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

"Then I thank Director Xu for his generous assistance on behalf of all the members of our Dongwan Brigade." Long Lifan's expectations were only around 20, but she didn't expect Xu Tiansheng to be so generous in the end, so she immediately expressed her gratitude.

"Director Xu, now that things have been settled, we'll be leaving now." Having achieved her goal, Long Lifan was ready to return.

"How can that be? You've helped us so much, Long Zhiqing, you have to have a meal before you leave!" Director Xu wanted them to stay for a meal to express his gratitude.

"Director Xu, you're too kind," Long Lifan politely declined. "Maybe next time. We have other things to do today, so we won't stay any longer."

"Alright!" Seeing that Long Lifan said so, Xu Tiansheng didn't insist. He immediately shouted towards the door, "Xiao Wang, drive Long Zhiqing and the others."

Long Lifan and the others were driven away in a car by Xiao Wang's driver. When they passed the gatekeeper, Yang Bin immediately recognized the girl as the one he had stopped earlier, and he was terrified.

"Director Qiu, how did you and Long Zhiqing meet?" After Long Lifan and the others left, Xu Tiansheng was curious about how Qiu Yuansheng had gotten to know such a capable young girl, so he asked curiously.

"Actually, Long Zhiqing is my daughter's savior." Qiu Yuansheng immediately told her how his daughter encountered human traffickers and how Long Zhiqing saved her.

"These human traffickers deserve to be punished." As a soldier, Xu Tiansheng naturally hated those who committed crimes and said fiercely.

"No wonder the police have been reporting cracking a human trafficking case lately." He hadn't expected that the capture of these traffickers would be related to that little girl, and he couldn't help but exclaim, "Truly, women are just as capable as men!"

After a brief sigh, he immediately instructed, "Director Qiu, as a member of the production department, you will be in charge of producing this new sickle. You must ensure its quality."

"Our chances of turning things around depend entirely on this. I hope you won't let me down."

"Yes, Factory Director, I guarantee to complete the task with high quality and quantity!" Qiu Yuansheng was overjoyed. The meaning of this was self-evident, and he immediately expressed his commitment.

"Director Yang!" Then she turned to Yang Ming beside her, "I remember he's the nephew at the gate!"

Yes, yes!

Yang Ming was startled. What did this mean? Was it because Yang Bin had stopped him earlier, or because he had mocked Qiu Yuansheng, that Director Xu was going to settle old scores? He answered somewhat guiltily.

"It's good for a security guard to be loyal to his duty. But it depends on the situation. Like today, you should at least ask the other person's purpose before arbitrarily turning them away!"

Xu Tiansheng looked righteous and indignant, as if he wasn't the one who first heard that Long Zhiqing was being driven away not because of the order.

"Yes, yes, yes," but what could Yang Ming do? A higher-ranking official could have absolute power, so he immediately nodded in agreement. Fortunately, Director Xu only mentioned it briefly, and there was no punishment.

"Long Zhiqing, did Director Xu just promise to donate 50 sickles to our Dongwan Brigade?" Xiao Wang escorted them back to Hongxing Commune. All the way, Lin Guodong felt like he was in a dream.

Having served as the brigade leader for many years, this was the first time he had received such treatment. Especially since the memory of Director Xu promising to assist their Dongwan Brigade kept replaying in his mind.

Fifty new sickles! Even if each sickle costs only two or three yuan, these are worth over a hundred yuan. And they were just given to their brigade like that.

Earlier, with the driver, Xiao Wang, nearby, Lin Guodong hadn't been able to speak up, so he asked as soon as they got out of the car.

“It’s true.” Long Lifan thought Lin Guodong was worried that the machinery factory would go back on its word, so she said, “Don’t worry, the Brigade Leader’s Machinery Factory is a big factory in the county, they won’t go back on their word.”

"I just find it unbelievable, it feels like a dream!" Lin Guodong was not afraid that the machinery factory would go back on its word, but it was the first time he had encountered such a thing, and he was momentarily stunned.

