Reborn in 1977

Chapter 360: Reunion

After getting on the bus, which bumped along for nearly an hour, the vehicle finally stopped next to a large lake, far away from Yunhu City's urban area, and Chen Fan got off.

The wind rippled the water, and looking out over the lake, he could only see the nearby shoreline; further out, it was just an expanse of blue, stretching as far as the eye could see.

He turned 360 degrees on the spot, looked around, and then walked in a chosen direction.

Before long, he passed through a small grove and saw a small village.

Before he could even get close to the house at the entrance of the village, two dogs came running out, barking at him.

Chen Fan glanced at them and stood still. After waiting another two seconds, two children ran out of the house.

One looked about seven or eight years old, and the other was only four or five, with clothes hanging loosely on their bodies, clearly too big. As soon as they came out, the two dogs shut their mouths, ran to their feet, sat down, and stared at Chen Fan, wagging their tails.

Chen Fan took a few steps forward, walked up to them, and asked with a smile, "Little brothers, can I ask you something?"

The older child seemed pleased with Chen Fan's attitude and immediately raised his head and puffed out his chest, saying, "Comrade Li said, learn from Lei Feng, a good example. Just ask, I'll tell you everything I know. What do you want to ask about?"

Chen Fan chuckled and asked, "Is this Huangjiawan?"

Huangjiawan was the village where Chen Fan's mother grew up before he transmigrated. This area is close to Yunhu… this Yunhu is not Yunhu City's Yunhu, but the large lake next to it, from which Yunhu City got its name.

Around Yunhu Lake, there are a dozen or so villages, or rather, production teams. Because they are close to the water, and most are named after surnames, the names of the villages are all similar.

For example, Huangjiawan, Lijiazhuang, Wangjia Zui, Chenjia Dang… you can tell how far these villages are from the lake just from their names.

On the first day he came here, Chen Fan thought about finding the place where his parents lived when they were young to take a look.

Last time he came to the district committee, because Zhang Juemin and Zhang Wenliang were with him, he didn't come to look for it. He happened to see the Huangjiawan bus stop name at the bus station today, so he took the bus to find it.

At this moment, his heart was filled with apprehension, wondering if he could find his maternal grandparents and mother's family.

As for what would happen after finding them, he hadn't thought about it yet.

When the child heard Chen Fan's words, he immediately nodded and said, "Yes, this is Huangjiawan. Who are you looking for?"

Chen Fan gently bit his lip and continued to ask with a smile, "Is there someone in your team called Huang Jiawen?"

"Huang Jiawen?"

The child looked up at the sky, his face full of confusion. Who is that?

As soon as Chen Fan saw this, he immediately understood. Okay, he definitely doesn't know.

How many children know the names of adults? They all just call them Uncle Zhang, Auntie Li, and so on.

At this time, an old lady walked out slowly with small steps, "San Yazi, who is it?"

The child immediately turned his head and shouted, "Grandma, someone is looking for someone. Is there anyone in our team called Huang Jiawen?"

The old lady slowly walked over, looked Chen Fan up and down a few times, and then said, "Are you looking for Huang Jiawen?"

Chen Fan immediately nodded, his heart pounding, "Yes, Huang Jiawen, his wife is called Shen Changxiu, and he has a daughter named Huang Aiping. Is it here?"

The old lady immediately shook her head, "No, there isn't."

Chen Fan was stunned for a moment, and after a few seconds, he reacted and looked at her in surprise, "No?"

What a joke?

He recognized this old lady as soon as she came out. According to the way he called her when he was a child, he would have to call her Great Aunt.

Actually, they weren't relatives at all.

It's just that in this area of Yunhu, the children in the same village all call adults Uncle Zhang, Auntie Li, to show closeness, and it has nothing to do with whether they are relatives or not.

If there are too many people with the same surname, they will call them according to the way their own relatives are called.

It wasn't until more than 20 years later that no one called them that anymore. Men were uniformly called uncles, and women were all called aunties.

This Great Aunt came about in this way, but at that time, she didn't live in this brick house at the entrance of the village, but in a two-story building a little further in.

As for the child who was talking to him just now, if he wasn't mistaken, it should be Huang Sanbo, who was very good at raising and training dogs and later opened a dog farm.

