Chen Lan asked worriedly, "Brother Mingxuan, what if someone from above comes down to investigate?"
Xu Mingxuan said indifferently, "Let them investigate! They can investigate all they want. Let them come down and see what they can find."
Seeing Chen Lan still looking troubled, he explained, "Lan'er, don't worry! As long as these few people stay peacefully in our valley, there won't be any problems. Our valley is very hidden. I've observed it carefully every time I've returned. There are many valleys in this mountainous area, and ours is not the only one. Even if they know people might be living in these mountains, without a local guide, it's very difficult for outsiders to find our valley. Naturally, no one will be able to find them. By the time people from above remember these individuals and realize they are missing, it will be too late."
Chen Lan asked with some confusion, "Several people are missing! Will it just be left unresolved like this?"
Xu Mingxuan replied dismissively, "What else? It's freezing cold, there's no food or drink, and it's all endless wilderness and swamps as far as the eye can see. If they can't see anyone, it's safe to assume these people have either been eaten by wolves or fallen into the swamps. Even if they want to arrange for someone to search, where would they even look? I estimate they'll search for a day or two at most, still won't find anyone, and the matter will likely be dropped. As for what excuse they'll use to cover it up, they have plenty of reasons and methods, and this isn't the first time they've done something like this. We don't need to worry about it."
Chen Lan thought about it and realized she was indeed worrying unnecessarily. So, she stopped dwelling on it. Just as Xu Mingxuan said, who cared? Besides, these few people were exactly the talents the valley desperately needed. Since Xu Mingxuan had brought back such valuable resources, how could she possibly waste them?
So, the next day, Chen Lan immediately asked Jia Xing and Jia He to invite Teacher Zhou over.
Unexpectedly, as soon as Teacher Zhou entered the living room, he saw Chen Shi and Qian Siyuan sitting on the sofa. He was greatly astonished. After a moment of stunned silence, he loudly exclaimed, "Chen Shi, Qian Siyuan, is that you two?"
Chen Shi and Qian Siyuan, hearing someone call them, immediately took off their glasses, wiped the lenses with the corners of their clothes, put them back on, and squinted at Teacher Zhou for a long time before shouting back, "Zhou Jicheng, is that you, Professor Zhou? After all these years, how are you still so young? You've almost made us not recognize you."
Then, the three middle-aged men embraced each other excitedly for a while before letting go.
Teacher Zhou said with great emotion, "Chen Shi, Qian Siyuan, I never expected to see you two again after twenty years. I'm already fifty-five this year, almost sixty, how can I still be young? We've all gotten old. Tell me quickly, how have you two been all these years? Is everyone doing well? Oh, and how did you two end up in the valley?"
After Teacher Zhou finished his barrage of questions, he belatedly noticed something amiss with his two old friends. Seeing that they seemed to have something unspoken, he took them to the small study to talk.
The three of them talked in the study for a long time. Chen Lan didn't know what Teacher Zhou had told his two old friends. Regardless, after Teacher Zhou took them on a tour of his few laboratories, the school in the valley, which hadn't even taken winter break, ended up adding several new courses.
Teacher Zhou came to Chen Lan asking for textbooks for these new courses. Chen Lan, naturally, was very happy to immediately resolve this. Professors Chen and Qian, upon seeing the content of the new textbooks, found the different knowledge interpretations to be like finding a treasure. Thus, the three of them became busily engrossed in their work.
The four female comrades naturally wouldn't be outdone. Dr. Zhong and her daughter, the educated youth Zhao Qian, approached Chen Lan, saying they wanted to start a nursing program in the valley. Any young women and wives in the valley who were interested could come to the class to learn professional nursing knowledge.
However, as soon as their classes began, the mother and daughter were even more astonished. They never expected that the cultural level of the young women and wives in the valley would be no lower than their own, and some were even higher.
Upon asking, the mother and daughter learned that during farming season, everyone worked together, and during the off-season, everyone went to school together. It wasn't a literacy class, but proper classes where they studied, and they even had to take final exams. Those who didn't pass were held back a grade. Who would want to lose face like that, so everyone listened very attentively during class.
Conversely, the new knowledge and new concepts that people in the valley talked about were things the mother and daughter had never heard of before.
Despite living in the mountains, if you look at the clothes and jewelry worn by the young women and wives in the valley, it's something you wouldn't even dare to imagine outside. Each piece of jewelry was exquisite, and the clothes were not only made of firm, high-quality fabric but also had beautiful colors and patterns. They fit well, looked stylish, and were very warm.
Thus, the mother and daughter braced themselves, not daring to be negligent or dismissive in the slightest, and diligently taught nursing knowledge.
Seeing that the group they came with all had things to do and were all busy and enjoying themselves, the educated youths Song and Chen naturally didn't want to be left behind. They also approached Chen Lan, saying that one of them was from a song and dance troupe and the other from a cultural troupe, and they wanted to start a vocal music class and an instrumental music class in the valley to teach the children professional vocal and instrumental music knowledge.
When Chen Lan heard about this good news, which would inject fresh energy into the school, and considering that the children in the valley really lacked entertainment activities, she naturally agreed wholeheartedly. She immediately asked, "Educated Youth Song, Educated Youth Chen, what musical instruments do you need? Just tell me, and I'll figure out how to prepare them for you."
Song Wan replied gracefully, "Little Lan sister, my name is Song Wan. You can call me Song Wan or Xiao Wan."
Chen Shumin also smiled heartily and said, "Little Lan sister, my surname is also Chen, so I'm family with you from eight hundred years ago. My name is Chen Shumin. You can call me Shumin or Xiao Min."
Chen Lan liked their personalities very much and asked with a smile, "Xiao Wan, Xiao Min, what musical instruments do you need? Don't hesitate to tell me. Your sister Xiao Lan has some connections and will definitely get everything for both of you as soon as possible."
So, the two of them unceremoniously listed several musical instruments, such as pianos, violins, pipas, erhus, guzheng, and accordions.
Chen Lan asked with great uncertainty, "Xiao Wan, Xiao Min, do you two actually know how to play these instruments?"
The two immediately nodded and said, "Although we're not proficient in everything, we do know how to play them."