By the time Lin Baiyu arrived at the bulletin board where the notice had been posted, quite a crowd had already gathered around it.
The sound of discussion constantly reached her ears.
“Fourth Uncle, can you tell us what it says?”
“The village school is recruiting new teachers.”
“Teachers, huh…”
“It’s close to home, and it’s an iron rice bowl too…”
“Oh my, I need to hurry home and tell my son to start preparing.”
“Hey, Ergou, didn’t you graduate from junior middle school too? Why don’t you give it a try?”
“My Third Girl graduated from junior middle school as well. Teaching elementary school shouldn’t be difficult.”
“Sister in law, your eldest nephew graduated from high school back then, right? You should definitely have him try.”
“Isn’t this a ready made iron rice bowl? I’ve got to think of a way to make sure my good son gets in.”
…
Comments like these filled the air without end.
Besides the villagers, Lin Baiyu noticed that many of the Educated Youths were also gathered around.
Unlike the villagers, however, the Educated Youths mostly stood together with their own group instead of mixing with everyone else.
They were obviously discussing the matter as well.
Have any Educated Youths become teachers?
Lin Baiyu searched her memories and vaguely recalled that there had been some, though not from their village.
The original novel had only mentioned this matter in passing. By the time the plot officially began, everything had already been decided.
However, Zheng Peizhen and Gao Lanying had once brought up this teacher recruitment during an argument.
At the time, Zheng Peizhen had insisted that she should have become a teacher at the village school, but Gao Lanying had sabotaged her and caused her to lose the opportunity.
After all, Zheng Peizhen had graduated from a Haishi high school not long ago, and her grades had always been fairly good. Aside from a handful of highly educated people in these villages, she could easily dominate this sort of examination.
Lin Baiyu could understand Zheng Peizhen’s hatred toward Gao Lanying.
After all, smashing someone’s rice bowl and cutting off their livelihood was akin to killing their parents.
The original story also described Zheng Peizhen’s thoughts.
Had she simply lost because she lacked ability, she would have accepted the outcome, though unwillingly.
But when she learned that someone had deliberately sabotaged her before the exam, causing her to feel unwell during the test, Zheng Peizhen had immediately turned red with anger.
She deeply hated the person who had caused her to lose a position she had already considered her own and who had deprived her of the chance to escape the hardships of manual labor.
Unfortunately, Gao Lanying had firmly denied everything in front of everyone. By then, too much time had passed and there was no way to investigate, so the matter had eventually been dropped.
But now, three positions were being offered across three villages, and there was no rule saying each village would only get one. The positions would go to the most capable.
Then why had Gao Lanying targeted Zheng Peizhen?
After all, her own academic performance was mediocre. Even if Zheng Peizhen failed, the position would not necessarily fall to her.
Lin Baiyu could not figure it out, but no doubt it stemmed from the grievances between the two women, coupled with Gao Lanying’s jealousy.
At the moment, confidence was evident on Zheng Peizhen’s face, while Gao Lanying’s eyes were filled with longing. The others wore similar expressions.
Though the Educated Youths were delighted to have such an opportunity, when they looked at their usual companions, traces of caution had already appeared in their eyes.
In these years, conflicts were no longer uncommon. Not only friends and relatives, but even married couples, parents, siblings, and family members had turned their blades against one another.
One must not harbor ill intentions toward others, but neither could one let down one’s guard. It was a lesson they dared never forget.
After reading the notice and memorizing the time and location of the examination, Lin Baiyu was about to head home when she noticed someone.
Xie Qingyuan.
For some reason, both his name and the man himself had left a deep impression on her.
Lin Baiyu had always thought that the name Xie Qingyuan sounded very pleasant, but when paired with his silent and taciturn face, it created an oddly discordant feeling.
She always felt that he should not be the way he currently was.
Moreover, in her memory, only Gao Lanying, Zheng Peizhen, and Xu Guangyao had been among the last batch of Educated Youths assigned to the second production team.
So why was this man here?
Could it be that she had simply overlooked him while reading the novel?
No! Lin Baiyu trusted her memory.
Thinking of how the system had once mentioned that this world contained flaws, she tentatively asked, “Xiao Bai, don’t tell me that Xie Qingyuan is also a transmigrator or someone who’s been reborn?”
“The system level is too low. Query authorization unavailable.”
“Please investigate on your own, Host.”
…
Hearing the answer, Lin Baiyu was completely speechless.
So the system knew nothing whenever she asked. Was this thing even reliable?
At this rate, who knew when it would finally level up and unlock all its permissions?
“Because this is before the original story officially begins, there are relatively few tasks. However, as the timeline advances, a large number of melon eating tasks will await the Host.”
“These tasks are important for repairing the flaws in the original world and perfecting the characters and plot development.”
“Please do not lose heart, Host. Continue actively completing melon eating tasks.”
“When the system reaches Level Two, it will become more intelligent.”
“The Host will gain greater access permissions, and the system store will also officially open.”
Perhaps afraid that Lin Baiyu would lose motivation, the system offered her some additional hints after hearing her complaints.
While Lin Baiyu was busy communicating with the system, she failed to notice that the person she had been thinking about was also paying attention to her.
On the surface, Xie Qingyuan appeared silent and reserved, but in reality, he understood very well that in this era, where unity was strongly advocated, being quiet was acceptable, but being isolated and antisocial was not.
At the Educated Youths’ residence, although he lacked Xu Guangyao’s smooth tongue and knack for handling people, he gave others the impression of being reliable and hardworking.
Besides, without comparison, there was no contrast.
Compared to the two female Educated Youths who had arrived with him, his taciturn personality actually seemed more likable, and because he was willing to work hard, he had unexpectedly become quite popular among the Educated Youths.
After finishing work today, he had heard about the recruitment, and since everyone was enthusiastic about it, he had come together with the others.
He was determined to secure one of the three positions, though nothing of it showed on his face.
He had noticed Lin Baiyu the moment she arrived.
Over the past few days, he had indirectly gathered information about her.
It seemed she was also interested in one of the three openings.
Xie Qingyuan did not know whether Lin Baiyu was as confident as he was, but…
Hopefully, both of them will pass.
That was what he thought.
As Lin Baiyu turned to go home, the two happened to pass each other.
At that moment, Xie Qingyuan seemed to hear again the voice he had heard on the very first day he arrived in the village, when Lin Baiyu had appeared not far away.
Her inner voice.
Yes, her thoughts.
This time, Xie Qingyuan was certain.
He had not been hallucinating.
For some unknown reason, whenever he was close to Lin Baiyu, he could hear her thoughts.