Reborn in 1977

Chapter 649 Give Me Some Excitement

At the entrance of the 5th team's village, the original long row of earthen-walled houses had disappeared, replaced by two rows of brick-and-tile two-story buildings facing each other north and south.

Each small building was 5 meters apart. In front of the buildings was a courtyard, and behind them was a deep ditch. Going down the stairs, there was a vegetable garden.

The area between the two rows of small buildings was an 8-meter-wide village road.

If you include the courtyards on both sides, the total width was nearly 20 meters, equivalent to a standard two-way lane.

Basically, it occupied the original foundations of the dirt road and earthen-walled houses.

The buildings on both sides were raised and built with red bricks, with the foundation level with the road. This avoided using too much earth for filling and isolated the dampness of the soil, making it more comfortable for people to live in.

However, the courtyard in front and the road in the middle were still natural soil, only simply compacted.

It wasn't that they couldn't afford cement, but that they couldn't buy it.

Previously, Secretary Yang had gone to the commune to find Secretary Qian, hoping to get approval for Lujiawan to build cement roads in the village, especially the main road in the middle, but Secretary Qian scolded him.

Cement was an important strategic building material. It was already good enough that Lujiawan was allocated cement to build houses, and they still wanted to build cement roads?

Didn't they see that there was only one cement road in the town?!

The current new rural construction didn't include cement roads.

Well, yes, Lujiawan's houses were built under the name of new rural construction, which allowed them to apply for corresponding materials such as steel and cement. Otherwise, they might not have been able to buy everything.

So, there was no way around it. The villagers had moved into two-story buildings, but they were still walking on dirt roads.

Chen Fan didn't dislike the dirt roads. In fact, walking on the dirt roads was quite comfortable, especially when wearing straw sandals. It gave a very down-to-earth feeling.

As long as you didn't go out on rainy days.

Light rain was okay, but on heavy rainy days, this kind of road was really difficult to walk on. Even the hardest dirt road would soften when it rained heavily, leaving a pit with every step. You had to be careful even when wearing wooden clogs.

So, many old farmers directly stepped on the ground with their bare feet, rinsed them with water when they got home, and they were clean. It was simple.

Chen Fan walked in the middle of the road with his hands behind his back. The villagers on both sides were carrying the harvested grain back into their houses. Li, the team's accountant and scorekeeper, was making records in front of a household.

"Zhang Laoqi, 8 loads of grain, you have to take them out to dry early tomorrow morning. Don't delay."

Although Zhang Laoqi's surname was also Zhang, he had nothing to do with Zhang Wenliang's family. They just shared the same surname.

During the flood in his hometown in 1938, his grandfather brought his family from another province, was taken in by the Lu family as a tenant farmer, and was lent grain. They settled down here. Later, his father found a local woman to marry and had him. He was considered to have put down roots.

Many tenant farmers in Lujiawan came this way, so there were many different surnames in the village. There weren't many "large families" with many people. The Yang, Zhang, and Huang families were considered the largest.

Not only because they came early, but also because the society stabilized after the founding of the country, and they had more and more children. Otherwise, they couldn't keep people, and it wouldn't matter how many they had.

Zhang Laoqi wiped his sweat with a towel that had lost its loops and tilted his head to watch Accountant Li finish recording. Then, he offered a cigarette, "Don't worry about that. Even if I'm lazy, I wouldn't dare to delay drying the grain."

As he spoke, he looked at the courtyard, "It's just that we harvested so much grain this time. I don't know if my small drying ground is big enough."

Accountant Li lit a cigarette and took a puff, frowning as he said, "There's no way around it. Although the drying ground is a bit bigger than before, the grain yield has increased even more. Everyone is the same. You can only pile it up a bit thicker and have your wife at home turn it more often."

