Reborn in 1977

Chapter 426: The Leaders Arrive

Sure enough, Gun Gun didn't keep his word.

He promised nicely that he would go take a bath after playing enough, but in the end, Chen Fan had to carry him to the bathroom.

Inside the enormous bathtub, Gun Gun, Chang Chang, and Shui Shui soaked in the hot water, whimpering comfortably.

As they bathed, they started splashing each other.

Chen Fan, wearing only a set of long underwear, darkened his face as he pressed them one by one into the water, scrubbing their fur vigorously with soap and a brush, soaking himself more than halfway.

Fortunately, the bathtub was connected to the kitchen stove, and scalding hot water flowed into the hot tub through a section of pipe.

The bathroom was steamy, so he didn't feel cold; otherwise, with his constitution, he might have caught a cold.

After scrubbing the three Gun Guns clean and drying them with large towels, he sent them to the kitchen to warm themselves by the fire.

Since he had already started, Chen Fan also grabbed Duo Duo, Qiu Qiu, and the civet cat, gave them hot baths as well, and then tossed them by the fireplace in the living room to dry off.

This flurry of activity took up the entire afternoon.

It wasn't until then that the heavy snow, which had been falling for nearly three days, finally stopped, and the sun reappeared with a smile, casting a golden glow on the white snow blanketing the small village and the surrounding mountains.

Chen Fan changed his clothes and came out, looked at the sky, and calculated with his fingers, "The snow has stopped, we can set off."

Huang Ying came out carrying his backpack, put it on his back for him, and asked with a smile, "What if it continues to snow tonight?"

Chen Fan adjusted the position of his backpack, whistled towards the house, and said with a smile, "If it continues to snow, I'll stay at the prefectural committee and wait for the snow to stop before returning."

As soon as he finished speaking, a black shadow flew out from the front door.

Chen Fan reached out and scooped the civet cat into his arms, waved to the others, and said, "I'm leaving."

Yang Ju stood under the veranda and shouted, "When will you be back?"

Chen Fan didn't turn his head, "I'll definitely be back before you fill out your college applications."

Yang Ju pouted, and hearing Liu Dan murmur beside her, "When are we filling out our college applications?"

She watched Chen Fan's figure gradually disappear down the slope, and said grumpily, "The physical examination notice hasn't been issued yet, so just wait."

… …

Chen Fan stepped on the fluffy snow, leaving a string of shallow footprints that stretched all the way to the dock.

The yacht hadn't moved for three days, and a thick layer of snow had accumulated on it, pushing the waterline down a bit.

He didn't bother to remove the snow, but directly lifted the oilcloth curtain and crawled inside, put the civet cat on the chair next to him, and then started the diesel engine.

After warming up for a few minutes, he slowly gave it gas, and the propeller stirred up the ice layer, which wasn't very solid to begin with, and sailed towards the center of the river.

During this process, the snow on the boat kept falling down, and by the time the boat reached the entrance of the Liuhua River in the 7th team, most of the snow on the boat had fallen off.

At this time, the riverbank of the 7th team had undergone a great change. A sloping concrete ramp extended from the river embankment all the way to the water's edge, and the spacious cement dock was large enough to accommodate two cars side by side.

This was the newly built Lujiawan Wharf.

This type of wharf was also one of the most common types of small cargo wharves at the time. The sloping ramp was completely unaffected by the rise and fall of the river water. After the cargo ship docked, two planks were set up, and manpower could be used to load and unload cargo.

In another ten years or so, dump trucks would become the main force for loading and unloading cargo, and skilled dump truck drivers would be able to drive on and off the ship via the planks as if walking on flat ground.

Until the decline of shipping later on, countless small wharves were abandoned. Even when shipping revived later, it was replaced by new container terminals, and even if there were still some such bulk cargo terminals, they would never return to their former prosperity.

Chen Fan glanced at it from a distance, turned the steering wheel, and drove the boat into the Liuhua River, and only then did he suddenly accelerate.

The small yacht was like a small frog, bouncing on the surface of the water. The accumulated snow was completely thrown off, leaving only a layer of stubborn ice on the deck, reflecting a little golden light, and then slowly melting by the river water splashed on the deck.

In less than an hour, the small yacht docked at the prefectural committee wharf.

He ran to the guest house of the health department with practiced ease. The staff at the counter were first happy to see him, then frowned slightly, lifted the cover next to the counter, took the initiative to walk out, and greeted him with a smile, "Teacher Chen, it's been hard for you to come over in such heavy snow."

Chen Fan glanced at him, took out a cigarette and handed it over, and said with a smile, "Brother Xiong, looking at you like this, is something the matter?"