That little child who was still running around naked should be Huang Jiu Shu, who became a contractor and bought a house in the provincial capital?

He could match the people, and he didn't find the wrong place. His maternal grandfather's family had been people of this village for generations, so how could there be no one?

The old lady looked at Chen Fan and said, "If you're talking about Huang Jiawen, there are three in our team. One is called Huang Jiawen, the 'wen' of culture, one is called Huang Jiawen, the 'wen' of smelling, and one is called Huang Jiawen, the 'wen' with the rain radical on top, but their wives are not called Shen Changxiu, and they all have sons, no daughters."

Chen Fan was stunned, no?

After being stunned for a few seconds, he came back to his senses, his face full of disappointment, "Oh, the one I'm looking for is the 'wen' with the fire radical. I might have remembered the wrong place."

The old lady smiled and said, "There are a dozen or so production teams here, and most of the names are similar. It's normal to remember wrong. Why don't you go to other teams to ask? It's not just Huangjiawan that has people with the surname Huang, other teams have them too."

Chen Fan nodded slowly, squeezing out a little smile on his face, "Okay, I'll go look at other places. Thank you."

The old lady waved her hand, "It's okay, it's okay."

Coming out of Huangjiawan, Chen Fan walked to the bus stop, but it was the bus stop for the return trip. He stood there in a daze.

When the bus came, he got on the bus absentmindedly.

But he didn't give up.

Half an hour later, the bus entered the city, and after changing to another bus, he got off next to a factory.

After another round of inquiries.

Okay, there was no one from his father's family either.

Everyone else and everything else in this world hasn't changed, only his parents' families are gone?

After figuring out the situation, Chen Fan, who had come back to his senses, felt that only one reason could explain it.

Quantum mechanics!

According to the proper theory of quantum mechanics, there are countless different or similar parallel worlds in the universe. In these parallel worlds, some worlds are vastly different, while others may only have insignificant differences, or he has arrived in a very similar parallel world?!

He sat on the side of the road for more than half an hour, until the factory workers got off work in the morning, and the endless stream of people walked past him. At this time, he finally woke up.

It seems that he really has transmigrated!

Chen Fan vigorously rubbed his face with both hands, stood up and looked around, and then looked at the bus stop sign. When a bus came, he stepped on the bus and slowly went in another direction.

...

This time it wasn't far. More than ten minutes later, he got off the bus in front of a Xinhua Bookstore.

Continuing to walk forward, turn right at the first intersection, and after walking for a while, this is the supply and marketing cooperative department where Jiang Tiantian works.

Chen Fan walked to the door and glanced inside. Surprisingly, only Jiang Tiantian was there.

At this time, there were no customers in the department. Jiang Tiantian was sitting alone in the corner of the counter in a daze, her eyes blank and her expression dull, not knowing what she was thinking.

Chen Fan walked in, came to her, bent down and looked at her, without saying a word.

After a few seconds, Jiang Tiantian felt that there seemed to be someone in front of her, and suddenly woke up and quickly stood up straight.

She was about to speak when she saw clearly that the person in front of her was Chen Fan. Immediately, she was stunned, and looked left and right, and blinked her eyes, as if wondering if she was dreaming?

Seeing her appearance, Chen Fan stood up straight and couldn't help but chuckle, "What's wrong, haven't seen you for more than two months, don't you recognize me?"

It was the end of May when he left the district committee last time, and today is August 19th, less than 3 months apart.

Jiang Tiantian finally reacted, two red clouds appeared on her fair face, her eyes twinkling with light, and with a bit of disbelief, "Why are you here?"

As soon as the words came out, she felt that it was not good to say that, and quickly said, "I mean, when did you come?"

Chen Fan smiled and said, "Just arrived."

Saying that, he shrugged his shoulders, "Look, I haven't even put down my luggage yet."

Jiang Tiantian finally calmed down at this time, opened the horizontal counter board and walked out, smiling, "Looking at you, you probably haven't eaten yet?"

Seeing Chen Fan nod to confirm, she continued, "There is a restaurant at the street entrance. You go there to rest for a while. The two colleagues who work with me have gone home to eat, and they will be back soon. When they come back, I will go to find you. Let's eat first, and then I'll take you to find a guesthouse to stay in."