Zhang Laoqi thought for a moment and said, "If you ask me, the harvest is too fast. In the past, it took several days to finish harvesting. The first harvested was dried first. By the time the later harvested came up, the first harvested was almost dry. This way, we harvest a batch, dry a batch, then harvest another batch, and dry another batch, so it wouldn't be so tight."

Chen Fan walked over with his hands behind his back and chuckled, "Brother Qi is right. Then you should give the team leader a suggestion and let him take the agricultural machinery to others. We'll continue to use manual labor, so the harvest will be slower."

Zhang Laoqi turned his head and saw that it was Chen Fan. He immediately laughed sheepishly, took out a cigarette, and offered it, "It's Teacher Chen. Have a cigarette."

Then, he chuckled dryly, "I was just joking. Don't take it seriously."

Accountant Li laughed loudly beside him, "This guy just likes to talk nonsense. If you really let him take a sickle to harvest, he'd complain that it's too tiring."

Zhang Laoqi laughed along, not daring to say anything.

Although he was more than ten years older than Chen Fan, he felt a bit uneasy in front of this teacher. He didn't even dare to joke.

Besides, Teacher Chen had made so many contributions to the team, and he was also a senior cadre working in the province. It was said that even the county magistrate had to greet him first.

It was only because Teacher Chen was kind and didn't forget Lujiawan. He often came back to visit, and he hadn't even moved his household registration. If it were someone else, they probably would have settled in the provincial capital long ago.

Most people in Lujiawan had similar thoughts to Zhang Laoqi. They both loved and respected Chen Fan, and at the same time, they were a bit in awe.

This awe wasn't because they were afraid, but because the official-oriented thinking ingrained in the bones of most ordinary people for thousands of years was at play.

A higher-ranking official can crush people to death, let alone such a high-ranking cadre!

Chen Fan certainly didn't care. He was just joking. Seeing that Zhang Laoqi looked a bit hesitant, he simply didn't stay any longer. He first laughed and said, "It was just a joke. Who would be stupid enough to leave the agricultural machinery unused and insist on using a sickle to harvest."

Then, he waved his hand, "I won't chat with you anymore. I still have to go to the brigade headquarters. See you later."

Just as he was about to leave, Zhang Laoqi's wife came over with a cup of tea, "Teacher Chen, have a drink of water before you go. You came to our house and didn't even have a drink of water."

Chen Fan quickly smiled and said, "Auntie, don't be so polite. We're all from the same team. Don't say such polite things. I'm leaving."

Hearing him say this, Zhang's wife immediately smiled, "Then come again next time."

"Okay."

Chen Fan waved his hand and walked away quickly.

In a short distance, almost every household had someone come out to greet him. Before long, he had a handful of cigarettes in his hand, one on each ear, and the rest were clipped between his fingers, like some second-hand cigarette vendor selling loose cigarettes on the sly.

When he was about to finish walking this section of the road, Chen Fan turned right into a small alley.

This was the road to Grandpa Lu's house.

Walk down a slope, then continue forward, and there was a small red brick house.

With the persistence of Chen Fan and several brigade leaders, the brigade provided the materials, and the construction team helped for free. In just two days, they built this small bungalow with red walls and black tiles in front of the thatched house.

The house wasn't big, only 50 square meters. The layout was one bedroom, one living room, one kitchen, and one bathroom. The middle was the living room, occupying nearly 20 square meters. The east side was the bedroom and a small study, also adding up to 20 square meters, but the study was smaller and the bedroom was larger.

The west side, facing south, was the kitchen, and facing north, was the bathroom, each about 5 square meters.

Well, all usable area, no shared area.

The bathroom's drainpipe led to a septic tank a dozen meters away, and there was also a small water storage tank on the roof, so there was no need to worry even if the water was cut off.

Overall, it was much better than the original thatched house.

As for the original thatched house, it was directly leveled after the house was dry and turned into a courtyard in the backyard.

When Chen Fan came, Grandpa Lu was preparing dinner in the kitchen. Seeing him come, he immediately put down the knife and said through the window, "You came at the right time. I want to eat chicken. Catch one and make it."

