Siheyuan: Struggle in the Red Era

There has been little snow this winter, and the wind and sand blowing all day long make people question their lives.

But people don’t care much about this. They are all worried about whether there will be another severe drought next year.

The grain harvest affects so many things. At least, the few girls in high school care about this more than the boys.

Because it was New Year's Day, everyone did not go to the classroom to study at night, but stayed in the dormitory to read.

Lin Baoyan's bed was still on the upper bunk near the door. She was half lying on the bed, flipping through an anthology.

Her next door neighbor is Tao Xiaomei.

Before, Tao Xiaomei went back home to carry food during the holiday, and she was in a bad mood when she came back.

Cao Shuiyun was the one who had the best relationship with her. Seeing that she was always unhappy, he asked her, "What's wrong with you? Didn't you just go back home? Or is there any difficulty at home?"

Like Tao Xiaomei, she was admitted from the countryside. She studied very hard and wished she could read books all the time. She lived a frugal life in school and ate food brought from home. Every time she went home, she would bring a large bottle of pickles, which she would eat with the free soup in the cafeteria.

Due to her living standards and other reasons, Lin Baoyan usually didn't hang out with them. When she heard them talking, she didn't take it to heart and just read her own book.

Tao Xiaomei remained silent at first, but later, she didn't know what Cao Shuiyun said, but she broke down emotionally, threw herself into Cao Shuiyun's arms, and started crying softly.

Now, Lin Baoyan couldn't pretend she didn't know anymore. She put down the book in her hand and asked with concern, "What's wrong? Do you need help?"

Tao Xiaomei shook her head gently and said in a muffled voice: "It's useless. No one can help me with my problems."

Cao Shuiyun was not convinced: "If you don't tell me, who can help you? What is the matter? Tell me and everyone can consult with you. Maybe we can find a solution."

Tao Xiaomei raised her head, bit her lip, thought for a moment, wiped her face and said, "You really can't help. In this weather, I heard from the elders that the winter wheat planted by our brigade will not yield much next year. If the spring continues to be dry, there will not be much grain harvest in the second half of the year. Without a harvest, there will be no income at home. Without income, I may not be able to continue my studies."

Cao Shuiyun's face also fell.

For this problem, let alone helping her, she herself would face the situation of being expelled from school.

There are 54 students in their class, but there are only ten girls, all crammed into one dormitory. Just from the ratio of male to female students, you can tell how serious the situation of favoring boys over girls is.

Cao Shuiyun and Tao Xiaomei's families are considered well-off in their respective brigades, and their parents are relatively open-minded. However, if there is a real reduction in grain production and their families become impoverished, they will still be asked to drop out of school.

After hearing what Tao Xiaomei said, everyone else, who had passed the exam from the countryside, felt a sense of empathy. There were two whose family conditions were even worse than Tao Xiaomei's, and they all had gloomy faces. They could not avoid this kind of thing, and could even be worse off than her.

The remaining people with urban household registration did not dare to talk at this time.

Of course Lin Baoyan didn't dare to say anything.

Although she took actions with everyone, all these actions were within the school. Whenever someone invited her to go outside the school, she never went.

So, if she doesn't go out once, twice, and then after a few times, she won't be invited to go out with anyone else. If we don't always do things together, then our relationship will naturally not be very good.

Tao Xiaomei said to everyone sincerely: "I am in a bad mood. I am sorry to bother you all. I am fine. Please don't worry about me."

Everyone else sighed, said nothing, and went about their own business.

Lin Baoyan couldn't read the book anymore.

Although she was born into a patriarchal family in her previous life and lived in a poor mountainous area, the country had made great efforts to alleviate poverty, popularized compulsory education, and provided nutritional subsidies to students. As long as she insisted on going to school, she would have been able to go. Later, she was unable to go to high school because she failed the entrance exam.

Now, her classmates are so eager to study and have the ability to continue to take exams, but they have to give up studying due to their poverty.

Lin Baoyan knew very well that although she was a time traveler, she was still an ordinary person in essence.

He has average intelligence, lacks perseverance, has no ambition, and just goes with the flow.

The only thing that can be considered an advantage is probably that he is honest.

At this moment, seeing the plight of her classmates, she wanted to do something.

She cannot change natural disasters, she is powerless to stop the reduction in grain production, and she cannot interfere with the decisions of other families.

What could she do?

If their families have enough savings, they might be able to grit their teeth and let them continue their studies.

Thinking about the space, thinking about the professor who cultivated high-yield seeds, and thinking about the knowledge she learned during the summer vacation, Lin Baoyan thought that perhaps, she didn't have to passively accept other people's requests, but could take the initiative to conduct research and try to cultivate high-yield plants.

If one day she could cultivate high-yield seeds like Shennong or Grandma Watermelon, so that the Chinese people could at least have food freedom, then it wouldn't be a waste of her time travel.

When the weekend came, Lin Baoyan returned to the courtyard. After handing in the fruit as usual, Lin Baoyan said to the monkey, "Please help me find a set of textbooks for the seed science major of the Agricultural University. I want to take a look in advance."

The monkey carried the bamboo basket, nodded and left.

When this news was reported, the leadership was very surprised.

"This girl has always been a pushover. If she doesn't have a mission, she's too lazy to move. Why is she taking the initiative to learn something this time?"

"Did something happen to her? Or was she wronged?"

"It's not a spur-of-the-moment idea. Last time, I arranged for her to intern at the Agricultural University with the students there, but she didn't seem to be interested in it."

"Maybe I've grown up and feel like I should do something?"

"Hasn't Wu Zhi always been on good terms with her? Did he say something that made this girl think this way?"

"Aren't the Wuzhi helicopters in the southwest recently?"

"Yes, Wu Zhi is currently in the southwest. The last time he came back was during the National Day holiday. That was when he met this girl, and then he left."

"Didn't we do a psychological test on this girl in early May? They said she had some social anxiety and was very passive in interpersonal communication."

"What is social phobia? Have you taken medicine?"

"Oh, you don't need to take medicine. You just don't like to socialize with people. You stay at home like a lady from a wealthy family."

"Then why does she suddenly want to study now?"

"Nothing happened to her, right?"

These leaders have almost figured out Lin Baoyan's personality. Now that she has suddenly done something that is very out of character, the higher-ups will of course have to investigate.

The investigation method was also simple and crude, letting the monkey ask directly in front of her.

Lin Baoyan was dumbfounded. She wanted to learn extra lessons, so why did her superiors want to know the reason?

But she still said: "The drought is so severe now that grain production has decreased, and it may continue in the future. Many girls in the class are worried that their families will ask them to drop out if this continues. I think it is all caused by the low grain yield per mu, so I want to study seeds and develop some high-yield crops."