Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 539 Learning to Farm

Leading the horse through the alley, we arrived at the thatched hut. There were no lights inside, but everything was clearly visible in the moonlight.

It seems the moon was much brighter and bigger back then than it is now.

He patted the mare's head to stop her from running around, then took two large bundles wrapped in homespun cloth from two baskets, placed them at the door, and then turned to the window and gently knocked, "Fourth Master, Fourth Master."

Lu Siye's voice came from the bedroom, "It's you. What brings you here at this hour?"

He lit the kerosene lamp while speaking, then quickly dressed and went out to open the door.

Chen Fan had already been waiting at the door with two large packages. When Master Lu opened the door, his first words were, "Seriously? Why don't you even have an electric wire running here?"

Master Lu placed the kerosene lamp on the table and went to pour him some tea, saying, "There's no need. I'm an old man who goes to bed when it gets dark and gets up when it gets light. I don't even use the kerosene lamp much. Why would I need to run an electric wire? It's just a waste."

Chen Fan placed the two packages on the table, took the teacup with both hands, sat down in the chair and said, "If you don't need it, I will. It's nice to come over for tea and play chess when you have free time."

Master Lu snorted twice, "You always come here to drink tea and play chess, but how many times have you come over at night in the past year? Not once! You leave as soon as it gets dark."

Chen Fan: We can't talk anymore.

Master Lu took a sip of water, then turned to look at the two packages. "You went out for a trip and brought me back two of these things?"

As he spoke, he sniffed, "It smells like meat... um... this smell is wrong."

He untied one of the smaller packages, picked up an oil paper packet, brought it to his nose and smelled it. His brows furrowed slightly, and he turned to look at Chen Fan. "This meat has a fishy, ​​pungent smell. What kind of wild animal is it?"

Chen Fan immediately gave a thumbs up, "Fourth Master is still going strong for his age! He can even smell that?!"

Master Lu chuckled and tossed the oil paper packet into his bundle. "When I was young, I ate all sorts of good things. This little bit of wild animal meat is nothing to me. But it's a token of your goodwill, so I'll accept it."

Chen Fan looked at him with a big smile, "Wow, that's amazing, you've even eaten tiger meat?"

"Tiger meat?"

Master Lu's hand trembled, and he quickly picked up the oil paper package, staring at it with wide eyes as he asked, "You're saying this is tiger meat?"

Chen Fan chuckled and said, "This is leopard meat..."

When Master Lu's expression changed slightly, he picked up another large paper package from his bundle, saying, "This is the tiger meat."

Then he introduced the remaining three packages: "This is wolf meat, this is venison, and this is sheep meat."

He put down the oil paper package, clicked his tongue, and looked regretful. "It's a pity that I only killed one tiger. Many people wanted it, but I had to fight back and forth. In the end, I only managed to keep a small piece of tiger meat, which barely filled half a suitcase."

Most of the meat was venison and mutton, but these weren't rare, so I didn't bring much. I just put together a couple of boxes of different kinds, just to get a taste. Unlike Fourth Master, who's seen and experienced a lot, I've definitely eaten plenty of these before.

Master Lu's face darkened as he looked at the man's feigned incompetence coupled with his ostentatious display. He was so unaware of the term "pretentious" that he was speechless.

It's true that he's a very knowledgeable old man, but he's never eaten tiger meat before. That stuff has to be eaten fresh, and he's never been deep in the mountains and forests. Where would he get to eat it?!
When Chen Fan saw that Fourth Master's face had darkened, he didn't dare to tease him anymore, fearing that he might not be able to catch his breath and that he would have to help him. So he quickly introduced, "I have already processed all this meat. You can heat it up and eat it later. In this weather, you can't eat cold dishes. They have to be heated up."

Also, your health isn't what it used to be. Too much nourishment will keep you awake at night. One or two ounces at a time is enough; you can't eat too much.

He then took another large bundle, opened it, and said, “Look at these, they are all top-quality mountain products from Northeast China: red pine nuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, mountain sesame seeds, mushrooms, dried black fungus, toad oil, and dried forest frogs.”

You're a connoisseur of food, you surely know how to cook these things, so I won't say more. Later, find a basket and hang it from the rafters, so the rats don't get to it.”

