Reborn in 1977

After finishing their meal, Captain Yang and the others left together.

Chen Fan handed the money for purchasing cement and steel bars to An Quan, waiting for the delivery to his door. This was a convenience obtained thanks to An Quan's connections; otherwise, even if he went to pick it up himself, he might not even find any goods.

Delivery? Impossible!

After they left, Chen Fan closed the door and went to sleep. Maintaining health and longevity starts with taking a midday nap.

After waking up from a long nap, Yang Ju and the other two had already gone to work. Chen Fan stretched lazily, walked out of the door, and strolled to the door of Jiang Lili's room, where she was engrossed in reading a sample magazine.

Chen Fan stood at the door, blocking the light. She immediately reacted, suddenly raising her head. When she saw it was Chen Fan, she gently patted her chest, "You're so quiet, you scared me."

Chen Fan smiled and said, "This thing is just a pastime, don't spend too much time on it. Spend more time reading textbooks, it will definitely be useful in the future."

Jiang Lili put the magazine on her lap, grinned, and said, "I know, I'm just sneaking a peek while they're not here. When they come back, I'll hide the book and study hard."

After a pause, she raised her head and asked, "By the way, didn't you say you wanted me to transcribe the second novel for you? When are you going to give it to me?"

Chen Fan leaned against the door frame, looked at her with a smile, and said, "Don't rush, wait until your injury heals."

Then he explained, "The first one was published by the magazine in three installments, even if the second one is accepted, it will be three months later."

He calculated, "That's the August issue, it's still early, don't worry."

This novel has a total of more than 38,000 words. A 16-open magazine page can accommodate a maximum of 2,000 to 2,500 words. An issue publishes more than 10,000 words, which requires about 5 to 6 pages. This is already the limit that a magazine can bear for a single novel. Any more than that would become a special issue. So being divided into three installments is already the result of extreme compression.

Hearing Chen Fan's words, Jiang Lili thought for a while and said, "You said this morning that you wanted to write a dozen short stories, so one story every three months, that's only four stories a year. Are you planning to write for four or five years?"

Chen Fan shrugged and smiled, "You're underestimating me. Don't say four or five years, as long as it can be published continuously for a year or two, the publishing house will definitely suggest that I publish a standalone novel. I can't wait that long."

If he was in a hurry, he could also switch to literary newspapers after making a name for himself. Even if it's a weekly newspaper, the time will increase fourfold, and all the novels can be published in one year.

Unfortunately, he is not only not in a hurry, but also deliberately delaying the time.

He is now waiting for when the manuscript fees will be restored and when the Writers Association will be restored. Wouldn't it be great to code words to earn money and join the Writers Association to get benefits?!

Looking at Chen Fan, who was full of confidence, Jiang Lili smiled, "Okay, then I'll wait for you to publish your own monograph novel."

Chen Fan smiled and said, "You can't wait, you have to help me transcribe it too."

Jiang Lili wrinkled her nose, "I know."

Chen Fan waved his hand, "You continue reading, I'll go do something."

After speaking, he turned around and left. Jiang Lili curiously tilted her body and looked towards the door, wondering what new ideas he had.

… …

Chen Fan walked while rolling up his sleeves, and soon arrived at the pile of wood piled outside the backyard wall.

This was the firewood he cut when clearing the homestead and cultivating the herb garden. Most of it was used when firing the kiln. The rest were some relatively thick tree trunks that he deliberately left. The thickest ones were as thick as thighs, and the thin ones were as thick as arms. Although they were all a bit short, if he planned well, he could also make some daily-use furniture, so he accumulated them and also built a simple shed to shelter from the rain.

Chen Fan rummaged in the shed for a while, then carried a large bundle of wood into the backyard door.

Walking to the open space in the front yard, he threw the wood on the ground, making a crashing sound.

Hearing the noise, Jiang Lili thought for a while, first hid the magazine under the clothes in her cabinet, and then walked out step by step with her crutches.

