Reborn in 1977

The door was pushed open, and a gust of cold wind blew in, sobering everyone up a bit. They turned to look at the entrance.

When they saw it was Chen Fan, An Quan immediately stood up and said, "You've come at the right time, have a drink with everyone."

Lu Yanan simply picked up her wine glass and walked over, waving with her other hand, "Ding Qian, quickly get a glass,…"

As she spoke, she raised both hands, "Brothers and sisters, Teacher Chen is here, what do you all say we do?"

More than a dozen people shouted together, "Make him drink!"

Before the words had faded, they were laughing and giggling together.

It was as if the oppressive atmosphere in the room earlier had never existed.

When Chen Fan saw how fierce his opponents were, he was so scared that he quickly raised his hands, "Slow down, slow down, we can drink, but don't force me. How does that saying go?"

Before he could finish speaking, Ding Qian stuffed a glass of wine into his hand.

He held up his wine glass and said with a helpless expression, "This wine is good, but don't be greedy!"

An Quan didn't let him off, and walked over with his wine glass, "Stop talking nonsense, this is the last meal anyway, there's no way we're letting you off."

He turned around, raised his hand, and shouted, "Everyone, tell me, should he drink this glass of wine or not?"

More than a dozen people giggled and shouted in unison, "Drink, drink, drink…"

When Chen Fan saw that the atmosphere had reached its peak, he immediately became heroic, walked to the table, and slammed his hand on it, "Alright, I'll drink!"

When everyone saw how decisive he was, they all applauded and cheered.

Amidst the cheers, Chen Fan raised his glass and downed it in one gulp.

The crowd cheered again.

But the next second, Chen Fan leaned on the table and slumped onto the stool, his head resting on his arm, and began to snore.

Seeing this scene, the room couldn't help but fall silent. After waiting for two seconds, Lu Yanan was the first to burst out laughing, followed by the others who couldn't help but chuckle, and they began toasting each other again.

This time, it was a truly joyous graduation feast.

…

The next day, January 13th, the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month.

An Quan was wearing a thick cotton-padded jacket, sitting in the passenger seat of the small yacht. In the cabin behind him were his large and small bags. Today was the day he returned to Shanghai.

He held onto the grab handle, looked at the flat river surface, and said with emotion, "It's been a month. I wanted to return to Shanghai a month ago after the exam, and waiting to receive the admission notice was worth it."

Chen Fan glanced at him, continued to concentrate on steering the boat, and chuckled softly, "I thought you would wait until you received the admission notice before preparing to return to the city. Quitting your job right after the exam was a bit risky, wasn't it?"

An Quan looked at him and smiled, "Didn't you say that our grades were good and we had a high chance of getting into university? Besides,…"

He turned to look at the river, "My family and Ke Ying's family are both from good working-class backgrounds. If we hadn't been unlucky back then and missed the large-scale recruitment to return to the city, we wouldn't have been stuck here all this time. This time, we took a gamble, so we might as well return to the city. Even if we didn't get in, with our work experience, we wouldn't be unable to find a job to support ourselves."

It was indeed bad luck.

In the two years before he went to the countryside, those who actively applied to be sent down to the countryside basically returned to the city in two or three years and could be given priority in job placement.

Although it wasn't a good job, it could solve the problem of returning to the city.

It was from the year of large-scale sending down to the countryside that whether or not one could return to the city basically depended on two things.

One was "ability," including but not limited to various relationships with one's own family, relatives, etc. If that didn't work, as long as the family was doing okay financially and a little bit clever, they could visit the leaders' homes more often and get their children transferred back.

The other was luck.

In fact, if An Quan hadn't accepted the commune's "transfer" and had stayed in Lujiawan, he could have been transferred back in four or five years at most.

He wasn't in the same situation as Jiang Lili, who had to adhere to the unspoken rule of "graduating in 7 years." If he had worked for 4 or 5 years and then applied, the educated youth office would most likely have agreed to approve it. After returning to Shanghai, he would also have been given priority in job placement.

So sometimes you can only say it's fate.

However, his perseverance was not in vain. He was admitted to university and returned as a university student. Moreover, both he and his wife were students at key universities, so their future prospects were sure to be limitless.

An Quan shook his head, threw all kinds of distracting thoughts out of his mind, and smiled at Chen Fan again, "Don't mention it, I was really a little scared after I quit my job. What if I didn't get in?

