Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

An Ning lowered her head to speak to the wolf cub, and in her peripheral vision, she saw Jiang Xia nodding along beside her.

She turned her head to look at Jiang Xia and asked, ”What are you nodding for?”

Jiang Xia hummed in agreement. ”I think you’re right. You can’t spoil it.”

An Ning felt that Jiang Xia was being a little weird, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what was wrong.

”Let’s go. Down the mountain.”

”Da Huang, Wei Qi, we’re leaving.”

An Ning, carrying the wolf cub, led the way down the mountain. When they reached the barren hills, Wei Qi, Da Huang, and the pack of dogs quickly vanished.

Jiang Xia shook his head as he followed behind, muttering, ”Ever since these other dogs showed up, their master is no longer important.”

An Ning glanced up a few times, then took the wolf cub home.

As soon as she got home, An Ning found a woven basket for the wolf cub, lined it with straw, and even found a cushion for it.

Lin Cuihua walked into the house from the backyard. Seeing what An Ning was doing, she asked, bewildered, ”What kind of dog is this? So precious?”

Village dogs were never raised so meticulously, let alone given a cushion.

An Ning’s movements faltered for a second. She decided it was better not to tell Lin Cuihua; otherwise, she was afraid her mother wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.

”Mom, look how cute it is! I just like it, that’s all.”

Lin Cuihua wasn’t a petty person. She crouched down, took a look, and said, ”It is pretty amusing. It can keep our Hei Dan’er company. Raising one is the same as raising two.”

An Ning was utterly defeated by Lin Cuihua’s logic.

”Mom, that saying is about two children, not one animal and one child.”

”They’re about the same. All fluffy and milky-smelling. Cuter than our Hei Dan’er.”

Lin Cuihua—his very own, genuinely disdainful grandmother—stood up nonchalantly and went back to busying herself with chores inside and outside the house.

An Ning looked speechlessly at the little wolf cub and whispered, ”You’d better not make any noise for no reason, you hear?”

It was unclear if the wolf cub understood, but in any case, it gave two soft whimpers, obediently walked into the little den An Ning had prepared, closed its eyes, and got ready to sleep.

”You’re quite obedient. You’d better stay that way.”

An Ning carried the basket and searched around the house for a spot before deciding to put it in her own room.

She really didn’t feel at ease leaving it anywhere else.

That evening, the entire An family met the new member, and Hei Dan’er was especially fond of it.

One wolf, one baby—both crawling creatures in the playpen, getting along harmoniously.

After dinner, the An family dispersed. Some went out to chat, some busied themselves in the courtyard, some read and studied, and some took the baby for a stroll.

After the sky was completely dark, everyone returned home, washed up, and prepared for bed.

After washing up, An Ning first took the little wolf cub out to go to the toilet.

Once it was done, An Ning earnestly impressed upon the wolf cub the importance of going to the toilet outside.

With the understanding established between human and wolf, they returned to the room. An Ning slept on the kang, while the cub’s basket was placed on its side by the door.

A night passed. When An Ning woke up, the little wolf cub was still sleeping soundly.

Except...

”How did you end up sleeping here? How did you get up?”

At some point during the night, the little wolf cub had climbed onto the kang.

An Ning looked at the floor and saw that her chair and table had been bumped, clear signs that the short-legged cub had gone through quite a struggle.

’Strange, why did I sleep so heavily?’

’Logically, there’s no way I wouldn’t have heard such a big commotion, right?’

But that was precisely the strange part. She had slept incredibly well that night, falling into a deep sleep, completely oblivious to the wolf cub’s series of activities.

An Ning’s gaze swept over the wolf cub again and again. ’What species is this thing, anyway?’

Unable to figure it out, An Ning simply got dressed and climbed off the kang. When she stood at the door and looked at the basket where the cub had slept last night, she finally understood why it had decided to move.

”I told you not to eat so much before bed, and you drank so much water, too.”

An Ning picked up the basket with a look of disgust and took out all the feces, the damp straw, and the soiled cushion.

She then found a corncob, fashioning it into a simple cleaning tool. Grabbing a bucket of water, she rinsed the cushion and started scrubbing it with the corncob.

”I’m really just making trouble for myself...”

”So diligent, this early in the morning?”

Jiang Xia, who had climbed onto the wall at some point, watched the spectacle of An Ning scrubbing away energetically.

An Ning didn’t even look up. She just scrubbed harder.

Up on the wall, Jiang Xia pretended to look at the sky and said, ”My Da Huang knows to go to the toilet by himself. Really saves a lot of corncobs.”

An Ning finally looked up, but what she said wasn’t what Jiang Xia had expected.

”It’s just about training it to go to the toilet on its own, isn’t it? A piece of cake.”

Having more or less finished cleaning, An Ning flicked the water from her hands, and the droplets ”accidentally” flew towards Jiang Xia.

”Hey—no fair!”

Jiang Xia happily dropped down from the wall, not the least bit upset or unhappy.

Hua Cheng, who had come out early to use the toilet, was standing at the base of the wall. He clicked his tongue and shook his head in amazement at the grinning Jiang Xia as he landed.

Jiang Xia shot Hua Cheng a threatening glare. Hua Cheng just grinned, cupped his hands around his mouth like a megaphone, and pretended he was about to shout.

Jiang Xia knew Hua Cheng wouldn’t actually do it. Still, it might have been his guilty conscience, or perhaps his fear of someone tearing through that last layer of paper—and his even greater fear of hearing An Ning’s answer.

So he lunged forward and clamped both hands over Hua Cheng’s mouth, and not gently either.

If Hua Cheng hadn’t slapped frantically at Jiang Xia’s arms, he probably would have been suffocated into unconsciousness.

”HUFF—HUFF—You’re trying to murder your own brother!”

”Get lost! I don’t have a brother.”

Jiang Xia turned away haughtily, but the thick-skinned Hua Cheng caught up to him, completely unfazed by his words.

”Forget the brother thing. I’m just saying, aren’t you being a little too cowardly?”

”Hua Cheng!”

There was a serious note in Jiang Xia’s voice. Hua Cheng immediately made a ”shushing” gesture and continued in a whisper, ”I won’t say it.”

”But are you really not going to make things clear? I’m just saying, what if—what if someone else beats you to it?”

Jiang Xia stopped. If looks could kill, Hua Cheng would be riddled with a thousand holes.

Hua Cheng made a gesture of surrender and even pretended to slap himself.

”This stupid mouth of mine. Impossible. Definitely impossible.”

”Hehehe, I think I hear Master Tang calling me.”

Hua Cheng scurried away.

He was discovering that when it came to An Ning, no jokes were allowed.

In the backyard, after Hua Cheng had gone inside, a secret fear and terror flickered in Jiang Xia’s eyes as he gazed toward the An family’s courtyard.

From the neighboring yard, he could faintly hear the sound of An Ning’s voice.

Jiang Xia didn’t dare to think about it. If that day really came, what would he do?

Achieve instant enlightenment and graciously let go?

Or descend completely into madness, never giving up even in death?

Jiang Xia didn’t know. He was unwilling to think about it, and he didn’t dare to.

He only knew one thing: right now, he wanted to be good to An Ning—so good that no one else could compare.

He wanted to selfishly make An Ning remember him—remember him so well that no one else could compare.