Reborn in 1977

Chapter 102: Demonstrates That We Are a…

The next day.

February 1st, Tuesday, 5 days before market day.

However, Chen Fan's focus couldn't be on the market just yet; he needed to finish writing the news report first.

He ran to the brigade headquarters at 6:50 in the morning, turning on the radio right on time.

Then, under Xiao Liewen's guidance, he practiced martial arts.

Warm-up exercises, horse stance, Five Elements Fist – after completing all of them, it was already 9 o'clock.

During this time, Chen Fan kept practicing, and Xiao Liewen kept watching; if he hadn't kept his eyes open, Chen Fan would have thought he was asleep.

After doing two breathing exercises, Chen Fan slowly finished his practice, and asked Captain Xiao, "Captain Xiao, when does the dike reinforcement start?"

Xiao Liewen yawned, pointed to the dike next to him, "It's already started."

It was just a small project; after clearly defining the responsible sections, explaining the construction standards and key points, they could start work with their tools. There really wasn't much to prepare.

Chen Fan said, "Ah, then I'll go take a look."

Saying that, he packed up his things and was about to leave.

Xiao Liewen smiled, "I know this; are you going to gather material?"

Chen Fan grinned and nodded, "Ah, right."

Saying he was gathering material wasn't wrong; seeing is believing, and the things he wrote would have substance. Besides, he hadn't seen what real dike reinforcement looked like, so it would be good to broaden his horizons.

After Xiao Liewen locked the door, he walked down side by side with him, with his hands behind his back, "When we were fighting on the front lines before, some reporters would come to gather material. Frankly speaking, some soldiers looked down on those civilian cadres at the time, feeling that the army was just for fighting, so why did we need civilian personnel?"

Chen Fan's eyes twitched slightly to the side; was this "some soldiers" you yourself?

Xiao Liewen was only focused on talking and didn't see his expression; otherwise, he would definitely have firmly clarified.

He lowered his head and continued, "But later, I realized that those civilian reporters were really great. They didn't have guns in their hands, but they went to the battlefield with notebooks and pens, using them to record the battles and heroic deeds on the front lines. Many heroes and role models on the battlefield were written down by them.

Back then, the country was poor and couldn't afford too many cameras. Some of them could draw, so they drew scenes of the battlefield in their notebooks, allowing our people in the country to understand first-hand images and information from the battlefield…"

He didn't hear Chen Fan's voice, so he turned his head to look, but didn't see anyone.

He was immediately stunned, then turned around again, only to see Chen Fan standing on the stairs in a daze, and couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong with you?"

Chen Fan came back to his senses, quickly took two steps forward, and asked, "You just said that reporters drew sketches on the front lines? And they were published in the newspapers?"

Xiao Liewen looked at him in confusion, "What is a sketch?"

Chen Fan raised his hand and gestured, "It's using a pencil to draw the outlines of people and things."

Drawing on the battlefield certainly couldn't involve setting up an easel to paint oil paintings, nor could it involve setting up a table to paint traditional Chinese paintings, so it was 100% certain that they were drawing sketches with notebooks.

"Oh, so that's what a sketch is."

Xiao Liewen nodded, "Yes, yes, they drew sketches. Back then, a reporter came to our company to gather material and even drew several soldiers in our company. They looked very similar, almost like a photograph."

Chen Fan rolled his eyes twice and chuckled, "That's really amazing."

Then he stopped talking about this topic and continued walking forward.

Xiao Liewen couldn't stop, and started talking about war correspondents again, "The reporters back then were amazing. They could write and carry guns. There was one called Yan Wu, and everyone called him 'Military Reporter'. How did this title come about?

It was because once, he followed the troops to the front lines, and the commander on the battlefield was sacrificed. The enemy was rushing towards our army. What should we do at this time? A soldier saw that he was carrying binoculars and assumed he was the commander, so he asked him for combat orders.

Coincidentally, Yan Wu had been following this unit from the beginning, and had listened to the commander receiving orders, analyzing the enemy situation, and issuing tasks. He knew that the purpose of this operation was to defeat the enemy and open a path to victory, so he decisively ordered a full counterattack, and ultimately won the victory.

From then on, he was known as 'Military Reporter' and set a record for 'participating in the most battles, writing the most battlefield news, and organizing the most strategic reports on the front lines.'…"

Xiao Liewen recounted the advanced deeds of war correspondents, and Chen Fan listened very carefully, while also multitasking.

Since war correspondents can draw sketches, can I use sketches instead of photos?

It's not impossible.

As an electromechanical major, he can also draw beautiful drawings.

Although this drawing is very different from that drawing, it doesn't matter, he can practice.

Coincidentally, there is a book called "General Knowledge of Fine Arts" in the library, which contains the basics of sketching. As long as he goes back and flips through it, and brushes up some experience points, can he brush up his sketching skills?

It's providence!

The two slowly walked to the dike. One spoke happily and was very happy, and the other understood and was also very happy.

Standing on the dike, not far away was a lively scene.

Xiao Liewen pointed to a small hillside where they were digging soil and said with a smile, "That hillside has uneven terrain, so it can't be used to build houses or grow rice or cotton. It used to be Lu the Landlord's firewood mountain. When the common people went up the mountain to chop firewood, they had to pay him one jiao for every 100 jin of wet firewood."

After a pause, a trace of disappointment flashed in his eyes, "Actually, it's not too expensive. I heard from my comrades in Shanghai that they had to sell 60 jin of wet firewood for 4 jiao back then. And in some places in North China and Northwest China, where vegetation is scarce, not to mention when there were landlords before liberation, just a dozen years ago, one jin of firewood cost 3 fen. The common people couldn't help but pick up every blade of grass they saw. I don't know how much it costs now.

Compared to those places, even though we have more vegetation here, Lu the Landlord only charged 1 jiao for 100 jin of wet firewood, which is considered kind."

Chen Fan blinked, and really wanted to say, Captain, are you digressing?

Xiao Liewen turned his head and glanced at him, thinking that he didn't dare to respond to what he said, so he waved his hand and smiled, "It's okay to talk about these things now. If it were a year ago, I wouldn't dare to say it."

Seeing that he was getting further and further away from the topic, Chen Fan could only bring the topic back, "So this time, the dike reinforcement will take soil from there?"

Xiao Liewen nodded, "Farmland is fundamental, so we try not to touch it if we can avoid it. Now, people mainly burn rice straw and cotton stalks for firewood. If that's not enough, there are also the miscellaneous woods on the riverbanks and around the villages. It's enough to burn, so we might as well dig up this firewood mountain. When we level this mountain one day, we can get more than ten mu of good land."

Digging up the mountain to get soil, and then transforming it into fertile land, is really a win-win situation. No wonder Captain Xiao looks quite pleased.

Chen Fan thought for a while, took out his notebook and started recording.

"The firewood mountain of the landlord's family, where poor farmers used to have to pay for chopping firewood, has become the soil for repairing the dike today. The same mountain, different uses, demonstrates that we are a…"

Xiao Liewen watched him writing, his eyes gradually becoming dull, and couldn't help but sigh secretly, this correspondent is a good find!