Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

An Ning’s question made Jiang Xia fall silent for a moment.

”Comrade An Ning, your way of thinking is a bit dangerous.”

”I did say we should *try* to avoid it.”

An Ning’s earnestness made Jiang Xia chuckle.

”Since ancient times, the way to make money has always been to buy low and sell high.”

As Jiang Xia spoke, his expression grew serious, losing some of its usual roguish charm.

”Right now, there’s a huge difference in development between the north and the south. The gap is even bigger between our country and others.”

”If you have the means and the ability, reselling is very profitable. The kind of profitable that can make you rich overnight.”

Jiang Xia watched An Ning. Her eyes showed no excitement, none of the frenzy of someone who could already see the money.

She was calm, even contemplative.

In his heart, Jiang Xia’s approval of An Ning deepened.

The two of them were really quite alike in some ways.

”Is there anything else?”

An Ning asked, and Jiang Xia nodded.

”The other way is treasure hunting. Again, the idea is to spend the least amount of money for a return that’s several, or even dozens of times, greater.”

Jiang Xia went on to tell An Ning many things about treasure hunting.

An Ning understood. ’This seems more suitable for me.’

Reselling might be good, and she had the ability, but there were too many unknown factors.

With treasure hunting, she could use her spiritual power to cheat, making the risk very low.

An Ning continued, ”This treasure hunting business... it can’t be that easy, can it?”

Jiang Xia nodded in appreciation.

”This world is never short of people with a good eye.”

”It’s become a whole industry. Many scrap collection stations check everything over first. What’s left is the actual scrap.”

An Ning wasn’t surprised by this.

”Thank you. I’ll think about it.”

An Ning thanked him, and Jiang Xia nodded. Seeing that she was about to leave, he called out, ”If you want to partner up, you can find me.”

”Are you short on money?”

An Ning turned her head. The warm sunlight landed right on the crown of her head.

Jiang Xia was taken aback for a second, but his mouth was quick to reply, ”Does anyone ever complain about having too much money?”

”You’re right. My mistake.”

An Ning gave Jiang Xia a nod and a smile, then started down the mountain.

Left where he was, Jiang Xia took a deep breath, called for Da Huang, and headed down the mountain in the other direction.

They each returned home by different routes, attracting no attention.

After An Ning got home, she first had a meal with her family.

After the meal, An Sancheng called An Ning over, and she followed him into his room.

”Close the door.”

”Okay.”

An Ning closed the door. She watched as An Sancheng moved a cabinet from its place on the floor, took out a small spade, and dug a hole about half a meter deep. From it, he pulled out an earthen, pot-bellied jar.

”Come, take a look.”

An Sancheng called to An Ning. She came forward and squatted down, watching as he broke the clay seal on the jar.

”This is what our An family ancestors left behind. It’s all that’s left. Weren’t you talking about contracting the mountain? See how much money this can get you. If it’s not enough, we’ll figure something else out.”

An Sancheng pushed the jar in front of An Ning.

”I wanted to take this out when we were building the house last time. But then I thought, we probably wouldn’t need this much. It was fine for you to front the money; I could just pay you back later.”

An Ning looked into the now-open jar. Right on top lay a chain of brilliant red beads.

She picked it up. The red beads were round and lustrous, each one a full, translucent red and uniform in size, strung together into a necklace.

”This must have belonged to your great-grandmother—my grandma. She loved these things the most.”

An Sancheng recalled his childhood, a hint of nostalgia in his voice.

”Dad, why do we have this? I thought your childhood was very hard.”

An Ning truly didn’t understand.

From what she knew, An Sancheng had lost his parents at a young age. It was her eldest uncle and his wife who had raised him and his other brother, allowing the family to grow and branch out into the An family of today.

An Sancheng pulled over a small stool, sat down, and began his story.

”Our village used to be a clan. Our ancestors produced many high-ranking officials, so we naturally had some family wealth.”

”Later, things got chaotic. Your great-grandfather was smart. On the surface, he squandered the family fortune, gambled away money, and sold off the family’s possessions one by one. The An family moved from a large house to a small one, and our standard of living declined.”

”Then the war started, and your great-grandfather joined the army. Things became chaotic again after that, but by then, the An family had a soldier in its ranks and its wealth was long gone. So, we managed to get through that period safely.”

”These things are what was left from that time. I have one jar, your eldest uncle has one, and there was one for your second uncle. But we have a family rule: if you leave the An family, you can’t be given these things.”

As An Sancheng said this, he felt a pang of sadness. His second older brother hadn’t been back in seven years.

”I didn’t know about it at first. It was your eldest uncle who kept these things safe. When I got married, he gave me one jar and told me to hide it well and not use it unless absolutely necessary. So, it’s been hidden until now.”

An Ning looked at the jar and its contents, filled with admiration for the wisdom of the great-grandfather and the forbearance and selflessness of the eldest uncle that An Sancheng had described.

No one knew about these things except for her eldest uncle, yet he had given a share to An Sancheng when he started his own family without a second thought. That wasn’t something an ordinary person could do.

”Eldest Uncle is a truly good person.”

”Of course! How could my big brother be anything but good?”

An Sancheng’s voice was filled with both pride and sorrow. Times had been so hard back then, yet they hadn’t touched the heirlooms.

”Daughter, things are better now. We can use these. Take them and go contract that mountain.”

An Ning didn’t speak. She just rummaged through the jar a bit more. After seeing what was underneath, she pulled out a blue gem.

It was a blue gemstone the size of a pigeon’s egg, glittering brilliantly even in the dim corner of the room.

”Dad, what is this?”

”It’s called a sapphire. I don’t know the details.”

”Is it valuable?”

An Sancheng took it and turned it over a couple of times.

”I don’t know. Back in the day, this thing would’ve only gotten you a couple of steamed buns. I have no idea what it’s worth now.”

An Ning nodded, a different plan forming in her mind.

”Dad, put this stuff away. Hide it in a different spot. We’ll talk about it later.”

An Ning stood up.

”What’s wrong? Is it worthless?”

An Sancheng stood up, worried and a little frustrated.

”No, it’s not that. I don’t know the price. But I have another way to get the money.”

That didn’t reassure An Sancheng at all. Instead, he asked worriedly, ”What are you going to do? You can’t do anything illegal, like murder or arson.”

An Ning gave a wry smile. ’Why does everyone think I’m not a good person?’

”It’s not murder or arson. It’ll be legal, don’t worry.”

”Dad, just hide it well. I’m heading out.”

An Sancheng called after her several times, but An Ning didn’t come back.

Helpless, he could only find another spot to hide the jar.

Meanwhile, An Ning returned to her room. She took out a piece of paper and wrote something down.

When she was done, she made sure no one was around, took out the Klein Bottle, and sent the note.

Success.

She had seen sapphires from Ancient Earth before.

She had seen them in the interstellar era.

There were so many of those stones in the interstellar era. They were placed about casually, some even used for paving roads or decorating walls.

’I’ll transport a few over to test things out first.’