Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

”Submit an article? Is there a payment?”

”Of course. We’re a legitimate newspaper. How could we not pay for submissions?”

Jiang Xia said, half-joking, ”Let me tell you, the payment is quite good. Of course, that’s assuming your article gets accepted. If it’s too poor, it won’t make the cut.”

”I understand.”

The two chatted as they walked back, and upon reaching their doors, they went their separate ways.

”Hey, I’m going out with Hua Cheng tomorrow night. Want to come?”

”Hua Cheng?”

If Jiang Xia hadn’t mentioned his name, An Ning would have almost forgotten about him.

Hua Cheng had helped out last time, but the two hadn’t had any contact since. An Ning thought for a moment and said, ”I’d better not. You two are brothers. If I’m there, it might be awkward for you to talk about certain things.”

”Alright. Then I’ll find you another time. Hua Cheng wants to treat you to a meal.”

An Ning, who was opening her door, paused. She turned to look at Jiang Xia and asked, ”Hua Cheng... does he need something from me?”

”I already asked him. He said no, just that he feels like we all know each other now.”

What An Ning didn’t know was that Jiang Xia had asked Hua Cheng the exact same question.

”Is that so... Then why are you two meeting tomorrow?”

”I’m buying something from him. We’re having a meal after that. No one else will be there. Wanna join?”

”Okay, count me in.”

An Ning agreed. After setting a time, they both went home.

That night, An Ning called Lin Cuihua as usual and also spoke with Director Zhao, whom she hadn’t communicated with in a long time.

The search for the electric stone they had discussed before had been postponed due to An Ning’s broken bone. This time, An Ning promised to set off after the New Year.

Director Zhao naturally wouldn’t object to An Ning’s plans. However, they also agreed that she would visit the research institute one more time before she returned to her hometown.

After their discussion, they hung up the phone.

After a sleepless night, An Ning once again rushed to the examination hall to take her test.

As before, she was the first to finish. She silently turned in her paper and left the examination hall.

Just as An Ning came down from the second-floor examination hall, she was stopped by a woman with bloodshot eyes.

The woman’s face looked somewhat familiar, prompting An Ning to ask, ”Lin Wanwan?”

”She was my daughter.”

An Ning’s expression turned more serious. She gave Lin Wanwan’s mother a slight nod and said, ”My condolences.”

”My condolences... That’s what I’ve heard most these past few days. You’re An Ning, right? Can I talk to you for a moment?”

An Ning didn’t answer directly. Instead, she asked, ”Do you think Lin Wanwan’s death has something to do with me?”

Lin Wanwan’s mother shook her head and said very firmly, ”It has nothing to do with you.”

”Alright, let’s talk.”

An Ning led Lin Wanwan’s mother to the lakeside where she had beaten up Tao Quan.

Speaking of Tao Quan, he was quite the storyteller. The next day, with a face full of bruises, Tao Quan went around campus saying he’d been beaten up while stopping a thief.

He had branded himself a hero, and the crucial thing was that many people actually believed him.

Not only did they believe him, but many kind-hearted people also offered Tao Quan their care and support.

”Wanwan loved ice skating the most. She said skating allowed her to show off her graceful dance moves.”

Lin Wanwan’s mother sat down on a bench, staring blankly at the frozen lake as if she could see that still-dancing figure.

An Ning sat down beside her and asked, ”What did you want to talk to me about?”

”You really are just like they say—you don’t beat around the bush, you’re very direct.”

Lin Wanwan’s mother turned to the side, took a notebook out of her pocket, and placed it between them.

”This is Wanwan’s diary.”

One of Lin Wanwan’s mother’s hands stroked the diary’s cover repeatedly.

”I know this is Wanwan’s diary, but the person inside... I feel like she isn’t Wanwan.”

”They all say that for a girl growing up, love is a hurdle. But why was Wanwan’s hurdle so high?”

Lin Wanwan’s mother pulled her hand back, ran it through her hair a couple of times, and said, composing herself, ”I want you to read Wanwan’s diary.”

”Me? Why?”

An Ning thought Lin Wanwan’s mother had found out about her reporting Tao Quan, but what she said next was completely unexpected.

”I heard you’re a Feng Shui Master... People say that Feng Shui Masters can talk to the dead. This was the thing Wanwan cared about most when she was alive. Maybe it will be of some use, right?”

Lin Wanwan’s mother’s eyes were filled with hope. A mother longing for her dead daughter to return—whether as a soul or a ghost, as long as she came back, it would be enough.

An Ning’s lips trembled. She wanted to say that the souls of people who commit suicide dissipate extremely quickly. Unless a special ritual was involved in the suicide, there would be no soul left behind.

”I’ll try.”

An Ning placed one hand on the diary, and her spiritual power began to fluctuate.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes.

After five minutes, An Ning shook her head.

”I’m sorry, I can’t find her.”

Those simple words were like a sharp blade, severing the last shred of hope Lin Wanwan’s mother had.

”I was asking for too much. I really was.”

The utterly devastated mother of Lin Wanwan reached for the diary, but An Ning pressed down on the back of her hand.

”May I take a look?”

”Huh? Yes, go ahead.”

Lin Wanwan’s mother withdrew her hand and became lost in her own memories.

”I know Wanwan had all sorts of flaws. The things that came out of that mouth of hers... sometimes even I wanted to slap her... But she wasn’t a bad person at heart, she really wasn’t.”

An Ning, who had opened the diary, said with certainty, ”I know.”

”You know, right? Wanwan wasn’t bad. So tell me why... why...”

Large tears fell from Lin Wanwan’s mother’s eyes.

”Her father and I gave her the greatest possible freedom. Sometimes I wonder if we’re the ones who ruined her, making it so easy for her to get everything she wanted. So when she finally couldn’t have something, she chose to...”

The word ”suicide” was too heavy for a parent to bear.

An Ning flipped through Lin Wanwan’s diary at an extremely fast pace. The entries chronicled how she had fallen for a boy, her slow-burning secret crush, the calculated ways she tried to get close to him, how she would rejoice at the smallest response from him, and how she would cry in sorrow when he gave her the cold shoulder.

It was a standard schoolgirl’s diary. From beginning to end, she never dared to reveal the boy’s name, only using ”he” as a substitute.

Between the lines, one could see how humbly she loved, and how insignificant she was in his eyes.

”Wanwan’s mother, it had nothing to do with you.”

Perhaps because An Ning spoke with such firm conviction, Lin Wanwan’s mother nodded repeatedly, desperate for that bit of affirmation.

”Really? I—”

”Really. It had nothing to do with you.”

Lin Wanwan’s mother nodded, and nodded again.

An Ning placed the diary in the palm of Lin Wanwan’s mother’s hand. In her heart, her disgust for Tao Quan rose to a new level.

She was ninety percent sure that the person in the diary was Tao Quan.

”Thank you, An Ning. And I’m sorry. Wanwan’s situation has had a negative impact on you. On behalf of my daughter, I apologize.”

Lin Wanwan’s mother stood up and gave An Ning a ninety-degree bow.

”I know my daughter. She was never the type to commit suicide over a conflict with a classmate. She would only find a better way to get back at them. She was a fighter, you know?”