Reborn in 1977

Chapter 234: Transplantation

That afternoon, Chen Fan hauled five bags of rice to the brigade headquarters.

The little mare had pretty good stamina; it could easily pull over a thousand catties of stuff, even uphill without much effort.

But this flatbed cart wasn't up to par. With just that little bit of weight on it, the tires visibly flattened. If he added any more, Chen Fan would probably have to shell out for repairs, or even replace the tires for the brigade headquarters. So the thirteen bags of rice would have to be hauled in three trips.

Improving the load-bearing capacity of the flatbed cart required two changes. The first was the tires. Although the current rubber tires were much lighter than the old wooden wheels and had improved load-bearing capacity, they were still a bit lacking.

If these lightweight motorcycle tires were replaced with heavy-duty motorcycle tires, or even wider, thicker agricultural vehicle tires, the load-bearing capacity could be doubled. But then he might need to add a mule.

The other was the road surface. The current dirt roads were really not easy to travel on. Only by changing from dirt roads to concrete or asphalt roads could the cart's capabilities be fully unleashed.

Of course, it was still not as useful as a tractor.

Chen Fan drove the cart, handed the rice over to Luo Guitian, the storekeeper at the brigade headquarters, and got a receipt. He also collected a bag of buckwheat and a bag of sorghum from him, deciding to try brewing wine when he got back.

After doing all this, he went to the broadcasting room to start work.

Turn on the broadcasting machine, turn on the radio.

Work started.

Then he sat there in a daze, wondering what to do now.

Just then, Zhang Wenliang hurried up, "Xiao Chen, Fourth Master Lu wants you to come over."

Although everyone in the village knew about Fourth Master Lu's situation, under normal circumstances, Fourth Master Lu only appeared near his home, even working behind his thatched shed, basically not coming out. This was to avoid being discovered by outsiders as much as possible, causing trouble for Secretary Yang and the others.

So when he needed to find Chen Fan, he always sent someone to pass on the message.

Chen Fan immediately stood up and walked out, not forgetting to ask him, "What's the situation?"

Zhang Wenliang walked down with him side by side, "I don't know, he didn't say."

After a pause, he smiled again, "But it shouldn't be anything serious. The old man looked radiant, his body was very strong, and he spoke calmly. He's probably just asking how your studies are going."

As he said this, he was a little gloating. Teacher Chen, famous in Nanhua Commune, didn't expect to be caught studying one day!

When Chen Fan heard him say that Fourth Master Lu was fine, he breathed a sigh of relief.

At this time, Zhang Wenliang turned to look at him, smiling and asked, "How's your calligraphy practice with Fourth Master Lu? Have you started copying regular script yet?"

Chen Fan glanced at him, "First learn tracing, then learn copying, and only then copying from model books. Have you ever learned calligraphy?"

Zhang Wenliang's face immediately darkened, "Hmph, we didn't have the conditions back then. We directly drew on sandboxes with wooden sticks. Later, when we bought brushes, we also dipped them in water and wrote on stone slabs. Unlike you, you ran to Xinhua Bookstore to buy a pile of calligraphy books and white paper before you even started learning how to write. What a waste of money."

Chen Fan sighed faintly, "Actually, I don't want to be so wasteful either. The main thing is, Fourth Master insisted on me learning with chicken feather pens first. That chicken feather pen is difficult, … …"

Speaking of which, he suddenly paused, turned to look at Zhang Wenliang, and asked pretending to be curious, "Hey, Third Brother Tiger, since you didn't have the conditions back then, why didn't anyone use chicken feather pens?"

Zhang Wenliang's face was even darker, muttering silently in his heart, that thing is so light and fluttering, who can write with that thing except Fourth Master Lu?

But he couldn't say this, otherwise, he would be suspected of diminishing his own prestige.

His eyes rolled slightly, and he immediately said, "Aren't we talking about you? Why are you always talking about me? Have you learned to copy yet?"

Chen Fan gritted his teeth and suppressed a smile, then sighed again, "I had already finished learning to copy, and I also learned to copy side-by-side. I was just about to learn to copy from memory, but Fourth Master said it was enough and told me to switch to learning clerical script. I can't even copy regular script from memory yet, and he wants me to learn clerical script. Isn't that forcing growth? I'm still a little seedling."

Zhang Wenliang glanced at him expressionlessly, "Has it been a month and a half in total? And you're already copying from memory, what a load of bull."

Chen Fan chuckled, "There's no benefit in bragging to you, what's there to brag about."

Zhang Wenliang's eyes rolled slightly, "I heard you're inviting the security cadres to dinner tomorrow?"

Chen Fan nodded, "That's right."

Then he looked at him, "Want to come along?"

If it was a slack season like during the New Year, he would have invited Zhang Wenliang long ago, but now, Comrade Zhang was probably busy.

Sure enough, Zhang Wenliang shook his head repeatedly, "The team's paddy fields need to be plowed and turned over as soon as possible, and base fertilizer needs to be applied. The vegetable garden also needs to be tilled. I really don't have time."

As he spoke, he looked at Chen Fan, "I mean, I still have an 8-jin turtle there. If you can really copy a calligraphy model with a chicken feather pen, then that turtle is yours."

Chen Fan immediately chuckled, "Oh dear, you insist on giving me a big turtle, how embarrassing."