She stood at the door, saw Chen Fan carrying woodworking tools out of the room, and asked curiously, "What are you going to make?"

Chen Fan turned his head to look at her, smiled, and said, "Making a saddle."

"Ah?"

Jiang Lili's eyes widened suddenly, "Saddle? You can make saddles?"

Chen Fan smiled and said, "Just watch."

Then he went to the utility room, moved out the woodworking table he had made before, and then officially started work.

He didn't make the saddle first, but made a wooden frame similar to a parallel bar clothes rack.

Jiang Lili looked at him curiously, "Is this a saddle?"

Chen Fan looked up and smiled, "To do a good job, one must first sharpen one's tools. This is a saddle rack, specially used to place the saddle. It can also be used for shaping when making the saddle."

After a pause, he said, "Either go inside and sit down to read, or pull up a chair and sit down, don't you want to get better quickly."

Jiang Lili said "Oh", shrugged her nose, turned around and went into the door to move a chair, didn't go out, just sat inside the threshold, stopped talking, and quietly watched Chen Fan busy.

Not hearing her voice, Chen Fan turned his head and glanced at her, saw Jiang Lili looking at him, couldn't help but smile, and then continued to lower his head to work.

Other people's saddles are almost carved from a whole piece of wood into a saddle tree, or made by splicing two large pieces of wood. The saddle tree made by Chen Fan is spliced with strips of wood, and each piece of wood has subtle differences in shape.

This is a saddle he designed himself by referring to the shape of English saddles and American Western saddles, and combining the structure of the old-fashioned warhorse saddles of the brigade headquarters. Because of the use of hollow technology, the focus is on being lightweight.

Of course, it also saves wood, which is very suitable for poor people like Chen Fan who don't have high-end wood.

The middle of the saddle is slightly concave, with a certain arc in the front and back, and then the two ends are raised to facilitate sitting and fixing. Chen Fan took out the design drawings he drew in the morning and revised them according to the actual situation. In a blink of an eye, a saddle tree using mortise and tenon structure was declared complete.

It can't be used yet. The wood needs to be treated with certain procedures to remove the internal moisture before it can be more durable. Especially this kind of hollow structure saddle, which tests the durability of the wood even more, so naturally you can't rush it.

Moreover, the sheepskin that An Quan promised has not been delivered yet, so he has to wait for him to deliver the sheepskin before he can proceed to the next step.

Seeing Chen Fan holding a strangely shaped wooden frame, and starting to tidy up the scattered tools, Jiang Lili asked curiously, "Is the saddle finished?"

Chen Fan turned his head and smiled, "It's still early."

Saying that, he raised the wooden frame, "This is just the saddle tree, put it aside for a few days, and wait for An Ge to send the sheepskin before we can do the next procedure."

He took the carpenter's tools back to the utility room, put the saddle tree on the pottery drying rack, then returned to his room, took out the crocodile skin that had been cut into two pieces, put it on the carpenter's table, and said while measuring with his head down, "An Ge said to exchange two crocodile skin belts for a sheepskin, I'll make the belts for him first."

Skillfully drawing a few pieces of leather, Chen Fan suddenly had an idea, turned his head to look at Jiang Lili, and smiled slightly.

Seeing his smile, Jiang Lili couldn't help but feel a little strange, "What's wrong?"

Chen Fan lowered his head and continued to work, "It's nothing, just seeing if you're obediently sitting still."

Jiang Lili pouted, and couldn't help but grin.

Chen Fan took a sharp blade and cut a few knives on the crocodile skin. In a blink of an eye, he cut out four wide pieces of leather and four narrow pieces of leather.

A belt requires one wide and one narrow piece of leather. The narrow one is used as the belt core, which can strengthen the firmness, and the wide one is used as the belt surface. After folding, the belt core is wrapped, and then the two belts are sewn together. After flattening and other processes, install the belt buckle and nail the buckle holes to use.

If you want to be more convenient, you can also cut a piece of leather one centimeter wide and four or five centimeters long, fold it in half, connect it together and sew it well, put it on the belt as a buckle, this is a complete belt.

