Reborn in 1977

In the front yard, a pile of short wooden strips, roughly processed by Chen Fan a few days ago, lay on the woodpile. These short wooden strips were the materials he planned to use for making drawing boards.

Beyond the two acres of land cleared behind the house, there were still some scattered miscellaneous trees. He selected a relatively sturdy linden tree and cut off a few sections of its branches for materials. After some simple drying, he began to work on them today.

The "wide bench" and workbench/toolbox used for woodworking were also made from miscellaneous trees.

Although these miscellaneous trees couldn't be used for furniture or building materials, they could barely be used to make small items.

Chen Fan had a pencil stuck behind his ear, a tape measure in his hand, and an ink marker, T-square, saw, planer, chisel, and other tools beside him. He would draw lines for a while, then cut with the saw, diligently processing the wood.

Just as he had cut the wooden strips into planks, Captain Yang's voice rang out at the entrance of the yard, "Oh, you can do carpentry?"

Chen Fan straightened up, put down the tools in his hand, and said with a smile, "I just mess around when I find it interesting. Anyway, they're just miscellaneous trees. If I ruin them, I'll just burn them for firewood."

After casually brushing it off, he clapped his hands and went to greet him, "Why is the captain here today? Do you have something to tell me?"

Then he turned and pointed to the "multi-functional room" inside, "Let's go inside and talk. I'll make you some tea."

As he spoke, he was about to walk inside.

"No, no."

Captain Yang waved his hands repeatedly, and smiled at him, "Wasn't your house site determined? I brought people over to set up the boundary markers for you."

Set up boundary markers?

Chen Fan was overjoyed. Once the boundary markers were set up, he could start work. Even if he couldn't wait for the slack season, he could slowly start doing some work on laying the foundation and building the walls.

He quickly said with a smile, "Then we should definitely have a cup of tea inside. Otherwise, people will say I don't know etiquette."

Then, his smile faded, and he said seriously, "How about this, since it's almost noon, let's have a drink here."

As he spoke, he was about to go to the kitchen to ask Jiang Lili to cook a few more dishes.

Captain Yang quickly grabbed him, smiled, and said, "Let's skip the drinking. We still have to plow the fields and work this afternoon. We can't do without wine when you build your house next time. Let's skip the tea too, just offer a cigarette."

Then, he lowered his voice and said softly, "They're all from our team. When we get there, first give them each a Peony cigarette, and then another one when we're done. That'll do the trick."

Chen Fan understood what he meant. A pack of Peony cigarettes cost 49 cents. Two cigarettes were 4.9 cents, equivalent to half a pack of economy cigarettes. Giving two Peonies was more expensive than half a pack of 8-cent economy cigarettes, which was both presentable and gave the others face.

But two cigarettes were too few. How could you only give two cigarettes when asking for help?

He thought for a while, and also said softly, "Captain, the Donghai cigarettes that the parents of the veterinary class students sent on the second day of the lunar new year are still here. How about giving everyone a pack of Donghai?"

A pack of Donghai cigarettes cost 17 cents, worth two packs of economy cigarettes. This immediately widened the gap.

Captain Yang smacked his lips and said unhappily, "The team only gives a pack of economy cigarettes for helping out for a whole day. This little bit of work will be done in no time. Half a pack is enough. If you give Donghai, what will others do?"

Chen Fan's mouth twitched slightly. He thought Captain Yang wanted to save him money, but it turned out that was the reason. He had been presumptuous.

But he only had Peony and Donghai cigarettes in his room, not economy cigarettes.

You could buy a carton of that stuff for 80 cents, and you didn't even need coupons, but Chen Fan had never bought it. He couldn't really give out loose cigarettes, could he?

"How about this,"

Captain Yang suddenly said, "If you don't provide a meal, giving a pack of cigarettes is also okay. There will be four people later. I'll front you four packs of economy cigarettes, and you can pay me back with two packs of Donghai. Consider it me taking advantage of you by two cents."

Chen Fan curled his lips and said, "If you put it that way, Chief Zhang sponsored me 5 jin of wine the other day. Did I say anything? Do you want me to give you the money for the wine?"

Captain Yang immediately put his hands on his hips and said unhappily, "Hey, if you want to talk about it like that, then my Xiaoju eats the fish you catch every day, and is still learning knowledge in tutoring. Should I pay you tuition?"

Chen Fan blinked, "Then, then if you want to talk about it like that, like that…"

Captain Yang stared at him, "Speak, keep talking. After you're done, I still have a Yang Zhijun waiting for tutoring. And Xiaoju earned more than 50 yuan last time."

Chen Fan raised his hands in surrender, "Then let's not settle the total account. Hurry up and get the cigarettes."

After a pause, he asked again, "Eh, when are they coming over?"

Captain Yang pointed behind him, "They've already gone over."

Chen Fan's face fell, "Okay, I'll go over and say hello first. You help me get the cigarettes."

Captain Yang patted his pocket and smiled, "I've already prepared them."

Chen Fan squeezed out a stiff smile, that old fox!

He ran into the room, took two packs of Donghai cigarettes and gave them to Captain Yang. The two of them strode towards the back.

As they walked, Captain Yang said, "I was originally thinking of finding a few more people to help you clear out the entire area behind the house, but you finished it with those girls. That saved a lot of effort."

