Reborn in 1977

Chapter 368: Arrange Everything!

At 3:30 PM, Chen Fan retrieved the saddle he hadn't used for ten days and put it on the little mare.

Although it hadn't been used for so long, there wasn't a speck of dust on the saddle, clearly someone had been wiping it down every day.

The little mare was prancing in place, eager to go, while the foal frolicked in the yard, chased by the two dogs, all ready to rush out at any moment.

Jiang Lili helped fasten the saddle straps, smiling as she said, "We took them out for some air in the first couple of days, but they ran too fast and we couldn't keep up. We were also afraid they'd be caught by outsiders, so we haven't let them out for days."

Chen Fan stroked the mare's face and gently patted its head, "Are you really that disobedient?"

The little mare immediately lowered its head and nudged into his chest. If Chen Fan's stance hadn't been stable enough, it probably would have knocked him over.

It was quite reminiscent of Sun Erniang acting coquettish.

Huang Ying and the other two stood in a row, eagerly watching Chen Fan. Today was the day the small water tower would be put into use, and they really wanted to see the excitement.

After Jiang Lili secured the saddle, Chen Fan swung onto the horse. Seeing their expressions, he said unhappily, "Don't always think about watching the excitement. Do more exercises at home. When you need it, you'll know it's better than watching any excitement."

Huang Ying and the others lowered their heads in unison, "Okay."

Jiang Lili suppressed a smile and stood beside them, watching Chen Fan ride out the door, her gaze lingering.

Only then did Huang Ying raise her head, pouting, "Even Duoduo, Qiuqiu, and the foal can go watch the excitement, why can't we?"

Yang Ju turned around and stood in front of her, holding her face with a serious expression, gently squeezing out a fish-like pout, humming, "The dogs don't need to take exams, and they don't want to be foreign trade personnel, do you?"

Huang Ying curled her lips, "I do."

Yang Ju then looked at Liu Dan, who immediately raised both hands, "I'm going to study right now."

Then, she grabbed Jiang Lili's hand and walked towards the house, "Lili, save me! If you don't help me, I'll be last place."

Yang Ju followed behind her with a dark face, "You're already in last place."

Huang Ying rubbed her face, which was almost flattened, and quickly followed, "Wait for me."

…

Even though the little mare was holding back, it still arrived at the earthen slope where the small water tower was located in less than ten minutes.

At this time, twenty or thirty people were gathered below the water tower. Secretary Yang had rarely dug out his dacron shirt, navy blue trousers, and leather shoes that he only wore during the New Year and major festivals, standing with his hands on his hips, spirited… while basking in the sun.

Captain Zhang, Xiao Liewen, and Ye Shubao next to him, although not as exaggerated as him, were also refreshed, but their sweaty and disheveled appearance made them look no different from Anquan, Zhang Wenliang, and Yang Xingxi, who hadn't changed their clothes.

Chen Fan lightly tapped the mare's belly with his heels, and the little mare strode forward, arriving in front of Secretary Yang and the others.

As soon as he dismounted, he smiled and said, "Oh, Secretary Yang, you've even worn your dacron shirt, very grand indeed."

Although dacron gradually lost its popularity after the 2010s due to its poor breathability, lack of fit, and inability to absorb sweat, it was at its peak in the present era, occupying the absolute C position in the fabric world.

Before 1976, China only had a very small amount of imported dacron fabric. At that time, the fabrics on the market were mainly cotton products, with a small amount of blended fabrics made of natural materials such as silk and hemp. It was not until around the 1970s that imported chemical fiber fabrics began to appear.

Later, it was discovered that chemical fiber fabrics were quite popular and could be produced in large quantities. Between 1976 and 1979, a large number of chemical fiber equipment were imported and put into production one after another, which triggered a major change in the fashion of Chinese people's clothing.

Dacron was durable and easy to dry, and unlike cotton cloth, it would wrinkle after a few days and needed ironing. Moreover, it was brightly colored and did not fade, so it quickly became popular throughout the country.

The name originally came from Guangzhou. According to the English name of this fabric, dacron, the Cantonese people named it "de que liang," meaning that wearing it would make you a handsome guy. At that time, Cantonese was not yet popular, and northerners did not know what "liang" meant, so they gradually changed it to "de que liang."

Children, however, heard it as "de que liang," so in winter, they would stuff snowballs into their friends' necks while shouting "de que liang," which would result in a mixed beating when they got home.

