Reborn in 1977

Chapter 480: A False Alarm

The car stopped at the entrance to the courtyard, and three tabby cats perched on the courtyard wall, meowing at him.

When Chen Fan saw Half-Jin here, he knew that the Jiang sisters must both be present.

Soon after, he heard barely perceptible footsteps, yes, two of them.

After waiting a few seconds, the sound of a bolt being pulled echoed, and with a creak, the gate was pulled open, and two smiling faces appeared before him.

Jiang Lili rushed forward, leaning on the car door with the window rolled down, her eyes fixed on one face, "I heard the sound of the car and the cats meowing, and I guessed it was you coming back."

Chen Fan grinned, missing them a little after not seeing them for a few days.

Then his gaze shifted slightly, Jiang Tiantian stood not far behind her, a gentle smile on her face. When her eyes met Chen Fan's, it was several seconds before she suddenly lowered her head, stepped forward, and tugged at her sister, "Let Xiaofan in first."

Jiang Lili then came back to her senses, a blush spreading from her cheeks to the roots of her ears, and quickly took a step back, "Come in quickly."

Chen Fan smiled, started the car, and drove into the courtyard.

He took two bags from the passenger seat and opened the rear door after getting out of the car.

Jiang Lili was about to help him take the bags when she suddenly saw the back seat filled to capacity, and couldn't help but part her lips slightly, "Why are there so many things?"

Chen Fan took a small bag from the back seat, closed the car door with a backhand, turned around and walked inside, laughing as he said, "Souvenirs I brought back, I know too many people, and it wouldn't be good to leave anyone out, so there are so many things. I'll leave them in the car and deliver them later."

Jiang Tiantian followed behind them, gently nudging her sister.

Jiang Lili quickly reacted, ran forward two steps, "Let me help you carry them."

As she spoke, she reached out to take the large bag in his hand.

But Chen Fan turned around, handing her the small bag, "This is a gift for you two."

Jiang Lili's eyes happily curved into crescents, of course not for the gift itself. In her eyes, no gift was important, only the person giving the gift mattered.

Seeing that she didn't move, Chen Fan simply stuffed the bag into her arms, and she quickly caught it.

Entering the house and walking to the Eight Immortals table in the main room, he dumped the contents of the two bags onto the table, "This was from the conference, souvenirs issued by the Writers Association, I haven't even looked at them yet."

Before he finished speaking, several items were dumped onto the table.

Well, there were quite a few things.

A black briefcase, a conference commemorative badge with Mr. Li's portrait, and a box containing toiletries and cutlery?

Why would a toothbrush and a fork be in the same box, and there's even soap and a razor?

(Late 1970s conference souvenirs, the spoon has been replaced with chopsticks, and a comb and nail clippers are missing. Jointly produced by Shanghai Songsheng Telecommunications Equipment Factory and Shanghai Wusong Electrical Appliance Research Institute)

There was also a travel mug, a set of writing brushes, an inkstone, a pen, a notebook, an umbrella, a can of tea, and... a carton of cigarettes?

Looking at the pile of things on the table, Chen Fan just wanted to say, the Writers Association is really generous!

Jiang Lili casually placed the gift bag on the table, helping him tidy up, "So many things."

Chen Fan smiled, taking off his coat, "A normal souvenir is enough with one or two items. They made so many at once, probably to select samples for future welfare benefits and souvenirs, and then sent the samples as souvenirs."

Jiang Tiantian immediately took his coat, "You should change your clothes when you come back from outside. This coat and the luggage you brought should be washed before wearing again."

Then she smiled, "I'll go heat up water for your bath. After you take a bath, we can have dinner."

Chen Fan turned to look at her, smiling and nodding, "Thank you."

Jiang Tiantian smiled, picked up his luggage bag, and went to the backyard.

Jiang Lili, having sorted out the pile of things, turned and ran outside, "I'll go help my sister."

Chen Fan looked at the gift bag still left on the table, uh, is this gift not attractive?

Half an hour later, Chen Fan took a hot bath in the backyard bathroom, and the two sisters had already prepared dinner.

Jiang Lili handed a glass of honey water to Chen Fan, smiling, "Congratulations, you've officially become a member of the Writers Association. From now on, we can call you a writer."

Chen Fan clinked his wine bowl against hers, "Thank you."

He also clinked against the bowl handed to him by Jiang Tiantian, and drank the yellow wine in his cup in one gulp.

Afterwards, the two sisters kept asking him about the Writers Association.

In an era when writers were even more sought after than movie stars, inquiring about the inside story of the Writers Association was roughly equivalent to gossiping about entertainment companies in later generations, or perhaps even more attractive.

Chen Fan naturally wouldn't hide anything, and simply started from the day he set off.

