Reborn in 1977

Chapter 709: I Won't Go, I Won't Go

Chen Fan nestled on the sofa, and before long, the two sisters changed their clothes and came downstairs. Jiang Tiantian brewed a cup of tea and brought it over, placing it in front of him.

Jiang Lili went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

It was already a little past 4 o'clock, and almost time for dinner.

Jiang Tiantian didn't go to help; instead, she was busy tidying up the house.

The three of them each performed their duties, displaying perfect understanding.

Chen Fan picked up the teacup and took a sip, listening to He Qingsheng's shouting in the receiver, "Where is your uncle now? Can you contact him?

I heard that the most favorable payment plan he negotiated with the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications is to install the equipment first, and then make the first payment one year from the date the equipment is installed and used, paying off the total amount in five installments. After six years, only a small maintenance fee needs to be paid annually. Is this true?"

Chen Fan held the teacup without moving, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. "Paid off in 6 years, with no down payment, and the first payment only due one year after installation?"

He Qingsheng: "Yes, but with this payment method, the price is slightly higher, starting at $5 million. However, in this way, only $1 million is needed per year.

Although $1 million is a lot, it can be managed by putting some pressure on the import and export company and organizing more goods for the Canton Fair. At least 70% to 80% can be solved.

Moreover, there's also the literary creation to earn foreign exchange that our Writers' Association is promoting. I wouldn't dare say more, but $300,000 to $500,000 a year shouldn't be a problem. After all, you're here, and you alone can solve half of it, so a foreign exchange quota of $1 million isn't that difficult.

Conversely, if we can make good use of this payment method, we can allow Jiangnan Province to enter the era of modern communications ahead of time. Even if it's just the provincial capital, it would be very meaningful!"

Hearing this, Chen Fan couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. Entering the era of modern communications just by using a program-controlled exchange?

But thinking about the ideal life in the minds of the people now, which is "upstairs, downstairs, with lights and telephones," he felt it was very reasonable.

After He Qingsheng finished speaking, Chen Fan put down the teacup and said softly, "Uncle He, don't get excited. I'm not sure where my uncle is right now, but I guess he's busy with the equipment.

Like this, I can't guarantee anything else, but I can guarantee that Jiangnan Province's quota will only be after Beijing and Shanghai, okay?"

Unless the local government comes up with its own funding solution, if orders are placed in this way, Beijing will undoubtedly be ranked first, and Shanghai, which was once the largest city in Asia in the first half of this century, has extraordinary economic significance. Before the concept of "special zone" was proposed, this was also a place to be considered first.

Giving this promise from Chen Fan was enough to reassure He Qingsheng.

Sure enough, a burst of laughter immediately came from the receiver, "It's settled then!"

Chen Fan laughed and said, "Okay, it's settled."

After a pause, he asked again, "Did you call me today just for this matter?"

The next second, a "slap" sound was heard, probably He Qingsheng slapping his forehead again.

Then he heard him say, "Being interrupted by you, I forgot the real business."

Chen Fan: ? ? ?

He Qingsheng: "I'm asking you, did you perform a program at the New Year's Eve party in Shanghai's literary and art circles?"

Chen Fan waved to Jiang Tiantian, who was cleaning, then pointed to the cigarettes placed not far away, and said, "Did you hear about it from someone, or did you see it on TV?"

In addition to rebroadcasting CCTV every day, Jiangnan Provincial City TV station sometimes rebroadcasts programs from other TV stations. Well, other TV stations do the same. In this era, TV programs are limited, but relying on self-production alone cannot guarantee that there will be programs broadcast every day, even if it's only for a few hours a day.

So, rebroadcasting programs from other TV stations has also become a way to exchange resources with each other.

Even CCTV occasionally selects some excellent TV programs from local stations to broadcast, which is very normal.

Seeing Chen Fan's gesture, Jiang Tiantian immediately put down the mop, took the cigarette over, and seeing that it was inconvenient for him to make a phone call, she took out one and handed it to him, then lit it with a lighter, put it away, and continued to do her own thing.

Chen Fan didn't expect her to be so thoughtful and couldn't help but be stunned, a strange look flashing in his eyes as he looked at her figure.

At this time, He Qingsheng's voice came from the receiver, "I heard about it, and I also saw it. The comrades in the unit all said the program was good, the song was good, and the singing was good. But there's one thing that's not good: your program wasn't performed at our Jiangnan literary and art circles' New Year's Eve party."

Chen Fan came back to his senses, "So what?"

