Reborn in 1977

After a while, Jiang Lili returned first, with a few withered lotus leaves in her basket.

Chen Fan took two of them to cover the mouth of the jar, then took out cotton rope from his bag and tied it tightly, so that he wouldn't have to worry about the milk getting dirty or spilling.

Not long after, Zhang Wenliang also came over with the donkey cart.

Chen Fan first picked up the little foal and gently hefted it. Hey, this little guy was quite heavy, at least 60 or 70 pounds.

The little foal also obediently curled up in Chen Fan's arms, without moving.

After Zhang Wenliang spread the straw mat on the cart, Chen Fan put the little foal on it.

Accountant Liu smiled from the side, "It's rare to see a cart-puller riding in a cart."

The people around also chuckled lightly. Seeing that there was nothing else to see, they all went back to their own browsing.

The little foal lay on the cart, stretched its head and licked the back of Chen Fan's hand, then obediently curled up and stayed still.

Chen Fan also put the milk jar on the cart, said hello to Secretary Yang and the others, and then drove the donkey cart back.

Jiang Lili still carried her basket, following beside the cart.

Chen Fan looked at her, "Put your basket on the cart too."

Jiang Lili hesitated for a moment, then gently shook her head, "I'd better not, I'm afraid the chicks will get scared."

Chen Fan stroked the little foal's head and smiled, "Look how well-behaved it is, it won't scare the chicks."

Jiang Lili looked at the little horse resting its head on Chen Fan's body and couldn't help but ask, "Can it be saved?"

Chen Fan hugged the foal's head and said softly, "It probably has acute gastroenteritis. Later, when Master Liu comes back, I'll see if there's a suitable prescription. If there is, then there's hope. If not..."

He lowered his head and looked at the little foal, "Then we can only rely on its luck."

The little foal enjoyed Chen Fan's stroking, leaning its head against him. Before long, it actually fell asleep.

Chen Fan couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth when he saw this. He looked at Jiang Lili again, "Look, it's already asleep, so you don't have to worry about scaring the chicks, right?"

Only then did Jiang Lili smile and carefully place the bamboo basket on the cart.

Chen Fan didn't rush on the road, letting the donkey slow down, and occasionally looking at the stalls on both sides.

At this time, he suddenly noticed that many residents of the town had also come to set up stalls.

But they were selling second-hand goods: old clothes, old shoes, or enamel basins, enamel jars, and other old objects were placed on the ground for others to choose.

Chen Fan clearly saw the market manager circling around them and then leaving as if nothing had happened.

Obviously, in their eyes, these old goods didn't count as "industrial products."

When the commune members saw that the manager didn't care, they all flocked over.

Chen Fan greeted Jiang Lili, drove the donkey cart to the side, and joined in.

He noticed that the commune members were trading with the town residents, not buying with money, but exchanging goods.

Soybeans, rice, sweet potatoes, potatoes, oil, eggs... these common farm products had become the standard for barter.

Among them, the most popular were eggs and rice, which were almost hard currency. As long as you had these two things, you could pick anything from all the stalls.

If you didn't have these two things, it would be a little difficult to exchange for something.

An old man was carrying a large bag of soybeans, talking nicely to a stall owner, "My beans have all been selected, guaranteed to have no moldy or worm-eaten beans. I just want to exchange this little piece of clothing for my grandson to celebrate the New Year."

The stall owner was also helpless, "Brother, I set up this stall with these old goods, not because I have too many things to use, but because my daughter-in-law just gave birth and is in confinement. I want to exchange for more eggs to help her have a good confinement. It's useless for you to give me soybeans. Even if you buy it with money, I can go somewhere else to buy eggs. What do I need soybeans for?"

When Chen Fan heard this from the side, he knew his chance had come. He immediately went over and said softly, "Let me interrupt, Master, you accept cash, right?"

The stall owner nodded, "Yes."

Chen Fan looked at the old man again, "Old man, do you only have soybeans?"