The price of this fabric was indeed not cheap. Ordinary fabrics only cost about 5 mao per chi, even the high-end cotton-silk blended fabric that Chen Fan bought from the cotton mill's sales department before only cost 5 mao per chi for the second-grade product, and the market price of the qualified product was only about 1 yuan. Corduroy and woolen fabrics of this kind were also about the same price.

However, dacron cost 1.4 yuan per chi, which was ridiculously high in comparison.

However, there was one advantage to buying dacron: no tickets were needed!

Although dacron was expensive, high-end, and popular, the production of this chemical fiber material was indeed very large. In addition, because the price was too high, not many people were willing to spend this money when it was first launched on the market. Later, production increased year by year, so there were never any market restrictions. As long as you had money, you could buy it, which was also one of the unique features of dacron fabric.

But in any case, it cannot be denied that dacron fabric had a "superior" status in this era.

Therefore, Secretary Yang wearing this shirt today shows how much importance he attaches to the water tower's water supply.

Hearing Chen Fan's teasing, Secretary Yang, even though he was covered in sweat and felt like he was wearing a layer of plastic, had to grit his teeth and force a laugh, "It's the first time that Lujiawan has running water, so we have to be grand."

Saying that, he tugged at his shirt, "Look, this 7 chi of fabric cost me 8 yuan, 7 mao, and 8 fen. I asked Xu the tailor in town to make it, which cost me another two yuan for the labor. I usually can't bear to wear it, I only wear it on special days."

Chen Fan laughed heartily, "Secretary Yang is still particular."

Then, he waved to the crowd next to him, before walking towards Master Wang on the side.

There were many Master Wangs in Team 4, but there were only two leaders, one was the head of the masons, Wang Youhai, and the other was the head of the carpenters, Wang Youtian.

Master Wang Youtian had even given up his work in the construction team these past two days, and had pulled half of his apprentices from the construction team back, and together with the carpenters of Team 4, they were building a large wooden boat, which made the manager of the construction team so angry that his nose was crooked, but he didn't dare to get angry.

However, the brigade headquarters did not mistreat them, paying them according to the wage standards of the construction team plus 10%, and also providing two meals a day, until the wooden boat was built.

The one who came here today was Master Wang Youhai.

Chen Fan handed over a cigarette and asked in a low voice, "Master Wang, has the reservoir been cleaned?"

Master Wang took it with a smiling face, "Don't worry about that, I already took people to clean it thoroughly a few days ago, and we did everything according to the procedures that Master Qiu and Master Ma explained at the beginning, ensuring that it's clean and there's no problem at all."

Chen Fan nodded, "Thank you for your hard work."

After a pause, he looked around and found that the others had consciously stood a few meters away, and Secretary Yang and the others were also watching him in place, so he said calmly, "You've heard what Secretary Yang and the others said, that we will vigorously develop sideline businesses in the future, and the reading seeds in our team may go to work in the team-run sideline business company, so it's necessary to learn professional knowledge well."

Master Wang nodded immediately, looking at Chen Fan intently, unconsciously lowering his voice, "I heard, what do you mean?"

Chen Fan smiled and said, "In short, just one sentence, you keep an eye on your own children and let them spend more time on studying. If you want to choose people one day, it's more advantageous to learn more than others, isn't it?"

Master Wang looked at him thoughtfully, "Does the team have a new task?"

Chen Fan laughed, "Don't we always have new tasks sooner or later?"

Master Wang thought he understood Chen Fan's meaning, and immediately grinned and said, "Understood, understood. I'll go back and find those boys and lock them up to read books."

Chen Fan smacked his lips and said with a smile, "Don't just focus on the boys. Mr. Li also said that women can hold up half the sky. Some positions can also be filled by girls, so everyone has to work together."

Master Wang laughed heartily, "Okay, together, everyone together."

He was still secretly sighing in his heart that Teacher Chen was a real person. He didn't help him build the house for nothing. Look, he got "special care."

Chen Fan's kind instructions were not because Team 4 was special in Lujiawan. Half of the masons and carpenters in Nanhugongshe came from Team 4, or were apprentices of the old masters of Team 4, which could play a big role.

Mainly because Chen Fan had a personality of "I respect people a foot, and they respect me a zhang." Before, when he was building his house, he didn't even need to ask them to come to the door. The two Master Wangs came to the door with the construction team themselves. How could he not remember this favor?