Turtles, which were once ignored in Nanhua Commune, can now be sold for some money. Live turtles are 20 cents a catty, and skinned, degreased raw turtle meat is 40 cents a catty. Even the state-run restaurants and commune government guesthouses are buying them, which can be considered as opening up a new source of income for the production team members.

An 8-jin turtle is worth 1.6 yuan, a Donghai cigarette.

Zhang Wenliang looked at him, raised his hand and said, "Hold on, there has to be give and take in gambling. What if you can't write it?"

Chen Fan looked at him, "You say."

Zhang Wenliang chuckled, "Next week is my old man's 50th birthday, I'll invite you over for a drink and make a few signature dishes."

Chen Fan clapped his hands, "That's a must!"

Just as they walked to the front yard, Zhang Wenliang pulled him into the office. None of the leaders were there. He skillfully pulled out his uncle, Team Leader Zhang's writing brush, turned around and handed it to Chen Fan, "Forget it, I won't let you use a chicken feather pen. Just use this wolf hair brush."

Chen Fan took the writing brush and looked at it. After all, he had never tried using a hard-hair brush before, so he first tried to feel it on the newspaper, and immediately felt confident.

Compared to chicken feather pens, this kind of wolf hair brush was really too easy to control.

Zhang Wenliang also found a stack of red paper left over from writing couplets during the New Year, spread it out and placed it on the table, then took two steps back, raised his hand and pointed, "Please."

Chen Fan was not polite either. He dipped the tip of the brush in the ink bottle, and with a few quick strokes, he wrote a couplet, "Heaven increases years, man increases longevity, spring fills the universe, and happiness fills the door."

Although it was a bit cliché, it was indeed appropriate.

Looking at the characters on the couplet, Zhang Wenliang was immediately shocked. This writing was better than his own. Had he really only practiced for a month and a half?

How would he know that for Chen Fan, this kind of ordinary skill that could be practiced every day was the easiest to upgrade. As long as he moved his hands, he would get experience points, and with experience points, he could upgrade. In a month and a half, practicing every day, his calligraphy skill had already risen to LV4. Not to mention calligraphy, no matter what kind of pen it was, he could write at the level of a quasi-calligrapher. Just writing a few characters was too easy.

In contrast, the basic attributes of physique, strength, agility, intelligence, and spirit had not changed for many days. For example, physique. If it wasn't for the slight warmth after each exercise that let him know that his physique was still improving, he would have thought there was something wrong with the skill panel because the values were motionless.

It was roughly similar to the red envelopes of the knife-fight app, from 0.1 remaining, to 0.01, then to 0.001, and so on. From the beginning, carrying a bucket of water could increase it by 0.5, to increasing by 0.1 every two or three days, and now increasing by 0.1 every week. If there were no external factors, he suspected that he would have to wait until the next Spring Festival to increase his physique to above 10.

It was all about orderly decrease.

While Chen Fan was sighing inwardly, Zhang Wenliang reached out and patted him on the shoulder, "I'll bring you the turtle later, and this couplet will be posted on my door, which will save me from writing a new one."

After speaking, he left swaggeringly, carrying the two sheets of red paper.

Chen Fan touched his head, had he come to gamble with himself, or to trick himself out of a couplet?

Oh, right.

Chen Fan slapped his forehead, he had come to deliver a message for Fourth Master Lu.

Remembering the business at hand, he immediately walked towards Fourth Master Lu's house.

Soon, after passing through the alley, Chen Fan saw Fourth Master Lu busy doing something at his door.

Seeing Chen Fan coming, Fourth Master Lu immediately waved, pointing to a pile of "weeds" on the ground and said, "Recognize them, see if you can recognize them all."

Chen Fan squatted down to take a look, comparing these "weeds" with the memories in his mind, and quickly recognized some of them, "This is plantain, which has the effects of diuresis, clearing heat, improving eyesight, and eliminating phlegm. It mainly treats dysuria, turbid urine, vaginal discharge, hematuria, jaundice, edema, heat dysentery, diarrhea, epistaxis, red and swollen eyes, sore throat, cough, skin ulcers, etc.

This is honeysuckle, but it hasn't bloomed yet. It can clear heat and detoxify, and has a miraculous effect on febrile diseases.

This is dayflower, also known as orchid grass, bamboo leaf grass, used for colds and fever, febrile thirst, sore throat, … … , and there are also sedum, aster, … …"

A series of names were reported from his mouth, all of which were herbs recorded in the Compendium of Materia Medica.

Fourth Master Lu nodded with satisfaction. After he finished speaking, he smiled and said, "Not bad, not bad. You said you couldn't recognize them by looking at the pictures, but I think you recognize them pretty well. At this time, many herbs have just sprouted, but many of them are used as medicine with their flowers, or with their fruits, rhizomes. You can recognize them all. In terms of identifying medicine, you are qualified."

Chen Fan grinned and chuckled dryly.

When he saw these hand-painted herbal pictures before, he really had no confidence in his heart, and he could hardly recognize a few kinds. Most of them had no concept.

But when these herbs appeared in front of him, the power of the skill panel was revealed. He could accurately match these herbs with the pictures in the book. In this way, as long as it was a herb within the herbal books he had read, none could escape his eyes, ensuring that there would be no mistakes.

Fourth Master Lu clapped his hands and stood up, smiling at him, "Since you recognize them all, then I've saved a lot of effort."

Then pointing to the pile of herbs, "Don't you have a house site? Take these herbs back, make a medicinal garden, and plant these herbs. It will be more convenient to collect and prepare medicine in the future."