Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

The woman in the lead rattled on, and An Ning and Jiang Xia understood.

She had brought the couple behind her for a house viewing. In other words, they wanted to buy this very house.

But the house was clearly An Ning’s. Who on earth were they buying it from?

An Ning and Jiang Xia realized it was a scam. They just didn’t know if the woman leading them was part of it, or if she was a victim herself.

”You two wouldn’t know. I’ll just make a call!”

The woman took out her small flip phone. With a SNAP, she flipped it open and, after a series of BEEPS from the keypad, dialed a number.

”What? You’re redecorating? You should have told me.”

”I know you meant well. Alright, alright, I get it.”

”Alright, I’m hanging up now.”

The woman hung up and turned to the buyers, explaining amiably, ”The homeowner thought the walls looked old and decided to give them a fresh coat of paint, and to patch up the cracks in the floor.”

The prospective buyers naturally didn’t mind. In fact, they thought it was great, as it saved them the time and money of having to do the repairs themselves.

Seeing that the buyers didn’t mind, the agent turned to An Ning and Jiang Xia. ”Just carry on with your work.”

After she spoke, the woman led the couple on a tour of the house.

”This is your third time viewing the house, isn’t it? Let me tell you, you won’t find another house this big in this location.”

”And I’m telling you, the price for a place like this goes up daily. Just look at the prices from five years ago compared to now.”

”Plus, it’s so convenient here. Everything is easy to get to. Step outside and there’s a market, the subway, bus stops—there’s plenty of everything.”

The agent went on and on, and the couple, on their third viewing, were genuinely tempted. They exchanged a glance and instantly decided to finalize the deal for the house.

”There you go! I wouldn’t lie to you. If I didn’t have an inside connection, I never would have been able to get this listing.”

”The owner is planning to move abroad and has no use for the house anymore. Why would they keep it instead of selling it? It’s not like they need the money.”

After her speech, the couple’s resolve to buy the house became even stronger.

Just as the three were about to leave, An Ning called out, ”Wait a minute. Who is this homeowner you mentioned?”

”Why wasn’t I aware this house was for sale? The owner hired us to paint because she plans to live here herself.”

Her words left the three people at the doorway stunned.

”Impossible! I’ve had the keys for half a month, and I’m even holding the property deed as collateral. We’re just waiting to process the paperwork. What are you babbling about?”

An Ning climbed down from the ladder, took off her newspaper hat, and said, ”How about this? Let’s all go find this homeowner and have a little confrontation. I’d like to get paid for my work, anyway.”

”Don’t call. If he’s a scammer, a call from you will just scare him off.”

An Ning’s words made the agent, who was about to make the call, lower her phone. Still skeptical, she said, ”Fine. We’ll see who’s right, you or me!”

She then said to the couple, ”My apologies. I just need to get this sorted out for you both, so you can purchase with confidence.”

The couple nodded, deciding to go along with the agent.

An Ning and Jiang Xia, dressed in their dust-covered work clothes, followed behind the agent, exchanging a look.

’Is she suspicious?’

’Hard to say.’

’If she’s a scammer, we’ll use force.’

’With you here, what’s to fear?’

’You’re right.’

The two of them followed. The agent didn’t go too far, stopping after about 1,500 meters in front of an even larger courtyard home.

An Ning and Jiang Xia exchanged a look. ’What a coincidence, huh?’

They owned this house, too.

When An Ning and Jiang Xia were recovering from their car accident, Lin Cuihua and the others had stayed here.

The house had been vacant all these years, which unexpectedly created an opening for scammers to exploit.

The agent stood before the main gate, her confidence bolstered slightly. ”How could he be a scammer?” she said. ”Look at this huge house.”

She stepped forward and rang the doorbell.

A few minutes later, the gate swung open.

An Ning grew even more curious. ’Is someone actually living in there?’

After all, even though they didn’t live there, they had people come by periodically to maintain the property.

”Uncle Zhang, is Brother Li in? I’ve brought the buyers.”

”How unfortunate. My employer is out at the moment.”

Uncle Zhang, who looked and acted like a butler, answered the door and spoke very politely. The agent sounded troubled. ”Oh, what do we do now?”

An Ning had no intention of waiting. She bounded up the steps in a few strides and threw open the red gate.

”Is this your house?”

”What are you doing? This is trespassing! I’m calling the police to have you arrested!”

”Good. I was thinking of calling them myself. Go on, hurry up. Don’t waste any time.”

An Ning shoved the gate open and rushed inside, letting out a cold snort.

”Still trying to run?!”

”In your dreams!”

She kicked a small stool into the air, then side-kicked it, sending it flying into a man who was trying to climb the wall.

”ARGH—”

A pained scream echoed, prompting the group at the gate to rush in. They saw that Jiang Xia had already subdued Uncle Zhang with a swift takedown.

This turn of events finally made the agent realize how serious the situation was.

When she rushed in, she saw An Ning pinning Brother Li to the ground with her foot. Two other men were on the floor, clutching their feet and unable to stand.

Scattered tables, chairs, and household items littered the courtyard, testament to the recent chaos.

”What do you think you’re doing?! This is my house! All of you, get out!”

Brother Li, pinned under An Ning’s foot, was still shouting defiantly.

An Ning pressed down harder with her foot.

”Say that again. Whose house is this?”

Pinned to the ground, Brother Li wanted to scream, ”Mine!” but the pressure on his chest made it impossible to get the words out.

”Just who the hell are you people?”

”Hmph! You don’t even know who we are. Your scam wasn’t very well-planned, was it?”

”Police?”

An Ning glanced at Jiang Xia, who replied, ”Immediately.”

And by immediately, he meant *immediately*.

The police arrived.

The men on the ground were handcuffed without a single question asked.

”What are you doing?! They’re the ones who trespassed! Why are you cuffing us?!”

Even at a time like this, Brother Li was still trying to muddy the waters and find a way out for himself.

The arriving officer didn’t even glance at him, walking straight to Jiang Xia to ask, ”Are you two alright?”

”We’re fine,” Jiang Xia said. ”But you should investigate these guys thoroughly. I suspect they’ve scammed a lot of people with these real estate schemes.”

”Rest assured, we’ll launch a full investigation.”

Brother Li wasn’t a fool to have gotten this far. He stared at Jiang Xia and An Ning.

”Just who are you people?”

”What a coincidence,” An Ning said. ”The houses you were selling—the big one and the small one—they’re both mine.”

An Ning’s single sentence made both Brother Li and the agent’s faces turn ashen.

The agent never imagined she’d walked right into the owner’s hands.

It wasn’t that Brother Li hadn’t done his research; he just couldn’t find out who the owner was. He had been hesitant to touch these two properties, but the enormous potential profit had made him take the risk.

The scammers were taken away, including the agent. Whether she was an accomplice would be determined after questioning.