Reborn in 1977

Chapter 222: I've Heard So Much About You

A few days later, in the fields, Chen Fan set up his easel, holding a pencil, and began sketching again.

Now, the commune members were used to him coming out to sketch, and they were afraid of disturbing him. They usually wouldn't talk to him, mostly burying their heads in labor.

However, not far behind Chen Fan, several women gathered together, whispering to each other.

“Hahaha, look at Liu Defu. He usually works for two minutes and then rests for half an hour. But today, with Teacher Chen out here painting, he hasn't straightened his back for half an hour.”

“Isn't it because he's afraid Teacher Chen will paint him ugly? When the painting comes out, everyone will see that everyone else is bent over hoeing the ground, but he's standing straight. Wouldn't he be laughed to death?”

“Hey, you know, Teacher Chen setting up his easel really boosts everyone's enthusiasm.”

“That's right. This is just painting. If it were a camera, it would probably be even higher.”

“That's not the same thing. The camera clicks a couple of times and it's done. Then those old slackers continue to loaf around. But when Teacher Chen sets up his easel, it takes at least an hour, so it's only effective at times like this.”

Everyone laughed uncontrollably upon hearing this, bursting into laughter.

Chen Fan heard the laughter, looked back, and chuckled a few times.

Then, looking down at the two small rabbits in the bamboo basket at his feet, he saw that they had recovered from their dazed state and were happily eating alfalfa. He felt relieved and continued painting.

The rice seeds in the paddy fields had just been sown. At this time, they were plowing the rice fields that hadn't been processed yet. Once all the rice fields were plowed, the base fertilizer applied, and the soil nourished, it would almost be time for transplanting.

A gentle spring breeze blew, and the branches of the distant trees sprouted lush green buds, swaying in the wind. Ripples appeared on the surface of the water in the paddy fields. The blue water buffalo was covered in mud, swishing its tail, pulling the heavy plow, tirelessly circling in the paddy field, occasionally letting out a muffled moo.

The person driving the buffalo waved a rope whip, pulling the long reins, holding the plow, and controlling the direction of the water buffalo.

Chen Fan occasionally looked up, watching the scene in the fields, his mood becoming more cheerful.

Then, his cheerful mood was quickly broken.

A stench wafted over from behind. Chen Fan frowned slightly, turning around with a blank expression.

He saw a mule-drawn cart team coming in a line, the stench coming from the carts.

Soon, they reached him. Zhang Wenliang, at the head of the line, grinned and laughed, “Out painting again? Oh, I mean sketching.”

Chen Fan didn't respond to his words, but looked at the carts of manure and asked, puzzled, “Isn't there chemical fertilizer? Why are you still using manure?”

Zhang Wenliang simply drove the horse to the side and stopped, letting the people behind him continue forward. He took out a cigarette, lit it, took a puff, and then said, “There's not enough chemical fertilizer. There's only a little bit, and it's terribly expensive. So, we still use manure as the base fertilizer, and then add some chemical fertilizer as top dressing. That's about it.”

Chen Fan nodded in understanding. In the end, it was all because of poverty.

Speaking of chemical fertilizer, he had finally seen what the legendary 'urea pants' looked like.

Currently, urea was still heavily reliant on imports from Japan. The outside layer was nylon cloth, the inside was a sealed layer of kraft paper, and inside that was the urea.

The outermost nylon bag, when cut open, was just enough to make a pair of pants. However, the writing on the bag couldn't be removed at all. Even if the pants were dyed black with ink, the black writing would still be clearly visible.

He had seen it online before, saying that urea pants were 'cadre pants' in the countryside, only cadres could get these pants, or they could spend a little money to buy them from the brigade headquarters. There were even jingles like, “Big cadres, small cadres, one urea pants each. Some are black, some are blue, but none for the commune members.” “Cadres, cadres, wearing material pants. Look at the front, made in Japan. Look at the back, it's urea, guaranteeing a nitrogen content of eighty-five percent.”

However, in Lujiawan, no one wore these pants. Some people made them, but they gave them to others, they didn't wear them themselves.

The cheapest homespun cloth was only a little over one mao per foot, and better ones were only two or three mao. Although everyone wore clothes with patches, it wasn't like they were extremely short on cloth.

