Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

An Ning took a less-traveled path up the mountain, spreading her spiritual power to avoid the people working there.

She moved quickly and nimbly, making almost no sound. Like a ghost, she drifted silently over the mountain.

Soon, An Ning reached a secluded spot. After a scan with her spiritual power, she sat down, feeling at ease.

She skillfully opened the space formed by the Klein Bottle and took out a chip the size of a small fingernail, scanning it with her spiritual power.

The information on it didn’t fully answer her questions.

Last time, An Ning had asked if she should introduce the interstellar generator stones. The reply had told her to make the decision herself, and that they would support her no matter what she chose.

The people from the interstellar civilization told An Ning to just remember one thing: Ancient Earth was the root of all their people.

They were now in two different worlds, but no matter what, they wished to see Ancient Earth develop for the better.

As for the generator stones An Ning had mentioned, the interstellar civilization had transported a great many over to her.

An Ning took out an all-black, fist-sized stone. Its surface was a glossy black, and occasionally, a flash like white lightning would streak across it.

This was an interstellar generator stone.

A small stone like this could provide electricity for an entire city for a year.

When An Ning saw the three spatial storage units inside the Klein Bottle, she smiled so much her cheeks ached.

’They said I could decide for myself, but just how many generator stones did they send over?’

Three entire spatial storage units were full.

Each storage device held enough to power the entire Ancient Earth, and An Ning had three of them.

’No wonder it took them so long to get back to me.’

After checking the three spatial storage units, An Ning noticed another storage device.

Opening it, she found it was full of the gemstones she had mentioned, as well as some jade—or rather, ”ceramic tiles.”

The interstellar ceramic tiles were incredibly similar to the jade here—in fact, one might say they were identical.

’People’s sorrows aren’t universal, and apparently, neither is their wealth.’

After taking inventory of the items, An Ning wasn’t in a rush to reveal them.

Once she revealed the generator stones, her life would no longer be peaceful.

Besides, even if she wanted to, the current infrastructure couldn’t support them.

So, development had to be taken one step at a time.

An Ning retracted her spiritual power and prepared to head down the mountain.

She took a different path down, heading from the main mountain over to Fruit Tree Mountain to work.

Over on Fruit Tree Mountain, a beekeeper had arrived at some point and was now setting up his beehives.

An Sancheng had brought An Guoqing, Jiang Xia, and a few other villagers, and they were all learning earnestly, so that they could raise bees themselves in the future.

An Ning went over to watch out of curiosity. An Guoqing glanced back, looked away, then did a double take.

”Hey, Sis, when did you get here?”

”I’ve been here for ages, working the whole time.”

With An Ning’s casual fib, An Guoqing turned his head back, utterly confused. ’I must not have been paying attention to my work,’ he thought dazedly, ’otherwise, how could I have missed her?’

Jiang Xia caught the smug little smile on An Ning’s face.

An Ning noticed Jiang Xia’s smile right away and shot him a threatening glare. Jiang Xia put a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture, nodded with a serious expression, and went back to looking at the bees.

An Ning was amused by Jiang Xia’s expression. After watching for a little longer, she went to do her own work.

At noon, the An family members, Jiang Xia, Yu the Elder, Yu Zheng, and the Zhou father and son, who had also come up the mountain, all headed down together.

They came down earlier than usual because the An family was treating everyone to a meal that afternoon.

Zhou Yicheng was leaving tomorrow to return to his unit.

After coming down the mountain, An Ning branched off and headed alone to the small store by the Big Willow Tree at the village entrance to buy some drinks and alcohol.

She greeted people along the way, even stopping for several minutes to chat with everyone at the Big Willow Tree.

As An Ning turned to enter the little shop, before she could even say a word, she saw the woman behind the counter jump up happily.

”An Ning! Perfect timing! I can’t hold it in anymore. Can you watch the shop for me for a bit?”

”Grab whatever you want to eat!”

Holding a roll of pink toilet paper, the woman rushed out the back door of the shop.

’She really was in a hurry.’

An Ning watched the door swing back and forth a few times before walking over to close it properly. Then, she sat down behind the counter.

She casually grabbed two ’Little Mischief’ candies, took a ten-cent coin from her pocket, and tossed it into the cash box.

She peeled back the orange wrapper, revealing a small sheet of rice paper inside. An Ning popped it into her mouth, and it dissolved instantly.

She then looked at the translucent, pale orange candy in her hand and tossed it into her mouth.

It had a very unique flavor, not just a simple fruity taste.

An Ning nodded in appreciation, leaning back in the chair to watch the shop.

DING—

The bell on the door chimed as it was pushed open. An Ning looked toward the person who had entered and called out a familiar greeting.

”Hello, Auntie.”

”Oh, An Ning, you’re here. Where’s the missus?”

”She went to the restroom.”

”Oh, alright. Get me twenty cents’ worth of soy sauce.”

An Ning took the soy sauce bottle the auntie handed her and walked over to the dispensing area. She picked up a funnel and placed it in the mouth of the bottle, then grabbed a small, long-handled mug, ready to ladle out the soy sauce.

She lifted the lid of the large soy sauce crock, dipped the long-handled mug in, and scooped up one ladleful, then another. That was enough.

An Ning finished up, then grabbed a clean rag from beside the soy sauce crock and wiped down the bottle. ”All set, Auntie,” she said.

”Great. I’m off, then.”

The auntie paid and left.

It was noon, so quite a few people came in to buy things.

In the span of a few minutes, An Ning sold soy sauce, matches, and salt.

Of course, there were also a few children who came by with one or two-cent coins to buy snacks.

DING—

The bell rang again. An Ning looked up to see a child of about seven or eight enter. The child flinched slightly upon seeing An Ning.

”Doudou, what are you here to buy?”

The girl, Doudou, was one of the children who always ran with An Ning. She didn’t talk much, but she was very persistent.

An Ning remembered her well; whenever they ran, the girl’s eyes would sparkle with determination.

The little girl named Doudou came forward, lips pressed together, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on the snacks in the display case as she hesitated.

”Don’t know which one to pick, right?”

An Ning said knowingly, ”Every kid who comes in to buy something has this problem. It’s just too hard to choose.”

Doudou stared for a full minute before finally pointing to a box of animal crackers on the counter. ”I want this.”

”Alright, ten cents’ worth?”

”Mhm.”

Doudou hummed in agreement. An Ning used a scoop to measure out a portion, then wrapped it in a small piece of kraft paper.

”That’ll be ten cents.”

Doudou raised her left hand high and slowly opened her palm. An Ning paused in the middle of reaching for the money.

But she recovered quickly, took the money, and said to Doudou, ”Hold on, let me get your change.”

An Ning turned away, looking at the large ten-yuan bill in her hand, lost in thought.