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

When Xu Tiansheng saw the new type of sickle that Lin Guodong took out, he was completely shocked.

Although he had been a factory manager for many years, he had a deep impression of the sickles used in rural areas now. Therefore, he immediately noticed that these sickles were quite different from those of the past.

After receiving the sickle, I swung it around a few times and found it to be lightweight, compact, and effortless. This new sickle is indeed worth promoting.

“Long Zhiqing, this sickle is…” Xu Tiansheng’s appeal became urgent. He believed that if they could master the design of this sickle and have the production rights, the machine factory’s predicament would be easily solved.

However, since Long Zhiqing already had such a sickle, he was afraid that other places had already started producing them.

“I saw it in a book, then modified and designed it, and then asked my father to play a couple of rounds for me,” Long Lifan said calmly.

Nowadays, this kind of sickle doesn't even exist, so they have to find an excuse to cover it up! Anyway, there are no patent fees in this era, so she can use it without any pressure.

"This was actually designed by you, Long Zhiqing!" Xu Tiansheng was somewhat shocked. He thought it was a product of the Shanghai Machinery Factory, but he never expected that it was invented by the young girl in front of him.

"Director Xu, you know I'm a girl. I didn't think too much about it at the time, I just wanted to make something lightweight and compact."

"During the recent harvest season, I watched the commune members wielding their old sickles. By the end of the day, they were exhausted and in pain, their arms barely able to lift."

"It made me feel really bad, so I thought if all the commune members could use this new type of sickle, it would not only improve efficiency and save effort, but most importantly, it wouldn't hurt my arms as much."

"Well, I heard that Uncle Qiu works at a machinery factory, so I thought I'd ask him to make an introduction."

"I never imagined that Long Zhiqing, at such a young age, would have such a loving heart." Xu Tiansheng said with a flattering expression, "You mean we can produce this kind of sickle now?"

"Hmm!" Long Lifan nodded. "With the current level of the county machinery factory, producing this kind of sickle should be quite easy!"

"Of course."

Xu Tiansheng replied arrogantly, "Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse; their factory still has nearly a hundred employees. Besides, he'd carefully examined the sickle; it wasn't complicated. With their factory's capabilities, they could easily manufacture it."

This thing was invented by Long Zhiqing, isn't it a bit inappropriate for them to do it like this?

“However, Long Zhiqing, this thing is an invention. Are you really willing to contribute it?”

“Of course!” Long Lifan smiled. “Isn’t that exactly why I came to see you? I also hope that the vast majority of people in rural areas can suffer less.”

“Good!” Xu Tiansheng stood up abruptly and bowed to Long Lifan. “I never expected that such a young girl like Long Lifan would have such high awareness. I am truly ashamed. Please accept my bow.”

"No, no, no!" Long Lifan quickly stood up and dodged. Xu Tiansheng was a factory leader, and Long Lifan clearly sensed a unique aura about him, an aura she had seen in her grandfather, clearly belonging to the military. Therefore, Long Lifan dared not accept his grand gesture. "Director Xu, please don't do this. I was just doing what a Chinese person should do."

"Haha, not bad!" Xu Tiansheng laughed heartily upon hearing this, his admiration for Long Lifan growing even stronger. "If all the educated youth sent to the countryside had your level of awareness, we might have already achieved the Four Modernizations."

"I wonder how Director Xu plans to sell them after they're produced?" Long Lifan smiled slightly upon hearing the praise. Then, she changed the subject and asked.

"Of course, we'll sell them through the supply and marketing cooperative." Xu Tiansheng didn't understand what Long Lifan meant. It's a planned economy now; private buying and selling is forbidden. Even the products manufactured by their machinery factory must be sold through the supply and marketing cooperative—that's the regulation.

“This…” Long Lifan knew this was true, but she shook her head, looking as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

"Is there something you're not comfortable saying? Please speak freely, Long Zhiqing." Xu Tiansheng asked when he saw Long Lifan shaking her head, clearly wanting to say something.

"Director Xu, I wonder if you've noticed that state-owned stores all have a common problem these days."

"What common problem?" Xu Tiansheng asked, somewhat puzzled, after a moment of surprise.

"Director Xu, do you really not know?" Long Lifan said seemingly intentionally, and then continued, "I guarantee that even if you put this kind of sickle into the supply and marketing cooperative, I'm afraid you won't be able to sell many of them."

The supply and marketing cooperatives of today are quite a quirky entity; the sales clerks, earning fixed salaries, have no knack for salesmanship. Even if they knew the benefits of using a sickle, they wouldn't accept it.

Some sales clerks even discriminated against farmers, showing them no respect. When buying things, they wouldn't even allow the farmers to touch them. And how could the commune members know the benefits of a sickle without experiencing it firsthand? Therefore, they wouldn't buy it.

"You mean we have to go find clients!" Meeting Long Lifan's meaningful gaze, Xu Tiansheng instantly understood what she meant and immediately shook his head, "No way, how can that be? It's illegal!"

"Ha, Director Xu, what are you thinking!" Long Lifan laughed loudly, and then said, "As a citizen of China, how could I incite you to do criminal things!"

"What you just meant was..." Xu Tiansheng's voice trailed off at the end, barely audible to himself, as if afraid of being overheard.

"How could I have meant that!" Long Lifan thought for a moment and decided to give them a vivid sales lesson.

“I think after you manufacture this sickle, you don’t have to rush to take it to the supply and marketing cooperative. You can find some communes throughout the county and send it out as aid in the name of the machinery factory.”

"When these communes see how convenient this sickle is, do you still have to worry about not being able to sell it?"

"Brilliant!" Fang Weiming, the sales manager, immediately recognized the brilliance of this move. Not only did it promote the sickle, but it also earned their machinery factory a good reputation.

"Factory Director, I think Long Zhiqing's method is excellent and should be used." Fang Weiming took the lead and stood up to support Long Lifan.

Xu Tiansheng wasn't stupid, and he knew that this method could kill two birds with one stone. He immediately smiled and said, "I didn't expect that you, Long Zhiqing, also know about sales. I wonder if you would be interested in working in the sales department of my machinery factory?"

Lin Guodong was stunned when he heard this. Why would he suddenly invite Long Zhiqing to work at the machinery factory? He immediately turned his gaze to Long Lifan, who was standing to the side, as if afraid that she would agree.

He realized that Long Zhiqing was a truly capable person, and their Dongwan Brigade needed someone like that. No, he had to go back and discuss it with those cadres to see if they could arrange a new job for Long Zhiqing.

"Thank you for thinking so highly of me, Director Xu, but as a former educated youth sent to the countryside, I still want to stay in the rural area and contribute to the village's development," Long Lifan said with a slight smile.

She knew, of course, that this was Xu Tiansheng being polite, and she wouldn't take advantage of it. Besides, she was doing just fine in the Dongwan Brigade; why would she want to work here? However, as a member of the Dongwan Brigade, she felt she should still fight for their interests.

"Director Xu, you may not know how poor our Dongwan Brigade is. We never receive any rewards from the commune. I'm afraid that when you go to aid the Hongxing Commune, we won't get a single penny either."

"How about your factory donates a batch of supplies to our Dongwan Brigade? We'll definitely give your factory a good publicity boost then. What do you think?"

“No problem, I’ll give you Dongwan Brigade 2…50 sickles!” Xu Tiansheng originally wanted to say 20 sickles, but then he remembered that the sickles were brought out by Long Zhiqing and that he had also provided them with a new idea, so he changed his mind.