Reborn in 1977

After listening to their explanation, Chen Fan nodded in understanding.

It seemed troublesome, but it was actually very simple. He didn't even need to lift a finger; the team could handle everything. Compared to running around himself in later years, this was much more convenient.

Chen Fan suddenly thought of something. Didn't Zhang Wenliang say yesterday that he had a 3-month "probationary period (observation period)"? Why were they processing his paperwork so quickly?

He glanced at Captain Yang, thinking, 'Anyway, it's beneficial for me to get it done early, so I won't ask.'

After leaving Captain Yang's house, Chen Fan returned to the educated youth spot.

As soon as he entered, he saw Jiang Lili had moved a large table outside, covered with scraps of cloth and cotton. She was snipping at the cloth with a large pair of scissors.

Hearing the noise, Jiang Lili looked up. Seeing it was him, she smiled, "You're back."

Chen Fan walked over, "Yeah, have you eaten?"

Jiang Lili smiled, "I have."

Chen Fan looked at her, "Did you finish all the dishes?"

Jiang Lili smiled, pursing her lips, "I finished them."

"Oh, that's good."

Chen Fan placed the bag he was holding on the table, his eyes fixed on the cloth in her hands. "Are you making clothes?"

Jiang Lili lowered her head and smiled, "Didn't Warden Huang ask me to make you a cotton vest the day before yesterday? This is it."

Chen Fan's eyes lit up instantly, "Oh, for me?"

He immediately circled the table, "This cloth doesn't seem quite the same as the cloth the team gave us?"

Jiang Lili said, "Making a cotton vest doesn't require much cloth. I used the cloth wrapping the army coat. I measured the size according to your set of autumn clothes."

The things Captain Xiao sent at the time were wrapped in a square of cotton cloth, about a meter across. Jiang Lili had unexpectedly used it to make him a vest, which was just right.

Chen Fan watched for a while, then suddenly ran into the room, brought out a chair, and sat down next to her to watch carefully.

Jiang Lili looked at him and suddenly laughed, "What's so interesting about this? You're not a tailor."

Chen Fan said solemnly, "Who says? Maybe I'll learn a trick today, and tomorrow I can make clothes myself."

Jiang Lili smiled, pursing her lips. While cutting, she said, "Making clothes is a woman's job. Why are you learning this? Yesterday, I heard Platoon Leader Zhang and the others say you're going to be a broadcaster at the brigade headquarters and that you can also repair broadcast radios. That's a real skill."

Chen Fan waved his hand, "Skills are just about whether you know how to do something or not, not about whether they're big or small. Besides, many master tailors who ran tailor shops in the past were men. How can you say making clothes is a woman's job?"

Jiang Lili's lips curled up, and she didn't say anything more, continuing to carefully cut the clothes.

Chen Fan watched for a while, then his gaze suddenly fell on the bag. Right, he still didn't know what Huang Laosi had sent!

He opened the bag, and inside were ten eggs. A piece of checkered cotton cloth was placed under the eggs.

Chen Fan took everything out and placed it on the table, his brow furrowing slightly. "Is this too much for just one meal?"

Jiang Lili asked about the situation, then looked at the things on the table. "These eggs aren't big, only 3 cents each, so 10 are 30 cents. The supply and marketing cooperative sells printed cloth for 45 cents a foot, but homespun cloth is only 20 cents. This checkered pattern is probably 18 cents. Solid colors are even cheaper. This piece of cloth should be 5 feet, which is 90 cents. Altogether, it's 1 yuan and 20 cents. You made two big pots of dishes, so giving this much isn't too much, but it's not little either."

Then she looked at the cloth bag, "This bag probably used half a foot of cloth. A new one is worth 10 cents, but since it's old, it's only worth two cents if you sell it to the recycling station."

After listening to her calculation, Chen Fan clicked his tongue, unable to help but smile wryly.

He had been worried that Huang Laosi had given too much, but it seemed he had been overthinking it.

Then he asked curiously, "Is there really that much of a price difference between printed cloth and homespun cloth?"

Jiang Lili smiled and said softly, "Printed cloth isn't even that expensive. Dacron is really expensive. A foot of cloth costs 1 yuan, 4 mao, and 1 fen, and it's not even easy to buy."

