An Ning had already entered the mountains.

She found a deserted spot and hid in a sunken, shaded depression. The Klein Bottle within her spiritual power could no longer be contained.

A flash of blue light streaked past.

An Ning watched as the Klein Bottle emerged from her palm. It started at only half the size of her hand, but it was gradually growing larger.

The bottle grew to three times its original size, becoming as large as both her hands put together.

But that wasn’t all. An Ning received a signal within her spiritual power.

It was a familiar, coded form of communication—a favorite game she and her teachers loved to play.

’There’s something inside?’

’How is that possible?’

An Ning took a deep breath. Enduring a headache, she manipulated the Klein Bottle. There really was something inside.

It was a slip of paper.

An Ning took out the slip of paper, her spiritual power depleting once more.

When she finally got her hands on the note, she saw it was written in the unique script of the interstellar age.

"Seed Has Sprouted. Cultivation Method."

An Ning put the note in her pocket, planning to burn it when she got home.

An Ning’s clothes were soaked through again. She leaned weakly against the dirt mound behind her, gasping for fresh air.

It sprouted.

The interstellar age has crops now.

An Ning broke into a goofy grin, and as she kept smiling, tears began to stream down her face uncontrollably.

After countless years of desperation from food shortages, humanity could finally see a glimmer of hope again.

Everything she had done had been worth it.

A sudden surge of strength filled An Ning, helping her stand up and head down the mountain.

When she reached the foot of the mountain, An Ning found the nearest patch of farmland and threw herself into the work.

Her depleted spiritual power was like a patch of parched, cracked earth.

But the act of farming was like sweet dew after a long drought, replenishing her spiritual power drop by drop, moistening the cracked earth.

An Ning lost herself in the work, mesmerized by this feeling of recovery after complete depletion.

The Klein Bottle returned to her spiritual power once more, settling quietly in a corner.

When An Guoping came looking for her, he found An Ning working the fields with her bare hands.

"Sis—what are you doing? Trying to become a model worker?"

"What’s a model worker?"

An Ning kept working, still squatting in the field. An Guoping squatted down beside her and explained what a ’model worker’ was.

"Maybe I really could be named one."

An Guoping laughed at her response. "Come on, let’s head back," he said. "If we’re any later, we’re going to get a ’stick stew’ when we get home."

"Stick stew?"

An Ning had a feeling this "stick stew" wasn’t an actual dish.

"It means they’re going to beat me with a stick."

An Ning chuckled. She got up from the field and walked home with An Guoping.

"Sis, that money of yours...?"

"I earned it."

"Oh."

An Guoping didn’t dare ask any more.

When the two of them arrived home, An Ning was called away.

Inside, the first thing An Sancheng did was hand An Ning the bankbook.

"You hold onto this yourself. I don’t want the responsibility."

"Seriously, where did you get this?"

An Ning took the bankbook. "If any of you need money, just let me know," she said. "This is what I was paid for fixing machines at the machinery and textile factories."

"Oh, right. The director of the machinery factory asked if anyone in our family wants a job there. He said he can arrange it."

When she finished, she looked at An Sancheng. "Dad, why are you looking at me?"

"It’s nothing, it’s nothing."

An Sancheng waved his hand dismissively. ’Can I really admit that I can’t follow her train of thought at all?’

’A spot at the machinery factory, offered just like that, for anyone who wants it? Is that something a normal person would even say?’

’Saying something like that out loud would get you beaten up.’

"Daughter, don’t say a word about this money to anyone. Same goes for the job. Let me think it over, and I’ll get back to you."

"Okay."

An Ning had no issue with this. She took the bankbook and returned to her room.

As she looked for a place to hide the bankbook, An Ning thought of the enlarged Klein Bottle.

She focused the small amount of spiritual power she had recovered, and the bankbook in her hand vanished.

An Ning checked; it was now safely stored inside the Klein Bottle.

’Perfect.’

The Klein Bottle was a spatial storage device to begin with. Now it seemed capable of growing, transmitting messages, and even teleporting objects.

An Ning felt a small thrill of excitement and anticipation. She wanted to send real food—vegetables—back to the interstellar age.

But her spiritual power wasn’t strong enough for that yet. She still needed to work the land. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

’As I thought,’ she mused, ’I really can’t be separated from the earth.’

"Dinner’s ready!"

The familiar shout brought An Ning out of her room. Taking a deep breath, she said, "That smells amazing!"

"Of course it does. It’s meat."

Lin Cuihua placed a large basin of chicken on the table. Looking at An Ning, she asked, "Feeling all right now?"

"I’m fine now."

"Then eat up. Have some more."

The An family began their meal. Lin Cuihua used her chopsticks to place a large drumstick in An Ning’s bowl, and another in Gao Guifen’s.

"You two eat up."

"Mom, give it to An Ning. I’ll eat anything."

Gao Guifen tried to pass the drumstick to An Ning, but An Ning dodged it. "You eat it, Sister-in-law. You’re eating for two, so you need it more."

"Exactly. Just eat it if you’re told to."

After Lin Cuihua spoke, An Guoqing was even more direct. He placed the drumstick right into Gao Guifen’s bowl. "My sister said she doesn’t want it, so that’s that. Stop trying to give it away."

An Ning stifled a laugh and took a bite of her drumstick. It really was delicious.

Gao Guifen let out a soft sigh. She felt like she had married into the most wonderful family.

’The An family is just too good to me.’

After dinner, An Ning went out for a walk while An Guoping stayed home to work on his practice problems.

An Sancheng went to his elder brother’s house, and An Guoqing kept himself busy around their home, never seeming to stop.

Once outside, An Ning found another plot of land and went back to work.

An Ning seized every minute she could to restore her spiritual power.

At her current rate, she estimated it would take ten to fifteen days to fully recover.

The sky gradually darkened, like an ink-washed canvas descending to blot out all light.

An Ning headed home from the fields, walking back along the path from the foot of the mountain.

Two beams of light up ahead momentarily blinded her.

The sound of a car’s engine told An Ning it was the same sedan from that afternoon.

’That reminds me,’ An Ning thought, ’I bought a fountain pen. I should give it to Jiang Xia this time.’

"Brother Xiatian, I’m taking off."

"Alright. Drive safe."

"Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I’ll call you when I’m back."

The baby-faced man drove off, and as Jiang Xia turned, his gaze fell in An Ning’s direction.

"Who’s there?"

"It’s me."

An Ning stepped out of the darkness. Jiang Xia recognized her voice instantly.

"So, you’re all better now?"

Jiang Xia took a few steps closer, sizing her up. "I can’t figure you out. Are you incredibly tough or incredibly fragile? One minute you’re strong enough to take down a wild boar single-handedly, and the next you look so weak you might keel over at any moment."

"I may be weak, but I’d still have no problem taking you down."

An Ning hated being called weak. Absolutely hated it.

"Hah. You’re all talk. The way you looked earlier today, who do you think you could possibly take down?"

Jiang Xia raised a defiant eyebrow.

An Ning nodded slowly.

"You’re right. You’re probably only on par with me when I was like that."

An Ning tilted her chin up provocatively and walked right past him.

Jiang Xia, his back now to her, pressed his tongue into his cheek. There was no anger in his eyes, only a trace of an unreadable smile.