Reborn in 1977

Chen Fan, who was already unfamiliar with attending rural markets, felt even more lost upon hearing this.

What did it mean?

Fortunately, he didn't need to ask, as Captain Zhang began to explain in a rambling manner.

"Here, attending the grand market is a tradition that dates back a long time. It usually takes place on the 1st and 15th of each month, twice a month. When it comes to the 12th lunar month, considering that every household has to prepare for the New Year, it becomes the 5th, 15th, and 25th, three times a month, so people can buy and sell more things.

The 1st, 5th, and 25th are all small markets, held in rotation among the surrounding villages, to save the people from having to travel long distances. The 15th is the grand market, with more people and more goods. The location is near the commune, so villagers from all the surrounding areas can participate.

Even after the implementation of joint public-private ownership and the system of unified purchase and sales, where buying things required tickets, the higher-ups never completely blocked the rural market. As long as it was produce from the countryside, including things like tables, chairs, and homespun cloth, no tickets were needed, and you could buy it with money.

The only thing not allowed at the market was industrial products. Those were factory goods and had to be under the unified purchase and sales system, not mixed with agricultural products.

As late as 1965, we were still holding grand markets here.

At that time, people could take their surplus goods to sell. No matter how much or how little they had, even if it was just two eggs, they could put them in their pockets and go to the market, exchanging them for two candies to coax the children."

Speaking of this, Captain Zhang exhaled a long breath, looked in the direction of the front courtyard, and chuckled, "What a pity."

He turned to look at Chen Fan, who had a blank expression, and suddenly grinned, "Looking at you like that, I know you've never lived in the countryside before. Otherwise, you wouldn't even know this. From the south to the north, there's no rural area that doesn't have markets, at most the rules are a little different."

Chen Fan chuckled dryly, "I forgot, I don't remember."

Captain Zhang laughed, "That's right, if there wasn't something wrong with your head, you wouldn't have ended up here, probably enjoying life in some high-ranking cadre's family."

Chen Fan looked down at himself, "A high-ranking cadre wearing a cotton cloth belt?"

He had several sets of clothes, but no belt. At first, he asked Jiang Lili for a piece of hemp rope as a belt, and later Jiang Lili sewed him a cotton cloth belt. Luckily, he had a thick skin, or he would have been embarrassed to death.

When Captain Zhang heard his words, he couldn't help but laugh, and then said, "It's not far from here to the commune. Ganjia Village, Team 5, is next to the commune. It's only about half an hour's walk. You can go and see the excitement then. Maybe someone will be selling belts."

Chen Fan stared, "Belts?"

Captain Zhang nodded, "Usually pigskin, or some wild animal skin. Cowhide is taken away by the higher-ups, so there definitely won't be any. Even if there is, no one would dare to sell it.

With the leather, you can go to the commune and find a coppersmith to make a belt buckle, and you'll have a good belt that will last for decades if you don't pull on it too hard."

Chen Fan's eyes widened even more, "A coppersmith?"

Are there still self-employed handicraft shops now?

Captain Zhang smiled, "There's a repair shop in the commune, with both blacksmiths and coppersmiths. Blacksmiths mainly repair farm tools, kitchen knives, and scissors, while coppersmiths are like the silversmiths of the past. Later, wearing gold and silver jewelry was forbidden, so they switched to being coppersmiths, making some delicate things. Buying these things doesn't require tickets either. Besides the planned supply of raw materials, a lot of it is scrap iron and copper collected from the waste recycling station. You can buy it with a little money, but the belt buckles aren't as good-looking as the ones sold in the supply and marketing cooperative."

Chen Fan finally understood that this was the kind of coppersmith he was talking about.

After saying so much, he finally understood what this restoration of the rural market was all about, and then asked, "The time is the 19th of the 12th lunar month, a Sunday, and the location is Ganjia Village, Team 5. Are there any other rules?"

Captain Zhang patted his head, "Yes, yes, let me think."

After a pause of two seconds, he suddenly turned and walked into the broadcasting room, "I just received a call from the commune, and I rushed over here before I could even record it. I'll write it down now, and you can read it out."

Chen Fan nodded, "That's even better."

Captain Zhang sat down at his desk, took out a stack of paper, and pulled out the fountain pen he carried with him, writing quickly.

