Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

”You’ve seen them? What do they look like? They’re already dead, so does that mean they can’t die again?”

A huge wave of interest washed over Luo Li, and she spun around to look at An Ning.

The dark night sky and the gnarled, claw-like branches formed a backdrop for Luo Li, making her eyes seem exceptionally bright.

”An Ning, do you think I have any talent for this? Can I learn Feng Shui from you?”

An Ning, facing Luo Li, calmly extended a hand and pushed her eager face away. ”Get those thoughts of dissecting ghosts and ghouls out of your head.”

”Also... you don’t have the talent for it.”

Just as expected, the light in Luo Li’s eyes dimmed with disillusionment, replaced by a deep sense of regret.

”Sigh... It’s so hard to find good materials!”

”Let me tell you, the donor body we currently have at home is actually my own uncle.”

”My whole family has signed body donation agreements.”

”Some people have all the luck!”

Luo Li started muttering to herself again, the content of her words being rather unsettling.

Even An Ning, who was walking behind her and had seen all sorts of things across the interstellar expanse, felt a slight chill.

She followed Luo Li through the gloomy forest path, and the view suddenly opened up before them.

A complex of buildings appeared, not in a completely traditional Huaxia style, but rather a bizarre mishmash.

The complex was divided into four parts, each with its own distinct style. The four sections were then strangely cobbled together to form a circle.

”We’re home!”

”That tallest part is where my mom and dad live!”

”That red, European-style building is my brother’s.”

”That black, Jiangnan-style one belongs to my second uncle’s family.”

”And that... that one... the thatched hut is mine.”

Luo Li sounded a little embarrassed as she said the last part, explaining to An Ning, ”What can I do? I’m the poorest one.”

”I’m so poor I can’t even afford a single brick.”

As she said this, Luo Li’s shoulders slumped. She led An Ning toward the main gate, situated between the grandest Huaxia building and the blood-red European one.

When they reached the entrance, An Ning felt that the rickety, rusted iron gate could be pushed over by anyone with a bit of strength.

But then she saw Luo Li press something on the wall, and an ultra-high-tech retinal scanner emerged. Luo Li calmly stepped onto a small stool to scan her eye.

The rickety, rusted gate trembled as it swung open automatically.

An Ning had only one thought: ’Was that really necessary?’

But An Ning followed Luo Li without comment. As she walked through the gate, her shoulder accidentally brushed against it, and with a CRACK...

A piece of the gate... fell off.

Hearing the noise, Luo Li spun around. Glancing around furtively, she quickly picked up the broken piece of metal, expertly pulled out a bottle of glue, and stuck it back on.

”The glue must have dried up again!”

The word ”again” was very telling.

”It’s fine, just tell them it was me—”

”Pay up!”

Before An Ning could finish, a man in a white lab coat and a mask, wearing only one shoe, rushed out from an unknown corner, aggressively blocking their path.

”Uncle, it’s me—”

”I saw everything! She’s the one who broke it! Pay up!”

The man Luo Li called her uncle stubbornly insisted that An Ning compensate him.

In an instant, An Ning understood the purpose of the iron gate.

But now that she was here, she had no intention of leaving.

”Alright. How much?”

An Ning’s response made the ”extorting” uncle’s eyes go wide. His voice filled with disbelief, he asked, ”Really? You’ll really pay?”

An Ning couldn’t help but laugh.

’Why do I find this man so cute?’ There was a sort of adorable fierceness to him, a strange but endearing contrast.

Perhaps because this was his first successful ”extortion,” Luo Li’s uncle thought long and hard for several minutes. He held up one finger, then another, and finally a third.

”Thirty... cents?”

Thirty cents?

An Ning was truly stunned. She had expected at least three hundred dollars. All that effort to extort thirty cents?

”No problem. I’ll give it to you right now!”

As she spoke, An Ning reached into her pocket, counted out thirty cents, and handed it to Luo Li’s uncle.

”Uncle, that’s so uncool of you! An Ning is my roommate and my friend! Do you know how rare that is? How dare you ask for so much money?”

Luo Li’s words made An Ning glance sideways at her. She wasn’t joking; she was serious.

An Ning felt as if she had traveled through time and space to a new world where the value of currency was completely different.

After accepting the thirty cents, Luo Li’s uncle’s attitude did a complete one-eighty. He suddenly overflowed with enthusiasm for An Ning’s visit.

Led by Luo Li and her uncle, An Ning walked toward the luxurious Huaxia-style building.

When they reached the entrance, however, Luo Li’s uncle stopped.

”An Ning, I’m not going in. My older brother charges a toll, and I don’t have any money to give him.”

After speaking, the uncle turned and ran, disappearing back into his black building in no time.

Luo Li, completely unfazed, said, ”Everyone in my family really likes money. Every single cent is important.”

”You have no idea. You know what they say, a hero can be felled by a single cent! Sometimes you’re just ten cents short for something, and they absolutely won’t sell it to you!”

Luo Li sounded extremely distressed as she led An Ning to the door and rang the doorbell.

BEEP BEEP BEEP—

”Who is it?”

”Dad, it’s me!”

BEEP—

A sound like a disconnected call came from the intercom.

Luo Li remained unfazed. She pulled a dollar out of her pocket and waved it back and forth in front of the intercom.

With a CLICK, the door opened.

”See? Money can make my dad open the door!”

Luo Li skillfully walked up the steps, stuffed the dollar into a box by the door, and led An Ning inside.

An Ning was hesitating, wondering if she should also put in a dollar, but as the door opened, she was stunned by the scene before her.

For a fleeting moment, An Ning thought she had returned to the interstellar era.

A high-tech, silver disinfection corridor, cameras everywhere, and a fine mist spraying down from above made Luo Li turn back several times in concern.

”Mmm... mmmm... mmm-mmm.”

Luo Li mumbled something, but An Ning couldn’t understand a single word.

After they passed through the disinfecting mist and went through another door, Luo Li seemed to remember something and said, ”An Ning, I think we should invent a language that only the two of us understand. What do you think?”

”That way, we can talk in secret and no one else will understand.”

”Yes, yes, that’s a great idea! I’ll start on it when we get back. I’ll let you know when it’s ready!”

Luo Li decided the matter all by herself, and An Ning didn’t stop her. For someone like her, learning a new language was no trouble at all.

”I was trying to tell you earlier not to be afraid. That gas is just for disinfection. My dad does a lot of experiments in here.”

”You have no idea, some of these test subjects are so delicate. The slightest little thing goes wrong, and they’ll just kill themselves to spite you.”

Luo Li chattered on as she led the way. After the door at the end of the disinfection corridor, the hallway was replaced by spacious, bright glass windows.

Inside the glass-walled rooms were various pieces of lab equipment, with colorful gases and liquids swirling inside beakers and flasks, each with its own unique form.

Every now and then, she could see a few live white mice or small frogs, stretched out in bizarre shapes.

”That’s my dad!”