Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

After getting into the truck, An Ning took out a stack of white paper and a pencil from her backpack.

Inside the swaying truck, the driver and a second driver sat up front.

In the back, Director Jin sat leaning against the left window, and An Ning against the right.

An Ning took the rolled-up paper and forcefully flattened it out.

"Let me."

Director Jin instinctively lowered his voice, pinching one side of the white paper with careful fingers to help An Ning smooth it out.

"Thank you."

Those two flatly spoken words made even the driver up front subconsciously tighten his grip on the steering wheel.

"It’s a bit hot today, isn’t it?"

The other driver in the passenger seat couldn’t help but tug his collar open a little, feeling like he couldn’t breathe properly.

In the back seat, An Ning was oblivious to the effect she was having.

She took out a flat wooden board from her bag.

This piece of equipment made Director Jin suspect that An Ning was about to pull out a brick next.

An Ning had already entered a state of complete focus. She placed the wooden board under the paper.

Next, she reached a hand into her backpack again and pulled out a rectangular brick wrapped in a piece of plastic.

Director Jin bit his lip hard, his eyes showing both the joy of having guessed correctly and a touch of alarm.

’What is she planning to do?’

Then, An Ning placed the long, smooth brick on one end of the white paper.

With her other hand, she pulled something underneath the board. With a CLICK, the board extended sideways, and the large sheet of paper was laid out completely flat on top of it.

Once the paper was spread out, An Ning took out a similar half-brick and used it to weigh down the edge of the paper on Director Jin’s end.

With her preparations complete, An Ning picked up the pencil.

A perfectly straight line appeared, drawn without any ruler, so straight that one might suspect it had been printed beforehand.

Director Jin, sitting to the side, wished he had a small handkerchief to bite on.

He watched as An Ning drew—one stroke, one angle, lines both complex and simple—flowing onto the paper without any need for thought or calculation.

A black pencil moved from left to right, top to bottom. The sound of graphite scraping against paper, which should have been faint, now rang clearly in Director Jin’s ears.

The roar of the truck’s engine, the jolting sound of the wheels rolling over stones—all of it miraculously vanished.

Before his eyes, there was only An Ning’s pencil.

In less than an hour, the once-blank sheet of paper was completely full.

It was covered in a dense network of lines: horizontal, vertical, curved, straight, cross-sections, longitudinal sections, internal views, external views.

Dimension labels, data comparisons.

Everything appeared with absolute clarity on that single sheet of paper.

An Ning put down her pencil and gently shook the paper with one hand. The fine graphite dust on its surface was blown away and fell off.

RUSTLE—

An Ning rolled up the freshly completed blueprint and casually placed it on the floor.

"No, no, let me hold it. I’ll hold it."

Director Jin took the rolled-up blueprint with both hands, cradling it in his arms as if afraid to apply too much pressure.

"Thanks. I need to speed up a bit, that was a little slow."

An Ning took out another sheet of white paper, spread it on the board just as before, sharpened her pencil with a small knife, and began again.

Director Jin felt his entire worldview being turned upside down.

’Too slow?’

’Is she kidding?’

Less than an hour, in a moving truck, without a single mistake, she had finished a blueprint that he couldn’t even comprehend.

And then she said she was too slow!

"You... keep up the good work."

Director Jin became a silent one-man cheering squad, shrinking into the corner by the window as much as possible to reduce his presence.

Although the two drivers up front didn’t know exactly what was happening in the back, just the simple act of drawing—of creating a straight line they could never hope to replicate—was enough to make them see her in a new light.

The driver did his absolute best to keep the truck moving as steadily as possible.

The drive from the county to the city was a little over four hours in total.

An Ning drew five blueprints.

By now, Director Jin resembled a giant vase holding five scrolls of inestimable value.

When the truck stopped, An Ning regretfully packed up her portable drawing board and her special two-piece brick.

As for her pencils, she had already used one up completely.

An Ning put away the remainder of the second pencil.

"Where are we?"

"The City Mechanical Factory."

An Ning shouldered her backpack, pushed open the door, and jumped down from the truck.

She looked at the factory before her, then turned back with a confident smile.

"Director Jin, let’s go in."

"Yes!"

Director Jin felt a heroic surge rushing through his chest, as if he had just sworn a blood oath.

He had the strongest urge to follow behind An Ning, waving a flag and cheering.

Director Jin got out from the other side, clutching the five rolls of blueprints, and fell into step one pace behind An Ning.

Age and experience didn’t matter; this person was worthy of his respect.

With Director Jin leading the way, the two of them arrived at the office of the City Mechanical Factory’s vice director just before closing time.

As for the main director, if they weren’t mistaken, he was in league with Jiang Dongcheng.

They needed to win over an ally.

Shortly after the two of them went in, Li Chengze was also summoned.

Suddenly, there were four people standing in the small office.

Behind the desk, Vice Factory Director Li Changcheng looked at the three people opposite him.

More specifically, at An Ning, who stood in the middle.

"An Ning, everyone’s here. What did you want to say?"

"Vice Factory Director Li, are you in league with Jiang Dongcheng?"

The opening move was a killer blow.

The direct question completely stunned Vice Factory Director Li.

’Where did this reckless fool come from?’

"I am not."

Vice Factory Director Li was about to say more, but An Ning, having confirmed what she needed to know, took the five blueprints directly from Director Jin.

"These are the design blueprints and technical specifications for a corn harvester."

"These are the design blueprints and technical specifications for a seeder."

"These are the design blueprints and technical specifications for a new model of truck."

"These are the design blueprints and technical specifications for a cement mixer truck."

"These are the technical blueprints and specifications for a road roller."

Five blueprints, five sentences. They made Vice Factory Director Li fall silent, his eyes fixed on the desk.

After a long moment, Vice Factory Director Li spoke.

"What do you want?"

He didn’t want to know where the five blueprints came from, but he knew there was no such thing as a free lunch.

"I want Jiang Dongcheng to admit to his sneak attack, receive the punishment he deserves, and have every path to success in this industry permanently blocked."

An Ning had other plans in mind, but she wasn’t going to tell Vice Factory Director Li about them.

"I need proof. You get me the proof, and these five blueprints are yours."

Simple, direct, and brutal.

In those few minutes, Vice Factory Director Li felt his heart race up and down. It was exhilarating.

Even if An Ning had placed a bag full of money on his desk, he wouldn’t have been this excited.

But these five blueprints... he was incredibly tempted.

’This is a major accomplishment! This is the key to a promotion!’

"An Ning, let me formally introduce myself. My name is Li Changcheng, Vice Director of the City Mechanical Factory. I look forward to our pleasant cooperation."

An Ning extended a hand, and they shook on it.

"To a pleasant cooperation."