Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

An Ning’s laughter was particularly hearty.

It was the kind of laugh where she completely let herself go, bending over until she couldn’t stand anymore and plopped down on the ground.

”That pig of yours... it’s a black-haired pig! Hahahahaha!”

Jiang Xia, embarrassed, had wanted to hide. But seeing An Ning laughing so happily, for a moment he felt it was all right. It wasn’t a total waste to have ridden it once.

But the thought was fleeting, gone before Jiang Xia could dwell on it. His proud, stubborn nature took over once again.

”Don’t you know that black-haired pigs taste better than white-haired ones?”

An Ning was just about to stop laughing, but Jiang Xia’s deadpan explanation made her want to start all over again.

However...

”Really? How much better do they taste?”

This time, it was Jiang Xia’s turn to laugh.

He got off the big black pig and looked at the inquisitive An Ning. ”I’ve discovered that you seem to really like to eat... good food.”

Jiang Xia had wanted to just say she liked to eat, but that sounded a little blunt.

An Ning was laughing so hard she was out of breath. With her mouth half-closed, she gasped for air, glancing at Jiang Xia. ”And you don’t? Or do you have some special quirk where you like to eat bad-tasting things?”

In the vast, swirling snow, a thick layer had settled on their heads and shoulders, but neither of them found their bickering strange at all.

An Ning finally caught her breath and pointed at the big black pig. ”Where did you find this pig? Are you going to raise it?”

”Your Da Huang won’t be happy.”

”My Da Huang is very magnanimous. Why would he get jealous?”

Jiang Xia joked as he pulled on the big black pig’s rope. ”I ordered a pig a while back. After we butcher it, we’ll have meat for the whole winter. We can’t go up the mountain anymore.”

”Makes sense. Where did you order the pig from?”

An Ning’s interest was piqued.

”It’s from— Hey, hey, get out of the way!”

The black pig suddenly surged forward. Jiang Xia held on to the rope for dear life, but the force of the pig’s charge still pulled him to the ground.

He gripped the rope with both hands, shouting for An Ning to get away through a mouthful of snow.

Not only did An Ning not dodge, she spread her arms wide in a classic ”pig-fighting stance.”

”Bring it on!”

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as either of them predicted. The black pig made a sharp turn!

It drifted, its hooves digging into the snow at a forty-five-degree angle and kicking up a spray that blasted Jiang Xia right in the face.

”Ptooey—ptooey—”

”It can even turn like that!”

An Ning watched as the black pig made a sharp turn right in front of her and ran off.

She was so exasperated she had to laugh, and she rolled up her sleeves.

’I refuse to believe I can’t catch you!’

An Ning took off, chasing the pig.

Jiang Xia, who had been knocked flat by the pig’s sharp turn, scrambled up from the ground just in time to see the agile black pig dashing across the snowy landscape in the heavy, goose-feather-like blizzard, with a fast-moving figure in hot pursuit.

”What the hell!”

The black pig up ahead made another sharp turn, and An Ning overshot it.

Jiang Xia felt both anxious and amused as he watched. When he’d picked out the pig, he had specifically chosen the strongest, most athletic-looking black pig, figuring its meat would be the most delicious.

Now, it seemed the black pig’s athletic cells were a little *too* developed.

”Jiang Xia, catch the pig!”

An Ning was now dead set on catching this pig. As for her spiritual power, she didn’t want to use it and did her best not to, in order to avoid exposing herself.

She was chasing the pig through the heavy snow, which limited her visibility, all while wearing a pair of non-slip-resistant cotton-padded shoes.

Jiang Xia hurried forward to help. With one in front and one behind, they prepared to corner the black pig.

The black pig charged toward Jiang Xia. Baring his teeth, he yelled, ”Hurry, I can’t stop it!”

He really couldn’t stop a pig weighing over three hundred pounds!

”Drive it back!”

An Ning shouted from behind. Jiang Xia swung the rope in his hand, and the startled pig turned again, running back in An Ning’s direction.

