Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

The heavy doors of the Tao family residence slammed shut, cutting it off from the outside world.

The next day, An Ning ate the breakfast Da Huang had brought. She wasn’t in a hurry to go out, so she stayed in her room, sketching and writing as she continued to work on her communication system design.

As noon arrived, there was another knock on the main door.

An Ning opened the door and saw Da Huang with a lunchbox in his mouth. She took the box from him first, then invited him inside.

"It looks like Jiang Xia is out. Who made this food...?"

An Ning certainly wasn’t going to get an answer from Da Huang, but she did earn a look of utter disdain from him.

"Hey, hold on a minute. What’s with that look? You’d better explain yourself!"

An Ning spread her arms to block Da Huang’s path. The moment she finished speaking, she was met with a series of sharp barks—the kind that sounded like they had punctuation.

When Da Huang fell silent, he tilted his big, doggy head up at An Ning, his eyes seeming to ask, ’I’ve made myself clear. Did you get it?’

An Ning was left completely red-faced by Da Huang’s expression. A breath caught in her chest, and she ended up consoling herself. ’It’s fine. No one saw anything, anyway.’

"You stupid dog! Hmph!"

An Ning gave a childish "hmph" back at him. Da Huang, in turn, spun around haughtily, wiggling his butt with a smug look on his face. He plopped down on a small wooden stool and snatched up his food bowl.

"You—you—you’re really turning into a demon!"

An Ning couldn’t help but want to laugh at Da Huang’s antics.

"Da Huang, you were acting just like Jiang Xia! It’s no wonder they say pets take after their owners."

An Ning opened the lunchbox Da Huang had delivered. She first took out the portion of food meant exclusively for Da Huang and Xiao Lang, setting it out on their plates, before finally getting her own meal.

One person, one dog, and one wolf shared a table for lunch.

After their meal, the dog and the wolf elegantly retreated, leaving An Ning alone to finish eating—and to deal with a table full of dirty dishes.

"So I’m supposed to wash your dishes for you, is that it?"

An Ning watched as the wolf and dog across from her raised their paws in unison. Her eyes narrowed as she stared them down. "You two are in cahoots."

Her accusation was completely ignored by Xiao Lang and Da Huang.

’They’re my own, what can I do? I just have to serve them.’

Resigned to her fate, An Ning went to wash the dishes. Once everything was put away, she packed her schoolbag, instructed the two animals to guard the house, and then left.

It wasn’t far from An Ning’s house to Beijing University, and on her way, she passed by Yin Xuemei’s braised foods shop.

In the dead of winter, you could often see people, their breath fogging in the air, going into Yin Xuemei’s shop to buy something. Business was clearly booming.

An Ning didn’t go over to disturb her. She strolled on to Beijing University and, following the exam schedule, found her designated classroom.

The papers were distributed, the exam was taken, and the papers were turned in.

The whole process was quick. An Ning quietly slipped out the front door, leaving a gesture of encouragement for her classmates.

Students who had finished their last exam were free to go home for the winter break.

The thought of going home filled An Ning with a sense of urgency. She missed that place.

To set her mind at ease before heading home, An Ning first paid a visit to the nearly two-acre plot of land she was leasing in Beijing.

This time, the workers spotted An Ning and recognized her immediately. They greeted her with a mixture of enthusiasm and shyness.

Ever since the incident with capturing Huang Daxian, An Ning had visited a few times, but her visits were always quiet. She would do a little work, pick some vegetables, and then leave without much interaction.

"Mr. An is here. That Huang Daxian came, too."

"That’s right. It’s in the third greenhouse."

The villagers were just making small talk, and An Ning acknowledged them before heading toward the third greenhouse to take a look.

She lifted the heavy straw curtain and stepped inside. The spring-like warmth immediately made her break into a sweat.

There were stoves burning inside the greenhouse. To cope with the northern climate, all the greenhouses here were built with low mud-brick walls, topped with a steel frame covered in plastic, felt, or straw mats.

The mud-brick walls were similar to the heated earthen beds of the Northeast; stoves were placed in several spots, with flues running through the walls. Lighting the stoves in winter helped raise the temperature inside the greenhouse.

An Ning took off her thick cotton jacket and wiped the sweat from her brow with one hand. Peering further inside, she indeed spotted several yellowish-brown figures.

A moment later, the yellowish figures propped themselves up on their hind legs, standing upright and turning their heads in An Ning’s direction.

An Ning raised her hand and gave them a little wave. A larger Huang Daxian scurried over from the back.

"Hello."

An Ning offered a casual greeting. After all, it was a creature with intelligence, but a simple hello was about the extent of it.

The Huang Daxian seemed to understand her. It gave her a nod, then stood beside her, tapped her with one paw, and pointed outside with the other.

"You want me... to go outside with you?"

The little Huang Daxian nodded its head vigorously.

An Ning didn’t understand why, but considering the creature’s intelligence and its important place in northern folklore, she decided to follow it outside.

The Huang Daxian led the way. An Ning put her cotton jacket back on and followed it out of the greenhouse.

Once outside the greenhouse, An Ning followed the Huang Daxian at a quickening pace for over half an hour.

"Where exactly are we going?"

An Ning couldn’t help but ask. The Huang Daxian just kept pointing forward and walking until it led her into a patch of woods.

Her spiritual power on full alert, An Ning followed the Huang Daxian into the woods, the Copper Coin Magic Artifact in her palm flipping over and over between her fingers.

The woods weren’t particularly gloomy, but most people wouldn’t dare venture here, because it was a burial ground.

There were burial mounds everywhere, with tombstones leaning at odd angles. Many were just wooden planks stuck into the earth, bearing names written in vermillion.

’Could it be... there’s a large tomb here?’

Other than that possibility, An Ning had no idea why the Huang Daxian had brought her here.

After about ten more minutes of walking, the Huang Daxian stopped and began to deftly dig at a spot with its front paws.

"So there really is a tomb? What’s in there? Need a hand?"

An Ning stepped forward and, without a second thought, materialized a shovel out of thin air. There was no one around; she had already checked.

The Huang Daxian jumped in fright, its two front paws digging even faster! It had to work hard to live a long life.

An Ning held the shovel and shooed the Huang Daxian away. She drove the shovel into the earth, then immediately crouched down.

"This soil... it’s not right."

Northern winters were extremely cold, and the ground would freeze solid. When spring arrived the following year, the rising temperatures would slowly thaw the frozen earth, and the meltwater would nourish the land for the coming planting season.

This was common knowledge.

Generally, you couldn’t even build a house in winter because the ground was impossible to dig.

But the soil beneath An Ning’s shovel was far too soft. While the top layer was the same color as the surrounding ground, its consistency was completely different.

’Did someone bury something here?’