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

"Captain, you've done what I asked you to do, look..." Long Lifan asked with a smile, her eyes slightly narrowed.

"I'll discuss this with the other cadres during the meeting this afternoon, and there shouldn't be any major problems. However, you all need to ensure that you complete the daily quota, otherwise I won't be able to explain it to them," Lin Guodong replied after a moment's thought.

"no problem!"

Upon receiving an affirmative answer, Long Lifan was as happy as a rabbit, hopping and skipping back to the educated youth settlement to share the good news with the other educated youth from Jiangxi.

"Great! I finally don't have to get up so early anymore!" Hu Lili was so excited she almost jumped up, and couldn't help but shout it out.

The work bell has been a real hassle for Hu Lili these past few days. Although the workload isn't heavy, having to get up at 6 a.m. every day is making her miserable.

That afternoon, when the brigade leader announced in front of many people that starting today, their East Bay brigade would also have its own doctor, it did not cause much of a stir.

Instead, mentioning Yang Zhiqing's name caused a stir. The villagers had assumed it would be Long Zhiqing, given the almost miraculous medical skills Long Zhiqing had possessed in the past few days, which they had witnessed firsthand. How could it be Yang Zhiqing?

"Captain, is there some mistake?"

“Why not Long Zhiqing? We’ve all seen her medical skills.”

"Yes, Captain, this is no child's play!"

"........."

The villagers listened and discussed among themselves. Lin Guodong felt a headache coming on. He himself had doubts about Yang Zhiqing's medical skills, but he was sure that Long Zhiqing wouldn't lie to him, since this matter couldn't be kept secret.

"Quiet down, everyone!" Lin Guodong raised his hands high, signaling everyone to quiet down, and said, "Yang Zhiqing was recommended by Long Zhiqing herself, and she also said that Yang Zhiqing's medical skills are superior to hers."

"We will build the village medical station at the brigade headquarters. If there are any problems, you can go there to seek help. We'll know whether it's real or not then!"

The villagers were overjoyed; their village finally had a doctor. Those with minor health issues also began to consider seeing Yang Zhiqing once the medical station was established.

They were usually busy with work and didn't have the time or money to go to the commune for medical treatment. They would just tough it out for minor aches and pains. Now, their brigade finally has its own village doctor.

As soon as Long Lifan and his two companions arrived at the mountain, a number of children gathered around them. The story from yesterday had not yet been finished, so these children had come to the mountain early to wait.

Seeing the eager expressions on everyone's faces, Long Lifan continued the story from yesterday.

In the past two days, as the number of children has gradually increased, Long Lifan discovered that most of these children are around ten years old and have never been to school.

After inquiring, we learned that there used to be a primary school in their village. Several years ago, a flash flood occurred, which not only destroyed the school but also killed a teacher.

There were no schools and no teachers. The children of Dongwan Brigade had no access to education. Especially in recent years, with the influx of educated youth to the countryside, the villagers felt that education was useless. Even children from the city who were studying were sent to the countryside, so they stopped mentioning it.

The children had no access to education, so their horizons were limited. Originally, all of this had nothing to do with her, but seeing how fascinated the children were even by listening to a story, Long Lifan felt that she should make a change.

As a time traveler, she certainly knew the importance of knowledge in the future. She didn't have grand ambitions to change the world, nor could she, but she could teach these children to recognize some characters in her spare time.

"Tiezhu, can you write your own name?" Long Lifan already knew his name, so she asked directly.

"Won't?"

Tie Zhu shook his head.

Long Lifan drew a few lines on the ground and read to him, "Look, this is your name, Lin Tiezhu."

“This is my name!” Lin Tiezhu carefully examined the large characters on the ground and, imitating Long Lifan, silently began to draw them.

"By the way, wasn't the one who fell into the water yesterday your younger brother? What's his name?"

"Lin Tieshuan."

Long Lifan then wrote those three words on the ground.

