Reborn in 1977

Chapter 651 Educational Achievements, Digging Lotus Roots

November 3rd, Friday, the third day of the tenth lunar month.

Huh, the dates are the same, exactly one month apart?

That's rare.

Chen Fan muttered as he tore off the calendar, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it into the trash can. Then, he picked up the teacup on the table and smoothly made a cup of lotus root powder.

Plain lotus root powder doesn't taste very good. He added two spoons of sugar, stirred it with a spoon, let it cool slightly, and drank it while it was still warm, warming his body and stomach.

This lotus root powder was bought at the supply and marketing cooperative in town. It's a land of fish and rice, so it's normal to have a lot of lotus roots, and lotus root powder has become the most common "special product."

When Zhou Zhengdong's family came last time, they even took two bags back with them.

Originally, the food factory in Nanhugongshe Town used to process lotus root powder, but the county saw the profit and, under the guise of concentrating efforts to do great things, requisitioned all the lotus root powder processing equipment in the county and established the Lotus Root Powder Workshop of the Gufeng County Food Factory.

This Gufeng County Food Factory mainly processes fruits and vegetables produced in the county in all seasons, such as canned peaches and loquats in spring, canned lotus seeds and fruit soda in summer, persimmon cakes and canned tangerines in autumn, and lotus root powder in winter.

The reason why lotus root powder is made in winter is because Gufeng County has to wait until after the autumn harvest every year before starting to dig lotus roots.

Sometimes it's in early November, sometimes it's about a month later, but it won't be too late, as it will affect the draining of the pond. So, the draining of the pond will be a little later.

Normally, isn't it more convenient to dig lotus roots after draining the pond? Why dig lotus roots first?

Hehe, Chen Fan actually asked Captain Yang about it.

The reason is that the lotus stalks of the lotus roots make it inconvenient to trawl for fish, so the lotus roots are dug out first, and the thick aquatic plants such as lotus stalks are also cleaned up first, which makes it much easier to drain the pond and cast the net for fishing.

Moreover, raising them for another month or two allows the fish to grow a little more.

After the fishing is finished, they will go back and clean the pond again. Those lotus roots that slip through the net will no longer be sold to the supply and marketing cooperative, but will be distributed to each household as a New Year's gift.

The lotus roots that are sold, some of the better quality ones, are arranged to go to the vegetable market to supply the town residents.

The other part goes into the food factory, where they are washed, crushed, filtered, purified to remove sand, concentrated, dehydrated, and dried, and finally, bulk lotus root powder is obtained.

What? There are also selected and packaged ones?

Ahem, the conditions are just like this for the time being, overcome it, it's good to have bulk weighing, what packaging do you want?!

The two big bags that Zhou Zhengdong bought were "specially supplied," and the bags used didn't even know where they came from.

But to be honest, the lotus root powder these days tastes particularly good, without any additives, and the aroma is very pure.

After finishing a cup of lotus root powder, Chen Fan smacked his lips and took the cup to wash it.

Now that all three apprentices have jobs, there isn't even anyone in the house to greet him... Should he take in a few more?

Not to mention three years of apprenticeship and two years of service, doing some work at home should be a matter of course!

After rinsing it in the bathroom and putting the cup back in place, Chen Fan shook the water off his hands, went upstairs to change into his "village clothes" suit, grabbed his dry tobacco pipe, and prepared to go out.

Just as he came out, he nudged the two dogs with his foot, preparing to say hello to Gun Gun and leave, when he saw Yang Mei carrying a large bag and panting as she climbed the slope.

Seeing her appearance, Chen Fan couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing?"

Yang Mei supported herself on the bamboo railing as she climbed up, took two breaths, and then pointed to the backpack on her body, saying, "Master, these are the welfare goods issued to you this month by the cotton mill and the machinery factory. I brought them back together."

Chen Fan wasn't too interested in welfare goods, mainly because they were almost the same every time, nothing more than grain, oil, meat, fish, fruit, thermos bottles, water cups, bowls, plates, towels, and fabrics, nothing surprising at all.

But it seems like he, this health consultant, hasn't done anything?

Never mind.

He was a little puzzled about Yang Mei, "Didn't you go last time too? Why is it your turn again today?"

The three apprentices made a duty roster, going to Yunhu twice a week to clean his "old house" where he hadn't lived for a few days. If no one took care of it, the house would be ruined before long.

It's just that, last time it was Yang Mei, and this time it's her again. What about Liu Lu and Huang Li?

Yang Mei chuckled, "Originally it was Huang Li's turn, but today someone is coming to the team to visit and learn, and Huang Li has to prepare the reception meal, and there's not enough time. Then Captain Zhang and Platoon Leader Zhang invited a master craftsman from the Yunhu Garment Factory today, and Liu Lu has to receive them and arrange work for them, so she's also busy."

Chen Fan smacked his lips. This village can't function without his apprentices?

Yang Mei continued with a smile, "It just so happened that I brewed a few vats of wine some time ago, and the wine cellar is full. I have nothing to do these days, so I came over to be on duty."

Chen Fan said "Mm" and nodded slightly, "Then let them help you brew wine when they're done."

