Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

An Ning and An Guoping needed to transfer trains. The first leg of their journey was several hours long, and since it wasn’t the departure station, they could only get hard-seat tickets.

And they had to pull some strings just to get those two hard seats.

Holding up the tickets, An Ning sighed and said to the dazzling sun, ”I guess this is one of the reasons so many people work so hard to climb the social ladder.”

”Huh? Just to buy train tickets?”

An Guoping’s response made An Ning look at him with a worried expression. ”Just focus on your studies and become the best doctor you can be. Other professions really might not be for you.”

”I definitely will, Sis!”

An Guoping didn’t catch the underlying meaning. He followed behind An Ning, and the more he walked, the more he thought about it, and the more something felt off.

”Sis—were you calling me dumb?”

An Guoping stared at An Ning’s back. ’Somewhere along the line,’ he thought, ’my sister, who used to be so naive about the world, has started to understand way too much.’

The brother and sister chatted as they boarded the train, found their seats, and sat down.

The seats on the train were divided into two rows facing each other—one row seated three people, the other seated two.

An Ning and An Guoping were in the three-person row, in the two innermost seats. When they arrived, a scruffy, unkempt man with a big beard was sitting in the aisle seat, seemingly dozing off.

An Guoping woke the man, let An Ning take the window seat, and sat in the middle himself.

The bearded man turned sideways to let them pass. An Ning and her brother thanked him, stowed their luggage, and settled in.

They had only been seated for a few minutes when the train started moving.

The hard-seat car of a green-skinned train was an exceptionally lively place.

There were people loudly gossiping, friends calling to each other to drink and eat peanuts, folks shooting the shit, and others silently watching the world with cold eyes.

The word ”lively” didn’t even begin to describe it.

With nothing else to do, An Ning, sitting by the window, simply leaned back against her seat and closed her eyes, feigning sleep.

Beside her, An Guoping didn’t feel like talking either and was flipping through a novel.

As the train chugged along, a vendor pushing a small metal cart walked back and forth several times, calling out for passengers to move their feet and hawking ”Sunflower seeds, drinks, mineral water!” over and over.

But making even one sale out of ten trips was considered a success.

It wasn’t just the vendors; train attendants and railway police also patrolled the aisles, checking tickets from time to time.

An Ning kept her eyes closed, resting. But on the railway police’s third pass through the car, she sensed that something was wrong.

The tense atmosphere felt like it was about to explode.

She opened her eyes, and just as she was about to investigate, two earth-shattering words exploded in her ears.

”Move out!”

At the command, Big Beard, the man next to An Guoping, pounced like a great roc spreading its wings on a large man diagonally in front of them, pinning him firmly to the ground.

At the same time, several plainclothes officers in the car sprang into action. Some worked alone, others in pairs, each subduing a target.

A middle-aged man in a police uniform appeared just in time, standing at the end of the car and shouting, ”Nobody move! Police business! Police business! Don’t move!”

An Ning grabbed An Guoping’s hand and, before he knew it, had switched places with him. Unhappily, An Guoping cried, ”Sis—”

”Shut up. It’s not a disgrace to admit you’re weak.”

An Guoping shut his mouth and obediently accepted his dear sister’s protection.

The authority of the police was formidable. Although the passengers were intensely curious, most of them stayed in their seats, craning their necks to see without daring to move.

Anyone who did try to move was quickly wrestled to the floor and pinned down by other officers who came from behind.

Moving at a time like this was a clear sign of a guilty conscience. Whether they were actually accomplices could be sorted out during interrogation later.

Everything happened within a few minutes. An Ning, now in her new seat, watched as Big Beard, who had been sitting next to her, got up and sat down diagonally across from her.

”Give me the child.”

”What? What are you doing?”

Next to Big Beard, directly opposite An Ning, sat a woman holding a baby. She had a kind face and was cleanly dressed, and she had been humming softly to the swaddled infant in her arms the whole time.

”What am I doing? Do I even need to ask where you got that child?”

Big Beard reached for the baby, but the woman refused to give it up and started shouting.

”You’ve got the wrong person! This is my child! You’re the police, you have to be reasonable!”

”My baby—this is my baby—”

The woman was a natural at throwing a hysterical fit.

An Ning’s spiritual power swept over the scene. She spoke coolly, ”Your child? It hasn’t made a single sound in the three hours since we boarded the train.”

”Also, it’s nearly thirty degrees Celsius outside, yet you have the baby wrapped in a thick cotton quilt. Are you sure you’re its mother?”

An Ning’s words threw the woman into a panic.

Big Beard, who was beside her, acted even faster. He snatched the baby and placed a finger under its nose to check for breath.

”Wake up, wake up? Wake up?”

No matter how loudly Big Beard called, the swaddled infant showed no reaction. If not for the faint breath against his finger, he would have thought the baby was dead.

”A doctor? Is there a doctor here?”

Big Beard shouted several times, but no doctor responded. For some reason, his gaze landed on An Ning.

An Ning always had a soft spot for children.

”Take the baby to a hospital. It’s likely been fed some kind of sleeping drug.”

”Fuck! Dammit! Those animals!”

Big Beard handed the baby to another officer and told an attendant to keep looking for a doctor in the other cars. He also prepared to get off at the next stop.

But before that, there was something more important to do.

Big Beard’s eyes bulged like copper bells as he stared menacingly at the woman. ”Where are the other children?”

”What other children? I don’t know, I really don’t know.”

No matter how Big Beard questioned them, the woman and her accomplices refused to admit there were any other children.

Furious, Big Beard slammed his fist on the seat. They had been tracking this ring for years and finally had a breakthrough today, but they’d only rescued one child?

He didn’t believe it.

But it was true that none of the other accomplices were holding babies. So where were the other children?

The interrogation yielded no results, so Big Beard had no choice but to take the suspects away and continue questioning them after they got off the train.

He nodded at An Ning and said, ”Thank you.”

”I can divine the future.”

An Ning stretched out an arm, blocking Big Beard’s path.

”What did you say?”

”I said, I can divine the future. Just a moment.”

An Ning took a tortoise shell and six Copper Coins from her backpack and began to shake them with a RATTLE.

With a CLATTER, the Copper Coins tumbled out of the tortoise shell and onto the small train table.

”In car number thirteen, inside a canvas bag.”

Having said her piece, An Ning didn’t care whether Big Beard believed her or not. She shot up and ran towards car thirteen.

Her steps were hurried, her anger at its peak.

”Utterly depraved” wasn’t a strong enough phrase to describe the scene An Ning had witnessed with her spiritual power. Of course, she hadn’t actually divined it; Feng Shui was just the best cover for her spiritual power.

It was mysterious and profound, something no one could possibly figure out.

Of course, Big Beard didn’t believe her, but his feet followed her anyway. ’What if?’ he thought.