Looking at all these fine things, Master Lu was extremely surprised and asked him, "You went to the Northeast?"

Chen Fan nodded. "Ah, isn't it because Yunhu Machinery Factory wanted to set up a car factory and their application was approved? They went to FAW to discuss the aid project, and I happened to be in Beijing, so I went with them."

Upon hearing this, Master Lu's face immediately turned strange. "Yunhu Machinery Factory is going to manufacture cars? And it even received aid from FAW?"

He scrutinized Chen Fan closely. "Isn't there something else going on here?"

Why would FAW provide assistance in building the Yunhu Automobile Plant without any apparent reason? And why would the Ministry of Machinery Industry approve the application?

Yunhu Machinery Factory can only be considered the top dog in the local area. Not to mention other provinces, even in Jiangnan province, there are countless units that are more powerful than it. He doesn't believe there isn't some other reason behind this.

Chen Fan chuckled, "There's nothing special about it. I just sorted out two car model design drawings from my father's notebook, submitted them, and the leaders of the First Ministry of Machinery Industry thought they were usable, and that's how it went."

After understanding the situation, Master Lu was even more puzzled: "You can design cars?"

This thing is "high-tech". Back then, if it weren't for the "big brother", we wouldn't have been able to have our own car factory so quickly.

Oh, now it's the Soviet Union, the kind that can argue every day without even meeting.

That's not the point. The key question is, when will this little guy be able to design cars?

Chen Fan coughed twice. "It's not really a design; it's just a collection of notes from my notebook. That's how it turned out."

Master Lu glanced at him twice, as if to say, "Do you think I believe you or not?!"
However, seeing that he was unwilling to talk, Fourth Master did not continue the topic and instead said, "Tell me about any interesting things that happened outside this time."

The old man leaned back in his chair, a hint of reminiscence in his eyes. Back then, he had traveled all over the country, visiting many places, including Shanghai, Tianjin, and even living in Shanghai for two or three years. In the blink of an eye, decades have passed. He wondered what the outside world was like now.
Upon hearing what Master Lu said, Chen Fan immediately perked up. It was just bragging, something he excelled at.

He immediately and skillfully found some melon seeds and peanuts, poured himself another glass of water, and then began to chat seriously.
"That day, it was just after the Spring Festival, the fifth day of the first lunar month. The sky was dark, the ground was covered in snow, and it was bitterly cold. Company Commander Zhang and I braved the cold wind and boarded a passenger ship heading east. We drifted along until we arrived in Shanghai..."

Master Lu was also a connoisseur of opera, and he would occasionally chime in with a few shouts.

"Wow, hotel rooms are assigned, how novel."

"Cows are wonderful, it's a pity we couldn't buy them. We'll try again next time."

"Oh, you stayed at the Jinjiang Hotel? I've never stayed at that place before. That's right, it wasn't even there when I was in Shanghai."

"You bought a house already? A small villa at that! Tsk tsk, 30,000 yuan, you've probably emptied your pockets this time! Serves you right!"

"You met Ba Jin? That's great. He's a good man, so you should treat him with respect. Don't be as disrespectful as you were to me."

"What? You stole a fountain pen and a few calligraphy scrolls? Hmm, forget what I just said."

"You went to the capital already? And even visited the memorial hall? Good, good. Did you pay your respects to Mr. Li for me? That's good. Oh, and Xiao Yang, Xiao Zhang, and Xiao Xiao too. Hmm, we should tell them. Everyone is thinking of him."

…………

The two chatted like that, not knowing how much time had passed, until Xiao Liewen came looking for them with a flashlight. They suddenly realized, "Is it already 8 o'clock?"
They've been talking for two hours already?
Xiao Liewen shone his flashlight on the two piles of sunflower seed and peanut shells on the ground, and immediately felt a headache coming on. He pointed at Chen Fan and started cursing, "The old man is getting old and can't eat too much oily food. Don't you know that these sunflower seeds and peanuts can be pressed for oil? And also, you don't sleep, but Fourth Master doesn't sleep either? Can he compare to you?"

