Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

An Guoping’s terrified yell sent a flock of chickens and ducks scattering.

However, a large goose—perhaps feeling its status as the village tyrant had been challenged—stretched out its neck, let out a series of honks, and charged straight at An Guoping.

”Ahhh—why are you chasing me? I didn’t do anything to you!”

”Sis—help me!”

An Ning and Yin Xuemei stopped, observing the scene.

”So close. What a shame.”

”Yeah, missed by what, five centimeters?”

The two of them folded their arms, their posture making it all too obvious they were there to enjoy the show.

An Guoping ran for his life, with the goose relentlessly chasing him. Its big, orange-red beak kept snapping shut, always missing him by the barest of margins.

An Guoping wouldn’t have been so scared if it were winter. But it was the middle of summer, and he was only wearing shorts. If that goose managed to pinch him, he felt like he would just die.

An Guoping kept running and yelling, while Yang Jianguo stayed put, guarding the box.

The goose was a strange creature; it had locked onto An Guoping and ignored everyone else. It didn’t even spare Yang Jianguo a single glance.

The commotion attracted a growing crowd.

A boy of about ten appeared, holding a perfectly straight stick that was polished to a sheen from use.

It was clear how much the boy loved his stick, and how many blades of grass it must have ”defeated.”

”Big White—stop chasing him! Don’t bite—”

The boy chased after the goose with his stick.

A few minutes later, An Guoping was finally saved.

The boy herded his victorious goose away. After saying hello to An Ning, he left with a touch of pride.

Only then did An Ning walk over to An Guoping. Adding fuel to the fire, she said, ”Your combat skills could use some improvement.”

An Guoping leaned over, hands on his knees, huffing and puffing.

”Sis—how could you just stand there and watch me die?”

An Ning pretended to be stumped. She placed a hand over her chest dramatically and said, ”It does hurt a bit... but I think it’s from laughing.”

Done teasing An Guoping, An Ning, in high spirits, went to inspect the box the two had brought.

”Firecrackers? Where did you get them?”

An Guoping, having caught his breath, sidled over. He lifted his chin haughtily and said, ”I don’t know.”

”Hm?”

An Ning’s simple ”hm?” was all it took for An Guoping to surrender. ”Jiang Xia had Hua Cheng buy them. He said they’re for us to have fun with after our college entrance exams.”

”Let’s just set off a few for now. Save the rest for tomorrow with Zhou Xiaoshan and the others.”

”Okay!”

Once he got An Ning’s approval, An Guoping and Yang Jianguo grabbed the box and took off running, shouting, ”Time to set off firecrackers! Time to set off firecrackers!”

An Ning and Yin Xuemei followed behind. In no time, a crowd of children, both young and old, had rushed past them to catch up with An Guoping and Yang Jianguo and watch the fireworks.

By the time the two women reached the foot of the mountain, the firecrackers were already set up. The An Family and the Jiang Family were all standing in their yards or by their front gates.

An Guoping stood a double-bang firecracker upright and lit the fuse with a burning incense stick.

With a FIZZ, the instant sparks flew, An Guoping scrambled backward.

POP... BANG!

Two explosions rang out—one on the ground and one in the air.

”Whoa—”

”That was so loud!”

”Now that’s a good firecracker!”

The onlooking villagers chimed in with their reviews. It wasn’t just the kids—the adults, especially the men, were even bigger fans of firecrackers.

And the louder, the better.

An Guoping, An Guoqing, Yang Jianguo, An Sancheng, and the others all stepped up to light a few and get their fix.

Watching them, Hua Cheng felt his own hands itching to have a go. He decided to light one too—after all, he was the one who’d paid for them.

Hua Cheng stepped forward with an incense stick. The instant he lit the fuse, he turned to scramble away.

”Run!”

”Get out of the way!”

Everything slowed down in Hua Cheng’s eyes. He only saw Jiang Xia suddenly dart out and shove him forcefully aside.

The crowd behind them scattered in every direction like a flock of startled sparrows, running for their lives.

The first BANG, followed immediately by a second, exploded right beside them, not up in the sky.

For some reason, the double-bang firecracker had fallen over the instant it was lit. The force of the initial blast sent it hurtling along the ground, straight toward the crowd.

An Ning, trying to protect the crowd, cheated a little with her spiritual power to alter the firecracker’s trajectory. But it all happened too quickly, and the firecracker still ended up in the An family’s pile of corn stalks.

The air was dry and the materials were tinder. A single spark from the explosion was enough to instantly ignite the woodpile of dry leaves and kindling.

”Fire—”

”Quick, quick, quick!”

The villagers reacted fast, grabbing shovels to throw dirt on the fire and beating at the flames with whatever they could find.

Of course, some also ran into the yard to get water.

An Ning hooked up the hose directly. She stayed at the well, working the pump by herself to create a continuous stream of water to spray on the flames.

After a frantic flurry of activity, the fire was out.

The An family hadn’t lost much, just a pile of kindling.

Hua Cheng, who had been sitting on the ground watching the whole ordeal, got to his feet, full of fear and guilt. He walked over to Anning’s house to apologize.

”I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m really so sorry.”

An Sancheng quickly helped Hua Cheng up, saying, ”It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s not a big deal.”

”Besides, no real harm was done.”

The firecracker fun was temporarily paused. They would find a better place for it tomorrow.

The sky was completely dark now, and the villagers had all returned home.

An Ning and the others were exhausted after such an eventful day; only their high spirits kept them going.

That night, Xiao Lang slept in An Ning’s room as usual.

Just as An Ning was about to fall asleep, a blue light once again emanated from Xiao Lang, shimmering in harmony with An Ning’s spiritual power.

An Ning fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. She slept dreamlessly through the night, and when she woke up, she felt almost unreasonably refreshed and energetic.

Having woken up early, An Ning went for a walk up the mountain.

Halfway up the slope, she encountered the wolf that brought prey for Xiao Lang each day.

Perhaps because she carried Xiao Lang’s scent, the wolf delivering the meat showed no wariness toward her at all.

”Thank you.”

An Ning took the pheasant and wild rabbit from the wolf, and after a brief stroll on the mountain, she headed back down.

She wasn’t particularly fond of climbing the mountain in the height of summer anyway.

The mosquito bites were a little much to bear.

After coming down the mountain, An Ning gave the game to Lin Cuihua. Then, she went and got some milk powder and an egg.

She cracked the egg into a bowl and whisked it, then added a little milk powder. She poured in boiling water to mix, preparing a warm, milky egg drink.

”Xiao Lan—time for your milk.”

The little wolf cub ran out of the house, its tiny nose twitching as it followed the scent to find An Ning.

An Ning put the bowl on the ground. The little wolf lapped at the contents with its tiny tongue, eating with great relish.

”Wei Qi? Wait a second.”

Wei Qi, who had entered at some unknown moment, was just about to turn and leave when An Ning stopped him.

”I told you to wait a second.”

”Here.”

Another bowl of the milky egg drink was placed in front of Wei Qi.

Wei Qi, however, seemed too bashful to eat. He looked like he wanted to run, but the delicious aroma kept him rooted to the spot.

”Go on and eat. I can afford to feed you both.”