Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 149 9.99 yuan (shipping included)
February 8th, the 21st day of the twelfth lunar month.

It snowed heavily again last night, and the sky didn't clear up until this morning.

After the initial excitement wore off, Chen Fan didn't get up particularly early today, only opening his eyes when the alarm rang.

He lay in bed for five or six minutes before finally getting up.

Wrapped in a cotton coat, Chen Fan went out to find Jiang Lili already busy in the kitchen. He then prepared to inspect all the furry children.

He went to the next room first. The two puppies were still no bigger than his palm, chubby and huddled together. When he lifted the straw mat covering the basket, a cold air came in. They immediately opened one eye and glanced at him unhappily. Not smelling the aroma of breakfast, they closed their eyes again and continued to sleep.

Chen Fan couldn't help but wonder, were they two stupid dogs? It was already dawn and they still weren't up?
He put the lid back on and checked on the chicks. They were all awake, but huddled together for warmth. When Chen Fan lifted the lid, they immediately started chirping incessantly. After a while, realizing there was no food, they chirped even louder.

They're even dumber than dogs.

At this moment, Jiang Lili walked in carrying two bowls and said softly with a smile, "Chickens need to eat in the morning, otherwise they will keep chirping."

Chen Fan removed the lid and pointed to the basket next to him, asking, "Where's the puppy?"

Jiang Lili pushed aside the chicks in the middle with one hand, put the small bowl of chaff into the chicken coop, and then put another bowl into the dog kennel. At the same time, she laughed and said, "The puppy is very well-behaved. It eats when there is food, and doesn't make a fuss when there is no food. It just lies there obediently."

She paused for a moment, then added, "Children need to be a month old to be resistant to the cold. It's still snowing outside, so we'll have to let them roam around inside. We can't keep them in the basket all the time."

Chen Fan then looked at the puppy, "Aren't you going to let them out?"

Jiang Lili shook her head and said with a smile, "We can't release them together. The puppy will chase the chicks, and that will frighten them."

Chen Fan grabbed the two puppies and glared at them fiercely, "Are you bullies? Can you even run?"

The two puppies ignored him, whimpering as they peered into the basket. Who's so annoying? I want to eat!
Chen Fan put the two gluttons down speechlessly, waved his hand, and said, "I'll go check in the back."

Jiang Lili quickly said, "I've already fed the pony and lamb hay, cooked pig feed for the piglets, and cleaned their pens. They're all doing well."

Hearing this, Chen Fan turned around and looked at her with surprise. "What time did you get up?"

It will take at least an hour to finish all this? It's only a little past 6 o'clock now!
Jiang Lili smiled and said, "I got up as soon as I woke up."

Chen Fan couldn't help but shake his head and sigh, "If it weren't for you, they would definitely starve to death."

Jiang Lili's face suddenly turned bright red. "No, no. Um, I'm going to make breakfast."

With that, he lowered his head and walked out.

Chen Fan scratched his head, looking at her retreating figure with a puzzled expression. What was wrong with her now?
He stood up and went to the backyard, patted the pony, patted the lamb, scolded the pig, checked the injury of the falcon, and fed it some meat strips.

After completing the procedures, he went to see the pit he had dug the night before.

As a martial arts master, one should naturally not follow the conventional path.

He immediately brought out an old, homemade ladder from the woodshed, climbed up the wall, stood on the wall, pulled the ladder up, and climbed down on the other side.

He checked the woodpile and, thankfully, only a layer of snow had fallen on the top; not much had gotten into the middle. He planned to chop all the miscellaneous trees into firewood when he got back from his early shift.

Then I looked at the pit not far away, shook off the snow from the branches covering it, and checked the pit walls. They seemed to be frozen solid.
Well, once the firewood dries out, we can try firing the kiln.

The pit kiln firing is just an experiment. He has asked Zhu Hao to help him see if there are any books on kiln firing in the county bookstores. If he can buy them, he can build a fixed kiln and fire things for fun whenever he has free time.

Even without books, it doesn't matter. The structure of a kiln is not complicated. Moreover, before transmigrating, I watched so many videos of building and firing kilns. There were not only kilns for firing pottery and bricks, but also ovens for making bread, cakes, and roast duck. By experimenting slowly, I can eventually replicate it.

After covering the kiln opening again with tree branches, Chen Fan returned the way he came.

After breakfast, I rushed to the brigade headquarters for work. At 9 o'clock, I went to the commune to return the baskets and wooden sticks I had borrowed from the breeding station the day before, and then went to the state-run restaurant to find Zhu Hao.

The sales clerk behind the counter recognized him. As soon as he came over, she greeted him with a smile and went inside to call Zhu Hao.

When Zhu Hao came out, he was carrying a bundle of books. He handed it to him and said with a smile, "I just arrived not long ago. Take a look and see if it suits you."

Then he handed him a power strip with a cord attached, saying, "The cord and the power strip."

Chen Fan first put the power cord into his bag, and said with a smile, "Thank you, Brother Hao and Sister-in-law."

Zhu Hao waved his hand, "Hey, it's nothing. Take a look at these books and see if they're suitable. If not, we'll return them."

Chen Fan's eyes widened. "You can get a refund?"

Zhu Hao laughed heartily, "It depends on the person."

Chen Fan understood instantly, then smiled and lowered his head to read.

The 75 edition of "A Plain Language Explanation of the Formulas for Decoctions" and the 75 edition of "A Collection of Case Discussions" are among the other books published in different years, including "Medicinal Herb Processing," "Traditional Grass Pulping and Papermaking," "Popularization of Chemical Industry," "Science and Technology Making for Children," "Knowledge of Waste Recycling," "Utilization of Rural Household Biogas," "Technical Transformation of Traditional Coking," "Traditional Steelmaking," "Traditional Brick and Tile Sintering," "Traditional Pottery Making," "Knowledge of Rural Sideline Production," "Clothing Cutting," "Common Rural Animal Husbandry," "Home Sugar Making Technology," "Construction Technology," and "Traditional Machinery for Agricultural Product Processing."

There were 18 books in total, all of which were practical and useful. Chen Fan was overjoyed and immediately thanked Zhu Hao repeatedly.

Zhu Hao waved his hand and chuckled, "What are you thanking me for? The bookstore should be thanking you instead. These books have been sitting on the shelves covered in dust. They can't be taken away even if no one buys them, and they have to clean them every day. Now that you've sold them all, they'll even have some extra revenue."

State-owned enterprises also have performance requirements, but there are rewards for meeting them and no penalties for not meeting them.

Chen Fan re-tied the books and looked at Zhu Hao, asking, "Is 10 yuan enough? I'll give you the difference now."

Zhu Hao waved his hand and laughed, "The electrical outlets didn't cost money. They were old stock stored at your sister-in-law's workplace, so we just disposed of them. As for these books, she found an acquaintance at Xinhua Bookstore, gave him the money and the receipt, and asked him to help her buy them. It cost exactly 9.99 yuan, and she even gave him a penny back as a treat."

Chen Fan couldn't help but chuckle, "This is 999 delivered to my door!"

Zhu Hao corrected him seriously, "It's 9.99 yuan."

Before he could finish speaking, he burst into laughter.

(End of this chapter)