Chen Fan nodded, "Okay, then I'll wait for you over there."

Then he waved his hand, smiled, turned, and walked out.

Jiang Tiantian escorted him all the way to the door, watching him disappear into the distance.

It took her a while to come back to her senses.

First, she looked at the sparse pedestrians on the road, and seeing that no one was paying attention to her, she turned and went back into the store.

Chen Fan strode to the street corner and easily spotted a small restaurant.

He pushed the door open and glanced around, finding nine square tables inside, each with four benches.

The setup was no different from the state-owned restaurants in Nanhu Town, so it was clear this should be a small restaurant managed by the street food company.

Although it was noon, there were only two tables of people eating in the restaurant, and the other seats were empty.

Chen Fan walked to the counter, looked up at the small wooden board hanging on the wall, which listed today's menu.

(Ordering food)

These small restaurants usually had a "listed" menu, some on wooden boards like this, and some written on small blackboards.

Paper or even brochure-style menus also existed, but they were generally in high-end places, such as the Capital Hotel, Lao Mo, or the Jinjiang Hotel in Shanghai, and the wild game restaurants in the provincial capital.

These were basically places that catered to "outsiders," and the level was different.

Eating there also involved ordering first and paying after the meal, no different from later generations.

That wouldn't work here.

You looked at the menu on the wall to order, and after ordering, you immediately took out your money and paid.

You didn't get food without paying.

In some places, you even had to go to the food pick-up window to get your own dishes.

However, Chen Fan saw a waiter carrying a tray to serve food, so it seemed he didn't have to do it himself here.

He didn't know how long it would take Jiang Tiantian to arrive, so he ordered a time-consuming dish, casserole braised chicken, plus a portion of fresh vegetables that could be added to the casserole for only 5 extra cents.

He also ordered a plate of salt and pepper soybeans, a plate of cold cucumber salad, and took a bottle of Yunhu Daqu liquor, then took out his money and paid.

Fortunately, no one was sitting in the corner by the window, so he took the bottle of liquor, went over, and sat down.

He placed his backpack on the bench against the wall, and just as he unscrewed the bottle cap, the waiter came over with a tray with two plates of cold dishes and a wine bowl.

He drank while eating the cold dishes, and after drinking for more than ten minutes, Jiang Tiantian hurriedly walked into the restaurant.

She immediately saw Chen Fan in the corner drinking by himself, took a deep breath, and walked over steadily.

Chen Fan also immediately raised his hand to greet her, "Here."

Jiang Tiantian pulled out a bench and sat down to his left, glanced at the wine bottle that was already half empty, and frowned slightly.

However, she didn't say anything, just looked at Chen Fan and smiled, "Have you ordered? If not, I'll order."

Chen Fan put down his chopsticks and said with a smile, "I've ordered, it should be coming soon."

He turned to look at the food pick-up window in the back kitchen, "I ordered casserole braised chicken, with a plate of vegetables to add to it."

Then he looked at Jiang Tiantian, "Do you like it? Do you want to order something else?"

Jiang Tiantian nodded with a smile, "No need, this is enough.

Who doesn't like to eat chicken?"

She pursed her lips, smiled, and looked at Chen Fan, "What are you here to do this time? Is there anything I can help you with?"

Chen Fan laughed and shook his head, "No, there isn't.

Didn't I tell you last time that Lujiawan raises a lot of chickens, ducks, and geese? This time, I'm mainly here to find sales channels for these live poultry."

Jiang Tiantian nodded lightly, "Oh, so that's it."

Her eyes darted slightly, and she asked with some curiosity, "Are you the only one here?"

He hadn't even put down his luggage, and there was no one else around, obviously he came alone.

Could it be that Lujiawan trusted this outsider so much that they let him be responsible for such an important matter alone?

Chen Fan smiled and said, "It's just finding sales channels.

I also have some connections in the health department, and I can handle it alone.

Bringing more people wouldn't help much, and would only add to the expenses, so they let me come by myself."

Jiang Tiantian pursed her lips and smiled, "That's because you're capable.

Someone else might not be able to do it."

After a pause, she asked softly with some hesitation, "I see you seem a little worried.

Are you worried that it won't sell well?"

Chen Fan raised his eyebrows slightly.

Was he that obvious?