Chen Fan watched him write and asked, "Captain, didn't Captain Yang say that you can't make phone calls when broadcasting? Can the commune's phone call come in?"

Captain Zhang said without looking up, "You can't make phone calls on the line shared with the broadcast, but now the switchboard is connected to the brigade headquarters, and the line between the brigade and the police station doesn't need to be broadcast, so it can be used at any time."

Chen Fan said "Oh" and stopped talking.

After a while, Captain Zhang had written more than half a page and turned to hand it to Chen Fan.

Chen Fan looked at it carefully twice, nodded, and said, "Okay, I understand."

… …

The two-hour broadcast was not just news.

In addition to the news, there were also several excerpts of operas and storytelling, a few songs were played, and even a 30-minute broadcast of "Little Trumpet" was relayed.

"Little Trumpet" was a story program, mainly for listening to stories. Today's broadcast was "Journey to the West", but unfortunately, it was incoherent, leaving people confused.

Even so, adults and children were sitting under the loudspeaker, listening with relish, treating it as a rare form of entertainment.

At 8:30, the news began to broadcast again.

Chen Fan was holding the market's notice written by Captain Zhang, scribbling and drawing on it, drafting his first announcement.

Then he suddenly heard a piece of news.

"On January 23, the outstanding opera "Honghu Red Guards", which had been relegated to the sidelines for ten years, was re-staged in Wuhan. This is a great event in the cultural world…"

Chen Fan was stunned. If he remembered correctly, the re-staging of this opera represented the official arrival of a cultural thaw. From then on, various songs, movies, and other works that had been sealed would be able to see the light of day again, breaking the monopoly of the model operas.

After pondering for two seconds, he shook his head again, reminding himself to be cautious in his words and actions, and to see how things developed.

Without a political review certificate, it would be impossible for him to enter the cultural system. And the only way for people outside the system to make money through culture was to earn royalties through writing.

But unfortunately, Chen Fan had seen a program about an old writer before, and he remembered clearly that at this time, there were no royalties for writing and publishing articles!

That's right, no matter how many words you wrote, you wouldn't get a penny in royalties.

Because someone above had said, you have a job and a salary, and even commune members can earn work points, so what do you need royalties for?

That's something that only exists in capitalist societies!

So after transmigrating, Chen Fan had never thought about making money through writing.

As for when the royalty system would be restored, he didn't know either.

But hearing the report about the restoration of the performance of "Honghu Red Guards" today was a strong signal.

If even this kind of program was being restored, then those old literati who went to work in the fields could wash their feet, go ashore, and return to their posts. After returning to their posts, they would definitely fight for their lost benefits.

In that case, the day when he could make money by writing words shouldn't be far away, right?!

Just as he was thinking, the morning broadcast ended, and a harsh "beep…" sound came from the loudspeaker.

Chen Fan came back to his senses, quickly turned off the radio, then turned on the microphone switch, first said "Hello" twice, and then said, "Comrade commune members, comrade commune members, please pay attention, now broadcasting an important notice.

I have just received news from the commune that, after careful consideration by the commune leaders, in response to the ardent demands of the broad masses of people, it has been decided to hold a large-scale rural market…"

Chen Fan's voice echoed in the sky above Lujia Bay, and all the more than three thousand villagers in the brigade stared unblinkingly at the loudspeaker, as if they could see a flower blooming from it.

It wasn't until the two announcements were finished that everyone came back to their senses, but some people still couldn't believe it, "What did the loudspeaker just say? The grand market is being restored?"

Someone next to them was already clapping their hands with joy, "Yes, yes, you heard right, the 19th of the 12th lunar month, in Ganjia Village, Team 5, as long as you go, you can participate, you can buy whatever you want, and you don't need tickets, and you can also bring your own things to set up a stall. This is a big deal."

Whether they wanted to buy or sell, everyone was beaming with joy.

Besides the excitement to be seen, some who thought more deeply had an idea pop into their heads.

This time it was just a temporary market, but would there be a day when it would be restored to twice a month, as it used to be?

Those people are gone, so it should be possible, right?!

Chapter 4 is here. Thank you for your subscription and support, and also thank you to book friend 08a for the reward, thank you!!

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