Reborn in 1977

Chapter 187 Still Doesn't Believe

Under the enthusiastic guidance of Secretary Yang, Chen Fan finally dialed the phone.

However, the person on the other end of the line was not Jiang Tian Tian, but the operator at the post office.

Secretary Yang stared at him without blinking, "How is it? Did you get through?"

Chen Fan smiled, "Not yet. The operator said the line is busy and I have to wait."

"Oh, you have to wait."

Secretary Yang nodded, "That's right, you have to wait. Before, when someone called the police station, I couldn't get through either. I had to wait."

He returned to his chair and sat down, took out his pipe, filled it with tobacco, and said with a smile, "Last time we installed the loudspeakers, the post office also modified our telephone lines. Other teams can't make calls when they're broadcasting, but our brigade headquarters' phone isn't affected. And through the post office's switchboard, we can call all over the country."

He looked proud, "Hey, Xiao Chen, do you know what a switchboard is?"

Chen Fan was still holding the phone, waiting for the connection. Hearing his words, he blinked gently and nodded, saying, "I know."

Secretary Yang was slightly stunned, "You know?"

If you know, how can I show off?

Chen Fan had no tact at all, and laughed, "It's a machine used to connect different phones. To call somewhere, you just need to plug the communication line into the corresponding hole."

After a pause, he smiled again, "You forgot, I can repair broadcasting machines."

Secretary Yang's mouth twitched slightly. He was only focused on showing off, and forgot about that.

If it were any other time, Chen Fan would have been happy to listen to him talk about the old days, but now, who knows how long he'd have to wait for a call to connect? How could he be in a good mood?

The phone was a magneto manual telephone, so the switchboard was naturally not a program-controlled switchboard.

Although France opened the world's first digital program-controlled switchboard in 1970, China didn't introduce its first program-controlled switchboard until 1983, and nationwide adoption wasn't until the mid-90s.

So, almost all of them are old-fashioned magneto switchboards.

This thing all relies on human operators to connect calls, so the efficiency is naturally not high.

Chen Fan chatted with Secretary Yang casually. After waiting for almost half an hour, the call finally connected.

It's so difficult to connect within the same area, how long would it take to make a long-distance call?

From the post office here to Yunhu City, connecting to the operator there, Chen Fan once again gave the phone number Jiang Lili gave him, "Hello, please connect me to 2428."

Now, Yunhu's phone numbers are only 4 digits long, but in just twenty years, Yunhu's phone numbers will have gone to 7 digits, which shows how fast the development is.

Just as Chen Fan's thoughts were wandering, the phone quickly connected, and an old man's voice rang out, "Hello, who are you looking for?"

Chen Fan, "Hello, I'm looking for Jiang Tiantian at No. 18, Block 3, Changbei Road."

Jiang Lili's parents are both employees of the Yunhu City Cotton Mill, and their home is also in the Cotton Mill's family area, and Changbei Road is the main gathering place for the Cotton Mill's family area.

This phone number is not their home phone, but the phone at the street store.

Originally, Jiang Lili's family had a phone, but after her parents had an accident, they moved from a detached small building in the factory area's agency family compound to Changbei Road, where ordinary workers lived. Their treatment plummeted from the clouds to the mud, and the phone was naturally gone.

The old man who answered the phone was stunned when he heard that he was looking for Jiang Tiantian, "You're looking for Jiang Tiantian? Where are you from?"

Chen Fan couldn't help but wipe away a cold sweat. I'm just making a phone call to confirm her safety, do you have to check my household registration?

However, he didn't dare to argue with the old man, otherwise, if he hung up the phone, he could only cry.

But he couldn't directly say who he was. Secretary Yang was an example. If there was no special reason, a man calling a woman would be subject to review.

Chen Fan suddenly thought of something a teacher at his university told them before he traveled through time.

When that teacher was a sent-down youth in Inner Mongolia and a soldier in the production and construction corps, his family introduced him to someone. After the two met, they both felt good about each other, but because they were more than 200 kilometers apart, it was inconvenient to meet in person, and they felt that writing letters was too slow, so they often contacted each other by phone, about once every two or three days. His monthly salary was not enough to pay the phone bill.

