Reborn in 1977

After finishing with the pile of teaching materials, Chen Fan turned to the "miscellaneous books" pile, which he had reserved for himself and didn't need to examine closely.

At most, if there were too many books, or if some didn't interest him, Chen Fan could take them out and add them to the team headquarters' reference room, effectively creating a small library for Lujiawan.

So, Chen Fan skipped this area and led them to the other side, where the electronic and mechanical spare parts were piled, pointing to the chaotic mess and saying, "Just so you know, that gramophone is mine! You can't have it!"

Everyone widened their eyes. A gramophone? Where?

An Quan picked up the large brass horn and shook it at him. "You're not talking about this thing, are you?!"

Ye Shubao leaned in, took it, and held it up, his face full of strange expressions. "A broken horn is a gramophone?"

Chen Fan smiled triumphantly, a really triumphant smile.

Then, Xiao Liewen kicked him in the thigh. "Why don't you just say it? You're acting like a Kuomintang soldier."

Chen Fan took advantage of the momentum and moved forward a couple of steps, rummaging through the pile of junk until he found the gramophone's body and a paper packet of parts, grinning. "The original gramophone is broken, but once I fix it, I can play records."

An Quan looked left and right. "Where are the records? Without records, you're just farting around."

Chen Fan looked at him speechlessly. "You're supposed to be a cultured person. Can't you speak a little more civilly?"

Xiao Liewen gnawed on his empty pipe – they had extinguished their cigarettes before entering the room. The lack of a smoke made him grumpy, so he asked with a dark face, "I'm not a cultured person. Where are the records? Without records, you're just farting around."

Chen Fan shrank his neck and silently found a neatly tied, square package in the corner. "These are the records."

Finding these records wasn't easy.

The records from the Republican era were different from the new-style records of today. Although both were vinyl, the Republican-era ones were as big as platters, even bigger, while the current ones are as small as saucers. Chen Fan didn't even know if they were compatible, so he tried hard to find a batch of old Republican-era records.

The stack of old records he'd brought out came from several places. Some were found at the scrap recycling company with Lao Yang's help, having been gathering dust in the corner for years, and he didn't know if they were usable. Some were bought at second-hand stores, and might possibly still be useful. And some were dug out of Jiang Tiantian's house.

In her words, the gramophone at home had been smashed, and there was no point in keeping the vinyl records. Only her mother couldn't bear to throw them away, so she simply brought them over for him to play for her sister.

Piecing them together was really difficult!

But others didn't know how hard it was for him to find these records. An Quan was still egging him on from the side. "Then hurry up and fix it. Fix it and try playing a record."

Although the production team and the commune both had record players, and a short segment would be played on the radio every day, everyone was already tired of those songs.

No matter how good a song is, who wouldn't get tired of hearing it continuously for years, even decades?

Moreover, the tunes of those songs were all similar. In comparison, the old songs from the Republican era were more appealing.

Just like Teresa Teng in the early 1980s, she was so different, and naturally, people liked her.

As a result, Chen Fan smiled and put the vinyl records aside, pointing to a pile of mechanical parts next to him. "It's okay to assemble the record player first, but then these two diesel engines will have to wait."

As he said that, he was about to move the gramophone's body.

"Wait!!!!!"

Secretary Yang roared, grabbing Chen Fan's arm and asking with a serious face, "What did you just say?"

Chen Fan blinked with a smile. "I said it's okay to assemble the record player first."

Team Leader Zhang grabbed him from the other side. "No, the next sentence."

Chen Fan, "Oh, then these two diesel engines will have to wait."

Damn it!

Everyone instantly went crazy.

Secretary Yang, Team Leader Zhang, Xiao Liewen, Ye Shubao, Team Leader Yang, Accountant Liu, and Warehouse Keeper Huang all ran to the pile of mechanical parts, staring at the pile of junk like scanners, "Where is it, where is it?"

An Quan squatted down, trying hard to recall the structure of a diesel engine. "Ah, is this the fuel tank?"

Chen Fan, "This is the water tank."

Zhang Wenliang and Zhang Juemin quickly approached him, asking in a low voice, "Why didn't you say that these things could be assembled into two diesel engines?"

Chen Fan shrugged. "You didn't ask."

The two were speechless. You brought back a pile of junk, who knew what it was for?!

Then, they silently lamented in their hearts that they would definitely be criticized for missing such important information.

Diesel engines!

