Reborn in 1977

Chapter 401: News Arrives

The next day, October 13th.

Chen Fan strolled into the brigade headquarters' courtyard, where Zhang Wenliang was leading a group of militiamen in morning exercises.

Seeing him enter, Zhang Wenliang forgot all about the exercises and walked straight over, looking him up and down before glancing at the sky.

Chen Fan smiled slightly and said calmly, "No need to look, the sun will still rise from the east today!"

Zhang Wenliang blinked rapidly, "But why are you here so early?"

The last time he came to work this early seemed to be before Zhang Cuie became an apprentice, right?

Since having students to help out, Chen Fan had been letting himself go more and more each day.

Even a job as a coordinator could be considered a semi-"iron rice bowl," but that was on the premise of not making any major mistakes. How could someone who was constantly absent from work expect to be treated well?

If it weren't for his other abilities and the fact that both the Party Secretary and the Captain indulged him, he would have been fired from his position as a broadcaster long ago.

The same went for the veterinarian.

Looking at Zhang Wenliang, Chen Fan smiled and said, "I went to the commune to take care of something and came straight here afterwards."

He had gone to the post office early this morning to mail letters, but he didn't send out all the manuscripts at once.

Submitting to over a dozen magazines at once would be too much for anyone to handle. The post office clerk would definitely spread the word, and that wouldn't align with Teacher Chen's excellent quality of low-key development.

Therefore, he decided to send them out in batches: two here, a few when going to the county seat, and the rest to the prefectural committee.

Anyway, he had many contact addresses; all the cooked food stores could be his addresses. Although it was a bit troublesome, it was safer.

At most, the commune would be spreading the word that "Teacher Chen has submitted manuscripts again," but only he knew how many he had actually sent!

After mailing the letters, he returned to the production team and was caught by Zhang Wenliang.

Zhang Wenliang didn't ask what he had gone to do. He stopped the exercises, waved his hand for the militiamen to finish on their own and go back, and followed him inside. "I came back from outside yesterday, and Uncle Ye said that we don't need to go outside to collect goods anymore, nor do we need to run sales."

As he said this, he felt a little depressed.

As of today, there were a total of 15 Luwan Cooked Food stores, 13 of which were established by Chen Fan: 3 in the county seat and 10 in the prefectural committee. The remaining two were opened near two hospitals in Shuanghe County and were also related to Chen Fan.

Apart from that, he hadn't managed to open a single new store.

His only gains were purchasing a lot of live chickens from other communes with several groups of people before the next batch of live poultry hatched in Lujiawan, contributing a little to increasing sales, and also purchasing a lot of calves and foals, helping the production team expand its livestock herd.

Now, the seedlings of the four major production teams in Ganjia Village had begun to grow, and the new seedlings in Lujiawan had also hatched. As long as no new stores were opened, guaranteeing market supply wouldn't be a problem. Moreover, the autumn harvest was approaching, and the people sent to the county to learn how to drive tractors would be back in a few days.

At that time, the allocation and management of personnel, the rotation and maintenance of agricultural machinery, would all need someone to be responsible for coordination.

Secretary Yang and the others were all clear that they couldn't rely on Chen Fan for this kind of thing, even though he was the most capable. Moreover, he had already done the previous work. If he was also responsible for the execution level, it would be too much.

Therefore, Ye Shubao had withdrawn Zhang Wenliang and asked him to be responsible for these tasks.

Listening to Zhang Wenliang's rambling, Chen Fan stopped at the office door and said with schadenfreude, "Who told you not to give me work points for being a data clerk? You, the director of public security, will also have to be the 'Agricultural Machinery Station Chief' now, and still without work points!"

There was naturally no agricultural machinery station chief in the production team. This position was at least a commune-level configuration, but if these agricultural machines were all managed by Zhang Wenliang, let alone the commune's agricultural technology station, even the county's agricultural machinery center wouldn't be as wealthy as him!

Zhang Wenliang knew that this was a joke, but he couldn't help but feel exasperated. "Besides organizing the books once, what else have you done as a data clerk? Can it compare to my work as the 'Agricultural Machinery Station Chief'? !"

As soon as he finished speaking, he laughed out loud.

