Reborn in 1977

Chapter 42: Return Gift

Chen Fan propped himself up with the dog-beating stick in his right hand and waved his left. "Hi, is this Team 5 of Lujiawan?"

The big yellow dog in the front was just about to bark a warning when it heard the greeting. Its eyes widened instantly, and it instinctively let out two "woof woof" sounds.

Chen Fan smiled happily. "It really is here. Luckily, I didn't go the wrong way. Can you help me call someone over, or maybe you guys can take me there?"

The big yellow dog tilted its head a couple of times, then suddenly turned to face a spot to its left. The other dogs behind it continued to stare at him, as if he had a flower on his face.

Chen Fan followed the big yellow dog's gaze and saw more than a dozen men standing in a row in the ditch not far away, with only their heads exposed, all staring at him intently.

Their eyes were like they were looking at a mental patient.

They were working when they suddenly heard a dog barking, and then they saw this scene.

If this person had said a word, someone would have stood up, but he didn't say a word and just imitated a dog barking. What was that about?

Chen Fan's expression stiffened slightly, but it quickly returned to normal. He waved friendly. "Everyone's busy?"

A man in his twenties or thirties nodded woodenly. "Ah, catching turtles."

Only after the words left his mouth did he react. "Who are you? What are you barking at the dogs for?"

The militia textbook said that whether they were spies or thieves, most of them had the ability to train dogs, not to train the dogs to be very powerful, but to use some techniques and tools to keep the dogs from barking. He had never seen this person before. He came and didn't say anything, just barked at the dogs. He might be a bad guy.

Didn't he see that those dogs hadn't barked!

Chen Fan didn't know he was suspected. He pointed to the dogs and laughed. "It's nothing, just teasing the dogs."

Then he walked towards the ditch and said loudly, "My name is Chen Fan. I'm from Team 6…"

Before Chen Fan could finish speaking, the man's eyes lit up, but his vigilance didn't diminish. "Do you have proof?"

As he spoke, he tried hard to climb up. After coming up, he casually grabbed a handful of withered grass and wiped the mud off his hands, then tightened his grip on the wooden shovel in his hand. The people still in the ditch also walked to the edge of the mud pond one after another, ready to rush up at any time.

Chen Fan felt a little numb in his heart. He immediately took out the letter of introduction, opened it, and handed it over. "A letter of introduction from Captain Yang."

The man pinched the edge of the letter of introduction with his fingers and looked at it carefully. His brows furrowed tightly. "Why doesn't this letter of introduction have a seal?"

Chen Fan looked at him in confusion. "Didn't Captain Yang say that the official seals are all in the brigade, and his signature is enough?"

The man suddenly realized. He looked at the signature and saw that it was indeed Yang Chuanfu's name. He grinned and said, "Oh, oh, that's right, that's right."

Then he looked at Chen Fan. "So you're Master Chen. Welcome, welcome."

Chen Fan finally breathed a sigh of relief. He exchanged pleasantries while putting the letter of introduction back into his pocket.

Then he noticed that the man was holding a wooden shovel covered in mud. He asked, "How many turtles have you caught?"

He also looked into the ditch and saw that the mud at the bottom of the entire ditch had been turned over. Six bamboo baskets were placed in the mud, all filled with more than half a basket of turtles, of various sizes. It seemed they had wiped out the entire family.

The man reached out to touch his pocket, but it was empty.

He only brought loose tobacco with him when he came out to work. It was nothing to offer guests loose tobacco. It was common in rural areas. It was just that the one he had rolled before was already finished, and there was not enough time to roll another one, so he naturally put his hand down.

Then he smiled and said, "We haven't caught much now. We caught a lot when we drained the pond yesterday afternoon. We turned over the nearby ditch again this morning and caught a lot of big ones. Now there are only some small fish left."

Chen Fan looked at the turtles in the basket, which were as big as sea bowls. He thought about the ones he had picked up, which were as big as washbasins, and couldn't help but nod slightly. "They are indeed a little small."

The man's expression suddenly changed slightly when he heard Chen Fan say this. "Master Chen, can't these small turtles be used?"

Chen Fan quickly shook his head and smiled. "No, no, they can be used. Not to mention ones this big, even ones the size of a child's palm can be used."

"Ah?"

The man widened his eyes and looked at him in confusion. "There's no meat on such small ones. What can you do with them?"

Chen Fan grinned. "Even a mosquito's leg is meat. A palm-sized turtle can at least be gnawed on a few times. It's more delicious than an old turtle for making soup."

Hearing Chen Fan say this, the man couldn't help but laugh. The dozen or so people who were still busy in the ditch also laughed.

They were all amused by the saying that even a mosquito's leg is meat. If mosquito legs could be eaten, they would guarantee that mosquitoes would be extinct in the village.

A joke instantly closed the distance.

The man raised his hand and pointed in the direction of the forest, smiling.

"This is not the place to talk. Let's go. I'll take you to the brigade headquarters. There are many dogs in the village. It's easy to get chased if no one takes you."

Chen Fan smiled and cupped his fists. "Thank you very much. By the way, may I ask what your name is?"

"No thanks, it's my duty. My name is Zhang Wenliang. You can call me Lao Zhang or Sanhu. I'm the third child in my family, and people in the team call me Sanhu."

Zhang Wenliang said as he walked, "After Captain Yang came yesterday, everyone in our team was looking forward to eating turtle meat. We finally waited for you."

Chen Fan thought, It's only been a day, why are you making it sound so exaggerated?

…

Lujiawan Brigade Headquarters.

Brigade Leader Zhang Changjiang, Deputy Captain Ye Shubao, Xiao LieWen, and Team Leader Zhang Guangwen from Team 5 were sitting in the reception room at the door, smoking.

Ye Shubao yawned. "Lao Yang said Chen Fan would come in the afternoon, but he didn't say what time. Should we send someone to urge him?"

Zhang Guangwen smoked and said, "It's not even 1 o'clock yet. Lao Yang is slaughtering pigs at home today, so he will definitely invite him over to eat pig-killing dishes. Eating and drinking will probably take until two or three o'clock to come over. If no one comes by 2 o'clock, let Sanhu ride over to take a look."

The Jiangnan area has many waterways and has always had more boats than horses. However, in the late stage of the Anti-Japanese War, the Japanese in the north began to equip themselves with mechanization, and a large number of war horses, pack horses, mules, and donkeys that were eliminated were stuffed to the southern troops.

Because the waterways here are crisscrossed, cars can't drive far before they have to cross the river, which is not convenient for mechanized troops to carry out operations. Instead, mules and horses are more suitable.

After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, these livestock were confiscated. Excellent war horses and pack horses were naturally taken away by the main force, and the remaining old, weak, sick, and disabled were left in the local area to be used for farming and pulling carts.

If it hadn't been for the large-scale slaughter more than ten years ago to make food, and the high cost of raising horses, maybe a horse farm could be set up now.

Although the number of livestock now is far less than in those years, there is no shortage of people to use them. Each team has several mules, horses, or donkeys. When there is an emergency, riding a horse is faster than walking.

Ye Shubao nodded. "Okay, then let's wait a little longer."

After a few seconds, he asked again, "Guangwen, this time we invited someone to teach us how to make turtles, which is turning waste into treasure, and also passing on skills. How do you plan to return the gift?"