Reborn in 1977

Tossing away the cigarette butt, Chen Fan picked up his suitcase and looked around. "Where can I find a taxi?"

Everyone turned to look at him.

An Quan was surprised. "You're really going to stay at a bathhouse? It's not one of those high-end places! It's just a hall with rows of simple beds. Dozens, even hundreds of people sleep there. The snoring and stinky feet will keep you up all night."

Looking at Chen Fan's attire, he didn't seem like someone who would stay at a bathhouse.

Besides, could Chen Fan put up with such hardship?

He didn't believe it at all.

If his family wasn't in such dire straits, he would have taken a few people home to stay. Now he could only think about it and see if he could ask his dad for a solution, preferably to free up a room at the subdistrict office's guest house.

But with more and more people returning to the city, everyone was pulling strings and asking for favors. Even this small matter was difficult to resolve.

He didn't believe it, and Zhang Wenliang believed it even less. Someone who insisted on a cadre room even at a guest house was going to stay at a bathhouse? Was he kidding?

At this moment, Chen Fan saw a few pedicabs parked by the roadside in the distance, so he raised his hand and asked, "Are those taxis?"

An Quan's mind was in a whirl. Hearing the question, he looked in the direction Chen Fan was pointing and nodded. "Yes, those are pedicab taxis. We locals call them 'wugui ke'. One car can seat two or three people. Oh, Gufeng County also has them."

Chen Fan snapped his fingers. "Then let's go."

An Quan suddenly reacted. "Do you have connections to find a place to stay?"

Chen Fan strolled forward. "I don't know yet. I'll take a look first. If I can't find a place, staying at a bathhouse is the same."

Staying at a bathhouse was out of the question. He would never stay at a bathhouse in this lifetime. If it really didn't work out, he would have to shamelessly ask a few of his readers in Shanghai for help.

Hmm, with their work units and positions, helping him find a guest house shouldn't be a problem, right?!

Since sending An Quan off on the ship last time and meeting a captain reader, he had gone home and sorted through almost all of his readers' letters.

And sure enough, he found many "treasure readers". He used a special notebook to record their information.

Shanghai was so big, and he had submitted many manuscripts to "Shanghai Literature and Art", so naturally many readers wrote to him. The magazine sent these letters to him in bulk. He had also sorted through these people, and their information was in the notebook in his suitcase. It should be possible to find a few people to help out temporarily.

An Quan instantly became excited, jogging beside him. "I knew you had a way. How about this, I'll return the pedicab first, then grab some spare clothes and go with you to stay at the guest house."

A foreigner was more resourceful than a local like him. He didn't feel any shame at all, but rather quite excited.

Chen Fan stopped and turned to look at him. "Alright, then let's go to your house first, wish your aunt and uncle a Happy New Year, and then wait for you to go together."

Anyway, An Quan was sleeping on the floor at home. It would be good to go to the guest house together, and it would be more convenient to go and buy seedlings together.

An Quan had just nodded when he heard Chen Fan say, "By the way, is your house far? Do you want to take a taxi over?"

He immediately smiled and said, "It's not far, just a little further ahead, next to the City God Temple. It won't take 10 minutes to walk there."

Chen Fan's expression froze slightly. Damn, was he a potential tycoon?

A house next to the City God Temple, even if it was only 40 square meters, would be worth more than 10 million several decades later.

An Quan rode the pedicab, and Chen Fan and the others put their luggage in the car and followed behind.

Zhang Wenliang walked quickly to his side and whispered, "Are we going to the Shanghai Writers Association?"

In his opinion, Writer Chen was a member of the provincial Writers Association and a division-level cadre. Wouldn't it be normal to ask a counterpart unit for a favor?

But Chen Fan shook his head. "No, don't ask which one specifically yet. I don't know if it will work or not. You'll find out later anyway."

He only joined the Writers Association to gild himself. Accepting the position of director of the European and American division of the Foreign Affairs Department was only for future convenience. In fact, he was not very willing to participate in the Writers Association's affairs.

Especially the Shanghai Writers Association.

