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

Long Lifan got up early in the morning and looked back at Hu Lili, who had also woken up. Both of them had dark circles under their eyes, so it seemed that neither of them had slept well last night.

"Move out! We must move out!" After her first night at the educated youth settlement, Long Lifan was exceptionally determined to move out.

Looking at the sky, Long Lifan estimated it was only around 6 o'clock, but some of the female educated youth had already started cooking. It was Xiang Fang. She wondered if they would have to get up so early in the future.

Because she was going to the commune today, she didn't plan to cook; she would eat at the state-run restaurant there. She told Hu Lili, who immediately agreed.

"Grandpa Chen, you're here early!"

Long Lifan greeted Old Man Chen, who was driving the oxcart, with a smile.

"Hmm," Old Chen nodded, but he was very happy. As expected of an educated youth from the city, he was so polite! He had been injured when he was young and could not do heavy work at all. Later, it was the old Party Secretary who saw that he was all alone and helpless and arranged this job for him!

When people went to the commune, he would drive an oxcart to take them there. If there was nothing else to do, he would occasionally feed the oxen grass, which was a fairly easy job.

The three of them each paid 5 cents for the fare, found their own seats, and waited for about ten minutes. Seeing that no one had come, Old Man Chen leisurely drove the oxcart toward the commune!

The three women sat on the oxcart, chatting amongst themselves, and before they knew it, they had arrived at the place where they had been picked up the day before!

"It's around 8 o'clock now. We'll be back by 10:30 at the latest. If you're not here by then, you'll have to walk back by yourselves!" Old Chen reminded them as he got off the bus, worried they might forget the time.

Long Lifan really wanted to say, "Grandpa, you're overthinking it. You can't possibly spend two hours exploring such a small commune."

The group went to a state-run restaurant first and each ordered a bowl of noodles. Even with meat added, it only cost 5 cents. Long Lifan genuinely felt that prices were really low these days.

"What are your plans? I need to go to the post office." Long Lifan said, looking at the two who had almost finished eating. "First, check if your packages have arrived. Then, write a letter home to let them know you're safe!"

"Let's go together, then I need to go to the supply and marketing cooperative."

"Row!"

After asking around, the group finally found the post office.

"Comrade, let me see if there's a package for me!" The staff member was a woman in her thirties, and Long Lifan greeted her with a smile!

"Name!"

"Long Lifan"

"I do have some, but this is large cargo transportation, so you need to show your identification!" The staff member looked Long Lifan up and down, then said in a businesslike manner.

"Comrade, I am an educated youth sent to the countryside. I don't know if this notice of being sent to the countryside can represent our identity?" In principle, once they are sent to the countryside, their household registration will also be transferred along with them.

Now, if they want to travel far away, they need a certificate issued by the production brigade; otherwise, they'll be considered migrant workers. However, the commune generally doesn't check, because those who come to the commune are mostly villagers from the surrounding area, who spend half a day there in their spare time to buy daily necessities!

"Oh, you're an educated youth, huh? Okay!" He carefully examined the notice for going to the countryside that Long Lifan handed him, then said, "No problem, just sign it!" "Here, where's your luggage?" he said, pointing to a package taller than a person next to him.

"this…"

Long Lifan was eager to know what her parents had prepared for her. Wasn't it supposed to be some clothes and her old high school textbooks?

It has to be said that the original owner's parents' love for their children was truly profound, so profound that all she could think about now was how to move this thing away! Hu Lili, who was standing next to her, also received her own package, and judging from her appearance, it was no less than Long Lifan's!

"Lin Yue, why don't we wait here and you call Grandpa Chen over for us!" It takes at least ten minutes to walk from the post office to where the oxcart stops, so Long Lifan thought it would be more convenient to have Grandpa Chen come over!

"Okay!" Lin Yue didn't have anything else to do. She came to write a letter to her grandparents in Sichuan Province to let them know she was safe. As for those in Beijing, they probably wished she were dead out there.

