Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 341 Who is it?

As I came down from the broadcasting room and walked to the front yard, I saw Secretary Yang, Captain Zhang, Xiao Liewen, Ye Shubao and others walking in, with Zhang Wenliang and Zhang Juemin beside them.

Chen Fan quickly went to greet them one by one.

Secretary Yang looked at him with shining eyes, "You came to the brigade headquarters, did you write a new article?"

Ye Shubao clapped his hands and said with absolute certainty, "It must be. Let me see it quickly."

Chen Fan's face fell. "Can't I come to work?"

"Tch, you still go to work?"

Zhang Wenliang took off his backpack and carried it in his hand. As he walked inside, he said, "Since Xiao'e was able to take over the work in the broadcasting room, when have you ever had a proper job?"

Chen Fan followed the crowd inside, saying confidently, "I was just creating an internship opportunity for her. Learning something a hundred times is not as good as using it once. If she hadn't been practicing on the job every day, would she have improved so quickly?!"

Zhang Wenliang gave him a thumbs up, saying, "When it comes to thick skin, I admire you the most."

Then Captain Zhang flicked him on the forehead, saying, "Little Chen gave your sister a chance, and you're still not happy about it?"

Zhang Wenliang shrank back, not daring to utter a sound.

Once inside the office, everyone found their own seats.

Zhang Wenliang, Zhang Juemin, and Chen Fan sat on a bench against the wall.

Before his butt even touched the chair, Chen Fan jumped out of bed, saying, "I'll be right back."

Indeed, they come and go very quickly.

In less than two minutes, he returned to his office and handed a stack of manuscripts to Secretary Yang. “Secretary, this is a manuscript I wrote. Please take a look and, if it’s suitable, send it out as soon as possible.”

Secretary Yang took it and, before even opening it, looked at him and asked, "Is it for the Prefectural Committee Daily?"

He then spread out the manuscript paper.

Chen Fan shook his head. "No, this is not a news report, it's a novella, sent to the Jiangnan Literature and Art magazine."

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Secretary Yang stopped what he was doing and looked at him in surprise, "A novel?"

Captain Zhang stared wide-eyed, "What are you doing writing a novel at a time like this?"

Xiao Liewen was furious. "It's the busy season for both harvesting and planting now. You should be writing more news reports about the harvest, instead of writing novels."

Ye Shubao glanced at Chen Fan, then at the manuscript in Secretary Yang's hand, and pointed at it, saying, "Why don't we take a look first? Little Chen shouldn't be someone who can't distinguish between important and unimportant matters."

Chen Fan straightened his back and leaned closer to Ye Shubao. "Look, look, Captain Ye still has confidence in me. Do you think I'm the kind of person who can't distinguish between what's important and what's urgent? This novel is about the double harvest season."

The group exchanged glances and then gathered around Secretary Yang to read the novel together.

After a moment, the group, engrossed in the novel, each let out a long breath.

Secretary Yang folded the manuscript paper, held it up and shook it. "It's well written. Although it's fiction, it's very much in line with the facts."

Chen Fan laughed and said, "It's a non-fiction novel after all."

Just then, Anquan walked in, looked at everyone, and asked curiously, "What kind of non-fiction novel?"

Secretary Yang immediately handed him the manuscript paper, "Take a look, this is what Xiao Chen just wrote, he plans to submit it to 'Jiangnan Literature and Art'."

He quickly stepped forward, took the manuscript, and went to the side to look at it.

Zhang Wenliang walked over and sat down next to Chen Fan, offering him a cigarette. "Why did you write 'woman'? We militiamen are the main force in the double harvest, why? Because..."

Before he could finish speaking, Yang Xingxiu walked in with a stern face. "Who just said we can't write about women?"

Zhang Wenliang's eyelids twitched, and he quickly said, "Who...who said that?"

Ignoring the strange looks from those around him, he turned his head and looked at them with an air of seriousness, "Nobody said I can't write about women."

Then he stood up, pointed at Chen Fan with both fingers, and said with a serious face, "I was just saying that Chen Fan wrote an article about the double harvest, and the main character is a woman. He is about to submit it to 'Jiangnan Literature' for publication."

Yang Xingxiu's eyes immediately lit up, and she turned to look at Chen Fan, "Really?"

Chen Fan chuckled and pointed to the manuscript in An Quan's hand, "That's it."

Yang Xingxiu immediately leaned over and said, "Brother An, let me take a look."

Zhang Wenliang wiped away his cold sweat and sat down again.

Chen Fan turned to look at him, and slightly pursed his lips, "That's it?!"

Zhang Wenliang glared at her and said in a voice softer than a mosquito's buzz, "What do you know? I'm just a good man who doesn't argue with women."

