Chapter 164: Chapter 164

Although there was still some unavoidable worry, thinking about how formidable her little sister was, in the following days, to avoid being separated from her own sister in the future, Third Sister really unleashed her full strength, working day and night tirelessly. Of course, biting her teeth and working hard alongside her was Lu Ting from the physics department next door.

It wasn’t until September of the following year, with the launch of an insecticide targeting seedlings, that Third Sister suddenly realized she had underestimated her little sister’s strength.

In the small courtyard, an elderly professor watched admiringly as the girl continuously pulled her sister’s hand, while a kind-faced uncle, said to be the director of the neighboring pharmaceutical factory, stood beside them.

Through the occasional information leaked by these people, Third Sister only just learned that not long ago, her sister had discovered, after consulting materials and conducting many experiments, that two types of plants, when planted separately, were nothing special. But when planted together, from their seedling stage, they had a certain degree of resistance to larvae and could even affect other nearby young plants.

Later, with the help of the neighboring lab, they successfully extracted effective ingredients from these two plants…

After multiple experiments, the insect-repelling effect was not only excellent, but compared to chemical synthetics on the market such as chlorpyrifos, it greatly reduced toxicity to humans and harm to the soil.

Of course, right after the famine, most people weren’t so particular—if it wasn’t poisonous enough to kill, they didn’t care.

But the medicine had another advantage: it was extremely cheap and caused minimal damage to the seedlings themselves…

This was an enormous benefit.

It was a pity that at this time, the country emphasized collective selfless dedication, and patent rights were nonexistent. Otherwise, with this, her little sister would have immediately risen to the ranks of a little wealthy lady.

After sending off Director Jiang, in the small courtyard, Third Sister was still muttering repeatedly, claiming it was a huge loss, a huge loss...

Seeing her , An Ning couldn’t help but chuckle quietly. She quickly raised her hand and took out a half-sized paper stamped with a bright red seal from her backpack:

“Hey? Sister, you’ve got it now!”

Holding the half-sized paper, Third Sister’s eyes lit up the moment she read the contents.

Half-reclining on a specially arranged soft kang bed, An Ning nodded with a relaxed expression. Agriculture was indeed different from others; it involved practice. As long as the professional grades were good and the exams passed, one could skip grades smoothly, but having certain experimental achievements was a different matter…

She was a newcomer in agriculture and still had much to learn, but medicine was another story!

In fact, the benefits of this were far beyond that. Because of this incident, Professor Xu from the department personally invited An Ning to join his lab as an exception. Moreover, Professor Xu had even promised that as long as she maintained her current grades and this meticulous, pragmatic attitude, it would be very likely she could enter the research institute directly after graduation…

“Really? That’s really great!”

“Sis, you’re just too amazing!”

Hearing this, Third Sister’s regrets vanished instantly, and she couldn’t stop bouncing around.

It was important to know why agriculture wasn’t popular at the moment. Besides the occasional hard work in the fields, the worst was the post-graduation placement problem. In this era that valued hard work and struggle, no matter how good the grades were, one could easily be assigned to some random, terrible place with just one slip-up…

And there was no way to argue. People would just say you needed to toughen yourself in harsh places and dedicate yourself to the people. Who could argue with that?

If you dared to retort, you’d easily be labeled as greedy for comfort and having incorrect thoughts.

Just thinking about her little sister’s fragile body, Third Sister couldn’t help but worry endlessly…

“Ah, this is really great!”

“Our sisters really have to celebrate properly today!” With that, Third Sister was about to head out, planning to buy lots of meat and vegetables for a proper celebration.

Unfortunately, before she got far, An Ning pulled her back.

Under the warm sun, the fifteen-year-old girl was at her most radiant and vibrant moment. Because of her years of frailty, her pale complexion gave her a distinct aura.

Yet what she said was anything but cheerful. Her crescent-shaped eyes narrowed slightly as she smiled sweetly:

“Sis, I think we should celebrate together to truly be happy, don’t you agree?”

“Don’t worry, sis. No need to rush, I’m waiting for you.”

After sophomore year, students could apply to live off-campus. For the sisters’ safety, living just a wall apart was fine, with their friend Lu Ting living opposite.

They met every day, and with An Ning, the academic genius, always around, the next half year, Third Sister was basically buried in textbooks and materials even with her eyes closed.

As for An Ning herself, although wholeheartedly devoted to research, her fragile body really couldn’t endure. Even just a little extra fatigue left her pale and frightened Professor Xu greatly. Unless necessary, overtime was rarely requested…

When Professor Xu heard the whole story from Third Sister, learning that her beloved disciple was because of harsh treatment since childhood, his anger exploded when he saw the weak little girl.

As a woman, he knew well the hardships of girls, especially stubborn rural ones.

He scolded Old Yang and his family harshly and repeatedly reminded An Ning every few days:

“An Ning, teacher knows your thoughts, your eagerness to contribute to science, but as the saying goes, the body is the capital of revolution…”

“You’re still young; there’s a long life ahead of you!”

He also specially asked a friend to bring many rare nutritional supplements for the time.

Looking at the plump and glossy Xinjiang red dates, longans, white fungus, malted milk powder, and a large fat lamb leg brought from Inner Mongolia…

Without saying a word, he shoved the money into her hand. An Ning, with tears in her eyes, nodded heavily: “Professor, I promise I won’t hold back our team…”

Encouraged by these occasional treats, in the following two years, although maintaining the image of a sickly beauty, An Ning did quite a lot…

Not only did she rank at the top in every subject, but after joining the lab, she quickly showed excellent research qualities. Especially in biological probability, her meticulous thinking was almost frightening. Thanks to her well-organized experiments, the whole research group avoided countless detours in just a few days.

Half a month ago, she even prevented a major experimental failure because of this.