The two sisters widened their eyes, occasionally letting out exclamations.

They had never left Yunhu, and their understanding of the outside world was limited to the imagination of information obtained from books, newspapers, and radios. Now, listening to Chen Fan's account, they had a very different feeling, and unknowingly became fascinated.

The sky gradually darkened, and in the dim light of the dining room, Chen Fan gesticulated and told stories in a rhythmic tone, and two crisp voices rang out from time to time, attracting three tabby cats to lie at the door, hoping for a feast later.

After dinner, the two sisters hung up the clothes in the washing machine together before preparing to go back.

Chen Fan, as always, picked up the car keys, ready to be the driver.

Jiang Tiantian suddenly said, "You don't need to drive us back today, you've been driving all day, you must be tired. You should get some rest."

Jiang Lili also nodded repeatedly, smiling, "It's okay. In the past few days you weren't here, we've been here studying our university coursework. Sometimes we forget while reading and only leave when it's dark."

She squatted down and picked up Half-Jin, who was still licking its lips, and stroked the cat's head, "We have Half-Jin protecting us, we're not afraid."

As a result, Chen Fan didn't pause at all, and walked straight outside, "It takes you half a day to walk back yourselves. It only takes me ten minutes to drive back and forth. Let's go."

At the door, he turned back and pointed to the small bag on the Eight Immortals table, "Don't forget the gifts."

The two sisters smiled at each other, picked up the bag, and followed behind him.

There were many things piled up in the back seat of the car, and it was inconvenient for the two sisters to sit together in the back, so Jiang Lili was pushed into the passenger seat by her sister, blushing, and Jiang Tiantian moved a few bags away and sat behind her.

Soon after, he dropped them off at the entrance of the cotton mill cadre dormitory area. After they got out of the car, Chen Fan took another bag from the back seat and handed it to them, "These are gifts for the leaders of the cotton mill. Your aunt and uncle's are also inside, packed in a separate small bag, don't mix them up."

After Jiang Tiantian took it, Chen Fan smiled and waved, then got in the car and left.

The two sisters returned home with the bags, and as expected, there were still guests in the living room.

This was one of the reasons why they didn't read books at home and went to Chen Fan's place instead.

Since their parents had been reinstated in their positions, their home had become lively again. Almost every day, people came to visit, sometimes from their own unit, sometimes from other units hoping to purchase more fabric, all trying to build relationships and curry favor.

For the past four years, no one had paid attention to the Jiang family, and the two sisters had become accustomed to a quiet life. Suddenly, so many people came to visit, and they felt very uncomfortable.

Even though their room was upstairs, as long as they thought there were strangers in the house, they would feel very uneasy.

On the contrary, Chen Fan's place was very quiet, and generally no one went there, so it became their stronghold.

Just right, going over there every day could also help him clean.

Seeing the two sisters return, the guests were also very aware and, after saying a few words of "both talented and beautiful," took the initiative to get up and say goodbye.

Jiang Lili returned to the room, pulled out a chair, and sat in front of the desk, then carefully opened the bag and took out two boxes from inside.

Jiang Tiantian put the large bag that Chen Fan gave to the leaders of the cotton mill on the coffee table in the living room outside and followed her sister into the room.

As soon as she entered the room, she saw the two boxes in her sister's hand, and couldn't help but widen her eyes, "Watches?"

And two of them?

She couldn't help but feel a little dizzy.

Who gives watches as souvenirs?

Jiang Lili also felt that something was wrong, not because the watches were too expensive, but because of something else.

However, she couldn't say what was wrong.

She held a box in each hand, looked left and right, and frowned slightly, "Plum blossom? It seems like the two watches are exactly the same."

Then she handed one to her sister, "This one is yours."

Jiang Tiantian took it blankly, her brows already furrowed, "Lili, these are imported watches, aren't they too expensive?"

The implication was, should they return them?

Jiang Lili turned to look at her and sighed softly, "Sister, if it were something else, I definitely wouldn't understand it as clearly as you do. But when it comes to Chen Fan, you definitely don't understand him as well as I do. He never takes back anything he gives away. If you insist on returning it, it will only make him unhappy and create distance."

Hearing this, Jiang Tiantian couldn't help but nod lightly.

It seemed that it was true. Usually, Chen Fan looked like he was smiling at everyone, but once he made a decision, he never regretted it. He was a typical example of being gentle on the outside but firm on the inside.

Moreover, he was the same with his friends, valuing loyalty over wealth and rarely caring about gains and losses. If someone calculated everything very clearly, they must be ordinary "outsiders."

Thinking of this, she also gave up the idea of returning the watch.

It was just that she felt a little overwhelmed holding such an expensive thing.

