Reborn in 1977

Pulling the grain back to the educated youth compound, the militiamen helped unload the millet into the storage room, then said to Chen Fan, "Teacher Chen, today we'll distribute the rice first, and after that, the oil. You'll need to go and collect the oil later."

"Huh?"

Chen Fan was taken aback, blinking at him. "Why not do it all at once?"

Huang Ying piped up again, jumping out and saying loudly, "Because there's a lot of dust when distributing rice. Distributing oil requires opening the lid of the oil tank, and each household brings their own oil壺 to fill. If we do it at the same time, dust will fall into the oil tank, and the oil won't taste as good."

Chen Fan nodded in understanding. "Alright, we'll go over later."

He then handed the militiaman a cigarette and saw him off.

Knowing Chen Fan had to go to the small water tower construction site, Jiang Lili said softly, "Go ahead and take care of your business. We can go and collect the oil ourselves later."

Yang Ju also nodded, saying, "It's okay, Teacher Chen, go ahead and do what you need to do. We can manage to carry a few catties of oil."

Huang Ying and Liu Dan echoed their agreement.

Chen Fan thought about it. He had already experienced collecting grain once, and oil wasn't as heavy as rice. They could divide it up and carry it back, so he let them handle it and rode his horse towards the small water tower.

The horse's hooves clattered, and he soon arrived at the small water tower construction site.

The 15-meter-high cylindrical structure had already been erected, with thick red brick walls below. The top section had been plastered with cement for waterproofing.

Chen Fan jumped off his horse, let the little mare graze, and strode forward, greeting the dozen or so workers as he walked up the earthen slope.

Secretary Yang was supervising the site today. When he saw Chen Fan, he immediately waved and greeted him, "You're here."

He then asked, "Did your team distribute the rations today? Is it all done?"

"Not yet."

Chen Fan laughed. "Captain Yang gave me mine first, and after collecting the rations, I came straight here."

Secretary Yang nodded. "If it were me, I would have given it to you first too, so you could come and work."

Chen Fan grinned. "I don't think of coming here as work. The broadcaster and veterinarian are my real jobs. Coming here is just helping out, like Master Qiu and Master Ma."

He looked around. "Hey, where are Master Qiu and Master Ma? I don't see them."

Secretary Yang pointed to the top. "They're up there."

Chen Fan looked up. "Ah? Doing the waterproofing?"

Secretary Yang nodded. "Before you came, the pipes and water pump had already been installed. The well pipes were drilled earlier. We're just waiting for the water tank on top to dry completely and be cleaned before we can try pumping and delivering water."

Speaking of this, he sighed deeply, looking at the water tank being constructed on top. "It's a pity that they have to go back to the county town this afternoon. The construction company called, saying the wharf in the county needs repairs and they have to go back to oversee it.

Without them here while the small water tower isn't officially running and delivering water, I don't feel at ease."

Chen Fan looked at the water tank on top, thought for a moment, and said, "It's okay, I'll go up and take a look."

Secretary Yang turned to look at him, wanting to say, what's the point of you going up? Do you think you can learn the skills of the two masters just by looking once?

But thinking about Chen Fan's various miraculous feats in the past, he ultimately didn't say anything, watching him climb straight up the ladder made of steel bars. In no time, he reached the top.

Secretary Yang put his hand on his forehead and couldn't help but chuckle twice. "No wonder Old Xiao always praises him, he's like a monkey, he went right up."

Chen Fan climbed into the water tank. Master Qiu and Master Ma were busy with a dozen or so workers, not even bothering to exchange pleasantries with him, just waving a greeting.

He didn't bother them, standing on the ladder and watching for a while. When they were about to finish work, he climbed out along the iron ladder.

Others go up fast and come down slowly, but for him, coming down was even faster than going up. In a few seconds, he landed on the ground, giving Secretary Yang a hand gesture, "I've seen it. As expected of the craftsmanship of the old masters, nothing to say."

For some reason, even though Secretary Yang knew that Chen Fan didn't know as much about building water towers as the two masters, hearing these words, his heart was still relieved, and he grinned and said, "That's good, that's good."

