Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

An Ning borrowed Yin Xuemei’s dictionary. Upon returning to the An family’s home, the very first thing she said to Lin Cuihua, who had just come back from a chat, was, ”I’m very smart.”

?

Lin Cuihua’s brow furrowed. ’What is she talking about?’

But An Ning had simply made her announcement and moved on. The details of her intelligence weren’t important to her. What was more important was what Miao Xiaohua had said about the coming drought.

An Ning went into An Sancheng’s room. He was soaking his feet.

”You’re back. How did it go?”

”I learned Pinyin. It’s very useful.”

An Ning sat on the kang and changed the subject.

”Dad, what will we do if it doesn’t rain?”

”Huh?”

An Sancheng couldn’t follow her train of thought for a moment, so An Ning asked again.

”What do we do if it doesn’t rain during the planting season? And what if it rains too much? I don’t know how to farm, so I want to learn.”

An Ning’s question was very serious. An Sancheng dried his feet, sat cross-legged on the kang, and began to explain.

”We’ve had droughts before. You know that river in our village? Aside from those three years, it’s always had water. If it doesn’t rain, we just carry water from the river to irrigate the fields.”

”If it rains too much, we drain the water if we can. If we can’t, there’s nothing to be done.”

An Ning had her answer, but she didn’t like it.

”Can you irrigate all the fields just by carrying water?”

”Of course not. You save whichever plots you can.”

”Oh... I see.”

An Ning hopped off the kang, said a brief goodbye to An Sancheng, and returned to her room.

Back in her room, the thought of the crops dying in a drought made her deeply uneasy.

In the dead of night, An Ning sat up, her eyes gleaming.

’If I don’t want that to happen, how can I solve it?’

’The river has water, but there’s no way to irrigate all the fields. Manpower is too slow... what about a machine? If I added pipes, would that be faster?’

’But I don’t have any materials, not even a single piece of iron.’

’As for earning money to buy materials, that’s not out of the question.’

’It’s just that my teacher used to say that until you’ve secured an important position, it’s best to spend your money on yourself.’

’If you can’t protect your wealth, don’t spend it lavishly.’

An Ning wasn’t stupid. She just didn’t understand the local customs, social nuances, or the various dialects. Therefore, it would be best to use locally sourced materials.

Lost in thought, An Ning gradually drifted off to sleep.

She woke up very early the next day. Without waking anyone, she headed up the mountain alone.

’Regardless, money is still important. Besides, I want to scout out the local terrain.’

An Ning opened the door in the dark. Just as she reached the main gate, her eyes met with the family’s large rooster.

She saw the rooster stretch its neck, about to crow, and instantly enveloped its head with her spiritual power.

’Don’t crow.’

Whether it was because of her command or not, the big rooster tilted its head, sized An Ning up, and remained silent.

’Good boy.’

An Ning took a few steps to the main gate. In one swift motion, she leaped, grabbed the top of the wall, and vaulted over it. Landing outside the courtyard, she headed for the mountain.

She didn’t have a flashlight, but she could cheat with her spiritual power.

This time, being on her own, An Ning went straight past the mountain’s outer edges and ventured deeper inside.

Along the way, she caught four rabbits and two wild pheasants. But since she still had time, she pressed on.

Soon, a rustling sound came from the woods. An Ning extended her spiritual power and detected an animal she didn’t recognize.

It had antlers on its head and spots on its body. It looked quite beautiful.

It seemed to have been frightened by something, for it came bounding out, glancing back from time to time.

An Ning readied her spiritual power to attack, but before she could move, the animal glanced back one more time and—BAM!—crashed right into a tree.

Then, it passed out, collapsing right beside An Ning.

’A free gift delivered right to my doorstep. It’d be a shame not to accept it.’

An Ning deftly took out the rope she’d prepared and bound the animal’s four limbs. ’It might be worth more alive.’

”Hey—that sika deer is mine!”

An Ning, still in the middle of tying up the deer, paid no mind to the shouting behind her. Her hands moved faster, quickly finishing the knot. She then lifted the deer and turned around.

”You say it’s yours? Call it. See if it answers.”

An Ning’s gaze met the man emerging from the woods. He was over six feet tall with sharp, defined features and a roguish yet piercing gaze. Beside him, a large yellow dog, Da Huang, stood with its tongue lolling out as it looked at An Ning.

Hearing An Ning’s words, Jiang Xia was momentarily at a loss for a rebuttal.

’How rare,’ he thought. ’Someone actually managed to leave me speechless.’ However, Jiang Xia retorted:

”Well, can it answer if *you* call it?”

An Ning raised an eyebrow. Hoisting the sika deer with one hand, she looked down at it and commanded, ”Make a sound.”

PFFFT—

”See? It can. So it’s my sika deer.”

Jiang Xia stared dumbfounded at the sika deer, his finger pointing first at the animal, then back at An Ning.

”You... Farting doesn’t count!”

”I didn’t fart. The sika deer did.”

An Ning corrected his mistake. Seeing the sun was about to crest the horizon, she realized she didn’t have time to chat.

”Goodbye.”

She ran off, carrying the sika deer and wearing the bamboo basket on her back.

”Hey, hey, hey! My deer!”

Jiang Xia dragged Da Huang along in pursuit, but unbelievably, the two of them—one person and one dog, six legs in total—couldn’t catch up.

”Damn it! Da Huang, did we just see a ghost?”

A shiver ran down Jiang Xia’s spine. He was the only one who hunted this deep in the mountains; the other villagers never ventured beyond the outskirts.

It was too eerie. Who could move that fast? A chill crept into Jiang Xia’s heart. He grabbed Da Huang and hurried down the mountain.

Meanwhile, An Ning ran on her own two feet all the way to the same alley An Guoming had visited yesterday. It was the same heavyset man who opened the door.

The man who opened the door saw the sika deer in An Ning’s hand at a glance and immediately stepped aside to welcome a major client.

The sika deer sold for four hundred and seventy yuan straight up. The pheasants and rabbits added another thirty, for a grand total of five hundred yuan.

Throughout the entire transaction, An Ning only said a few words, like ”Deal,” and ”Pay up,” maintaining a completely cool and detached demeanor.

After taking the money, An Ning shouldered her basket and turned to leave, but Brother Fatty followed her out.

”You came all by yourself?”

”It’s just me. I brought the sika deer.”

An Ning started to leave, but Brother Fatty stopped her. ”Wait a minute. I’ll find someone to go to your house and get a couple of people to come here. It’s not safe for you to travel alone.”

Although Brother Fatty and his men would never leak a seller’s identity, someone must have seen An Ning carrying a sika deer all the way here. The road back wouldn’t be safe for her alone.

An Ning was in a hurry to get home. She asked, confused:

”Who isn’t safe?”

”You are!”

An Ning gave Brother Fatty her standard eight-toothed smile. ”Thank you for your concern, but I’ll be perfectly safe.”

Ignoring Brother Fatty’s protests, An Ning walked away quickly. Anxious, Brother Fatty called over a few men, and they hurried after her.

An Ning knew Brother Fatty and his men were following her. At first, she was suspicious. ’Are they playing the part of the thief who shouts ”Stop, thief!”?’

’In any case, I’m not afraid.’

’Of all the subjects in the interstellar curriculum, I always ranked first in combat. That’s never changed.’

Soon, An Ning reached a narrow path, and the *other* group tailing her finally revealed themselves.

The leader of the group opposite her hadn’t even spoken yet when he saw the young woman they were about to rob flash them a brilliant smile.

”Miss, we just want the money.”

”That’s fortunate.”