Chapter 6: The Elite Younger Sister of the 80s (6)

Xu Yin got on her bicycle, waved to her family, and pedaled hard toward school.

This time, in addition to the reward for [Cycling 15 kilometers], she also received [Unlocking the Basic Cycling Skill, Rewarding a Set of Cycling Tools].

When she arrived at the school bike shed, she pretended to lock her bike, bent over, and faced away from the outside to check the so-called cycling tools in her personal center—

It turned out to be a mountain bike with variable gears, a complete set of design and assembly diagrams, and installation and maintenance tools.

On the way back to the classroom, Xu Yin was deep in thought.

If a few rides could earn her a mountain bike and a complete set of design diagrams and tools, then if there was a chance to drive a car, would it be possible to obtain car design and manufacturing diagrams?

She shook her head and patted her forehead.

Ah, thinking too much. Cars are so precious these days. Forget about driving one, even touching one is hard.

Unexpectedly, someone handed her a pillow when she was sleepy.

As soon as she entered the classroom, the homeroom teacher followed and clapped to announce:

"This week's labor class is special. The education committee leaders will be observing, and the school leadership has decided to take everyone to the farm for practical work. Since the farm has a variety of jobs, it's impossible for the whole class to do the same task. The class president will come to me to get the forms, and everyone should sign up quickly based on their strengths."

Tong Guihua pulled Xu Yin: "Let's hurry, or we'll be left with the most tiring and unrewarding jobs."

"What's the rush!"

Xu Yin yawned lazily.

Labor class, at most half a day.

Besides weeding, plowing, picking vegetables, and carrying baskets, what else could there be?

"The difference is huge. Last year, the senior class went to the farm for collective labor. Those who signed up late were assigned to clear the land on the mountain, which took half a day to climb and was very tiring. Or they were assigned to fertilize, which smelled terrible. Some were assigned to catch insects, and I get hives just from seeing caterpillars, so I don't want to catch insects. There were even girls assigned to drive tractors, which is inhumane..."

Huh? Tractors?

Xu Yin's eyes lit up, and she had an epiphany.

Right, it's impossible to get a car for now, but a tractor is possible.

There are tractors in the village, and she has even seen them during the busy farming season.

If there's a chance to learn how to drive a tractor during this labor class, could she have a reason to help the village plow the land in July?

Free labor, who else but her?

Even though she's not sure if learning to drive a tractor and driving a certain number of kilometers will earn similar rewards from the system, what if it does? It would be a shame to miss out.

So, Xu Yin rushed to the class president more enthusiastically than Tong Guihua.

"Class president, is there a job for driving a tractor to plow the land? I want to sign up!"

Class president: "..."

Tong Guihua, who was a step behind: "..."

Damn!

I thought you were running so fast to get an easy job, but you actually want to drive a tractor?

"Xu Yin, are you crazy? Can you handle that big machine? Even tall and strong boys can't handle it."

"..."

The class president didn't agree with this.

He is a boy and is quite tall and strong.

Adjusting his glasses, he looked at Xu Yin: "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely sure! If there is one, I'll sign up!"

"There is one..."

"Then what are you waiting for! Help me sign up... Forget it, I'll do it myself!"

Xu Yin snatched the pen from the class president, found the tractor row on the form, and wrote her name in bold.

"Xu Yin, you're amazing!"

The boys in the back row cheered and gave her a thumbs up.

Xu Yin raised her eyebrows: "Don't you dare compete with me!"

"No, no, no, hahaha..."

The job of plowing the land with a tractor only requires two people per class. With one spot already taken by Xu Yin, the remaining spot became highly sought after.

Xu Yin didn't care who got the other spot. During the break, she was busy taking orders for her sister-in-law.

"These pants look great! Why didn't you wear them last week?"

Tong Guihua regretted placing her order early, feeling that Xu Yin's pants were indeed more fashionable.

But she had just made a new pair of pants, and even though the labor cloth used for work pants was much cheaper than cotton, she couldn't afford to make another pair in a short time.

Her family wouldn't indulge her in such extravagance.

But just because she couldn't afford it doesn't mean other classmates couldn't.

Especially the few girls who had been hesitant last week. This week, seeing Xu Yin wearing a new pair of pants to school, they found the material ordinary but the style novel and fashionable, so they rushed to place orders.

In just one break, Xu Yin received orders for five pairs of pants and two shirts.

That night, she showed off in the dormitory.

The next day, girls from the neighboring class also came to place orders.

By the time they set off for the farm for collective labor, the exercise book she used to record orders was filled with three pages, and her backpack was almost full of fabric.

Xu Yin couldn't help but think of the time she had traveled back to the Republic of China era and used energy points to exchange for an expandable backpack. Although she died quickly, the backpack should still be there.

After the lights were turned off that night, she logged into the system warehouse and searched through a pile of items, finally finding it.

The expandable backpack looked similar to the backpacks of this era, both military green and single-shouldered.

But the inside was different. Unfortunately, she didn't have enough energy points back then to get a larger capacity, but one cubic meter was enough for fabric.

It was inconspicuous and not heavy on the shoulder, perfect for a hardworking mover like her—moving fabric home and finished products back to school.

...

Before they knew it, it was Friday. The school arranged for teachers to lead the first and second-year students to the farm for collective labor.

"Xu Yin, are you really going to drive the tractor? Why don't you switch jobs with a male classmate?"

On the way, Tong Guihua was more worried than Xu Yin herself.

Xu Yin shook her head. It was a rare opportunity, and only a fool would give it up.

"Are you trying to learn a new skill to support yourself?"

Tong Guihua thought she had found the truth.

Next year, they would graduate. Xu Yin's grades were similar to hers, and the chances of getting into college or a technical school were slim.

Her family had already started making connections.

Xu Yin's family was from the countryside, and she hadn't heard of any relatives in the city. Getting hired by a factory wasn't hard, but securing a good job and position without money or connections was uncertain.

"But we're here to work, not to learn skills. Will the farm teach you? What if you can't complete the labor tasks?"

"It won't be like that. Look at the few who signed up, none of them know how to drive a tractor. They'll have to teach us first, or how will we plow the land?"

Xu Yin was right. Since the farm offered the job of plowing the land with a tractor, they were prepared to teach the newbies.

The farm manager had been thinking of solutions. In recent years, labor reform was no longer popular, and the farm was short of hands, so they had to hire more people.

But the application to increase the workforce wasn't approved quickly, so they contacted schools in the area to have students come to the farm for labor classes each week, and the farm would provide vegetables for the school cafeteria. A win-win situation!

(End of Chapter)