Those were versatile power equipment. Add a drill rod and you can drill wells, add a propeller and you can sail boats, add bearings and tires and you have a tractor, add a water pump and you can pump water, add… …

Then, they saw Chen Fan grabbed by Xiao Liewen. "Hurry, assemble one and let's see."

Chen Fan gestured, "No problem."

Immediately, he took out a bag of parts and various tools.

He had bought these later at a specialized hardware parts store, including various rubber pads and screws. The mechanical spare parts at the scrap station were all loose, with only the large parts remaining, so he needed to buy these small parts himself.

With everyone's cooperation, Chen Fan assembled the two diesel engines skillfully.

Unfortunately, there was no diesel fuel, so they couldn't be tested for the time being.

Despite this, everyone looked at the two diesel engines, not wanting to blink even once.

Actually, diesel engines weren't expensive. A brand-new single-cylinder diesel engine only cost a little over 2000 yuan, and a used one even less, only 8 or 900, not even as expensive as Chen Fan's house.

Moreover, it wasn't as if the village didn't have any diesel engines. In the 10th team's oil pressing workshop, there was a small diesel generator that provided power for the oil pressing and cotton ginning machines.

But the entire Lujiawan only had that one small diesel generator, which was not only pitifully small in power but also couldn't be used for other purposes.

Firstly, no one knew how to modify it, and secondly, this machine was specially approved by the commune, and the commune would hold them accountable if it was used for other purposes.

As for buying a new diesel engine, it wasn't impossible, but what about the approval documents?

Diesel engines were industrial equipment, requiring special approval documents. Where could you buy one without approval documents?

They could only buy used ones!

But everyone wanted used diesel engines, when would it be Lujiawan's turn?

As a result, to this day, the production team still only had that one diesel engine.

On the other hand, in some northern regions, because the main industrial bases at that time were in the north, most of the diesel engine production was kept locally. In addition, the state supported agricultural development in poor areas, making it easier to purchase diesel engines.

Some production teams there had almost all the small agricultural equipment such as tractors and harvesters, and they lived even better than the workers in the city.

Well, those were the production teams that could be seen in the newspapers. If you were to look for historical literature, the most mentioned in books and newspapers would be them!

In short, at this time, Secretary Yang and the others' eyes were red when they saw these two diesel engines.

After looking for a long time, Team Leader Zhang suddenly grabbed Chen Fan, smiling like a flower. "Little Chen, these two machines are both for the team headquarters, right?!"

Chen Fan quickly waved his hand. "No, no, I can only give you one at most. I have a use for the other one."

Everyone looked at him together, and Secretary Yang glared and said, "What use do you have for it?"

Chen Fan squatted down, patted one of the machines, and said with a smile, "I want to dig a deep well next to it, add a set of water pumps, and build a small water tower."

A small water tower?

Even An Quan was shocked. "You want to set up running water?"

Currently, the entire Nanhu Commune was basically still in a state of using natural water. The various rural production teams used the nearby river water, while the various units and residential areas in the town used pressure wells, or water tank trucks that drew water from the river and transported it to large pools, where residents would then use faucets to get water.

Not only was Nanhu like this, but the situation in the entire Yunhu area was similar.

Even in the big city of Shanghai, the days of using water tank trucks to transport water continued until the mid-to-late 1980s.

At that time, many residents living in the old city alleys relied heavily on old well water, which was just a hole where you dropped a bucket and pulled it up by hand.

Places without old wells relied entirely on water tank trucks. Every day, two trucks of water would be pulled to the pool in the middle of the residential area, and each household's daily water consumption depended entirely on this pool of water.

And in Nanhu Commune, there were only two units with "running water", one was the commune government, and the other was the commune's largest enterprise, "Shuiyun Company". These two units had built their own small water towers, drawing water from deep underground wells and injecting it into the top of the water tower, then using natural pressure to send the water to each household.

(In the past, the part of the small water tower that was plastered with cement at the top was the water tank)

The principle of a water tower is very simple, it is to use the pressure difference formed by high and low altitudes to supply water. But the role of a water tower is not simple, it is closely related to the lives of residents. The first is water storage, which plays a role in regulating and supplementing water sources when the city's tap water system is insufficient.

The second is to use the height advantage of the water tower to automatically send water, so that the tap water has a certain water pressure head.