After looking at it, Chen Fan himself also breathed a sigh of relief, took out a cigarette and handed it to Secretary Yang, and lit it for him. He then asked, "Yesterday I heard Captain Ye and Brother An say that they were going to the county town with Brother Sanhu to find sales channels for the ducks and geese. I didn't see them come today. Did they go to the county town?"

Secretary Yang took a puff of his cigarette, shook his head, and said, "No, they can't leave until the day after tomorrow at the earliest. They have to arrange for people to be on duty these two days."

Chen Fan was stunned for a moment, and turned to look at him, "On duty? What kind of duty?"

He hadn't heard of any important events in the production team, otherwise Huang Ying and the others would have mentioned it during breakfast.

"What else could it be, of course it's flood prevention duty."

Secretary Yang took half a cigarette in one puff, spit out a mouthful of smoke, and looked at Chen Fan with a smile, "It happens every year. August and September are the peak flood season. During the flood season, from the Yangtze River to small reservoirs and rivers, flood prevention sentry posts must be set up.

This year there hasn't been much rain, so it's a little better. Otherwise, we would have had to set up sentry posts in July. But no matter how little rain there is, unless it's a drought year and the water level in the river is too low, then we don't have to be too careful, just send a few people to patrol every day. Otherwise, we must set up sentry posts to prevent floods."

Hearing this, Chen Fan also remembered.

For rural residents living along the rivers in the Jiangnan region, an indispensable part of life every year is going to the sentry post for flood prevention duty. This work has become a habit, almost like farming.

It wasn't until after 2010 that many places slowly began to transform the water level monitoring system, making extensive use of electronic monitoring equipment, and gradually getting rid of the reliance on manual monitoring of river water levels.

But now, water level monitoring is 10 work points a day. People can't leave the sentry post, they must stare at the river day and night, and regularly record water level data. If the river water suddenly rises sharply in a short period of time, they must ring the copper gong, and all the strong laborers, even men, women, and children, must take baskets, shovels, and hoes to the embankment, ready to deal with any emergency.

At the same time, the team notifies the brigade, and the brigade notifies the commune. The commune arranges for technicians from the water conservancy office to go to the embankment to investigate and deal with the situation in a timely manner.

On this matter, whether it was the 70s, or the 80s and 90s, from the countryside to the town, no matter how daring or outrageous people were, they did not dare to be sloppy or negligent in the slightest.

Because when the dam breaks, the flood doesn't care whether you are a leading cadre or a member of the masses, it will rush over and you will be finished!

So no matter whether that heart is black or red, people generally don't dare to reach out in the water conservancy area.

This is really going to kill you!

Hearing that it was flood prevention duty, Chen Fan stopped talking.

Anyway, it had nothing to do with him. He hadn't even participated in the double抢, let alone expect him to go on flood prevention duty.

Moreover, it was 10 work points a day, and there was no need to do heavy work, just squat there. This kind of good thing generally falls on the strong laborers who worked hard during the double抢. Chen Fan would never compete with them for this "good opportunity"!

He and Secretary Yang chatted below, Master Qiu and the others were working enthusiastically in the water tank, and hundreds of other members were scattered in the fields laying pipelines.

This continued until after 11 o'clock at noon, when all the work was completed.

Master Qiu and Master Ma slowly climbed down. When they stood on the ground, they were shaking all over.

Even those construction workers in their prime were exhausted, let alone the two old men in their sixties.

Secretary Yang quickly called for someone to pull a cart and asked them to sit on the cart. "The two masters have worked hard. Let's go back to eat, and be sure to have a few more drinks later."

Master Qiu waved his hand. "I won't drink. Don't delay the ride."

Master Ma also nodded repeatedly. "The general manager called in person yesterday, and we must go back today."

Chen Fan took two steps forward and said with a smile, "Don't worry, you can eat and drink in peace. We have someone specifically watching the time. When it's almost time, we'll send you to the commune."

Master Ma held the partition of the cart, and as the cart moved, his body was also swaying. He looked at Chen Fan and said with a smile, "Our general manager likes people with good writing skills the most..."

Before he could finish his words, Secretary Yang shouted, "Stop."

Then, with a bitter smile, he put his hand on the cart and walked forward. "I said, two masters, your county construction company is a big unit, what kind of talents don't you have? Why are you robbing people from our small production team."