But then again, if the college entrance examination hadn't been restored, it would have been fine. But once the college entrance examination was restored, whether it was me or Ke Ying, the idea of returning to the city couldn't be suppressed."

He took a long breath and a smile crept back onto his face, "Fortunately, it was good news in the end."

Chen Fan smiled, "Actually, with your exam scores and background, there was no problem. Being admitted was a certainty, but,…"

He turned to look at An Quan, "I admired you guys for making this decision at the time."

He even gave a thumbs up, "I'm optimistic about you because of this determination. When you become a leader in the future, you have to take care of your little brother."

An Quan pretended to be arrogant and laughed loudly, "No problem, when the time comes, if anyone dares to cause you trouble, just say my name!"

Then his expression turned serious, "But next time, when I ask you to drink, can you be more straightforward? You pretended to be drunk after only one glass, you have no shame!"

Chen Fan blinked, "You think I only drank that one glass? I had already been forced to drink more than half a jin when I went in, okay? If Little Mare hadn't known the way yesterday, and the myna hadn't been吵着 me on top of my head so I couldn't sleep, I might have been abandoned halfway."

An Quan couldn't help but laugh, "Your alcohol tolerance is indeed a bit poor, at most 8 liang, you still need to practice."

Chen Fan curled his lips, "I don't have to socialize with leaders, why should I practice my alcohol tolerance? Anyway, as long as I enjoy myself."

But in his heart, he was thinking, I wonder if there is an alcohol-drinking skill. Is this thing related to physique? But my physique is not bad either.

As his thoughts flew by, he glanced at An Quan again, "Hey, what was the situation with you guys yesterday?"

An Quan was about to speak, but he was stunned when he heard this, "You saw it yesterday?"

Chen Fan sneered, "My eyes aren't blind. The moment the door opened, it was full of smoke. No one was talking loudly. If you knew it was a graduation feast, you would have thought it was a funeral."

An Quan's face fell, "You're good at everything, except you have a big mouth."

After a pause, he sighed faintly and briefly explained the situation yesterday, finally saying, "That's the situation. All of us educated youths have families to support. Now that we're going to school, we don't know what the future holds."

He was especially grateful now that he had specifically chosen a wife from a village not far from his hometown back then. Otherwise, he would definitely be in a dilemma as well.

After hearing his words, Chen Fan couldn't help but fall silent.

After a long while, he sighed and said, "There's nothing I can do about this."

He raised his head and looked ahead, increasing his speed a little, and said softly, "Since ancient times, even an upright official finds it hard to settle family disputes. In the future, whether they separate or stay together, it still depends on them."

"If they have the heart, they can bring their families along, get a certificate from their work unit or school, rent a house near the school to settle down. Even if they all rely on him to support them, according to the minimum living standard of 5 yuan per person, the subsidy of 19.5 yuan can barely support 4 people."

"Moreover, the adults can also find some odd jobs, or get a certificate from the school, then get a letter of introduction from the neighborhood office, and go to the supply and marketing cooperative to get some small things to set up a stall at the school gate to sell, or set up a tea stall. They can always earn their living expenses!"

Speaking of this, Chen Fan turned to look at An Quan and smiled softly, "It depends on whether he can put aside his pride."

Letting his wife or husband set up a stall at the school gate, the classmates will definitely know, and there will definitely be people who ridicule him openly or secretly. If he doesn't have a thick skin and a strong psychological quality, he really can't do this kind of thing.

An Quan couldn't help but nod slightly when he heard this suggestion, "That is indeed a solution."

Chen Fan smiled and said nothing.

A solution is a solution, but I don’t know how many people are willing to do it and dare to do it.

After a few seconds of pause, he added, "If they care about face, or have other thoughts hidden in their hearts, then there's nothing to be done. In the future, there will definitely only be one result: divorce. There will be no other way to go."

It's not just great disasters that make couples fly separately, but also great wealth and high status.

In the future, one party is a college student living in a big city with a promising future, and the other is an ordinary member working in the most basic commune. Can the outcome be good?!

It's impossible to even think about it.

An Quan frowned, not speaking for a long time.

It wasn't until the small yacht rushed out of the Liuhua River and entered the Yangtze River that An Quan came back to his senses, turned to Chen Fan and smiled, "Don't tell this to others, especially in front of those educated youth, or you'll get beaten up."

Chen Fan chuckled, "You're saying that, I'm not stupid."