Chen Fan's mouth twitched slightly. Synthetic fabric was so much more expensive than pure cotton fabric. It was indeed a sign of the times.

Decades later, everything would be reversed. Homespun cloth would be the most expensive, cotton cloth would be next, and synthetic fabric would be the cheapest. That's industrial development.

He looked at these things, "It's a pity there are no hens here, otherwise, I could hatch all the eggs and raise chickens next year."

Jiang Lili smiled, "The supply and marketing cooperative's store in the commune sells chicks. They buy them from the purchasing station for 5 cents each and sell them for 6 cents."

After a pause, she suddenly looked at the door and lowered her voice, "Every so often, people from the team come by carrying baskets to sell chicks. They also sell them for 6 cents, or you don't have to pay money. You can record it first and use grain to pay it off when the grain is distributed. One chicken is worth half a jin of rice."

The current price of grain outside is 1 mao and 4 fen per jin of rice, plus grain coupons. Half a jin of rice is worth more than 6 fen. But this is a loan, so they definitely charge some interest.

Chen Fan widened his eyes, "They can do that? Does no one care?"

Jiang Lili shook her head gently, "When the higher-ups are strict, the inspectors go to the countryside every day, and people don't come. When the storm passes, the market inspectors basically don't come to the countryside; they just hang around the commune or go to a few villages around the commune. They don't go to the more distant ones.

Since they don't come, and everyone here is from the same village, and they're just earning some hard-earned money, no one cares about this."

Chen Fan blinked. It seemed that private economic activity had never stopped.

But these things had nothing to do with him for the time being, and the chick sellers wouldn't come now either.

He looked at the eggs and blinked, then suddenly let out a long sigh.

Jiang Lili looked at him, "What's wrong?"

Chen Fan said, "I was originally planning to save a little bit tonight, but it looks like that's going to fall through again."

Jiang Lili's eyes fluttered, and her gaze fell on the eggs, "You don't mean...?"

Chen Fan picked up the eggs and walked towards the kitchen, "We're having eggs for dinner tonight."

Jiang Lili didn't know whether to laugh or cry. What villager was like him, eating good food every day?

Before he came, she had eaten pickles for three years, and even more so in the past year. How much good stuff had she eaten in the few days since he came?!

But she didn't say much. Firstly, that was her personality; she couldn't say words of persuasion. Secondly, these were all earned by Chen Fan's own ability, and most of the time he ate out. This was because of his great ability. Even Captain Yang and the brigade headquarters praised him. What was there to criticize?

Chen Fan put the eggs away and came out, then picked up the cotton cloth and looked at it.

It was about the same as Jiang Lili had estimated, three feet long and about half a meter wide. What could this little bit of cloth be used for?

Chen Fan thought for a while and looked at Jiang Lili, "How much cloth do you need to make a set of autumn clothes?"

Jiang Lili said without hesitation, "Usually, you need two meters of cloth. You're tall, so you need at least two and a half meters."

After a pause, she looked at the cloth again, "Do you want to use this to make autumn clothes?"

Chen Fan nodded, "It's a pity it's not enough."

If he cooked another meal on the day of the house raising, he should be able to get another piece of cloth. Adding it together should be enough, right?

Jiang Lili glanced at him and said softly, "This is homespun cloth, less than half the width of industrial cloth. Industrial cloth is 1.2 to 1.5 meters wide, but this is only 48 centimeters."

No wonder the price was so different from industrial cloth!

Chen Fan muttered in his heart, then calculated, "So that means you need at least 6 meters of homespun cloth?"

Jiang Lili nodded, "About that."

Chen Fan thought for a while, "Forget it, I'll make something else first."

Then he smiled at her, "Can you teach me tailoring?"

Jiang Lili smiled, "What clothes do you want? I can help you make them."

Chen Fan shook his head solemnly, "It's inconvenient, I'll do it myself."

Jiang Lili was a little strange. What was inconvenient about that? It was just...

She suddenly thought of something, and her face turned red, all the way to her ears. She lowered her head and murmured, "Oh."