Reborn in 1977

Chapter 356: Refusing to Give Face

Zhang Wenliang and the others didn't come to the county empty-handed; since they were selling goods, how could they not bring samples?

He and Zhang Juemin each carried a pair of bamboo baskets, which contained the "samples" prepared in advance.

Actually, it was just chickens, ducks, and geese, plus a little newly harvested rice, intending to "give some gifts."

These things, fifteen years later, probably couldn't be given away at all.

Which cadre at that time could withstand this kind of test?!

But now, even a packet of sugar is a good thing, let alone fragrant chickens, ducks, and geese.

Of course, we don't do illegal things.

However, sending them to the unit as samples for "appraisal" is another matter, perfectly legitimate, and no one can find fault with it.

And now, the samples waiting to be appraised are nestled in the bamboo baskets, each stretching its head to watch someone putting on a show.

Chen Fan wore a straw hat on his head, rolled up his sleeves very high, with one hand on his hip and the other on the carrying pole, gazing resolutely into the distance.

Behind him was a backdrop of golden rice fields and lush green mountains...

Click.

With a flash of light, the photographer waved his hand excitedly, "Good, very good!"

Then he straightened up and said to Chen Fan, "Young comrade, change the background and take another one."

Chen Fan looked a little embarrassed, "But, I've already taken 3 photos, that's 3 yuan, I don't have any more money."

The photographer was stunned, his face full of regret, how could he be out of money?

Just now, the receptionist Xiao Lin downstairs brought people up to take photos, a whole string of 5 people, and two people carrying loads. He originally thought it was just an ordinary "country bumpkin comes to town" photo experience, so he casually found a few backdrops, thinking of just getting rid of them.

The first four customers were indeed very ordinary, two chose Tiananmen Square, one chose the sea, and the round-faced fatty (An Quan) who looked like a village cadre had the best taste, choosing a Bund of Shanghai background that few people chose.

At that time, Chen Fan muttered beside him, a Shanghai native running here, and then choosing a Shanghai background to take a photo, probably had something wrong in his head.

Then, when it was his turn, he decisively asked the photographer, "Do you have a backdrop of a rural harvest scene?"

An Quan, who had just finished taking the photo, immediately complained, "You ran from the countryside to the county, looking for a rural background to take a photo, probably have something wrong in your head."

Chen Fan immediately retorted, "In the countryside, you find me a camera to take pictures!"

An Quan instantly retreated.

Then the photographer reluctantly rummaged around, finally finding a few rural scene backdrops for Chen Fan.

This was specially bought by the photo studio's leader for the purpose of learning from Dazhai, otherwise, there is countryside everywhere here, who would be crazy enough to buy a rural background cloth.

Sure enough, since buying it, it has been pressed at the bottom of the box gathering dust, and no one has ever been willing to take this kind of photo. Today, it finally sees the light of day again.

First take the ID photo, then take the "scenery" photo.

When the backdrop was hung up, Chen Fan stood in front of the backdrop, rolling up his sleeves and trouser legs high, posing as if he was doing farm work, attracting extreme disgust from Ye Shubao and the other 4 people.

You can't do farm work, so you're just pretending, right?

But, don't tell me, he pretends quite decently, even the photographer's eyes are shining, taking three consecutive shots of him, and shouting good.

Learn from Dazhai, learn from Dazhai, after taking so many photos, he finally met someone who looks like he's learning from Dazhai, taking such a good-looking photo, this year's Dazhai advanced element is definitely not running away!

The old master was very happy, but Chen Fan himself was not satisfied.

He looked at his white and bright arms and calves, decisively put on his straw hat, and picked up the carrying pole that Zhang Wenliang had placed in the corner.

This time, without Chen Fan's instructions, the photographer ordered his two apprentices to change a background picture, and took another 3 shots in a row.

Perfect, beyond the limit!

When he takes pictures for others, he uses at most 2 rolls of film, and under normal circumstances, it is done in one go, that is, only one is used. But when taking pictures for Chen Fan, he takes 3 shots in a row.

3 shots and another 3 shots, and then another 3 shots, in the blink of an eye, 9 negatives are gone, which is more than the 4 people next to him combined, making their eyes red.

Even so, the photographer felt that he hadn't had enough.

