Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 785: Traditional Chinese Medicine Antiques Witnessing Friendship! A Secret Formula Research Institute Built in the Army's Secrecy (Two Chapters Combined)
Du Heng and Yan Yifan, who were standing nearby, were stunned when they heard that Huo Su'e was only nineteen years old.

No way, this guy is nineteen years old, and his face is covered in a beard that looks like a kiwi?

He looked like he was in his thirties with his stubble. If he had said he was forty, people would have been more likely to believe him. The key point is that he said he was only nineteen.

Goodness, do foreigners look this old?

Judging from his dialect or speaking style, one could deduce that this person's age and appearance were mismatched.

And as it turned out, he was right.

This person was indeed under twenty years old before.

He just looks older than he actually is; his manner of speaking is very much in line with that of an eighteen or nineteen-year-old boy from a high-ranking foreign official's family.

Their words and actions exhibit a unique contradiction, which is a typical microcosm of the youth of the elite class in Third World countries during the Cold War.

Such a person receives higher education from a young age, has strict family upbringing, and possesses a strong political awareness and sense of responsibility.

The fact that such a person is sent to study abroad indicates that he must possess a certain level of maturity and a sense of mission. The contrast between his appearance and his actual age is one of the key factors in this.

Judging from the way he makes friends, there isn't actually much of a problem.

Their main areas of study in Cuba are traditional Chinese medicine and agriculture.

Hosseou's study of traditional Chinese medicine was a heavy task, which is why he found the dialect and said those words.

To become good friends with someone who has appeared in the newspapers multiple times, or even a brother like those in "Water Margin," would certainly be a wonderful thing.

Fang Yan certainly wouldn't look down on such a person just because he was young or because his behavior was a bit strange.

None of these children of high-ranking officials who were able to study abroad were easy to deal with.

After returning home, they will almost always hold important positions in key government departments, so it's actually worthwhile to cultivate good relationships with such people.

Of course, we shouldn't become sworn brothers now.

This kid probably doesn't even understand what sworn brotherhood is; he just wants to tie himself down.

Fang Yan explained to him:

"In our country, it's not easy to become sworn brothers. You have to be good friends who have been through some things together. Only when the friendship has stood the test can you become sworn brothers."

"It's a friendship that's even higher than that of good friends or comrades-in-arms; it's extremely precious."

Hossué said, somewhat confused:

"Oh! I see, you mean...murder?! Like the kind of relationship in Water Margin."

This left everyone around speechless.

Dialectal wave:
"No, you misunderstood me."

"While you are right to some extent, we are practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine, people who save lives."

"Our friendship can be tested in some other way."

"For example, you do me a big favor, and then I do you a big favor, but neither of us can do it on our own, so we end up owing each other a huge favor."

Hossué suddenly realized:
"Oh? I think I understand what you mean. It's like... the closest comrade-in-arms, someone you can completely trust."

Nodding in dialect:

"Very good, you understand what I mean now."

Hossué nodded:

"Well, we're not quite there yet, but I hope we can be."

The dialect also says:
"I also hope that day will come."

Then the group sat down and began to eat.

To be honest, the food here is definitely not cooked by the same chef as the food on the other side.

The food here is clearly better prepared; even the pieces of meat are cut to the same size.

Even at the regular window, the tofu can't be cut into a normal shape.

The two people beside him were Josúe's study companions, both Cubans, and they showed Josúe great respect.

Although we were eating together, I was constantly keeping an eye on José.

While eating, Hosseoué began to tell his story in dialect.

It wasn't about his background, but about how he learned Chinese and traditional Chinese medicine. He said that his family's gardener was a descendant of Chinese laborers who taught him Chinese and some knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine.

He likes to gesticulate wildly when he talks, and that bearded man will sneak bites while eating.

However, the food at the international counter here is indeed very good. Every dish today was impressive. When José saw that it was almost done, he even asked his men to add more dishes.

Du Heng and Yan Yifan, who were following the dialect, ate with gusto.

Listening to Hosseini recount his learning story throughout the entire session was like listening to a storyteller; it was quite entertaining.

The two of them stretched their necks and only stopped eating when they were full and burped.

By this time, Fang Yan had already put down his chopsticks and then chatted casually with Hosseini about his story.

Hosseou used the pen and paper he carried with him to write down the word "medicine" in traditional Chinese characters.

Then he said to Fang Yan and the others:

"...Look at this character for medicine. It has the grass radical on top and the character for joy on the bottom. When I was learning Chinese, I always thought that the person who invented this character must have experienced the joy of healing and saving lives and discovered that it was hidden among the plants."

Fang Yan was taken aback, then gave Hossué a thumbs up:

"Hossué, I must say, you're a genius when it comes to learning Chinese!"

