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

"I want to ask you a question: do you all not want educated youth to be teachers?"

Long Lifan said something lightly, then stared at the three of them. After a long while, none of them spoke, and Long Lifan immediately understood that the brigade leader and the others still rejected the educated youth, believing that the teacher positions should belong to the local villagers.

"I understand!"

After a long silence, Long Lifan finally uttered these words. Lin Guodong and the others' recent attentiveness wasn't out of acceptance of the educated youth, but rather acceptance of her, or rather, acceptance of the benefits she could bring to the villagers. However, deep down, they still harbored a sense of exclusion towards the educated youth.

“Long Zhiqing, that’s not what the brigade leader meant.” Seeing Long Zhiqing’s change in mood, Miao Dashan immediately stood up to defend him.

“It’s not that we can’t accept educated youth as teachers, but as you know, the relationship between educated youth and commune members is usually good. I’m worried that they won’t teach the children to read properly.”

"Is that so?" Long Lifan nodded slightly, feeling a little better if that was their opinion. Actually, what she had just said wasn't entirely accurate, so she continued:

"The advantage of encouraging educated youth to become teachers lies in their relatively good formal education and solid knowledge base and teaching theory. They can bring innovative teaching methods and concepts to students and broaden their horizons."

“But it’s definitely not right to have all the teachers be sent-down youths. I’ve said before that sent-down youths are like migratory birds; they might fly away any day. What will happen to the children in the village if they all go back to the city then?”

"Therefore, we can let commune members and educated youth take the exam together, but the admission method can be to select a few from each group. Of course, as teachers, we can't just look at academic knowledge; other aspects also need to be considered."

"This way, we can ensure that the children can learn something at school, and we can also give an account to the commune members."

In fact, villagers have an advantage in becoming teachers: they are familiar with rural life and understand the needs and expectations of the villagers. Their teaching is more grounded in reality, can be combined with rural realities, and can cultivate students' practical abilities.

In short, both educated youth and commune members have their advantages and disadvantages in vying to become teachers. Ideally, they could learn from each other, complement each other's strengths and weaknesses, and she also hoped to find a suitable teacher for the Dongwan Brigade.

The children in the village are the future of the country and the hope of Dongwan Brigade. Recalling the children's thirst for knowledge she saw in the mountains, she sincerely hopes that those children will have a different life.

"That's a good idea, let's do it that way!"

"I think it's a good idea too!"

The group nodded in agreement, agreeing that Long Zhiqing's idea was good. Both the educated youth and the commune members would strive for their own success, and if they didn't do well on the exam, they wouldn't be blamed. This way, they could give an explanation to both the commune members and the educated youth.

As for other things besides academic knowledge, they'd leave that to Long Zhiqing. They figured he couldn't have chosen the wrong person.

Back at the brigade headquarters, Lin Guodong publicly announced that anyone who wanted to be a teacher could register with him; anyone could participate. He added that they would be ranked according to their grades, and if someone didn't pass the exam, they shouldn't blame them.

Upon hearing that an exam was required, some members who had planned to register backed out, most of whom hadn't even graduated from junior high school. Many were only considering it because they had connections with the brigade leaders, which meant they had no chance at all.

Many commune members were puzzled and resentful that educated youth could also take the exam. After all, although those educated youth were not good at working, they were all educated, so how could they compare to them?

Fortunately, Captain Lin immediately said that the educated youth's grades would be separated from the commune members' grades, and two people would be selected from each group.

Even so, many commune members still complained that the teachers of Dongwan Brigade shouldn't be educated youth. However, Lin Guodong retorted: "The reason we let educated youth be teachers is because they are highly educated and can cultivate the children into outstanding individuals!"

Compared to the commotion among the commune members, the educated youth settlement was already buzzing with excitement, as they, the educated youth, also had a chance to be selected as teachers this time.

However, considering there were only two spots available, while the Dongwan Brigade had more than ten educated youths, even excluding the three who already had jobs, it was still a case of too many wolves and too few sheep. This thought caused some mutual hostility, and now everyone at the educated youth settlement seemed like a competitor.

So, everyone started looking for books to borrow. Especially the older educated youth, who had been in the countryside for several years and had almost forgotten the knowledge from the books, were as anxious as ants on a hot pan.

Rumors spread that Long, the educated youth, had brought many books, and many people came to borrow them from her. Even Liu Pandi, who only graduated from junior high school, came over. Although she knew her chances were slim, that's how people are; if there's hope, they'll always try, just in case.

Teaching versus working in the fields—even a fool would choose the latter. Although the brigade leader hasn't announced the teachers' salaries yet, it's still better than earning work points in the fields. The key is that being a teacher at school means you won't be exposed to the elements.

It was mid-June, and it was time for the remittance from home again. Long Lifan prepared to go to the commune to collect the money, and Hu Lili and Jiang Nian'an were going to go with her.

Long Lifan no longer needs to ask for leave to go to the commune. In the words of the brigade leader, as long as she arranges things at the chicken farm, the chickens will be fine. She has free time, which makes her very happy.

Long Lifan rode a brand-new bicycle in front, while Hu Lili sat on Jiang Nian'an's bicycle behind them. The group rode their bicycles out of the village in a dashing manner.

"Grandpa Chen!"

When they reached the village entrance, Long Lifan saw Old Man Chen waiting for people in his oxcart. Although she no longer needed to take an oxcart to the commune, she still greeted him out of habit. Hu Lili and Jiang Nian'an also called out to him.

"Be careful when you go to the commune. There are a lot of thieves these days, so keep a close eye on your vehicle. Also, you girls must stay together and never go out alone."

Old Chen genuinely liked these girls; they were not only polite and generous, but also very courteous. Every time they saw him, they would greet him warmly, so he spoke to them in a serious yet concerned tone.

"We know!"

Long Lifan quickly nodded in agreement. It was indeed a bit conspicuous for the three girls to be riding two bicycles. Grandpa Chen was only saying that because he was worried about them.

"We'll be going now!"

The group waved to Old Chen and rode their bicycles towards the commune. Old Chen stared intently until they disappeared from his sight, then sighed, "Those girls!"

"Old Chen, what are you looking at!"

Lin Guodong was going to the commune today because they were going to test aspiring teachers soon, so he was going to get some test questions. As soon as he arrived, he saw Old Chen staring straight ahead and asked with a smile.

"It's not that I'm feeling a little uneasy because I saw Long Zhiqing and the others riding their bikes to the commune. I think they might not be able to ride my oxcart to the commune in the future."

"Hehe, that's true!" Lin Guodong nodded. "Who told Long Zhiqing to be so capable? People kept coming to deliver cars."

"Old Chen, you might be in for a busy time from now on!" Lin Guodong joked, thinking of the chicken farm.

"What are you busy with?"

"Hey, you don't know yet!" Lin Guodong chuckled and continued, "Didn't we buy some chicks at the farmers' market last time? They're almost all grown up now."

“Long Zhiqing said that the eggs will probably be laid soon, and then you’ll be busy. Otherwise, why do you think I was in such a hurry to repair the road a while ago? It was because I was afraid the eggs would break on the road.”