Yang Mei smiled so wide that her mouth couldn't close, "Okay."

Chen Fan waved his hand, "Put the things back. The team is digging lotus roots today. Since you're not busy, you can go over and take a look and relax. Don't just revolve around work every day, aren't you afraid of getting tired?"

As soon as Yang Mei heard this, she immediately smiled and said, "This work is not tiring at all. I don't have to lift a finger to move anything. It's much easier than before."

Chen Fan curled his lips, "You don't even know how to slack off. Just be busy with your work."

After saying that, he put his hands behind his back and strolled away.

Yang Mei turned around and looked at his back, scratching her head, a little confused.

A few days ago, Master held a meeting for everyone, asking everyone to perk up and not slack off in their work. Why is he teaching her to slack off today?

Can't figure it out.

...

Chen Fan didn't care whether she could figure it out or not. Anyway, the effect of that ideological education class a few days ago was quite good.

That's right, even though the autumn harvest has already been completed, each team immediately went back to hold meetings to discuss and arrange the next work.

Digging lotus roots today is one of the results of Team 6's discussion. Well, it can also be regarded as the result of his education.

Otherwise, according to the usual practice in previous years, there would definitely be no action without resting for ten days and a half a month.

But, in the past, the autumn harvest was really tiring, only slightly better than the double抢, but this time, with the participation of agricultural machinery, everyone hardly used any effort. It was probably the most tiring to pull it to hand in the public grain.

In this way, there will naturally be no impact on digging lotus roots.

When Chen Fan thought of this, he didn't stop them, letting them sweat to their heart's content!

In view of this, Teacher Chen was very satisfied with the effect of the lecture, and it was not in vain that he turned the teaching halo to the maximum that day. Sure enough, everyone remembered and understood.

Very good.

After going down the slope and bypassing the educated youth spot, even though there was still a distance, he could hear the noise coming from the pond.

When he bypassed the metasequoia forest, he saw groups of people scattered in several ponds, and strong laborers were stepping in the mud, bending down from time to time to touch, and in a few seconds, they could pull out lotus roots of different lengths.

After digging the lotus roots out, they didn't rush to push them ashore, but grabbed a handful of rice straw floating on the water to wipe the mud off the lotus roots.

Of course, there was no need to wash them particularly clean. At least the lotus root joints were not so easy to wash. They could only be simply treated to wash off large chunks of mud from the lotus roots, and then pushed aside.

In the gathering place, more than a dozen long lotus roots were floating, and every once in a while, someone would use a bamboo pole to pull these lotus roots to the shore.

At the same time, some people were squatting there, dragging these lotus roots ashore.

Compared to the improved lotus root varieties of later generations, the current lotus roots are not particularly long. For example, some of the E'lian series planted in the Beijing area can reach about two and a half meters in length, and the varieties planted in the Jiangnan area can also reach one and a half to two meters.

The current lotus roots are indeed shorter and smaller.

The longest is no more than one and a half meters, and more are around one meter, and there are even mini lotus roots that are less than half a meter long, with each section only the size of a child's fist. Seven or eight sections added together are only a little over a foot long, which is quite pathetic.

If this kind of lotus root were to be sold, it would definitely be sent to a food factory to be made into lotus root flour.

Moreover, this kind of lotus root is not uncommon.

Chen Fan walked forward, looking at the small lotus roots piled separately on the side, and muttered to himself whether he should buy new lotus root varieties, otherwise continuing to plant this kind of lotus root would not be cost-effective.

When Yang Chuanfu first came out, he had put on a jacket, but now he was sweating all over from working, and had already thrown the jacket aside, but when he saw Chen Fan, he couldn't help but say, "It's true that young lads have strong vitality. Winter Solstice is next week, and you're still wearing a short-sleeved shirt. Aren't you afraid of catching a cold?"

Chen Fan shook his shoulders, "Spring covering and autumn freezing, it's nothing."

Then he looked at the pile of lotus roots, "Do these lotus roots still need to be processed?"

Accountant Liu was staring at the scales and making records, while Supervisor Huang was directing people to bundle the lotus roots, waiting to transport them back to the warehouse later.

Seeing Chen Fan coming over, the two exchanged glances, and Accountant Liu shouted loudly, "Take a break, and we'll switch people to go into the water later."

As soon as these words came out, almost everyone could be clearly heard exhaling a long breath.

The lotus root diggers who were still in the water, except for those who were still touching for lotus roots underwater, all began to walk ashore.

Captain Yang wiped his hands, sat directly on the bank, picked up his jacket, took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, flicked out a few with one hand, and handed them to Chen Fan, "Of course they have to be processed. The long ones have to be broken, and they have to be graded according to size. The supply and marketing cooperative doesn't accept the ones that are too small or not good-looking, so we can only digest and process them ourselves."

Seeing Chen Fan raise his dry tobacco pipe and wave his hand to indicate that he didn't want one, he took the cigarettes back, took out one and put it in his mouth, and beckoned to Chen Fan.

Chen Fan hadn't even lit his own yet, so he stretched out the lighter to help him light it, and then lit one for himself.

