Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

An Ning was standing right outside her parents’ door, holding Xiao Lang. What An Sancheng said made her nod in complete agreement.

Her father was right. It was good enough that she didn’t cause trouble.

’It’s not that I’m actually looking for trouble,’ An Ning thought. ’It just always seems to find me.’

She felt it was just as her teacher used to say: an otherworldly visitor must always make their presence felt.

It wasn’t exactly a profound truth, but An Ning thought it made a lot of sense.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

An Ning knocked on the door.

”Mom, can Xiao Lang sleep in your room? He’s being so noisy I can’t get to sleep.”

Xiao Lang, still in An Ning’s arms, looked up with innocent eyes full of protest.

An Ning tapped a finger on Xiao Lang’s Heavenly Gate Acupoint and whispered, ”Was all that beef I gave you for nothing?”

Sure enough, Xiao Lang withdrew his protest and settled into his role as a living sleeping pill for Lin Cuihua’s insomnia.

Inside the room, Lin Cuihua opened the door. She took Xiao Lang, cradling him fondly. ”Nonsense. Our Xiao Lan is the most well-behaved little thing.”

”Perfect. You can sleep with him, then.”

An Ning turned on her heel and headed back to her room.

Lin Cuihua carried Xiao Lang inside, made him a little bed, and prepared to go to sleep herself.

On a night with a bright moon and sparse stars, Lin Cuihua lay on her pillow, muttering to herself, ”I’ve been sleeping so much better these last two days. Just a few days ago, I was tossing and turning all night. I wonder why that is?”

SNORE— SNORE—

The answer to Lin Cuihua’s question was An Sancheng’s thunderous snoring. Xiao Lang’s sleep-inducing effect was ridiculously effective.

”He fell asleep fast...”

Lin Cuihua didn’t even get to finish her grumbling before her own eyelids drooped shut.

From Xiao Lang’s body on the floor, an imperceptible wave of blue light enveloped the old couple on the bed. The two humans and one wolf all slept soundly.

A wisp of blue light slipped out from under the door and into An Ning’s room, where it intertwined with her spiritual power.

As they resonated, the blue light wave returning to Xiao Lang’s body grew slightly stronger, and the spiritual power flowing back into An Ning’s body became more condensed.

To avoid overtaxing Xiao Lang, An Ning extended her spiritual power, actively coordinating with him.

She felt the spiritual power flowing back from Xiao Lang and sighed inwardly with endless wonder.

’Even in the interstellar age, no one had figured out an effective way to increase spiritual power. Yet here I am on Ancient Earth, and a solution just walks right up to my door.’

It made An Ning a firm believer in the karmic principle that every little thing is preordained.

That night, the old couple and An Ning all slept very well. The others, however, were still a bit restless with worry.

The next day, the well-rested Lin Cuihua made breakfast for everyone. She even packed some steamed buns for herself and An Ning—not many, but enough for one meal.

While everyone else was still eating, Lin Cuihua finished first and started packing their things.

”Bring a water bottle. It’s not convenient to get water when you’re out.”

”An Ning, pack a few extra sets of clothes. Take a long-sleeved shirt, too. It still gets a bit chilly in the morning and evening. And what’ll we do if it rains?”

”Oh, and we should take raincoats, just in case.”

”Oh dear, should we bring boots as well?”

The more Lin Cuihua thought, the more things she wanted to pack, until An Ning finally had to stop her.

”Mom, they’ll have all the work supplies at the factory. They’ll issue them to us. We just need to pack our clothes; we don’t need to bring anything else.”

”Oh—that’s good, then. I understand.”

”But you should still pack a few extra outfits. If you sweat and get them dirty, Mom can wash them for you.”

Lin Cuihua was a natural worrier, but An Ning didn’t argue. If her mother told her to pack something, she packed it. If she said to bring more, she brought more.

After the two of them finished packing, An Guoming drove them to the station.

”Wait, you’re bringing the dog?”

An Guoming looked at An Ning, who was holding Xiao Lang, and tried to reason with her. ”They don’t allow dogs on the train, do they?”

”Why not? I’ve seen people bring live chickens.”

An Ning held up Xiao Lang. ”Our Xiao Lang is very important.”

An Guoming didn’t try to stop her. Instead, he said, ”Some trains might not allow it. I’ll find someone to sort out the paperwork for you. If you want to bring him, then bring him.”

A doting older brother wasn’t just for show.

”Thanks, Second Brother.”

Holding Xiao Lang, An Ning turned and beckoned Zhou Xiaoshan over.

Zhou Xiaoshan obediently came forward and stood respectfully before her.

”While I’m gone, you and Guoping can go wild and have fun, but be careful and stay safe, understand?”

Zhou Xiaoshan nodded.

”Also, about the apprenticeship, let’s wait until your dad gets back. I called him yesterday, and he should be back before school starts.”

A range of emotions finally crossed Zhou Xiaoshan’s face. He didn’t dare get his hopes up, but he couldn’t help asking with a touch of eagerness, ”Really? He says that every time, but he’s never on schedule.”

”We’ll just plan for him to be on time and see what happens. For now, just enjoy your break.”

”Okay.”

Zhou Xiaoshan nodded vigorously. He genuinely loved his life here; even working in the fields every day felt good.

An Guoping slung a friendly arm around Zhou Xiaoshan’s shoulders. ”Don’t worry, Sis. I’ll keep a good eye on Xiao Shan.”

An Ning shot him a skeptical glance. ”Xiao Shan, you keep an eye on this crazy-eyed An Guoping.”

Seeing right through him, An Guoping pouted, but then broke into a grin. ”Have a safe trip, Sis.”

An Ning patted them both on the head. ”I know, you little brat.”

With all her farewells and instructions out of the way, An Ning carried Xiao Lang over to the Jiang family’s house. There, she signed a series of ”unequal treaties” with Master Tang, begging him to help look after the An family’s meals.

Master Tang personally saw her out, waving from his doorway. ”Don’t be in any hurry to come back! My pond needs to be dug slowly.”

An Ning sighed and climbed into the truck. She had no one to blame but herself for agreeing to his terms.

As the truck started up, Lin Cuihua, sitting in the passenger seat, gave An Sancheng one last round of worried instructions.

An Sancheng readily agreed to everything. ”I know, I know. Don’t worry. Just go. It’ll be fine.”

The truck pulled away amidst her stream of reminders.

Lin Cuihua wasn’t sure what to feel. This was the first time she had ever truly traveled, let alone gone so far from home.

An Ning, sitting in the back, leaned forward and tucked Xiao Lang into Lin Cuihua’s arms.

”Mom, I’m counting on you to take care of me now.”

”I know, I know. I’ll make sure you’re well-fed. You just focus on your work and don’t worry about a thing.”

An Ning settled back in her seat. Her working vacation with her mom had officially begun.

When the truck reached the station, An Guoming went to buy their train tickets.

He returned with four soft-sleeper tickets for An Ning.

”I just bought out the whole compartment for you. You can take Xiao Lan on board with no trouble.”

”Thanks, Second Brother. You’re the one with the money, after all.”

”Oh, get out of here!”

The siblings finished their hushed exchange, neither of them telling Lin Cuihua the details about the tickets.

An Guoming saw them both onto the train, only leaving after he watched it pull out of the station.

As he stood there, a thought occurred to him. ’Maybe it’s time to start thinking about my own major life event—marriage?’

The power of gossip was a formidable thing, especially in a tight-knit, clan-based village.

Besides, it wasn’t as if he didn’t already have someone in mind...