At this moment, Ye Shubao came out, pointed at the two of them, and shook his head with a wry smile, "Are you still lacking those few work points? Little Chen, you have a technical guidance title at the No. 6 team's brick workshop, and your Captain Yang is paying you 100 yuan in wages."

Then he pointed to Zhang Wenliang, "And you, want work points from the agricultural machinery team? Sure, give your transportation team leader position to someone else, and the salary and bonus to someone else, okay?!"

Zhang Wenliang immediately raised his head, straightened his chest, and stood at attention. "Report to the Captain, no need for such trouble. For the development of the production team, I am willing to work tirelessly!"

Just kidding, the transportation team was independently accounted for, and there was also a salary to be earned. Although he didn't know how much the bonus would be, the captain's salary of 50 yuan a month was very attractive. What bonus did he need?!

Managing the agricultural machinery was nothing!

Before, when there were no extra wages or work points, weren't those temporary jobs also done by him? Now, he was just running errands. Could it be more tiring than that time?!

Chen Fan grinned and chuckled, "I'm not just a figurehead. Every time the kiln is fired, I go to take a look."

Although he really just went to take a look, he did go, didn't he? Who dared to say he didn't participate?

He took the money with a clear conscience.

Ye Shubao was too lazy to argue with him, beckoned, and said, "Come in, let's talk about something."

Chen Fan followed him in. "What is it?"

Ye Shubao said as he walked in, "Last year (calculated according to the lunar calendar, before the Spring Festival), you told Master Liu from your team that there was a disease in water buffaloes caused by malnutrition, so you suggested preparing more silage before winter this year?"

Chen Fan nodded immediately. "Hypothermia in water buffaloes is not very common, but it's not rare either. The veterinary station has more than a dozen records of similar symptoms. The trigger is malnutrition and decreased resistance in water buffaloes. If silage can be used to supplement nutrition, it can effectively prevent hypothermia."

As soon as Ye Shubao returned to his seat, Secretary Yang raised his head and said, "Yesterday afternoon, your Captain Yang reported this matter to Captain Zhang. Water buffaloes are an important asset of the production team and cannot be taken lightly.

Moreover, we now have quite a few livestock in our production team. Including the original ones and the newly added ones, there are more than 300 heads, including cattle, horses, mules, and donkeys. Many of them are calves, and feeding the small livestock is also a troublesome matter.

So, early this morning, Lao Zhang told us about this matter, and we wanted to pull you in for a meeting to discuss it properly."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Liewen smiled and said, "You are the head veterinarian of the production team, and you were the first to bring this up, so we must discuss it with you."

Chen Fan smiled, but a trace of thought flashed in his eyes.

Usually, Xiao Liewen didn't care much about this kind of production-related matter, at most saying a few words to express his position, but today he immediately expressed his attitude.

He even used the word "must."

Hehe, it seems that his position in the production team was different from what it used to be. Even Secretary Yang and the others had begun to consider his feelings.

Because Xiao Liewen was his unofficial teacher, he had to value it when he spoke.

Conversely, regardless of whether Secretary Yang, Captain Zhang, or Captain Ye spoke, even if it was a discussion, it had the meaning of an order. The leaders grasped the human relationships very accurately!

Chen Fan's mind turned a few times, and he raised his head with a nonchalant smile. "Actually, I've never even seen silage, let alone touched it, but personally, I have two ideas."

Secretary Yang immediately pointed at him. "Speak."

Chen Fan gestured with his hands, "First, silage must not only be made, but it's also urgent. Now that even the Mid-Autumn Festival has passed, a lot of vegetation will wither after a while, so now is the best time to make silage. We must seize this window of opportunity and rush to produce as much silage as possible."

Captain Zhang nodded in agreement, paused for two seconds, and looked up at him. "What's the second one?"

Chen Fan smiled, then his smile faded, and he said seriously, "Second, as I just said, I have never seen silage before. Although I have read a little about it in books, I am not sure.

Unlike other things, other things are because there is no way, no one can be found to guide, so I can only read some books and then bite the bullet. However,

Whether it's the commune's agricultural technology station or the county's agricultural bureau, there are technicians with rich experience in making silage, so my suggestion is to request support from the commune and the county and apply for several technicians to come down and guide us in making silage."