At this time, hearing Chen Fan say that he had no money, he pondered for two seconds, and decisively waved his hand, "Apprentices, bring out the film that your master treasures."

Today I'm going to take enough pictures at once!

The two little apprentices next to him were stunned, Master, are you going to pay for it yourself?!

...

After taking the photos, Chen Fan took the lead out of the photo studio, still sighing in his mouth, "Taking a set of 1-inch ID photos cost 38 cents, and taking 3 photos cost 3 yuan and 23 cents, so extravagant."

An Quan next to him had a gloomy face, "Hmph, I don't want to talk to you."

Thinking that he only took one photo, but Chen Fan took dozens of photos in a row, and didn't even spend any money, he felt uncomfortable.

It's simply a case of people comparing to people, you die; goods comparing to goods, you throw away.

Ye Shubao walked out with his hands behind his back, looked around, "If you ask me, you shouldn't have come to take photos. Spending 95 cents to take a photo is useless and just wastes time."

Then he looked at Zhang Wenliang, "It's all your fault, why don't you remember the way to their unit, otherwise we would have left directly, how would we have come to the photo studio."

Zhang Wenliang was covered in black lines, good fellow, this can all be blamed on me?

However, whether from the perspective of age, seniority, or position, he could only endure being scolded by Ye Shubao.

Then he pretended not to hear, shrinking his head and looking around, a few seconds later, his eyes suddenly lit up, pointing to the two tricycles not far away and said, "Uncle Ye, why don't we take a taxi? Last time when we came over, a manager from a unit said that this is a taxi, anyone can take it."

Several people looked in the direction of his finger, only to see two tricycles wrapped tightly driving towards this side, the sound was so loud, it was estimated that even Lujiawan could hear it.

(The "turtle shell" tricycle taxi produced in Shanghai in the 1970s)

An Quan saw these two cars for the first time, and his eyes lit up, "Hey, isn't this our Shanghai's 'turtle shell'? It's even sold to Gufeng County?!"

Chen Fan and the other 4 people turned their heads to look at him, "What turtle shell?"

At the same time, Chen Fan was also amazed, in May when he was in the prefectural committee, he was still riding a human-powered tricycle, but in Gufeng County he was riding a motorized tricycle instead, did he just not run into it in Yunhu or what?

Hearing everyone's questions, An Quan grinned and smiled, "The turtle shell is the turtle shell. I haven't seen this car with my own eyes, but my classmate said in a letter, and there are photos, it's exactly the same as this one. Not only is our Shanghai using it, but Guangzhou, the capital, Nanjing, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Xi'an, Chengdu, and many other big cities have bought it to use as taxis, it's very effective."

After a pause, he smiled again, "You all know about the Happiness motorcycle, right? The engine of this car is the Happiness 250 engine. Don't look down on it just because it can only run 40 kilometers per hour, it can carry a lot of things, and the rear trunk cover can also be laid flat, and it can hold a lot of things."

As he said that, he walked forward, "I haven't ridden a turtle shell before, I must have a good time today."

Chen Fan and the other 4 people looked at each other and quickly followed.

Seeing that the two cars were about to reach them, Zhang Wenliang, who said he wanted to take a taxi, went silent, standing aside without saying a word.

Even An Quan, who was extremely proud of products from his hometown, had a tangled expression on his face, as if he was thinking about what posture to take a taxi in.

As for Ye Shubao and Zhang Juemin?

Forget it, let's not mention it.

Finally, Chen Fan sighed lightly and raised his hand to wave at the two cars.

The two tricycles slowly stopped in front of them.

The driver in the first car slowly rolled down the car window, looked Chen Fan up and down with a critical eye, then looked at the other people, and asked casually, "Where are you going?"

Chen Fan quickly said, "Shuiyun Company, how much?"

The driver said, "Shuiyun Company is not far, 30 cents, buy a ticket first and then get in the car."

At this time, Ye Shubao asked cautiously, "Is it 30 cents for one car, or 30 cents for two cars?"

The driver immediately sneered, "Of course it's 30 cents for one car, two cars, what are you dreaming of?"

Ye Shubao blushed, took out a cigarette box wallet, ... that is, the kind that uses a finished cigarette carton as a wallet, and took out 60 cents from it to pay.

