Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

Inside the private room, Hua Cheng watched An Ning with a sincere expression, awaiting her answer.

An Ning retorted, ”Why are you afraid of me?”

”I’m not— That’s respect. Respect from the bottom of my heart.”

Hua Cheng, who had just spouted nonsense without thinking, let out a couple of awkward laughs.

”Heh heh heh, it’s true I can’t beat you in a fight, but I really do admire you from the bottom of my heart.”

An Ning glanced at Hua Cheng, then looked away. ”You have good taste.”

”Ah— Thank you, thank you!”

The two made some half-joking small talk, but they quickly ran out of things to say.

After a few more sentences, Hua Cheng suggested they order some food. However, An Ning, who had already eaten three steamers of shumai, wasn’t the least bit hungry.

She looked at Hua Cheng and asked, ”Are you hungry? We could also just wait for Jiang Xia to get here.”

”Ohhh—”

That one drawn-out, winding ”ohhh” made An Ning’s eyes narrow. She waited for Hua Cheng’s explanation.

At that moment, Hua Cheng realized that his cowardly friend, Jiang Xia, hadn’t confessed to An Ning yet. He couldn’t blow his cover.

”Oh—oh—oh—oh—oh—”

A series of ”ohs” with a rising and falling cadence emerged. As Hua Cheng ”oh-oh-ohed,” he started shaking his shoulders and awkwardly began to dance in the open space.

”Let me just dance for you a bit, to liven up the atmosphere.”

’I must look like a total psycho,’ Hua Cheng thought. He could see the pity in An Ning’s eyes.

’Sigh... who was I even doing all this for!’

’Jiang Xia, you’re buying me a car for this!’

Having secretly made this decision for Jiang Xia, Hua Cheng actually got into his dance, as if he were genuinely putting in the effort to earn that car.

”Um... let’s just order, shall we?”

An Ning calmly stood up, walked to the door, and called over the waiter who had shown her to the room.

When the waiter came in, An Ning said, trying to get him to stay, ”Um... why don’t you just stay in the room with us.”

The waiter agreed, then took out the menu to take their orders.

Meanwhile, Hua Cheng finally ended his cringey, yet strangely captivating, dance and sat down.

An Ning pointed at Hua Cheng and said to the waiter, ”Get him a pitcher of ice water so he can cool down.”

”I’ll have... this fruit wine, and also this pastry.”

After placing her order, An Ning looked at Hua Cheng. ”What do you want?”

Hua Cheng shook his head... then nodded. He asked hesitantly, ”Can I get a bowl of rice? I haven’t had dinner yet.”

”Sure. Bring two bowls of rice and a couple of dishes that go well with it. You can pick them.”

”Of course. Please wait a moment.”

The waiter took the menu and left to place their order.

Once the room fell silent, Hua Cheng felt the urge to get up and dance again. He was completely unused to such quiet.

”Hua Cheng, sit down.”

An Ning, who had completely sensed his intentions, said one simple thing that made Hua Cheng’s half-risen rear end plop right back into the chair.

”Heh heh, not at all. I was just checking to see if this chair is sturdy.”

The disingenuous Hua Cheng grabbed the water on the table and started gulping it down. GULP, GULP.

He swore to himself that he would never, ever be alone in the same room with An Ning again.

Hua Cheng felt awkward and constrained, like the air was thick enough to cut. An Ning, on the other hand, felt nothing of the sort. She just watched him squirming as if he were covered in thorns, and she found it a bit baffling.

”Hua Cheng, are you allergic to me?”

”What? No! Absolutely not!”

”Then why are you so fidgety? Did you do something to feel guilty about?”

Hua Cheng shook his head frantically.

”No, no, I just don’t know what to say to you.”

”Then don’t say anything.”

An Ning’s matter-of-fact reply made Hua Cheng want to cry. For a social butterfly like him, An Ning was his Waterloo.

Seeing Hua Cheng’s whimpering expression, An Ning looked like a long-suffering parent worrying about their child.

”Sigh, I can’t get a moment’s rest.”

”How about I give you a few topics? For example, that time in the village when Hei Niu forced herself on you?”

”Or what about the time you cried your eyes out while working in the fields?”

”And what about that time you went to feed the pigs and got knocked over by one?

”Oh, right! And that time you got chased around the village several times by a big rooster.”

With every word from An Ning, Hua Cheng’s awkwardness did indeed lessen a bit, but his urge to cry grew stronger and stronger.

”Please, I’m begging you, stop! Can’t you say something good about me for once?”

An Ning considered the question with great seriousness. ”I don’t know any good stories about you. Why don’t you tell me one?”

Meeting An Ning’s sincere gaze, Hua Cheng wanted to cry even more. He couldn’t think of anything either.

Still, it had to be said that Hua Cheng’s anxiety around An Ning had eased considerably.

”Let’s stop talking about me. How about I tell you about Jiang Xia instead?”

”Jiang Xia? What about him?”

An Ning was genuinely curious. After all, Jiang Xia was the only link between her and Hua Cheng.

”How about some stories from when Jiang Xia was a kid?”

Hua Cheng saw a spark of interest—a strong one—in An Ning’s eyes.

”Let me tell you, the three of us—”

”Why three?”

An Ning’s question made Hua Cheng look up, thinking hard. ”Did we not mention it? That there are three of us? Childhood friends, the kind who grew up together.”

An Ning thought back, and a face surfaced in her memory.

”I saw a baby-faced man drop Jiang Xia off once.”

”Yes, that’s him! His name is Cheng Cheng. His old man sent him off to join the army. Otherwise, with everything going on with Jiang Xia, there’s no way he wouldn’t be here.”

’So that’s why,’ An Ning thought. ’No wonder I haven’t seen that baby-faced guy in a long time.’

After that, Hua Cheng shared many stories with An Ning about the three little brats—how they would cause trouble, get a beating, then cause more trouble only to get beaten again.

An Ning listened intently. The more Hua Cheng talked, the less nervous he felt.

As a veteran of the dating scene, he even began to suspect that Jiang Xia’s crush might not be one-sided.

’If she weren’t interested in someone, she wouldn’t be this curious about their childhood.’

The two continued chatting. A little while later, the waiter returned with their drinks, and they talked as they drank.

As things progressed, Hua Cheng shared stories while he ate. An Ning drank her fruit wine, one glass after another, until a faint blush appeared on her cheeks, making her look even more attractive.

Just as they were deep in conversation, the door to the private room was violently thrown open.

”Hua Cheng! What do you think you’re doing?!”

A girl with ”spoiled brat” written all over her face stormed in and immediately started beating Hua Cheng with her purse.

”You bastard, Hua Cheng! You stinking liar! You said you wouldn’t mess around with other women!”

”You already have me! What more could you possibly want?!”

”Am I not beautiful enough for you?!”

With every shout, she brought her purse down on him again.

Hua Cheng, who was in the middle of a bite, had the rice knocked right out of his mouth.

”No, it’s not— Stop it, you’re— COUGH, COUGH, COUGH— COUGH, COUGH, COUGH—”

An Ning, who had just been watching the spectacle, suddenly sprang from her chair. She yanked the girl away from Hua Cheng and shoved her back.

THWACK!

An Ning slapped Hua Cheng hard on the back. A mouthful of food shot out and sprayed directly onto the face of the girl opposite them.