This year, Lu Xinhua would join the Shanghai Writers Association with a piece called "Scar", and become the youngest member of the first batch of national Writers Association members, a director of the Shanghai branch of the Writers Association, a member of the Shanghai Youth Federation Standing Committee, and a representative of the Fourth National Congress of Literary and Art Workers.

Of course, now that he was here, Lu Xinhua shouldn't be the youngest member of the National Writers Association.

However, within the next year or two, the Shanghai Writers Association would definitely become the eye of the storm in the national literary world, and he didn't want to get involved.

It wasn't anything personal, mainly because he was afraid of getting into trouble.

Oh, right.

Lu Xinhua seemed to be in the Chinese Department of Fudan University, the same major as Jiang Tiantian. Maybe they were even classmates?

Hmm, he had to give her a heads-up later, not to get involved in anything, and resolutely be a good student who didn't get into trouble.

An Quan's parents' house was indeed not far away. He rode the pedicab himself, and the few people behind him were all quick on their feet. In less than 10 minutes, they stopped in a small alley.

Pushing open the closed iron gate, after Chen Fan and the others took their luggage, An Quan first returned the pedicab to an old man in his 60s, then led them inside.

At the same time, he introduced, "This used to be an office building in the old society. Because it's close to the pier, there were many companies here back then. Later, it was transformed into public housing for the common people. People from various work units live here. The layout is not very good. There is no kitchen or toilet in the house, so life is a bit troublesome, but it's already very good compared to many people who haven't been allocated housing."

Chen Fan followed behind him, looking around by the dim streetlights. This was a large five-story building, looking square and upright, just like an office building. There were only windows on the outer wall, not even a balcony.

Walking into the stairwell, they could see kitchens lining the corridor, like stalls on the street, distributed on both sides of the corridor, blocking the wide corridor so that only a slightly fat person could walk through.

It was just after work, and many people were busy cooking. Some used liquefied gas stoves, but most still used honeycomb briquette stoves.

Although there were many stoves, there was not much oily smoke.

At this time in Shanghai, each person only had a quota of half a catty of oil per month, so it was really a luxury to use too much oil.

But some people refined their own lard as a substitute, mixed in with a pile of green vegetables, it seemed particularly fragrant.

After seeing this, Zhang Wenliang couldn't help but curl his lips and turned to look at Chen Fan.

Chen Fan smiled slightly at him, shrugged his shoulders, and walked quickly two steps to follow An Quan up the stairs.

All the way up to the fourth floor, An Quan turned around and pointed. "Here we are, on this floor."

Going up to the corridor, Chen Fan and the others put down their luggage, opening suitcases and bags, each taking out a bag.

An Quan took a look and understood, and immediately said, "What are you doing? You're not outsiders, why do you have to be so polite?"

Chen Fan shook the bag and said with a smile, "It's the New Year. How can we not bring something when we visit your aunt and uncle? This is not reasonable anywhere."

These were prepared in advance. If they went to An Quan's house, they would give them directly to his parents. If they didn't go, they would give them to An Quan to pass on.

An Quan patted his forehead and laughed. "Alright."

He had already accepted that 1800, so he didn't care about these New Year's gifts.

An Quan walked inside, greeting the people cooking in the corridor. Chen Fan and the others naturally became the object of onlookers.

Fortunately, Chen Fan was not socially awkward, nodding and smiling all the way, until he followed the corridor to the very end before finally stopping.

Without knocking, the door was open. An aunt in her 50s was cooking at the door. Seeing An Quan come back, she was about to greet him, and then looked at the five people following behind. She was secretly startled at first, then her face was filled with smiles. She said to An Quan, "You're back. Are they your friends?"

While speaking, she was also worried. Didn't you say you would directly pick up the people and send them to the guest house? Now the food hasn't been prepared, and there isn't even a place to sit at home. It's really embarrassing.

Chen Fan and the others quickly greeted, "Happy New Year, Auntie. We're here to wish you a Happy New Year."