Master Ma immediately laughed loudly. "No matter how many talents our construction team has, there isn't one who can publish articles in the Prefectural Committee Daily. At most, it's the county journal. Who wouldn't want a great talent like Teacher Chen?!"

Chen Fan helped push the cart forward, not even riding the little mare behind him. Hearing this, he couldn't help but laugh, "Then you are too kind to me. Not to mention anything else, there are even college students in the construction company, right? I don't even have an elementary school diploma, I don't dare to compare with them."

Master Ma and Master Qiu also knew that Chen Fan had floated from the water, after all, this matter was not a secret in Lujiawan, and anyone might let it slip.

Upon hearing Chen Fan's words, they were momentarily at a loss for words.

To disagree would make the construction company's "talented individuals" seem useless. But to agree... well, there really wasn't anyone more erudite than Chen Fan!

After a couple of seconds of silence, Master Qiu suddenly said, "Teacher Chen, let's not dwell on the past. People should always look forward. If you want a higher education, it's not actually that difficult. Although Lujiawan doesn't have the qualification to recommend university students, and you don't have a high school diploma, you can still go to university and get a degree if you pass the entrance exam."

Chen Fan was immediately stunned, looking at him in confusion. "Huh? Entrance exam?"

Are you sure there's an entrance exam at this time?

At this moment, Master Ma also reacted, leaning against the side of the flatbed cart, smiling at Chen Fan. "Now that Old Qiu mentions it, I remember too. You know Jiangnan University, right?"

Chen Fan instinctively nodded. "I know it."

Jiangnan University was the best university in Jiangnan Province, bar none. It might be one of the best in the future, but right now, it was the best. It was even quite famous nationally, if not at the very top.

What, was Jiangnan University so awesome that it could enroll students independently?

Then he heard Master Qiu say, "That's right, Jiangnan University set up a correspondence teaching center in Yunhu District in 1975. Later, you can ask Secretary Yang to give you a letter of introduction and go directly to their teaching center to apply for the exam. As long as you can pass their entrance test, you can become a correspondence student of Jiangnan University. After you complete all the courses and pass the exams, Jiangnan University will issue you a proper university diploma.

Don't underestimate this thing just because it's correspondence. It's the same as a regular diploma, recognized by all units in the country. Although having this diploma doesn't guarantee job assignment, it's still a university degree, recognized by all units. At that time, definitely a unit with a matching profession will invite you to work. Then you won't have to worry about your education."

Chen Fan listened in stunned silence.

Although he had repeatedly told Secretary Yang and the others that once the students in the study class finished learning the basic knowledge of mathematics, physics, and chemistry, he would ask a university from the prefectural committee to provide them with correspondence teaching...

But this kind of correspondence was really just answering questions through correspondence. He didn't expect there to be a diploma.

Could it be that universities had already resumed correspondence departments at this time?

Wasn't it a bit too early?

Wasn't the rise of correspondence education something that happened in the 1980s?

Just as his mind was full of question marks, Master Ma continued Master Qiu's words, "One of our company's managers graduated from high school, but didn't get a recommendation spot, so he could only join our construction company.

At the end of 1974, the province held a meeting for the leaders of several major universities, arranging to carry out correspondence education work. At the beginning of the second year, that is, in February 1975, Jiangnan University set up correspondence points in more than a dozen places throughout the province.

When he heard this news, he ran over to sign up as soon as possible. He took out his high school diploma and was directly admitted. This year is his third year of study. As long as he can pass a few more exams, he will be able to get his diploma next February!"

Master Qiu, like a comedian, opened his mouth as soon as Master Ma finished speaking, "Because of his example, many people in our construction company went to him to inquire about the situation, so everyone in the company knows about this.

The Jiangnan University Correspondence Department used to enroll students at the beginning of the year. Those with a high school diploma could be directly admitted. Those without a diploma had to take a set of test papers, mainly to check whether they had a high school level of education. After passing the exam, they would also be issued an admission notice, and then they could study after paying tuition fees.

Later, the school system changed, and they changed to enrolling in July and starting school in September, and everything changed accordingly."

Hearing this, Chen Fan couldn't help but smile wryly, "It's already August, their enrollment work should be over, right?"

If it had been a month earlier, he would have really wanted to apply for this correspondence university.