And in the era when tap water pipe networks had not yet become popular, some places did not have tap water, and small water towers that could extract groundwater from underground became the best choice for water supply in many units or places.

If Lujiawan were to build a small water tower, they would be the third in the entire Nanhugong Commune to have running water. How could they not go crazy?!

Captain Yang immediately reacted and quickly raised his hand to express his stance, "Our team will pay for the small water tower, no need for Little Chen to spend any money!"

As long as this water tower can be built and connected to water pipes leading to each household, everyone can use running water.

How could such a good thing be enjoyed exclusively by Chen Fan?!

It must be shared!

Moreover, Chen Fan is in Team 6, right next to each household. Laying water pipes won't take much effort. Old Yang has always been meticulous; how could he let such a good thing pass?!

He didn't want to let it go, and neither did the leaders of the brigade headquarters.

Captain Zhang immediately glared and said, "Your Team 6 wants to exclusively enjoy a water tower? Aren't you afraid of choking?!"

Then, with a wave of his hand, "There's no need to discuss this. A small water tower can be built, but it's best to build it in the middle of the production team so that all teams can benefit."

Captain Yang didn't object either, as long as Team 6 could have running water.

But Chen Fan said, "Captain, to build a small water tower that the entire brigade can use, how much money would that cost? You have to think about it. From south to north, it's more than ten miles, and you still have to lay water pipes to each household. No matter how much you save, the money won't be a small amount.

Moreover, with more households supplied, the capacity of the small water tower will have to increase. Originally, it only needed to be three stories high, but it might have to be six stories. Originally, it only needed to occupy two fen of land, but it might turn into one mu.

This construction is a systematic project. If one part gets bigger, the whole thing has to get bigger with it. By then, it won't be a matter of one or two thousand yuan; it might not be enough even with one or two thousand yuan.

A single water tower will cost so much money, plus laying water pipes for more than ten miles, and connecting them to each household, you calculate how much money that would be?!"

This speech left the leaders of the brigade headquarters speechless.

Secretary Yang looked at Quan An, only to see Quan An pursing his lips and nodding slightly, indicating that Chen Fan was right.

He then looked at Captain Yang and couldn't help but scold, "Could it be that such a great thing can only benefit your Team 6?!"

Out of the entire production team's 12 teams, only you can have running water. Is there any fairness and justice left?!

As for building the water tower elsewhere and not letting Team 6 use it, such a brilliant idea could never appear in their minds.

Secretary Yang was angry, but Captain Yang, Accountant Liu, and Storekeeper Huang all smiled.

Yang Chuanfu said with a smile, "Secretary, you can't say that. Isn't it just that we happen to have a Little Chen in our team? He's from our Team 6, and he just happened to bring back a diesel engine and also happened to know that we can build a water tower. It's all a coincidence; it has nothing to do with benefiting or not."

Storekeeper Huang grinned and nodded repeatedly, "We just happen to have the conditions to take the first step. Actually, it's nothing."

Accountant Liu said, "Look at so many units in the town, but only the Water Transport Company and the Commune Government have running water. We can't say that the Commune doesn't care about fairness and justice, right?"

Captain Zhang spat and cursed with a dark face, "Bah, you're just showing off, just hogging everything, just…"

Chen Fan silently calculated aside, then said, "The small water towers of the Commune Government and the Water Transport Company can only supply their own units because they have a lot of people. If they supply other units, the capacity of the small water tower won't be enough. But our Team 6 only has forty-seven households."

At this time, Captain Yang suddenly interjected, "Including your household, there are already forty-eight households."

Chen Fan smiled and nodded, "Yes, yes."

Then he continued, "Generally speaking, a small water tower with the smallest capacity can store 20 to 30 tons of water, and a slightly larger one can store about 50 tons. With the current household water consumption, it can supply about 100 households, so in addition to Team 6, it can also supply another team."

Secretary Yang and Captain Zhang were right. Eating alone is easy to choke on. If you find a team to share, Team 6 won't become the "target of public criticism," and the "jealousy" of other teams will be downgraded to "envy."

After a pause, he looked at Captain Zhang and Captain Ye, and chuckled, "It's just that we need to lay an extra section of thick water pipe. Whichever team the extra water supplies, that team will bear the cost of laying the water pipe."

Anyway, the diesel engine was brought back by himself. If Team 6 wants to benefit, the team will naturally bear the cost of the pipes in the team. If other teams also want running water, the extra part can only be counted on them.

