Time Travel: Volume 1! Starting from a Small Mountain Village

"What? They actually chose Zhou Min and Zhou Genwang."

"Yes, Wei Hong was first place, why didn't Long Zhiqing choose her?"

"Do you think they might secretly..."

.........

The remaining members started discussing the allocation of the spots, especially the people surnamed Lin, who began to feel indignant on behalf of Lin Weihong after hearing that all the members' spots had gone to the Zhou family.

Compared to the others, Lin Guodong was even more bewildered. His brows were furrowed, and his eyes were filled with disbelief at the result he had just heard. His daughter had always been the pride of the village; she had attended high school and was considered a model student by everyone, having even ranked first in this exam. Therefore, when he learned that his daughter had not been selected as a teacher, a wave of disappointment and confusion instantly washed over him.

“Long Zhiqing, why? My daughter has the best grades, why can’t she become a teacher?” The brigade leader’s voice trembled slightly as he stared intently into Long Lifan’s eyes, yearning for a reasonable explanation.

Long Lifan sighed, glancing at Lin Weihong below the crowd with an expression that seemed to say, "Look, here comes the troublemaker." After a few seconds of thought, she carefully chose her words: "Captain, choosing a teacher isn't just about grades; many factors need to be considered. Lin Weihong is indeed excellent, but this opportunity is more suitable for someone else." She couldn't very well say, "It's your daughter begging me not to choose her, could she?"

After hearing this, Lin Guodong remained silent for a moment, then slowly nodded, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes. He didn't know what criteria Long Lifan had used for the selection, but since Long Zhiqing had said it in front of everyone, he had no choice but to accept the result.

As for the villagers' gossip, saying that Long Zhiqing had secretly accepted bribes from Zhou Huiji, he didn't believe it. Who was Long Zhiqing? If she wanted something in return, she could simply go to work in the county town; after all, the machinery factory there was waiting for her. Besides, he didn't think Zhou Huiji could offer anything that Long Zhiqing would find appealing, given her family's circumstances.

As for Chen Hongjie, when he learned that Yu Xiulian had won the spot, it felt like a heavy blow to his heart. His score was clearly higher than Yu Xiulian's, so why was he the one who lost? This result was unbelievable and unacceptable to him.

“Long Zhiqing, I have a higher score than Yu Zhiqing, so why did she get the spot?”

As the person in charge of the educated youth settlement, especially before Long Lifan and her group arrived, Chen Hongjie was the most influential person there. Being somewhat chauvinistic, he couldn't accept this outcome; he felt that Long Lifan was targeting him.

So he poured out all his confusion and doubts, hoping that Long Lifan could give him an explanation.

"Comrade Chen, as I just said, selecting teachers isn't just about grades. If it were just about grades, I could just choose the top two directly. We also need to consider the candidate's overall qualities, communication skills with students, and many other factors. Although your score is high, you might be slightly inferior to Xiulian in other aspects of the evaluation."

"Comrade Chen, as the person in charge of the educated youth settlement, ask yourself honestly whether you have truly been fair and just in handling the affairs of the educated youth settlement. And how can a teacher be a good teacher if he can't even be fair and just!"

Faced with Long Lifan's second half of her sentence, Chen Hongjie was filled with shame and wished he could disappear into the ground. Back in the educated youth settlement, Xiang Fang had questioned him in front of everyone, and hearing it again now, especially since it had cost him his chance to become a teacher, made him instantly lower his head, like a rooster without any fighting spirit.

With the final allocation of places decided, some were happy while others were sad. Next came the enrollment and class arrangements, but these were none of Long Lifan's concern. She simply led Hu Lili away from the crowd; she was genuinely a little intimidated by Lin Guodong.

At noon, Yu Xiulian brought some eggs to thank her, but she firmly refused.

"Yu Zhiqing, what are you doing? What kind of person do you take me for?" Long Lifan frowned and said with some displeasure, "If I accept your things, wouldn't that be bribery?"

Using this to test cadres? No cadre could withstand such a test.

Looking at the eggs, Long Lifan thought of Yu Zhiqing's actions, and a line from a movie involuntarily came to mind. Of course, she knew Yu Zhiqing simply wanted to thank her, but she really couldn't accept them. Public opinion was a powerful force; if word got out, it would be bad for both her and Yu Zhiqing.

“Yu Zhiqing, I know you want to thank me, but there’s really no need for this. If you truly want to thank me, then teach those children to read and prove to everyone that my judgment was correct.” In the end, Long Lifan didn’t forget to give him some advice.

However, after this exam, Long Lifan also deeply felt the huge gap in education level between the commune members and the educated youth. That day, returning from the chicken farm, she walked alone on the country road, her mind constantly replaying the scene she had witnessed two days earlier.

The confusion and helplessness on the faces of many members as they faced the exam papers pained her. She realized that some of these members didn't even recognize some of the words, let alone understand the questions or answer them. The members who signed up were educated people; she couldn't even imagine what the rest of the members would be like.

This educational inequality deeply troubled Long Lifan. She knew that knowledge was the key to changing one's destiny, yet these villagers had lost many opportunities due to a lack of education. Since fate had transported her to this era, she felt it was her responsibility and obligation to help them and narrow this gap.

Therefore, Long Lifan decided to discuss starting a literacy class with the village head. She went to the village committee office and shared her idea with everyone.

Lin Guodong sat in the corner of the office, his brow furrowed, puffing on his pipe. The swirling smoke revealed his inner frustration and helplessness. He was clearly still reeling from his daughter's failure to be selected.

“Long Zhiqing, I understand what you’re saying, but I’m afraid the commune members won’t be willing to accept it.” Zhou Huiji’s mood was completely opposite to Lin Guodong’s, but when he heard Long Lifan’s suggestion, he frowned.

The suggestion to hold literacy classes was brought up once before by Long Zhiqing. The reason it took so long to take action was simply because it wasn't something that a few village cadres could decide on their own.

They knew Long Zhiqing meant well, but what could they do if the villagers weren't happy? They couldn't exactly kidnap the villagers to attend the lecture, and their biggest worry was that the villagers wouldn't respond enthusiastically, which would hurt Long Zhiqing's feelings.

"It's alright!" Long Lifan waved her hand dismissively. Completely changing the villagers' minds would certainly be incredibly difficult. But this wasn't something that could be resolved overnight; it required a gradual approach, and she already had a plan in mind.

The village secretary and the others exchanged glances. Seeing that Long, the educated youth, had already spoken, they didn't raise any objections. After discussing it for a while, they decided to call a meeting of the villagers to discuss the matter of starting literacy classes.

Hearing the familiar sound of the gong, the commune members gradually gathered at the brigade headquarters. Seeing that Lin Guodong seemed to still be in a bad mood, Secretary Miao walked up to the platform and looked down at the commune members.

"Fellow villagers, I've gathered you all here today because I have some good news to share," Secretary Miao said, taking a deep breath and shouting loudly. His voice was so clear that an invisible sound wave gradually spread through the crowd.