Anyway, it's just a matter of a sentence. When the news of the resumption of the college entrance examination is announced, regardless of whether Master Wang and the others have guessed the truth, they will remember what I said today. Wouldn't this exchange of favors become more and more close?

After chatting for a while, seeing that it was almost four o'clock, Secretary Yang stood in place and shouted loudly, "Xiao Chen, how is it? Can we start?"

Chen Fan didn't say anything, first went into the water tower to check it out. In less than two minutes, he walked out and said, "Alright, we can start anytime."

After a pause, he looked at them with a smile and said, "Secretary Yang, judging from your posture, are you going to have a ceremony?"

Secretary Yang snorted softly, "Such a big event, can we not set off firecrackers?"

Beside him, Xiao Liewen waved his hand, "Prepare the firecrackers."

Outside the crowd, two people quickly ran to the two bamboo baskets under the shade of the trees, and took out a large pile of firecrackers from them.

In addition, several people also took bamboo poles to meet them. Before long, 12 bamboo poles carrying firecrackers were raised high.

At this moment, the village's loudspeaker rang, it turned out that it was time for the broadcast.

However, what came out of the loudspeaker was not the sound of the radio, but Zhang Cuie reading the news.

"Good news, good news, now broadcasting a piece of good news..."

Accompanied by Zhang Cuie's broadcasting tone, Secretary Yang waved his hand with a red face, "Light the fire."

At this moment, Team Leader Zhang, Xiao Liewen, Ye Shubao, An Quan, Zhang Wenliang, and the indispensable Yang Xingxiu, each grabbed the fuse of two strings of firecrackers and took out matches to light them.

The militiamen holding up the bamboo poles quickly turned around and aimed the firecrackers in all directions. After two or three seconds of burning, the surroundings were full of crackling firecrackers.

The trained little mare, foal, and two dogs were not afraid at all. They just ran a little further away and stared at the firecrackers exploding randomly.

Chen Fan looked at Secretary Yang with great interest, quite eager to try, "What's next? What do we do?"

Secretary Yang glared at him, "You're asking me? I don't know how to start it. It's your turn now, of course."

An Quan clapped his hands and shouted, "Teacher Chen, go!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the fifty or sixty people who had gathered nearby shouted together, "Teacher Chen, go! Teacher Chen, go!..."

Only a few dozen people, but Chen Fan had a feeling of being the center of attention. He immediately rolled up his non-existent sleeves, raised his right hand and walked towards the water tower, "Okay, watch me!"

"Okay... !"

The scene was immediately filled with thunderous applause, accompanied by the gradually stopping sound of firecrackers, and Zhang Cuie's broadcast from the loudspeaker, Chen Fan swaggered into the water tower.

Before long, the rumbling sound of a diesel engine starting rang out inside the water tower, and the water pump also started working, drawing groundwater through the pipeline to the reservoir at the top.

Chen Fan didn't open the water gate, but just silently listened to the sound of water flowing in the pool above.

After a few minutes, Secretary Yang couldn't help but walk to the door, looked at Chen Fan and asked loudly, "Xiao Chen, how is it? Is it working?"

The sound of the diesel engine was too loud, so he had to speak loudly.

Chen Fan turned his head and smiled, and said loudly, "Yes, it definitely works."

He pointed to the reservoir on the top and said, "Let's put more water in it first, otherwise the water pumped up won't keep up with the water flowing down, and the water still won't come out."

Secretary Yang blinked, nodded pretending to understand, "Oh, so that's how it is."

He asked again, "Do we have to do this every time we release water?"

Chen Fan shook his head with a smile, "No, only this time. After we release water again in the future, the water in the pipe will be full, so we don't need to refill it."

The power of this pump is not small, and the water pipe is also a large water pipe that is several times thicker than a household water pipe. However, the volume of the reservoir above is also very large. After nearly half an hour, Chen Fan opened the water gate and shouted loudly, "Releasing water!"

This time, Secretary Yang didn't speak immediately. Even if he didn't understand physics, he knew that it would take time for the water to flow from here to the village.

After a few minutes, he looked at Chen Fan, who was walking out of the water tower, and asked, "How long will it take for the water to flow to the team?"

Chen Fan first closed the door, and the roar instantly became smaller. Then he said, "It will only take a few minutes. Now you can send someone back to see. If the water comes, let Xiao'e shout in the broadcast."

Secretary Yang immediately waved his hand, "No need."

Then he turned to Zhang Wenliang and shouted, "Company Commander Zhang."

