Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

Li Chengze nodded heavily. ”Yes, I believe in you, Master.”

”You’re right to believe in me,” An Ning replied with certainty. She looked at the grinning Li Chengze. ”I see you’re very confident now. Weren’t you afraid they’d try to keep you there?”

”That’s all thanks to you, Master.”

Li Chengze continued with a silly grin, ”Master, you have no idea how rare this opportunity is. You know that paper you helped me with? After it was successfully published in an international research journal, I’ve already received invitations from several universities.”

”You won’t believe it—even my old university sent me an invitation.”

At this, Li Chengze looked a little embarrassed but also resentful. ”I was at my old university for three years. Most of the time, I felt like I was invisible. No one paid me any mind, and you could even say I was discriminated against.”

”But now? I rejected their invitation flat out.”

As he said this, Li Chengze puffed out his chest with pride and asked An Ning, ”Master, I didn’t embarrass you, did I?”

”Not yet. Keep up the good work.”

”Yes, Master!”

Li Chengze shouted his reply, then sat back down with An Ning to go over the details. Of course, he didn’t forget to bring up his own questions for her to answer.

It went on for so long that An Ning decided not to leave, staying for dinner at the Yu residence.

A little later, Yu the Elder returned from work. Seeing An Ning and Li Chengze, he didn’t interrupt, simply taking a seat to the side and listening quietly.

When Li Chengze was lost in thought, Yu the Elder calmly took a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to An Ning.

An Ning noticed the deep creases in the paper, which looked like it had been carried around for some time. She slowly unfolded it and saw a math problem.

”You came prepared.”

”Fortune favors the prepared. See? It came in handy, didn’t it?”

An Ning didn’t waste any time. ’I really haven’t been coming around much lately,’ she thought, making a mental note to herself. ’I’ve been neglecting Yu the Elder and Li Chengze. I need to do better.’

The living room was filled with the sound of her explaining the problem. Yu Zheng, having finished cooking, kept the food warm in the pot, waiting until Yu the Elder and Li Chengze had ”eaten and drunk their fill” of knowledge before serving dinner.

The four of them sat down, with An Ning at the head of the table. She picked up her bowl and took the first bite.

”Let’s eat.”

Only then did the other three pick up their chopsticks and begin to eat, the atmosphere relaxed.

”Li Chengze, when are you leaving?”

”After the New Year.”

”Alright. When winter break starts, come back with me. I’ll tutor you for a while. You can’t be slacking when you go abroad.”

”Yes, Master!”

Li Chengze agreed happily. Over this time, his admiration for An Ning had only grown deeper.

He was keenly aware that An Ning’s knowledge was like a bottomless pit. He would be content if he could learn even one percent, or even one-thousandth, of what she knew.

At the side, Yu the Elder put on a pitiful expression, looking at An Ning while holding his rice bowl.

”Master—”

”Stop. Who did you learn that tone of voice from?”

Yu the Elder gave a slightly embarrassed laugh. ”Live and learn, right?”

An Ning understood what he was getting at. ”If you and Yu Zheng don’t have anything important going on, you can come back to Shili Gou with me too.”

”Nothing, nothing at all! What could a couple of old bachelors like us have going on?”

Yu the Elder immediately declared he would go back with An Ning, but Yu Zheng cut in.

”Dad, my second brother and younger sister are coming over for two days during the New Year.”

”Who?”

Yu the Elder asked subconsciously before realizing his mistake.

”Oh, them... It’s only for two days. It won’t get in the way. We can just be back by then.”

The plans for the New Year were thus roughly settled.

After dinner, An Ning stayed for a while longer. It wasn’t until ten at night that Yu Zheng drove her home.

When An Ning switched on the lights at her place, the lights in Jiang Xia’s house next door also came on.

A dog’s head appeared over the wall and barked twice toward An Ning’s room.

An Ning opened her window and waved at the dog. ”Da Huang, it’s me! I’m back.”

Hearing An Ning’s voice, Da Huang barked once in response before disappearing from the wall.

