Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

An Ning rode away on her bicycle. Da Huang and Wei Qi stood side-by-side, watching her go for a good long while.

Once An Ning’s figure had disappeared from view, the two dogs shot each other a look of mutual disdain. Then, one headed south and the other north, parting ways back-to-back—one haughty, the other proud.

Meanwhile, An Ning pedaled furiously and arrived at the Feng Shui Master’s house before long.

The moment she entered the neighboring village, the residents started avoiding her on sight, as if she were carrying the plague.

At first, An Ning didn’t understand why, but she later figured it out.

The people believed in Feng Shui, but they also feared it.

A ”special period” had just passed, during which many people had done some terrible things to the Feng Shui Master.

No one would admit how scared they were. Instead, that fear had morphed into blatant disgust. Even the next generation of children were told that the people of this household were no good.

Their parents would tell them, ”If he were a good person, why would he be all alone?”

Children have a black-and-white view of the world. They can be as cruel as they are adorable.

They didn’t know if what they were doing was right or wrong; they were simply acting on the ”facts” the adults had given them.

”Little lunatic!”

”Get her!”

”Throw rocks at her!”

An Ning swerved her bicycle in a serpentine path.

Lately, every time An Ning came over, she received this sort of ”welcome” from the children.

She could hardly imagine what kind of treatment the Feng Shui Master must endure.

SCREEECH— An Ning slammed on the brakes, sending her bicycle into a drift.

The rear wheel kicked up a cloud of dust, aiming it precisely at the children.

”Ahhh—”

”Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey—”

An Ning wasn’t about to put up with these kids’ nonsense. She shouted loudly, ”I’m telling you, this bike is expensive! If you break it, you’ll have to pay for it.”

”Go home and ask your parents if you have the money to pay me back!”

”And another thing, my head is pretty valuable, too! Whoever hurts me, I’ll go lie down in their house and eat their food every single day. I’ll eat all your eggs and eat you out of house and home!”

An Ning’s ferocious words, combined with her insolent and domineering expression, actually managed to intimidate the group of children.

They might not have understood much, but they knew that bicycles were expensive and that eggs were a rare treat they only got to eat every few days.

Seeing the now-subdued children, An Ning snorted coldly, swung herself back onto her bike, and began to ride away slowly. Not only did she ride slowly, but she also taunted them smugly, ”Come on, hit me if you’ve got the guts!”

”Come and get me!”

”I could use a free meal!”

Under the children’s resentful glares, An Ning arrived at the Feng Shui Master’s home.

The moment she arrived, her mood soured even further.

The Feng Shui Master’s main gate was smeared with yellow mud.

And yes, it was just mud.

In the eyes of the villagers, manure was a treasure, so even the children wouldn’t waste it.

An Ning used her front wheel to push the gate open, then turned and bared her teeth at the crowd of children.

”If you dare come back and bully him again, I’ll come to your house for dinner!”

After scaring the kids off, An Ning kicked the gate shut with one leg.

The yard was small, containing only a single, dilapidated mud-brick house.

The Feng Shui Master walked out of the house. He looked at An Ning, who was standing up for him, with a helpless yet warm expression.

”Your heart is not calm.”

An Ning rolled her eyes speechlessly. With a CLICK, she parked her bicycle and said to the Feng Shui Master with a pout, ”Spare me the lecture. I’m not your disciple.”

The Feng Shui Master chuckled and lowered his head. ”You’re right,” he agreed. ”Please, come in, my young friend.”

An Ning strode into the Feng Shui Master’s house. The small room was filled with all sorts of books, aside from a single table on the heated brick bed.

But other than the books, the phrase ”four bare walls” wasn’t enough to describe the Feng Shui Master’s poverty.

”I just don’t get it,” An Ning said. ”You’ve done so many Feng Shui consultations. My family alone has given you plenty in red envelopes those few times. How are you still living in such poverty?”

An Ning deftly pulled over a stool and sat down.

The Feng Shui Master remained silent, a slight smile on his lips. He said mysteriously, ”I will tell you eventually.”

An Ning rolled her eyes again. ”Have you noticed? I save all my eye-rolls for you,” she said bluntly.

”You’re always so mysterious. Wouldn’t it be better to just explain things clearly?”

”What if it’s like in the novels, where a person is down to their last breath? How many words could you even say then? You’d miss all the important stuff.”

An Ning chattered on relentlessly, but the Feng Shui Master remained inscrutably silent. He simply picked up a book calmly and began to explain it.

The moment the Feng Shui Master started speaking, An Ning stopped interrupting and listened quietly.

One spoke, and the other listened.

The whole room was filled with the quiet sound of recitation, and nothing more.

An Ning committed every word the master said to memory. The master did his best to explain every sentence, every insight.

Time always flies when you’re focused. The Feng Shui Master only stopped because An Ning’s stomach growled.

An Ning patted her stomach and said, ”But I ate a lot this morning before I came.”

She said it so earnestly that it made the Feng Shui Master laugh.

”I know. Let’s stop here for today.”

An Ning stood up from the stool. After scanning the room and finding nothing to eat, she walked straight into the cramped kitchen.

”This is what you eat?”

There were only two black cornbread buns.

”It’s already quite good. You should leave now, my young friend.”

The same words again. An Ning hated how he always spoke in riddles.

”Fine, fine, I’m going.”

And An Ning really left.

She rode her bicycle away from the Feng Shui Master’s house, her mood foul the entire way.

’A man with real skills... why on earth does he make himself suffer here?’

’He clearly has the ability to live a good life, yet he insists on living in hardship.’

It wasn’t that An Ning hadn’t tried to bring him food before, but every time she did, the Feng Shui Master would give it away to others.

He had told her many times to stop bringing things.

So An Ning really did stop, because the Feng Shui Master wouldn’t eat her food. He insisted on gnawing on those hard, black-flour cornbread buns.

The more An Ning thought about it on her way home, the more stifled she felt.

Her stifling mood didn’t improve even after she entered her own village.

Filled with this pent-up frustration, she grabbed a machete and headed for the mountain.

On the mountain, An Ning walked farther and farther, deeper and deeper, until she was in the remote wilderness.

”High skill breeds high courage” was a perfect description of An Ning.

She wasn’t afraid. She just walked with her head down, slowly climbing to a mountain peak.

The view from the summit, which made all other hills look small, brought a sliver of peace to her heart.

An Ning sat on a rock at the peak and looked down.

The suffocating feeling in her chest began to subside.

’I really can’t do this line of work. This state I’m in... this must be what the master calls being attached to appearances.’

An Ning let out a slow breath, leaned back against a large boulder, and gazed up at the blue sky, closing her eyes in relaxation.

’Farming is more my style after all.’

”AWOOOO—”

”AWOOOO— AWOOO—”

A single howl made An Ning bolt upright, her hand tightening around her machete.

’Wolves?’