After taking two puffs of smoke, Chen Fan looked around and said softly, "The variety of these lotus roots is still a bit lacking. Not to mention that they are not big enough, they are not crisp enough, and they are not floury enough. The biggest advantage is that they are particularly fragrant."

Yang Chuanfu chuckled a few times and said, "They must be fragrant. I used to plant this kind of lotus root when I was a kid, and I can't get used to eating other lotus roots."

After a pause, he added, "A few years ago, the brigade headquarters also thought of a way to see if they could buy the improved new varieties mentioned in the newspapers and radio broadcasts, but they couldn't buy them. We even ran to the county town, but even the Gufeng County Seed Company didn't have them. What could we do?"

Chen Fan frowned slightly and turned to look at him, "Didn't you go to the district committee?"

Yang Chuanfu smiled and shook his head, "We just inquired with the people from the seed company in the county. They said they didn't have it, so we didn't go. It seems that only the agricultural college in the provincial capital has it, because that seed was researched by the Jiangnan Agricultural College. Oh, now it's changed back to its old name, Jiangnan Agricultural University."

Chen Fan raised his eyebrows slightly, looked at him and chuckled, "I remember, it seems that the one from Team 7, what's his name, Ye Ping, right?"

Yang Chuanfu looked at him, squinted his eyes and thought for a while, then suddenly slapped his thigh, "How could I forget? Ye Ping went to Jiangnan Agricultural University!"

He stood up abruptly, "No, I have to call the brigade headquarters and tell them about this."

Chen Fan waved his hand at him, "This isn't urgent. Wait a while and think carefully about what kinds of improved varieties you need, then discuss it with the brigade headquarters. It's best to call all the team leaders together for a meeting, and then send a telegram to Ye Ping to ask him about the situation of the improved varieties."

Yang Chuanfu smiled embarrassedly, "Yes, yes, we should discuss it carefully."

As he spoke, he sat down.

Not far away, the people who had just gone into the water were taking off their waterproof gear, and another group of people were waiting on the side. After finishing their cigarettes, they put on the waterproof gear.

Without needing anyone to tell them, after changing, they slowly went into the water.

And the others, seeing them go into the water, consciously stood up and prepared for the next round of work.

Chen Fan finished smoking a pot of tobacco and was about to leave when he saw three birds of considerable size swooping down. Almost in the blink of an eye, they each grabbed a fish and soared into the air, flying to a tree not far away and swallowing the fish in their mouths.

Many people saw this scene and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

Yang Chuanfu turned his head and said to Chen Fan, "The eagles you raised are so amazing. They're only a few months old, but they've grown bigger than ordinary birds, and they catch fish with amazing accuracy."

Chen Fan raised his head, looked at the three birds in the tree, and chuckled, "They're alright."

These three birds were naturally the gyrfalcons he had brought back from Changbai Mountain.

After more than two months of growth, the three little birds had shed their down feathers and grown new feathers, and could initially fly.

Chen Fan didn't know if naturally growing gyrfalcons had parents to teach them foraging and hunting skills. Anyway, he found a teacher for the three little birds, which was the completely mature hobby falcon.

It's just that hobby falcons can't catch fish. Their fishing skills were learned from the egrets under Chen Fan's guidance.

Gyrfalcons were supposed to catch fish in the first place. If they didn't learn this trick, would they still be called gyrfalcons?

After eating the fish they caught, the three little birds fluttered their wings and flew down, vying to land on Chen Fan's shoulders.

As a result, one of them didn't get a spot and could only land on a nearby branch, chirping non-stop.

Chen Fan could only stretch out his arm, "Alright, alright, come here."

The little fellow immediately fluttered its wings happily and landed, raising its head and chirping happily.

Chen Fan touched the heads of the three little fellows, and after a while, he made a slight whistle, and the three little birds immediately soared into the sky, following the hobby falcon circling in the sky, and flew towards Qingshan Commune on the opposite bank.

There were more wild animals there, which was perfect for them to hunt.

After they flew away, Chen Fan said to Captain Yang, "I'm going to go take a look around."

Yang Chuanfu quickly asked, "Are you going to the brigade?"

Chen Fan shook his head without hesitation, "There are people coming to visit today, so I won't join in the fun."

Yang Chuanfu grinned, "I see you've never met the people from the visiting groups. Almost every visiting group wants to see you."

Chen Fan curled his lips, "What's so good about meeting me? People who really come to learn wouldn't want to see me. Instead, they should go and see our sideline company, as well as the breeding farm and labor production records. That's what they should be learning."

Yang Chuanfu nodded, then smiled, "I think what they need most is a teacher like you."

Chen Fan chuckled, "Are you willing to part with me?"

Yang Chuanfu's old face darkened, "I just said 'like', I didn't say you."

Then he pointed to a pile of lotus roots next to him, "Take a few sections back to make soup."

Chen Fan didn't stand on ceremony, chose a lotus root and picked it up, chuckling, "Just right, I'll try to see what the difference is between homemade lotus root flour and instant lotus root flour."

After speaking, he walked back with the lotus root.