Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 598 Don't Brag
After chatting with Captain Yang for a while and confirming that no outsiders were coming to visit today, Chen Fan continued on his way.

That's true. During the double harvest season, which production team isn't busy?
Even if some leaders think they can abandon production to come and visit, they still have to consider whether others are willing. If they don't even have this much sense, they're doomed sooner or later.

However, this kind of thing cannot be completely eliminated.

According to Captain Yang, a joint delegation will come to visit again in a few days when the harvest and planting season is in full swing.

They mainly wanted to see the difference between operating agricultural machinery and manual operation.

Chen Fan didn't care, as long as there were no outsiders around.

For safety's sake, he also summoned a falcon to conduct an aerial reconnaissance, and only after confirming that there were no outsiders did he continue toward the battalion headquarters.

Riding the mare, they soon arrived at Team 5.

Like Team 6, most of the villagers work outside the village, leaving only a dozen or so elderly people and children behind.

After waving to the elderly people, Chen Fan first walked through two newly built red brick buildings to Lu Siye's house.

Unfortunately, he wasn't home either.

Although Master Lu was old and had difficulty walking, he still had to work like everyone else.

If you don't work, where will you get work points?
However, the tasks assigned to him were not too heavy, which was a form of consideration.

Perhaps in a few years, when Lujiawan is wealthy enough, it will build its own welfare home to take care of all the elderly people living alone in the village, and then it can "retire" completely.

It seems there aren't many elderly people living alone in the village?
Chen Fan rode out along the path on his horse, shook his head, and felt that Lujiawan could now support the few remaining elderly people living alone.

However, given the older generation's habit of wanting to get out of bed as soon as they can move, I'm worried they might not be willing to be cared for.

Upon arriving at the brigade headquarters, Chen Fan dismounted, patted the horse's rump, and told the mare to go to the livestock shed by herself before turning and entering the courtyard.

Today is a good day. Red flags are planted all over the courtyard and rooftops, and a banner is hung above the main building to warmly celebrate the 57th anniversary of the organization's founding.

Chen Fan turned his head and looked around, then continued walking forward. After a few steps, he saw Xiao Liewen leaning against the window and shouting at him, "When did you get back, kid?"

Chen Fan grinned and said, "Just got back. I just put my things down and came over."

As he spoke, he quickened his pace and walked over, entering the office in just a few steps.

Xiao Liewen was the only one inside. He took out a cigarette and offered it to me. "They don't even bother to call ahead. They're all out patrolling the fields. Sometimes they come back early, sometimes they don't come back until it's dark."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a faint explosion could be heard in the distance.

Chen Fan immediately turned his head to look in the direction from which the sound came, his brows furrowing slightly. "Is that Team 3 or Team 4?"

Xiao Liewen remained unmoved, pulled out a chair, sat down, lit a match to light a cigarette, then handed the match over, laughing, "It's nothing, those are the militia hunting wild animals."

Chen Fan lit the fire, and upon hearing this, he suddenly realized, "To protect the grain?"

The grain harvest is conducted twice a year. In addition to preventing natural disasters such as fires and heavy rains, we must also guard against wild animals such as rabbits, wild boars, and muntjacs stealing and damaging the grain.

The poor little sparrow was killed because it was considered the biggest villain who stole grain, and almost became an endangered protected animal.

Exhaling a puff of smoke, Chen Fan chuckled and said, "Then we'll have some wild game to eat later."

The game caught should naturally be handed over, and of course, the militia will also be credited with merits, which means they will receive a few more work points.

As for how to handle it, in the past, the natural method was to skin and pickle it, sell it to make money to offset the accounts, and then distribute the profits at the end of the year, with everyone getting a share.

Now it's naturally not that complicated.

It's just a small wild animal. It's just a matter of selling a couple more chickens. They'll eat it, so what?

Xiao Liewen looked at him and smiled, "Don't you like shooting? Want to try it out?"

Chen Fan shook his head. "Never mind."

Xiao Liewen was stunned for a moment, looking at him in surprise, "You've gotten tired of it so quickly?"

Back then, he tricked this kid into joining the militia for free with just a gun, but now he doesn't even play with guns. Has he changed his ways?

Chen Fan shook his head and laughed, "No. It's just that I took the hunting rifle to Shanghai and didn't bring it back. I only have a pistol, which isn't very interesting to use."

Last time, he had planned to take Zhou Yali hunting in the old forest after going to Northeast China, so he brought both hunting rifles with him. But after arriving, Zhou Zhengdong saw the changes in the ancestral home and lost all interest in hunting.

