The materials compiled by Lin Yan and her team were invaluable, saving them from the trial-and-error approach and allowing them to directly apply much of the knowledge.
Thus, technological advancement swept everyone forward, and Lin Yan's students spread across all industries.
First came the pharmaceutical factories. Lin Yan rewrote a textbook on Traditional Chinese Medicine, publishing her own recorded pulse diagnoses and case studies, which many TCM practitioners treated as treasures.
In Xinhua Nation, TCM still held a greater market. Western medicine was hard to come by, whereas Chinese medicine was more accessible. Moreover, Lin Yan had adjusted the prescriptions, making the medicinal ingredients cheaper and easier to find.
The initial prescriptions Lin Yan provided were also processed into patent medicines and some Western medicines. The cost of medicine dropped significantly, allowing more people to afford treatment when they fell ill.
The "Barefoot Doctor's Handbook," a book mentioned in history books, was also compiled to train more rural doctors.
In industry, heavy industry also developed rapidly. Technological advancements enabled Xinhua Nation's heavy industry to fully meet the demands of its citizens.
Light industry also thrived, and many people in cities and the countryside became proud workers.
Regarding agricultural cultivation, experts surveyed the land and selected the most suitable crops. While the initial years relied on manual labor, recent years had seen the adoption of mechanized farming.
Of course, they could not afford these machines themselves; the state rented these agricultural machines to them.
Standardized, large-scale planting, coupled with the annual cultivation of improved seed varieties, ensured that agricultural development did not lag far behind.
In just a few years, the granaries in various regions were filled. Cash crops like cotton, sugarcane, and rapeseed were also planted sporadically across the land, increasing the material wealth available to the people.
The nation developed at a breakneck pace. Every meeting was filled with laments about the shortage of talent; indeed, there was a shortage of personnel in all aspects.
However, despite the manpower shortage, education was never neglected. Following discussions, nine years of compulsory education was proposed for the first time.
Children under fifteen could not do much and had to attend school. Only after completing their education could they engage in more significant endeavors.
The state's propaganda efforts over the years had been substantial, making all parents understand that only by sending their children to school could they secure better job opportunities. Consequently, they were not resistant to sending their children to school.
With the nation's prosperity, the cost of schooling for students was no longer a concern. Numerous primary schools were established in rural areas, and an increasing number of children began to study. Moreover, every child was assigned the same homework, which they were to teach to their parents.
This was Lin Yan's requirement. She knew it might not be very effective, but as long as one parent studied diligently, one less person would remain illiterate.
Everyone in the country was busy, striving for their own happy lives.
They had no energy to engage in any revolution, nor the inclination to concern themselves with ideological matters.
The revolution that Lin Yan remembered might not happen. Of course, it was not yet the time, and Lin Yan could not confirm it definitively. However, given the current development trajectory, it was unlikely to occur.
The three-year drought did not result in significant population loss, as the grain reserves from previous years were sufficient for disaster relief. Coupled with the water conservancy facilities dug with machinery in recent years, the drought's impact was mitigated before it could cause severe damage.
Although Lin Yan had never appeared in public, her influence was evident in every sector.
Lin Yan and Ye Xiuyuan had only one daughter. After her birth, Ye Xiuyuan had a vasectomy.
The sight of Lin Yan during childbirth had truly terrified him. Although mother and daughter were safe in the end, he could not bear to go through such anxious moments again. Furthermore, his family had no throne to inherit; having one crystallization of him and Lin Yan was enough.
While children were a continuation of bloodline, it was Lin Yan who truly accompanied him through life. He did not want Lin Yan to suffer any harm for the sake of having another child.
Their daughter was doted upon and very intelligent, yet Lin Yan and Ye Xiuyuan always felt they owed her a great deal.
When she was very young, Lin Yan and Ye Xiuyuan entered a secret research base, entrusting her to Father Lin and Aunt Zhang.
She did not see her parents again until Lin Yan's research yielded results. However, she had been raised exceptionally well. She understood that her parents were contributing to the nation and recognized their hardships.
Although Lin Yan and Ye Xiuyuan were reluctant to be apart from their daughter, their research involved significant radiation, making it impossible for them to keep their daughter with them.
Fortunately, their daughter did not resent them. Therefore, once they were able to contact home, they frequently wrote letters and called her.
Their daughter was also outstanding. Although her parents had neglected her due to their research, she eventually followed in their footsteps, pursuing the same work.
Perhaps it was due to the books in Lin Yan's home, perhaps from growing up listening to her parents' stories, perhaps due to the respect others held for her parents, or perhaps due to an inner sense of dissatisfaction.
She wanted to understand what kind of endeavor could lead her parents to abandon a comfortable life and their child. But when she truly entered the field, she discovered that she genuinely loved this profession.
By the time Lin Yan and Ye Xiuyuan's achievements could be publicly disclosed, they were already preparing to retire. The toil of their lives had taken a toll on their health, and these damages were beyond the healing power of even spiritual spring water.
For the sake of their health, the leadership approved their request for retirement. However, even in retirement, Lin Yan and Ye Xiuyuan did not idle; they returned to the university classroom to teach undergraduate students.
The new Xinhua Nation, through the united efforts of its people, developed rapidly. There was a shortage of talent in all industries, and consequently, the "Educated Youth to the Countryside" movement never occurred.
Zhou Wenjie's return to his hometown came many years earlier than he had anticipated. He had expected to return only in the 1980s, by which time he would have been quite elderly.
But he had not expected the opening up to happen so soon. When he set foot on the mainland again as a Hong Kong businessman, he felt a profound sense of change.
He disembarked in Shanghai. His mother had passed away two years prior. His siblings had their own lives, and since they had left when they were young, they had fully adapted to life in Hong Kong over the years and were reluctant to return.
Therefore, only his wife accompanied him back. Shanghai had changed immensely, or rather, Shanghai was a microcosm of the entire nation's transformation.
The person assigned to receive them was very hospitable, but without any servility. They were warmly welcomed, but whether they invested was entirely up to them; the region was not lacking in technology or capital.
Hearing the person's words, Zhou Wenjie realized that this country was truly different. It was then that he understood that this anomaly, this deviation from the norm, might be due to another transmigrator in this world.
However, unlike him, who had evaded history, this other person had strived to change the world and save the country.
He felt a reluctance to stay on the mainland. As fellow transmigrators, he had no desire to seek a reunion. After all, compared to the other person, he, who also knew history, had merely evaded it.
His achievements in this life amounted to nothing more than accumulating wealth. He had abandoned the country in its most difficult times.
Zhou Wenjie did not know who the other transmigrator was, but if he were that person, he would also look down on himself.
Zhou Wenjie did not stay on the mainland for long before departing by ship again. Tao Menghan did not understand why her husband was so intent on returning, only to leave so quickly after arriving.
She had actually wanted to stay longer, as this was a vast market that no merchant would want to miss. However, she still left with her husband.
It was only many years later, when all of Lin Yan's achievements were made public, that Zhou Wenjie discovered who the other transmigrator was.
His discernment was indeed sharp. He had recognized a fellow countryman at a glance, moved by her aura. It was no wonder she paid him no mind. Perhaps from that moment on, she had seen through his true nature.
Her accomplishments, her deeds, were like slaps to his face, leaving him, the deserter, with nowhere to hide.
This person was like the moon in the sky, a presence unattainable by ordinary mortals like him in a lifetime.