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

Long Lifan and Hu Lili rode their bicycles leisurely along the country road, the sunlight shining on them and casting long shadows.

Hu Lili glanced furtively behind her, making sure those unpleasant figures were far behind and she couldn't eavesdrop on their whispers, before cautiously speaking, "Sister Fan, why did you suddenly change your mind and agree to help those two guys, Zhao Xiaodong and Xia Aiguo..."

Her tone was full of disdain for the two of them, her lips slightly pursed, and her face full of indignation.

Long Lifan smiled gently, her gaze deep: "I'm not doing this for them, I'm just worried about the members of Qingmiao Brigade. You know, that place is just like our old Dongwan Brigade, dirt poor. If they keep messing things up, it's those innocent members who will suffer."

Then, she changed the subject, a sly glint in her eyes, "Besides, don't you also dislike them? Especially Zhao Xiaodong, who dared to threaten Lin Yue just now. How can we not give her a chance to vent her anger?"

Upon hearing this, Hu Lili's eyes lit up immediately, as if she could see some interesting plan taking shape. "Oh, Sister Fan, you mean..." she lowered her voice, her excitement evident.

Long Lifan quickly made a shushing gesture, and the two smiled at each other, everything understood without words.

Upon arriving at Qingmiao Brigade, Long Lifan didn't waste a moment. She went straight to the fishponds, her eyes sharp as she carefully observed every detail. In her mind, she quickly identified the key factors that had led to the fish deaths: water quality, oxygen levels, and disease.

In this almost isolated place, the water was crystal clear, and the villagers had never even seen pesticides, so that reason could be ruled out. As for disease, she carefully examined the dead fish that were floating belly up; they had no lesions, so it was clearly not caused by illness.

Thus, the answer seems obvious—lack of oxygen. The fish fry in the Qingmiao brigade's fishponds were stocked too densely, likely a result of Zhao Xiaodong and Xia Aiguo's eagerness for quick results. Initially, the fry were small and didn't require much oxygen, but as they grew, the limited oxygen resources began to become insufficient.

Moreover, if these dead fish are not dealt with in time, they will breed bacteria as they rot, which will not only pollute the water quality, but may also cause large-scale diseases in the fish population, with unimaginable consequences.

Her brow furrowed, she had already made up her mind. She had to take immediate action to solve the immediate oxygen shortage problem and prevent a greater disaster from happening.

"Long Zhiqing, have you figured it out?" Wang Dezhu asked anxiously, noticing Long Lifan's slight frown. Long Lifan stared at the fishpond and said in a deep voice, "I've found the reason. It's...lack of oxygen."

"Lack of oxygen?"

Wang Dezhu looked bewildered, and the surrounding villagers also looked puzzled, clearly unfamiliar with the term. Seeing this, Long Lifan patiently explained, "Fish, like us humans, need to breathe oxygen. Too many fish fry were released into the pond, leading to insufficient oxygen, which is why the fish are dying."

Upon hearing this, Wang Dezhu flew into a rage, abruptly turning to glare at Zhao Xiaodong and Xia Aiguo: "You two were the ones who told me to buy so many fish fry, weren't you?!" Thinking of how their advice had led to the fish deaths, he felt a surge of rage, wishing he could tear them apart alive.

Zhao Xiaodong and Xia Aiguo were so frightened by the captain's tone and eyes that they took a few steps back. At the time, they thought that the more fish fry they released, the better the harvest would be. They never thought that there would be a lack of oxygen.

Seeing the tense atmosphere, Long Lifan quickly reminded him, "Captain Wang, the most urgent thing is to deal with the fish in the pond, especially the dead ones. If they stay in the water for too long, they might develop fish diseases, and the situation will become much more serious."

Upon hearing this, Wang Dezhu suddenly understood and nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, quick! Everyone, hurry up and go down to the fishpond to catch fish!" He quickly instructed the villagers to get to work, and he himself rolled up his trousers, ready to join the fish-catching team.

An emergency fishpond rescue operation was launched, with the members working together in hopes of minimizing the losses as quickly as possible.

"Captain Wang, now that we've found the cause, we'll head back!" Long Lifan prepared to leave. Upon hearing this, Wang Dezhu hurriedly stopped his movements as he was about to go down into the fishpond and quickly walked up to Long Lifan: "Long, you've come all this way, you should at least eat something before you leave!"

He pondered to himself that although the fishpond problem was solved, who could predict the future? He needed to maintain a good relationship with Long Zhiqing so that he could ask her for help if he encountered any problems in the future.

Lin Guodong saw through Wang Dezhu's thoughts at a glance and immediately said, "Captain Wang, Long Zhiqing is busy all day long, how could he have time to eat here?"

Wang Dezhu smiled awkwardly: "I just wanted to thank Long Zhiqing and express my gratitude." He looked intently at Long Lifan, hoping she would agree.

Long Lifan smiled slightly and politely declined, saying, "Captain Wang, I won't eat. However, before I leave, I'd like to say a few words. Managing the fishpond may seem easy, but it still requires responsible and dedicated people. Do you think Zhao and Xia, the educated youth, are up to the task? Although the problem has been identified, the damage has already been done. If you don't take some measures, it might cause dissatisfaction among the commune members."

She paused, then continued, "I'm not saying this for any other reason. I was also an educated youth, and I know that the relationship between commune members and educated youth is very delicate. I don't want to ruin the image of educated youth in the hearts of commune members because of certain people."

Upon hearing this, Wang Dezhu nodded thoughtfully: "Long Zhiqing is right. The educated youth went to the countryside to help our rural areas, and this time they caused our village such a big loss. We really need to take good care of them."

Hearing Wang Dezhu emphasize the word "care" so much, Long Lifan couldn't help but feel secretly pleased. Dealing with smart people was indeed much easier. A slight smile appeared on her lips, and a sly glint flashed in her eyes.

Her gaze shifted to Xia Aiguo and Zhao Xiaodong, who stood anxiously to the side. Long Lifan thought to herself: "Hmph, I sent you out here to annoy people. I wonder if you can withstand my scheme of using someone else to do my dirty work?"

She could already picture the two men suffering terribly because of Wang Dezhu's "favor," and she felt a secret sense of smugness. "Xia Aiguo and Zhao Xiaodong, let's see how you get out of this!" A cold glint flashed in Long Lifan's eyes, along with a hint of schadenfreude.

After the matter was settled, Long Lifan and her group left Qingmiao Brigade. Long Lifan and Hu Lili rode their bicycles at the front, excitedly wanting to tell Lin Yue the news.

After seeing Long Lifan and the others off, Wang Dezhu's face instantly darkened. He turned around and glared at Zhao Xiaodong and Xia Aiguo: "What are you two standing there for! Hurry up and go into the pond to catch fish! Do I have to personally invite you?" His voice was like thunder, making the two of them tremble.

"If it weren't for you two, would we have suffered such a huge loss?" Wang Dezhu roared again, his eyes filled with anger and dissatisfaction. Seeing that the two were still hesitant, he became even more furious and urged them again, "Hurry up and go!"