After speaking, he dried his hands and walked out.

Chen Fan didn't hesitate. He walked through the hall to the backyard, "Other people's houses have a courtyard in front and a vegetable garden in the back. Your house puts the courtyard in the back, and the vegetable garden is even further back. There's no planning at all."

After saying a word, he had already walked to the chicken coop with a shed in the backyard, grabbed a small rooster, and walked back.

Fourth Master Lu sat at the table, drinking tea. He took a breath and said, "I'm simplifying things. Otherwise, what else can I do? Fill the vegetable plot in front to make a threshing ground, then dig up the threshing ground in the back to make a vegetable garden? Isn't that just asking for trouble?"

Chen Fan walked into the kitchen, preparing the chicken as he loudly said, "You need vision! What's wrong with a little trouble?"

After a pause, he added, "If you ask me, why bother making dinner? Come with me to the brigade headquarters for some good food and drinks, all free of charge. What could be better?"

Fourth Master Lu was too lazy to pay him any attention and changed the subject directly, "You're going to the brigade headquarters for dinner?"

Chen Fan responded with an "Ah," his hands still busy, "That's right, and to talk about something while I'm there."

Fourth Master Lu held his teacup, chatting with him through the wall, "What could you possibly have to talk about? You work in the provincial capital now, and the team is developing so well. Could something have gone wrong somewhere?"

Chen Fan said, "There's no problem, but even if things are going well, they can always go even better."

He didn't say exactly what it was about, busy in the kitchen while chatting casually with Fourth Master Lu.

In less than 20 minutes, he had chopped the chicken into pieces and stir-fried it in the pot.

He washed his hands and came out, holding them up to drip, and said to Fourth Master Lu, "Simmer it for 20 minutes first, then add the vegetables you prepared earlier to the pot and simmer for a few more minutes."

Normally, when Fourth Master Lu was home alone, he would just stir-fry some greens. He only killed a chicken or duck when Chen Fan came over.

He hadn't expected that Chen Fan would come today but not stay for dinner, leaving him to enjoy it himself.

Seeing that Chen Fan was about to leave, Fourth Master Lu waved his hand, "Wait a minute, I want to ask you something."

Chen Fan looked at him, "What is it?"

Fourth Master Lu said, "I prepared the betrothal gifts for you last year. When are you bringing a wife back?"

Chen Fan blinked and said with a straight face, "Grandpa, that's not right."

Fourth Master Lu raised his eyebrows slightly, "What's not right?"

Chen Fan said, "Think about it carefully. Didn't I dig those things out of the ground myself? How did they become the betrothal gifts you prepared for me? That doesn't make sense."

Fourth Master Lu rolled his eyes, "Don't try to fool me. If you think that little bit isn't enough, there's more in the garden behind."

He looked at Chen Fan and chuckled, "But this time, you have to bring the person here first."

Chen Fan pondered for two seconds and asked quietly, "If I bring several, will you give several sets of gifts?"

Fourth Master Lu was instantly exasperated when he heard this, glaring at him, "Several?"

Chen Fan coughed, "No, I just wanted to express that idea, to see how much you've prepared."

Fourth Master Lu sneered twice, "Hmph, don't say I'm stingy. If you have the ability to bring several, I'll prepare several betrothal gifts for you."

Chen Fan chuckled dryly, "Just kidding, just kidding. I'll definitely bring someone back for the New Year, next year."

He coughed again, "It's just that I'm not old enough yet. I have to wait two more years."

Fourth Master Lu waved his hand, "The person is the person, the certificate is the certificate. Just bring the person back."

Then, supporting himself on the table, he let out a long breath and chuckled, "I didn't expect that I'd still be able to see the younger generation get married at my age. What a blessing."

Hearing this, Chen Fan smiled softly, his playful mood immediately fading. He smiled and said, "Grandpa, I think you're still in good health. There are more blessings to come."

