CTF 0007

The students weren’t given particularly hard tasks. Their tasks included weeding, fertilising, clearing land, picking vegetables, and clearing the pig sheds and the cattle and sheep pens, among others.

The farm also sent some of its produce, such as its fruits, vegetables, and meat to their partner schools, depending on their situation.

There was not a single school that disagreed with this arrangement.

After all, their curriculum indeed included one labour class per week. Students were either told to weed the school grounds or clean the glass in the classrooms and the offices.

Meanwhile, if they went to the farm to weed and pick some vegetables, the school could save money on cafeteria expenses, as well. Why would they disagree? 

“Students, be quiet and listen!”

After getting out of the bus and lining up, the class president took a group of boys to receive the protective gloves and other work equipment. The teacher called their attention by clapping and gave a brief speech. 

The teacher emphasised that they should work hard and not embarrass their school, but also pay attention to safety and return on time. They were also reminded to report to the designated gathering place according to their chosen work type and not to wander around.

Xu Yin and the other students waited for the teacher to finish speaking before grabbing their water bottles and going towards where the tractor was.

An instructor was already waiting for them with the tractor.

The instructor and his colleagues had got off their tractors after the students arrived.

When they took a closer look at the students, they were surprised to see a little girl among them.

However, they didn’t say anything about it. All they did was mutter inwardly in their hearts.

Their boss had told them before that students from various schools would come here to work to do odd jobs and help with the work that the farm couldn’t manage on its own because of time restraints.

The farm and the schools had reached this agreement.

However, to make it sound better, they spun the story and said that the schools arranged for the students to come to the farm to learn about labour and that the farm was responsible for teaching them.

That was why things blew out of proportion.

The provincial government had caught wind of this. They heard that Mingyang had a labour education base, so they sent some personnel down here to come and carry out an inspection.

If it worked as well as the farm claimed, this arrangement might be popularised in other cities and counties in the province. 

The farm manager instantly regretted it and slapped himself in the face for boasting. 

Alas, the municipal education committee had already issued them a notice that some representatives of the provincial government would be coming for an inspection on Friday, so he should to be prepared to receive them.

Then, the farm manager came up with an idea.

He could bring out a tractor and have his farm worker teach the students to drive it.

He could also allocate a few workers to teach the students how to plant vegetables on a couple of plots of land.

Meanwhile, the rest of the students could also go to the ranch to observe how to milk and how to shear wool…

In short, they wouldn’t just work, but they’d also learn.

He’d wait until the inspectors left before he reverted things to how they used to be.

In truth, the farm didn’t expect the students to succeed in ploughing the field, planting the vegetables, and shearing wool, either…

The instructor snapped out of his thoughts and glanced at the group of students who had signed up to plough the field with the tractors.

“Which one of you want to go first?”

If there were one or two who could drive the tractor, he wouldn’t have to teach them. 

He could just let those who could drive instruct those who couldn’t and make them plough the field a couple of times. All he needed to do was let the inspectors see the sight and be done with it.

Such a pity, then, when no one made a squeak.

The corners of the instructor’s mouth twitched. Sure enough, he couldn’t expect too much from these babies who’d grown up in an ivory tower!

He patted his smoking pipe and said, “Come, then. Watch my demonstration first, and take turns practising later.”

The instructor explained as he started the tractor.

Then, he began to plough the field.

The tractor’s loader bucket had been replaced with a plough. The tractor’s cab was not spacious, and the students had to take turns sitting on the tractor with the instructor and practise ploughing the fields.

However, the noise of the tractor’s engine was so loud that it made the students’ heads ache, making it impossible for them to hear what their instructor was teaching them.

When the first round ended, the instructor asked, “Have you got it?”

No one answered.

Okay, then. Another round. 

When the second round ended, the instructor asked, “Who has learned it this time?”

Still, no one! 

Oh, a little brat raised their hand!

The instructor took a closer look and found it to be the little girl that he hadn’t felt optimistic about before. 

At this time, the inspection team and the farm managerial team that accompanied them came their way. It was too late for him to teach the students all over again, so he pointed at Xu Yin and said, “Then, you can try it.” 