They set off on the fifth day of the New Year and drifted on the road for 4 days. Today was only the ninth day of the New Year. Although the holiday was only 3 days at this time, it was still the Spring Festival until the fifteenth day of the first month. Unlike later generations, there were more holidays, but the time for New Year's greetings was shorter. Almost no one visited after the fifth day.

At this time, several people in the room also came out.

An uncle in his 50s, without asking, must be An Quan's father. There was also a young couple in their 30s and two children under 10 years old.

Chen Fan and the others greeted and wished them a Happy New Year one by one.

These two rooms were indeed small. One room was slightly tidier, with only a double bed, two wardrobes, two desks, and a few chairs.

Well, these things had already filled the room.

And the other room was even more crowded, with a double bed, a small bed, two wardrobes, and then messy tables, chairs, boxes, bookshelves, …, even the bottom of the bed and the top of the cabinets were piled with things.

Anyway, no matter which room it was, they couldn't seat a few of them.

However, under the strong invitation of An Quan's father, a few people still sat in the room that was obviously An Quan's brother and sister-in-law's room for a while, and after drinking a few sips of hot tea, they left the gifts and said goodbye.

Out of the courtyard, An Quan said with a wry smile, "You see, my parents' house is like this. Now my brother and sister-in-law have a room, the two nephews sleep with my mother, my dad sleeps on that small bed, and I sleep on the floor.

This condition is already good. At least there is still a place for me to sleep on the floor. Some people can't even get a place to sleep on the floor after returning to the city. They can only squeeze into a large communal bed with others in the temporary residence provided by the subdistrict office."

He turned to look at Chen Fan and suddenly laughed. "I've really been to that place. It's not as good as a bathhouse, so you're not the worst off being assigned to a bathhouse. Some travelers arrive at night and can't even be arranged in a bathhouse, so they are assigned to this kind of place, but it's free."

Chen Fan's mouth twitched slightly, and he walked back the way he came, because there were taxis at the pier.

Out of the alley, he took out a cigarette and passed it around, lit it and said, "Are there no houses to rent?"

If you can't buy a suitable one for the time being, renting one is also fine. Anyway, the rent isn't expensive. Even after decades, it's only a few yuan. Except that it's not your own and you can't sell it, it's more cost-effective than buying a house for people who don't have money.

An Quan snorted twice, "Where are there any houses for rent? If there are any, they would have been rented to employed workers long ago. Now, the number of people queuing to rent a house is many times more than the number of people who want to buy a house. Otherwise, I wouldn't be thinking about buying a house..."

After a pause, he added, "But to say there are absolutely no houses is not right either. In earlier years, many people went abroad, and there were also some people who were... dealt with. Their houses were confiscated.

Now that we're trying to promote united front work, we hope to make use of those with overseas connections again, so many houses have been returned one by one.

It's because of this that it happened to coincide with the educated youth returning to the city, which caused the housing shortage to be particularly severe."

He turned to look at Chen Fan and said with a smile, "If you know someone with overseas connections, you can directly buy or rent a good house from them."

After saying that, he took a deep breath of his cigarette, exhaled a long stream of smoke, and said dejectedly, "Damn it, after all these decades, we've gone back to before 1955."

The corner of Chen Fan's mouth twitched slightly. He didn't expect him to be a disgruntled youth.

Exhaling a puff of smoke, he calmly said, "If you were the one being evicted from your house, wouldn't you be happy?"

An Quan was slightly stunned. After a few seconds, he suddenly laughed, "Haha, that's true."

Behind them, Zhang Wenliang and the others exchanged glances and all curled their lips.

There are so many schemes in the city. The countryside is better.

Back at the pier, the taxis from earlier were gone.

But there were a few new ones.

The six of them split into three cars. An Quan squeezed in with Chen Fan. After settling in, he asked, "Where are you taking us? The Health Bureau or the Writers' Association?"

He had heard Zhang Wenliang talking to Chen Fan earlier, and after asking a few questions in a low voice, he learned that Chen Fan was already a member of the Provincial Writers' Association and had even been transferred to work there.