If nothing was wrong, they would have already opened a room for him at this time, so why would he run out to greet him?

Xiong Jia Gui laughed, took the cigarette with both hands, and said in a low voice, "The cadre rooms have already been arranged, and all the single rooms and double rooms have been arranged. If you don't mind, I can open a three-person room for you, and not arrange for anyone else to live there, but the conditions are a bit worse, how about it?"

Chen Fan was slightly stunned, looked at him and asked, "Which leaders are coming?"

Xiong Jia Gui gave a thumbs up and said with a smile, "Teacher Chen is so capable, you guessed it right!"

After a pause, he smiled again and said, "The director and section chief aren't traveling all over the country, teaching the skills in the 'First Aid Manual', are they…"

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Fan's eyes lit up, "Are they coming back?"

Xiong Jia Gui smiled and nodded repeatedly, "Isn't that right? From July to now, it's been almost half a year. They've been running around outside, working hard, and seeing that it's almost the end of the year, it's time to come back.

They arrived in the provincial capital the day before yesterday, and originally planned to take a car back, but they happened to encounter this heavy snow, which delayed them for two days. Even if the snow stops today, the road will not be easy to drive on, so they bought boat tickets for this morning and will arrive around 7 or 8 o'clock tonight."

You can imagine what the traffic conditions were like in this era. At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the total mileage of highways in the country was only 80,000 kilometers.

Later, road construction also focused on highlighting "point"-like highways, that is, connecting several major towns in a certain area with highways, which was also a part of the "New Rural Construction" of that year.

Therefore, there are often various "dead-end roads", that is, a road that you are walking on suddenly has no asphalt or cement pavement, and becomes a bumpy natural loess road again, and then near a certain town, another cement road continues.

The most important trunk roads for economic development still largely rely on the main lines built during the Republic of China, and then repairs and expansions are carried out on the basis of these main lines.

Of course, there are also newly built ones, but not many.

The road from the provincial capital to the prefectural committee was expanded on the basis of a Republic of China highway, and later became a part of a national highway.

The road conditions at this time can naturally be imagined. It is difficult to walk even when the weather is clear, let alone on a snowy day.

It is only because Yunhu also has a golden waterway of the Yangtze River, which is enough to meet freight and passenger transport, otherwise, this place is almost comparable to those cities built in the mountains during the third-line construction.

Chen Fan nodded while listening to him.

Bear Jia Gui, reaching the end of his speech, suddenly added, "Accompanying the director and others are several leaders and staff from the province and the Health Department. The cadre rooms, single rooms, and double rooms are prepared for them."

Chen Fan slightly raised his eyebrows, "Leaders from the Health Department?"

Bear Jia Gui nodded with a smile, "That's right."

He then chuckled, "It's rare to have leaders from the province visit. I heard they're here to inspect the work situation in our Yunhu. When the time comes, you'll definitely be arranged to meet with the leaders. It just so happens you came today…"

Before he could finish, Chen Fan cupped his hands with a serious expression, "Farewell!"

He turned and left immediately, without any hesitation!

Unfortunately, he couldn't escape.

Before he could take a second step, Sister Zhou's voice rang out from behind, "Stop right there! Where do you think you're going?!"

Chen Fan turned around, smiling sheepishly, "Sister Zhou, you're still out working in such heavy snow. You're really working hard!"

Sister Zhou rolled her eyes, quickly walking over, "I'm here to prepare for welcoming the leaders. I called Lujiawan earlier, and they said you came to the Prefectural Committee. You've come at the right time. You're coming with me tonight to meet the leaders."

Chen Fan glanced at Bear Jia Gui, who had already slipped away, and said helplessly, "I'm a timid person. If I go to meet the leaders, I'm afraid I'll embarrass myself. It's okay if I embarrass myself, but if I lose face for the Health Department…"

Sister Zhou waved her hand, looking at him with a half-smile, "You're timid?"

Chen Fan nodded seriously, "Yes, I'm timid."

Sister Zhou took two steps forward, looking at him and said softly, "If you're so timid, how dare you pull a switcheroo and send Big Jiang and Little Jiang to the Education Department?"

Chen Fan's face fell, "It's because I'm timid, afraid something would happen to them, that I sent them there."

Sister Zhou rolled her eyes, "Stop trying to be funny with me. I'm telling you, I went to great lengths to transfer your work relationship to the Health Department, and it was all in preparation for this day.

The leaders have really come today, and you must be present. Otherwise…"

She raised her hand and poked Chen Fan's forehead, "You'll bear the consequences!"

Chen Fan knew he couldn't escape this time, and he lowered his head dejectedly, "Alright."