The two guns were taken to Shanghai untouched.

He didn't take it with him when he returned to the provincial capital; he just left it at his small villa.

Besides, after exploring the old forests of Northeast China, I looked down on these small places. After wandering around for a while, I could only catch small things, nothing compared to the thrill of hunting big trucks in Northeast China.

Seeing that Chen Fan was not interested, Xiao Liewen didn't say much and instead asked about his situation in the provincial capital.

Chen Fan rambled on and on, making Xiao Liewen roll his eyes.

With a cigarette dangling from his mouth, he glanced sideways at Chen Fan. "Heh, you're quite capable. Go to school. You finished the entire curriculum in two and a half months. If your teachers hadn't been so reluctant to let you go, you'd be on cloud nine."

Chen Fan's face stiffened slightly, and he paused while pouring water. "How can you say 'ascending to heaven'? It should be 'graduation'. If I hadn't thought the time was too short and might attract questions from outsiders, I would have already received my graduation certificate, okay?"

Xiao Liewen's lips twitched slightly. "That correspondence center, and the new magazine, you set them up all by yourself? Impressive!"

Chen Fan chuckled and said, "It's nothing much. I was just offering a suggestion. The key is for all the other comrades to work together to accomplish great things."

Xiao Liewen couldn't hold back any longer and said irritably, "If you're saying that in Lujiawan, whatever you say goes, then I'll believe you. Anyway, there aren't many educated people in the village, and none of them are as smart as you, so listening to you is definitely the right thing to do."

But you're saying that in the provincial writers' association, it's the same as here, that whatever you say, everyone listens? What, do you think I'm a country bumpkin?

What kind of place is the Provincial Writers Association? It's a gathering place for literary geniuses, especially those who become leaders—aren't they all exceptionally intelligent?
"I think you're only good for making minor contributions, but you've gone and started bragging."

Chen Fan frowned, "Fine, I guess I was just bragging."

He blew on the tea a few times, took a sip of hot tea, put down the teacup, and picked up the cigarette holder again. "Believe it or not, I didn't blow on it."

Xiao Liewen: "Mmm, you didn't blow it."

His eyes then darted around, and he looked at Chen Fan with a smile, "A power station is going to be built in our Lujiawan, aren't you excited?"

Chen Fan was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at him, "Build a power station? Hydropower?"

Xiao Liewen coughed and gestured with his hands. "Here's what we're thinking: during the dry season in winter, we'll build a dam on the river and install a few generator sets. That way, we can generate our own electricity and won't have to deal with power outages several times a day anymore. What do you think?" Chen Fan blinked and asked doubtfully, "This is a large river that's two or three hundred meters wide at its narrowest point, not a small canal a dozen meters wide in the mountains. How much does Lujiawan have these days to dare to build a dam like this?"

From the 50s to the 70s, the construction of small hydropower stations across the country was incredibly rapid.

Especially in mountainous areas with water resources, a small dam can be built over a ditch, and one or two miniature generator sets can be installed to create a small hydroelectric power station that can supply a production brigade or even a commune.

Small hydroelectric power stations are relatively easy to build, but Lujiawan is different.

They dare to build a dam on this river that is several hundred meters wide?

Building a dam across a river that is several hundred meters long can certainly be considered a national-level project.

This is ridiculous!
Seeing Chen Fan's suspicious expression, Xiao Liewen couldn't help but laugh out loud, "I knew I couldn't fool you."

Chen Fan's face fell.

You asked me about the situation, and I told you the truth, but you said I was bragging.

Okay, and then you gave me a big one.

The sky was almost blown apart!
If you weren't my master, I would definitely have to give you a good talking to.

After laughing, Xiao Liewen grinned and said, "At first, that's what we really thought. It's too troublesome to have power outages all the time. Farm work is okay, since most of the farm machinery is diesel-powered and there aren't many places where electricity is needed."

However, the impact on sideline production is enormous. Feed processing machines, livestock farm machinery, and refrigerated display cases in cooked food workshops all require electricity to operate.

The team had just saved up a considerable amount of money, so Lao Yang suggested, "Could we build our own hydroelectric power station?"

He pointed to the direction of the river in the distance, saying, "At first, we also thought about building a hydroelectric power station nearby, but when we asked the commune, it turned out that it wouldn't work."

Chen Fan curled his lip in annoyance, "It's impossible for that to work."

He threw away the cigarette butt and spat out the tobacco dust in his mouth. "Master Xiao, why are you still smoking this kind of cigarette without a mouthpiece?"

Xiao Liewen glanced at him and said, "You're complaining now? This is Peony cigarettes. I think you're just like that, all extravagant and frugal."