Chen Fan chuckled, "So in the future, don't mention anything about Yang Zhijun and Yang Ju. It's all you helping me and me helping you. How can we calculate it so clearly?"

Captain Yang nodded with a smile, "Yes, yes, that's the logic."

After a pause, he asked again, "What are you planning to do here? Do you want to level the slope a bit?"

Chen Fan shook his head, "No need for that. I'll just make a small bluestone path later."

He could fire the bluestones himself, so he didn't have to buy them from outside.

He turned to look at Captain Yang and said with a smile, "I want to改造 (gaizao - transform/remodel) this small earthen slope and other places. I don't know if the team will agree."

Captain Yang looked at him in surprise, "Transform? How do you want to transform it?"

Chen Fan made a gesture, "I want to clear out the surrounding miscellaneous woods and plant Chinese fir trees. Miscellaneous trees have no value and don't grow big. They can only be cut down and burned for firewood. If we plant Chinese fir trees, at least they'll be of some use."

Captain Yang suddenly slowed down, frowned, and walked forward for a while before pulling him aside and saying softly, "This matter is not easy to handle. Are you saying that this planting of trees, is it yours or everyone's?

If it's yours, there are no regulations in this regard. If it's everyone's, we're usually too busy with other things. There's no time to reclaim land and plant trees.

Besides, there's a lot of wood on the slope where we live in front. We can't even use all of that. There's no need to reclaim this place. I guess no one would be willing to do it, so you'd better think about this matter some more."

Chen Fan understood. Saying "think about it some more" was actually a polite refusal.

He nodded with a smile, "Okay, then I'll think about it again and talk about it later."

But his mind was racing. It seemed that his "forest plan" needed to be adjusted.

Giving up was impossible, unless he didn't live here in the future. Otherwise, who wouldn't want a better environment around them?

At worst, he could get some Chinese fir branches and plant them by cuttings. Chinese fir trees can also be propagated by cuttings, and the survival rate is not low. Early spring is the best season for cuttings.

In a few years, when those Chinese fir trees grow taller, he could contract the land.

No one would compete with him for this earthen mound, right? As a villager of this village, he could contract this slope, along with the educated youth center in front, or even buy it directly, right?

Just as Chen Fan was silently doing his calculations, they arrived at the back.

Four people were standing at the bottom of the slope. When they saw Chen Fan coming, one of them immediately shouted, "Teacher Chen, we need you to point out the location so we can dig a pit and put the boundary marker in."

Chen Fan quickly quickened his pace, went over and looked at it. The so-called boundary marker was actually a square columnar stone. At the top of the stone, the words "Chen Fan Boundary" were engraved. On the other two adjacent sides, two arrows were engraved, indicating the boundary line.

There were a total of four stone pillars, just enough to define the four corners of the house site.

Captain Yang walked over, took out four packs of economy cigarettes and threw them to them, "This is a little something from Teacher Chen for you."

The four of them took it with laughter and thanked him profusely.

Chen Fan said with a smile, "Sorry to trouble you, masters. The location I chose is on the top of the slope. We have to go up a bit."

The boundary marker could only be placed on the corners of the house site and could not exceed the area of the house site, even if you reserved a larger yard. Otherwise, it would not match the house site certificate.

One of them said with a smile, "The top of the slope is good. The top of the slope doesn't accumulate water, so you don't have to worry about flooding when it rains. Okay, we'll carry it up."

Just setting up a few stone pillars could earn a pack of cigarettes, and it wouldn't delay work. They were also happy to do it.

The four stone pillars were tied together, and the four people stood on both sides, using a carrying pole to suspend the rope. They picked it up one after the other and walked up.

Soon they reached the top of the slope. Chen Fan pointed to a wooden stake he had set up in advance and said, "It's this location."

Then he looked at Captain Yang and said with a smile, "Captain, please measure it again. Don't make it too much."

Captain Yang didn't hesitate. He immediately took out a rope marked with scales, held a cigarette in his mouth and said, "We have to measure it. If you dare to occupy more, that's definitely not allowed!"

Then he threw the rope to another person, "Third Brother, help pull a line."

Chen Fan looked at that person and suddenly remembered that this "Third Brother" seemed to be Yang Zhijun's father?

He blinked and looked thoughtfully at the taut rope being pulled back and forth, guessing in his heart that today, the area of his house site was calculated as "indoor area," and most likely did not include the outer walls!

Sure enough, after the measurement, Captain Yang immediately put away the rope and shouted, "Teacher Chen is really skilled. He calculated it without any difference. Just dig the pit next to that wooden stake on the outside."

The four of them all laughed and pretended not to see it. After he finished speaking, they responded with a bang and began to dig the boundary marker pit.

The pit was not big, but it was a bit deep, obviously to bury a large section of the boundary marker.

However, Chen Fan still underestimated the skills of these people. After they dug the pit, the wooden stake was still firmly inserted in place, without even touching the edge of the pit.

Then they buried the stone pillar in the pit, leaving only a short section, exposing the words "Chen Fan Boundary" and the two arrows. When building the house, this stone pillar would be part of the outer wall.

And the wooden strip that Chen Fan had inserted himself was more than a foot away from here.