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

To create something new?

It's easier said than done. The last new farm tool they made was only successfully manufactured based on a sample provided by Long, a educated youth.

This involves design and invention, which requires specialized technical personnel, and it's clear that their machine factory doesn't have such people. Even if they did, given the size of their factory, they probably wouldn't be able to retain them.

These days, anyone with even a little technical knowledge is a key focus of the government, so why would someone like this work at a mere county machinery factory?

Long Lifan was aware of this situation. When she spoke to Xu Tiansheng at the machinery factory, she was merely offering him a suggestion. Although the new farm implements involved some use of Xu Tiansheng, she had no regrets about doing so for the sake of the commune members.

She used the machinery factory to promote new agricultural tools, which benefited the masses, while the machinery factory used them to change its predicament. The cooperation between the two was a case of one willing to give and the other willing to receive, and neither owed the other anything.

Glancing casually at the bicycles parked by the wall, Director Xu's gift was exactly what he wanted. Besides, he would be staying in Pingwu County for several more years, and he never knew when he might need to ask for help from him.

From both a moral and logical standpoint, Long Lifan had no reason to directly refuse. She had previously mentioned the development prospects of the machinery factory, focusing on agriculture. Machines like harvesters, threshers, and even flour mills were among the areas of research.

Unfortunately, in this day and age, firstly, those with technical skills have all been recruited by the government for research, and secondly, there is a shortage of human resources. As a county-level unit, the county machinery factory certainly doesn't have these research talents.

However, this didn't stop her from bringing it up, since she was a transmigrator with a system. These things would be commonplace in later generations, and she knew how important they were for advancing agricultural modernization.

"I believe that developing around agriculture is definitely the right thing to do, but the specific areas to focus on need to be discussed carefully."

"For example, harvesting is still done manually. Have you considered creating machines to replace it? And what about wheat or rice that needs threshing after harvesting…?"

Long Lifan pointed in several directions in quick succession, all based on her own experience from later generations.

"How about this? I once saw an introduction to the layout and structure of a thresher in a foreign language book. I'll spend some time these next few days trying to sketch it out."

"real!"

Xu Tiansheng was overjoyed. He had only consulted the consultant with a try-it-out attitude, but he didn't expect to actually get something out of it.

"Hmm!" Long Lifan nodded, adding casually, "However, Director Xu, you should also train some technical personnel yourselves, so that even if I don't have a plan, you won't be at a loss."

She had already discussed the general direction with Director Xu, even mentioning several areas where research was needed. For Xu Tiansheng's machinery factory to truly rise to prominence, it needed its own technical talent; they couldn't keep coming to her for every problem—that would be too much for her.

“Five days!” Long Lifan pushed her right hand forward, palm open. “Give me five days. In five days, you can have Comrade Wang come and pick it up.”

After exchanging pleasantries, Xu Tiansheng said goodbye and left, stating that he would come to pick it up in person in five days.

Hu Lili and Jiang Nian'an came in after seeing Xu Tiansheng and the others leave on their bicycles.

"Sister Fan"

Hu Lili greeted Long Lifan with a smile, but her eyes were fixed on the brand-new bicycle. "You're really amazing, someone gave you another bike."

Envious? This is all thanks to my own intelligence. Long Lifan thought happily, though she couldn't use that bicycle anymore.

"Yeah, but I don't need that many. If any of you need them, I'll sell the previous one for 100 yuan!"

The two were taken aback for a moment, not because they thought Long Lifan's price was too high—the current market price for a bicycle was around 180 yuan, and you'd need a receipt. The previous bicycle, though not new, might not even be available for 100 yuan. Long Lifan's offer of 100 yuan was clearly a discount due to their friendship.

Hu Lili didn't say anything; she clearly wanted a new car, and she felt uncomfortable spending money to buy an old one.

Jiang Nian'an, standing to the side, was somewhat tempted. If she bought a bicycle, it would be much more convenient for her to visit her grandparents. The key issue was that she only had money, but no bicycle ticket or similar items.

"I want!"

"Row!"

The money was exchanged for the goods. Long Lifan took the money and deposited it into her account. Then she looked at Jiang Nian'an and suggested, "How about we go for a ride?"

Long Lifan wanted to prove to everyone that she could ride a bicycle. From that day on, riding bicycles every evening became their daily routine.

Gradually, it attracted many children to come and watch. For children, bicycles are definitely a novelty, and they are full of curiosity.

Actually, the adults were also curious, but they were too shy to gather around like the children. They could only stand at a distance and watch silently, feeling envious.

"clang clang"

On that day, Long Lifan was teaching Qi Fangfang and the others how to ride bicycles when the sound of a gong came from the brigade headquarters.

"What's going on?" Long Lifan looked down at Qi Fangfang beside her.

"I do not know either!"

As a local, Qi Fangfang was also puzzled. It was evening, the time when people finished work, so there shouldn't have been any gong sounds.

Immediately afterwards, they saw countless villagers running up the mountain, shouting as they ran: "Someone killed a wild boar!" The group quickly turned their bikes around, left them at home, and followed the crowd up the mountain.

Wild boars were a major scourge in this era, frequently descending from the mountains to damage crops. Not only that, wild boars were also highly aggressive and prone to injuring people; most people's first reaction upon seeing a wild boar was to flee. As a result, many places established hunting teams specifically to eradicate these pests.

Long Lifan was surprised that someone from the Dongwan Brigade could kill a wild boar, and out of curiosity, she decided to come and see for herself.

The group followed the main force up the mountain, and from afar they could hear the villagers' exclamations.

"Shi Shen is not bad, he can even kill a wild boar."

"Yes, look at this wild boar, it must weigh at least two hundred pounds!"

"........."

Listening to the villagers' discussions, Long Lifan finally understood who had killed the wild boar.

No wonder they were able to scrape together 400 yuan so quickly last time; it turns out they have this ability. As for Qi Fangfang, upon hearing that it was her brother, she immediately ran forward, trying to find him.

Wild boars are dangerous creatures, and the little girl was clearly worried about her brother. Seeing this, Long Lifan had no choice but to follow behind.

"Brother, are you alright!" When Qi Fangfang saw Qi Shishen, he was talking to the captain. She buried her face in her brother's chest, feeling worried. Especially when she saw the bloodstains on her brother, her heart jumped into her throat.

"It's alright, it's all wild boar blood," Qi Shishen said, rubbing his sister's head.

Lin Guodong quickly called on everyone to carry the wild boar down the mountain. The villagers' faces beamed with joy because it meant they could get their share of the meat.

There are four wild boars here, two large and two small, weighing about 500 to 600 jin (250-300 kg) in total. With over a thousand people in the Dongwan brigade, that's roughly half a jin (250g) of meat per person. Keep in mind that even during the Lunar New Year, no one can guarantee half a jin, so this is even more exciting for them than the New Year itself.