Chen Fan said, "It is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality."

Xiao Liewen said, "That's the gist of it. You can't do it like this. Well, after the double harvest, the militia company will have a training session, and you'll come along and eat the 'bitterness meal' with them."

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan immediately shuddered.

Training camps are nothing to him, but he really doesn't want to touch that "bitter meal" again.

He quickly changed the subject, saying, "What if the hydropower station can't be built? We can't let production be delayed."

To be honest, there were no refrigerated display cases in the past, and the feed mill was only built this year, so whether there is electricity or not doesn't make much difference.

However, as the scale expands, some necessary equipment is gradually being purchased, and it would be a great pity if it couldn't be used due to a lack of power.

Most importantly, it delays making money!
Xiao Liewen glanced at him and said, "You've really changed. Tomorrow, Sanhu will make you a 'bitter memory meal'!"

Chen Fan immediately looked worried.

Xiao Liewen dusted off his cigarette ash and continued, "Building a power station by damming the river was definitely not an option. Later, Lao Yang tried to find the county power bureau to ask them if it was possible to build a diesel power station."

Upon hearing this, a hint of a smile flashed in Chen Fan's eyes.

That's impressive. Secretary Yang is now even going out of his way to pull strings. Back when he was in the team, these kinds of things were usually handled by him and Anquan, with Zhang Wenliang at most.

Now that he can't rely on either himself or his safety, Secretary Yang is ignoring Zhang Wenliang and going to find someone else himself.

It seems he is gradually adapting to the changes in the production team, and is no longer as shy as before, too embarrassed to try to pull strings.

Xiao Liewen continued, “The power bureau explained to him in detail that building a diesel power station was not difficult, and the generator sets were minor issues. The most crucial thing was whether our production team could obtain a fixed diesel permit.”

Lujiawan already had a few cargo ships, and with the help of the shipping company, they could barely manage to get diesel fuel. Building a diesel power station was practically impossible.

Chen Fan nodded slightly, "Diesel is a key controlled material, and the production team is not a key industrial or transportation unit, so it's impossible for them to approve too much diesel for us."

The diesel fuel currently allocated to Lujiawan by higher authorities is still intended to meet the needs of agricultural machinery, which is unique to Gufeng County.

Apart from Lujiawan, no other production team has a stable source of diesel fuel.

Xiao Liewen nodded, "Yes, so this road is also cut off."

Chen Fan laughed and said, "Actually, there is a way. Miniature diesel generators are not in short supply. We can't buy too many, but one or two should be fine. If there is a power outage, we can just move them wherever we need them. That should be enough to tide us over."

Xiao Liewen smiled and waved his hand, "That was originally our plan too. But, what's that saying again, something about Willow Village?"

Chen Fan chuckled, "After the darkest hour comes the dawn."

Xiao Liewen: "Yes, yes."

He grinned and said, "Old Yang went from commune to county town, and word got out that Lujiawan wanted to build a power station. Guess what? Someone came knocking on our door!"

Chen Fan frowned slightly, squinted and thought for a moment, then suddenly turned and pointed to the east, "Qingshan Commune? They have a suitable place to build a small hydroelectric power station!"

Xiao Liewen stared at him wide-eyed in surprise. "Yang Chuanfu told you that?"

Chen Fan smiled and shook his head, "When I came here just now, I did run into Captain Yang and we chatted for a while, but he didn't mention this matter."

Xiao Liewen clicked his tongue, "How did you even come up with this?"

Chen Fan laughed and said, "So, now you believe I wasn't bragging, right?"

Xiao Liewen curled his lip, "Only you know that."

He picked up the half-matchstick he had just thrown away, stuck it into the cigarette butt that was only a centimeter long, and continued smoking while biting the matchstick. Then he said, "Just across the river from Team 6, in that small hill, there happens to be a small ditch. It's not big, only about ten meters wide, and the current isn't very fast. Plus, there's a dry season in winter. But it's about enough to build a small hydroelectric power station."

Chen Fan clicked his tongue. "What are the conditions set by Qingshan Commune?"

Xiao Liewen shrugged and laughed, "What other conditions could they be? They just want the production teams in their commune to learn from Lujiawan and raise chickens and ducks, and then make money together with Lujiawan."

Chen Fan frowned slightly and asked, "If there's another commune, can you handle such a large volume?"

Xiao Liewen laughed and said, "With the machinery factory, the cotton mill, and so many factories under the jurisdiction of the prefectural committee, let alone one more, even two more communes, we can still sell them all."

(End of this chapter)