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

"Sister Fan, Sister Fan..."

Hu Lili's voice came out before she even got home; she couldn't wait to tell them what had just happened.

"You've gone to collect firewood!" Long Lifan looked at her, who was covered in sweat, with a bundle of firewood at her feet.

They had just been wondering where Hu Zhiqing had gone. But no one had expected her to go and gather firewood alone. Long Lifan suddenly understood; it seemed that Hu Lili had taken her casual remark that morning seriously.

That damned competitive spirit! Looking at her, sweating profusely yet with a smug expression, Long Lifan didn't know whether to laugh at her for being stupid or just plain silly!

Okay! There's really no difference between being stupid and being idiot.

"Let me tell you..."

Hu Lili quickly recounted her encounter with Chen Wei, and everyone understood what had happened. Long Lifan couldn't help but feel secretly pleased; Hu Lili had finally shown some intelligence.

People like Chen Wei were the most despised by Long Lifan. He was always shirking his duties or cheating at work, and a grown man like him earned fewer work points than the female educated youth.

During the harvest a few days ago, Chen Wei's group lived not far from them. Long Lifan heard his members complain more than once that he was lazy and always went to the millstone. He went seven or eight times in one morning, and it was obvious to everyone that he was trying to slack off.

Although Hu Lili and Jiang Nian'an are slow workers, they keep working.

He's not proactive in his work, but he's got a lot of ulterior motives. He's just trying to take advantage of Hu Lili because of her good family background.

It's fortunate that Hu Lili directly rejected this scheming and shameless person. If Hu Lili had accepted his help today, he might have dared to come to her courtyard to seek an opportunity tomorrow.

"Alright, wash your hands and eat!" Long Lifan didn't mind much, after all, Hu Lili had handled it well, so she invited her to eat.

"Yes, yes, yes, let's eat! I want to eat meat too!" Hu Lili excitedly ran to the side to wash her hands.

Liu Pandi and Lin Yue exchanged a glance. Was this still the same young lady who would turn her back on meat on the train?

Among them, Liu Pandi felt it the most deeply, as she often helped Hu Lili finish the leftovers back then.

Looking back on her two months in the countryside, she ate more meat than she had in all her previous years combined, and sometimes it felt like a dream.

Of course, she knew she was lucky to have met them. As a fellow female educated youth, she knew exactly which three women were in the educated youth settlement.

She believed that if she hadn't met Long Zhiqing and the others, her life would have been worse than Xiang Fang's.

Her family wasn't well-off, and she couldn't afford to treat everyone to anything nice. All she could do was do more to repay everyone. So every day after meals, she would voluntarily wash everyone's dishes and chopsticks, and even help Hu Lili clean the yard when she had free time.

Meanwhile, Xiang Fang, back at the educated youth settlement, started cooking dinner for everyone. Because of what had just happened, she had been delayed on the way, so it was much later than usual.

"Xiang, is dinner ready yet?"

Chen Hongjie walked into the kitchen. They should usually be eating by this time, so why was it taking so long today? Feeling the hunger in her stomach, her tone was questioning but also carried a hint of reproach.

"almost done!"

At that moment, Xiang Fang was preoccupied with what had just happened and didn't notice his attitude at all. She answered vaguely, and her hands moved a little faster.

Seeing this, Chen Hongjie put his hands behind his back and stepped out of the kitchen.

Today I had cornbread again, and then stir-fried some greens. It was supposed to be stir-fried, but I didn't use much oil; it was mostly boiled.

After Xiang Fang and the others brought out the food, the male educated youths were already sitting at the table waiting.

Chen Weigang was already extremely uncomfortable after being scolded by Hu Lili. Then, thinking of the aroma of meat that wafted from Hu Zhiqing's new house when he passed by, he couldn't help but complain when he saw the boiled vegetables: "Zhiqing, your stir-fry looks like it's been boiled. How can I have any appetite?"

"Everyone was working so hard the past few days harvesting, couldn't you have added a little more oil?"

Actually, the aroma of the meat wasn't just noticeable to the two of them; everyone else at the educated youth settlement could smell it. A sense of envy and regret rose in their hearts, especially since the newly arrived educated youth weren't eating with them.

Upon hearing Chen Wei's remarks, they all fell silent. However, they all turned their gazes to Xiang Fang, their meaning clear.

"There wasn't much oil left, so I used less..." They were eating together, and they all chipped in to buy the oil, salt, and other seasonings.

"There's no need to put in so little. Look at this vegetable, it doesn't look stir-fried at all, it's clearly boiled. You can't see a drop of oil." Chen Wei was still not happy. He picked up a piece of vegetable with his chopsticks and said in front of everyone.

"Chen Wei, what do you mean?" Xiang Fang, who had a short temper, immediately retorted angrily when she heard Chen Wei say this: "I think you're just trying to curry favor with Hu Zhiqing, and she didn't accept it, so you're coming to pick a fight with me indirectly."

Upon hearing this, the others realized that Hu Zhiqing was involved. They all perked up their ears, eager to hear what was to come.

"You...you're talking nonsense!" Chen Wei hadn't expected Xiang Fang to have witnessed what had just happened, and now hearing her say it in front of everyone, he felt embarrassed and angry. So, he stood up and pointed at Xiang Fang, saying:

"I'm talking to you too. We all buy our oil together every month. Are you sneaking some by not using oil when you cook?

"You're talking nonsense!" Xiang Fang also stood up, pointed at Chen Wei, and said angrily.

Chen Wei's words were undeniably malicious; theft is a word universally condemned. If she were branded with that label, she would never be able to hold her head high again.

Her reputation was at stake, how could she not be angry? She thought to herself, those few female educated youths had to meticulously budget every day for the sake of everyone, even the amount of oil and salt they used, and this was the kind of talk they received in return.

Thinking of all this, Xiang Fang couldn't hold back any longer and grabbed the chopsticks on the table, throwing them at Chen Wei, which hit him right in the face.

"Xiang Fang, are you crazy!" Feeling the pain on his face, Chen Wei cursed angrily, "Or are you just angry because I hit the nail on the head?"

"I'll fight you!"

Hearing that Chen Wei was still framing her, she completely lost her mind and lunged at Chen Wei.

The noise naturally reached Long Lifan and the others, who were sitting in the courtyard digesting their food.

"What's wrong with them? It sounds like they're arguing!" Yang Qianqian looked towards the educated youth settlement and asked with a puzzled expression.

"Why don't we go take a look?" Hu Lili's curiosity got the better of her again, and she suggested.

“Okay, I’ll go!” Long Lifan thought for a moment. They were all educated youth, and as members of the educated youth group, they should indeed go and see.

So the seven of them locked the courtyard gate and headed towards the educated youth settlement. When they were halfway there, they seemed to hear the sound of fighting, and Hu Lili took the lead and ran ahead.

Seeing this, the others quickened their pace. Fortunately, they were not far from the educated youth settlement, only two or three hundred meters away, so they arrived at the settlement in about three minutes.

When they arrived at the educated youth settlement, they saw Chen Wei and Xiang Fang still fighting, with Xiang Hong helping them from the side.

Upon seeing them, Chen Hongjie feared that continuing would attract the attention of the villagers, and that rumors of discord among the educated youth would spread again.

Especially if the captain and the others found out, they would definitely think that he was not qualified as the head of the detachment, so he immediately shouted for everyone to separate them.