So, in Lujiawan, no one actually wore these pants with writing on them. After a small number of people took the bags and turned them into pants, they gave them away.

However, nylon bags were also good things, more wear-resistant than ordinary cloth, so the remaining bags wouldn't be wasted either. As for what they were used for, Chen Fan hadn't discovered yet.

He looked at the cart of soil fertilizer, which was almost black, and you couldn't see what it originally looked like.

The so-called soil fertilizer was actually made by mixing human or livestock manure with some forage, piling it up to ferment, and then drying it. It was then crushed bit by bit with tools to form small gravel-sized particles.

When plowing, scattering this soil fertilizer in the paddy fields could have a very good fertilizing effect.

In the era without chemical fertilizer, farmers used this soil fertilizer to increase rice production.

It was good, but the smell was really unpleasant.

Chen Fan looked at Zhang Wenliang, speechless, “Did you deliberately stop next to me?”

Zhang Wenliang raised his head and laughed loudly, then looked at him, “No manure stench, no grain fragrance. Alas, your little comrade's thinking needs to be improved.”

Chen Fan's face fell, “Whether my thinking needs to be improved is one thing. If you don't leave, I'll paint you in the picture, everyone else is working, and you're smoking.”

Saying that, he suddenly took two steps back, pretending to size him up, “Alas, just like this, pulling a manure cart and not leaving, still holding a cigarette.”

Zhang Wenliang's old face darkened, pointing at him and saying, “You bookworms are really black-hearted.”

Then, he threw away the cigarette butt and waved the horse whip, “I'm not going to argue with you, let's go.”

The old horse neighed and pulled the manure cart forward with effort.

Chen Fan laughed twice, as if he had won a great victory, turned around, and continued painting.

But before he could start, a distant shout came from the side, “Little Chen, Little Chen.”

Chen Fan turned his head and saw Ye Shubao walking towards him, with Captain Yang beside him, and another person on the other side, but he didn't seem to recognize him.

He didn't care. Lujiawan had 12 teams, with a total of four or five thousand people. How could he have met them all? It was normal not to recognize him.

Putting away his paintbrush, Chen Fan clapped his hands, took out the Donghai cigarettes he used for socializing from his pocket, and went to meet them.

After Captain Yang's words when setting the boundary markers for the homestead last time, he had now learned to be low-key. He usually carried two packs of cigarettes in his pocket. When people from his own team came, he would hand out Donghai cigarettes, and when cadres from the commune came, he would hand out Peony cigarettes.

Before the spring plowing, almost no one from the commune had come, but once the spring plowing started, people came every few days. Either agricultural technicians from the agricultural technology station, or leaders from some department came to inspect.

There was also a 'Irrigation Office' specifically responsible for irrigating all the production teams in the commune, which brought two diesel engines to draw water from the rising river and introduce it into the production team's irrigation canals to replenish all the cultivated land.

However, it wasn't free. It was charged according to the planting area of the entire team, two mao per mu of land. 4,000 mu of land cost the brigade headquarters 800 yuan. Adding the money for seeds and chemical fertilizer, the brigade headquarters had already spent more than 3,000 yuan before the seedlings were even planted.

So, compared to industry, the initial investment in agriculture was not small.

Chen Fan quickly greeted them, first saying hello, handing them cigarettes, and then said with a smile, “Captain Ye is going to Team 6 again today?”

Ye Shubao seemed very satisfied with what Chen Fan said, glanced at the middle-aged man in his thirties next to him, and then laughed, “I just went yesterday, so I won't go today. I'll go to Team 7 to take a look later.”

Then he turned around and said, “Let me introduce you. This is Cadre An, who is stationed in your Team 6. From today until the autumn grain harvest, he will be rooted in Team 6. You are also from Team 6, so I'll introduce you to get to know each other.”

He then said to Cadre An, who was smiling, “I don't need to introduce this one, you should know him, right?”

Cadre An immediately extended his right hand to Chen Fan, smiling and saying, “I know, I know. The great talent of Lujiawan, Teacher Chen, who published articles in the Yunhu Daily and also obtained a veterinarian certificate. I've heard so much about you!”