Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

The attendant squatted down again, looked at the boy, and asked, ”What’s your mommy’s name?”

”Mommy is...” The little boy thought long and hard, his chubby cheeks scrunching up, before finally shouting, ”She’s called ’Kid’s Mom’!”

”PFFT—”

An Ning couldn’t help but let out a laugh. Lin Cuihua also struggled to hold back, biting her lip. This little kid was just too amusing.

The attendant felt a headache coming on, but she patiently continued, ”Then what’s your daddy’s name?”

”He’s called... ’You heartless monster.’”

”COUGH, COUGH, COUGH— COUGH, COUGH, COUGH— I need some water, need some water, my throat’s killing me.”

An Ning turned away with a deadpan expression, picked up her water bottle, twisted it open, and took a sip.

But even after she tilted the bottle a full 180 degrees, only a single drop fell out. The air thickened with a hint of embarrassment.

The attendant wanted to laugh too, but maintaining her professional demeanor, she managed to hold it in with great difficulty.

”Then what’s your name?”

”Me?”

The boy’s eyes lit up as he said, ”My name is Treasure!”

He spoke with such pride it was clear his family adored him. It was hard to imagine his parents would want to abandon him.

The attendant asked a few more questions, but the boy’s answers were completely off-topic, leaving everyone unsure whether to laugh or cry.

”I’m out of ideas.”

The attendant stood up, feeling helpless. ’Should I just search each car?’ she wondered. ’But this child doesn’t seem very bright. What if he identifies the wrong people as his parents?’

There were far too many human traffickers on the trains back then. Returning him to the wrong people would be a terrible sin.

An Ning understood the attendant’s worries. She said to her, ”Let me try.”

An Ning squatted down. Instead of rushing to ask questions, she asked, ”Are you hungry?”

The boy vigorously shook his head, then nodded, clutching his little tummy. ”It says it’s hungry, but Treasure isn’t.”

”Alright, Treasure isn’t hungry. But Big Sister is a little hungry. Why don’t you eat something with me?”

The boy seemed hesitant, so An Ning coaxed him, ”It’s okay. We’ve known each other for a little while now, so we’re not strangers.”

”You’re an auntie, not a big sister.”

At the boy’s words, Lin Cuihua finally burst out laughing, and the attendant also turned away, shaking with laughter.

This was the first time anyone had ever called An Ning ”auntie.” What an interesting feeling. It was hard to describe.

However, she had finally learned one thing: women really do care about their age.

”Why’d you call me auntie? Am I that old?”

A conflicted look appeared on the boy’s little face, making An Ning feel bad for even asking.

”Fine, fine, you can call me auntie. Now, what would you like to eat?”

Soothed by An Ning, the boy ate half a steamed bun, drank some soup, and had some cabbage and tofu.

With a full belly, the boy sat on the berth without a care in the world, dangling his little feet.

”Treasure, do you want Auntie to help you find your mommy?”

”No! Mommy told me to roll far away.”

”You rolled over here?”

An Ning suddenly understood what the boy meant. It wasn’t a figure of speech; he meant it literally.

”Treasure is a very good roller!”

The boy said this with a proud look on his face. The three women in the compartment quickly exchanged a look. The attendant understood and stepped out to see if anyone along the way had noticed anything.

An Ning remained in the compartment and continued her questions. ”What about your daddy?”

”Daddy’s sleeping. He’s watching Mommy, watching Treasure. Daddy cried.”

After the little boy said this, even An Ning was confused. ’Daddy cried?’

A little over ten minutes later, the attendant returned. This time, she wasn’t alone; several people were following her.

”Treasure!” A woman’s shriek made the little boy nimbly jump off the berth and lie down on the floor.

”Mommy—Treasure rolled away, just like you said. I was a good boy.”

When the woman who had rushed in heard his words, self-reproach washed over her like a surging river.

”I’m sorry, Treasure. Mommy was wrong. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m so sorry.”

The woman’s tears streamed down her face. The boy got up from the floor and used his small hands to wipe them away.

”Don’t cry, don’t cry. Daddy’s watching you.”

The boy’s words sent a chill down everyone’s spine, except for An Ning and her mother.

One of them knew what was going on, while the other was completely in the dark.

The crying woman felt a sudden surge of inexplicable anger. ”Treasure,” she said in a stern voice, ”you are not to mention your daddy.”

The scolded boy lowered his head, aggrieved, and said in a voice that was anything but quiet, ”Why? I want to go play with Daddy.”

The boy broke free from his mother’s arms and rushed toward an empty spot, making a hugging gesture with his arms as if he were clinging to someone’s legs.

But...

...in everyone else’s eyes, there was nothing there.

”Treasure, please don’t be like this! Your daddy is dead! Dead!”

The woman couldn’t take it anymore. She was already enduring the loss of her husband. She had personally collected his ashes and was taking them and their child home alone. But the whole way, the boy kept muttering about his daddy—that his daddy was watching them, that his daddy was crying.

At first, she had the patience to comfort Treasure, but his constant muttering finally made her snap.

The attendant, at some point, had scurried over to An Ning’s side and whispered, ”The boy’s father was a police officer. He was just killed in the line of duty. The mother and son are taking his ashes home.”

After saying this, the attendant slapped her hand over her mouth. She’d just been bad-mouthing the boy’s father, too.

’Damn it!’ When she learned that the boy’s father had sacrificed his life, she really wanted to give herself two hard slaps.

At that moment, An Ning’s eyes were fixed on the boy’s position. The source of the aura was there.

”My daddy’s not dead! Daddy’s right here! Daddy’s right here!”

The boy stood there stubbornly, one hand seemingly grabbing onto something as he desperately tried to explain to his mother, ”Mommy, Daddy’s here. Daddy’s not dead.”

”AHHH—I didn’t want him to die!”

”Treasure—I didn’t want him to die!”

The woman broke down again, hugging Treasure and weeping uncontrollably.

The scene moved everyone nearby who knew the situation to tears.

A widow and her orphan, the remains of a hero—it was the most tragic and heartbreaking of sights.

The only one not shedding a tear was An Ning. Her spiritual power sensed a magnetic field, one unlike that of any living person.

A man with seven bloody holes in his body and a resolute face filled with anguish was staring at the mother and son on the floor, wanting to touch them but unable to.

The man sensed An Ning’s gaze. He looked at her in disbelief, then reached a hand covered in knife wounds toward her.

He wanted to speak, but his unstable magnetic field left him unable to form words.

An Ning gave a silent nod. She could see him.

The man had found his salvation. He pressed his palms together, pleading with An Ning.

An Ning didn’t let him plead for long. This was a hero; she had to help.

She crouched down and whispered a few words in the woman’s ear.

The woman looked at An Ning, wanting to believe but finding it impossible.

”Why don’t you rest here for a while?”

An Ning suggested. The woman, sobbing, agreed and brought Treasure into the private compartment to rest.