Reborn in 1977

Chapter 500: Never Seen the World

What is the first reaction of ordinary people when they come to a big city from the countryside for the first time?

Are they marveling at the tall buildings?

Are they amazed by the traffic?

Some people might be, but some are not.

Zhang Wenliang's first reaction was... yue.

Don't misunderstand, it's not that he has an opinion about Shanghai, it's just simple seasickness.

Besides him, there were also Yang Jiamin, Xiao Huaqiang, and Ye Anguo.

These three were militiamen selected by the brigade to accompany Chen Fan and Zhang Wenliang to Shanghai to purchase seedlings.

Don't look down on them because they are not tall, but each of them is full of muscle and can use a telephone pole as a golden cudgel. Like Zhang Wenliang, they are all strong young men in their twenties. When they were teenagers, they held guns to cooperate with the public security in encircling and suppressing enemy agents, and they had all seen blood.

If it was just that, they might not have gotten this opportunity.

In addition to being able to fight, they are also the new veterinarians in the team.

The veterinarians that Chen Fan had painstakingly trained had all been admitted to university, so the production team found another group of people to study with them. Since there were no requirements, each team secretly arranged for several people to follow along. There were people of all ages, and these few were the older ones.

From October to now, they have been training for nearly 5 months. Anyway, they are not going to take the veterinarian certificate exam, so these people only focus on practical skills. Now they can basically undertake routine veterinary tasks.

As the saying goes, awesome militiamen are common, and qualified veterinarians are also common (currently only in Lujiawan), but militiamen veterinarians who dare to fight and kill are rare.

This is the main reason why they were able to come along.

Although Chen Fan didn't understand why the village had to send these few living killing gods over to buy some seedlings now, when it wasn't as difficult as it would be a few years later, but since there was no harm in it anyway, he didn't think much about it.

Unfortunately, now the heroes have become bears, squatting on the pier with Zhang Wenliang, spitting into the Huangpu River together.

Chen Fan wore a brown sheepskin peaked cap, a sapphire blue cashmere coat made by Jiang Tiantian and Jiang Lili, with a neatly ironed Zhongshan suit inside the open placket, and a pair of shiny black leather shoes.

And a delicate rattan suitcase made by himself was placed at his feet, like a noble young master walking out of the Republic of China... cough, cough, it should be a senior cadre from some awesome unit, and he instantly became the most handsome guy on the pier.

Then, not far away, the four people who were yue-ing at the Huangpu River were despised by everyone.

Chen Fan took out a filter-tipped Zhonghua cigarette from his pocket, tapped it lightly on the cigarette case, put it in his mouth, took out a silver lighter and lit it, and exhaled a puff of smoke.

Hiss... several people collided on the pier, causing a commotion.

Chen Fan glanced at the crowd, ignored a few fiery gazes, and turned to look at Zhang Wenliang and the others, "Don't stand on the edge, you are still swaying and seasick. If you fall into the river, I don't want to go down and fish people out."

Zhang Wenliang took out a handkerchief to wipe his mouth, took two steps back and sat down on the black duffel bag, took two breaths, and turned to look at him, "What is landsickness?"

Chen Fan shrugged, "If you are seasick on the boat, then you are landsick on land."

Zhang Wenliang pulled on the kettle hanging on his shoulder, unscrewed the lid and gulped down two mouthfuls of water, but his head was still dizzy, "Then when I lie on the bed at night, will I get bedsick?"

Chen Fan nodded, "It's normal to get bedsick. Otherwise, why would I say that it will take at least three to five days to complete the task? Do you really think that we will rush back after buying things? Without a day or two, your body will not return to normal."

Zhang Wenliang put down the kettle, turned to look at him, "Then why are you okay?"

The four people next to him also looked at him with curiosity, each of them wondering in their hearts. Speaking of taking a boat, who hasn't taken one? Everyone often takes the team's transport ship, and they used to row their own boats to fish in the river, and they didn't get seasick.

Why are they seasick?

Chen Fan shrugged innocently, "Have you forgotten the horse stance? Change it to follow the movement of the boat, and the person and the boat will be one, and naturally you won't be seasick. Those crew members are used to the life on the boat, and over time it becomes natural. No matter getting on or off the boat, nothing happens."

Zhang Wenliang was dumbfounded, "...Why didn't you say it earlier?"

Isn't it just the horse stance? It's not like anyone doesn't know how to do it.

