Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

An Ning’s words had no effect whatsoever; An Guoqing kept stubbornly lurching forward.

He wanted to drive, too.

”Little Sis, is the truck broken? Why aren’t we moving?”

With a BANG, An Ning jumped out of the truck.

”BLEGH—”

She threw up.

An Guoqing quickly slammed on the brakes, killed the engine, jumped out of the truck, and ran to An Ning’s side. He started thwacking her on the back with his huge palms.

”Little Sis, you okay?”

”Big Bro—don’t, don’t, don’t—”

”Hey, I’m patting your back for you.”

”No, stop patting!”

An Ning felt like An Guoqing’s heavy-handed pats were about to break her back.

After throwing up, the foul feeling in her chest finally dissipated.

An Ning finally straightened up and looked at the bewildered An Guoqing. ”Big Bro, please don’t ever pat Hei Dan’er like that.”

”You’re just like your sister-in-law.”

An Ning was fine now, but she didn’t dare let An Guoqing drive anymore.

In the end, An Ning drove the truck back with An Guoqing in the passenger seat.

Once the siblings were back, An Guoqing hurried off to tend to his precious little pigs, chicks, and rabbits.

An Ning parked the truck and considered another approach.

’It’s fine if An Guoqing doesn’t drive, right?’

It was high noon, and the farmhands were all heading home to rest. Many people coming down from the mountain greeted An Ning.

Leaning against the truck, An Ning returned their greetings one by one.

Jiang Xia and An Sancheng came down the mountain together, followed by Master Tang, who was carrying a small basket.

Master Tang, of course, hadn’t gone up the mountain to work. It wasn’t like he was short on money.

But he had discovered that the wild vegetables on the An family’s mountain were of a higher quality than elsewhere.

To a Herbalist, many wild grasses and mountain vegetables were also medicinal herbs. High-quality vegetables or herbs held a fatal attraction for Master Tang.

Thus, the An family’s mountain and her greenhouses had become places Master Tang visited several times a day.

However, the An family also got to eat quite a bit of his cooking, so it was a win-win situation that no one had any objections to.

”An Ning, I’m making steamed buns tonight, so don’t fill up on rice.”

The increasingly down-to-earth Master Tang walked into the house with his small basket, looking perfectly content.

”Got it, I’ll be waiting!”

An Ning called back in agreement. When she turned around, An Sancheng had already gone inside, leaving only Jiang Xia.

Jiang Xia looked at An Ning leaning against the truck and asked, ”Are you trying to sell this truck, or did you dent it and are trying to cover it up?”

An Ning moved away from where she’d been standing, letting the facts speak for themselves.

”There’s no dent. But... Jiang Xia, do you get carsick?”

”I feel like this is a trap.”

Looking at An Ning’s foxy little smile, Jiang Xia continued, ”Go on, I’ll hear you out. Just don’t get your hopes up.”

An Ning didn’t treat Jiang Xia like an outsider at all. She pulled something out of her pocket.

”This is for you. How about you teach my big brother to drive?”

Jiang Xia took the red object from An Ning’s hand. ’Isn’t this a pigeon’s-egg Ruby?’

”Comrade An Ning, do you realize this thing could buy several trucks?”

”I know. I’ve picked up several of these. Want two of them?”

An Ning pulled another one out of her pocket. She really did have a lot of them. But she hadn’t just ’picked them up’; they were paving stones from the interstellar side. Someone had picked out the prettiest, not-so-large ones and sent them over to An Ning.

Seeing the way An Ning spoke, Jiang Xia knew she truly didn’t care about their value.

”You have a lot of them?”

”Yeah. How many do you want?”

An Ning asked magnanimously, as if she could produce any number Jiang Xia named.

And in fact, that was the case.

Jiang Xia casually slipped the Ruby into his pocket. ”Give me all your extras. I’ll convert them into cash for you and buy you some land. How about it?”

”If you trust me, tell me your ID number.”

”2107...”

An Ning recited her ID number without hesitation.

”Wait a minute, I’ll write it down for you. And I’ll go get the stones. I have them in many different colors.”

An Ning dashed briskly toward her room. She was in and out in just a few minutes, carrying a small cloth pouch.

From the outside, the little cloth pouch looked lumpy and angular; you could tell it was stuffed full.

An Ning shoved the pouch right into Jiang Xia’s arms. ”They’re all yours. Do whatever you want with them. Oh, right, is there anything you want?”

”I can design something for you, or I could try to find it for you. My luck is pretty good.”

An Ning’s enthusiasm and trust made Jiang Xia a little suspicious, but also a little moved.

”For you to trust me this much, I’m a bit overwhelmed. But I can’t shake the feeling you have some grander design in mind.”

At Jiang Xia’s words, An Ning raised three fingers and swore, ”It’s really not that big a deal! Just teach my big brother how to drive.”

”As for you, I really do trust you.”

”You’re the person I trust most outside of my family.”

Jiang Xia gave a mock-formal, Western-style gentleman’s bow. ”The honor is all mine.”

He held up the pouch in his hand. ”Don’t worry, I won’t betray your trust.”

An Ning didn’t say anything more. She had always wanted to thank Jiang Xia for saving her on the mountain. She truly didn’t care about these few stones.

’But it seems like Jiang Xia really doesn’t need anything,’ she mused.

’It’s a headache when the other person is too rich.’

In any case, Jiang Xia agreed to An Ning’s request to teach An Guoqing how to drive.

An Ning felt a great weight lift from her shoulders. She skipped cheerfully back home for dinner.

That afternoon, An Ning went to work in the greenhouse, while Jiang Xia took An Guoqing to learn how to drive the truck.

An Guoming followed An Ning to the greenhouse as well.

However, on the way there, An Guoming looked like he wanted to say something several times but held back, which finally drove An Ning crazy.

”Second Bro, what on earth do you want to say?”

”Huh? Oh, nothing. I just ate too much. I’m hiccupping.”

Looking guilty, An Guoming entered the greenhouse and started working. He worked up a sweat, took off his jacket, and kept going.

An Ning watched An Guoming from behind. ’Wow, Second Bro has really improved at his work.’

Up ahead, An Guoming wasn’t even paying attention to what he was doing. His mind was entirely focused on Jiang Xia.

’Is that Jiang Xia punk being a little *too* nice to Little Sis? What are his intentions, anyway? And is Little Sis interested in him? Should I say something and bring it out in the open? But what if Little Sis isn’t interested? If I say something, wouldn’t I just be helping that punk out?’

An Guoming was vexed. And the more vexed he got, the faster he worked.

By the time he snapped out of it, his legs had gone so numb he couldn’t stand up.

An Guoming’s legs felt like they were being pricked by needles. He shifted his weight back and forth, stomping his feet as he tried to get up and then fell back down.

”Maa... maa... maa...”

”Second Bro, why are you calling for Mom?”

By the time An Ning finally realized An Guoming meant his legs were *numb*, he had already slumped to the ground, biting the back of his hand, looking as pitiful as a wronged young bride from the tingling in his legs.

That evening, as An Ning and An Guoming were walking back to the An family’s house from the greenhouse, they heard the sound of a truck midway. Someone inside was honking the horn.

An Guoming subconsciously assumed it was Jiang Xia; there was no way Big Bro could have learned that quickly.

He spun around abruptly, pointed at the truck, and yelled, ”Hey, you punk! What are you honking for!”