Reborn in 1977

The four girls busied themselves for a while, and soon the table was set. Jiang Lili poured water from the teapot, and Yang Ju poured sunflower seeds and peanuts into a ceramic plate and brought it up, carefully asking, "Do you want me to wash some cucumbers and tomatoes?"

Chen Fan's mouth watered as he listened, and he nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes."

He was a little thirsty from drinking, so eating some "vegetables and fruits" would be nice.

Yang Ju turned her face and exchanged a look with the other three, all able to see the smiles in each other's eyes. Sure enough, Teacher Chen wasn't really angry.

In the end, the things Teacher Chen said just now were for their own good. Thinking like this, the girls all felt a warmth in their hearts.

As Yang Ju went to pick cucumbers and tomatoes, Huang Ying quickly said, "We fished up some water chestnuts this afternoon, and they're already cooked. Would you like to eat some?"

Chen Fan's eyes lit up immediately, "Yes, yes."

How long had it been since he had fresh water chestnuts? He really missed that taste.

So, four more plates appeared on the table: a plate of cucumber strips, a plate of tomatoes, and two plates of water chestnuts.

Why two plates of water chestnuts?

Because they were two different varieties. One was the two-horned water chestnut, which was also the most common in later markets, and the other was the four-horned water chestnut. In addition to the horns at each end, there were two horizontal horns in the middle, as if to prevent others from eating it.

To ask what the difference between these two types of water chestnuts was, it was that the two-horned water chestnut was larger and had more starch, making it more floury. The four-horned water chestnut was slightly smaller, with a crispier texture, but it had a higher sugar content, making it sweeter.

Chen Fan grabbed a water chestnut and took a few bites, casually saying, "There should be lotus roots at this time, right? I'll dig some tomorrow and stir-fry them."

Yang Ju nodded immediately, "Yes, yes, there are some in the wild lake behind. I'll go dig some tomorrow morning."

Behind Chen Fan's house, at the bottom of the slope, there was a small wild lake. This lake was actually dug out by the villagers for building houses, and because it wasn't very large, it wasn't used for fish farming, so it was considered a wild lake.

However, there were also many lotus roots and miscellaneous fish inside. This was very magical, as if no seeds needed to be sown; as long as there was water in a place, water plants and fish would grow by themselves.

Seeing Yang Ju's quick response, Chen Fan nodded in satisfaction and instructed, "Don't dig too much. This stuff isn't fresh if it's left for too long. Just enough for one meal will do."

After peeling another water chestnut, he looked at the four who were happily eating away, and his face turned serious, "Tell me about you guys, you're all grown-ups, can't you be more careful? What will you do if your eyesight gets bad in the future?"

Huang Ying wasn't afraid at this time, and immediately rolled her eyes, smiling obsequiously, "Teacher Chen, the apple trees you transplanted from the slope in front of your new house have borne fruit, and there are also fruits on the pear and jujube trees."

Chen Fan was stunned, "Really?"

Yang Ju quickly nodded, "Yes, yes, and there are many wild fruits in the woods to the east and north. They should be ripe in another month or so."

Liu Dan also said, "There are a few wild grapevines in the woods to the north. Most of them are sour, but some are edible, sweet and sour, and quite delicious. They'll be ripe in another month, and a lot of children will definitely go pick them, so we have to pick them first."

Chen Fan looked at them, feeling somewhat surprised, "Just this small forest, and there are so many fruit trees?"

He had always thought that there was nothing good in this patch of mixed trees, but he didn't expect there to be so many wild fruits.

Sour is fine, it's more authentic to use this kind of sour fruit to make wine!

"Yes."

Huang Ying quickly said, "Actually, there are quite a few fruit trees, apples, pears, persimmons, all kinds, but they're all wild, and no one takes care of them. No one does any loosening of the soil, fertilizing, or pruning, so the fruits are mostly not very tasty, but it's still good for satisfying cravings."

At this time, Jiang Lili also said, "Some educated youth used to pick them to eat, but the taste really wasn't good. Most of them were sour and astringent, so many of them rotted and no one ate them. But the dozen or so fruit trees transplanted from the front slope have mostly borne fruit, and those will definitely be better than those wild fruits."

The fruit trees Chen Fan bought before were all mature trees, dug up together with the soil, and they could bear fruit that year, with almost no impact.

Unlike the dozen or so fruit trees grafted in the eastern forest, it would take at least a year or two before they could bear fruit.