Chen Fan shrank back and quickly went to find a broom and dustpan to clean up. "I was wrong, I was wrong. I'll be more careful next time, I'll definitely be more careful next time."

Xiao Liewen flew into a rage, "There's going to be a next time? You're not allowed to come over at night anymore!"

Chen Fan kept moving his hands and feet, saying, "Yes, yes, I won't come over, I won't come over."

Master Lu rinsed his mouth with tea, wiped his face with a towel, and decisively hid in his room. "I'm going to sleep. Close the door when you leave."

Then, with a bang, the door to the room was slammed shut.

Chen Fan quickly cleaned up the floor and table, then found a rope, tied the two bundles together, and hung them from the roof beam before going out and closing the door behind him.

The little mare standing outside snorted in grievance, "How come you can talk so much?"
Chen Fan touched its nose, held the reins, and followed behind Captain Xiao, whispering, "Captain, I have something to tell you."

Xiao Liewen didn't even turn his head. "What else could it be? Is it your Master Lin sending his regards? We've been comrades-in-arms for over twenty years, this is nothing, no need to mention it."

Chen Fan: "How did you know? I was there for several days, and he didn't mention you at all."

Xiao Liewen suddenly stopped and turned to look at him. "Impossible, absolutely impossible."

When he saw Chen Fan's serious expression, he frowned slightly, but the next second, his anger turned into a smile. "Hmph, don't even think about trying to sow discord with such a superficial method. I won't believe you."

After that, continue walking forward.

Chen Fan followed behind and chuckled, "I knew you were wise and brilliant, Captain. But what I'm going to tell you isn't about Master Lin. It's that Master Zhang has gone bankrupt. You probably don't believe me."

Xiao Liewen snorted twice and completely ignored him.

The next second, he turned back and asked, "Old Zhang taught you his skills too?"

"Yes, I even kowtowed and offered tea."

Chen Fan explained for a moment and continued, "Master Zhang has always wanted to build a Taoist temple, right? He spent all his money to buy one, but he still hasn't been able to build it because he's out of money. The house he bought is too dilapidated; it can't be used even if it's demolished and rebuilt. So he's really worried about it now."

Hearing this, Xiao Liewen had no choice but to believe it.

Back then, everyone in the army, without exception, knew that rebuilding the Taoist temple was Old Zhang's deepest concern. To say that he went bankrupt to build the temple would be perfectly reasonable.

He thought for a moment and asked, "What about your Master Lin? Didn't he offer any support?"

Chen Fan said, "I support it. Master Lin even took out his savings book and spent several thousand yuan. But the money for rebuilding the Taoist temple is not enough. If I hadn't bought a house, I would have spent all my money too."

"Oh, I bought a small villa in Shanghai, it was so expensive, it cost over 30,000 yuan, so I'm out of money." Xiao Liewen stopped in his tracks, his face full of hesitation.

Does building a Taoist temple really cost that much money?
Building a small Western-style house in the village only costs four or five thousand yuan. Even if a Taoist temple has four or five courtyards, it should cost around twenty thousand yuan, right? Add the cost of buying the land, thirty thousand yuan wouldn't be enough.
Old Zhang was so stingy back then, saving all his money to build a Taoist temple later. Even though he bought a house to settle down back then, his salary increased later. Could he really not even come up with more than 3 yuan?

Could it be that Lao Zhang is planning to create a super Taoist temple group?
Xiao Liewen clicked his tongue, feeling that Old Zhang was a bit of a spendthrift.

But it was difficult for him to persuade him about this matter. They were friends who had risked their lives for each other, and he knew that in Lao Zhang's heart, nothing else mattered, but this matter could not be taken lightly.

After thinking it over and over, Xiao Liewen finally sighed inwardly. Well, they're all old brothers. What else can he do but provide some financial support?

He looked up at Chen Fan, then spread his hands, "Where are my things?"

Chen Fan immediately took a large bundle from the basket and handed it to him, saying, "These are some local specialties, just a small token of my appreciation."

Xiao Liewen picked up the bundle, weighed it in his hand, and nodded in satisfaction. "You've got a conscience, kid."

This bundle isn't much smaller than the two bundles that Master Lu had combined, so they seem to be about the same weight.

