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

"No objections!"

Xiang Fang was startled by the captain's tone and attitude, and shook her head repeatedly.

"Alright, let's get to work according to the assignments!" The brigade leader didn't want to fuss over such trivial matters. As long as these educated youths didn't cause him trouble, he generally didn't pay much attention to these things!

The three women were assigned to gather pig feed, and according to regulations, they needed to bring their own sickles and baskets. The brigade leader had mentioned this two days prior, so they had to borrow sickles and baskets.

After accompanying them to several shops, Long Lifan noticed the sickles in Hu Lili and Jiang Nian'an's hands; they were not only old but also heavy. She immediately thought of the trading system's shop.

"System, give me a sickle suitable for this era," Long Lifan thought to herself, trying to connect with the system.

"Sorry, host, there are none suitable for this era."

"Nothing? Are you kidding me? You're supposed to be an all-powerful trading system, and this is it..."

"Host, you can't blame me. Who would use such outdated things in the future? Our system has its own style, you know."

Helpless, Long Lifan could only look for items from the system store that were closer to this era, so that if anyone asked, she could say that she brought them from Shanghai.

“Fellow educated youth, this basket counts as one work point. You need to fill at least two baskets every day,” a fellow villager explained. He was the scorekeeper, responsible for tallying the numbers for the group and also explaining which types of pigs were edible, since he would be the one to inspect them in the end.

"no problem!"

The three nodded, indicating that they understood.

"Sister Dragon".

Long Lifan looked up and saw Qi Fangfang not far away, also carrying a small basket on her back, waving her little hand excitedly.

"Fangfang, what are you doing up the mountain!"

"I'll go see if there are any wild fruits on the mountain. By the way, Sister Long, are you going to gather pig feed?" Qi Fangfang asked, looking at the three of them's equipment.

"I know where it is, I'll take you there!" Qi Fangfang said excitedly when she saw the three nod.

Long Lifan glanced at the other two, seemingly asking if they were willing. Seeing that they didn't speak, she smiled at Qi Fangfang and said, "Okay, then you take us there!"

With Qi Fangfang, a local, leading the way, the three of them easily filled a basketful. During the process, Qi Fangfang even introduced them to the pig feed that pigs love to eat, suggesting that she must have done this job before.

Seeing that they still had plenty of time, the group accompanied Qi Fangfang for a stroll around the mountain.

In March, although the temperature in the north was still a bit low, the sight of everything coming back to life showed that spring had arrived. Unidentified wildflowers were blooming by the roadside, and several girls were having a great time playing in the fragrance of the wildflowers.

Even Jiang Nian'an, who was usually serious, had a slight smile on his face. As for Hu Lili, she was having even more fun, picking a few flowers and putting them in her and Qi Fangfang's hair.

Long Lifan herself was also very happy. In her previous life, she grew up in an orphanage. Even though there were flowers and grass in the orphanage, she had never really appreciated them.

"Once the new house is built, we can plant some flowers!"

Long Lifan thought to herself that she could finally relax and enjoy life without the exhaustion and stress of her previous life.

Around noon, the group finally carried their baskets to hand in their task. After lunch, they rested for two hours before setting off again with their baskets.

Seeing the other educated youth who were with them, who had only worked half a day, their spirits were not very high. Except for Lin Yue, who had experience in farm work, the others were not in good spirits.

Even Liu Pandi had never done farm work before. Today, the person in charge of guiding her was a talkative aunt. Hearing her constant nagging, she felt like she was being hit both physically and mentally.

The others were in similar situations to Liu Pandi, all suffering from the villagers' disdain and contempt.

The three women exchanged a knowing glance, all feeling that choosing to cut pig feed was a wise decision. Hu Lili and Jiang Nian'an, in particular, felt that if they hadn't followed Long Zhiqing, they probably would have suffered the same fate.

In the afternoon, the three of them went for another walk around the area where they had gathered pig feed earlier that day, and soon finished their task, since Qi Fangfang hadn't come in the afternoon.

After completing their mission, the three handed over their duties and returned to the educated youth settlement to cook and wash up. Long Lifan was quite satisfied with her first day of work.

Although it was only two centimeters, it was the first centimeter she had earned since traveling back to the era of the collective economy, making it exceptionally meaningful. She had only ever seen the collective economy in books or novels before, but now she was beginning to experience it firsthand.

The next day, the familiar sound of gongs rang out again!

Hearing that familiar voice, Long Lifan felt unusually frustrated. Their tasks had all been predetermined, but even so, they still had to assemble at the brigade headquarters.

"If only we didn't have to go to the assembly!" As the third gong sounded, Hu Lili slowly got up, dragging her slumped body. Still half asleep, she mumbled something incoherently.

"Yes!"

Long Lifan echoed, she didn't want to get up so early either. The task of carrying one basket could be completed in two hours at most for them, and they could sleep until 8 or 9 o'clock.

However, there was nothing they could do; it was a rule of the Dongwan Brigade, and they dared not openly violate it. They would see if they could discuss it with the brigade leader later.

Long Lifan already knew that the grass could be used as pig feed, so she was much faster than yesterday. In addition, the sickle she was using was sold to her by the system, which saved her time and effort. So when she finished her task, Hu Lili and Jiang Nian'an still had half left.

Long Lifan wanted to help the two women, but they refused. Jiang Nian'an didn't want to trouble her, since Long Lifan had already helped her a lot. As for Hu Lili, it was purely her competitive nature; she thought, "Yesterday everyone's speed was about the same, so why is it different today?"

"Fangfang, what's wrong!"

Long Lifan and Qi Fangfang sat down to rest. When Qi Fangfang suddenly stood up, they followed her gaze and saw a boy walking over.

"Brother Jie, what brings you here!"

The boy looked at Qi Fangfang, then at Long Lifan. Qi Fangfang quickly said, "Brother Xiaojie, this is Sister Long, she's an educated youth who came to the countryside."

"Oh," the boy replied casually, then fixed his gaze on Qi Fangfang. "I heard that Auntie's illness has relapsed. Is everything alright?"

"It's nothing, I have to thank Sister Long for this!" Qi Fangfang said with a smile as she recounted what happened that day.

"It's good that you're alright!" The boy breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, and then took out a few bird eggs from his pocket and handed them to Qi Fangfang, saying, "Fangfang, these are what I found on the mountain. Take them to your aunt to help her recover."

"You should take this back, give it to Auntie and Xiaomei to help them recover!" Qi Fangfang was about to refuse, but the boy still placed the bird eggs in her hands and turned to leave. "I have more, these are especially for you and Auntie!"

Qi Fangfang held the bird eggs, staring at the boy's retreating figure, feeling somewhat lost and stunned for a long time.

"Who was that boy just now...?"

"Sister Long, his name is Lin Jie, and he used to live in Dongwan Brigade as well."

"..."

Through the little girl's slow narration, Long Lifan also learned some information about Lin Jie.

Lin Jie came to Dongwan Brigade after his mother remarried. Although he was her stepfather, he treated her very well and later gave birth to a younger sister for her.

But misfortune always seems to strike at the thinnest part of the rope, and hardship always seems to befall the unfortunate. When her younger sister was two years old, her father fell ill and died. Immediately, rumors spread among the villagers that Lin Jie's mother was a jinx to her husbands.

Poor Lin Jie, at such a young age, first lost his biological father, then his loving adoptive father. This series of blows made Lin Jie somewhat withdrawn, and he had very few friends.

Qi Fangfang was in a similar situation to her, both being ostracized by the village children, so the two naturally became good friends.