Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 105 The Journey to the West

As they left the commune government compound, Secretary Yang coughed lightly. "Old Zhang, you go back first. I have some things to take care of."

Zhang Changjiang was taken aback. "It'll be dark in a little over two hours. What business do you need to take care of at this time? Is it personal business?"

Secretary Yang glanced at him and said, "Just go back and that's it. Why all the nonsense?"

"nonsense!"

Zhang Changjiang pointed to the bicycle in his hand and said, "The bike is in your hand. It would take me thirty or forty minutes to walk back, but less than ten minutes to ride it back. Besides, we came out together. If your family asks me about it later, I have to give them an explanation."

Secretary Yang knew he couldn't stay silent any longer, so he looked around, then coughed and said softly, "The broadcasting station has been running for three days now, and I wonder how the other teams are doing. I thought I'd take this opportunity to go over and exchange ideas with them, and learn from their experience."

Zhang Changjiang gasped, staring blankly at him. "Old Yang, Old Yang, how did you come up with such a terrible idea?!"

Secretary Yang's face hardened, and he was about to give him a good scolding.

What does "bad idea" mean? I went to learn from the experience of other teams, how did that become a bad idea?
Then Zhang Changjiang said, "The key point is that you want to go it alone without me. You don't even include me in this good thing. You're such a scoundrel."

Secretary Yang's face stiffened slightly. "There's nothing good going on, it's just..."

Zhang Changjiang snatched the bicycle from his hands and chuckled, "I'm fast. I can visit all four teams and maybe even get home before dark."

After saying that, he stepped over and put one foot on the foot pedal, saying, "Get on the bus."

Secretary Yang didn't hesitate and immediately jumped into the car, saying, "Be careful, don't drive into the ditch."

Zhang Changjiang pedaled away, saying, "Don't worry, I'll make sure it's safe."

He then chuckled and said, "It's a pity I didn't bring Xiao Chen along; it's a bit lacking. But what do you think they'll be thinking when they hear the news tomorrow morning?"

Secretary Yang, "..."

Who are these people?!

……

Chen Fan practiced his basic sketching skills and line drawing in the radio station until 5 o'clock when the broadcast ended, then he packed up and left work.

When they arrived at the Intermediate People's Court, they learned that Secretary Yang and Captain Zhang had not yet returned, and they had no idea what the situation was like over there.
Captain Xiao and his men were also puzzled. Riding bicycles, a round trip should take less than 20 minutes if they were fast, but now it had been almost two hours. Could it be that Secretary Qian of the commune invited them to dinner?
Unable to come up with a solution, Chen Fan went home first.

I walked briskly out of the village, then started running, and by the time I got home it was only 5:15.

Jiang Lili was cleaning fish in the yard when she saw him return. She immediately looked up and smiled, "You're back! How was your day?"

Chen Fan first leaned the dog-beating stick against the wall, then walked over and said, "It's alright. The draft is finished. Secretary Yang and Captain Zhang sent it to the commune. I don't know if it will be of any use."

Jiang Lili's eyes widened. "So fast? Have they all been sent to the commune?"

He then laughed and said, "Of course it's possible, otherwise they wouldn't have gone to deliver it together."

Chen Fan chuckled and said, "That's what I think too."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Lili burst out laughing.

Most normal people would say a few polite words, but he just admitted it outright. However, his frankness is actually quite endearing.

Thinking of this, a blush rose on Jiang Lili's face, and she lowered her head to continue cleaning the fish.

She quickly prepared the fish, rinsed it clean with water, and then tidied herself up before heading to the kitchen to cook.

As soon as I looked up, I saw Chen Fan writing and drawing on a whiteboard covered with white paper, glancing at me every now and then.

She couldn't help but wonder, "What are you writing?"

Chen Fan, "Sketching".

"Sketching?"

Jiang Lili frowned in confusion. "What's that?"

Chen Fan looked up, his face serious, and said, "You'll know what it is once I've finished writing." Jiang Lili raised her eyebrows, rolled her eyes slightly, and smiled, "Then you can write slowly, I'll go cook."

After she went into the kitchen, Chen Fan returned to the room and took off the kettle and cloth bag he was carrying.

Chen Fan sewed this cloth bag himself, using the piece of cloth that Huang Laosi had given him. Even though Huang Laosi later gave him another piece, it was still far from enough to make a set of clothes, so he simply cut it up and made a cloth bag.

Anyway, he didn't have high requirements. He just wanted something sturdy that could hold things. His main goal was to gain some tailoring experience points.

However, once finished, the homespun cloth shoulder bag turned out quite well.

He divided a piece of cloth into three sections, sewed the bottom two sections together to make a bag, and used the top section to make a bag flap. He also whittled a small ruyi (a traditional Chinese ornament symbolizing good fortune) out of bamboo to make a button, and used the cut-off corners to make a bag strap. Even Jiang Lili thought it was good.

Most importantly, with this shoulder bag, the little alarm clock no longer needs to be tied to my waist or tucked into my pocket; I can just put it in the bag.

The kettle and cloth bag were hanging on the wall, and Chen Fan continued painting the picture he had just finished.

With just a few strokes, a mud-walled house is sketched as the background, and then the silhouette of Jiang Lili is drawn, with a wooden basin in front of her, her hands stretched into the basin.

After the outline was complete, Chen Fan continued to draw the details, focusing on facial features, which took the most time.

The details are not so easy to draw, especially since he is a beginner.

After having dinner and washing up, I painted under the lamp until 9 p.m. before finally finishing the painting.

Chen Fan picked it up to examine it, first nodding, then shaking his head.

The drawing is passable, but only passable. After all, I spent an entire afternoon practicing and only managed to get my drawing skill to LV2, so I can't expect too much.

It's not appropriate to give this painting away, so I'll keep it for myself. I'll give her another sketch later when I've leveled up her skill.

This level of skill is sufficient for drawing scenes of labor on the dike.

In any case, the sketch is just to express an attitude; the main content is still the press release, and the picture is just a supplementary means.

Besides, even if it were selected, with current printing technology, no matter how detailed the drawing is, the printed result would just look the same, so it's good enough if it's close enough.

……

The next morning, Chen Fan got up very early and set off an hour early. He first went to the dike on the side of Team 5. At this time, the commune members had already started digging the dike. After greeting them, he stood aside and watched the construction site.

One downside of small projects is that the personnel are scattered, so they can't create that bustling, energetic atmosphere.

But it's okay, there's a way to fix it.

Drawing parts instead of the whole, and then connecting those parts together, can also create a good composition.

After figuring out his ideas, Chen Fan took out his writing board and started writing.

As I was drawing, a voice suddenly came from beside me, "What are you doing?"

Chen Fan turned around and saw that it was Zhang Wenliang. He immediately said, "Sketching? Captain Xiao also mentioned yesterday that during the Northern War, war correspondents didn't have cameras, so some people used sketches to replace photographs, and the effect was quite good."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wenliang immediately perked up, his eyes widening as he asked, "Replace a photograph? That's possible?"

Chen Fan smiled and said, "Of course it's not as realistic as a photograph, but we don't have a camera, so we'll just use a sketch as a substitute."

"That's better than nothing!"

Zhang Wenliang said excitedly, then his eyes darted around and he asked in a low voice, "Could you draw a sketch of the militiamen?"

Chen Fan nodded without hesitation, "Sure, how about you stand guard and I'll draw you?"

Zhang Wenliang chuckled, "How could I possibly accept that..."

Then he patted his arm and said, "Wait a minute, I'll go get my horse and gun."

After saying that, he ran off towards the village in a flash.

(End of this chapter)