Looking at the other bundles in the basket, they were noticeably smaller.

He gestured as he spoke, "Captain Zhang is at home, you can just deliver it there."

He then turned and walked towards his home, still wondering to himself whether to send three thousand, five thousand, or even eight thousand.
I can't possibly scrape together 10,000; that's all I earned last year.

By the way, should we tell the other old buddies?
Well, I'll say it anyway. With Old Zhang's temper, he definitely won't ask for help himself, nor will he let the company commander and the others ask. But we're out of money, what else can we do?
We can only ask the old folks to chip in.

This old Zhang has really been dragged down by the Taoist temple; what a mess!
Chen Fan watched Xiao Liewen's sighing back and raised his eyebrows smugly.

Hmph, you dare to insult me? I'll make you lose some money!

He had a simple idea. Anyway, he wasn't really trying to swindle Captain Xiao's money. Whether he sent it or not, Master Zhang definitely wouldn't want it. He just wanted to make Captain Xiao worry for a few days.

Feeling that he had subtly tricked Captain Xiao, Chen Fan happily led the mare and continued delivering gifts.

Master Lu sent two bundles, and Xiao Liewen sent a large one. The others didn't receive such good treatment.

Secretary Yang, Captain Zhang, and Deputy Captain Ye each received a separate gift, but the gifts were much smaller.

People have varying degrees of closeness and distance. Everyone knows that Master Lu and Captain Xiao have been kind enough to pass on their skills to Chen Fan, making them his teachers in name only. Giving them more gifts won't elicit a single complaint from anyone.

For example, Chen Fan treats Zhang Cuie differently, and Yang Ju and the others can only be envious, not daring to say "I want a share too," because that's not reasonable.

So, aside from the three leaders, Chen Fan simply prepared a large gift package and handed it over to Captain Zhang to handle.

Otherwise, with so many acquaintances in the production team, how could he possibly deliver them all?

……

The next morning, Chen Fan got up early as usual, washed up, and went downstairs for his morning exercise.

By this time, Yang Mei and the other two had already gotten up and started working.

Huang Li was making breakfast in the kitchen, Liu Lu was mopping the floor and wiping the table in the house, and Yang Mei had already returned from cutting pig feed outside and was preparing to cook pig feed in the back.

Chen Fan looked around and felt that just watching wasn't a good idea, so he went into the panda enclosure to feed the pandas.

Duoduo and Qiuqiu could only watch enviously from afar, neither daring to approach.

The myna bird flapped its wings and landed on the courtyard wall, staring at Chen Fan without saying a word.

The bird remained silent, which Chen Fan found somewhat unusual. He immediately turned to look at it and asked, "Didn't you have breakfast?"

The myna bird perked up immediately, flapped its wings and flew over, landing on the rolling wooden pole. "I ate the bugs, and I want more."

Chen Fan tossed a stone in his hand, playing with it. "Then let's go eat some more."

The myna bird looked at the rock and felt it looked familiar. After a moment, it decisively ran away, silently cursing someone for being uncivilized.

The hawk returned carrying a rabbit in its beak, glanced strangely at the silent myna, but didn't pay it any mind, and swooped down towards Chen Fan.

It dropped the rabbit and landed on Chen Fan's shoulder, chirping happily.

Chen Fan held it in his hand and stroked it for a while. Then, he grabbed it and threw it into the air. The falcon took off and soared into the sky.

Watching the falcon fly away, Chen Fan picked up the rabbit and walked outside. "Huang Li, stew the rabbit. We'll have it as an extra dish for lunch."

By this time, Huang Li had already prepared breakfast, Yang Mei had finished feeding the pigs, Liu Lu had finished mopping a section of the ground in front of the door, put the mop away, washed her hands, and hurried over.

Chen Fan had just taken a bite of a large meat bun when he heard the sound of reading coming from the educated youth compound not far away, and couldn't help but glance in that direction.

Yang Mei noticed his gaze and immediately said, "Those are the educated youth in the educated youth compound doing their morning reading. They also get up at 6 o'clock every morning, clean up, have breakfast, and then start their morning reading and study. Then they go to work with everyone at 7 or 8 o'clock."