Chen Fan finished the last puff, flicked the cigarette butt into the Huangpu River, and said quietly, "I thought you knew."

Zhang Wenliang's face collapsed: Damn it, all the effort was wasted.

Chen Fan picked up the suitcase and looked at the sky, "It's late, let's get out of the station early if you can move, maybe Lao An has been waiting outside for a long time."

After speaking, he walked out.

Zhang Wenliang and the others immediately followed with their luggage bags.

They were already late getting off the boat, and they were delayed on the pier for a while. At this time, there were no passengers, so they left the pier smoothly.

Unlike the long steps at the Yangtze River Wharf, the Shiliupu Wharf on the Huangpu River is close to the river. Ships can enter and exit by docking on the trestle bridge. After passing through the pier waiting hall, you will be on the road.

Well, this is the famous Bund.

In addition, Shiliupu Wharf is not just a wharf, it is actually a long string of wharves.

The name "Shiliupu" comes from the Xianfeng and Tongzhi years of the Qing Dynasty. At that time, in order to resist the Taiping Army's attack, local officials organized the businesses inside and outside the Shanghai County city, intending to establish a joint defense force, and divided the entire Shanghai into 27 "pu" according to the territory, from the first pu to the 27th pu, but in the end it was only divided into the sixteenth, and the last one was Shiliupu.

Later, in 1909, Shanghai implemented local autonomy, and these pu were abolished.

Only "Shiliupu", because of these wharves, this name has been preserved in the mouths of Shanghai people.

Therefore, Shiliupu Wharf is not just a wharf, but a general term for all wharves in the Shiliupu area.

It includes local short-distance passenger wharves, Yangtze River long-distance passenger wharves, maritime passenger wharves, bulk cargo wharves, fresh food wharves, etc., all concentrated on a short section of the Huangpu River.

The commonly referred to Shiliupu Wharf mostly refers to short-distance passenger wharves and Yangtze River passenger wharves, which are also the busiest passenger wharves on the Huangpu River at this time.

Walking to the side of the road, Chen Fan looked left and right.

At this time, there should be fewer people coming to catch the boat. The entrance of the pier is sparsely populated, but there is a long queue not far from the exit. I don't know what they are doing?

It can't be buying tickets, right?

Zhang Wenliang walked in front of him, turned around and looked around, "Where is Lao An? You said he had been waiting for a long time, but there is no sign of him."

Chen Fan looked left and right and suddenly pointed to the side, "Look, isn't that him coming?"

The others looked in the direction and saw An Quan on a tricycle, with his clothes open, panting and pedaling the car, even taking off his hat and hanging it on the handlebars.

He rode to the front and quickly saw Chen Fan and the others, and immediately his spirits lifted. He rode the tricycle over and waved to say hello, "I'm not late, am I?"

He looked at his watch and said, "I'm a few minutes late. There's nothing I can do. There are too many people in this area. I can't ride fast at all."

Then he stopped in front of them with a creak.

Zhang Wenliang didn't even say hello, first walked around the tricycle,啧啧, making noises in his mouth, "You wouldn't use this broken car to pick us up, would you?"

An Quan rolled his eyes, "What do you think? I borrowed this from the old uncle who collects scraps at the street entrance."

Pointing around, he said, "Just in time to pick up you few bums."

"That's not right."

Zhang Wenliang grew anxious, "This little tricycle, we can't all fit on it."

"What are you dreaming about? This is just to pull the luggage; you guys will be walking behind."

Anquan suddenly jumped off the tricycle and waved at him, "You ride."

Zhang Wenliang's face fell, "Aren't you always bragging about how many taxis there are in Shanghai? Why not just call two taxis?"

Anquan pursed his lips, looking at him with displeasure, "Why are you so picky? Where's your spirit of hard work and simplicity? Do you even resemble a revolutionary youth?"

Chen Fan grinned, pulled out a cigarette, handed it to him, and lit it for him, asking with a smile, "Is the place we're staying far?"

Anquan, taking a puff, was about to say something complimentary when he paused, turning to look at the long line, "Didn't you guys apply for the guest house?"

Apply for the guest house?

The five country bumpkins who had never traveled far all looked at him, their eyes filled with pure, unadulterated ignorance.

Although Anquan enjoyed seeing their cluelessness, now wasn't the time for teasing. He slapped his forehead and pointed to the line, saying, "Hurry and get in line; I'll explain as we go."