Chen Fan maintained a polite smile and asked, "Where have you been? Did you just get back?"

Zhang Wenliang immediately beamed and pulled two tickets out of his pocket. "Look, what's this?"

Chen Fan's eyes lit up, "Electric fan tickets?!"

Just as he was about to take it, Zhang Wenliang shoved the ticket back into his pocket and covered it with both hands, saying, "I can't give this to you!"

In the summer, even airfare for a TV isn't as precious as a ticket for an electric fan!
Chen Fan's expression stiffened slightly, his mind racing, before he asked softly, "Do you have money?"

Zhang Wenliang turned to look at him, "Huh?"

Chen Fan coughed lightly, "Look, the cheapest table fan costs 68 yuan, and a floor fan costs at least 150 yuan, a better one is 180 yuan, and even better ones..."

"Stop, stop, stop."

Zhang Wenliang wiped his sweat, grabbed his arm and said, "Don't be too nice. I don't have any money, but I can scrape together sixty or seventy yuan!"

Just as Chen Fan was about to speak, he heard a loud shout from the side, "Good!"

Then Yang Xingxiu clapped his hands excitedly, "Great, well written!"

Chen Fan pursed his lips, glanced at Zhang Wenliang, then looked at Yang Xingxiu, stood up and grinned, "Sister Yang, what do you think is good?" Yang Xingxiu immediately looked at him and said, "It's good everywhere. It not only describes the hardships of the double harvest, but also highlights the hard work of our women comrades."

She took a piece of paper from Anquan's hand, read a passage aloud with great emotion, and then said excitedly, "How well written! Our 'female warriors' wake up from their sleep, and without even wiping the sweat from their foreheads, they grab their sharpened sickles and rush back to the 'battlefield'... Yes, in the fields, we are not just farmers, but warriors fighting for a bountiful harvest for our motherland!"

Chen Fan clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and said with a sorrowful expression, "Yes, the bumper harvest is thanks to the efforts of every soldier. But after the soldiers leave the battlefield, they can't even get a good night's sleep."

Yang Xingxiu's face stiffened slightly, and she sighed deeply, "Yes, it's alright at night, I can barely fall asleep. But in this heat, it's like a sauna during the day. The only way to cool off is by rubbing the floor. If only we had an electric fan..."

Chen Fan smiled and was about to say that there were tickets for electric fans right here.

But before he could play the "bad guy," everyone else turned to look at Zhang Wenliang.

Captain Zhang: "Sanhuzi, didn't you say you gave a speech at the county motor factory today, and they gave you two tickets for electric fans?"

Veins throbbed on Zhang Wenliang's forehead as he obediently pulled two tickets from his pocket and placed them on the table. "Just these two."

Chen Fan's eyes lit up immediately. "There are only two tickets, how are we going to split them?"

Secretary Yang coughed lightly and deliberately frowned as he said, "The tickets are one thing, but the key is that we also need the money."

Captain Zhang pursed his lips and nodded slightly, puffing on his pipe in frustration. "One fan ticket, combined with five industrial vouchers, can buy a table fan; combined with ten industrial vouchers, it can buy a floor fan..."

Before he could finish speaking, Ye Shubao chimed in, "The cheapest table fan costs 68 yuan, and a floor fan starts at least at 150 yuan. But right now, the team can't even afford 68 yuan, let alone 6 or 8 yuan. What are we going to do?"

Xiao Liewen pursed his lips, "If the rest of us chip in, we can manage to scrape together the money for one electric fan. Once we buy it, we can reward whichever team makes the fastest progress. As for the other one..."

Chen Fan's eyes darted around slightly, and he said cautiously, "How about... give it to me?"

Everyone turned to look at him.

Chen Fan immediately said, "I won't take it for free. I'll just borrow it for now and return a ticket to the brigade later."

Secretary Yang looked at him curiously, "Electric fan tickets are not easy to get, where did you get them?"

Chen Fan chuckled and pointed to the manuscripts in Yang Xingxiu and An Quan's hands, saying, "That's why I'm submitting to 'Jiangnan Literature and Art.' If we submit to the Prefectural Committee Daily, they won't give us anything, and the team even has to pay out of pocket for the reward. It's different with 'Jiangnan Literature and Art.' They actually give us ration coupons; last time they gave us a lot of industrial vouchers."

In my article, I focused on the impact of the hot weather on the members. If their magazine's leaders had any sense, they would definitely have given them a ticket for an electric fan. Then, when the ticket arrived, I could simply return it to the production team.

Everyone suddenly realized.

Xiao Liewen nodded repeatedly, "So that's what you were planning."

Anquan chimed in, "You know what, this novel is considered an excellent work in the realm of documentary literature, and it has a high chance of being accepted. What's more, Xiao Chen has published articles in 'Jiangnan Literature' before, which gives him an advantage. He might actually be able to get a ticket for an electric fan."