Chen Fan had heard Captain Yang mention it yesterday, so he nodded and smiled, "It seems this group of educated youth is quite different."

Liu Lu raised her head and said, "It is quite different. When they first arrived, it was obvious that none of them had ever done farm work before. They were also wearing very nice clothes. However, after only a few days, they quickly learned how to do the work. Although they didn't do it very well, they made great progress."

Huang Li swallowed the porridge in her mouth and joined the conversation, "Actually, we all know that they came because of you, teacher. So at first, no one paid attention to them except when they were working. But later, we saw that they were serious when they were working and were still studying hard after work, so we gradually got to know them more."

When my sister and her friends were around, we went to see them too. Their eyes were so bright; they were so different from the other educated youth in the commune.

Chen Fan nodded and smiled, "If what you're saying is true, then these people are worth helping out."

The three of them smiled at each other and then remained silent.

After breakfast, the three girls packed up their farm tools and went to work. The reading in the educated youth compound also stopped. Amid the morning news broadcast from the loudspeaker, the noise of talking could be clearly heard from the village road ahead. Gradually, the scattered sounds merged together and spread out into the fields.

Although spring plowing has already begun, there is still a lot of farm work to do. Each household needs to cut hay for their chickens, ducks, and rabbits, weeds in the vegetable garden need to be removed, fruit trees need to be pruned, rice paddies and vegetable gardens need to be fertilized, crops need to be watered, and pesticides need to be applied to prevent diseases, etc.

In rural areas, as long as you have something to do, you'll always have endless work to do.

After they all left, Chen Fan turned around and went into the house, climbing the stairs all the way to the roof.

There is a small staircase on the roof that allows you to come up directly from below.

Chen Fan stood on the rooftop, looking out over the soft yet firm thatch.

This is probably the highest point in the vicinity, about ten meters higher than the embankment, offering a panoramic view of the surrounding scenery.

Nearly half of the original mud-walled houses in the six villages ahead have disappeared, replaced by two-story villas with red bricks and blue tiles.

All the buildings are made of red brick and have not been painted, which saves money.

Although the families of the commune members in Lujiawan are not short of money now, they are not easily wasteful. They are content with their small brick and tile houses, why would they need exterior wall plaster?!
Turning around and looking west into the fields, you see sparse rice seedlings in the paddy fields. In two or three months, these green seedlings will grow into golden rice, ushering in the double harvest season.

Further away, the whistle of a cargo ship sounded, signaling that the "Luwan No. 2" had begun delivering goods again.

Chen Fan stood on the rooftop, took a deep breath of the 8 a.m. air, stretched contentedly, and thought, "Hope lies in the distance!"
Then I heard Captain Yang's voice behind me, "What are you doing climbing up on the roof?"

Chen Fan turned around and waved, "Come down right away."

After saying that, he rushed downstairs.

He came out of the gate, took out a cigarette and offered it to the man, "Didn't the team leader bring anyone to work today?"

Captain Yang took the cigarette, lit it on the lighter Chen Fan handed him, and took a puff. "I just need to go to work. I came to tell you that yesterday we asked you to give a lecture to the students at the village school. I called Team 10 last night, and Principal Xiao said you can decide the time. The school can do it anytime."

He looked Chen Fan up and down. "You seem to have a lot of free time. Why don't you go over and take a look today?"

Chen Fan coughed lightly, "Going there today is no problem, but I won't be free at all."

Captain Yang looked at him and asked, "So you're planning to write something again?"

Chen Fan glanced around. "No, I plan to learn farming."

"Pfft...cough cough cough cough."

Upon hearing this, Captain Yang choked on his smoke, tears welling up in his eyes. After finally catching his breath, he looked up at him in disbelief, "You? You want to learn farming?"

Chen Fan nodded seriously, "That's right, I think that as a qualified member of Lujiawan Commune, it's impossible not to know how to farm."

Captain Yang smoked half a cigarette in one go, then threw the cigarette butt away. "No problem, come on, I'll teach you how to farm right now."

Chen Fan stretched out his palm and pushed forward, "Wait a minute, let me go to the village school to teach a class first!"

(End of this chapter)