Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

Qiu Yue wrapped the blanket tighter around herself, a polite yet distant smile on her face. ”I’m sorry, I lost my composure. I must be going through menopause. Please forgive me.”

Qiu Yue got up from the floor, took the clothes she was going to wear, and went into the en-suite bathroom.

Less than five minutes later, she came out and sat in the spot farthest from Xiao Xian. ”I’m ready,” she said. ”Go ahead.”

In the distance, Xiao Xian still wore that same calm, unruffled expression of a perfect gentleman. It was as if the scene that had just unfolded didn’t exist in his eyes.

”Qiu Yue, you are the most level-headed woman I have ever met, and also the one who knows what she wants best. Please don’t ruin the image I have of you.”

”Yes. Don’t worry, it won’t happen again.”

Qiu Yue spoke sincerely, but inwardly, she began to look at Xiao Xian with a hint of pity.

’He fancies himself as someone who understands everything, yet he can’t even see through the person sleeping right next to him.’

Qiu Yue was indeed composed. But after nearly twenty years of a cold war in her marriage, coupled with the recent confirmation of her deepest suspicions and the thought of Xiao Yan’s monthly ”visits home,” a knot of resentment tightened in her chest, making her feel ill.

Seeing Qiu Yue calm down, Xiao Xian didn’t suspect a thing.

In his eyes, Qiu Yue was the most suitable partner because they shared common interests. He didn’t trust people’s hearts, but he trusted mutual benefit.

”Jiang Xia is going to make a move soon. Also, I’ve recently felt that someone is investigating the Xiao Family. To be safe, you should take the children and go into hiding for a while.”

Xiao Xian stood up and handed the file folder in his hand to Qiu Yue.

A sliver of the darkness in Qiu Yue’s heart receded. No matter what, they had children together. That was an unbreakable bond.

Qiu Yue hesitated.

She hooked a finger under the thin string on the folder and unwound it, loop by loop. She pulled out a thick stack of documents. The first name that came into view made her hesitation vanish without a trace.

Qiu Yue said nothing and continued reading. With every page she turned, her resolve hardened.

”I’m not on here?”

Qiu Yue looked up and asked. Xiao Xian nodded affirmatively. ”Your status makes it inconvenient for you to leave. It would cause too much of a stir. It’s better for you to stay here.”

Qiu Yue nodded in agreement. ”You’re right. What about Xiao Yan?”

In her hand, she held up a sheet of paper. It was Xiao Yan’s identification information.

Xiao Xian crouched down to explain. ”You know Yan’er has been through a lot lately. We can use her ’seeking treatment for her injury’ as a reason for her to go with the children. That way, you and I can both rest easy.”

’Rest easy?’

Qiu Yue really wanted to laugh out loud.

’What a man, this Xiao Xian. Even at this critical moment, he’s still thinking of Xiao Yan.’

Qiu Yue even felt that if something truly disastrous happened, Xiao Xian would probably abandon her children to pave the way for Xiao Yan and her child.

At that moment, Qiu Yue’s heart settled, her resolve fixed.

She looked at Xiao Xian with the magnanimous air of a virtuous wife. ”You’re right. Xiao Yan will be good to the children. After all, she is their biological aunt, isn’t she?”

”Of course, she will.”

To Qiu Yue, Xiao Xian’s certainty was a joke.

After they finished their discussion, Qiu Yue said she would start the preparations the next day.

Xiao Xian, completely at ease, entrusted all these matters to Qiu Yue.

That night, Qiu Yue lay alone in the large bed. Diagonally across from it was a chaise lounge—that was where Xiao Xian slept.

In the darkness, Qiu Yue gazed in the direction of the chaise lounge, her expression a mixture of resentment and relief.

「The next morning.」

The Xiao Family residence was the same as always, with everyone going about their daily routines.

Just as everyone was getting ready to eat, Xiao Yan arrived.

Xiao Yan, a piece of gauze wrapped around her face, looked as if she were on the verge of tears. Her red lips trembled slightly, projecting the air of a delicate damsel in distress. The white gauze on her face, far from making her look ugly, actually added a certain allure.

’Is this the type Xiao Xian likes? Or does he just enjoy the thrill of the forbidden?’

Regardless, Qiu Yue immediately stood up and welcomed Xiao Yan into the house.

Being welcomed in, Xiao Yan was inwardly suspicious, even suspecting Qiu Yue of having ill intentions. She knew very well that Qiu Yue had never liked her.

Although Qiu Yue had never said it outright and no conflict had ever broken out between them, a woman’s intuition told Xiao Yan that Qiu Yue disliked her, even detested her.

”Come, sit. Have you eaten? Nanny Wu, please set another place.”

Qiu Yue bustled about, personally ladling a bowl of congee for Xiao Yan. ”Have some,” she said with warmth and tenderness.

Xiao Yan held the spoon, not knowing whether to eat or not. Faced with this side of Qiu Yue, she felt a little scared.

”What’s wrong? Is it not to your liking? I’ll have the kitchen make you something else. What would you like to eat?”

Qiu Yue’s friendliness made Xiao Yan, who was already on edge from recent events, grow even more suspicious.

”Qiu Yue, what are you trying to do?”

Xiao Yan threw down her spoon and watched Qiu Yue warily. Across from her, Qiu Yue looked completely innocent, even hurt, as if she’d been wrongly accused.

”Sister, what are you saying? I just wanted you to have some congee.”

As she spoke, Qiu Yue turned her head and looked down, an aura of grievance enveloping her, leaving Xiao Yan speechless.

’This feeling... it’s so damn familiar.’

With her head down, the corners of Qiu Yue’s mouth lifted slightly. ’So, pretending to be weak is actually quite fun.’

’I’ve really been missing out all these years.’

Having unexpectedly unlocked a new way to play, Qiu Yue looked up with a sorrowful expression and said plaintively, ”I’m finished eating. I’ll be heading out now.”

At the dining table, several people were now looking at Xiao Yan with unfriendly eyes.

Xiao Yan felt suffocated, the kind of frustration that comes from being set up. Just as she was about to lose her temper, Xiao Xian came downstairs.

”Brother—”

The long, drawn-out cry made several people at the table lose their appetite.

Xiao Xian, however, seemed to enjoy it. He walked down quickly, looking at the wound on Xiao Yan’s face with a pained expression. ”Does it hurt?”

”Mmm.”

The nasal reply was enough to make Qiu Yue, who was about to leave, feel sick to her stomach.

’She’s a grown woman trying to act like a teenage girl. She should take a look at her own wrinkles and see if they agree.’

Under Qiu Yue’s thinly veiled gaze of disgust, Xiao Xian put an arm around Xiao Yan, comforting her in a low voice.

Amidst this scene, Qiu Yue walked out of the gloomy room and into the morning sun.

’Xiao Xian, this is the end for us.’

After Qiu Yue left, she openly began arranging the travel documents for Xiao Yan and her own two children to go abroad. But secretly, she contacted Jiang Xia, and bits of classified information began to leak out.

A mighty dike can collapse from a single ant hole.

The Xiao Family was hardly a mighty dike, and Qiu Yue was no ant hole.

Qiu Yue’s betrayal accelerated the Xiao Family’s demise.

Xiao Xian’s guess had been correct. Not only was Jiang Xia intensifying their offensive against him, but there were indeed people from the higher-ups investigating the Xiao Family.

The moment her two children completed their procedures and boarded the ship to Hong Kong, the Xiao Family fell.

To the outside world, the fall of the Xiao Family came without any warning.

But in reality, this was the result even after the Xiao Family’s desperate struggle.

It was time for everything to come to an end.