He Qingsheng laughed, "There's nothing so or not so. Everyone can understand. After all, you're in Shanghai, and you're there to promote Jiangnan's literary works to the world, carrying a mission. No one can blame you."

Chen Fan chuckled, just as he was about to speak, He Qingsheng's voice rang out from the receiver again,

"But, after all, you are an outstanding representative of Jiangnan's literary world, and also a rising star in Jiangnan's literary and art circles. Looking at the new generation of the entire Jiangnan literary and art circles, who can be more representative than you?

As a result, the representative figure of the new generation in Jiangnan's literary and art circles went to participate in Shanghai's literary and art performance. Isn't this making outsiders laugh at us?!

Therefore, I now represent the Jiangnan Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Jiangnan Provincial Branch of the Writers' Association to formally notify you and ask you to be sure to return to the provincial capital on January 20th to participate in the Jiangnan literary and art circles' Spring Festival Gala performance on January 21st."

Chen Fan touched his head and sighed softly, "I knew there would be a 'so'."

He calculated the time. January 21st is the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, which is also the Little New Year in the north. Most areas of Jiangnan Province celebrate the Southern Little New Year. Holding the Spring Festival Gala the day before the Little New Year was about what he expected.

Then, the sisters' final exam time starts on the 15th. Hmm, there's enough time.

So he didn't say much, "Okay, January 20th, I'll be back on time."

He Qingsheng was stunned for a moment when he heard him agree so readily, "You agreed just like that?"

Chen Fan: "… …, then should I say no?"

He Qingsheng quickly said, "You can't say no, it's settled!"

The corner of Chen Fan's eye twitched slightly, feeling quite speechless. After a pause of two seconds, he said, "Is there anything else? If not, I'm hanging up to save the unit some phone bill."

He Qingsheng: "What's the rush? You don't have to pay for the phone bill. You made a lot of phone calls when you stayed at the Cultural Palace Guest House!"

Hearing him mention this, Chen Fan suddenly thought of something, "Uncle He, when will the Literary and Art New Village have telephones installed?"

When he instigated the construction of the Literary and Art New Village, all the effort was just to make the basic facilities complete. However, things like telephones, which were "value-added services," were not taken care of. Anyway, there were no telephones installed in the houses when they were handed over.

He Qingsheng said, "The phone was installed a few days ago. Didn't I just say that? My son works at the telephone bureau. He even got a domestically produced small exchange, which can handle a hundred phone lines. As long as there aren't a hundred people calling at the same time, it won't be affected. If it exceeds that, people will just have to wait for a line."

Chen Fan clicked his tongue. "Our neighborhood probably doesn't even have a hundred phones, right?"

Phones can't just be installed casually. Usually, after reaching a certain level, the work unit has to issue a letter requesting the telephone bureau to install a phone at the residence... except for cases like Chen Fan.

Although Literary New Village encompasses the main literary organizations in the provincial capital, not all leaders have moved in. And even if you count all the leaders, it wouldn't reach a hundred households. Using a hundred-line exchange as the communication control hub for the neighborhood should be more than enough.

It's a pity that this exchange is a domestically produced crossbar type and not a true program-controlled digital device, so the efficiency is still lower.

Just as he was lost in thought, he heard He Qingsheng hum twice. "Even if there aren't a hundred households, we can't let this hundred-line exchange go to waste, or wouldn't that benefit the neighborhood next door?

So, we held a meeting, first looking at work performance, then seniority and years of service, and selected a group of veteran comrades to make up 100 phone lines."

Chen Fan pursed his lips, not knowing what to say.

After thinking for a good while, he said, "Well, that's good. They're all comrades in the literary world. We can't just think about the leaders; we also need to be flexible and take care of ordinary workers."

He Qingsheng clicked his tongue in approval. "Yeah, that's the kind of ideological awareness we need. Some people always think we're hogging all the benefits, but I think they're the ones who don't care about the needs of the masses. Next time someone says that, I'll reply to them like that."

Chen Fan chuckled dryly. He was just thinking about the Agriculture Bureau community in Beijing, where they also installed several hundred-line exchanges, and dozens of households in the community were ordinary workers.

Yeah, yeah, it should be about the same.

After chatting for a few more sentences, he finally hung up the phone.

Jiang Tian Tian was also almost done with her work. She washed her hands and walked over, about to change his hot tea, and asked, "Was that Chairman He? I seemed to hear you say you're going back on January 20th?"

