Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 126 Make Him Willing
Seeing Chen Fan grinning from ear to ear, Xiao Liewen laughed heartily with his hands behind his back, "I knew he liked this stuff. Look at him, he's like a rich man who's fallen into a money jar and can't move."

The people around them all burst out laughing.

Chen Fan brazenly ignored it, thinking, "So what if I get laughed at? Once I level up my 'beastly language' skills, I'll scare them to death!"

After placing the puppy on the truck floor, Chen Fan reached for his wallet, "Brother Sanhu, how much did you pay for this dog?"

Zhang Wenliang's face hardened. "What money? You think you're so great just because you made a few dozen yuan today? I already said it was a gift for you, why would you want money?"

Chen Fan smiled sheepishly, "If you want to give me something from your own land, I'll accept it. But this is something I bought with money, so why should I let you pay for it?"

Zhang Wenliang pointed at him and said irritably, "You're such a stubborn person."

He paused for a moment, then explained, "It didn't cost any money. This is my cousin. His dog had puppies, so he brought them to the market to try his luck. He didn't expect to actually sell them; he just wanted to find homes for the puppies. Otherwise, he couldn't afford to keep so many dogs."

In our area, almost no one buys dogs with their own money. People usually wait for a dog to give birth at an acquaintance's house, then go and bring one or two back to raise.

I remembered you like playing with dogs, and you get along well with all the dogs in the village, so I mentioned it to him. When he heard it was for you to pick out dogs, he immediately chose the two best ones without hesitation.

After saying that, he looked at Chen Fan and asked, "Are you still going to pay me back?"

Chen Fan neatly stuffed the money into his pocket, shaking his head with a serious expression. "I can't give it to you. Otherwise, you'd be getting something for nothing, and I can't let you make a mistake."

Upon hearing this, not only Zhang Wenliang, but even Secretary Yang laughed so hard that he was speechless from the smoke.

After catching his breath, Zhang Changjiang asked, "So, are you going back now or what?"

Chen Fan pointed ahead, "I still need to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some things. After I buy them, I'll go back. It won't delay my work this afternoon."

Zhang Changjiang nodded, then pointed at him, "What do you want to buy? Do you have tickets?"

Chen Fan smiled and said, "I have tickets. I just exchanged some meat for tickets, that's enough."

Hearing this, Zhang Changjiang stopped talking, waved his hand, and said, "Okay, then go ahead and get busy. Come back to the brigade as soon as you're done, so as not to delay your work."

Chen Fan nodded, sat back down on the donkey cart, beckoned Jiang Lili to get on, and whipped his horse forward.

Watching the donkey cart slowly drive away, Secretary Yang stood with his hands behind his back, his brows furrowed, and asked softly, "Who was that girl?"

Zhang Changjiang shook his head. "His head is wrapped up so that only his eyes are visible, who can tell?"

After saying that, watching the two figures walk away, he suddenly had a thought and whispered to Secretary Yang, "You suspect he's seeing someone?"

Before Secretary Yang could speak, Zhang Wenliang said from the side, "Uncle, don't talk nonsense. That's Xiao Jiang from the educated youth settlement. Chen Fan invited him to help sell turtle meat. I know about this, and Yang Chuanfu and the others know about it too."

Hearing him say this, Zhang Changjiang and Secretary Yang nodded in understanding.

At this moment, Xiao Liewen said to Zhang Wenliang, "You should still remind Yang Chuanfu to pay attention to the situation between the two of them. After all, it's okay for a short time if a man and a woman are living under the same roof, but if it goes on for a long time, even if there's nothing going on, it will become rumored to be something."

Xiao Chen's background hasn't been investigated yet. If he comes from an ordinary family, that's fine; even if he's made mistakes, it's not a big deal. The real problem is if he comes from a high-ranking official's family. If he settles down here and has a child, that would be a huge problem.

Ye Shubao immediately chimed in, “That’s right. Look at Xiao Chen. He’s fair-skinned and delicate, and he doesn’t know a lot of common sense, yet he’s very capable. This is clearly the characteristic of a child from a high-ranking official’s family.”

Only families like theirs tend to stay within their own circles, rarely interacting with the outside world. Most of these people value marriage within their social class, seeking wives or partners from similar backgrounds. If, after finding someone, one person leaves but three return, the consequences are unimaginable.