An Ning, her window still open, stared at the wall and muttered to herself, ’Is Da Huang really that tall?’

Meanwhile, next door, Da Huang, who had been ”on the wall,” slid smoothly off Jiang Xia’s back.

Now covered in dog hair, a guilty-looking Jiang Xia clamped a hand over Da Huang’s mouth to stop it from barking. He held the dog’s snout shut as he tiptoed into the house.

”Okay, okay.”

Jiang Xia let go. Da Huang, with his tongue hanging out, trotted over to his food and water bowls, licked from the water bowl several times, and then spat the water onto the floor.

”Hey, are you rinsing your mouth? Are you saying I’m disgusting?”

Jiang Xia crossed his arms, walked over to Da Huang, and pretended to sniff his hand.

”Did I wash my hands after I used the bathroom?”

At his words, Da Huang’s lolling tongue seemed to freeze in place. The dog glared indignantly at the smug-faced Jiang Xia.

”AHAHAHA! You stupid dog!”

The man and dog chased each other around the living room. Childishness knows no age, nor species.

In the house next door, An Ning heard the ruckus from Jiang Xia’s place and smiled knowingly. She called Xiao Lang over and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, An Ning woke up early. She opened her door just before Jiang Xia did and took the breakfast he was bringing over.

Standing in his doorway, Jiang Xia asked knowingly, ”Alright, what’s up?”

”Heh heh, this is why we’re such good bros.”

”Stop! We’re different genders. You and I are not ’good bros.’”

Jiang Xia was quick to correct her and nip that idea in the bud.

”Do you have to be so strict about it?”

”Of course. A man is a man, and a woman is a woman. It’s better to be strict about it.”

An Ning didn’t press the issue; she had just been joking. She leaned in closer and whispered to Jiang Xia, ”Want to go put a sack over someone’s head tonight?”

”I’ll get the sack. I’m experienced.”

With that, Jiang Xia left, giving An Ning a reassuring gesture. He was off to prepare the sack with great seriousness.

An Ning carried the breakfast Jiang Xia had brought back into her house to eat. She said to Xiao Lang at her feet, ”You and Da Huang can be brothers. You two don’t have to be so strict about gender.”

Walking ahead, An Ning didn’t see the look in Xiao Lang’s eyes, which was a mix of disdain and grudging acceptance.

During the day, An Ning and Jiang Xia both had exams to take.

That night, around eight, An Ning changed into a set of someone else’s clothes under Jiang Xia’s direction.

Not only did she change, but Jiang Xia also smeared the outside of her clothes with some kind of black, concocted liquid.

”What is this stuff?”

An Ning asked, pinching her nose.

”Everyone has their own unique scent. This stuff can mask our smell. The worst thing you can do when you’re sacking someone is leave a trace. This is just to be safe.”

”Oh, right. You’re planning to go after that guy Tao Quan, aren’t you?”

An Ning gave a firm ”mhm” in response. Jiang Xia lowered his voice. ”Is this Tao Quan a big threat to you? Should we—”

He made a slicing motion with his hand, but the thoughtful An Ning shook her head.

”I’ve thought about it. I’ve considered it. I’ve even thought about making him an idiot.”

”It’s just that too many people are paying attention to me right now. And Tao Quan isn’t just some nobody. For him to suddenly disappear or become an idiot... that would be too suspicious.”

”Besides, he’s unusually sensitive to my methods. If I make a rash move, he’ll notice.”

”I don’t want to attract too much curiosity. And I can’t just do this to everyone who makes me feel threatened.”

”I don’t have any concrete evidence... it’s just a strange feeling.”

Jiang Xia understood what she meant. If they really started taking lives so casually, how would they be any different from those other people?

Jiang Xia held up the sack in his hand, changing the subject.

”I went out of my way to pick this sack. I guarantee whoever’s caught in it won’t see a thing.”

Jiang Xia showed off the sack he had procured, but An Ning was frowning, thinking about what he had said earlier.

”What’s wrong?”

”You said some people are particularly sensitive to scents?”