Fourth Master Lu shook his head, glancing at him, "They all say that many children and grandchildren bring many blessings. I'd like that too, but it depends on how hard you work."

Chen Fan's face fell. He hadn't even gotten married yet, and they were already urging him to have children. That was too much.

He immediately turned his head and walked out quickly.

Behind him was Fourth Master Lu's hearty laughter, "Hahahaha…"

Chen Fan walked to the brigade headquarters with his hands behind his back. It was already dusk, but there was light and talking inside. Sure enough, they were having a working meal here today.

He first patted the two horses standing obediently next to the door, letting them go to the stable next door for some fodder for dinner. Then, he strode into the yard, "Old Zhang, what good food do we have?"

There was no one in the office. Zhang Wenliang's voice came from the small dining hall in the middle courtyard, "It's not served yet. Ask your apprentice."

Huang Li had already run out of the kitchen with a spatula, grinning, "Master, today I made soft-shelled eel, braised turtle, cherry pork, and lion's head meatballs, as well as tofu soup."

Chen Fan nodded, stopping at the entrance of the dining hall and saying to her, "That's right. The reason I put you in the cafeteria is so you have more opportunities to practice. You don't usually have the chance to make such delicate dishes, so you have to find opportunities yourself and practice more."

Huang Li nodded vigorously, "Okay, I understand, Master."

Seeing his master give her a thumbs-up and walk into the dining hall, she happily turned around and went back into the kitchen.

Chen Fan pulled out a chair and sat down, noticing that everyone at the table was staring at him. He couldn't help but say, "What's wrong?"

Zhang Wenliang covered his forehead, looking at him with a complicated expression, "Is it okay to be so blatant about using public office for private gain these days?"

Chen Fan curled his lips, looking at everyone and saying, "Aren't you all eating the dishes she made?"

Everyone looked at each other, thinking that it made sense, and then continued chatting as if nothing had happened.

Chen Fan took a sip of tea and turned to ask Yang Xingxiu, "Sister-in-law, when is your due date?"

Yang Xingxiu's belly was already quite large at this time. Hearing Chen Fan's words, she couldn't help but touch her belly, look at Zhang Wenliang, and then smile at him, "It should be at the end of January."

Chen Fan calculated with his fingers, "That's just in time for the New Year."

Then, he clasped his hands together, "Congratulations, congratulations."

Then, he turned to Zhang Wenliang and said, "You have to be good and don't make your sister-in-law angry. Otherwise, when the child comes out, they'll both team up against you."

As soon as these words came out, before Zhang Wenliang could say anything, Secretary Yang and the others next to him couldn't help but burst into laughter, laughing so hard that they bent over.

Zhang Wenliang sat in his chair with a bitter face. He wanted to blow up, but on one side was his father-in-law, uncle, master, and deputy captain, and on the other side was the instigator. Moreover, his wife was glaring at him from the side. Not to mention, no one could even tell how good this kid's skills were now, not even his master. It was simply ridiculously off the charts.

So, he could only sigh and drink tea.

Before long, Huang Li brought two aunties to serve the dishes, as well as two two-jin bottles of bayberry wine.

Chen Fan now preferred to drink yellow wine, but Secretary Yang and the others weren't used to it, and neither were the people who came to visit and learn, so there was only white wine here.

Zhang Wenliang picked up the wine bottle to pour the wine, while turning to look at Chen Fan, "Where did you go wandering around today?"

Chen Fan took the wine glass he handed over, put it down, and said, "How can you say wandering around? I went from the beginning of the village to the end, and then from the end of the village to the beginning, taking lots of pictures of the members working. Tomorrow, I'll write another news article and have your transportation team take it to the prefectural committee for the newspaper. It will definitely be published, won't it?

I'm promoting the production team!"

Secretary Yang coughed and looked at him, saying, "Did you take pictures of the leaders?"