As a result, in just one month, the post office's letter of assistance was sent to his unit, requiring his unit to provide proof of the necessity of him making so many calls, and to explain the relationship with the other party.

Not only that, the letter of assistance was also sent to the girl's unit, causing a lot of uproar.

Later, needless to say, the relationship fell through, and he had to make a review in front of the entire unit.

Thinking of this, Chen Fan immediately calmed down and said softly, "Hello, sir, I am a staff member of Lujiawan, Nanhugong Commune, Gufeng County. Jiang Tiantian's sister is a sent-down youth here. There is something about her that I need to communicate with Comrade Jiang Tiantian."

Secretary Yang, sitting across from him, glanced at him and smoked his cigarette like an old god.

The old man on the other end of the phone immediately dispelled his doubts when he heard Chen Fan say this, "Oh, then you wait, I'll call her for you."

After another period of waiting, about five minutes later, Jiang Tiantian's slightly panting voice came from the microphone, "Hello, this is Jiang Tiantian, what's wrong with my sister?"

Chen Fan quickly said, "It's nothing, it's nothing. I'm Chen Fan. It's just that your sister is worried about the slippery roads after the snow and wants to know if you got home safely."

When Jiang Tiantian heard this, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief and finally felt relieved.

Then, she looked at the old man staring at her next to her, and said nonchalantly, "I understand, I know, I will write to her."

Chen Fan smiled. This girl is indeed much smarter than her sister.

Then he smiled and said, "Okay, I'll tell her later that you've arrived home, and we'll talk about other things in the letter."

Jiang Tiantian turned around to avoid the old man's gaze, pursed her lips, and smiled slightly, "Okay, thank you."

Chen Fan, "You're welcome. Well, is that it?"

Jiang Tiantian, "Okay, goodbye."

Chen Fan, "Goodbye."

After a two-second pause, he hung up the phone.

Secretary Yang didn't rush to put the phone down. He leaned back in his chair, looked up at Chen Fan, "You and Xiao Jiang have a good relationship. You're afraid she'll worry about her sister, so you made a special phone call."

Chen Fan said seriously, "After all, we're neighbors living in the same courtyard. She's helped me a lot in the past, and the situation is special today. The roads are slippery after the snow, so we really need to pay attention to safety. I can only trouble you once."

Secretary Yang nodded, paused, and then asked, "I heard Yang Chuanfu say that the other sent-down youths at the sent-down youth center aren't coming back. He let his daughter, and Liu Kuaiji and Huang Baoguan's nieces live there?"

Chen Fan wasn't surprised that he knew. Yang Captain must have informed the brigade headquarters about this kind of thing.

The sent-down youth center is not a place where people can live casually. It must be approved by the sent-down youth and the superiors. Now, Jiang Lili is the only sent-down youth, and she is the one being guarded against, so naturally she has no say. The rest is to solicit the opinion of the brigade headquarters.

Then he nodded and said, "That's right, and they said they'll move in tomorrow."

Then he smiled, "Xiao Jiang has already cleaned up the room they'll be living in. It's the room between me and Xiao Jiang. The bed, cabinet, and tables and chairs are all ready-made. You can live there as soon as you put on the bedding."

Captain Yang nodded, "That's okay. Although you're the only man, it's better than a lonely man and a widow."

Chen Fan deliberately changed his expression and said aggrievedly, "Secretary, you still don't believe me."

Secretary Yang quickly smiled and said, "It's not that I don't believe you, it's just taking precautions. It's like our militiamen, we must always be vigilant against the sabotage of hostile elements. But that's external, this is internal."

Chen Fan's mouth twitched slightly. This analogy is not very good.

Then he waved his hand, "You old man, take a rest, I'll go take a look over there."

He was about to leave, but turned back, "Oh, right, tomorrow morning I'm going to take my classmates back to learn how to castrate pigs. Will you be home in the afternoon? I'll go to your house to wish you a Happy New Year."

Secretary Yang immediately nodded, "I'll be there."

Then he pointed at him, "Don't bring me a big radish either!"