Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

”Take whichever you want.” Such a domineering declaration made An Guoming feel like they were shopping for cabbage.

He tugged at a corner of An Ning’s sleeve with two fingers, leaned in, and whispered, ”Little Sis, is this... legal?”

Seeing An Guoming’s cautious expression, An Ning’s playful side emerged. She put on a ”caught red-handed” face.

The moment An Guoming saw this, his heart skipped a beat, and his mind started racing.

”An Ning, you don’t know anything. Just pin it all on your Second Brother, got it?”

Looking at An Guoming, who was ready to take the fall for her at a moment’s notice, An Ning dropped the act. ”Second Brother, I was just teasing you.”

”But still, your reaction gives me some really mixed feelings.”

Hearing this, An Guoming immediately let go of her clothes and flicked her gently on the head. ”You just love teasing me. And what’s there to feel mixed about? I’ve already planned out my life on the inside.”

”PFFT—” An Ning burst out laughing.

”You’re incredible! Second Brother, I’m impressed. But rest assured, if I ever actually did something bad, I definitely wouldn’t leave any evidence. So you can put those plans on hold.”

After hearing this, An Guoming had no intention of correcting her. Instead, he encouraged her, saying, ”That’s right. We should try our best not to do it, but if circumstances force our hand, then we must not leave any loose ends.”

”Also, don’t trust anyone, you hear?”

”Not even my Second Brother?”

An Guoming paused for a few seconds before replying, ”Your Second Brother is fine for now. But a married Second Brother... you should think twice about him.”

”I don’t know if I’ll get all love-struck myself. After all, there’s already one person in the An family who isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. I’m afraid I might have inherited a little bit of that.”

An Ning wasn’t angry. She knew An Guoming was talking about An Ercheng and even agreed enthusiastically. ”That makes a lot of sense, Second Brother. But why are you suddenly thinking about marriage?”

”Don’t tell me... you have someone in mind?”

At this, the gossip-loving glint in An Ning’s eyes shone so brightly that An Guoming took a few steps back. He retorted with a line used by all elders to silence their juniors.

”It’s not for kids to ask about!”

An Guoming refused to say, and An Ning didn’t press him. However, she delivered a heart-piercing blow: ”With a reaction like that, you definitely haven’t won her over yet.”

”Hey—you—Never mind.”

An Guoming was genuinely annoyed, but he didn’t want to tell An Ning about Yin Xuemei, lest it encourage her to think about romance.

Besides, An Ning wasn’t wrong at all. Although he had been very attentive, he hadn’t gotten any response from Yin Xuemei.

An Guoming sighed internally and changed the subject back to the box in front of them.

”What’s the deal with this box?”

”Jiang Xia gave it to me.”

An Ning said it so matter-of-factly that alarm bells started ringing in An Guoming’s head.

’Is this the price you have to pay to court someone? No wonder I’m not getting anywhere with Yin Xuemei. Could it be that I’m too stingy?’

An Guoming first reflected on himself for a moment. Seeing him lost in thought, An Ning waved a hand in front of his eyes. ”Second Brother, you shouldn’t drive on the way back. Why are you zoning out so much?”

”Hm? No, I was just thinking about how to run the business better.”

An Guoming’s deadpan delivery earned him an eye-roll from An Ning.

”Little Sis, you’re not my innocent little sister anymore.”

”Tch, you just mean I’m not as easy to fool now, right?”

An Guoming nodded affirmatively. He missed the little sister who used to believe everything he said, but he was also gratified to see the person An Ning had become today. All in all, his feelings were very complicated.

’Perhaps the more a girl understands, the closer she is to the day she gets married.’

”Second Brother, you’re zoning out again.”

An Ning’s voice pulled An Guoming back to reality once more. He cleared his throat and asked why Jiang Xia had given her these things.

An Ning explained without hiding anything. It turned out she had previously given Jiang Xia a box of gemstones.

An Ning herself had almost forgotten about it. After all, to her, those things really, truly weren’t valuable. The interstellar network had teleported so, so many to her.

She just hadn’t expected Jiang Xia to convert all the gemstones into fixed assets.

In every city Jiang Xia was optimistic about, he had bought houses and shops for An Ning, securely setting her up to be a future landlady.

After An Ning’s explanation, An Guoming’s favorable impression of Jiang Xia rose another notch. The man was a long-term thinker; he was genuinely planning for An Ning’s future.

A future that might not include Jiang Xia, but in which he still wanted An Ning to live well.

”That’s great.”

An Guoming said these two words, then took a property deed from An Ning, planning to use it as the Beijing headquarters for Green Land. However, he insisted on keeping the accounts between them clear.

In other words, An Guoming, on behalf of Green Land, was leasing the property from An Ning. After deducting the rent from the annual revenue, An Ning, as a partner, would still receive her due share of the profits.

An Ning didn’t argue, just told An Guoming to handle it as he saw fit.

After sorting out the property matters, An Guoming prepared to head back to Shili Gou with Lin Cuihua and the other elders.

No matter how good the city was, it couldn’t compare to one’s own hometown, especially for the elderly.

Before they got in the car, Lin Cuihua repeatedly reminded An Ning to call home often, to be careful when her cast was removed, to be careful in class, and so on. Finally, Lin Cuihua looked at An Ning meaningfully and said, ”Stay out of trouble, you hear?”

”Mom knows you’re powerful now. Powerful people do different things. It’s like how the things our village chief thinks about are different from what we old farmers think about. You do what’s appropriate for your position. Mom understands all that.”

Lin Cuihua held An Ning’s hand, reluctant to let go. ”I just have one hope. While you’re doing those things, you stay safe and sound, alright?”

”Alright!”

An Ning’s firm ”Alright!” made Lin Cuihua say ”good, good” repeatedly. She finally got in the car, waved, and left.

When children are young, you hope they’ll be capable. When they become capable, you just hope they’ll be safe.

You can raise a child for a hundred years, but you’ll worry for ninety-nine of them.

With the elders gone, Jiang Xia didn’t stay either, moving back to his own house.

It was only then that An Ning realized something.

Sitting in her wheelchair, she watched wide-eyed as Jiang Xia took out a key and opened the door to the house next door.

”You live here?”

”Yes. Is there a problem?”

”AWOOO—”

The answer to Jiang Xia’s question was Xiao Lang’s young howl.

”WOOF WOOF WOOF!”

Da Huang, by Jiang Xia’s side, barked several times and then paced anxiously around him, looking as if he had evidence to present.

Jiang Xia soothingly stroked Da Huang’s neck. ”I know, I know.”

Da Huang looked up at Jiang Xia, barking nonstop, as if to say: ’If you know, then why aren’t you doing something?’

Jiang Xia crouched down, put his arm around Da Huang, and asked in the direction of An Ning and Xiao Lang, ”Come on, take a look. Which one of them do you think you can beat?”

Across from them, An Ning could see an expression of dejection and surrender on a dog’s face.