Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

An Ning wasn’t paying attention to what Jiang Xia was saying. She was looking down at the whimpering Da Huang.

"What’s wrong with Da Huang? He looks a little upset."

"What’s he got to be upset about? He eats five meals a day, a big bone with every single one. What’s the problem? Right, Da Huang?"

In response to Jiang Xia’s words, Da Huang woofed once, then turned and walked away.

He looked as if he was choosing not to argue, but only for the sake of the bones.

An Ning couldn’t quite figure it out, so she just carried a box of books and went inside.

Once all the boxes were brought inside, the group stood at the doorway to An Ning’s room, gazing at a space that now had only a narrow path, barely wide enough for one person.

"Sis, be careful if you get up at night. You don’t want to get buried under all this."

"Wow, thanks for the life-or-death advice."

An Ning felt a little troubled herself. She’d thought her room was large enough, but seeing it now, it was clearly too small.

"Let’s build some bookshelves. With shelves, you can put the books up on this wall, and it won’t be so crowded."

Jiang Xia traced a finger along the wall, sketching out the design for a moment.

"That’s a great idea."

An Ning readily agreed. The next step was to find some wood.

"I have a couple of beams of wood. We were originally going to use them to build a house, but in the end we just renovated, so we don’t need them. You can use them."

"No, that’s okay. I can just go up the mountain and cut down a couple of trees myself."

An Ning refused, but Jiang Xia continued, "I’m not giving them to you for free. I have a favor to ask."

Sure enough, An Ning’s interest was piqued. She stared at Jiang Xia, waiting for him to go on.

"I’m preparing to take the college entrance exam, and I’d like to borrow some of your practice books to study. Also, after I leave for college, I’d like to trouble Uncle An and Auntie An to help look after my grandfather and Da Huang."

"You’re taking the college entrance exam?"

Jiang Xia nodded.

An Ning had no doubt that he would pass.

Among all the people she knew, Jiang Xia’s spiritual power fluctuations were the strongest, which meant he was the most intelligent.

"You can have the practice books. And don’t worry about Grandpa Jiang—my mom and dad would have looked after him even if you hadn’t asked. So, I don’t want the wood. Just take the books."

An Ning sent An Guoping to gather the practice books, making no further mention of the wood.

Jiang Xia knew he couldn’t win against An Ning, so he tried a different tactic. "How about this? I know a place on the mountain with good timber. You can go cut it down, but wood that’s cut after the Start of Spring has already drawn up sap and needs to be seasoned before it’s usable."

"So, why don’t you use my wood now, and in exchange, you can give me the new wood you cut? How does that sound?"

Sure enough, An Ning agreed.

After they agreed on a time to go up the mountain tomorrow, Jiang Xia took the practice books from An Guoping and left.

As for the rest of the An family, everyone except for her sister-in-law had gone to work in the fields.

Her sister-in-law had officially completed her month of postpartum confinement and was starting to do some light chores around the house.

Fortunately, Hei Dan’er was a very easy baby. He was content to lie on the heated brick bed by himself. After his mother placed pillows along the edge as a barrier, she could work in the kitchen without any interruptions.

An Ning looked at Hei Dan’er, then at her busy sister-in-law in the kitchen, and several designs for a baby stroller flashed through her mind.

She found a notebook and a pencil and sketched out the designs, stroke by stroke. She figured she could have it built at the same time as the bookshelves.

A little after four in the afternoon, the rest of the An family returned home.

During the days An Ning was away, the livestock farm An Guoqing was setting up had been nearly completed, and the stalks in the fields had been cleared.

That evening, as the family sat down for dinner, An Sancheng asked, "An Ning, it’s time to get started on the work on your mountain, too. Spring is here, after all. And what about that greenhouse you mentioned?"

An Ning was eating hand-pulled noodles and could only nod, her mouth too full to speak.

"What’s the rush?"

Lin Cuihua glanced at An Sancheng, then turned to An Ning. "Slow down. It’s not like anyone is going to steal it from you."

An Ning finally swallowed her mouthful of noodles and said, "Delicious."

"You bet they are! My wife makes the best hand-pulled noodles."

An Guoqing’s added praise made his wife blush, and she gently pinched his thigh under the table.

An Guoqing suddenly remembered his wife had told him not to praise her in front of his mother. He’d forgotten again.

"Well, they’re just so-so, I guess. Not that great, actually."

An Guoqing, thinking he had cleverly corrected himself, almost made his wife faint from exasperation.

’This blockhead. There’s just no getting through to him.’

Fortunately, no one in the An family really minded.

After dinner, the sister-in-law went to wash the dishes while Lin Cuihua watched the baby, playing with him for a while.

Everyone gathered around the baby, who couldn’t even roll over yet, and had a wonderful time taking turns trying to make him laugh.

They chatted as they played with the baby.

"Dad, about clearing the mountain, I need to find someone to lead the work. I’ll have to delegate the arrangements to them, since I can’t do everything myself."

"Who do you think would be good for the job?"

An Sancheng completely agreed with her. After thinking for a moment, he said, "How about An Laoqi?"

"An Laoqi is a great worker. Most importantly, he’s honest and willing to work hard. Plus, he’s indebted to you, so he’ll definitely do a good job."

"Right now, we’re just clearing the land. He can handle that just fine. Later on, if we start producing crops that need to be sold, we can find someone else to manage that."

An Ning trusted An Sancheng’s judgment and agreed on the spot.

Both father and daughter were people of action. That very night, they went to see Uncle An, who also approved of the plan.

The three of them then went to An Laoqi’s house together to settle the matter.

An Ning would provide the pay, but not meals for the workers.

Starting tomorrow, they would hire people to clear the mountain, and An Laoqi would be responsible for supervising them.

His wages would, of course, be a bit higher than the others.

After both sides agreed, the three of them went to the village chief’s house to inform him of their plans.

Sun Dazhuang had no objections, of course, and was impressed by how properly the An family handled their affairs.

As Sun Dazhuang saw them out, he remarked with admiration, "How could a family like this not prosper?"

On the way back, An Ning asked about building the bookshelves and the small cart, and Uncle An suggested going directly to the village carpenter.

"We could try to make those things ourselves, but it would be slow, and there’s no guarantee they’d turn out well. It’s more practical to just hire the carpenter. Paying for the work is a much better deal."

"I understand, Uncle An. I’ll go ask him about it tomorrow."

The night was cool, and the stars shone brilliantly.

The three of them returned home and went to bed early. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.

The next morning, at the rooster’s first crow, the An family began to stir.

An Ning got ready, preparing several notebooks and pens to give to An Laoqi.

Just as her family was starting to eat breakfast, An Laoqi arrived.

After a bout of polite refusals—"Please, eat with us!" "No, no, I’ve already eaten!"—An Ning finished her breakfast.

"Uncle An Qi, let me walk you through the work that needs to be done."

"Right!"

An Laoqi followed An Ning, and the two of them went off to one side to talk.

"Uncle An Qi, this notebook is for recording who shows up for work and for how long, so we can pay them their wages properly."

"Write their names here in the front, put the date at the top of the page, and then we’ll draw circles underneath. A full circle means a full day’s work, and a half circle means a half day."

An Ning explained much more. In the end, An Laoqi was holding three notebooks: one for tracking work hours, one for scheduling tasks, and one for logging any purchases.

Once everything was clear, An Ning and the others headed for the village brigade office, where there was a large loudspeaker they could use to announce they were hiring.