Chen Fan was stunned for a moment, looked up at him, and said, "Want me to take some now?"

He was about to rummage through his bag for the camera.

Xiao Lie Wen said from the side, "What are you taking pictures of now? Eating and drinking? When people see it, the labor scenes are all of the members, and the eating and drinking are all of the cadres. Won't that be misleading?"

Chen Fan said, "It won't. I also took pictures of the lunch scene. At most, everyone will say we ate together."

After a pause, he looked at the four dishes and one soup on the table, which were huge portions, and smiled, "It could also be said that we don't forget to work while eating."

Ye Shubao raised his wine glass, "It's good not to forget to work while eating. Come, come, let's have a drink first. We're exhausted today. Let's discuss the work arrangements for the next few days."

Zhang Changjiang took a sip of wine, picked up a lion's head meatball with his chopsticks and put it in his bowl, looking at him and saying, "Isn't it all arranged? What's there to discuss?"

Ye Shubao picked up an eel and said with a smile, "Didn't Xiao Chen want to take pictures? We can discuss the agreed-upon matters."

Chen Fan aimed the lens at the two of them and snapped two photos, startling Ye Shubao, "You really took them?"

"Of course, I took them. What else would I do?"

Chen Fan checked the camera and took pictures of Secretary Yang and Xiao Liewen separately. Then, he put the camera away before saying, "If you all are free, then I'll speak."

Hearing this, everyone looked at him.

Chen Fan smiled and said, "These past few days since I've been back, you've seen me wandering around like a loafer, but that's not the case. I've been observing the various aspects of the production team."

Yang Xingxiu immediately asked, "Then what problems have you observed?"

Chen Fan pondered for two seconds, "None for the time being."

Zhang Wenliang rolled his eyes, "That's like saying nothing at all."

Chen Fan cleared his throat, "Can you let me finish speaking?"

Zhang Wenliang ate his food, "Yeah, yeah, you talk, you talk."

Chen Fan curled his lips and picked up a lion's head, eating it in two bites before continuing, "There are still many areas for improvement in the team, but there's no rush now. On the one hand, everything is running smoothly and there's no need for improvement. On the other hand, there's still the problem of a lack of talent."

Hearing this, Xiao Liewen couldn't help but put down his chopsticks and nodded, "I've also noticed the issue of talent that you mentioned."

He turned to look at the crowd and said seriously, "We also wanted to buy that minivan produced by Yunqi Factory, didn't we? But we can't find a driver in the entire brigade. Otherwise, wouldn't it be convenient to buy a few minivans specifically for delivering goods to the prefectural committee?"

Zhang Changjiang listened and nodded, saying to Chen Fan, "The land for the garment factory has already been selected. Considering the convenience of transportation, and the requirements of Commune Chief Qian, it will be located at the ferry terminal west of the commune. Our cargo ships can travel a little further to reach it.

Moreover, the commune is providing the land for free. Their condition is that when the garment factory opens, they will allocate a batch of worker quotas to the town to help solve some employment problems.

We agreed to this after a meeting."

Secretary Yang continued his words, "There's no way around it. Our team's sideline businesses are spread out too much. From breeding to cooked food, every step requires people. Take the seamstresses in this garment factory, for example. Many people think it's easy to operate a sewing machine, but after following Liu Lu for a few days, they realize that making clothes well and up to standard is not easy at all.

Right now, we're short of people in all aspects: seamstresses, farm machinery repairmen, drivers, agricultural technicians, breeders... but these things can't be learned casually. We need to find professional workers."

Ye Shubao took a sip of wine and joined in, "Remember last year, when you repeatedly emphasized the importance of cultural learning in the team? At that time, everyone in the team nodded and agreed, but many people didn't take it to heart.

Before there was a college entrance examination, who would take learning seriously? No one! Because going to school was useless, it was a waste of time to study.