Because of this, not only did her colleagues treat her much better, but they also finally took the young junior seriously…

Professor Xu kept saying he had found a treasure and boasted to his old friends more than once that although An Ning’s body was weak and she spent little time in the lab daily, her contributions were in no way less than others…

It was just… if only this girl’s body was healthier…

Ah, these feudal thoughts are truly harmful.

Unaware of Professor Xu secretly cursing Old Yang’s family, while absorbing new knowledge daily, An Ning still went to bed early. When her older sister next door stayed up until her eyes were blurry, An Ning strictly adhered to her no staying up and no overtime policy.

Time passed to 1965. Amidst the noise, half leaning on a bench behind her, An Ning leisurely flipped through the reference books in her hands.

In two years, An Ning had successfully established herself in the lab. She had improved many plant pesticides on the market and innovated probability models. Though her achievements couldn’t compare to the veteran professor, she was somewhat a minor celebrity.

In short, before graduation, while other graduates worried about the future and scrambled for placement information, An Ning had already received an invitation from the province’s most renowned agricultural research institute.

She would join smoothly right after graduation.

Her salary even reached the rare 83 yuan and 5 mao for the era, plus bonuses from Director Jiang and various rewards…

Life was pretty good.

Even Third Sister, leveraging her little sister’s powerful connections, had smoothly stayed in the provincial capital at a good place like the Provincial Newspaper.

This kind of soft life, hmm…

It was truly, truly… delicious!

Holding her newly issued work permit, from previously being shy, Third Sister now even confidently shouted, “Quick, bring me another bowl!”

The year 1965 passed mainly with the three of them, especially Third Sister and the others, busy and bustling. When the three finally settled in the provincial capital, a sudden storm swept across the country.

By mid-August, with news of school closures everywhere, the situation in the provincial capital visibly tightened.

After the New Year, on once quiet streets, passionate young people occasionally shouted slogans loudly.

The atmosphere seemed to tighten overnight.

But these things no longer concerned An Ning much. Except for being more cautious and careful in dress and behavior, eating was the top priority in this era. As the province’s most famous agricultural research institute, and affiliated to the provincial agricultural academy, the importance she received was naturally obvious…

Especially An Ning herself, though young, had a fair amount of research results, and was the proud disciple of Professor Xu, with a clean background. The environment was relatively safe for now…

Although her good looks often drew attention, once her identity was known, people were more considerate.

Lu Ting was even more unbothered; his parents were government officials who had been promoted to the city last year, and his older brother had a bright military future. Besides his own ability, his family’s influence was formidable…

Just looking at the military coat and water canteen he casually carried, no one frowned.

Only Third Sister, a pitiful young girl, was often frightened by these chaotic situations for a long time. Especially when she saw the young woman in the office next door, who, just because of her looks, was rejected by some suitors and, for insufficient ideological awareness, was inexplicably sent down to the countryside…

No one knew when she would come back.

That day, when she returned, Third Sister’s teeth were chattering coldly, and only at night, tightly hugging her sister Yang Wan, did she feel a bit safer.

The situation was such that even An Ning herself continued her usual study check-ins at the institute, her sickly image becoming ever more deeply ingrained.

During this period, perhaps due to the shock, the twenty-something-year-old Third Sister not only lived in the same courtyard with her little sister but often had to sleep with her…

This often drove Lu Ting, who occasionally came over, half mad.

Quickly rolling up her sleeves, she chopped firewood in the small courtyard, then processed the fish she just bought. Soon, a fragrant and delicious braised fish was ready.

During the meal, Lu Ting, the new partner, didn’t forget to carefully remove the fish bones:

“An Ning, eat more. You must be really exhausted lately…”

Look at that pale face…

Lately, besides pretending to be sick, eating well and having no worries, An Ning said nothing.

Third Sister, who was afraid of being criticized for ideological problems, working crazy overtime, and constantly anxious, was almost exhausted to a dried fish.

Especially later, watching Lu Ting boil water, wash clothes, and before leaving, carefully shell each pine nut he brought for her little sister…

Though the courtyard was quite large, at that moment, Third Sister inexplicably felt a little superfluous. And maybe it was her imagination, but these days, whenever she wanted to come over, someone deliberately pushed her away.

“Is this person really not doing it on purpose?”

At night, holding her soft and fragrant sister, Third Sister couldn’t help but ask suspiciously. Even just recently regularized, no one would be this extreme about asserting dominance, right?

In the darkness, An Ning nodded silently. Yes, that’s right; he was definitely doing it on purpose…

It could only be said that living with this person for so long had its downsides. That little mind of his, sigh…

But the two soon had no time to think about this. At the start of the new year, due to work issues over the past two years, they hadn’t gone home for a long time. Thinking of their mother Li Xiaocao, who had eagerly written several letters, they had to return once.

On the way back, unsurprisingly, it was the dreaded green train. An Ning kept her eyes tightly shut the whole trip, with Lu Ting by her side. But maybe it was Third Sister’s imagination; she felt that from the moment they boarded, her little sister’s mood hadn’t been very good…

Near noon, outside the supply and marketing cooperative, the sisters had just picked their favorite fish, planning to ask their mother to make soup later. Unexpectedly, at checkout, a young man with refined and handsome features appeared from nowhere:

“Excuse me, comrades, do you know how to get to Zhang Family Village?”

A clear yet slightly low voice sounded beside them. Third Sister looked up instinctively. The man wore a clean and tidy gray-blue cloth shirt with dark blue long pants. Though it was just ordinary clothing, his originally slim and tall figure looked even more handsome.

His eyes smiled, exuding a refined charm.

Just as Third Sister was about to admire this good-looking man, who was exactly her type, she saw An Ning quickly hand over the chosen fish.

“Sis, it’s getting late. We should head back!”