Secretary Yang nodded, turned around and walked up to Chen Fan, picked up a ticket for an electric fan from the table and handed it to him, "Here, this ticket is for you."

Chen Fan happily accepted the ticket, turned to look at Yang Xingxiu, then at everyone else, and grinned, "Don't worry, I bought the electric fan for the women in our production team. I won't keep it for myself."

Yang Xingxiu smiled and nodded, "I definitely believe you can write this article."

Chen Fan waved the ticket in his hand. "Then I'll go buy an electric fan first."

With that, he turned and walked out.

After he left, Zhang Wenliang went to the doorway to take a look, then turned around, pinched his chin, and suddenly chuckled twice. "What would he do if he knew that the ticket he took was originally given to him by the motor factory?"

Anquan and Yang Xingxiu arrived later. Upon hearing this, they couldn't help but widen their eyes, which were filled with three parts surprise, three parts curiosity, and four parts amusement.

Secretary Yang coughed lightly, picked up the remaining electric fan tickets and handed them to Zhang Juemin, "Dahu, you can pay for it first. Go buy the electric fans later and leave them for your team 5 to use."

The electric fan tickets were brought back by the Zhang brothers. Even if they handed them over to the brigade, the brigade would definitely give priority to their squad. No one could complain about that.

After Zhang Juemin took the ticket, Secretary Yang turned around and chuckled, "More than what he's thinking, I'm curious to know who he's taken a fancy to?"

Anquan shook the manuscript in his hand and chuckled, "For such a big event as the double harvest, he starts by writing about girls. It would be strange if he didn't have anyone in his heart."

This time, even Yang Xingxiu nodded in agreement. "Although women comrades work very hard, they do have fewer advantages compared to men. I am happy that Xiao Chen wrote about women in his first article, but I don't believe he didn't have some selfish motives."

Captain Zhang looked up as he smoked, “There are only four people there: Yang Ju, Huang Ying, and Liu Dan.”

He then turned his head to look at both sides, his brows furrowing slightly. "It can't be that little Jiang, can it?"

Zhang Wenliang and Zhang Juemin exchanged a glance but remained silent.

They won't make things up without evidence.

Xiao Liewen waved his hand, "I don't think so. If he had taken a liking to Xiao Jiang, he would most likely have stayed at the prefectural committee, or even earlier, followed my old company commander. That way, he would have had a chance to help Xiao Jiang return to the city, and Xiao Jiang would have remembered his kindness. But he didn't do any of that, so it probably isn't him."

Ye Shubao scratched his head, "Then which one is it?"

Secretary Yang chuckled and said, "Who cares which one he takes a fancy to, as long as she's from Lujiawan, it's fine. We'll hold a banquet first, make it a done deal, and then get the marriage certificate when he's old enough. That way, everything will be perfect."

Captain Zhang coughed lightly, his eyes darting around. "Should we give Old Yang a heads-up and ask him to create more opportunities?"

Safety immediately raised her hand, "Absolutely not!"

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, he quickly added, "Young people are shy. Didn't you see how Chen went through all the trouble of getting an electric fan? If you create opportunities for him, it'll be too obvious and not good. Just let things take their natural course and let them achieve their goals naturally."

Upon hearing this, the others couldn't help but nod slightly in agreement.

After a two-second pause, Secretary Yang said with a smile, "I quite like Xiao Chen. He's very clever and hardworking. I voted in favor of letting him settle in Lujiawan and approving a homestead for him..."

Upon hearing this, the three brigade leaders standing nearby exclaimed in unison, "I voted too!"

Secretary Yang's face stiffened slightly, and he coughed lightly. "That's my point. First, settle down, then build a house. That's half the battle won. The other half is getting married and having children. As long as he finds a wife in Lujiawan and gets married, he'll be tied to Lujiawan for life."

We're not saying we want anything from him, but having someone like him who can offer advice and lead our production team forward is definitely better than us messing around blindly before.

Captain Zhang nodded and agreed, saying, "That makes sense. If a person doesn't get married, they lack stability. Once they have a family, they have roots and can settle down."

Xiao Liewen looked at everyone, smiled and said, "We won't arrange anything for him. We'll just let nature take its course. Whether he takes a liking to someone or not, we won't interfere. Even if he finds out about our intentions later, he won't have any objections."

Zhang Wenliang muttered to himself.

Yes, yes, we won't interfere. We're just sending the three girls to their homes. Honestly, Team 6 is Lujiawan, but Team 5 isn't? It would have been so much better if we'd just let him live at the brigade headquarters and then given him a plot of land in Team 5!

(End of this chapter)