovation, just simple enough to live in.”

”Hmm.” Anning nodded, ”If my dad doesn’t have time to do it, we’ll have Uncle Fang help renovate our house together.”

Li Cuixia rolled the dough, ”That’s what your sister and I said too, and your sister agreed.”

Just as they were talking, Yang Erchou started setting off firecrackers outside.

Anning finished the last few dumplings and, along with Li Cuixia, cleaned up the board and started helping with the vegetables.

Li Cuixia was still nagging, ”We have to be quick. Once we’re done, we’ll go to your uncle’s house.”

It was already agreed that this New Year’s Eve, Yang Erchou’s family would spend it at Yang Dachou’s house, so Li Cuixia didn’t prepare much food, just picked some vegetables for lunch the next day.

Anning sped up. They were just picking vegetables when they heard Yang Fuyu’s voice from outside: ”Second Uncle, Happy New Year.”

Anning was taken aback, ”What is Fuyu brother doing here?”

Li Cuixia looked outside twice, her face immediately turning sour.

”Your uncle’s whole family has come.”

Anning laughed, ”They probably didn’t get any money from us, so they came specially for a big meal to vent.”

”Who knows.”

Li Cuixia was also quite speechless, ”We weren’t prepared for this, what should we do now?”

Anning said, ”No worries, let’s just cook whatever we have. Didn’t we fry some meatballs before? I’ll make some sweet and sour meatballs, stir-fried spicy and sour cabbage, put together a fruit plate, make two cold dishes, slice a plate of pig’s head meat, slice a plate of pig offal, fry some sausages, and make a fish, then take out some of the cooked chicken, and it will be enough to eat.”

”Isn’t this trouble for nothing.”

Li Cuixia quickly went to get the pig’s head meat and other things. Anning swiftly grabbed a cabbage, chopped it up, and also prepared chopped green onion, ginger, and garlic. By the time Li Cuixia brought the pig offal and pig’s head meat over, Anning had already washed and chopped all the vegetables.

Wang Shushu entered wearing a blue cotton-padded jacket, holding a handful of sunflower seeds, nibbling as she came in, ”Oh, are you preparing now? Ningning is cooking, after all, she’s grown up, able to help in the kitchen now.”

Anning smiled and called her aunt, and Wang Shushu leaned in and said, ”We had originally agreed that we’d host guests this year, but these past few days I’ve been feeling very unwell, and Fuyu’s wife is also pregnant, so I didn’t dare to trouble her. No choice but to come over and enjoy the festivities together. Remember to host your aunt on the second day of the New Year.”

Li Cuixia was quite miffed internally but said, ”Alright then, I’ll call my mother later and tell her we’ll visit on the third day.”

Wang Shushu saw Anning cutting the pig’s head meat and reached out to grab a piece to eat.

Anning was rather frustrated, ”Aunt, if you want to eat, use chopsticks. Don’t just grab it with your hands; aren’t you afraid of the grease getting your hands dirty?”

Wang Shushu wiped her greasy hands on her clothes after eating the pig’s head meat, ”A little dirt never hurt anyone, eat it and you won’t get sick.”

Anning thought to herself that Wang Shushu was almost as bad as the Xiao Family.

In the main hall, Yang Erchou poured tea and brought over peanuts, sunflower seeds, and candies. Fuyu and his wife Liu Min sat down, with Fugui sitting on the other side of the sofa.

Fuyu grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds, while Liu Min peeled peanuts.

Fugui was puffing on a cigarette, unable to sit still, shaking his leg continuously, ”If you ask me, Second Uncle, your factory should expand. It’s no good to keep it so small-scale. What’s that term, right, cottage industry? You should move it to the town or the county; there’d be way more customers than now. Right, Second Uncle, you’re still making wooden doors and windows, aren’t you? Those are about to be phased out. Second Uncle, you need to be ready; I heard aluminum alloy doors and windows are trending now, so maybe you should...”

Yang Lao Mao, sitting not far from Fugui, said, ”Second, what Fugui says makes sense. You might as well skip carpentry and get into aluminum alloy doors and windows. Let Fugui handle the business for you; he’s sharp and can surely get you lots of work.”

Yang Erchou wouldn’t listen to that.

He’d have to be foolish to let Yang Fugui meddle in his factory affairs.

”Dad, I’m over forty now, not many years left for work. I don’t have the determination to mess with these newfangled things. As long as I can do a bit of carpentry, I’ll do it. When it’s phased out, I’ll stop. Anyway, An Zhen is married off. Our life isn’t top-notch, but it’s decent. Anning has done well enough and doesn’t need me to earn money for her. Cuixia and I also bought a house. I’m very satisfied with life as it is now. In a few years, I’ll retire, and Cuixia and I can move to the county to enjoy our old age.”

What he said made the arguments planned by Yang Fugui and Yang Lao Mao useless.

”Second Uncle, why are you so unambitious?”

Yang Fugui gave Yang Erchou a sidelong glance, thinking the man was useless.

Yang Erchou laughed, ”I’m so old now, so what if I’m unambitious? But you’re still young, you should be a bit more ambitious. By the way, you mentioned aluminum alloy doors and windows; you can do that yourself. If you succeed, your second uncle will beam with pride.”

”I’m not interested in that.”

Yang Fugui waved a hand with an arrogant air, ”That work is too tiring and not lucrative. I want to be a big boss; I can’t do that kind of thing.”

Anning came in with a fruit plate and cold dishes, ”What does Second Brother want to do?”

Yang Fugui rubbed his hands together, ”Sis, what do you think I could do in the Capital?”

Anning laughed, setting down the dishes, ”I really have no idea. I spend all my time at school, hardly ever leave campus. I have no clue how big the Capital is, so how would I know about those things?”

”This is what I’m thinking.”

Yang Fugui shamelessly scooted over to talk to Anning: ”I’ve noticed building houses seems profitable now. I was thinking about buying a plot of land in the county or Provincial City, building apartments, and they’re not cheap either, it really can make money. People who build many houses, one community can earn them over ten million.”

Anning just laughed, ”That sounds great, but do you have connections in the county or Provincial City? How do you buy the land? Do you know how to appraise it? Do you know how to build a house? How tall is each floor, how many bricks, how much cement? Do you understand the structure of a house? There are a lot of nuances in this. If you don’t understand, I can guarantee you’ll be at a loss and won’t even know where the crying starts.”

Yang Lao Mao didn’t like hearing Anning say this: ”How are you talking to your brother? You’re a young girl; what do you know? I think Fugui’s ideas are good...”

Anning was genuinely amused by this.

Yang Fugui was just full of hot air, boasting all the time without doing anything tangible, yet the old man thought he was great. What was so great about him? Just having two more taels of flesh than her?

”I may not know much, but I can calculate how many bricks a certain number of square meters of a house needs, know which type of house structure is most reasonable, how to design, how to decorate; I know all these. Also, I know that someone who doesn’t understand the business of construction is not only being irresponsible to themselves but to others too.”

After saying this, Anning turned and walked out.

The Old Madam, who had been sitting silently next to them, now chuckled too.

Her mind was becoming clearer now.

She realized that all those years before were really lived in vain because she never saw how unreliable the Eldest’s family was.

Just like Anning said, in any trade, you have to understand that trade. With someone like Yang Fugui, who can’t even count very well, building houses was that not a joke?