Hossué was still very happy, and he smiled:
"Haha, my father said the same thing about me. But my teacher, Mr. Fu, said that when I am praised, I should be humble, just like when I hear praise for others. I should remain calm and composed, because praise doesn't bring me much benefit."

Fang Yan nodded and said to him:
"The Mr. Fu who taught you must be a very wise person."

Hossué said:
"Yes, although he was just a gardener, he eventually married a woman of high status through his wisdom and charm, so he is now in a very high position. This is the wisdom of China. I believe that after learning this wisdom, I can also break through my original destiny and become a better person."

Hearing what Hosseou said, Fang Yan became even more interested in this Mr. Fu.

They sound more like elites sent there than descendants of Chinese laborers.

However, Fang Yan didn't say anything more, but simply said to Hossué:
I believe you will.

Hossué said with a smile:
"Although Mr. Fu told me not to get too excited about the praise, I am still very happy to receive such a compliment from someone as talented as you. I know you are a very wise person, and your praise is more valuable than that of others."

As he spoke, he pulled out a cigar from his hand, lit it, and began smoking it in front of everyone.

"Cough cough cough..."

He took a puff and then started coughing violently, before handing the cigar in his hand to Fang Yan.

He smiled and said:

"Want a bite?"

"..." The dialect really couldn't understand this behavior.

Fang Yan didn't take the cigar, but asked him:
Are you imitating Castro?

“Yes! Isn’t that incredibly cool?” José said.

Fang Yan was both amused and exasperated. This kid clearly didn't know how to smoke, but he insisted on learning, and it seemed he was the one who brought the cigar with him.

At this point, Fang Yan is caught in a dilemma: whether to respond or not.

At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out from afar:

Smoking is not allowed in the cafeteria!

The voice spoke broken Chinese, and a man with a regional accent saw a thin, bony man approaching. Pointing to the cigar in Hosseille's hand, the man spoke again:
"Student, smoking is not allowed in the cafeteria!"

Hossué glanced at the other person with some annoyance, then swore in Spanish.

Then he stubbed out the cigar directly on the table.

Then, looking at the other person, he said:
"Is that okay now?"

Judging from their dialect, the people on duty here are Vietnamese.

You can tell them apart by their appearance, physique, and accent.

After Hosseoudi extinguished his cigarette, the Vietnamese man glanced at the group of people present, then walked away with a sinister look in his eyes.

"Who is this person?" Fang Yan asked Hosué.

Hossué shook his head:

"Our class's life committee member's name is something like Ruan something, but I can't remember it."

“They had a lot of people in the class, so they were elected. Actually, they just relied on the number of people. I tried not to have any conflicts with them because I didn’t want to cause trouble for the embassy staff. Otherwise, I would have beaten them up long ago.”

Having said that, he put away his cigar and then said to Fang Yan:

"Fang, let me tell you, they are not good people! There are some things I can't tell you, but if any of their people approach you, you'd better ignore them."

“Teaching them things will not make them grateful; instead, they will think it is something they are entitled to.”

"I don't know why they, who live right next to China, haven't learned all of Chinese culture. I can only suspect that their brains have degenerated!"

Fang Yan raised an eyebrow, surprised that Hosseini was quite good at judging people.

He smiled at Hossué and said:

"Okay, friend, I've remembered your reminder."

Hearing the dialectal address, Hossué paused for a moment, then smiled and said:

"Haha, that's great, my friend!"

"This is a gift for you as a testament to our friendship."

After saying that, he took out a palm-sized tortoiseshell box, the lid of which was inlaid with a jade carving of the Cuban national flower, ginger. He handed it to Fang Yan mysteriously and said:
"Keep it safe, there's something good inside."

Fang Yan looked at the tortoiseshell box with some confusion, then took it. The box wasn't heavy, and it didn't feel particularly special in his hand.

He said in dialect:

"What's inside?"

Hossué said:
"I can't tell you now, you'll have to go back and open it yourself."

He added:
"Anyway, it's good stuff."

Fang Yan shook his head:
"Never mind then, I'd better not take it. There's an old Chinese saying that goes... A gentleman does not take what others cherish."

This is your good stuff, so I don't need it.

Hossué waved his hand and said:

"No, it can't be considered my treasure. It belongs to your country. I just got it by chance."

Fang Yan frowned slightly, thinking that it must be an antique inside?
"What exactly is it?" Du Heng asked curiously.

Hossué saw that the dialect was still not accepted, so he said:
"Antiques, traditional Chinese medicine antiques, brought over by the Japanese."

"Mr. Fu and I bought it from them."

Fang Yan finally understood after hearing this.

He put the box in his pocket and said:

"Thank you then."

Hossué said:
"We are all friends, no need to be so polite."

After saying that, he added a reminder:
"By the way, that box is also a good thing. I had someone make it for me, so don't throw it away carelessly."