Seeing them say there were so many fruits, Chen Fan immediately nodded and said, "It's okay, when you go take a look one day, pick all the ones that are almost ripe. Keep the sweet ones to eat, leave a little for yourselves, and give the rest to the children and old people in the village. Soak the sour ones in water, and I'll use them to make wine."

Liu Dan asked in surprise, "Can wild fruits also be used to make wine?"

Chen Fan nodded and smiled, "Wild fruit wine has a lower alcohol content, which makes it more delicious."

Then he slapped his arm and waved to Jiang Lili, "Bring the incense burner from my room and light it. There are too many mosquitoes here."

Jiang Lili quickly ran to his room, brought out an incense burner from inside, and opened the lid. There was still a pile of unburned herbs inside. She took a match and lit it, and a medicinal fragrance spread out, causing the mosquitoes to flee in all directions.

Only then did Chen Fan eat a tomato and continue, "You must remember what I just said. Your body is your own. No matter how hard you work, you must take care of your body. If you don't cherish yourselves, who will care for you?"

The four girls lowered their heads shyly.

Chen Fan didn't say much, but instead said, "Actually, I'm not holding this tea party to scold you. It's just that you've already learned a quarter of the course, and the progress isn't slow. And after laying a good foundation, learning the rest will become faster and faster.

After learning these basic knowledge, the next step is to choose a major, so I want to ask you, have you thought about what you want to do in the future? Then, when choosing a major, you should decide in that direction."

After eating two more slices of tomato, a piece of cucumber, and three water chestnuts, Chen Fan looked at the four of them, "Why aren't you saying anything?"

Huang Ying squeezed her eyes and eyebrows together, looked at the other three, turned her face to Chen Fan, and said with a sad face, "We don't know what those majors are for, which ones are more suitable for us, so we don't know how to choose."

Chen Fan glanced at her, then looked at the others, and smiled, "What are those majors for? It's complicated to explain."

After a pause, he said again, "Then I'll ask another question, do you have any ideals? That is, the thing you've always wanted to do since you were little."

Liu Dan's eyes lit up immediately, and she raised her hand and said, "I do."

Chen Fan nodded in satisfaction and pointed at her, "Speak."

Liu Dan held her hands in front of her chest, her eyes full of longing, "I want to be able to eat meat every day!"

Uh…

It just so happened that Chen Fan's mouth was empty at this time, otherwise he would have probably choked.

Then he saw Huang Ying and Yang Ju also raise their hands, saying with excitement, "Me too, to be able to eat meat every day."

Huang Ying also added, "I also want to have a lot of new clothes!"

Chen Fan was very helpless, wanting to say that this wasn't an ideal, but thinking about it, how could hoping to live a good life not be an ideal?

He could only cover his heart and say, "I'm talking about work-related things. After all, to eat meat and wear new clothes, you have to have money and coupons. Where do money and coupons come from? You have to work to have them, right?!"

The three smiled awkwardly. At this time, Huang Ying saw that Jiang Lili seemed to be absent-minded, so she said, "Xiao Li, you haven't said anything yet."

Jiang Lili heard her call and suddenly came back to her senses. After figuring out what Huang Ying said, she smiled awkwardly and shook her head, "I haven't thought about it."

Chen Fan glanced at her without saying a word.

Because he had asked Jiang Lili this question before, and she had said that when she was in elementary school, the homeroom teacher asked the whole class about their ideals. Her answer was to be able to make a lot of beautiful clothes and dress everyone up beautifully.

Sure enough, it was childish talk.

Then Chen Fan's summary for her was to become a fashion designer.

It's just that this ideal, Huang Ying could have it, Yang Ju could have it, Liu Dan could also have it, but Jiang Lili couldn't have it.

In this way, she naturally didn't dare to say it here. Even if Huang Ying and the others wouldn't snitch, what if they accidentally let it slip in front of others?

For safety's sake, being cautious in words and actions was the best choice.

Seeing Jiang Lili say she didn't have one, Huang Ying and the others didn't find it strange, because they didn't have one themselves either.

But since Teacher Chen asked at this time, they had to make one up on the spot.

So, Huang Ying said, "If it's about work, what I want to do most is to be a saleswoman in the supply and marketing cooperative!"

Yang Ju quickly followed up, raising her hand high, her little face full of pride, "I want to be the first tractor driver in Lujiawan!"

Chen Fan couldn't help but grin. Lujiawan didn't even have a tractor yet, and even if they really bought a tractor, it wouldn't be her turn.

