Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

An Ning pointed to the other paper packets in the box, and Lin Cuihua hummed casually in response.

”That’s right.”

’They’re all seeds!’

An Ning anxiously reached out and placed a hand on the box that Lin Cuihua was about to put away.

”Mom, I want to see them all. Can I?”

Lin Cuihua found it a bit odd, but they were just vegetable seeds, nothing important, so the thought quickly slipped her mind.

”Go ahead and look yourself. I’ve still got work to do.”

Lin Cuihua thrust the box into An Ning’s hands and went out to get busy at the sewing machine.

An Ning was now alone in the room.

She pursed her lips and forcefully blew out a stream of air, repeating the action several times. Her anxious mood finally eased a little.

An Ning looked at the seeds in the box, and her eyes burned unhelpfully. ’These are seeds!’

She tried hard to compose herself. Once she had more or less calmed down, she took the box and left the room.

She found Lin Cuihua and asked about each of the seeds in the box one by one.

”These are scallions, squash, cucumbers, chives, and cilantro.”

As soon as Lin Cuihua finished speaking, An Ning had committed them to memory.

She returned to her room with the box. She reluctantly placed the seeds on the kang bed, but then, feeling it wasn’t safe enough, she picked them up and put them in the cabinet instead.

Although she was very excited, there were too many people and prying eyes around. It wasn’t a good time to transport the seeds.

When An Ning came out of her room, she was holding a dictionary. It was time for the daily character lesson.

She walked into the courtyard and called out, ”Big Bro! Second Bro!”

An Guoqing and An Guoming came out quickly. Despite having had only one day of lessons, they both skillfully brought small stools with them.

The An family didn’t have a blackboard, so An Ning just held the dictionary and taught the two of them to recognize characters. As for the stroke order, she didn’t know it either.

’I’ll go to town tomorrow and buy a dictionary,’ An Ning planned. ’Then I can return the one I borrowed from Yin Xuemei and ask her about proper stroke order while I’m at it.’

That evening, An Ning reduced the number of characters she taught, but her teaching method was the same as the night before.

Twice through, and class was over.

After An Ning left, An Guoping, who had been listening in the whole time, resignedly picked up the dictionary.

”Big Bro, Second Bro, let’s go.”

”Hey, do you think Little Sis believes we’re as smart as she is?”

An Guoqing watched An Guoming shake his head with a solemn expression.

”Big Bro, I don’t think we’re on the same level.”

”Hey—why are you kicking? That’s not playing fair!”

An Guoming anticipated An Guoqing’s kick and dodged it, then followed An Guoping into the house with a grin.

The three brothers once again began their remedial studies.

Fortunately, since An Ning taught fewer characters, An Guoming learned them quickly. He no longer needed An Guoping’s help and told him to go read his own books, while An Guoming took on the heavy responsibility of teaching their big brother.

The task of learning characters had turned their once-boring nightlife into a race against time where every second counted.

”Thank goodness Little Sis didn’t make us write them tonight.”

With this thought in mind, An Guoqing finished up his studying, yawned, and went back to his room to sleep. He was out the moment his head hit the pillow.

The rest of the An family had also had a busy day. They were physically exhausted but mentally content, and their sleep quality was excellent.

By mid-June, the weather was already starting to get hot.

Even the nights were no longer that cold.

At this moment, An Ning had a quilt pulled over her head, completely concealing her. Her spiritual power spread out, scanning the surroundings.

’All clear. I can begin the transport.’

An Ning’s heart was pounding with anxiety; she felt like she was sitting on pins and needles.

She was afraid.

More afraid than she had ever been before.

’What if it doesn’t work?’

One of An Ning’s hands trembled with nervousness. She took deep breaths over and over, trying to steady herself.

”Here we go.”

Having made her decision, An Ning closed her eyes and used her spiritual power to force the Klein Bottle out of her body.

An ethereal blue light floated and spread within the small, enclosed space.

An Ning opened the paper packet of cucumber seeds, carefully took one out, and pushed it through the mouth of the Klein Bottle.

The small seed slid from the mouth, past the neck, and slowly fell into the belly of the bottle.

An Ning continued to fill it with seeds. After about ten of them, the belly was full. That was enough.

She set the remaining seeds aside, cupped the Klein Bottle in both hands, and poured all of her spiritual power into it.

The blue light began to flicker. The space under the quilt, like a curved screen, started to distort when viewed from a certain angle.

Sweat trickled down An Ning’s head. Her spiritual power was draining quickly.

Suddenly, An Ning felt a tremendous suction force pull away more than half of her spiritual power.

Her head was splitting, but she held on.

Finally, the blue light flared brilliantly, then vanished in a flash. The glow began to fade, leaving only a single point of light, like a will-o’-wisp.

”It worked!”

That one cry was filled with so much emotion.

An Ning cried.

It really worked.

In the interstellar era, all of this had just been a theory. Although they had run many experiments, those had all been conducted within the same spacetime.

Now, she was in a different spacetime. To have truly accomplished it in this moment—she was thrilled, ecstatic, and above all, relieved.

All ten seeds in the Klein Bottle had vanished. The bottle itself gradually faded from An Ning’s palms and became hidden once again.

A smile gracing her eyes and lips, An Ning fell asleep, completely content.

She was truly and utterly exhausted.

The very moment An Ning fell asleep, at the other end of the Klein Bottle, a high-end laboratory in the interstellar era erupted into chaos.

It was a chaos born of joy and success—they had seen the seeds.

「Ancient Earth. The next morning.」

An Ning had slept a little too soundly. By the time she came out of her room, everyone in the family who needed to go to the fields had already left.

”Mom, what time is it?”

Lin Cuihua, who was at the sewing machine, glanced at the sun outside and said, ”About nine o’clock, I reckon.”

’About? Nine o’clock?’

An Ning figured out what ”about” meant, but this was also the first time she realized something: their family didn’t own a clock or any time-telling device.

She made a mental note of it, thinking she would check things out when she went to town.

Still a bit groggy, An Ning continued walking outside, but just as she reached the doorway, she whipped her head around.

”Mom, did you say nine o’clock?”

”I’m so late! I still haven’t gone to install the water pump!”

An Ning grew anxious. She was delaying everyone’s work, and more importantly, she was holding up the work on the crops.

”What’s the rush? It’s not like the world stops turning without you.”

Lin Cuihua stood up, lifted the pot lid, and took out the food she had saved for An Ning. ”It’s not a big deal. They just started on other work first, that’s all.”

Standing in the doorway, An Ning was still pondering the saying about the cloud, but she understood the general meaning.

”I’m going to the latrine first.”

An Ning quickly ran to the latrine. After coming out, she washed her hands and face, brushed her teeth, and then ate first.

”Mom, I want to make a trip to town today. Is there anything you need me to buy?”

”I don’t need anything. Just don’t go wasting money.”

An Ning nodded. ’I couldn’t waste money even if I wanted to,’ she thought. ’I’m broke.’