Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

Beneath the shade of a tree, An Ning sat on her small blue electric scooter, constantly shifting her position.

’Is it better if I sit like this... or like this?’

An Ning, repeatedly adjusting her pose, had made up her mind. Today was the day she would confess to the guy right under her nose and finally define their relationship.

Now that the moment had truly arrived, An Ning couldn’t help but feel a little nervous.

Jiang Xia, who was taking the elevator down from the top floor of the company, was pacing around the elevator bay.

’A company this big, and not a single person thought to put a mirror in the elevator!’

Jiang Xia moved closer to the elevator doors, using their reflective surface to check his face, his hair, and his clothes.

DING DONG—

”Ah—I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Jiang—Jiang—I’m sorry!”

Jiang Xia, who had been checking his reflection, calmly stood up and wiped the coffee from his face with one hand.

”Iced Americano. Strong stuff.”

Jiang Xia stood at the elevator entrance, caught in a dilemma. ’Should I go out, or go back and change?’

In the end, his longing to see An Ning won out. He decided to go.

The employee behind him picked up the coffee cup from the floor, their face a mask of misery.

’Am I going to survive this?’

”Still feel like drinking iced Americanos?”

”I don’t think I’ll ever drink one again in my life.”

The two of them cleaned up the mess on the floor and went upstairs, their hearts filled with dread.

With his head covered in coffee, Jiang Xia no longer cared about his appearance. He only cared about speed as he ran outside.

An Ning, who had been watching the entrance the whole time, spotted Jiang Xia immediately and waved.

”Jiang Xia!”

”An Ning!”

Jiang Xia strode over, coming to an abrupt halt in front of An Ning. A single drop of coffee just so happened to fly off him and land right on her forehead.

”You have a... unique way of treating someone to coffee.”

An Ning wiped the coffee from her forehead with her fingertip. She looked at Jiang Xia’s coffee-splattered face and wanted to laugh.

”Go on, laugh!”

”You’re the one who told me to.”

An Ning let out a soft laugh. She took a pack of tissues from the small compartment on her scooter, opened it, and handed one to Jiang Xia.

Looking a bit silly, Jiang Xia took it. After wiping his face, he said, ”I have a change of clothes in my office. Do you want to wait for me here or come up? There’s a fridge upstairs. With ice cream.”

With two beeps, An Ning locked her scooter and took the lead, heading toward Jiang Xia’s office building.

”I’ve never been in such a fancy office building before. What flavor is your ice cream?”

”Vanilla.”

”My favorite!”

Jiang Xia walked behind her, a doting and indulgent smile on his face. ’Of course it’s your favorite,’ he thought.

Jiang Xia caught up to An Ning in a few steps and began introducing the place with the air of a boy showing off.

”It’s twenty-one stories total. This is the headquarters for all my companies. There’s a gym, a cafeteria...”

”There’s a cafeteria? Is the food good?”

”It’s delicious. I interviewed the chef myself.”

An Ning turned back, giving Jiang Xia a strange look. ”You’re the big boss. Why would you be interviewing a chef? Aren’t you supposed to be busy?”

”Work is never-ending. Besides, a cafeteria with good food can boost employee morale and cohesion.”

Jiang Xia, who was just spouting nonsense, earned An Ning’s approval.

”You’re right. If the company cafeteria was especially good, I’d definitely want to work here.”

Jiang Xia’s smile widened. He led An Ning into the elevator, and they rode all the way to the top floor.

When the elevator chimed with a DING, Jiang Xia stepped out first, holding the door with one hand to let An Ning exit.

”This way.”

Jiang Xia pointed the way with his other hand. On the top floor, Assistant Zhang stood up immediately and gave An Ning a slight nod in greeting.

”Hello.”

”Hello.”

An Ning nodded politely. Jiang Xia jogged a couple of steps to open the door for her, making her say uncomfortably, ”I have hands, you know.”

”I was afraid you’d get lost.”

”Who’s the idiot here, you or me?”

With An Ning’s remark, the door to Jiang Xia’s office closed.

This was the first time An Ning had been to Jiang Xia’s workplace.

The space was huge. There was a sectional sofa by the floor-to-ceiling windows, and directly across from the entrance was Jiang Xia’s desk. Behind the desk stood a row of cabinets filled with books, and further back was another door.

”Have a seat. This is the fridge. Grab whatever you want to eat or drink. There aren’t many snacks here, I’ll have Assistant Zhang—”

”Jiang Xia, go change!”

An Ning’s command cut short his fussing. He made an ”understood” gesture and disappeared through the small door.

An Ning sat on the sofa, opened the mini-fridge, and without ceremony, took out a small carton of vanilla ice cream. She began eating it bit by bit with a small spoon.

Just as she finished the carton of ice cream, the small door CLICKED open, and out came Jiang Xia, having changed his clothes.

His short black hair was still dotted with water droplets; he had taken a quick shower.

”Alright, what do you want to eat?”

Jiang Xia sat down opposite An Ning, the floor-to-ceiling glass window behind him.

For a moment, An Ning felt that Jiang Xia had the air of a man who commanded the world.

”What’s in the cafeteria here? I’m hungry and don’t really feel like going anywhere. Let’s eat something first, and then we can go get barbecue tonight. How does that sound?”

”Great!”

Jiang Xia had no problem with that at all. He had cleared his entire afternoon schedule.

Jiang Xia took An Ning to the company cafeteria, and the news instantly spread through the entire company’s gossip mill.

Employees who had been rushing to get work done all dropped what they were doing and flocked to the cafeteria in droves.

As they hurried along, they would even greet each other: ”Where are you going?”

To eat.

A uniform answer, a uniform expression. At the entrance to the cafeteria, they gradually calmed down.

Before this crowd entered the cafeteria, they adjusted their expressions and their clothes. In an instant, they transformed into a team of polished elites.

The one or two who had run into An Ning before acted as if they didn’t see her, completely absorbed in a discussion about some company matter.

”The people at your company... are a little strange.”

”Why’s that?”

”They look incredibly calm, but you can tell every single one of them is actually bursting with excitement.”

Jiang Xia understood immediately. ”Don’t mind them.”

An Ning, holding her tray, followed Jiang Xia into a side hall. This was where the management usually ate.

It wasn’t a matter of discrimination; it was just that few people were willing to eat with their bosses.

Compared to the spacious and bright main cafeteria, the side hall seemed almost like a neglected corner.

Their arrival made the people already inside speed up their eating.

An Ning had just sat down when she looked at Jiang Xia and asked, ”Should we eat somewhere else? This feels like being a student hiding from a teacher.”

”Don’t worry about them. We’re only eating here this one time.”

”That’s true.”

An Ning stopped fussing over it and started to eat.

”These noodles are delicious, and this meat is great. You weren’t kidding, that chef you interviewed is amazing.”

”Of course. If I hadn’t happened to get into making money, I probably would have become a chef.”

The two of them finished their meal in their usual relaxed and comfortable manner. It was still a while before they could go for the barbecue An Ning wanted.

”How about I come back tonight to pick you up for barbecue?”

An Ning was about to leave, but Jiang Xia, unwilling to let her go, said, ”It’s too hot outside. Why don’t you hang out here at the office? We can go when it cools down.”

In the end, An Ning went to the company gym, while Jiang Xia returned to his work, his mind elsewhere.