But the spirit was commendable, especially since it was unexpected that she had this ambition. Her hobby was very unique!

Finally, Liu Dan added, "I want to be a broadcaster."

As soon as she finished speaking, she blushed and lowered her head.

Because Chen Fan was the broadcaster, and he also took in a student named Zhang Cuie. She was very unconvinced by this, feeling that Zhang Cuie was taking advantage of her geographical advantage, living in Team 5, and having an uncle who was the brigade leader. Otherwise, with her being under the same roof as Teacher Chen, how could she have missed out on this apprenticeship opportunity?!

Upon hearing about their ideal jobs, Chen Fan couldn't help but nod in agreement.

The commune's eight great positions were: projectionist, salesperson, tractor driver, telephone operator, medic, cook, broadcaster, and technician.

In the eyes of the grassroots people at the commune level, these jobs were the best in the world. Their choices were all within the eight great positions, which was only natural.

However, their vision was shallow, while Chen Fan's was broad.

He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and then began his concluding remarks, "Huang Ying, you want to be a salesperson, right?"

Huang Ying immediately nodded, looking at Teacher Chen with trepidation.

She had mentioned wanting to be a salesperson to others before, but was met with ridicule. Teacher Chen wouldn't laugh at her, would he?!

Chen Fan looked at her and chuckled softly, "Then do you know what the best salespeople do?"

Huang Ying was stunned for a moment, then shook her head gently, "I don't know."

Isn't a salesperson just someone who stands behind a counter and sells things? Is there even a distinction between good and bad?

Chen Fan explained with a smile, "The best salespeople are actually closely related to our country's development."

Huang Ying's eyes widened instantly. Selling things has something to do with the country?

Chen Fan continued, "Do you know that our country spends a large amount of foreign exchange every year to import advanced equipment from abroad?"

Upon hearing this, Huang Ying's eyes began to glaze over, "I, I, I only know about foreign exchange. It, it seems like it's foreign money."

This was only because she liked to read books and newspapers, and would run to the entrance of the educated youth compound whenever she had the chance, hoping to find some books and newspapers from them. That's how she learned about foreign exchange.

This was also one of the reasons why she was particularly close to Jiang Lili, because she had seen her often before.

Otherwise, how would a rural girl have any chance to know about foreign exchange?

At this moment, Yang Ju interjected, asking with a puzzled face, "Teacher Chen, you said we need to buy advanced equipment from abroad. Is foreign equipment all that advanced?"

At this time, people had the impression that foreign people were living in misery. If that was the case, how could foreign equipment be more advanced?

In response, Chen Fan simply used an example to change her impression, "Do you know that we once recognized the Soviets as our elder brother, and they provided us with a lot of industrial technology and equipment?"

Hearing this, even Yang Ju, as simple as she was, understood something, "So, we used to buy equipment from the Soviets?"

Chen Fan shook his head gently, "That's not the case. We had a falling out with the Soviets, so how could we still buy their things? We buy American equipment."

Although formal relations had not yet been established this year, we no longer criticized them. Instead, there were many news reports about private exchanges in the newspapers, which could be considered a honeymoon period.

Now that Chen Fan mentioned it, Yang Ju also thought of the news in the newspaper, and nodded in understanding, no longer saying anything.

Chen Fan smiled, turned to look at Huang Ying, and continued, "You're right, foreign exchange is foreign money. Then do you know how foreign exchange comes about?"

Huang Ying shook her head blankly, "I don't know."

Chen Fan, "Foreign exchange is foreign money. If you want money from someone else, what should you do?"

Huang Ying's eyes twitched slightly, and recalling what Chen Fan had just said, she suddenly realized, "I know, the best salesperson you're talking about, is that someone who sells things to foreigners, so we can have foreign money?"

Chen Fan gave a thumbs up, "Very smart, you guessed it right away."

He looked at Huang Ying and said solemnly, "The best salesperson is someone who sells our country's goods to foreigners at the highest possible price, in exchange for their foreign exchange. Then our country can use this foreign exchange to buy their advanced equipment and help the country develop."

Huang Ying stood up suddenly, her face flushed, and said, "I want to be the best salesperson!"

Chen Fan nodded in satisfaction. Children of this era are still easy to fool.

No, this can't be called fooling, it should be called 'education'!

He immediately cleared his throat, "Since you want to be the best salesperson, you must learn more cultural knowledge, especially foreign languages. From today onwards, in addition to continuing to study mathematics, physics, and chemistry, you must also learn English. Can you do it?"