Secretary Yang looked to the left and right, and seeing that no one else had any objections, he immediately nodded and said, "This is simple, I'll go to the commune and the county agriculture bureau today and make sure to ask them to send a few more technicians over."

Chen Fan nodded, "Then there won't be any problems. They have the technology and experience, and they can probably help us make good silage."

After a pause, he looked at Zhang Wenliang, who was sitting next to him smoking, "It just so happens that there are still a few days before the autumn harvest. Brother Sanhu can organize the agricultural machinery team to harvest green grass first, which can also be considered a rehearsal for the autumn harvest."

Ye Shubao immediately nodded, "This is a good idea."

Then he looked at Zhang Wenliang, "Sanhu, I'll leave this matter to you."

Zhang Wenliang scratched his head in distress, "Oh."

He had only organized militia training and simulated combat before, and even the transportation team was operated with reference to militia logistics. This harvesting of pasture?

He didn't know how!

Most of the pasture grows on slopes, unlike rice which is in whole fields. How should he do it?

Chen Fan saw his expression, his eyes rolled slightly, and he smiled at him, "Brother Sanhu, just think of the agricultural machinery as tanks, the agricultural machinery team as a combat unit, and the pasture as the enemy. Just command the agricultural machinery team to win!"

Zhang Wenliang was stunned for a moment, staring blankly at the others, then looking at Chen Fan again, "So, our team is mechanized?"

Chen Fan was a little speechless.

Secretary Yang and the others burst into laughter.

Xiao Lie Wen exhaled a puff of smoke and said with a smile, "I haven't commanded a mechanized team yet, and you're already leading a mechanized force. Stop talking nonsense, can you do it or not?"

Zhang Wenliang chuckled twice, then his expression straightened, "Yes!"

The laughter gradually subsided, and Chen Fan looked around, "Is there anything else? If not, I'll go to the back to take a look."

Although he spends most of his time at home, he still comes over every day to take a look, especially at the learning progress of Zhang Cuie and the students in the study class, to answer their questions.

He has already done so much. It would be a great loss if it was just a little bit short.

Secretary Yang nodded and was about to speak when the phone on the table suddenly rang.

He waved to Chen Fan, indicating that it was nothing, and then picked up the phone, "Hello, this is the Lujiawan Production Team, who are you looking for?"

Chen Fan waved to everyone, smiled, and turned to leave.

But after only two steps, he heard Secretary Yang raise his voice, "Ah? Looking for Chen Fan?"

Chen Fan turned around abruptly and saw Secretary Yang holding up the phone, "It's for you."

For me?

Who is it?

Chen Fan walked over quickly, took the cigarette Ye Shubao handed him with his left hand, and the phone with his right hand, putting the receiver to his ear, "Hello, this is Chen Fan, who is this calling from?"

"Xiao Chen, it's me, Teacher Guo."

Chen Fan suddenly understood, "Oh, hello Teacher Guo, hello."

After a pause, he asked again, "Teacher Guo, what's the matter?"

The most common way to contact people these days is by letter, followed by telegrams. Generally, phone calls are only made for important matters. Moreover, when making a phone call, don't exchange pleasantries, just get straight to the point, like Chen Fan is doing now, to save on phone bills!

He usually brings two braised chickens to visit Teacher Guo and Teacher He when he has nothing to do, which can be regarded as maintaining relationships. After all, when they first met, they revealed to him the news that the college entrance examination might be restored. Although he himself can't use it, this favor is real.

The key to interpersonal relationships is the word "reciprocity." Anyway, he often runs to the prefectural committee, and it's not too much trouble to stop by the education and health departments to see old friends.

But a few days ago, when he went to the prefectural committee to buy spare parts for agricultural machinery, he stopped by to see them, and they didn't say there was anything major going on. Could there be some sudden situation?

Just as his mind was racing, Teacher Guo suddenly lowered his voice and said with a bit of a tremble, "Xiao Chen, it's been decided. Just yesterday, the higher authorities officially decided to restore the college entrance examination!"

Chen Fan blinked wildly, thinking, I know, October 12th, it was officially finalized.