Although he had never thought about going back to university, a university diploma was indeed of extraordinary significance in this era.

Moreover, the gold content of a correspondence diploma in this era was very high, only slightly lower than a full-time diploma. Among the "Five Great Students," it was considered the highest.

The so-called "Five Great Students" are Radio and Television University, Workers' University, Workers' Spare Time University, Correspondence University and Night University run by higher education institutions, abbreviated as Radio University, Workers' University, Spare Time University, Correspondence University and Night University.

The earliest formal "Night University" in China should be the first formal university night school class in China founded by Mr. Li, the "Peking University Night School Class." There was only one major taught, which was journalism. Well, Mr. Li was studying in this night school class at the time, while working as a librarian.

Later, from the early 1980s to the early 1990s, the "Five Great Students" also followed the principle of "loose entry and strict exit." The instructors were all proper lecturers and professors in universities, and the schools would match them with students, with one person in charge of a dozen students.

These old-fashioned lecturers and professors strictly followed their rigorous academic attitude, carefully replying to every letter and every question from students. Some even wrote back several times more words than the original letter.

It was precisely because of such a group of teachers as instructors that many of the "Five Great" graduates became pillars of society, one forming the top of the pyramid compared to the promising university students, and the other forming the "backbone."

However, from the early 1990s, with the arrival of money, the supervision and exams of these schools gradually changed. Many correspondence schools only cared about collecting tuition fees, and no longer cared about teaching.

And in order to recruit more students, they relaxed the graduation conditions. As a result, people who studied hard and people who never studied went into the examination room together and actually got the same scores. At that time, the "Five Great Students," which had been popular for ten years, slowly became deserted.

Even the "Five Great Students" who were once glorious tried their best to "change their academic qualifications," which is a pity.

Just as Chen Fan's mind was racing, Master Qiu said, "Although they have fixed enrollment in July, they also 'specially recruit' students with a foundation and who are particularly outstanding. Since you can single-handedly support the study class in Lujiawan, your knowledge base must be good.

Later, you can go to the prefectural committee, find the correspondence point of Jiangnan University, and apply for a special recruitment exam. As long as you can pass, you can register with the students in July, and then take the books back to study on your own. If you don't understand anything, ask the teacher by letter, and then go to the prefectural committee's correspondence point at the end of the year to take the final exam."

Master Ma then continued, "Although correspondence students don't have the benefits of regular students, they also have convenient places, that is, as long as you can complete the course and pass the exam, you can apply for graduation, which is much stronger than regular university students who have to stay in university for several years."

In this era, the length of the school system in ordinary universities varies. For junior colleges, some are two years, some are three years, and architecture and medicine even require four years. Bachelor's degrees are even longer, for example, Peking University's bachelor's degree requires six years!

There's no way around it, the basic abilities of students recommended to study can be said to be uneven. Some people even only have elementary school education. The teachers in the university can only try to help them make up for their basic knowledge as much as possible, and then learn professional courses.

As a result, it naturally takes more time.

This is still good. The most tiring thing is that some excellent comrades don't like to study and find a lot of messy reasons to criticize the teachers for helping them make up for their knowledge, making the teaching order unable to be coherent.

However, in general, most people still hope to learn knowledge and can listen to the teacher's arrangements, so that this system can be maintained.

It was not until after the resumption of the college entrance examination, with the "unified examination" as the basis, that Peking University restored the bachelor's degree system to 4 years.

So if it is really as Master Ma said, the correspondence will issue a graduation certificate as long as you pass the exam, then it will be even more attractive to Chen Fan.

While Chen Fan was chatting happily with the two old masters, his eyes drifted away and he saw Secretary Yang with a gloomy face. With just a slight thought, he guessed what he was thinking.

Wasn't he just afraid that he would go to university, get a university degree, and be poached by other units?

He coughed lightly and said with a smile, "It's still the two old masters who are knowledgeable and experienced, otherwise I wouldn't know that the prefectural committee also has a correspondence point of Jiangnan University.

But having said that, I am indeed very interested in getting a university diploma, but being recruited by other units is still out of the question. Otherwise, in May at the prefectural committee, I would have agreed to be transferred to the health department as a cadre."

Hearing this, Secretary Yang's face immediately turned from cloudy to sunny, and he couldn't help but grin non-stop.