Before he finished speaking, Ye Anguo quickly ran over.

Hmm, it doesn't seem like anyone new is joining the line, so running or not makes no difference.

Anquan walked with them towards the line, saying, "When outsiders come to a big city, if they want to stay in a guest house, the first thing they need to do is apply for a guest house at the guest house allocation office."

Chen Fan was puzzled, "Don't you just find a guest house yourself?"

Anquan glanced at him, "I've realized that Little Jiang was right about you; you're a genius in academics but a bumpkin in life, you don't know anything."

Zhang Wenliang said quietly from the side, "Please don't broaden the scope of the attack, thank you."

Anquan turned back, "Don't flatter yourself, okay? You're just a bumpkin; you're not worthy of being called an academic genius."

Zhang Wenliang: I shouldn't have said anything.

Anquan continued, "Think about it, if everyone went to find a guest house themselves, wouldn't they all go for the ones with better conditions? Anyway, it can be reimbursed, so why not stay in a better one? But then, who would stay in the ones with poor conditions?"

Chen Fan silently pulled out a cigarette, lit it, stopped beside the line, and said softly, "Then just make all the conditions better."

Anquan immediately spat out a mouthful of smoke, almost choking on it.

Coughing several times, he said, annoyed, "I wish! Is that even possible?"

Chen Fan, smoking, looked at the small window and noticed a line of small characters: "Guest House Allocation Office."

Who the hell could see that? What a ripoff.

Anquan flicked off the ash and continued, "In short, as long as it's a long-distance station, including trains, buses, and waterways, there will be a guest house allocation office."

Chen Fan was curious, "What about airports? Do they have them too?"

Anquan almost choked again, "I've never flown on a plane, how would I know?"

Chen Fan said "Oh" and calmly raised his hand, gesturing, "Continue."

He was muttering to himself, how could I forget about airplanes?

Now I'm a proper section-level cadre; I'm qualified to buy plane tickets. Next time, I'll fly to the capital. I heard they even serve Moutai on planes now; getting drunk thousands of miles away sounds pretty interesting.

Anquan rolled his eyes and continued, "Anyway, all the guest house rooms in the city are allocated to arriving travelers through these allocation offices, and travelers can only stay in the guest houses designated by the allocation office. When guest houses receive travelers from out of town, they only accept the referral letter from the allocation office; no other documents will do."

He took a puff of his cigarette and shrugged at Chen Fan, "If you're lucky, you might be assigned to a foreign-related hotel. Those hotels are in good condition, with bathrooms in the rooms. If you're unlucky, you might be assigned to a bathhouse."

Chen Fan was surprised again, "There are bathhouses in Shanghai?"

Isn't that a Northern thing?

Anquan enjoyed seeing his ignorance and chuckled, "How surprising, why can't there be bathhouses in Shanghai? Wuxi isn't far from here; people have been enjoying 'meat buns in water in the morning, water wrapping meat at night' for hundreds of years."

(Shanghai Huzhong Bathhouse in the 1970s)

Chen Fan clicked his tongue in amazement, "I thought Southerners were shy about being naked, turns out that's not the case."

Anquan naturally understood what he meant and smiled proudly, "Our Shanghai is where North and South converge, where East and West blend. We're willing to try anything good.

Let me tell you, Shanghai's bathhouses didn't just appear now. As early as 100 years ago, the scholar Ge Yuanxu recorded in 'Shanghai Travel Notes': 'The best bathhouses in the concession are Changyuan in Bentang Lane and Yiyuan in Zilai Street, followed by Jiuxingyuan. The official seats are luxuriously furnished, with rosewood tables and chairs inlaid with Taihu stones. Recently, the Zengchun Garden and Yiyuan have been added, with secret rooms and winding chambers, elegant and pleasant…'.

From this, you can see that Shanghai's bathhouses were very high-end more than 100 years ago. If there were high-end bathhouses, would there be a shortage of mid-to-low-end bathhouses?"

He suddenly snapped his fingers, lowered his voice, and smiled, "If you can be assigned to a high-end bathhouse to stay, that's a bargain. It costs less to stay in a bathhouse, only a few cents a night, but the environment is quite good. You can even spend a few more cents to take a bath before going to bed. Wouldn't that be a great deal?!"

(Hujiang Bathhouse costs 35 cents for one bath)

Chen Fan clicked his tongue, looking at Ye Anguo getting closer and closer to the window, and muttered, "I'd rather go to a foreign-related hotel. It's more expensive, but it's more convenient."

