Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

An Ning and Third Auntie talked for a long time before An Ning decided to just go home with her.

When they arrived at Third Auntie’s house, seven-year-old Doudou was chopping wild vegetables and mixing chicken feed, getting ready to feed the chickens.

As the small figure turned, the little basin of chicken feed went CLATTER, falling and scattering all over the ground.

Not knowing what had happened, the hens swarmed forward, their heads bobbing up and down as they pecked at the feed on the ground.

Doudou looked at Sister Anning and her mother at the doorway, and tears instantly streamed down her face.

She turned and ran into the house, and An Ning and Third Auntie quickly followed.

The three of them met at the doorway.

”Mom—”

”Let’s talk inside.”

An Ning guided Doudou into the room, closed the door securely, and made sure their voices wouldn’t carry outside.

Inside, Third Auntie did as An Ning had instructed, saying nothing and just keeping a stern expression.

Across from her, tears streamed down little Doudou’s face. She took out a small bag of cookies from the cabinet, along with the ten yuan she was holding in her palm.

”Mom, I was wrong. I saw the money on the kitchen floor. I knew it belonged to our family, but I didn’t give it to you. I took it to buy some cookies.”

”SOB... I’m not a good girl.”

”I’m sorry—”

Little Doudou was sobbing her heart out, and Third Auntie couldn’t take it anymore. She pulled Doudou into a hug, glanced at An Ning, and only continued after seeing An Ning nod. ”Doudou, Mom knows you’re a good girl. You’ve admitted your mistake, and you know what you did was wrong, don’t you?”

Doudou nodded, feeling truly guilty.

’She had never thought of stealing money, but all the other kids had snacks. She had never eaten anything like that in her whole life, and she just wanted to have a taste.’

’She had finally worked up the courage to ask her mom once, but her mom had said no, so she never dared to ask again.’

Third Auntie remembered what An Ning had told her to say. She looked Doudou in the eye and said, ”Mom believes you.”

”Doudou, Mom will give you an allowance from now on. Before, when you asked, I was always thinking about saving money and didn’t agree. I was wrong too.”

”From now on, if you want something, just tell me, and we can discuss it together, okay?”

Doudou was crying so much she could have washed her face with her tears. Her vision blurred as she looked at her mother. She reached out a small hand and touched Third Auntie’s cheek.

”Are you really my mom?”

Doudou’s simple question completely broke through Third Auntie’s defenses.

’She lived so frugally, never willing to buy anything. And Doudou was so obedient, never asking for a thing. She had always been so proud, thinking what a sensible daughter she had.’

’But was it really a good thing for a seven-year-old to be so sensible?’

Doudou’s question, ”Are you really my mom?” made the mother and daughter cling to each other and sob.

An Ning felt her own eyes sting, but her mind was already turning to other things.

’Couldn’t the children do something, too? It wasn’t impossible for them to earn their own pocket money.’

Back in the room, after the mother and daughter had cried their fill, a composed Doudou looked at An Ning and said, ”Sister Anning, please don’t hate me, okay?”

An Ning crouched down, patting Doudou’s head. ”Of course not. I like you very much. You’re very brave. You knew you were wrong and were willing to admit it.”

”Doudou, this will be a secret between the three of us. We won’t tell anyone else, okay?”

Doudou nodded.

An Ning held out her pinky finger to Doudou. ”Let’s make a pinky promise. One hundred years, no changing.”

Doudou nodded again.

In the end, the three of them linked fingers, and the matter truly remained a secret known only to them.

When An Ning left Third Auntie’s house, Third Auntie thanked her over and over. An Ning insisted it was nothing and headed home.

Not long after An Ning left, Third Uncle returned home. He was overjoyed to find ten yuan on the kang.

”Isn’t the money right here!”

”Of course it is! Our Doudou found it when she was tending the fire. If it weren’t for her sharp eyes, the money would’ve been burned to a crisp.”

”What are you so smug about?”

After a verbal barrage from Third Auntie, Third Uncle went to tend the fire, not daring to say another word.

Doudou, who was helping wash the rice nearby, lowered her head and smiled, a secret joy bubbling up inside her.

’I wish Mom could be like this forever,’ she thought.

Meanwhile, An Ning, having left Doudou’s house, was heading home in a good mood when she was met with a complaint from Lin Cuihua.

”Where have you been gallivanting off to, only coming back now?”

”Hehe, just wandering around.”

Lin Cuihua looked at An Ning’s cheeky expression, gave her a mock-disgusted push, and said, ”Get out of the way. Don’t be a nuisance.”

”Here, take this and go play somewhere.”

Lin Cuihua fed An Ning a piece of stir-fried pork. Munching on the fragrant meat, An Ning went out into the courtyard.

In the courtyard, Yu the Elder and Zhou Yicheng were talking. As for Zhou Xiaoshan, he had been dragged off by An Guoping, along with Li Chengze, to go play by the river.

With nothing else to do, An Ning sat down to chat with Yu the Elder and Zhou Yicheng.

Inside the house, Master Tang and Jiang Xia were helping with the cooking, while An Ning’s eldest sister-in-law and Lin Cuihua acted as their assistants.

An Sancheng and An Guoqing were tidying up the vegetable garden in the backyard and also organizing the household tools. In short, no one was ever truly idle.

”Jiang Xia, where’s Grandpa Jiang?”

An Ning hadn’t seen Grandpa Jiang come over, so she took the opportunity to ask Jiang Xia, who had come out to empty the kitchen slop.

”I don’t know either. You should go check.”

In reality, Jiang Xia knew, but he felt it was better for An Ning to go see for herself.

”Okay.”

An Ning got up and followed Jiang Xia to the Jiang family’s courtyard.

As soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw Da Huang lazing about, thoroughly enjoying the sun.

”Hey, Da Huang! I saved some bones for you today.”

”WOOF WOOF WOOF!”

”He’s very happy about that.”

Seeing Grandpa Jiang come out, An Ning called out in greeting.

”Grandpa Jiang, why haven’t you come over?”

”An Ning, come here. Grandpa has something to tell you.”

An Ning obediently followed him inside and sat down to listen.

”An Ning, you see, I know that Yu the Elder. If I go over, will I be getting in the way of your business?”

”Huh? Not at all.”

An Ning suddenly understood Grandpa Jiang’s concern.

”Grandpa Jiang, Yu the Elder is preparing to take me as his teacher to learn mathematics. If you go over, you can catch up on old times. We’ll each stick to our own roles; it won’t affect anything.”

Mr. Jiang Sr. had already heard about this from Jiang Xia, but he knew it was truly polite to confirm with the host first.

”Excellent! Our An Ning is getting more and more impressive.”

Mr. Jiang Sr. knew a thing or two about Yu the Elder. That old fellow’s skills were ranked among the best in the country.

But for him to willingly take An Ning as his master... if certain people in Beijing were to find out, it would cause an incredible stir.

After getting the all-clear from An Ning, Mr. Jiang Sr. changed into a smarter set of clothes. He then beckoned to An Ning, had her offer a supporting arm, and they headed towards the An family’s home.

”An Ning, when we get to the courtyard, I want you to call out ’Grandpa Jiang’ in a loud voice, understand?”

”Okay.”

An Ning was happy to cooperate. Besides, she really did call him Grandpa Jiang.

Supporting the old man, she walked in through the main gate and called out in a clear, resonant voice, ”Grandpa Jiang, please watch your step.”