Fang Yan knew, of course, that the box was valuable, and he said:
"No, I'll take good care of the things you gave me." Hearing Fang Yan say this, Hosu'e was finally satisfied.

Then he took out the money he had promised to give to Du Heng and Yan Yifan and paid it to them on the spot.

"You did a great job on the task, and it was a pleasure working together."

Hossué made no attempt to avoid using the dialect.

Maintain an honest attitude.

Du Heng and Yan Yifan felt a little embarrassed, since they were being given food and gifts.

Du Heng gritted his teeth and waved his hand:

"Forget it, forget it. You're Fang Ge's friend now, how could we possibly take your money?"

Yan Yifan nodded repeatedly and said:
"That's right. Now that you're Brother Fang's friend, I can't take your money anymore."

Hosseou discovered that dialects actually have quite a lot of prestige.

However, he still shook his head and said:
“This is a deal between us before. Back then, I wasn’t Fang Yan’s friend, so you have no problem taking it.”

The dialect reveals that the Hosseini dialect is quite distinct.

Of course, he also knew that it was better to give the money away, since he wasn't short of money, and it would also help him gain favor with Du Heng and Yan Yifan. Moreover, after the two of them accepted the money, they were more likely not to speak ill of him in front of Fang Yan.

So this money has to be given out no matter what.

As expected, despite his insistence, Du Heng and Yan Yifan could not resist the temptation of money and reluctantly accepted it.

After the meal, the dishes and chopsticks weren't cleaned up by the locals; one of Hosseini's henchmen did it himself. To be honest, seeing this made me feel a bit disconnected.

This situation, where he brings two followers to school, looks exactly like the son of a capitalist nouveau riche.

But that's reality.

And it's not just him; compared to the regular classes, the international class and the dialect class are still somewhat similar.

At this moment, with the help of another subordinate, Hossué tidied his beard and said to Fang Yan:

"Friend, I have some things to take care of right now, so I can't keep you company. I hope you have a pleasant afternoon."

Fang Yan nodded and said:
"Okay, friend, please go ahead."

Hosseouze shook hands with me in Fangyan, then turned and left the cafeteria.

At this moment, Fang Yan called out to Du Heng and Yan Yifan:
"Let's go, we've finished eating, it's time to go out for a stroll."

Upon hearing the dialect, Du Heng and Yan Yifan immediately followed.

Now that they've received the benefits, they know that following Brother Fang's instructions is the right thing to do.

The two exchanged a glance, and then Du Heng took out the money he had just received and handed it directly to Fang Yan.

"Brother Fang, you can keep this money," Du Heng said to Fang Yan.

Fang Yan looked at Du Heng with a puzzled expression and asked him:
"What are you giving me?"

Du Heng said:

"This was given to us by Hosseini because of you, so we certainly can't take it all. Here's mine for you, and Xiao Yan and I will share the other one later."

Yan Yifan nodded as well:
"Here you are, Brother Fang. Please take this."

Dialectal wave:
"No need, you can keep them yourselves."

He knew all too well what these two were thinking; they wanted to offer him tribute.

I'm afraid that if something good happens in the future, I won't think about them.

However, Fang Yan also knew that life was not easy for them in the capital, and that this little bit of money could greatly improve their lives. But if he took it, it wouldn't make much difference to their lives.

He's no longer the young man who just returned to the city.

Although he never seemed to lack money back then.

So let's keep this money for them.

After repeatedly declining, Du Heng and Yan Yifan finally confirmed that Fang Yan really didn't want it.

Only then did he carefully put it away.

Then, speaking in dialect, he asked:
"Brother Fang, do you want to take a walk around the school? We've been at the school for a few days now, so just tell us where you want to go."

Fang Yan asked the two of them:

"Do you know there's an abandoned cadre school here?"

"A cadre school?" Du Heng and Yan Yifan looked at each other in bewilderment.

Fang Yan thought for a moment and then corrected himself:
"Oh, I misspoke. It used to be an abandoned factory, which was later used as a training school. There were slogans or something painted on the walls. It's under renovation these days."

"There's such a place?" Yan Yifan looked completely bewildered.

At this opportune moment, Du Heng slapped his thigh:
"Have!"

Fang Yan looked at Du Heng and asked:
"you know?"

Du Heng nodded and said:
"Yes, but it's quite far; you need to cross a small hill to get there."

After he finished speaking, he pointed in one direction:
"Right over there."

Fang Yan indeed saw a grove of trees in the direction of the playground, with a small hill behind it.

Fang Yan said to them:

"Okay, the distance is suitable, let's go take a look."

Du Heng asked Fang Yan:

"Brother Fang, why are you going to such a remote place? It's full of construction debris and broken things from the school. It's really creepy."

Fang Yan said to them:

"That place will be my future research institute."

"There's renovation work going on right now, I need to go and take a look, at least I need to know how to get there."