Company Commander Zhang when there's something to do, San Huzi when there's nothing to do.

Zhang Wenliang immediately took a big step forward, "Here!"

Secretary Yang turned to look at Xiao Liewen instead.

The militia is under his control, even if Secretary Yang is a higher level, he will not overstep his authority.

Xiao Liewen immediately shouted, "Liaison Headquarters Signalman."

Zhang Wenliang, "Yes!"

Under Chen Fan's surprised gaze, Zhang Wenliang ran to the shade of the tree, took out a walkie-talkie from another bamboo basket, neatly turned on the machine, first pulled out a long antenna, then put on his headphones, took the microphone, and shouted loudly, "I am Zhang Wenliang, please answer if you hear me, I am Zhang Wenliang, please answer if you hear me."

Good heavens, these two walkie-talkies have been issued for several years. Were they issued in '71 or '72? They haven't been used since they were received, but they are actually being used today?

Isn't it a little outrageous?

Chen Fan couldn't hear what was being said in the headphones, but he only heard Zhang Wenliang shouting again, "Open the faucet, see if there is any water. Open the faucet, see if there is any water."

Then there was waiting.

After waiting for less than two minutes, Zhang Wenliang pulled off the headphones, stood up abruptly, turned around, faced hundreds of scorching gazes, raised his hand and shouted with all his might, "There's water!"

The scene was immediately filled with thunderous applause and cheers.

Chen Fan also grinned and smiled non-stop.

Originally, he just wanted to build a small water tower for his own use, but later Team Leader Yang shamelessly proposed "joint construction". After some efforts, three months passed, and this small water tower was finally built.

Seeing the jubilant and joyful appearance of the commune members at this time, he suddenly felt that this feeling of "sharing happiness is better than enjoying it alone" was also very good.

Wait for the cheers to stop... No, it should be that the cheers are gradually moving away, because most of the commune members who came today were from the 5th and 6th teams. At this time, hearing that the water was connected, they quickly ran home to see what the legendary tap water looked like!

In fact, during this period, or rather, starting from the early 1960s, China began to dig wells in vast rural areas, especially promoting pressure wells. In a short period of time, they covered most of the rural areas in the north.

However, in the southern regions, because there are waterways everywhere, it is relatively convenient to get water, so the popularity of wells is not as high as in the north.

Taking Lujiawan as an example, all the small teams are close to the river. In this case, when the commune wants to dig wells, it will naturally give priority to those villages that are far away from the running water. As a result, some teams in Lujiawan and other production teams still do not have pressure wells to use, let alone the legendary "tap water".

Today, Lujiawan has connected tap water to two small teams, how can the commune members not rush home to see the novelty!

After the commune members walked away, Xiao Liewen looked at the militiamen who were all absent-minded, and waved his hand unhappily, "Mission accomplished, dismissed."

The militiamen of the 5th team suddenly cheered and ran away.

Zhang Wenliang was so angry that he jumped and cursed behind, "Roll back two people and carry the walkie-talkie back."

The two people who fell behind immediately rolled back in a dispirited manner, and ran away with the bamboo baskets while giggling.

Zhang Wenliang cursed again, "Be careful, if you break it, I'll skin you alive."

The machine in the small water tower was still roaring. Secretary Yang lit a pot of tobacco with satisfaction, exhaled a long puff of smoke, grinned and smiled, "It's not easy, after so many years, I didn't expect that I could still drink tap water in my life. I never dreamed of it, but it came true."

Team Leader Zhang put his hands on his hips and laughed, "What are you talking about drinking tap water, you can at most drink 'work water'. You still drink river water when you go home."

Secretary Yang glanced at him, "You still have the nerve to say that? As the team leader, you are mainly in charge of production. Why don't you hurry up and think of ways to arrange tap water for the other teams!"

Team Leader Zhang's expression froze slightly, but when he saw Chen Fan, a sense of confidence rose in his heart, "Isn't it just building a few more small water towers? This is simple. When we sell two more batches of chickens and ducks in the future, we will arrange it for the whole team!"

Secretary Yang rolled his eyes speechlessly, and turned to look at Chen Fan, "This small water tower can't be pumping water all day long, right? Shouldn't there be a regulation?"

Chen Fan smiled, "It's simple. From now on, we will release water for one hour each in the morning and evening. You arrange someone, and I will teach him how to start and open the gate. He can take care of this in the future."