Chapter 120: Chapter 120: Agricultural Machinery

An Ning’s blunt question made Director Jin chuckle.

"Director Li actually warned me about your personality. He told me to be direct with you and not beat around the bush."

An Ning didn’t feel offended, her eyes remaining fixed on Director Jin.

"Then please, be direct."

"Alright, alright. I’ll get right to it."

Director Jin gathered his thoughts for a moment before speaking. "The bulldozer you designed last time caught the eye of my direct superior. He was ecstatic."

"If it weren’t for you, we would have had to spend a fortune buying obsolete, cast-off technology from... from Country R."

At this, Director Jin shook his head and sighed repeatedly.

"You have no idea how difficult it is to have to beg like that, but we still have to do it."

"We have to develop. We absolutely must. It’s not that we can’t research these things ourselves; we just lack the time. That’s why we have to buy the technology, even if it means spending a fortune, even if it means groveling and putting on a fake smile."

"We’re trading money for time."

Director Jin trailed off, momentarily overcome with emotion.

Across from him, An Ning felt a surprising flicker of resonance.

Back in the interstellar era, her people had also humbly negotiated with other star systems because they had no crops. Some negotiations were successful, some were not.

Now, Ancient Earth lacked technology, and technology was the one thing An Ning had in abundance.

"Director Jin, what do you need?"

An Ning was direct, and Director Jin didn’t mince words.

"We want agricultural machinery. All kinds of agricultural machinery. Whatever you can research, research it. Whatever you need, we’ll provide it."

After speaking, Director Jin watched An Ning, his breath held in suspense.

An Ning, however, did furrow her brow. The small gesture made Director Jin’s heart leap into his throat.

"Is that all?"

"Huh?"

Director Jin let out a confused "huh?" He saw An Ning shake her head with a smile. "It’s nothing. I can start the research, but I’ll need some direction. What type of machinery do you need?"

"What does it need to do? What crops will it be used on? I’ll need to observe and study these things."

Director Jin hadn’t yet figured out what An Ning meant by her earlier question. He was just thrilled that she had agreed.

"That’s wonderful! I’ll go back and compile all that information for you. I’ll have it delivered within two days. Just tell me what you need, tell me what you want to observe, and we’ll make it all happen."

Director Jin was genuinely happy. An Ning had given the machinery factory hope—the hope of self-reliance, of not having to beg outsiders.

Asking for help when appropriate was fine, of course. But begging from a position of inferiority was, at times, truly painful.

After they came to an agreement, An Ning calmly accepted the gifts Director Jin had brought.

Although Director Jin was eager to go back and prepare the materials An Ning had requested, he also knew how to handle people.

Building a good relationship was more important for long-term development.

The stove in the An family home was lit once more.

Lin Cuihua had asked Yin Xuemei to take charge of the cooking, as her skills were truly excellent.

Yin Xuemei didn’t hesitate at all, deftly preparing several dishes. An Sancheng, Uncle An, Team Captain Sun Dazhuang, the village’s Accountant Liu, and An Ning all sat down again to eat with their guest.

Director Jin didn’t drink alcohol, simply eating the meal. He was very talkative at the dinner table, asking many questions about An Ning and the An family.

When the meal was over, Director Jin prepared to take his leave.

An Guoming also left with him in the truck, saying he would be back during his next break.

The An family and a few others who hadn’t left yet stood at the doorway, watching the truck depart, each with their own thoughts.

After the truck left, Sun Dazhuang and the others departed as well.

An Ning called out to Yin Xuemei, who was about to leave, and led her into her room.

"This is for you."

An Ning gave Yin Xuemei a tin of hand cream.

"No, I can’t. I came to help willingly. You’ve been tutoring me, and I haven’t even thanked you properly for that. You don’t know how important this is to me."

"I know. This isn’t to thank you. It’s because your hands are chapped."

An Ning took Yin Xuemei’s hand and pointed to the back of it with a finger. "Look, there’s a crack here. It’ll hurt when it gets wet. Take this back and put some on. It’ll heal faster."

An Ning didn’t take no for an answer, pressing the hand cream into Yin Xuemei’s palm.

Yin Xuemei’s nose tingled with emotion. It was the first time anyone had noticed her chapped hands, the first time anyone had cared whether she was in pain.

"Thank you. I’ll accept it."

Yin Xuemei wanted to accept it not because she coveted the item, but because she cherished the feeling of being cared for.

An Ning didn’t think she’d done anything remarkable. She asked curiously, "How do you know how to cook so many different dishes?"

"My old neighbor was once an Imperial Chef. He taught me."

What Yin Xuemei didn’t mention was that the old man had been persecuted during those times. She had secretly brought him food a few times, and in return, he had given her a recipe book and told her to hide it well.

All her culinary skills came from that recipe book.

"Amazing."

The two didn’t say much more. Yin Xuemei took the tin of hand cream and some food Lin Cuihua had given her, and returned to the educated youth’s quarters.

The An family home was finally quiet.

That night, An Ning obediently stayed at home and didn’t go out to work.

「Around midnight.」

An Ning once again pulled the blanket over her head. The Klein Bottle appeared in her palm.

She took out the bankbook she had stored inside and tucked in a small note she had prepared.

’Let’s begin.’

She had been waiting for a long time. It was time to start.

Her spiritual power surged forth, activating the Klein Bottle.

"Hm?"

An Ning let out a questioning hum. She opened her eyes and looked. The bottle was empty.

’Was it that easy?’

The moment her spiritual power touched the slip of paper, it vanished.

But when she teleported seeds, it had consumed so much of her spiritual power.

An Ning sat on the kang, lost in thought.

She got up, took out the remaining small packet of seeds, and tried teleporting them again.

Half an hour later, she was drenched in sweat, which proved one thing: teleporting seeds still consumed a great deal of energy.

The paper and the seeds—one had life, one did not.

’My line of thinking should be correct,’ An Ning thought. ’Teleporting inanimate objects consumes very little spiritual power, but it doesn’t work that way for living things.’

But when the interstellar side sent things to her, it consumed a huge amount of spiritual power, no matter what the object was.

’That makes sense,’ she reasoned. ’If it were all that easy, the interstellar side wouldn’t have spent years building a single Klein Bottle.’

An Ning didn’t dwell on the problem. The Klein Bottle’s functionality was already far better than she had expected. One shouldn’t be too greedy.

She put away her bankbook, made the Klein Bottle disappear, pulled the blanket off her head, and went to sleep.

A slip of paper covered in detailed planting instructions traversed the torrent of space-time and materialized in Interstellar Lab One.

This slip of paper was what truly gave the interstellar era the possibility of cultivating and propagating crops.

「The morning mist veiled the early sun.」

The site of the An family’s new house was bustling with activity once more. People were working on the roof and installing the main gate.

Meanwhile, Director Jin had arrived in the city and begun a day-long meeting.

The central figure of the meeting was An Ning.