Anquan clicked his tongue, feeling somewhat dejected, "I almost forgot, you're a rich man, you have money."

He turned his head and inadvertently saw Zhang Wenliang and the others nodding, their faces full of agreement. He couldn't help but pause slightly, pondered for two seconds, and asked softly, "How much is your dividend this year?"

Zhang Wenliang coughed drily, a subtle and bright smile appearing on his face.

But before he could speak, Xiao Huaqiang interrupted, "Our Team 5 was a little short this year, only 5 cents per work point. Team 6 had more than us, more than 6 cents per work point. The highest was still the brigade headquarters, worth 3 yuan per work point."

His eyes were filled with envy and jealousy, and he turned his gaze to Chen Fan, "Teacher Chen alone got more than 20,000 yuan, much higher than the secretary and the captain, he made a fortune!"

Anquan's vision went black, almost losing his balance. He grabbed his arm, "How… how much?"

Chen Fan flicked off the ash, and said calmly, "It's just over 20,000 yuan, why are you so jumpy, like you've never seen the world."

Anquan blinked wildly and even pinched himself hard, "It doesn't hurt, it really is a dream."

Xiao Huaqiang looked at him innocently, "You should pinch yourself then."

Anquan quickly retracted his hand and stared at him blankly, "Really?"

Before Xiao Huaqiang could speak, Zhang Wenliang suddenly put his luggage bag on the ground, took out an envelope from it, zipped up the luggage bag, stood up, and handed the envelope to Anquan, "Here, your dividend."

Anquan said "Ah" and looked at him in confusion, "I have a dividend too?"

Zhang Wenliang nodded, and seeing that he didn't take it, directly stuffed it into his hand, and smiled, "You were busy with the brigade headquarters affairs for the last two months. You had already resigned at that time, so the brigade headquarters leaders had a meeting and unanimously agreed to calculate work points for you."

Looking at the envelope in his hand, An Quan was still a little embarrassed and wanted to decline.

At this moment, Chen Fan said softly, "Two months is 60 workdays, 600 work points, and one work point is 3 yuan, so this is 1800 yuan."

An Quan reacted as if he had been electrocuted, immediately retracting his hand and quickly stuffing the money into the inner pocket of his cotton coat, while tightening the coat around himself.

After a few seconds of愣, he finally reacted and glared at Zhang Wenliang, saying, "1800 yuan, and you're giving it to me here? Aren't you afraid of being robbed!"

"Robbed?"

Yang Jiamin and Xiao Huaqiang simultaneously opened their cotton coats, revealing the handguns at their waists, looking around and saying, "What kind of petty thief dares to rob money?"

Zhang Wenliang was a bit surprised, "Are there still people in Shanghai who dare to rob money?"

He hadn't heard of anyone robbing money on the streets in Yunhu.

An Quan's expression was a little awkward, "Ahem, there usually aren't any, but hasn't the number of people returning to the city been increasing recently? When there are more people, things get chaotic. I'm just saying, just in case, yes, just in case."

"Oh."

Zhang Wenliang nodded and smiled, "Don't worry, there won't be any 'just in case.' Even if the few of us can't handle it, you know Little Chen's skills. Give him a stone, and he can get you a life back!"

An Quan spat twice, "呸呸呸, what do I need a life for? I'm saying safety first."

Zhang Wenliang nodded mindlessly, "Yes, yes, you're first, you're first."

An Quan didn't bother with his teasing and said with emotion, "Originally, I shouldn't have taken this money…"

Hearing this, Zhang Wenliang interrupted him, "What 'shouldn't'? You should, definitely should! How much did you do in Lujiawan last year? If it weren't for your full assistance, running around to the commune's units to complete the procedures, and going with Captain Ye to find other brigades to get seedlings on credit, could our breeding farm have been established so smoothly?"

Chen Fan also patted him on the shoulder, put another cigarette in his mouth, "If we're giving it to you, just take it. It's just that you were still a state cadre at that time, so it wasn't appropriate to calculate work points for you. Otherwise, like Doctor Zhang, you'd get both salary and work points, and no one would be able to say anything."

Looking at the two of them, An Quan also put down his burden and chuckled, "Looks like I should have resigned earlier, or else I could have bought a big house by now."

900 yuan a month, wouldn't that be more than ten thousand a year?!