As he spoke, he deliberately pointed at him, "Let me tell you, I won't admit it if this matter gets out, and also, if you tell others about the suggestion just now, don't tell them it was my idea."

An Quan was a little strange, "This is a good thing, why can't you say it?"

Chen Fan chuckled and laughed, "On the surface, it's a good thing, but when they really do this, when they have to split a penny in half or are ridiculed, can you be sure that these people won't close their doors and scold me?"

An Quan helplessly twitched the corners of his mouth. Since ancient times, people's hearts have been fickle. How could he be sure of this?!

At this time, the small yacht had already approached the passenger terminal. He slowed down and steered the boat towards the bulk cargo terminal, while saying, "Besides, even if they don't scold me and are grateful from the bottom of their hearts, I don't need it.

I helped you get into college, you have to acknowledge this favor, right? What favor is bigger than this? That's about it, I don't care about this little favor."

An Quan curled his lips and couldn't help but give a thumbs up, "You're awesome."

But having said that, this little favor is indeed dispensable for Chen Fan.

As for himself, after thinking it over, he decided to write the suggestion into a letter and send it to Ding Qian and the others.

It wasn't that he wanted to gain a favor, but mainly that he couldn't bear it. Maybe some people really wanted to take the opportunity to abandon their original spouse, but some people were really reluctant. Sending a letter over was also giving them a choice.

Of course, as for whether or not to listen to this suggestion, it was up to them.

And whether it was gratitude or secret scolding, he didn't care. At worst, they would part ways in the future.

They were all college students, and he was from a key university. Who was afraid of whom?!

The small yacht gently bumped against the dock wrapped in anti-collision straw. Chen Fan turned off the boat engine, got up and helped An Quan carry two large packages, and walked towards the outside of the warehouse, "I said, you didn't bring all your belongings with you, did you?"

An Quan carried one on his back, one hanging on his chest, and one in each hand, following Chen Fan in a mess, "What do you mean all my belongings? Only half of them, okay? The other half was taken away by Keying when she went back last time."

Chen Fan turned his head and gave him an admiring look, "You guys are really awesome!"

An Quan's eyes widened, "These are all belongings that were bought with money, how can we lose them?"

Chen Fan shrugged and jumped ashore without looking back, and tied the cable to the iron stake again.

Anyway, he would rather spend money to buy new ones than bring even the bedding and luggage.

But that's right, in this era, it's normal for people like An Quan to travel with all their belongings.

Buying new ones sounds nice, but who is like him, earning several thousand yuan a month, hiding dozens of various cloth coupons and cotton coupons?

He's purely treating the 1970s as the 1990s!

The docks of the passenger station are not connected, and there are iron fences separating each dock.

To go from the bulk cargo dock to the dock for taking long-distance passenger ships, you must first climb a long slope, go up to the embankment, then walk to the passenger station waiting hall, wait for the passenger ship to arrive, then line up to check tickets and enter the station, then go down another long slope, and finally take the boat with the ticket.

But Chen Fan had a big face and was too lazy to climb the slope, so he waved to several employees on the dock through the iron fence, "Brother Zhao, Brother Xu."

Two people in the crowd immediately walked over, one of them opened the iron lock on the iron gate and smiled, "Going to take a boat?"

Chen Fan pointed to An Quan behind him, "Seeing a friend off."

He also looked proud, "A college student who was admitted to Shanghai Jiaotong University, his home is in Shanghai, he's going back to the city to study!"

The smiles on the faces of the two employees became even stronger, "Oh, that's amazing, a key university, a promising future!"

An Quan had already put down the package in his hand, took out a cigarette and distributed it around, nodding with a smile, "You're welcome, you're welcome, we're all serving the people."

With an insider leading the way, Chen Fan moved horizontally in a straight line on the cement dock by the river.

At the same time, he whispered to An Quan, "They are all employees of the passenger station dock, and they are also old customers of Luwan Cooked Food Store. They also know that I have a good relationship with Director Lin of their passenger station dock, so I have a good relationship with them."

An Quan's mouth twitched slightly, and he gave him a thumbs up, "You're still awesome."

Soon they arrived at the passenger ship dock, Chen Fan said, "Ticket?"

An Quan immediately put down his luggage and took out a boat ticket from his pocket, "Here it is."

When he saw it clearly, his eyes widened, "Why is it a second-class cabin?"