As a result, the driver waved his hand, "We don't accept money, we only accept tickets. You put your things away, get in first, and buy tickets at the taxi stand in front."

The group busied themselves again. Although the driver's words weren't pleasant, his actions weren't slow. He helped open the trunk, and the board was placed horizontally. Zhang Wenliang loaded the two baskets onto the car, one with more than half inside and a little less than half outside, and the other completely pressed onto the trunk board with a small portion hanging in the air. Then, he secured them with ropes.

As for everyone's luggage, they all held it themselves.

After the two cars were loaded, Zhang Wenliang, Zhang Juemin, and Chen Fan squeezed into one car, while Ye Shubao and An Quan took the other. After getting in, the three-wheeled vehicle sputtered forward and soon arrived at the taxi stand.

Actually, it was just a booth at the entrance of the bus station. They bought tickets here and then drove to the Water Transportation Company.

… …

Before long, they arrived at the Water Transportation Company. After reporting their names to the gatekeeper, someone quickly came out to greet them.

Zhang Wenliang saw a middle-aged man in his forties walking out and immediately hurried to meet him. "Manager Zhao, why did you come out personally?!"

Manager Zhao laughed heartily. "Distinguished guests are visiting, of course, I have to come out to welcome you."

He reached out to shake Zhang Wenliang's hand, but his gaze was fixed on Chen Fan and the others, finally landing on Chen Fan's face. He said to himself, "Why didn't you say something before you came? I could have sent a car to pick you up."

Zhang Wenliang felt that he had never felt more honored in his life than at this moment.

He looked around triumphantly, as if saying, 'Look, even the office manager of the Water Transportation Company came out to greet us personally. Aren't we important!'

The others also shook hands and greeted Manager Zhao one by one.

When Chen Fan shook hands, he clearly saw a critical look in Manager Zhao's eyes, and his heart suddenly sank.

Oh no.

He was afraid that he had encountered a petty person.

Previously, various units in the county had sent official letters to Lujiawan, inviting him to give lectures. To avoid trouble, he had repeatedly declined and made excuses to delay. In the end, the Zhang Juemin and Zhang Wenliang brothers had stepped up and managed to get all these units on board.

Although the task was successfully completed, Chen Fan himself wouldn't believe it if he said that these units didn't have any complaints about him.

See, retribution had come so quickly.

While Chen Fan was shaking hands with Manager Zhao, Zhang Wenliang happily introduced, "Manager Zhao, let me introduce you. This is Teacher Chen Fan, from our Lujiawan. He led the compilation of that first aid manual. In addition, recent issues of the 'Jiangnan Literature' magazine have featured Teacher Chen's articles."

"Moreover, the Yunhu Daily of the prefectural committee has published six reports written by Teacher Chen about the Double Rush in one month, which is unique in our Nanhua Commune!"

Upon hearing this, Manager Zhao immediately feigned surprise and clasped Chen Fan's right hand tightly with both hands. "So, it's Teacher Chen in person. I've long admired your name, I've long admired your name. Meeting you today, you are indeed extraordinary. You look like a talented and brilliant person at first glance!"

He was polite, but Chen Fan was even more polite.

He immediately added his left hand, using both hands to shake hands, and said with trepidation, "Manager Zhao, you are too kind. I'm just an ordinary member from a small place, and I haven't seen the world. I don't deserve your praise."

The implication was, 'I'm young and haven't seen the world. If I've offended you in any way, please forgive me.'

Manager Zhao held his hands tightly, still polite on the surface, and said with a smile, "Teacher Chen, you are too modest. Not to mention that you went to the prefectural committee to teach first aid knowledge, contributing to the people of the whole country and saving the lives of countless people, but also bringing honor to our Gufeng County. Our Gufeng County can produce talents like you, and all the people in our county are proud."

"Just say that you have published many articles in the 'Jiangnan Literature' magazine and the prefectural committee newspaper, making our Gufeng County famous throughout the province. This is a great achievement."

"You are a busy person and go to many places. If even you are considered to have not seen the world, then we insignificant people who have achieved nothing are even more ashamed to show our faces!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan's heart immediately raised its vigilance to the highest level.

He said I'm a busy person? His words mean that he doesn't accept my apology.

This guy is an old fox, and I'm afraid this hurdle won't be easy to pass today.

