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

next morning

The group of girls woke up early, a rare occurrence for them. Compared to their sluggish mornings when they first arrived, they had been eagerly anticipating this early rise. Instead of the usual early morning drowsiness, they were filled with excitement and anticipation.

Today they are moving to the newly built house, and finally they won't have to squeeze into the large dormitory at this educated youth settlement anymore.

Long Lifan was very happy; she could finally cook for herself. Although she cooked alone at the educated youth settlement, everyone was watching, so she didn't dare to be too conspicuous.

Once she moves into her new home, and the door is closed, who will know what she's eating? She's rich now, and her parents send her money every month.

Imagining their future life together, Long Lifan felt increasingly happy and almost burst out laughing.

As soon as the group stepped outside, they found Grandpa Wang standing outside the educated youth compound, a handcart beside him. Seeing the female educated youths emerge, Grandpa Wang smiled kindly and said:

"Knowing you're moving today, I specially brought the handcart so you can save some effort."

"Oh, Uncle Wang, you're too kind. Didn't we say we could do it?" Long Lifan had refused Carpenter Wang yesterday, but he still insisted on coming.

“No way!” Carpenter Wang said with a serious face, “Moving things is no easy job, it’s not something you girls can do.”

Hearing what Carpenter Wang said, Long Lifan and the others felt somewhat helpless. They wanted to say that they weren't as weak as Grandpa Wang thought; after all, they had moved quite a lot yesterday.

However, considering that Grandpa Wang had already come all this way, refusing him again might hurt his feelings. Judging from his appearance, he seemed to have been waiting outside the educated youth settlement for quite some time; it was unclear whether he had eaten breakfast yet.

Since we can't refuse, let's use it. Anyway, having a handcart will save them a lot of effort.

Long Lifan then suggested that Grandpa Wang eat breakfast before starting, but Grandpa Wang refused, saying that he had already eaten breakfast and then began to help move things.

Grandpa Wang did indeed eat breakfast before coming; he got up early to cook for the occasion. He came with the sincere intention of helping out, and he couldn't let the educated youths invite him to stay for a meal.

The three of them loaded their belongings onto the cart one by one. There weren't many things; it would only take one or two trips. He had thought these female educated youths would have a lot of things.

However, when he pushed his things into the new house, he saw that there were already quite a few things inside, and he realized he was wrong. Apparently, the other party had already moved so much in; he remembered that there weren't any of these things in the house when the furniture was delivered two days ago.

"You moved all of this here!"

"Yes, we got back early yesterday, so we thought we'd move some over ahead of time!" Long Lifan explained softly, "We made several trips yesterday!"

"You guys..." Carpenter Wang was momentarily stunned, unsure of what to say. But judging from the extravagant spending on the three girls' work, building, and furniture, it was clear they were from a wealthy family.

Unexpectedly, he underestimated them. Those things were much more than he had pulled with a handcart today. He didn't know how those girls managed to carry them all over.

Grandpa Wang took the things into the house and prepared to go back. The others also took out some snacks they had bought at the commune yesterday.

"No, no, no, I can't take this. I just wanted to thank you for teaching my grandson to read. What would it mean if I took your things?"

Carpenter Wang realized that even without the help of a few female educated youths, he could easily move his things over. So how could he possibly accept them?

"Uncle Wang, if you don't accept this, we'll never ask you for anything in the future!"

Therefore, Wang the carpenter had no choice but to put the snacks in his pocket and leave.

After tidying up the items, the group checked the time and saw that it was about nine o'clock. So they took their sickles, carried their baskets, and went up the mountain.

It's almost the end of March, and April is just around the corner. They've been in the countryside for over 20 days now, and the temperature has gone from cold when they first arrived to warm.

Perhaps it was because she had moved to a new house, but Long Lifan was in a good mood and her pace slowed down as she began to appreciate the scenery along the way.

As far as the eye could see, there was an endless wheat field, lush and green, a truly delightful sight. A gentle breeze blew by, stirring up waves of wheat.

Among the wheat fields, countless commune members were bent over, clearing away the few remaining weeds. Long Lifan had heard Lin Yue and the others say that their main task was weeding the wheat fields.

Although not exactly tiring, the long hours of bending over had left her with aches and pains in her back and waist. Long Lifan casually glanced at the members; despite their fatigue, everyone was full of energy.

Especially when they saw the rows of wheat ears standing tall, their faces beamed with a sense of contentment. Perhaps this is the most authentic portrayal of the villagers of this era: hardworking and simple.

Because of time constraints, we didn't tell any stories to the children. Seeing their disappointed faces, we took out some snacks and shared them with them. Since there were so many people, each child only got one or two snacks. Even so, the children were still very happy.

In the afternoon, the three of them did not go up the mountain. Around three or four o'clock, they began kneading dough and picking vegetables. Long Lifan was the head chef, Jiang Nian'an was in charge of helping out, and Hu Lili was in charge of tending the fire.

Only then did they realize that while they had brought everything, they had forgotten the firewood. So the three of them had to run back and bring the firewood back.

The three women's new houses were next to each other, with Long Lifan in the middle. Hu Lili was on the left and Jiang Nian'an was on the right. They were all built according to the house plans designed by Long Lifan, and each woman had a small courtyard.

This time, the decision was made to start the conflict with Hu Lili. Don't ask why, Long Lifan doesn't know either; it was Hu Lili's own request.

Considering the appetites of the educated youth, Long Lifan used up more than ten kilograms of high-gluten flour to steam dozens of white flour buns. There were eighteen people in total, and each person needed at least two buns, which was a decision they had made after discussing it.

Next came the stir-fry. Long Lifan chopped up the green beans and vermicelli she had exchanged with the villagers, along with the two jin of pork she had bought the day before, and made a big bowl of it.

Finally, she added a few eggs and some greens to make a soup. She had originally planned to cook a pot of porridge, but she was worried that if the educated youth ate steamed buns and then drank porridge, they would definitely feel unwell at night, so they made a last-minute change.

Hearing the whistle, they knew it was time to finish work; it seemed they had timed their work well. The educated youth would definitely need to wash up after work, so they planned to wait half an hour before calling for help.

Little did they know, just as they were discussing, Lin Yue and Liu Pandi appeared at the door first.

"Wow, you've all finished! Lin and I were saying we'd come back early after work to help!" Liu Pan looked at the white steamed buns, swallowed hard, and exclaimed in astonishment.

They already cooked with Jiang Nian'an and Hu Lili, knowing that neither of them were good cooks, especially Hu Zhiqing, who had never cooked before. Usually, she and Lin Yue were in charge of the meals, while Hu Lili and Jiang Nian'an were responsible for gathering firewood.

Long Lifan usually just cooks thin porridge or noodles, so you can't really tell if she's a good or bad cook. That's why the two of them rushed back to help as soon as they finished work.

If Long Lifan knew what they were thinking, she would definitely say that she just didn't want to cook properly, and that there simply weren't any ingredients. Eating those kinds of food under the noses of the educated youth settlement was already quite awkward; if she cooked anything else delicious, wouldn't that make people envious?