At that time, they superficially agreed to your request, but they were actually hoping that their children could learn veterinary medicine from you. It wasn't until so many students were admitted to universities that everyone began to pay attention.

And then what? The team's sideline businesses developed well, and they could get thousands of yuan in dividends in half a year. Not to mention workers, even cadres couldn't compare to them. Everyone started to slack off again.

Until now..."

He said, pointing outside, not knowing who he was pointing at, "The good positions in the sideline companies have been taken by children with a cultural foundation. Those who don't have the cultural skills can't even be taught. That's when they started to pay attention again."

After speaking, he clapped his hands, "That's the situation now. After several ideological struggles, most of the members still want their children to study and improve, but the problem is that it's difficult to find teachers. This isn't like teaching addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division in elementary school. We need skilled masters. What can we do?"

While they were talking, Chen Fan looked left and right, his hands and mouth not stopping.

When they finished speaking, he nodded, took a sip of wine, and said to everyone, "The driver problem is easy to solve. I know people at Yunhu's First Long-Distance Bus Company Training School. If we ask them for help, we should be able to get a few spots."

Xiao Liewen was immediately overjoyed, "That would be great."

Secretary Yang also grinned, "Whatever conditions they have, just agree. We will definitely comply."

Chen Fan smiled, "What conditions could there be? It's the same as other units. Bring your own bedding and luggage, live on campus for three months, all food and accommodation at your own expense, and a tuition fee of 150 yuan per person."

150 yuan per person seems like a lot, but don't think it's expensive. If possible, many units would want a tuition fee of 500 yuan, but the quota is hard to come by.

Hearing this, Secretary Yang nodded without hesitation, "No problem."

Then he asked, "What else?"

Chen Fan continued, "For other shortages, we can refer to the transportation team and the retired employees of the waterway transportation company, and find people from relevant units in Yunhu.

As long as we are willing to pay a high price, we should be able to hire a group of people, whether it's to work or to be teachers."

Zhang Wenliang nodded with the crowd, then suddenly frowned and asked, "Since we can hire masters, why didn't we just hire them directly? Why did we have to send Liu Lu to Shanghai for further study?"

Chen Fan glanced at him, "Liu Lu is one of us. Are those masters?"

Zhang Wenliang blinked and consciously closed his mouth.

Let Liu Lu be the training teacher first. Even if the masters come later, they must respect her. If it were the other way around, those masters might not be willing to become the main force, and it would be difficult to manage them then.

Seeing that he had figured it out, Chen Fan continued, "Originally, I wanted to mention the issue of education. Compared to when school just started, the children at school have slacked off a lot, and the members of each team seem to be a little content with their lot."

Hearing this, Secretary Yang and the others couldn't help but blush.

What content with their lot? It's just being satisfied with a small fortune.

They built new buildings, raised poultry and livestock at home, and saw that there would be a large dividend at the end of the year. Who would be willing to live a hard life of getting up early and working late?!

Xiao Liewen was scratching his head, his eyes darting around, already planning how to make things difficult for people.

Ye Shubao exchanged a look with him, tacitly reaching an agreement.

Chen Fan continued, "So, I was thinking of giving the members a little bit of stimulation. What Uncle Yang said just now, providing some positions to the commune, I think is very good. In fact, it's not impossible to expand the scope to other production brigades, but we have to consider the reason, otherwise a good thing can easily turn into a bad thing."

Secretary Yang took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, frowning thoughtfully, "Yes, I know what to do."

In terms of knowledge and experience, Chen Fan certainly has no confidence in them, but in terms of managing production team members, even if Chen Fan considers himself to be intelligent, he would not dare to say that he is better than Secretary Yang and the others.

So he skipped this topic and continued, "Let's arrange it like this for now. As for the school, if I have time, I will go over and give a lecture to boost the spirits of the students."

Hearing this, everyone looked at each other, and the dark clouds on their faces instantly disappeared, replaced by relieved smiles.