At this point, they remembered what Professor Fang Yaozhong had mentioned earlier: Fang Yan had recently received sponsorship and investment from overseas Chinese businessmen and would be establishing a "Secret Formula Research Institute" at the school. This institute would be a subordinate unit of the Huaxia Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, with Fang Yan as its main person in charge, enjoying the institute's staffing quota, and recruiting eight graduates from our school each year.

Thinking of this, the two nodded repeatedly:

"Oh, yes, yes!"

"Then it's definitely time to go."

After saying that, Du Heng led the way, and Fang Yan and Yan Yifan followed behind, strolling leisurely towards their destination.

After walking through the grove and climbing up the small hill, you'll see an open space below.

The scene was completely different from the gloomy, abandoned site that Du Heng had described earlier.

Several cars were parked here at the moment, and there were construction warning lines drawn with lime. There were also some workers coming and going.

It's lunch break time, but you can still tell there are quite a lot of people.

Du Heng said with some surprise:
"Wow, it's quite lively here. The construction team has already arrived."

"When I looked at it, there was no one there, it was deserted. Now all the odds and ends around there have been cleared away, and even the pile of construction waste that was just sitting there has been removed."

Yan Yifan looked at the building in front of him in disbelief. It was an abandoned factory, but now, under the construction site's cover, it no longer looked abandoned.

After all, the main building is him, and this is the place that was renovated.

Du Heng asked Fang Yan:

"Brother Fang, will this place become your research institute from now on?"

Fang Yan nodded and said:

"Yes, that's right, this is the territory they've designated for me."

Actually, we didn't originally plan to make this a big deal out of the dialect; we thought it was just a way to get some money by putting our names on it. But we didn't expect the higher-ups to take it so seriously, so it turned out like this.

Fang Yan looked at Du Heng and Yan Yifan, and painted a rosy picture for them:
"If it's a suitable position, I can get you a job."

Upon hearing Fang Yan say this, Du Heng and Yan Yifan immediately became excited.

Yan Yifan quickly said:
"Oh my, Brother Fang, you're like my own brother!"

"Brother Fang, put aside everything else, from now on, if you give me any instructions, as long as it's within my capabilities, I will do it without hesitation."

Du Heng also said:
"Brother Fang, me too, me too."

Fang Yan waved his hand at them and said:
"Alright, stop making it sound like a stage play, let's go take a look."

After saying that, he led the two down the hill and headed straight for the construction site. However, as soon as they reached the cordon, they were stopped by two middle-aged men in military uniforms.

"Hey, kid, you can't come in here."

"Why?" Du Heng asked.

The other party glanced at the three of them and then said:
"Security facilities have been built, and it cannot be visited by outsiders."

Asking in dialect:
"This place is already so well-maintained, how much more can it be repaired?"

The two people, as if unfamiliar with the dialect, shook their heads and said:

"Then I can't tell you that. Go back now."

"Don't make things difficult for us. We've been given a mission, and we have to stay at our posts."

Based on the dialect, it's highly likely that this was repaired by the engineering corps.

Of course, it could also be the infrastructure engineering corps.

Although the two units differ by only one character in their names ("infrastructure"), they are not the same unit at all.

The engineering corps should be the unit with the highest level of secrecy.

It was established on August 1, 1966.

The former engineering corps was responsible for ensuring wartime missions, while the latter infrastructure engineering department was responsible for the construction and maintenance of military infrastructure, as well as participating in the construction of important facilities such as barracks, roads, airports, and warehouses.

"Okay, thank you for your hard work!" Fang Yan said to the soldier, then left with the two of them.

He now realized that this place was indeed intended to be built as a shelter to prevent major explosions.

It's the kind of thing that ordinary people really can't get in.

At this point, feeling that his efforts had been in vain, Du Heng asked Fang Yan, who was not understanding:

"Brother Fang? Why didn't you reveal your identity earlier and just go in and take a look?"

Fang Yan glanced at him and said with a smile:
"There's no need to cause them trouble. If we go in, they might have to write several pages of reports. Besides, it's only been a few days since we started work. There's not much to see. I'll ask the leaders to come and take a look after it's almost finished."

Upon hearing the explanation of dialect, Du Heng suddenly understood and nodded repeatedly:
"Brother Fang is so thoughtful!"

Yan Yifan also showed an expression of "I see" to his face.

Fang Yan touched the box that Hosseini had given him in his pocket, preparing to find a place to open it and see what kind of traditional Chinese medicine antiques were inside.

He glanced at his watch and realized there was still some time, so he said to Du Heng and Yan Yifan:
"Alright, let's go back to the dorm and rest for a while. We still have three classes this afternoon."

The three of them then headed towards the dormitory.

PS: The basic chapter of 6000 words has been updated.

There will be an extra chapter later.

(End of this chapter)