Chen Fan waved his hand, indicating that the tea didn't need to be changed, and then said, "Yes, the Jiangnan Literary Federation plans to hold a Spring Festival Gala on January 21st. Uncle He said that since I'm participating in Shanghai, I can't not participate in our own province's event; I have to go back."

Jiang Tian Tian sat down on the sofa next to him, thought for a moment, and said, "The exams should be over by the 20th, so it shouldn't be a problem."

Chen Fan nodded slowly, took a puff of his cigarette, threw the cigarette butt into the ashtray, clapped his hands, suddenly reached into his pocket, took out a small object and handed it over, "For you."

Jiang Tian Tian was immediately stunned, her eyes full of confusion. She took it with both hands, looked at the thing in her hand, pure white and delicate, warm to the touch, and couldn't help but ask, "What is this?"

Chen Fan grinned and chuckled, saying, "I carved it myself, a little lamb, a birthday present for you."

Jiang Tian Tian held the white jade lamb in her palm, her face full of surprise, "How did you know today is my birthday?"

Chen Fan laughed twice, "I was the one who took your academic records to process them back then, so I remembered it. You're on the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, and Lili is on the seventeenth, very close, so I prepared gifts together."

As he spoke, he took out another one from his pocket, also carved from white jade, a puppy, simple and honest, especially cute.

Turning his head to look in the direction of the kitchen, Chen Fan lowered his voice and said, "Don't tell her yet."

Jiang Tian Tian pursed her lips, nodded and smiled, "I won't let it slip."

Then she held up the little lamb in her hand, looking at him intently, "Thank you."

Chen Fan put the puppy back in his pocket and said with a smile, "You guys also gave me gifts for my birthday a few days ago, and I didn't say thank you."

Jiang Tian Tian held the little lamb tightly in her hand, looked at him and smiled, "It's mainly Lili, she knitted the sweater and scarf, I just helped out a little."

Chen Fan shook his head and smiled, "Your skills are different, I can still recognize them."

After a pause, he added, "Originally, I also wanted to prepare clothes and shoes for you, but I thought you wouldn't be lacking in those things. It just so happened that when I was in Beijing, I bought a few pieces of white jade from Rongbaozhai, so I found two pieces of about the same size and carved small animals as gifts."

He pointed to the little lamb in Jiang Tian Tian's hand, "You were born in the year of the Sheep, so I carved a little lamb. Lili was born in the year of the Dog, so I carved a puppy."

As he spoke, he scratched his head and suddenly sighed, "I don't know what to give next year."

Then he looked at her, "Or, you can tell me yourselves?"

Jiang Tian Tian couldn't help but grin and smile, "Who asks for their own birthday presents?"

After speaking, she took a deep breath, lowered her head deeply, "Actually, there's no need to give gifts, it's already good enough if everyone is safe and sound."

Chen Fan leaned back on the sofa and also exhaled a long breath, "Life is something you live yourself. If you want to live life like a poem, even if you're tired from working and studying every day, you can still add a little color to life.

So, life needs a little sense of ritual to be more beautiful."

Then he coughed dryly and smiled, "What gift it is doesn't matter, whether it's expensive or not doesn't matter, even if it's a scarf every year, it's a token of appreciation, enough to give life a little surprise."

Jiang Tian Tian's eyes rolled slightly, she pursed her lips and shook her head, paused for a few seconds, then smiled and raised her head, looking at him, "I think you're not just a writer, but also a poet, and a poet of life."

At this time, Jiang Lili came out of the kitchen and said from afar, "What poet? Who wrote a poem?"

Jiang Tian Tian raised her head, waited for her to get closer, then smiled and repeated what Chen Fan had just said, and then smiled, "Do you think his attitude towards life counts as a poet of life?"

Jiang Lili nodded vigorously, agreeing deeply, "You're so right. Do you know what my impression of him was when I first met him back then?"

Jiang Tian Tian's eyes rolled slightly, recalling the letter her sister wrote to her, and couldn't help but smile, "A natural optimist?"

Jiang Lili nodded vigorously, "Yes, yes, yes, at that time he only had one set of long underwear on his whole body, and he didn't even remember where his home was, but he was happy every day, I really admired him to death!"

Chen Fan laughed and was about to speak.

At this moment, the phone next to him suddenly rang.

He swallowed the words he was about to say, picked up the phone and put it to his ear, "Hello, who is this?"

Then he was slightly stunned, "What? CCTV wants to hold a Spring Festival Gala and invite me to perform?"

He immediately shook his head without thinking, "What's there to perform during the New Year? I'm not going, I'm not going."