Besides An Quan, who had a thoughtful look in his eyes and a slightly faded smile on his face, the other three showed happy smiles, seeing Chen Fan and Manager Zhao "talking happily."

After some pleasantries, Manager Zhao invited everyone to the unit's reception room, asked people to serve hot tea, and turned on the electric fan, which was very polite, thoughtful, and made them feel at home.

However, when he heard Zhang Wenliang mention their intentions, a look of embarrassment appeared on his face.

Ye Shubao and An Quan looked at each other, feeling that the atmosphere had changed a little quickly.

Could it be that there were difficulties in buying chickens, ducks, and geese from Lujiawan?

After a brief silence, Ye Shubao coughed softly, turned his body to face Manager Zhao, and said with a smile, "Manager Zhao, your Water Transportation Company is one of the top units in the county. We think your company has good benefits. In addition to the employee cafeteria, you also distribute some benefits to the unit's employees during festivals."

"And our Lujiawan production team is also responding to the call of the higher authorities to 'Learn from Dazhai' and actively develop side businesses to strive for the construction of a 'new countryside,' which is why we have raised so many chickens, ducks, and geese."

"However, the rural side business economy does not belong to the production tasks set by the commune, nor is it on the ordering list of the food station. Even the purchasing station of the supply and marketing cooperative only accepts scattered domestic chickens, ducks, and geese. They are also unable to do anything about such a large number of poultry."

"Therefore, we can only produce and sell ourselves and find ways to find sales channels."

"Coming here today is also to build a relationship with your Water Transportation Company to see if we can supply you with goods, even if it's dozens of chickens a day, for your cafeteria to use. This would be a great help to our production team."

After Ye Shubao finished speaking, Manager Zhao's face was still somewhat embarrassed. After a pause of two seconds, he smiled first and raised his hand. "Come, come, drink tea, drink tea."

What the hell kind of tea are we drinking at this time?

Ye Shubao became more and more impatient, but An Quan was very calm. He picked up the teacup and took a sip, laughing, "As expected of a big unit, the tea here is really good. Is this alpine green tea?"

Manager Zhao also laughed straightly. "Director An also knows tea. This is tea picked from the reservoir tea garden on Gufeng Mountain. Although it's not considered alpine, it's still considered mountain tea. I can't bear to take it out for ordinary people."

An Quan held the teacup and smiled. "Then we are benefiting today."

Chen Fan sat aside, seemingly an introverted young man who was not good at words, just smiling and drinking tea.

Manager Zhao waved his hand with a smile. "Hey, you are all distinguished guests, how can we talk about benefiting."

After a pause, he turned to look at Ye Shubao, his face changed slightly again, and said with some embarrassment, "Team Leader Ye, I understand what you mean, you just hope that the Water Transportation Company can purchase chickens, ducks, and geese from your side, and you can deliver them to our door every day, is that what you mean?"

Ye Shubao nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, that's what I mean."

Manager Zhao clenched his hands tightly, his eyes full of apology. "I'll be honest."

Seeing his appearance, Ye Shubao's heart couldn't help but sink. "Please speak."

Manager Zhao looked at a few people, and finally his eyes fell on his face, and said seriously, "Originally, this matter is not big, it's just dozens of chickens, ducks, and geese a day. Our cafeteria needs to purchase a lot of meat and vegetables every day, and we do need these meats. But..."

Now, the thing Ye Shubao didn't want to hear the most was "but."

But Manager Zhao just said "but", "But, our work process has strict procedures. In terms of procurement, we have signed an agreement with the vegetable market company. All the meat and vegetables are provided by the vegetable market, and we only need to arrange a car to pull them back every day. In this way, even if there are dozens more chickens, ducks, and geese, we really can't eat them!"

Hearing that he was clearly rejected, Ye Shubao's face was full of disappointment.

Before coming out, he was full of confidence. How could he say that on one side, Chen Fan was accompanying him, and on the other side, Zhang Juemin and Zhang Wenliang, who had traveled to more than 20 units in the county to teach first aid knowledge, were there? Wouldn't they even give them face for selling some chickens, ducks, and geese?

In order to get off to a good start, Zhang Wenliang had specially selected the largest Water Transportation Company, but he didn't expect that they really wouldn't give him this face.

What should I do now?