Reborn in 1977

Chapter 30: Making Shoe Soles

The meal ended with everyone flushed and merry before dispersing. Chen Fan and Jiang Lili returned to the educated youth spot together.

As they walked along the road, they could still faintly hear people talking on either side.

Chen Fan glanced in that direction, but the trees blocked his view, making it impossible to see what was happening below. He asked, "Are there any farm chores today?"

Jiang Lili also glanced over, thought for a moment, and said, "They're probably digging for soft-shelled turtles."

Chen Fan "…"

Then, he couldn't help but chuckle, "They're quick to act."

He wondered if there would be any soft-shelled turtles left in the fishpond after today.

Jiang Lili's lips curved slightly upward, but she didn't say anything. Actually, if Captain Yang hadn't called her over today, she would have gone to dig for soft-shelled turtles too, but not in those big ponds, but in the small ditches behind the village, so she could avoid the others.

The two entered the courtyard and closed the gate. Chen Fan yawned, saying as he walked, "Are you just reading in your room again today?"

If he hadn't looked for her yesterday, she probably would have sat in her room all day without moving.

Jiang Lili, "Oh, I'm going to loosen the soil in the vegetable garden in a bit, and there are some other things to do."

Chen Fan was taken aback, "Are there still things to do in the winter slack season?"

The two stopped under the eaves. Jiang Lili smiled softly, then quickly lowered her head, "It's called the winter slack season, but it just means there's a little less work. Actually, there's still a lot to do. Like in previous years, after the rice harvest, we'd start reinforcing the dikes in the winter months, working all the way until the twelfth lunar month.

"This year, the task hasn't been assigned yet, and I don't know if it's been postponed or canceled. If it's postponed, it'll probably be soon, otherwise, it'll be even harder to reinforce the dikes when it snows and the weather is freezing.

"Even if it's canceled, the team will arrange for everyone to repair the team's small water conservancy projects. All the ditches within the production team's area need to be reinforced and made safe. After the spring, we also have to carry fertilizer to the rice paddies to prepare for transplanting, so the crops will grow better next year.

"In addition, we have to weed and fertilize the rapeseed. Besides the work in the fields, each household also has a lot of their own work to do. They have to tend to the vegetables in their private plots, and with the New Year coming soon, they also have to prepare New Year's goods. The male laborers have to do heavy work, carrying water, chopping firewood, slaughtering New Year's pigs, digging lotus roots, and dredging the ponds. The women also have to be busy preparing snacks, boiling sugar, making tofu, making sweet potato noodles, slaughtering chickens, ducks, and geese, and curing preserved meats.

"This year, the team had a good harvest, and most families, except for a few, will be able to divide a lot of money. Some may go to hire a tailor to come to their door to take measurements and make new clothes for their family, or hire a bricklayer to repair the house and stove, or hire a carpenter to repair the furniture…"

Jiang Lili's voice grew softer and softer as she spoke, and she stared blankly ahead, her eyes seemingly unfocused.

Chen Fan carefully sized her up, guessing that she must be homesick.

Before her family's misfortune, they were probably just like thousands of other families, busy preparing for the New Year.

He sighed inwardly. He didn't know what was going on with Jiang Lili's family, so naturally, he didn't know what to say. He cleared his throat and said loudly,

"So, there are so many things to do in the countryside in winter. I thought everyone would be hiding in their houses, warming themselves by the fire."

Jiang Lili suddenly came back to her senses, paused for two seconds, and then smiled softly, "If it snows heavily, everyone does stay at home warming themselves by the fire. But besides labor, the team also often organizes meetings in the winter, especially when it snows heavily. Everyone is free from work, so it's the best time to hold meetings."

"Really?"

Chen Fan was a little curious, "What kind of meetings do you have?"

Jiang Lili counted on her fingers, thinking as she said, "There are labor summary meetings, advanced commendation meetings, backward criticism meetings, struggle sessions, study sessions, evaluation meetings, and remembering-the-bitter-and-thinking-of-the-sweet meetings. There are also some meetings to arrange labor and convey documents, probably just these."

Chen Fan opened his mouth wide, secretly marveling. Sure enough, the excellent tradition of holding meetings has a long history, and even the production team can't avoid it.

After chatting for a while, the two returned to their respective rooms.

Having drunk alcohol earlier, Chen Fan wanted to pour some hot water to drink, but there was only cold water, or rather, the cold tea left over from yesterday.

Drinking a bowl of cold tea in winter, the consequences were obvious. It would be good if he didn't have to move to the toilet.

Having just recovered from a serious illness, Chen Fan didn't dare to gamble, so he ran to the kitchen to prepare to boil a pot of hot water.

As he passed Jiang Lili's door, he saw her coming out with a thermos.

When Jiang Lili saw Chen Fan, she quickly handed him the thermos, "You drank alcohol earlier, so you must be thirsty. It's not good to drink cold water in winter. Take this thermos."

Chen Fan didn't take it, looked at her, "What about you?"

Jiang Lili smiled and shook her head, "I drank a lot of water at the captain's house just now, so I don't need it for the time being."

So, there was only one thermos?

Chen Fan blinked and nodded hesitantly, "I'll just pour a bowl."

He forgot to borrow a thermos from Captain Yang.

But whether Captain Yang's family had a spare thermos was also unknown.

In this era, thermoses were a "major item" in the household. In 1987, when filming Red Sorghum in Mo Yan's hometown, Jiang Wen accidentally kicked and broke Mo Yan's family's thermos, which was the only one they had.

Anecdotes aside, thermoses were indeed very valuable at this time. Chen Fan just turned it over in his mind and then put it behind him, not daring to mention it.

Holding the thermos, he went back to his room and poured a bowl of water, then brought the thermos back. He saw Jiang Lili carefully applying paste on the table.

Chen Fan put the thermos aside and went over to take a look, "What is this?"

Jiang Lili glanced at him, continued to apply paste, and smiled, "I'm making shoe soles."

Chen Fan looked at her in confusion, then at the things on the table.

She applied paste to a wooden board, then picked up a piece of cloth from the side, laid it on top, and smoothed it out, then applied paste again, then laid another piece.

He was still a little confused, "Making arm guards?"

Making what arm guards?

Jiang Lili burst out laughing, then quickly restrained herself, lowered her head and said, "It's making *ge bei*, for the soles of cloth shoes."

Chen Fan suddenly realized, "Oh, I see, the thousand-layer sole cloth shoes, right?"

Jiang Lili nodded, "Yes, that's it."

Chen Fan seemed to have discovered something amazing, staring intently at her busy work.

This thing is purely handmade. In later generations, a pair would cost several hundred or even thousands of yuan, absolutely high-end goods!

Oh, right, the pair he was wearing was also made like this.

He tilted his head and watched for a while, then asked softly, "It takes so much effort to make a shoe sole. If you were to buy it outside, how much would a pair cost?"

Jiang Lili didn't know if it was shyness or what, but she lowered her head and didn't look at him, just said softly, "This isn't worth much. If it's a delicate cloth shoe made by a shoemaker, it might be worth two or three yuan. These homemade cloth shoes aren't good-looking, so even if someone buys them, they'd only be willing to pay one yuan at most. They wouldn't want to pay any more than that. Besides, every woman here can make these, so not many people spend money to buy them."