The "team contract system" of the production team, the accounting is that simple.

As soon as Chen Fan finished speaking, Captain Zhang immediately said, "The brigade headquarters is in Team 5, and Team 5 is also close to Team 6. It's more cost-effective to get a water transmission pipe over there. I think we should just decide on Team 5."

Ye Shubao moved his lips twice, but in the end, he didn't open his mouth.

If you calculate the distance, his Team 7 is also close, but what Captain Zhang said also makes sense. After all, the brigade headquarters is in Team 5. If people from the commune or other production teams come over and see that the brigade headquarters actually has running water, then Lujiawan will also have face!

At this time, Secretary Yang thought for a while and said, "When the production team has the conditions in the future, it will definitely provide running water to the entire brigade. This intermediate pipeline will still be borne by the brigade headquarters, which can also be regarded as a signal to other teams, telling them that this small water tower is not the private property of Team 5 and Team 6. It's just that the brigade headquarters currently has limited conditions and is considered the first batch of teams to have water. When there are conditions in the future, all teams will definitely have water."

When the others heard this, they couldn't help but nod repeatedly.

Captain Zhang had no objection. He couldn't be happier that Team 5 could save a sum of money.

So, following the "Lujiawan Primary School Expansion Project," the brigade headquarters, Team 5, and Team 6 jointly passed the "Small Water Tower Running Water" project.

Chen Fan found a piece of white paper, drew a map of half of Lujiawan on the paper, and then drew a circle in the middle position near the main road, saying, "Since we want to supply both Team 5 and Team 6 at the same time, the most suitable place to build a small water tower is in the middle, so it's convenient for both sides."

Captain Yang and Captain Zhang leaned over together, staring at the place he circled, and immediately thought of where it was.

Captain Yang nodded slightly, "You chose the small hill by the road, right? Only a little rapeseed is planted on that mound. Building the small water tower there won't have much impact."

Chen Fan said, "Building the small water tower in that place, besides the fact that it's the midpoint of the two teams, the main reason is that there's this small hill.

The height of the water tower determines the height of the houses. The houses of Team 5 and Team 6 are built on earthen slopes, and the height is not low. If the small water tower is built on flat ground, without the height difference, the water simply won't go up, so the water tower must be at least one story higher than the houses, and that one story is the location of the water tank."

Ye Shubao stroked his chin thoughtfully and asked, "If there is a mountain nearby, wouldn't we not need to build a water tower and just draw water down?"

Chen Fan nodded, "That's right."

Then he shrugged and said helplessly, "Unfortunately, the entire Nanhugong Commune is a low-lying area, so we can only build water towers to pump water to a high place before we can use running water."

As for the future water plant, that is supported by advanced technology and equipment, which is completely different from the current primitive small water towers.

After a pause, he turned to look at Quan An and said, "Although I know a little bit about the structural design of water towers, I don't have any experience after all. In addition, water pipes and other related materials have to be purchased from outside. Brother An, see if you can contact the construction team that repairs small water towers for the commune and the Water Transport Company and ask them to send two people over to give some guidance."

The internal structure of the small water tower includes iron ladders, overflow pipes, water inlet and outlet pipes, lightning rod wires, etc. The main building also has key parts that need to be reserved, such as fixed cards, windows, door openings, and drain holes.

These devices are all designed to maintain the safe operation of the water tower. Originally, Chen Fan could handle the design himself, but in order to succeed in one fell swoop, it is best to invite professionals to come over and give some guidance.

Hearing his words, Quan An nodded without hesitation, "Yes, this is easy. I'll just call the county construction team later."

If you want to invite the water tower construction team to come over to construct, you may have to schedule it, but if you just invite two people to come over to guide the construction, it takes almost no effort.

Under the policy of "Learning Agriculture from Dazhai," the county construction team cannot refuse, otherwise they cannot bear the consequences.

At this time, Secretary Yang also said, "Although this is our Lujiawan project, according to the regulations, the commune has the obligation to help the construction of the production team. Later, I will go to Secretary Qian and hum a few words to try to get some funds back."

Captain Zhang immediately said, "It's best to directly approve water pipes."

Secretary Yang nodded, "I definitely know this. Anyway, we'll take whatever we can get; we're not picky."

There was a power outage in the morning, and it has been supported by batteries until now. I hope the power will come back on at night, otherwise I won't be able to write. I'm very depressed. o (╥﹏╥) o