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

"Young Master Long, what did Director Xu bring?"

Watching Xu Tiansheng leave with a smile, holding the design drawings, Lin Guodong slowly asked a question.

"It's nothing, just some design drafts about the detachment machine."

"What chicken?"

"A threshing machine is a mechanical device that can directly thresh wheat or rice. With this, villagers no longer need to laboriously thresh by hand." Long Lifan didn't elaborate further, mainly because even if she did, Lin Guodong might not understand.

Lin Guodong was completely confused, but that didn't stop him from flattering her!

"Long Zhiqing, you're amazing! You know everything!"

Lin Guodong: It seems that building a school must be put on the agenda. Long Zhiqing is so remarkable because she is well-educated. If the children in her village could also go to school, perhaps some talented people could emerge.

Back at the brigade headquarters, Lin Guodong immediately called a meeting with Party Secretary Miao and the others. The central idea was the same: to build a school. Afterward, he didn't forget to say something to them.

"By the way, next time Director Xu comes, we need to send someone to accompany him. We can't let him go to see Long Zhiqing alone."

"What now!"

So Lin Guodong explained what had just happened, saying that Xu Tiansheng was still up to no good and was thinking of poaching Long Zhiqing from their Dongwan Brigade!

"Hmph, he's so shameless!"

Secretary Miao cursed. He had initially had a good impression of Xu Tiansheng after their last trip to the county town, where Xu had helped them negotiate a lower price and driven them around. But now, he shared Lin Guodong's sentiment: they had to be extremely wary of Xu Tiansheng, treating him like a thief.

The importance of Long Zhiqing to Dongwan Brigade is self-evident. Putting aside everything else, just the chicken farm alone, could it function without Long Zhiqing?

In the blink of an eye, it became clear why Lin Guodong was so eager to build the school; he was afraid that Long Zhiqing would suddenly leave their Dongwan Brigade.

The educated youth were like migratory birds; they might leave any day. Even without Xu Tiansheng's incident, someone else would have taken their place, or they might have been brought back to the city someday—no one could say for sure. So what they needed to do now was follow Long Zhiqing's plan. If there were any shortcomings, they could consult her while she was still in Dongwan Brigade.

As for the school's location, they plan to build it on the old site, which is now overgrown with weeds. They intend to announce this to the members first, and then arrange for someone to handle the situation.

When Lin Guodong gathered the educated youth members at the brigade headquarters to announce the news that a school was to be built in the village, the members and educated youth stopped what they were doing and their eyes were filled with surprise.

The commune members looked hesitant, and most of them were still not in favor, feeling that building a school would be a heavy burden. But the educated youth's eyes lit up. Building a school required finding teachers, and every one of them was educated; this was an opportunity for them.

"Really? There's going to be a school in the East Bay Brigade?"

Chen Hongjie asked excitedly, his eyes sparkling with anticipation for the future. He was one of the first to be sent to the countryside and knew the situation in the village. He felt he could give it a try, and the other educated youth echoed his sentiments, each with their own ulterior motives.

I just don't know if, after the school is built, the teachers will have a chance to qualify, as former educated youth.

Despite their doubts and concerns, the villagers and educated youth silently supported the village committee's decision to build a school.

Compared to building schools, more people were concerned about who would be the teachers. Whether they were educated youth or commune members, they came to these cadres openly or secretly, bringing gifts, all in an attempt to secure a teaching position.

At this moment, Lin Guodong and his two companions were sitting in the village committee office, their heads aching at the thought of those people's actions. Of course, they hadn't accepted a single gift, especially Lin Guodong and Zhou Yuhao, who were hoping their children would compete for teaching positions!

But now everyone wants to compete for it, and according to Long Zhiqing's assessment, about four teachers are needed. However, there are so many people in the village, not to mention the other educated youth eyeing the situation covetously. They feel that if this matter isn't handled properly, it could cause trouble.

"What should we do now?"

The school hasn't even started construction yet, and there are already more and more people eyeing teaching positions. Lin Guodong sighed and looked at the two of them, asking.

Miao Dashan and Zhou Huiji exchanged a glance, neither of them having a good solution. However, Miao was relatively more relaxed, since his daughter was now working as a village doctor's assistant under Yang, the educated youth, so she had her own job.

As for his own son, he hadn't even graduated from elementary school. Wouldn't it be a disservice to the children to have him teach? So he wouldn't get involved in that position. But as the Party Secretary, he also hoped to select a suitable person, and without causing discomfort among the crowd.

"How about letting Long Zhiqing make the choice?" Lin Guodong's sudden question made the other two look up at the same time.

"Wouldn't this be a bad idea? After all, it's a job that could offend people." Of course, Secretary Miao knew that it was most suitable for Long, the educated youth, to make the selection. Look at Yang, the educated youth she recommended, and Lin, the educated youth from the chicken farm.

But there are only a few teaching positions available, and so many people are vying for them. No matter who Long Zhiqing chooses in the end, she will offend a large group of people. Secretary Miao really didn't want Long Zhiqing to face these issues; if he offended Long Zhiqing, wouldn't that be pushing her out of the competition?

"I also think that's not a good idea."

Zhou Huiji also disagreed with the proposal. It wasn't that she didn't believe in Long Zhiqing's abilities, but rather that she felt the brigade leader's daughter was a high school graduate and close to Long Zhiqing, so the brigade leader's daughter would definitely be fine, but her own children were another matter.

"Then come up with a solution!" Lin Guodong said helplessly, spreading his hands. The others fell silent again. If they had a solution, they would have said so already; they wouldn't be sitting idly in the office.

A few days later

"What, you want me to choose?"

When Long Lifan heard this news, she was stunned. When did she, as the women's director, have such great authority that she could even designate the number of teachers in the school?

In the past few days, Lin Guodong and his group still couldn't come up with a solution, but as the matter escalated, more and more people came to their door every day. In the end, they had no choice but to let Long Zhiqing come.

"Yes, mainly because we've discussed it these past few days, but we still can't come up with a plan." Lin Guodong was a little embarrassed, but he was even more afraid of upsetting Long Zhiqing, so he spoke in a low voice.

“I think you were very good at choosing Lin Xiuxiu and Lin Yue, the educated youths, last time. Look how well they managed the chicken farm. So, we trust your judgment.”

Seeing the way those people were looking at her, Long Lifan chuckled lightly. They didn't trust her judgment; they clearly wanted her to play the villain. Long Lifan couldn't help but think to herself:

You old geezers are really bad.

Although she had been running back and forth between the chicken farm and the courtyard these past few days, Hu Lili, the queen of gossip, was always around. She already knew that the villagers and the educated youth were fighting tooth and nail for this teacher's spot, so it wasn't an easy job and could easily offend a lot of people.

So he said, without a care in the world:

"Why make it so complicated? If you're going to be a teacher, your academic knowledge must be up to par. Just go to the commune and find some exam papers for aspiring teachers to take. Whoever gets the highest score will get the job!"

“How can that be?” Lin Guodong immediately retorted. “Long Zhiqing, you know that most of the commune members haven’t had much education. If we’re competing based on education, then all the spots will go to the educated youth!”

"No, no, absolutely not." Lin Guodong shook his head violently. "If we do that, we'll be drowned in the villagers' spittle."