If he were still at the Tax Bureau, his rank would be a full four levels lower than Chen Fan's.

There would be no point in arguing!

Chen Fan replied, "The Health Bureau."

Then he said to the driver in front, "Master, please go to the Municipal Health Bureau Guesthouse."

An Quan's face was filled with envy, "I guessed it. With your reputation in the health system, you can stay at health guesthouses all over the country."

Chen Fan sighed, "Do you think it's a free stay? You have to put in the effort, my friend!"

It's certainly great to be welcomed wherever you go, but if he could, Chen Fan would rather be assigned to an ordinary guesthouse than owe people favors.

Favors have to be repaid. Not to mention anything else, if you have to give a report and hold a technical exchange meeting, will you go?

If you don't go, how can you have the nerve to stay here?

Going means two days wasted, and you have to socialize with a bunch of strangers.

Heavens!

The pier was about six kilometers away from the Municipal Health Bureau. Under the steady control of the tricycle driver, they arrived at the entrance of the guesthouse in a little over ten minutes.

After a few more minutes to complete the check-in procedures, Chen Fan finally stayed in the cadre room of the Health Bureau's directly affiliated guesthouse.

He now had three certificates in his hand: a Writers' Association membership card, a Jiangnan Province Writers' Association work permit, and a Yunhu Health Department honorary consultant certificate.

In addition to the Lu Jiawan Production Brigade letter of introduction in Zhang Wenliang's hand, he also had a "work" letter of introduction from the Yunhu Health Department.

It was actually a document hoping that health system units in various places would provide assistance. He had heard Zhou Jie say that he was going to Shanghai when he went to her house for the New Year, and she had specially worked overtime to issue it for him.

When checking in, Chen Fan first used his ordinary looks to make the receptionist speak to him calmly, and then placed the honorary consultant certificate, the Health Department letter of introduction, and the Writers' Association work permit on the counter, and the check-in procedure was completed.

The consultant certificate and letter of introduction were to prove the legitimacy of his stay here.

After all, guesthouses within this kind of work unit system generally do not accommodate people from outside the system unless there is a legitimate reason for work exchange.

Since he was the honorary consultant of the Yunhu Health Department and the originator of the "Yunhu First Aid Method" that was all the rage last year, it was only natural for him to stay at the Health System Guesthouse.

As for the Writers' Association work permit, it was to prove his current work level.

This was not Yunhu, and there was no Zhou Jie, so they would not casually arrange a cadre room for him.

However, with a work permit, it was different. A division-level cadre was qualified to stay in a cadre room no matter where they were... Since he had already used connections, why not stay more comfortably?!

As for Zhang Wenliang and the others who came with him, they were also properly arranged under his influence.

A triple room and a double room were all stuffed in, without him having to lower his face to ask for help.

In the cadre room, Chen Fan was soaking in the bathtub, humming comfortably.

...

Downstairs at the reception desk, a receptionist in her twenties was on the phone with her immediate superior.

"Yes, it's Chen Fan. I've confirmed it. It's the one who invented the Yunhu First Aid Method last year. I saw the certificates he brought. He's also a member of the Jiangnan Province Writers' Association, and his work unit is now the Writers' Association. He's a deputy division-level director.

Why did he change units? I don't know about that, but I heard that he's a writer himself and often publishes articles in their Jiangnan Province magazines, so it's normal for him to join the Writers' Association, right?

Oh, I also saw Zhang Wenliang. Yes, yes, he's one of the two people who demonstrated in the 'First Aid Manual.' The other one, Zhang Juemin, didn't come. I saw the names when I was processing their procedures; he wasn't there.

What are they here for? Oh, I actually asked about that.

They're here on behalf of the production team to purchase seedlings, like meat rabbits and meat chickens. They just arrived today, and because they weren't assigned to the guesthouse, they could only come here.

Okay, okay, I'll definitely keep an eye on them and not let them run away. Yes, yes, I reported it to our team leader as soon as I finished the procedures, and then you called.

Okay, I'll definitely serve them well. Okay, okay, I understand. I'll go talk to him now."