Long Lifan also wrote a letter, the content of which was very simple: "I have arrived safely and everything is fine, don't worry!"

"Host, these stamps are very valuable. Why don't you buy more to collect?" The system's mechanical voice sounded again as the letter was handed over to the staff.

"Why buy so many? Waiting for them to appreciate in value is decades away. As a time traveler from the 21st century, do I need to do that? In ten years or so, when the market opens up, I can do anything that's better than waiting for this appreciation!"

"Host, you don't need to wait decades. You can buy it and sell it to me!"

"You can do it like that?" Long Lifan exclaimed in surprise. "How much are you going to pay for it?!"

"The value of each stamp is different. Ordinary ones are worth only a few dozen yuan, while better ones can sell for thousands or even tens of thousands of yuan!"

"Just tell me how much money I'll get in the end. I remember you said you'd charge a high equivalent fee for what I sell!"

"Um, well, about 90%!"

"Nine-one split? Not bad, that way I can make some money too!"

"Host, it's nine for me and one for you, don't overthink it. Besides, stamps are collectibles, and the more you have, the less valuable they become. This system can only accept a maximum of 100 stamps." The system's voice shattered Long Lifan's illusions!

Long Lifan eventually compromised, spending 1 yuan to buy nearly 20 stamps, which she then sold to the system.

Since they were all ordinary stamps, the most expensive one was only worth a few hundred yuan! After the system calculated the value, a total of more than 1700 yuan was sold. According to the 1:9 split, Long Lifan could get more than 170 yuan!

Long Lifan was overjoyed to have exchanged one yuan for more than 170 stamps. The only downside was that, according to the system, they would only buy up to 100 stamps. It seemed she would have to look for more valuable stamps in the future!

"Lifan, Hu Zhiqing, Grandpa Chen has brought the oxcart over!" Just as she was immersed in receiving a large sum of money, Lin Yue's voice rang out.

"Alright, let's work together to carry it out!" The women dragged the bundles out. Luckily, Lin Yue was strong, otherwise, things might have been different!

“This… all of this is for you, Long Zhiqing!” Old Chen had helped educated youth with their luggage before, but this was the first time he had encountered such a large amount.

"Yes, there are also Hu Zhiqing's packages inside!" He then went back to the post office to move more parcels.

When the two packages, each as tall as a person, were placed on the oxcart, Old Man Chen was so surprised that he didn't know what to say. Now he finally understood why he had been asked to come to the post office to pick them up!

"Grandpa Chen, we still need to buy a few things. Could you wait for us where we were before?"

"Alright!" Old Chen glanced at the packages on the oxcart and said somewhat nervously, "But you have to hurry, these two big packages are too conspicuous, what if something happens!"

"We understand, we'll be there soon!"

The group rushed to the supply and marketing cooperative. Since they had just made a small fortune, Long Lifan didn't hold back and bought a lot of candy, melon seeds, and the like!

Passing by the state-run restaurant again, Long Lifan bought ten steamed buns and dumplings. She wouldn't have to cook again today!

"Grandpa Chen, have something to eat. You got up so early this morning, you probably haven't eaten much!" Long Lifan handed a steamed bun and a dumpling to the old man.

"You silly girl, why would an old man like me eat all this good stuff? Isn't that a waste?" Old Chen glanced at the steamed buns and swallowed hard.

"It would be a waste to buy this and not eat it. Besides, if it weren't for Grandpa Chen, we wouldn't know what to do!" "Grandpa Chen, if you don't eat it, are you looking down on us?"

"What nonsense are you talking about, girl? How could an old man like me look down on this... Alright, alright, I'll take it, okay?" Old Chen said helplessly, wiping his hands with his clothes a few times before daring to accept it!

"Girl, don't give these things away so easily in the future. Although our Dongwan Brigade is generally good, who can guarantee that no one with bad intentions won't get their hands on them? It'll be too late to regret it then. Sigh! In the end, it's all because we're poor!"