Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

An Ning brought the dogs back to the An’s house.

That night, all the dogs slept under the shed in the An’s courtyard.

The first night together went well.

The next morning, the rooster’s crowing startled the pack of dogs awake. They didn’t bark randomly, but instead stared at the rooster, all their heads turned in the same direction.

The pressure from this unified stare made the rooster’s crowing stutter. This, in turn, caused Da Huang next door, who normally accompanied the rooster’s daily cries, to let out single, isolated barks.

This strange barking made Lin Cuihua rush out without even putting on her shoes.

She held a fire shovel she had grabbed on her way out, glaring around the courtyard and yelling, ”Who’s bullying my chicken!”

When An Ning came out, she saw the standoff between Lin Cuihua, the aggrieved rooster, and the fourteen dogs.

”Mom, I’ll handle this.”

Lin Cuihua put down the fire shovel and began to lecture the rooster.

”What are you afraid of? Can’t you fly?!”

”You useless thing! And after I fed you all that good food for nothing!”

It’s unclear if Lin Cuihua’s unconventional motivational speech spurred the rooster on, but in any case, it lifted its head high, let out a series of triumphant clucks at Wei Qi, and then strutted away, looking refreshed and invigorated.

”Chickens flying, dogs jumping... chickens squawking, dogs looking dazed!”

The lively scene before her completely woke An Ning up.

At that moment, all the chickens and dogs in the village began to make a racket.

In the village, sleeping in was truly difficult. A village day begins with the crowing of roosters and the barking of dogs.

An Ning still went for her run first, but the formation was a little different today.

She was at the front, with Jiang Xia beside her. Behind them was a group of children, and bringing up the rear were An Guoping, Yang Jianguo, Zhou Xiaoshan, and Hua Cheng, who had been dragged out of bed by Jiang Xia with his face unwashed and hair uncombed.

Hua Cheng didn’t want to run at first, but he took off when the fourteen dogs, plus Da Huang and the big rooster, appeared right behind him.

Not only did he run, but he wasn’t slow either.

”Hey, hey, hey, don’t peck me!”

”Help! Whose chicken is this? Has it become a spirit?!”

An Ning, running an extra lap, passed Hua Cheng and said coolly, ”My chicken, my dogs. You have a problem with that?”

Despite her completely harmless and sweet-looking face, Hua Cheng immediately shut his mouth, shook his head, and had no objections.

He didn’t dare have any.

The previous night, Jiang Xia had deliberately slept on the same heated brick bed with Hua Cheng and given him a stern warning.

First, he was not to provoke An Ning, or he would face the consequences himself.

Although Hua Cheng still didn’t understand what those consequences might be, he knew he couldn’t mess with the person Jiang Xia liked.

Second, he was not allowed to flirt around in the village.

Hua Cheng wanted to argue. He wasn’t a playboy! He took every relationship seriously, never cheated, and never took advantage of young women. He just broke up with them when he realized they weren’t a good fit.

To this day, Hua Cheng still didn’t understand what he had done wrong to be exiled here by the old man.

But the old man was clever; he knew the only person who could keep him in line was Jiang Xia.

Hua Cheng’s objections were overruled, so he could only agree.

Jiang Xia had only laid down these two rules for now. Although Hua Cheng had a silver tongue, he knew what lines not to cross.

The morning run continued, and Hua Cheng felt like his legs were about to break.

Following in the footsteps of An Guoming and Li Chengze, Hua Cheng had become the weakest one, which was why the big rooster had its eyes on him.

The rooster’s principle was to pick on whoever was weakest.

When the run was over, just as Hua Cheng thought he could leave, Jiang Xia threw him into the group of children to practice boxing with them.

Joining him was Zhou Xiaoshan, who had been staying here for some time.

But Zhou Xiaoshan was practicing very seriously now.

He had gone up the mountain with An Ning once and had the misfortune of running into a large tiger.

After that, Zhou Xiaoshan felt that whatever Teacher An Ning said was right, and there was always a good reason for anything she asked him to do.

It wasn’t that Zhou Xiaoshan was a coward; it was just that for the past half-month, An Ning had completely crushed him in every aspect.

He was so used to being crushed that he would feel strange if he actually won.

Besides, the atmosphere here was genuinely good. The An Family treated him like one of their own—they would call him over to help with chores and sharply criticize him when he made a mistake.

Every day, Zhou Xiaoshan’s life was full and meaningful.

’Of course, it would be even better if I didn’t have to go to school.’

Unfortunately, he didn’t have a say in the matter.

After the morning boxing practice, An Ning urged Zhou Xiaoshan, ”Xiao Shan, hurry and run. Time for school.”

”Got it!”

Zhou Xiaoshan was in good shape. He sprinted home, ate, and rode his bicycle to school in town.

Zhou Xiaoshan’s official school registration was still in Beijing, but for the time being, he was attending the high school in Sanhe Town.

The point of him going to school wasn’t so much for academics as it was to help Zhou Xiaoshan adapt to a group environment.

So, here, Zhou Xiaoshan was attending the first year of high school.

The academic workload wasn’t too heavy, giving him time to make friends.

When it was time for the college entrance exams, An Ning would arrange for Zhou Xiaoshan to return to Beijing to take them.

With Zhou Xiaoshan’s abilities, there was no need for him to waste several years in high school.

An Ning had just reached the gate of the An’s house when Zhou Xiaoshan rushed out, pushing his bicycle with a large white steamed bun stuffed in his mouth.

”Mmmph mmmph mmmph mmmph.”

”I know, I know. Get going.”

An Ning guessed that Zhou Xiaoshan was trying to say, ”Teacher An, I’m leaving.”

After Zhou Xiaoshan left, An Ning continued with her lessons and mock exams.

At school, mock exams were held once a month. With An Ning, they were held once a day.

The speed at which the exam-taking group finished their papers left Hua Cheng, who was watching the excitement from the side, dumbfounded.

”You’re done already? Did you even finish reading the questions?”

An Ning collected the papers, glanced back, and asked, ”Isn’t this normal?”

Normal?

Hua Cheng desperately wanted to throw down the enamel mug in his hand and shout that it was not normal at all.

But when facing An Ning, for some unknown reason, his bravado just deflated.

”Normal, perfectly normal. I just don’t get out much, I guess.”

”Mm, then that is indeed your problem.”

An Ning’s simple affirmation almost made Hua Cheng choke.

He decided to just take his mug and get away from this place that was clearly not meant for normal human beings.

After the mock exam, everyone got busy.

Hua Cheng, who had been idling on the side watching the fun, was dragged away by Jiang Xia to go work on the mountain.

”No, no, I really don’t know how to do this!”

”Learn.”

Jiang Xia’s single, firm word mercilessly sealed Hua Cheng’s fate.

Hua Cheng wanted to cry but had no tears. ’What on earth did I come here for?’

An Ning withdrew her gaze from the amusing scene, slung on her backpack, and headed to the next village to find the Feng Shui Master.

’A promise is a promise.’

Before leaving the courtyard, An Ning called over Da Huang.

At this moment, she had Da Huang on her left and Wei Qi on her right.

”Wei Qi, you follow Da Huang and get familiar with the village. Keep your pack in line, okay?”

”Da Huang, you be good. No fighting, understand?”

”WOOF WOOF!”

Da Huang responded enthusiastically. The aloof Wei Qi didn’t reply, but it did change position to stand next to Da Huang.

”Good. Get along now. You’ll become good friends.”

Feeling reassured, An Ning left the house.