Four strips, naturally, are four belts.

Two for An Quan, and two more... Chen Fan suddenly thought, could his recently activated forging skill finally be of use?!

...After cutting the belt to size, Chen Fan put the things away.

Jiang Lili was puzzled again, asking in confusion, "Why aren't you making it anymore?"

Chen Fan turned to look at her, "Because it's already past 3 o'clock, and I still have something to do."

Jiang Lili shook her head, "You're so busy today, making saddles, making belts, what else is there?"

Chen Fan simply walked over to her, looking at her with a smile, "Have you forgotten?"

Jiang Lili rolled her eyes slightly, blinking as she said, "Forgotten what?"

Chen Fan looked at her speechlessly, "If my novel gets published, what did you want?"

Hearing this, Jiang Lili finally reacted. Her eyes lit up instantly, "Cake!"

Chen Fan pointed at her, "Correct."

Jiang Lili immediately grinned from ear to ear, supporting herself with her crutch as she stood up, "But, there's no milk?"

Chen Fan first washed his hands beside her, saying at the same time, "The water buffalo at Team 7 just had a calf. I've already spoken to Team Leader Ye, he'll save me two jin of milk. I'll go get it from Team 7 later."

Then he walked to the kitchen, took out a few pottery basins and started busying himself. Jiang Lili quickly dashed over, standing at the doorway to peek.

Soon, after preparing everything, he walked out of the kitchen again, looking helplessly at Jiang Lili standing at the doorway, without saying a word.

Jiang Lili smiled sheepishly, "I'll go back and sit down."

Chen Fan put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. The little mare in the backyard stable immediately raised her head and neighed, then pushed open the wooden fence and ran out of the stable, before biting the wooden fence shut, leaving the foal and two little lambs inside, staring at her expectantly. But she ignored them, turning around and trotting away.

Chen Fan followed behind Jiang Lili, watching her enter the room before saying, "I'm going out now. Be careful at home by yourself, don't run around or mess around."

Jiang Lili immediately nodded obediently, even raising her right hand, "I promise Mr. Li, I definitely won't."

Chen Fan pointed at her, shaking his head helplessly, then returned to his room.

When he came out again, a cloth bag was slung over his shoulder, and he leaped onto the horse. The little mare let out a neigh and started running.

But he wasn't going to the brigade headquarters to work, nor was he going to Team 7 to buy milk, but instead, he spurred the horse to run to town.

Reaching the town, he slowed down, trotting to the veterinary station.

As usual, he rode his horse directly towards the backyard, but before he could enter, a window was pushed open, and Station Chief Zhou stretched his head out, shouting, "Over here!"

Chen Fan was startled, dismounting the horse, walking over as he asked, "Why are you so free today, not treating livestock in the backyard?"

Station Chief Zhou said through the window, "Isn't it because you guys from Lujiawan have so many vets, and they even offer house calls? The livestock in the entire South Lake Commune are almost all taken care of by you guys, of course I'm idle here."

Chen Fan didn't go in, walking directly to the window, handing him a cigarette, and taking out the lighter An Quan gave him to light it.

Station Chief Zhou took a puff, frowning, "Talking through the window, it's like visiting a prisoner. You should still come in."

Then looking at the lighter in Chen Fan's hand, "This thing is pretty high-end, where did you get it?"

Chen Fan shook the lighter, smiling, "It was given to me by that cadre An who's stationed in our team."

Station Chief Zhou suddenly understood, "An Quan, right? He used to be an educated youth who was sent to the countryside in Lujiawan. Now he's someone important in the commune. I heard he's likely to be promoted to head of the tax office next year. I didn't expect you to have a good relationship with him."

Chen Fan put away the lighter, "I didn't think so much, I just think he has a good character."

Station Chief Zhou pursed his lips, giving him a thumbs up, "You're good with words."

Then his face turned serious, "I told you to come in and talk, why aren't you moving?"