Then, he quickly raised his head, "But the accommodation here is too poor. There's not even a toilet in the room. I'm requesting to stay somewhere else and come back tonight."

Sister Zhou glared at him, annoyed, "Staying in a cadre room and you're already getting picky, huh?!"

Then, she waved her hands as if chasing away a dog, "Get lost, get lost."

"Okay!"

Chen Fan greeted her and turned to leave. In reality, he just didn't want to live with the leaders.

"Come back."

Sister Zhou stopped him and asked, "Where are you going to stay?"

Chen Fan turned around and smiled, "I'll go to the Education Department first to see if there are any rooms. If not, I'll go to the Health College Guesthouse. They definitely have rooms there."

If there weren't any, he could also go to the Passenger Terminal Guesthouse, several long-distance bus station guesthouses, several guesthouses of hospitals directly under the Health Department…

As a dignified Teacher Chen, couldn't he find a good room in the Prefectural Committee?!

Sister Zhou walked over and straightened his slightly wrinkled clothes, saying, "Don't even think about the Education Department. The Gaokao scores from all the districts and counties have already been sent there. They're busy with the leaders from the Provincial Education Commission and won't have any cadre rooms for you.

You should still go to the Health College. I'll call their president to let him know. I'll be coming over with their president later."

Since the leaders of the provincial health system had all come, the leaders of the Health College would certainly not be absent.

She was also afraid that Chen Fan would leave and never return… although it was unlikely, what if?!

Chen Fan saw through her thoughts at a glance and nodded helplessly, "Alright, I'll come over with the president and the others later."

That way, he could also hitch a ride in their car.

Since he couldn't escape, he should find a way to enjoy it more.

…

Carrying his backpack, Chen Fan didn't go directly to the Health College after leaving the Health Department. Instead, he took a car to the Education Department.

Sister Zhou had said earlier that the Gaokao scores were already out, and he wanted to go and inquire about the news.

…

Meanwhile, in the Yunhu Health Department, all the main leaders, as well as Deputy Director Deng, who had come from the Provincial Education Commission specifically to guide the Gaokao enrollment work, were crammed into a conference room.

On the conference table were dozens of Gaokao exam papers.

At this time, everyone had a heavy expression. Those who smoked had a cigarette in their hand, filling the room with smoke.

After a long while, Deputy Director Deng coughed and said to Zuo Qiuping, the deputy director of the Education Department, "So, dozens of high-scoring exam papers came from Nanhugong Commune, all because of that person named Chen Fan?"

Zuo Qiuping nodded, saying without changing her expression, "I learned about this matter before the Gaokao. This year, the Yunhu Health Department published a book…"

Before she could finish, Deputy Director Deng nodded and said, "I know about this, 'Emergency Handbook', saving countless lives, immeasurable merit!"

A hint of a smile flashed in Zuo Qiuping's eyes, and she quickly regained her composure, continuing, "The most important 'Yunhu Emergency Method' in this 'Emergency Handbook' was invented by Chen Fan. After he used this technique to save a child, he thought that rural areas lacked the necessary medical conditions and common medical knowledge, so he thought of compiling all the first aid methods he knew into a book for the members of the production team to learn.

You should have heard about what happened later, right?"

Deputy Director Deng nodded lightly, smiling, "Indeed, I've heard that their Health Department picked up a big bargain."

The director of the Education Department next to him saw the atmosphere ease up and smiled, saying, "It's not purely picking up a bargain. I also went to listen to a first aid learning session where Chen Fan gave a lecture. Chen Fan repeatedly emphasized the role of the experts from the Health Department in the process of compiling the 'Emergency Handbook', especially the improvement of traditional first aid techniques.

According to him, his greatest personal contribution should be the invention of the 'Yunhu Emergency Method', and then proposing the idea of compiling the 'Emergency Handbook'. The subsequent work was mostly completed with the help of the organization."

Deputy Director Deng nodded again, "Not taking credit for himself, very good."

He looked around, "This Lujiawan, does anyone know more about it?"

Zuo Qiuping spoke again.

After meeting Chen Fan, she immediately liked this handsome and humble young man. Of course, not the kind of liking like a lover, but like Sister Zhou, an elder to a younger generation, a sister looking at a younger brother.

In short, it was a very good first impression.

So, every time they ate together, she chatted with him a lot, and the most they talked about was the affairs of the production team.

In addition, there was Jiang Lili, who had spent nearly 4 years as a sent-down youth in Lujiawan, by her side. If she didn't know Lujiawan like the back of her hand, she was at least not unfamiliar with it.

At this time, the leader finally turned the question to Lujiawan, and she breathed a sigh of relief, pouring out everything she knew.