Xiao Liewen snorted coldly, "Still don't dare to think about it? What's there to be afraid of? We're not officials, what can they do to us?"

He paused for a moment, then added, "I'm just afraid that something bad might happen and affect the collective honor of our Lujiawan."

Ye Shubao looked at him and chuckled, "Isn't that the same thing?" Xiao Liewen waved his hand and turned to look at Zhang Wenliang, "Anyway, you and Yang Chuanfu should convey this message properly."

Zhang Wenliang nodded. "I know that."

He then looked at the four of them and smiled, "Actually, I talked to Captain Yang about this last time. His idea was that after the New Year, the educated youth who went home would all go back, and then it wouldn't be a lone man and woman, so there would be no fear of something happening."

Secretary Yang nodded. "As long as he has his own ideas, that's fine."

He then waved his hand and said, "Let's go back to the brigade."

After saying that, he took the lead and walked ahead.

Zhang Changjiang quickened his pace to walk alongside him and suddenly asked, "What do you think about what Station Chief Zhou and Master Liu were talking about just now?"

Secretary Yang did not stop walking or speak, but his brows were slightly furrowed, clearly deep in thought.

At this moment, Xiao Liewen also caught up and whispered, "They want Xiao Chen to be a veterinarian. Actually, I don't think it's a bad idea. Anyway, he's a broadcaster, so he only works 3 hours a day. He can go out to make house calls the rest of the time. Or we can set up a veterinary clinic at the brigade headquarters. If any livestock in the brigade gets sick, they can be sent directly here, saving the trouble of going to the commune's veterinary station."

Ye Shubao shrugged and said, "But Xiao Chen isn't happy about it."

Without hesitation, Xiao Liewen said, "Then give him an order, in the name of the brigade headquarters, to arrange for him to go to the veterinary station for further training. Anyway, it's only for two months. He can come over after get off work in the morning, and go back to work the night shift after he finishes the training. The brigade headquarters will reimburse his food expenses, so he won't suffer any losses."

Ye Shubao was both amused and exasperated. "Do you think he's your soldier, giving him orders?"

Xiao Liewen glared at him and said, "We are brigade cadres, and he is the brigade's broadcaster. He is our soldier. What's wrong with that?"

Secretary Yang suddenly waved his hand, "No, it's not appropriate. You can't force someone to be a sweet melon. We should make him willingly become a veterinarian."

Xiao Liewen turned to look at him, "Then what do you suggest we do?"

Secretary Yang squinted and thought for a moment, then said, "I have an idea. Let's give him two jobs."

Zhang Changjiang's eyes darted around slightly. "You mean, give him 20 work points a day?"

Xiao Liewen was startled upon hearing this, "This is beyond the standard, isn't it?"

Ye Shubao, however, had a different opinion: "I think Lao Yang is right. He was doing two jobs. If you only give him one work point, who would be happy?"
Besides, it's not like they've never given out two work points before. During the river construction project, which strong laborer didn't get 20 work points a day? It's just that the first one only lasted for a month or two, while this one was for the whole year; the nature of the work is essentially the same.

Xiao Liewen clicked his tongue, "That makes sense, but there's no precedent for it."

Zhang Changjiang thought for a moment, "How about we call all the team leaders together for a meeting and discuss this?"

Secretary Yang nodded. "We need to have this charter, and we also need to submit an application to Secretary Qian of the commune. Although the production team's affairs are decided and resolved internally, we are ultimately under the leadership of the commune, so we still need to communicate about this matter."

Zhang Changjiang nodded slowly, "Okay, let's do it that way."

After he finished speaking, he suddenly turned to look at Zhang Wenliang, who was a step behind, and said, "Later, find an opportunity to sound him out. Once we've discussed it, we can go and talk to him."

Zhang Wenliang was envious of Chen Fan for being able to earn two work points when he heard Zhang Changjiang's words. He suddenly came to his senses and nodded repeatedly, saying, "I understand. I'll talk to him about it when I get back this afternoon."

But in his heart he was thinking, who would refuse such a good thing as getting 20 points a day?

Just as they were quietly plotting how to get Chen Fan shortlisted, Chen Fan drove his donkey cart and steadily stopped in front of the supply and marketing cooperative's store.

(End of this chapter)