Her sister was different. Since he came to her house last time and her father said those words, the relationship between the two of them was almost broken through, and now they were just waiting for a suitable opportunity to make it public.

They would be family sooner or later, and giving expensive gifts was also investing in "family." But what was she?

Just as she was feeling conflicted, the half-open door was pushed open, and Shen Xueyi walked in, saying, "What distance? Did you quarrel with Chen Fan? Let me tell you, Chen Fan has been working very hard on his business trip, so don't be temperamental."

"Mom, no."

Jiang Lili quickly stood up, pulled her mother to sit down on the bed, handed her the box in her hand, and said softly, "Chen Fan is back. These are the souvenirs he brought us. Take a look."

Shen Xueyi took it in her hand, and her eyes suddenly froze, "Plum blossom watch? This is an imported watch, worth several hundred yuan, and requires special tickets. You can't buy it even if you have money."

Looking at the box in her eldest daughter's hand again, she couldn't help but be a little dumbfounded, "Yours too?"

Jiang Tiantian nodded with a wry smile, "I was thinking of returning it to Chen Fan, but Lili said that if I returned it, Chen Fan would be unhappy."

Shen Xueyi was also a little numb, and didn't know what to do for a while.

Even using this as a betrothal gift would be enough. What's the matter with giving it as a souvenir? And giving two at once?

Back when she got married, the Jiang family only gave a table, chairs, cabinets, a bed, and a wardrobe as betrothal gifts. She brought two quilts as dowry. That little bit of stuff probably couldn't even buy this watch box, right?

But times are different. In the 50s and 60s, the requirements were low. 24 legs or 32 legs were enough, which were actually just a few necessary pieces of furniture.

Later, in the 70s, it became "three rounds and one sound."

Don't look at how everyone is having revolutionary weddings these days. Many families don't even hold banquets. Under the witness of leaders and elders, the newlyweds swear an oath in front of a portrait and give the guests a handful of candy and melon seeds, which is considered a wedding.

But that's for others to see.

Any family with conditions would require "three rounds and one sound"? A watch, sewing machine, bicycle, and radio were indispensable!

And now, the watch that Chen Fan gave could be worth the "three rounds and one sound" that some families spent all their efforts to buy.

And he gave two at once?

Giving this as a souvenir, what would he give as a betrothal gift?

If Chen Fan were here, he would definitely tell her that the betrothal gift was of course the "four major items."

Not long after entering the 1980s, the production capacity of various consumer goods exploded, and wedding betrothal gifts also rose, from "three rounds and one sound" to the "four major items."

Color TV, refrigerator, washing machine, and tape recorder.

Of course, even with the "four major items," the "three rounds and one sound" were naturally indispensable.

It's just that these were Shen Xueyi and the others' worries. Chen Fan didn't think so much. Anyway, they had basically confirmed their relationship, so what's wrong with giving some expensive gifts?

In fact, this was also because he didn't quite understand the ways of the world in this era. If there was an elder in the family to guide him, he wouldn't have given this kind of thing.

Jiang Heng saw this very clearly.

When he also came over, listened to Jiang Lili's explanation of the cause and effect, and then listened to Shen Xueyi's analysis, he pondered for a few seconds, then waved his hand and smiled, "I think you're probably overthinking this matter."

He pointed to the boxes in the hands of the two sisters and said, "Is it possible that he gave you watches simply because we gave him a watch before?"

Jiang Tiantian blinked, "Is it that simple?"

Jiang Lili squinted her eyes thoughtfully, "It seems, it's very likely that it's that simple."

She looked up at the few people and said softly, "When Chen Fan came to the prefectural committee before, he would also bring us souvenirs when he went back. At that time, he gave me and Xiao Ying and the others fountain pens."

Jiang Tiantian's eyes widened instantly, "Gave everyone fountain pens?"

Shen Xueyi also didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Doesn't he know the meaning of a boy giving a girl a fountain pen?"

Jiang Lili was very helpless and shook her head gently, "Not to mention these things, he doesn't understand many of the most basic common sense things."

Saying that, she looked at her sister, "I guess, you gave him that watch before, and he's been thinking about how to return the gift. Until this time when he went to the provincial capital, he bought suitable watches and brought them back to give to us."

Jiang Tiantian twitched the corners of her mouth, looked at the box in her hand, and didn't know what to say for a moment.

She had been worried for so long, and it turned out to be this? What a waste of excitement.

Jiang Heng patted his thigh next to her and smiled, "Since Chen Fan gave it to you, you should accept it. Anyway, we're all family, so don't talk like outsiders. I'll arrange something for him later. I definitely won't treat him unfairly."

After saying that, he stood up and slowly walked out, "I'll go see what he brought us."