Xu Yin sat in the main driving seat of the tractor. She took a deep breath in. Then, she opened the system panel and turned on the Scene Simulation feature that she had redeemed with the mountain bike that she’d received as a reward. She selected the tractor-driving simulation mode. 

This was a new feature that she had turned on when she watched the instructor’s demonstration.

Like in the previous two story worlds, a new function also required the exchange of system reward materials for its first use in this word.

As it happened, she had little use for the mountain bike set that she had newly acquired, so she simply exchanged it for this new feature instead. 

When the Scene Simulation feature was turned on, the system panel seemed to morph into a control room for the tractor, with clear step-by-step instructions.

Xu Yin began operating the tractor step by step.

The instructor, who sat next to her, took the scene in and recognized it, undoubtedly, as that of a novice getting familiar with the process.  

Soon, though, her movements became more fluid and smooth.

The tractor made a noise as it started, then moved forward.

Soil flew from wherever Xu Yin passed. Her part of the field was ploughed deeper than that of the instructor. 

She could be described as both fast and good enough.

Seeing that the instructor hadn’t stopped her, though, Xu Yin thought that she was not proficient enough yet. 

As a result, she became even more concentrated and determined. 

After ploughing a straight line, following the instructions on the simulation interface, she carefully turned around and continued ploughing.

The simulation interface also displayed the time it took her to plough a straight line and gave a level rating after she was completed.

The highest grade possible was S, but Xu Yin had only barely reached B+.

That was unacceptable to her!

Even since when she was a student for the first time around, she had always been that one student who always strived for the highest achievement in everything.

For any activity that had an S-grade achievement, even getting an A+ would not be enough for her to feel perfect. Receiving a B+ was an insult to her dignity!

Xu Yin was unsatisfied and vowed to achieve an S grade for her ploughing. 

She ploughed, and ploughed, turning after each row. 

In just a few minutes, she finished ploughing the field that would have taken hours to plough.

Even then, her tractor was still accelerating.

The black soil she left in her wake was flying everywhere, and everyone could see that her ploughing was only growing deeper.

The instructor, who sat in the passenger seat and was feeling certain emotions right now: “…”

How should he put it? He was quite relieved at first and felt really good about himself. He had only slowed down and gave a couple of demonstrations without actually giving hands-on guidance, and got himself an apprentice.

Until, of course, the tractor went so fast as if it was about to take off and fly. He couldn’t remain calm anymore from then on.

He felt nauseous and wanted Xu Yin to stop, but the corner of his eye caught a glimpse of the inspection team not far away.

“…”

Forget it! He’d just bear it! The task assigned to him by the farm manager was what mattered most!

This resulted in Xu Yin mistakenly thinking that her ploughing proficiency had not yet reached the standards of the instructor.

Otherwise, why wouldn’t he say even a single compliment?

Anyhow, since he didn’t stop her yet, she still needed to practise more.

She continued ploughing.

She stared at the task map presented by the simulation interface. Without letting anything distract her, she continued to speed up.

All the student onlookers, petrified: “…”

A male student from her class said, “Damn! So Xu Yin has been hiding her talent all along!”

When Xu Yin had signed up for the tractor ploughing task, he had thought that she’d only wanted to be lazy.

After all, driving a tractor was done while sitting, unlike other tasks, like weeding, fertilising, deworming, and picking vegetables. She’d have to bend over to do these tasks, and doing that would get tiring quickly. Moreover, driving a tractor meant that she wouldn’t have to touch dirty things. 

That was why fertilising and catching insects were the girls’ most avoided tasks. 

However, it turned out not to be the case at all! He was just too narrow-minded. Xu Yin had chosen this task because she was good at it. Respect!

Meanwhile, the boys from the other classes thought: They’d be damned if I didn’t go! This girl looked delicate and weak, but she was actually so cool and could drive the tractor so skillfully! 

They really mustn’t judge a book by its cover. This was why people said that the depth of the sea couldn’t be measured from only its surface!

She was making them look so useless, whining and crying about ploughing the field…