Moreover, it had already been decided by the Deputy Prime Minister in August, and then two months of meetings were held to gradually reduce the burden, and finally the relevant outline was determined, and it was reported to the academy for approval in the form of a document. Yesterday was just the official approval.

However, it was not announced to the public, but was forwarded to relevant units at all levels in the form of a document.

So at this moment, those who have connections know.

As for those who don't have connections, they will have to wait until October 21st to receive the news through major newspapers and radio stations across the country.

Only then will the whole country be in an uproar.

After a two-second pause, Chen Fan used 12 points of acting skills, his voice full of surprise, "Really? Is this real?"

The others in the office looked at him and couldn't help but look at each other.

What's wrong with him?

Did he find a relative?

Teacher Guo's voice was also a little excited, "Absolutely true, not only that, but also approved the Ministry's "Opinions on Postgraduate Enrollment in Higher Education Institutions," which means that postgraduate enrollment will be officially restored!"

After a pause, Teacher Guo took a breath and said to Chen Fan, "Xiao Chen, Teacher He and I were just joking before, asking you to take the postgraduate exam at Jiangnan University, but now it's come true.

With the knowledge you have shown, passing this year's correspondence course exam should be no problem. This way, you can get a university bachelor's degree and just catch up with applying for the postgraduate entrance examination.

So you must seize this opportunity, not be arrogant and complacent, and must go further and further, striving to take the postgraduate entrance examination held next year step by step."

Chen Fan kept nodding, and only when he heard the last sentence did he pause slightly, "Has the time for the postgraduate entrance examination been set now?"

The others in the office were confused again.

Postgraduate?

What kind of student is that?

Teacher Guo's emotions slowed down slightly, and he said softly, "It hasn't been set yet, but this year's main task must be to focus on the college entrance examination, and the postgraduate enrollment work will definitely be a step slower. But according to the current situation, it shouldn't be too long."

He slowly exhaled a long breath, "Too much time has been delayed, everyone can't wait, and doesn't want to wait anymore. I estimate that the work on postgraduate enrollment will be finalized and announced to the public by December this year at the latest, and the postgraduate entrance examination may be held in March or April next year. In that case, you can just sign up to participate."

Chen Fan nodded seriously, "I understand, Teacher Guo, I will try my best to seize this opportunity."

Then he smiled, "Thank you for making this call to me."

Teacher Guo laughed, "It's nothing, it's nothing, I also see that you are a rare talent, and I can't bear to see a good seed wasted."

After a pause, he smiled again, "Teacher He and I are really afraid that you will refuse to take the postgraduate entrance examination like you refused to take the college entrance examination last time. I was so worried that I simply gave you a call and planned to persuade you well. I didn't expect to not use a single word."

Chen Fan couldn't help but feel a little moved, "I'm sorry to trouble you."

"It's nothing, it's nothing."

Teacher Guo smiled, "It's good as long as the result is good. Okay, that's it for now, I'll hang up, and we'll talk in person when you come over next time."

Chen Fan, "Okay, goodbye."

After hanging up the phone, he looked at Zhang Wenliang, "Brother Sanhu, close the door."

Zhang Wenliang closed the office door without hesitation.

Ye Shubao even closed the windows, then turned around to look at him, and said in a low voice, "Is there something important?"

Chen Fan was about to speak, but he couldn't help but grin, unable to suppress it.

Xiao Lie Wen became anxious when he saw it, and stood up and said, "Hey, tell us quickly."

Chen Fan chuckled twice before lowering his voice and saying, "The call was from Teacher Guo of the Jiangnan University correspondence point in Yunhu area. He said that the academy forwarded the Ministry's document yesterday, but it hasn't been officially announced to the public yet."

Ye Shubao and Zhang Wenliang walked quickly to him, and Secretary Yang, Captain Zhang, and Xiao Lie Wen also stared at him intently.

Chen Fan continued without pausing, "Starting this year, the college entrance examination will be officially restored!"

… … … … … …

(Revealing the mystery. When the book was opened, many book friends said they wanted to take the college entrance examination to go to university, so why didn't anyone think of directly taking the postgraduate entrance examination. Cold knowledge, that class could directly skip from high school or even junior high school to postgraduate, as long as the grades were good. Jie Jie Jie Jie Jie Jie … …)