After hanging up the phone, the receptionist immediately picked up two thermos bottles of hot water, left the reception desk unattended, and went upstairs.

Anyway, there were armed guards standing guard at the door, so there was no fear of anything happening.

...

Chen Fan finished his bath, put on his thick cotton home clothes, and threw himself on the bed, then rolled over.

Comfortable.

It's just a pity that there's no heating here. It would be nice to have a fireplace.

Shanghai's winter is colder than Yunhu's. Although it didn't snow today, the sky was gloomy, and the north wind was whistling, carrying moisture from the sea, launching waves of magical attacks, and making people shiver to the bone, making people want to crawl into bed.

But now is not the time to sleep.

Although he had drunk some wine with the captain on the ship before disembarking, he was hungry again at this time.

"Knock, knock, knock."

A knock sounded on the door. Chen Fan rolled over and sat up, walked over and opened the door.

Unsurprisingly, it was An Quan and the others.

Chen Fan stepped aside and walked inside, "You guys are done washing up so quickly?"

Zhang Wenliang came in first, "It's just a matter of wiping your face and soaking your feet. How long can that take?"

An Quan followed behind him, clicking his tongue, "Oh my, no wonder it's a cadre room. It's just different. This room is bigger than my two rooms at home."

He touched here and looked there, "Hey, there's also a radio and an electric fan. The furniture is also made of high-quality nanmu. Luxurious, so luxurious."

Ye Anguo and the other three weren't as familiar with Chen Fan, but they weren't restrained either. They just followed in with smiles on their faces.

Chen Fan gestured for them to sit on the sofa by the window, took out a pack of filtered Golden Dragon cigarettes and threw it on the coffee table, "Help yourselves."

Then he sat down on the bed and said with a smile, "The conditions here are not as good as the Yunhu Health Clinic. Not only is it bigger there, but there's also a black and white TV."

An Quan lay down on the sofa, picked up a few cigarettes, distributed them to Zhang Wenliang and the others, and put one in his mouth himself, saying unhappily, "Don't always compare Yunhu to Shanghai, okay? Houses here are very expensive. It's already pretty good to have such a big room."

Chen Fan laughed. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly twitched his ears and gestured for the others to be quiet.

Then he stood up and walked to the door, opening it.

He happened to see the receptionist walking over.

The receptionist was startled when she saw the door being opened. When she saw that it was Chen Fan, she slowly breathed a sigh of relief, put on a smile, and said, "Director Chen, hello. I was afraid you wouldn't have enough hot water, so I brought two more bottles."

Chen Fan smiled and took it, "Thank you, I appreciate it."

After a pause, he smiled again, "Don't call me Director or anything. The director at the Writers' Association has nothing to do with our health system. Just call me Chen Fan, or Comrade Chen, either is fine."

The receptionist looked at the gentle and refined Comrade Chen, and two red clouds flew up on her face. She lowered her head and said softly, "Okay, Director Chen."

The corner of Chen Fan's mouth twitched slightly. Well, it was a waste of words.

After two seconds, he saw that the receptionist was still standing there, so he asked softly, "Uh, do you have anything else?"

The receptionist suddenly came back to her senses, raised her head, and said, "Oh, yes."

She blinked a few times and finally remembered the task assigned by her immediate superior, "Uh, it's just that our unit's leaders, and several leaders from the Health Bureau, heard that you came to Shanghai, and they wanted to come and visit."

Chen Fan pursed his lips. I just checked in, and you're already sending people over. Isn't that a bit too hasty?

Before he could speak, the receptionist continued, "They'll be here in a moment. Also, you probably haven't had dinner yet, right? I've already notified the guesthouse cafeteria. They're preparing food, and our leaders will treat you to a simple meal later. That's all. I just came over to tell you about it."

Since he had arrived in someone else's territory, he naturally couldn't decline the host's invitation.

Chen Fan nodded and smiled, "Okay, then I'll wait for your leaders to arrive."

The receptionist gave a sweet smile and waved at him, "Then, goodbye, Director Chen."

Chen Fan, "..."