Seeing the deep thought on the brigade leader's face, Long Lifan didn't bother to pay him any attention. Suddenly, she remembered that Hu Lili had asked her to carry something for her. They had just left the machinery factory and been driven directly back to the commune, completely forgetting about it.

"Never mind, let's go to the supply and marketing cooperative here and buy some things to take back later!" The two returned to the intersection and saw Old Man Chen hiding under a big tree to cool off, while the cow was eating grass nearby.

The two men came specifically to see if Old Chen was there; it seemed he hadn't listened to the captain and had been waiting here.

Because the brigade leader needed to go to the commune to pick up fertilizer, Long Lifan suggested that they split up. She also needed to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some things.

"Okay, let's meet here in half an hour!" Lin Guodong thought for a moment and agreed, then he and Old Man Chen drove the oxcart away.

Long Lifan immediately ran to the supply and marketing cooperative and bought whatever she saw, spending more than 20 yuan before stopping.

We had planned to eat at a restaurant, but realizing we didn't have enough time, we bought steamed buns and mantou instead. We figured Grandpa Chen and the brigade leader were hungry too, so we bought a few extra.

When she reached the intersection, the captain and his men were already waiting there. Upon seeing this, Long Lifan jogged over.

"Here, Captain, Grandpa Chen, have a steamed bun to tide you over." Long Lifan took out the steamed buns she had just bought from her pocket and gave one to each of them. It was almost noon, and their stomachs were growling with hunger.

"You..." Lin Guodong said somewhat embarrassed.

"Here you go, Captain, you must be starving after accompanying me on this trip to the county town!"

When the county town was mentioned, Lin Guodong felt even more guilty, since Long Lifan hadn't come to the county town for her personal matters, but had instead helped their Dongwan Brigade.

Taking the steamed bun, Lin Guodong thought that he couldn't let her suffer any loss this time. He would go back and discuss it with the village cadres, and they had to come up with a plan to make amends to Long Zhiqing.

"Grandpa Chen!"

"You little rascal..." Old Chen opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately the words stuck in his throat. This girl is the typical type who listens to everything you say, but will do the same thing again next time.

What did he, an old man, deserve to be treated like this by a young educated youth? However, seeing that even the brigade leader had accepted the steamed bun, he had no choice but to accept it as well. In his heart, he thought that he must find an opportunity to repay the young educated youth's kindness.

"Hey, Captain, didn't you go to get fertilizer? You're here so fast!" Long Lifan said, eating a steamed bun while glancing at the bags of fertilizer on the oxcart. "Where's the rest?!"

"The rest? What's left?" Lin Guodong was taken aback. Then he pointed to the fertilizer and said, "That's all, that's it."

"What?"

Long Lifan was somewhat incredulous. Although Dongwan Brigade had a large population and limited land, it still had nearly 2000 mu of land. What could a few bags of fertilizer possibly do?

"It's good enough if we have any. In previous years, our Dongwan Brigade sometimes didn't even have a single pound!" Lin Guodong sighed and said helplessly.

“Long Zhiqing, you haven’t been here long, so you may not know, but we’ve all gotten used to it.”

“After our Dongwan brigade finished delivering the grain to the state, there was only enough left for the commune members to eat. According to regulations, in addition to delivering the grain to the state, each brigade also had to deliver a batch of ‘charity grain’.”

"Charity grain?" Long Lifan murmured these words, her lips twitching. She had never heard the villagers mention it before. But she did know that charity grain meant the government was buying grain from the production brigade at a price lower than the market price to help impoverished areas.

The Dongwan Brigade barely had enough food for itself, let alone the capacity to contribute "charity grain." However, this was often used by higher authorities to select outstanding brigades, which would then receive more support from above.

“Yes!” Lin Guodong said sadly, “Our brigade doesn’t even have enough to eat, so how can we hand over any ‘charity’ food? That’s why any good things from above are always given to the brigades that are doing well.”

Although somewhat frustrated, Lin Guodong felt that the decision made by the higher authorities was correct. If everyone waited for assistance from above, it would inevitably breed laziness.