Then he shook his head and smiled, "No, it's just that besides this matter, I also want to go to the correspondence course center of Jiangnan University in Yunhu to apply for their correspondence class.

I'm just wondering if their exams are easy to pass.

If I fail, it would be a wasted trip."

Hearing this, Jiang Tiantian instinctively felt that he wasn't telling the truth.

Although she had only met Chen Fan twice, he gave her a very optimistic feeling.

If it was just this small matter, he probably wouldn't take it to heart.

If he was someone who cared about education and his future, he should have accepted the invitation from the health department last time, instead of insisting on returning to Lujiawan.

However, everyone has their little secrets.

Since he wasn't willing to say, she wouldn't ask any more questions, just smiled and said, "I only found out today that Jiangnan University has a correspondence course center here.

Otherwise, I would have thought about signing up too.

But I've put down the textbooks for several years, and I've almost forgotten everything I learned before, so even if I wanted to sign up, I wouldn't have the ability.

You're different.

I heard Lili say in her letter that you're not only teaching them basic knowledge, but also starting a study class in the production team to train teachers for the village school.

When these teachers have learned something, they will expand the scale of the village school, and in the future, they will not only run higher primary schools, but also junior high schools.

You can even train teachers, so your own knowledge base must be very good.

It's just a correspondence course entrance exam, it's definitely no problem."

Chen Fan laughed, "I hope you're right, it's best to pass it the first time."

At this moment, the waiter walked over with a tray, and the two of them stopped talking at the same time.

First, he put down a charcoal stove, then placed a large casserole, and finally put a plate of piled-high vegetables on the table, then left with the tray, without saying a word from beginning to end.

Watching the waiter leave, Chen Fan smiled and said, "Let's eat."

Jiang Tiantian picked up her chopsticks, gave him a piece of chicken, and said with a smile, "You're a guest from afar, you eat first."

Chen Fan didn't stand on ceremony, picked up his chopsticks and went to pick up food, "Let's not be polite to each other, just be casual."

Jiang Tiantian nodded with a smile, "Okay."

At this time, the waiter walked over again, dropped two large bowls of rice, and flashed away again.

Jiang Tiantian looked at the large bowl of rice piled high, and her eyes suddenly froze.

Wasn't that half a pound of rice?

The liang of rice in this era is not like the cooked rice in the cafeteria of later generations, but is calculated according to raw rice.

Chen Fan just asked for a jin of rice, which is a pound of cooked rice, and then the waiter directly gave them two large bowls, which confused Jiang Tiantian.

When Chen Fan saw her appearance, he knew there was too much, so he pushed his rice bowl over, "Here, give me what you can't finish."

Jiang Tiantian turned to look at him, blinked, and when she reacted, she immediately smiled, "Okay."

Then she picked out nearly half a bowl of rice and divided it over, directly piling the other bowl into a round ball.

Chen Fan moved the bowl back, picked up his chopsticks and said, "Eat."

Then he hugged the rice bowl and started eating.

Seeing Chen Fan gobbling down the food, Jiang Tiantian couldn't help but smile, and then slowly ate her meal.

For a time, neither of them spoke.

When Chen Fan finished a large bowl of rice, he straightened his back, exhaled a long breath, then picked up the wine bottle, poured a bowl of wine, and planned to slowly finish it.

At this time, Jiang Tiantian saw his appearance, couldn't help but have a gleam in her eyes, and then said to him, "Pour me some too."

Chen Fan turned to look at her, and was about to say, 'You drink too?'

But he swallowed the words back, directly got up and walked to the food pick-up window, asked the chef inside for a wine bowl, turned back and placed it in front of Jiang Tiantian, and helped her pour half a bowl, while smiling, "You have to go to work in the afternoon, drink less."

Jiang Tiantian smiled, "I took half a day off, I don't have to go in the afternoon."

Huh?

Chen Fan looked at her strangely.

What did she mean?

Did she think it was too little?

However, Jiang Tiantian didn't ask for more, just picked up the wine bowl, held it in front of him, and smiled, "I'll use this to offer you a toast."

Chen Fan held his wine bowl and clinked it with hers, "What's the reason?"

Jiang Tiantian took a breath and smiled, "Welcome to Yunhu."

Chen Fan laughed, "That's a good reason, I have to drink it."