Chen Fan shook his head, "I'll just say a few words and leave, I won't go in."

He took out two industrial coupons from his pocket and handed them over, "Here, returning your industrial coupons."

Station Chief Zhou took them, putting them in his pocket without even looking, smiling at Chen Fan, "Royalties?"

Chen Fan's face stiffened slightly, pretending to be embarrassed as he said, "How does everyone know?"

Station Chief Zhou laughed, "Hey, that mailman goes around telling everyone, how could anyone not know?"

He held the cigarette in his hand, grinning as he said, "Not bad, Comrade Chen, not only are you good at veterinary medicine, but you can also write articles. That's 'Jiangnan Literature', I've lived in South Lake for decades, and I've never heard of anyone publishing an article in it.

First the District Committee Daily, then Jiangnan Literature, you can be considered to have brought honor to our South Lake."

Chen Fan laughed, "It's not that exaggerated, it's just that the magazine changed its name back, restoring its original editorial line. There are fewer manuscripts they can use, so I just got lucky."

Station Chief Zhou deliberately put on a stern face, "Hmph, then why don't I see others getting lucky?"

Chen Fan raised his hands, "Please don't praise me anymore, or I'll get carried away."

Then, he said seriously, "I won't waste your time, I still have something to do, I'm leaving."

Seeing that he wouldn't come in, Station Chief Zhou knew he had something important to do, so he didn't try to keep him, waving and smiling, "Okay, then you go and do your thing, come back and sit for a while when you have time."

Chen Fan waved his hand with a smile, "You don't have to tell me that, I'll definitely be coming back often, otherwise, where would I get my supplies from?!"

Lujiawan was said to have 13 veterinarians, but only he and two others had veterinary licenses, allowing them to purchase medical supplies from the veterinary station. Yang Zhijun and Li Zhengqun, bearing the important task of treating and saving livestock, were also busy cooperating with Team Leader Ye to purchase seedlings from other production teams. Therefore, the task of purchasing supplies from the veterinary station fell on Chen Fan.

He naturally wouldn't refuse such a small matter, and he could also go out and stroll around in the open, why not?

Hearing Chen Fan's words, Station Chief Zhou was immediately speechless, then waved his hand, "If it's to buy supplies, then it's best to come less often."

The more supplies purchased, the more sick livestock there were, of course he hoped that the number of times he had to purchase supplies would be as few as possible.

Chen Fan laughed, leaping onto the horse, riding it out of the veterinary station.

Turning left at the exit, he soon arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative's store near the intersection.

Dismounting and entering the store, before he could speak, Wang Xiaoling walked to the counter, shouting at him, "I just saw you riding your horse past, did you go to buy meat to celebrate?"

Chen Fan strode into the store, smiling, "Sister Ling, what are you talking about, what am I celebrating?"

Wang Xiaoling widened her eyes, "Your article was published, I heard about it, 'Jiangnan Literature' is the best literary magazine in Jiangnan Province, it's very famous nationwide. Your novel was published in it, such a big thing, shouldn't you celebrate?!"

Chen Fan was immediately dumbfounded, that comrade postman, wouldn't he have really notified everyone in the entire commune?

He shook his head, saying with a wry smile, "Don't make fun of me, I just wrote a few words, what's there to celebrate."

Before Wang Xiaoling could speak, he quickly changed the subject, "Sister Ling, do you sell rivets here?"

Wang Xiaoling originally wanted to tease him a bit, but seeing that he was talking about serious matters, she dismissed the idea, then said, "Rivets have to be bought at a specialized electronic component store. There aren't any in South Lake Commune, you have to go to the county to get them."

Chen Fan was immediately shocked, "Ah? I have to go to the county to buy a rivet, and to an electronic component store?"

Wang Xiaoling nodded, "Yes, are you repairing a circuit board? Rivets are used to fix circuit boards, of course you have to go to an electronic component store."

Chen Fan's vision blurred, rivets and circuit boards?

What a mess?!