"Iron Pillar, Iron Bolt," Long Lifan found these names inexplicably amusing. "Who gave you these names? Why not Iron Hammer, Iron Hoe?"

"My dad got it!" Lin Tiezhu chuckled, replying with an honest and simple expression, "Iron Hammer is my brother!"

Good heavens, there really is someone named Iron Hammer! As soon as the name was uttered, Hu Lili, who was standing next to her, couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem with the name?" Lin Tiezhu looked a little naive. Long Lifan quickly rolled her eyes at Hu Lili and then said, "No, no problem."

"Who among you can write their own name?" Long Lifan asked a group of children.

"I can. My mother taught my brother and me to read," Qi Fangfang answered proudly, writing her name on the ground as she spoke.

"Fangfang is great!" Long Lifan praised her generously, giving her a thumbs up.

Of the twenty-odd people, only two or three could write it correctly, and apart from Qi Fangfang, they all wrote it wrong.

Long Lifan didn't say anything, but asked the children their names, writing them down on the ground for each one. "Look carefully, these are your names."

They all squatted down and carefully examined the children. It seemed that these children were not resistant to learning to read, which made things much easier.

Do you want to learn to read?

"think…"

"Okay, I'll teach you!"

Hu Lili and Jiang Nian'an, who were standing nearby, didn't know what Long Lifan was going to do, but they also joined the three of them in teaching the children to read.

For the next few days, the group finally got to sleep in. They didn't get up until after 8 a.m., spending the morning telling stories to the children and the afternoon teaching them to write.

As time went by and the news spread, the number of children grew to nearly 50. The oldest child was only 12 years old, and the youngest was only 5 or 6 years old, but they were all full of enthusiasm.

The news that several educated youths were teaching children to read spread throughout the village. Originally, other village officials had some complaints about the educated youths not coming to the gathering in the morning.

At this moment, everyone obediently shut their mouths, after all, their children were also learning to read with the three educated youths. Especially the brigade accountant, he clearly remembered that his grandson had come back a few days ago and boasted that he had written his name in front of the whole family, and that he had supposedly already learned dozens of characters.

As village officials, they certainly wouldn't think that being literate is useless. Putting aside other factors, each of them has at least a few years of schooling; otherwise, they wouldn't be in their positions.

After the school was destroyed, they reported the problem to the commune. But the reply they received was to solve it themselves. What could they do? They had no money to repair the school or hire teachers, so the problem was put aside.

Now, some former educated youth are teaching children to read for free, and of course, they have no objections.

Time passed day by day, and although they were a little tired, they felt that they had a fulfilling time.

One day, the brigade leader found a few people and told them some great news: their new house had been completed.

"Great! Finally, we don't have to sleep in the shared dormitory anymore!" The three of them immediately ran towards the new house, exclaiming in surprise at the completed building. After exchanging glances, they each headed towards their own courtyards.

The three women's courtyards were next to each other, which made it easier for them to look out for each other. After all, the nearest place to them, the educated youth settlement, was more than 200 meters away.

Behind the house was a vacant lot, which the brigade leader had said was a private plot reserved for the three of them. It wasn't big, only about one or two acres, but it was enough for them to grow some vegetables they liked.

That afternoon, carpenter Wang brought over the furniture that the others had finished making. The furniture had been made two days earlier, but he knew that it would be inconvenient to move later if it was delivered earlier, so he waited two more days.

"Long, Jiang, and Hu, come and see if you're satisfied with the things?" Carpenter Wang said with a smile. Although he was confident in his skills, he was afraid that these people were from big cities and might not like them.

"Satisfied, very satisfied! Grandpa Wang, your craftsmanship is excellent!" Long Lifan gave Wang the carpenter a thumbs up and said with a smile.

"By the way, you former educated youth, when are you planning to move? I'll bring my cart over then!"

"Uncle Wang, we can't accept this. You helped us last time..."

"You educated youths are too kind," Carpenter Wang said sincerely. "It's all what we should do. My grandson has been learning quite a few characters from you all lately!"