This huge sum of money could buy a living room suite, and still have plenty left over for a set of good furniture.

"Buy a house?"

Zhang Wenliang looked at him with some curiosity, "Do you want to buy a house?"

An Quan smiled and was about to speak when his eyes suddenly turned a little red. He quickly took a deep breath.

Seeing this, Chen Fan took out cigarettes and offered them around, finally handing one to him.

An Quan used the butt of his unfinished cigarette to light the new one, took a puff, and finally calmed his emotions.

He pressed the thick envelope against his chest and said with a smile, "Don't laugh at me, but my parents' house isn't big to begin with, only two small rooms, just enough for 40 square meters. After I went to the countryside, my brother got married in less than two years, and now he still lives with my parents. Their family of four, plus my parents, live in that small house, and there's no room to move. Now that I'm back, there isn't even a place to sit, so I can only sleep on the floor every day."

Speaking of this, he exhaled a long breath, looked at the newly lit streetlights, took a puff of his cigarette, "Because of this, Keying hasn't come over yet. She hasn't even met my parents, so I was thinking, could I use the money to find someone to exchange for a house, so we can have a home."

Chen Fan listened and nodded gently, saying, "Your idea is right. After the college entrance examination, more and more educated youth will return to the city. In the future, housing in the city will become more and more scarce, and prices will definitely rise higher and higher. If you can buy a house sooner, do it as soon as possible, so you don't have more trouble later."

Hearing this, An Quan's eyes lit up, "You think so too?"

Don't look at how he's always joking, after this year of being together, especially after the college entrance examination, he, like the people of Lujiawan, has a kind of blind trust in Chen Fan.

Hearing his opinion at this time, which was the same as his own, he suddenly felt confident.

Chen Fan smiled and said, "But private house sales are not allowed now. If you want to buy, you can only go through acquaintances to exchange. Do you have connections in this area?"

An Quan chuckled twice and said, "Buying houses isn't allowed, but house exchanges have always been happening: big houses for small houses, new houses for old houses, urban areas for suburban areas, it's almost never stopped.

The housing management office under the street office has even set up 'house exchangers' to solve the housing needs of the people. My parents work in the street office, so there's a lot of information to find, and finding a house shouldn't be a problem."

After a pause, he took a puff of his cigarette and continued, "But it's difficult to find a good house, and good houses are also expensive."

He smiled at Zhang Wenliang, "I stayed in Nanhu for 10 years, and after deducting all kinds of expenses, I only saved more than 600 yuan. Keying has a little more than me, but only 1000 yuan. Now, an old 20-square-meter house in Shanghai costs 1600 yuan…"

Zhang Wenliang's eyes widened instantly, "How much? 1600? 20 square meters?"

He opened his arms and gestured, as if thinking about how big 20 square meters was, then raised his head with a look of astonishment, "That's too black!"

1600 yuan could build a big bungalow in Lujiawan, a brick and tile house, but here it can only exchange for an old 20-square-meter house? Isn't that a rip-off!

An Quan's face was full of bitter smiles, "That's why I'm reluctant. Moreover, Keying and I aren't young anymore, and we're thinking of having a child in the next two years, and a small room isn't enough."

He said, exhaling a long breath, and pressed his chest again, smiling, "Now it's better, with this money, we can exchange for a slightly bigger one."

Chen Fan nodded on the side, "Don't worry about the money. When you look, look for a good house, the kind with a kitchen and bathroom, get it done in one go, so you don't have to bother later."

After speaking, he pointed to Zhang Wenliang, "If you're short of money, borrow from him. He also has more than ten thousand yuan in dividends this year. The two of them together have more than me."

Zhang Wenliang rolled his eyes, "Thank you for doing me a favor."

An Quan finally returned to normal at this time, grabbed Zhang Wenliang's hand, shook it hard twice, and said sincerely, "Comrade Lao Zhang, my happiness for the rest of my life depends on you!"

Zhang Wenliang was so choked that he couldn't speak.

At this time, Ye Anguo finally got the assigned guesthouse and ran back, holding a list, weakly saying, "It's a bathhouse, what should I do?"

An Quan grabbed the list in his hand, gently smacked his lips, and raised his head. Everyone couldn't help but look at each other.

They were really assigned to a bathhouse?

Chen Fan shook his handsome cashmere coat and stomped his leather shoes.

Damn it, if I had known I was going to live in a bathhouse, I wouldn't have changed into this flashy outfit.