Huang Ying raised her head and chest, and said without hesitation, "Yes!"

Very good, one down.

Chen Fan set his sights on the next target, Yang Ju.

He rested his arms on the table and smiled at Yang Ju, "Why do you want to be a tractor driver, and not a driver?"

Yang Ju said confusedly, "Be-because, the production team will only buy tractors, not cars."

Chen Fan immediately shook his head, "That's not the right way to think. Didn't you see it in the newspaper? Some advanced production teams have not only cars, but also trucks and jeeps, and even agricultural machinery, such as rice transplanters and harvesters.

If we had this kind of machinery, we wouldn't need manpower to harvest during the double rush season. Just drive a harvester around the rice fields, and all the rice would be collected into the truck bed, saving the effort of threshing."

Yang Ju felt enlightened and immediately changed her mind, "Then I'll be a harvester driver!"

Chen Fan waved his hand, "Eh, wrong again."

Yang Ju was immediately stunned, a little at a loss.

Chen Fan said with a smile, "Whether it's a tractor, a car, or a harvester and a rice transplanter, they all have one thing in common. Think carefully, what is this common point?"

Yang Ju looked blank, a common point?

She hesitated and said, "They're all machines?"

Chen Fan gently slapped the table, "Eh, you got it right."

Yang Ju's eyes lit up instantly, hey, did she guess right?

Chen Fan said with a smile, "Have you noticed that tractors, harvesters, and rice transplanters all have the word 'machine' in them? That's because they all belong to machines.

So, instead of being a tractor driver, you might as well develop in the direction of machinery. As long as you can study machinery thoroughly, you can not only drive tractors, cars, and agricultural machinery, but even develop better machinery yourself.

At that time, all the production teams in the country will use the rice transplanters you developed to transplant rice, and when the grain is ripe, they will use the harvesters you developed to harvest it, and then use the tractors you developed to transport it to the grain depot to pay public grain, …"

As Chen Fan spoke, Yang Ju's eyes became brighter and brighter. Hearing this, she could no longer restrain herself and immediately said loudly, "I'll study machinery!"

Chen Fan snapped his fingers, beautiful. He looked at Yang Ju kindly, "Then, in addition to mathematics, physics, and chemistry, you must also learn English."

Yang Ju couldn't help but be a little confused, "Does machinery also require learning English?"

Chen Fan nodded, "Yes, because the most advanced machinery is abroad. If you don't learn English well, how can you understand those advanced machines? If you can't even understand other people's things, how can you develop the best machinery?"

Yang Ju suddenly understood and nodded vigorously, "I understand!"

Chen Fan nodded and smiled in satisfaction.

Finally, he looked at Liu Dan.

The little girl looked at him expectantly, "Teacher Chen, just tell me what to study!"

The corners of Chen Fan's mouth twitched slightly. I haven't even tried to guide you patiently and you're already answering, making it difficult for me.

However, the little girl is only 16 or 17 years old, and although he looks relatively young on the surface, he is at least 27 or 28 in reality, so he can't argue with her.

Then he took a deep breath and said to her, "You should study literature."

If it weren't for the fact that there were no journalism or media majors in the professional textbooks he had scavenged, he would definitely not have let her study literature.

Now, the closest thing to a host is a literature major.

Of course, this is just an excuse. In the end, he will have to wait until she applies for college and send her to the journalism major.

The best journalism major these days is probably the journalism department of Peking University. If she can graduate from here, and with his guidance, Chen Fan believes that her future will be bright.

Liu Dan didn't say anything about Chen Fan's suggestion, and immediately nodded, "Okay, I will study literature well."

She was secretly pleased. Isn't literature just Chinese? Teacher Chen is recognized as the "Number One Pen in Gufeng County." With him as her teacher, how could her literature skills be bad?

It's impossible!

At this time, Chen Fan said again, "In addition to literature, you must also learn English well."

Liu Dan couldn't help but be confused, "Do I have to learn English too?"

What does literature have to do with English?

Chen Fan nodded and said as a matter of course, "The best broadcaster must broadcast to the whole world. If you don't know English, how can you mobilize the foreign people who are living in misery?"

Liu Dan immediately understood, "Okay, I'll learn!"

Chen Fan finally looked at Jiang Lili.

Before he could speak, Jiang Lili weakly raised her hand, "I will study mathematics, physics, and chemistry well, and I will also study English well, to contribute to the country's development!"