Reborn in 1977

Chapter 25: Giving a Demonstration

The next morning, Chen Fan was awakened by knocking.

Bang, bang, bang…

"Open the door, Chen Fan! The sun's already high in the sky, and you're still sleeping? Get up!"

Chen Fan opened his eyes. Was that… Team Leader Yang?

He jolted awake, flipped over, and sat up. He quickly threw off the covers, got out of bed, wrapped himself in his cotton coat, and hurried to open the door.

He hadn't even gotten out of bed before they came rushing over, and the knocking was so urgent. Could it be that Public Security Officer Zhu had arrived?

News in less than a day? Could it be fake?

Using the faint light coming through the crack in the door, Chen Fan nervously opened the latch and pulled the door open. Before he could react, he saw a palm coming straight for his face, scaring him into taking a step back.

Team Leader Yang's slap missed, and he almost fell forward. He quickly grabbed the doorframe with his other hand to steady himself.

Chen Fan stared blankly at him. "What's wrong, Team Leader? What happened?"

Team Leader Yang strode inside. "Look at what time it is! And you're still not up."

After he walked in, Chen Fan saw two people standing at the door. One was Jiang Lili, and the other was Team Leader Yang's daughter, the one who had been carrying a bamboo basket to catch turtles yesterday. He had seen her at their house.

Seeing Chen Fan looking at her, Jiang Lili whispered, "Xiaoju came to find you very early, but you hadn't gotten up, so she waited here. She waited until now, and then Team Leader Yang came."

Chen Fan was about to ask what was going on when Team Leader Yang shouted from inside the room, "Stop with the chit-chat. Quickly wash your face and rinse your mouth, and come with me. The whole team is waiting for you."

Chen Fan looked at him in confusion. "Waiting for me to do what?"

Team Leader Yang's eldest daughter, Yang Ju, stepped forward and said, "It's about skinning the turtles, like you said. None of us know how to do it. Either we tear the skin, or we can't tear it at all. We've already wasted two turtles, so my dad told me to come find you."

Just for that?

Chen Fan was dumbfounded, not knowing how to respond.

They were so worked up; he thought something major had happened. But it was just about preparing turtles?

Who prepares turtles so early in the morning?

Seeing Chen Fan's expression, Jiang Lili couldn't help but want to laugh, but with outsiders present, she quickly lowered her head.

Team Leader Yang took out his pipe, lit it, took a puff, and said to Chen Fan, "Why are you still standing there? The whole team is waiting to see how you prepare the turtles. Hurry up and wash your face and come over. Do we have to carry you over in a sedan chair?"

The team leader had spoken, and since he said the whole team was waiting for him, Chen Fan didn't dare to delay. He grabbed a washbasin and ran to the kitchen, took a bowl as a mouthwash cup, tore open a small corner of the tooth powder packet, poured a little powder onto his toothbrush, and started brushing his teeth.

To be honest, this tooth powder was quite refreshing, even more comfortable than some toothpastes. Why hadn't he seen this stuff in later years?

He shook his head, finished brushing his teeth, then fetched water to wash his face. After dumping the dirty water, he ran back, tidied up his clothes, and said, "Team Leader, I'm ready."

Team Leader Yang nodded, got up, and walked outside. When he passed Jiang Lili, he suddenly turned to look at her. "You come too."

Jiang Lili was taken aback at first, but when she realized what he meant, she quickly nodded repeatedly. "Okay."

Only then did she follow Chen Fan out with a look of joy.

Chen Fan deliberately slowed down a few steps, waited for Jiang Lili to catch up, and asked in a low voice, "What time is it now?"

Jiang Lili looked up at the hazy sun. "It should be almost 8 o'clock."

Chen Fan's eyes glazed over. So it wasn't even 8 o'clock yet?

In this cold weather, dawn would break at 6:30 at the earliest, maybe even 7. And they came to find him so early?

Didn't they sleep in when there wasn't any farm work in the village?

Seeing his expression, Jiang Lili couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth slightly. She looked at Team Leader Yang walking ahead with his hands behind his back and quietly gestured for Chen Fan to hurry up and follow.

The production team didn't need to lock the door during the day, and the educated youth residence didn't have anything valuable, so Jiang Lili just closed the door and ran two steps to catch up with them.

Soon they reached the top of the slope, and from afar, they saw many people standing in the middle of the road chatting, their voices so loud that the woods couldn't block them.

At this time, Yang Ju had already run home ahead of time, shouting loudly, "He's here! He's here!"

Good heavens, the villagers who had been standing or squatting still just now instantly came to life, each craning their necks to look this way.

Team Leader Yang was used to the scene, walking forward with his hands behind his back and his head held high.

Chen Fan was new here and couldn't help but feel a little awkward. Fortunately, he had worked in the workplace for a few years and had a strong mental fortitude, so he maintained a stiff smile and nodded at a few familiar faces from time to time.

Jiang Lili kept her head down, pretending to be a quail, and followed closely behind Chen Fan, not even daring to look up.

In a few steps, they reached the gate of Team Leader Yang's house.

At this time, a large pot had already been set up on the rice drying ground. The pot was steaming, filled with hot water, but it was already a bit cool.

Two bamboo baskets were placed on the ground next to it. There were many turtles in the baskets, so many that it was impossible to count them all at once.

On the other side, two wooden basins were placed on a chopping board made of door panels. The turtles in the basins had already been cut into pieces, but the shells had black and white patches, which should be the failed experiments Yang Ju mentioned.

Seeing Chen Fan coming over, Accountant Liu immediately squeezed forward, grinning and saying, "I really can't tell. You actually have this skill."

As he spoke, he gave a thumbs up. "The turtle meat you prepared yesterday was really delicious, even better than chicken. Amazing!"

Custodian Huang also came over and smiled. "Originally, turtles were just unwanted waste here, but with you here, they immediately turned into treasure. You can be considered to have created income for our production team!"

Before Chen Fan could speak, an auntie next to him shouted, "What did I say yesterday? Don't think he's bad at carrying water, but he definitely has real skills."

"Is that what you said? You clearly said that if he went to the fields, he wouldn't earn 5 work points in a day."

"Tch, you even said he was just for show."

"…"

Well, yesterday's barrage of criticism was repeated again today.

Jiang Lili cautiously glanced at Chen Fan, afraid that he would be embarrassed, but she didn't expect him to be as if nothing had happened, still smiling and exchanging greetings with Accountant Liu and Custodian Huang.

"I just happened to remember it, it's purely coincidental."

Accountant Liu didn't care whether it was coincidental or not. He was more curious about another matter. "I heard from the team leader that you said yesterday that this turtle is a famous dish and very nutritious?"

Chen Fan nodded. "That's right, turtle is a great tonic. There's a saying that one turtle is equal to two chickens."

Accountant Liu was shocked and exclaimed, "Oh, one turtle is equal to two chickens?"

The surrounding people also discussed and beat their chests in regret.

"In the past, every year when we cleared the pond, we would throw away hundreds of old turtles. Doesn't that mean we threw away more than a thousand chickens?"

"That's right, our whole team has less than 300 people, which means three or four chickens per person."

"It's all wasted!"

A child heard the adults' words and immediately asked expectantly, "Mom, are we killing a chicken today?"

Someone immediately shouted next to him, "Kill a chicken! Let your mom kill all the chickens and have a good meal."

"Huang Lao Jiu, are you lacking in morals? If the child cries later, I'll let him go to your house to kill a chicken."

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