The old man nodded, "Only soybeans."

Chen Fan clapped his hands, "You sell the soybeans to me, and then use the money to buy his clothes, wouldn't that work?"

The two looked at each other and nodded in unison, "Okay."

Then, Chen Fan spent two yuan to buy the large bag of soybeans, and the old man used the money to buy the little piece of clothing. Everyone was happy.

After the old man left, Chen Fan approached the stall owner, "Do you have any grain coupons?"

The stall owner looked at him warily, "Coupons can't be bought or sold casually."

Chen Fan grinned and smiled, "I just want to buy some flour, not much, just a few pounds. If you have any, I'll pay 5 cents per pound of coupon."

He had heard Jiang Lili say that occasionally residents of the town would come to the village to exchange grain coupons for eggs, one pound of grain coupons for one egg. Eggs were only 3 or 4 cents each, so he was offering a high price of 5 cents.

The stall owner hesitated for a moment, obviously a little tempted, but this was not like setting up a stall. If he got caught, he might have to spend favors to get out of it.

Just as he was hesitating, his eyes suddenly lit up, "Oh, you're Chen, the master who sold soft-shelled turtles just now, right?"

Chen Fan nodded and smiled, "You found out."

The stall owner immediately smiled, "If I had known you were Master Chen earlier, it would have been easy to talk about."

Since he knew the details, he was not afraid that the other party would report him, and immediately agreed.

Then, he cautiously looked around, took out a stack of coupons from his pocket, "How many pounds do you want?"

Chen Fan had sharp eyes and immediately saw that he had a lot of coupons in his hand, "If you want to exchange them all, I'll take them all."

The stall owner looked at him with a stunned expression. Was this a rich man?

But thinking about how booming the soft-shelled turtle stall was just now, he felt it was only natural. The man must have earned dozens of yuan selling soft-shelled turtles today, so why would he care about this little bit of coupon money?

After counting the coupons in his hand, there were 16 pounds of refined grain coupons, 30 pounds of coarse grain coupons, 1 pound of sugar coupons, 2 pounds of oil coupons, and also 10 feet of cloth coupons, 10 boxes of cigarette coupons, 2 pounds of meat coupons, 1 bar of soap coupons, 2 pounds of kerosene coupons, 2 ounces of salt coupons, 10 boxes of match coupons, 1 pound of tofu coupons, and 20 pounds of coal coupons.

Chen Fan didn't know which ones were useful and which ones weren't, and he didn't want to ask Jiang Lili to come over, so he gave him 5 yuan for the whole lot, making the stall owner smile from ear to ear.

Running back to the donkey cart, Chen Fan first took out the grain coupons and sugar coupons and put them aside separately, stuffed the other coupons into his trouser pocket, then put the soybeans on the cart, and continued to drive the cart away.

Seeing that he had bought something again, Jiang Lili couldn't help but be curious, "What are you buying so many things for?"

Chen Fan turned his head and glanced at her, grinning and laughing, "I'm going to make something, I'm collecting materials. I'll buy some more things later, and I'll have everything I need."

Jiang Lili couldn't help but be curious, "What are you making?"

Chen Fan shook his head and said triumphantly, "It's a secret for now. You'll know when we get back."

Seeing that he didn't say, Jiang Lili pursed her lips and smiled, no longer asking.

Chen Fan looked back at the soybeans and asked, "Do you know where they sell stone mills? I mean the small stone mills used at home, not the very big ones."

Jiang Lili looked at him in surprise, but didn't ask much, just said, "There's a stone workshop at the head of Jianshe Road. They have the small stone mills you want."

Chen Fan smiled, "Okay, I'll buy a stone mill later."

The two walked and talked, and soon returned to the place where Lu Jiawan had set up a stall.

After waiting a few more minutes, they saw Master Liu riding a mule and trotting over. He jumped to the ground and handed Chen Fan a package, "Here, the books from the veterinary station are all here. See if you can use them."