This time, An Ning was ready.

She took a running start, leaped, and spread her limbs in mid-air.

”Got it!”

An Ning shouted that she’d caught it, but Jiang Xia wasn’t so optimistic.

Right then, An Ning was sprawled across the pig’s back, her head facing its rear end.

”Sit up!”

Jiang Xia yelled, running toward the rampaging black pig.

An Ning squeezed her legs, gripping the pig’s belly, then twisted around and landed a punch on the back of its neck.

The black pig let out a hoarse squeal and collapsed to the ground. An Ning took the opportunity to leap off, landing successfully.

Jiang Xia ran over as well.

”Fellow pig-rider, how did it feel?”

An Ning gave Jiang Xia a calm glance and offered her review: ”The speed was passable, its body was soft. Not a bad feeling.”

”Awesome! You’re awesome!”

Jiang Xia was impressed. Only An Ning could say something like that with a completely straight face.

Jiang Xia looked at the black pig lying on the ground and said to An Ning, ”Lend me a hand. Let’s get it to my house. We’ll butcher it in a couple of days, and I’ll give you ten pounds of pork.”

”That much?”

”You sound so impressed by so little. I was even thinking of giving you twenty pounds.”

”Well, I suppose I could accept that.”

After she spoke, An Ning saw the crestfallen look on Jiang Xia’s face, just as she’d expected, and felt a small, secret thrill of satisfaction.

”Come on, let’s get it back to your place.”

An Ning grabbed one of the black pig’s hind legs with a single hand and, using the slickness of the snowy ground, dragged it to Jiang Xia’s house.

When they arrived at Jiang Xia’s house, An Ning received a warm welcome from Grandpa Jiang Xia.

The pig hadn’t even been butchered yet, and Grandpa Jiang Xia was already offering to give her half of it.

”An Ning is just so capable! Do you like pig’s trotters? You can take a couple when the time comes.”

”And the liver and heart, they’re the best dishes to have with drinks. Take some of that, too.”

”And this pork belly, take a few extra pounds.”

...

An Ning could only stammer out agreements before making a quick getaway.

Grandpa Jiang Xia personally saw her to the door, waving reluctantly as he watched An Ning disappear into the snow.

But when Grandpa Jiang Xia turned around, he saw Jiang Xia standing beside him.

”Sigh. A certain someone is always bragging about how capable he is, but in the end, he still needed a girl’s help.”

”Grandpa, you could be a little more direct. You don’t have to be so subtle.”

Grandpa Jiang Xia snorted and walked past Jiang Xia.

”If you can’t even understand that, your brain needs to be sent back to the furnace and reforged.”

Jiang Xia was speechless. So no matter what, it was his fault!

Meanwhile, after leaving the Jiang family, An Ning returned to the An family home and once again sat down in front of the stove pit, preparing to start a fire herself to dry her shoes.

Lin Cuihua came out of the house, and the sight of what An Ning was doing made her head ache.

”Oh, for heaven’s sake, what have you been doing now!”

”You’ll ruin your shoes, you know that? Then what will you wear?”

Lin Cuihua took the shoes from An Ning’s hands.

”What are you staring at? Get inside and sit on the warm kang. Honestly, one thing after another with you, always making trouble for me.”

An Ning wasn’t scared or angered in the slightest by Lin Cuihua’s tirade.

”Mom, you know what? You’re the classic example of someone with a sharp tongue but a soft heart.”

”Oh, get out of here!”

Lin Cuihua turned the cotton-padded shoes over to dry the insides.

An Ning slipped on the lighter shoes Lin Cuihua had brought for her and went back to her room first.

Back in her room, An Ning sat on the piping-hot kang and thought about something.

’There have to be shoes that don’t get wet. I should buy a pair for everyone in the family.’

An Ning had just finished muttering to herself when someone arrived at the An’s house.

”Is An Ning home? There’s a phone call for you!”