Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 159 Abacus

Pottery making is a technical skill, which can be roughly divided into three steps.

Shaping clay, glazing, and firing in a kiln.

Of course, this is the simplest one. If it's a bit more complicated, there are many more intricacies involved, such as how to mix the clay, how to shape it, how many days to let it dry after shaping before glazing, how to color it, and how to fire it in the kiln. Otherwise, there wouldn't be titles like "Master Pottery Artist."

Chen Fan had already read "Traditional Pottery Making" twice last night. He had also dug a simple pit kiln by hand and barely managed to raise his pottery making skill to LV2 (5/50), finally reaching the apprentice level.

Although there was no experienced master to guide him, he felt he could give it a try.

Anyway, with the skill board, you can still gain experience points even if you fail. After failing a few more times, you can graduate directly, build your own fixed kiln, and become a master craftsman.

If you manage to succeed by sheer luck, it's a complete windfall!

With this mindset in mind, he began to prepare the clay. He repeatedly stirred the clay, discarding impurities and taking only the finest part, which he then placed in a wooden basin.

Then he let Jiang Lili play in the mud under the eaves, while he took out some colorful pebbles and smashed them into powder with a hammer.

He took these small stones from the brigade headquarters. In the past, many water conservancy projects had been carried out in Lujiawan, and some leftover building materials were piled up in a shed in the brigade headquarters.

When he went to the brigade headquarters to collect the items, the custodian, Mr. Luo, thought he wanted a lot, so he only took a jar of small stones and a ladle of lime. He didn't even bother to register them and just let him take them.

The reason for seeking out these colored gravel is that these stones contain metals. By using lime as the main raw material and mixing in this gravel powder in a certain proportion, a less-than-standard "lime glaze" can be made.

Anyway, Chen Fan didn't care about the color. As long as he could add a smooth glaze layer to the surface of the pottery, he would consider it a success.

After smashing the stone and preparing the glaze, Chen Fan went to see Jiang Lili again.

He stared at the ceramic bowl in front of Jiang Lili, his features scrunched up. "What kind of shape are you trying to create?"

Jiang Lili puffed out her cheeks and unconsciously pouted, "I want to make a bowl, but I can't get it to be round no matter what I do."

This was the first time Chen Fan had seen her with this expression. He rubbed his face, trying to make his expression normal, and then said, "Then you can make one that isn't round."

Jiang Lili's eyes widened. "Can a bowl not be round?"

Chen Fan laughed and said, "Anyway, you're not going to sell it. It's something you're keeping for yourself. As long as it can hold things, don't worry about it not being round. You can make it square, or even irregular. Do whatever you want, nobody can tell you what to do."

As he spoke, he grabbed a handful of clay. "Look, I'm going to sculpt a clay slab now. I'll just press it onto the wooden board like this..."

In no time, a slightly irregular rectangular terracotta slab was finished.

Chen Fan took out a bamboo strip and cut off the irregular edges to make a square clay slab. He then flattened the cut clay to make a small round clay slab.

Jiang Lili looked at what he had made and seemed to understand something. So pottery could be made so casually?

So she began to use her imagination, shaping small clay figures with her hands.

Under the moonlight of a winter night, the ice and snow on the ground did not melt at all, reflecting the moonlight and illuminating the world.

In the courtyard of the educated youth, an orange light illuminated the room and also the two figures at the door.

Chen Fan and Jiang Lili sat on small stools, facing a pot of clay, chatting and kneading, one making a bowl and the other a teapot. On the large wooden board next to them, more and more clay pieces of various shapes were being made. A gust of wind blew by, and their laughter and chatter were carried away by the wind and disappeared into the night sky.

……

February 10th, the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, is the Lunar New Year's Eve in northern China.

Unfortunately, this is Jiangnan, where the Lunar New Year is celebrated on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, so today is just another ordinary day.

Chen Fan got up early in the morning and yawned widely.

I stayed up quite late yesterday, didn't go to bed until 10 pm. ...Wait, 10 pm? Only?
Chen Fan came to his senses and couldn't help but feel a little dazed.

Before the time travel, it seemed like you had just finished work at 10 pm and were about to go to bed to scroll through your phone? Or were you still working overtime at the company, preparing to stay up until midnight?

In this era, going to bed at 10 pm is already very late. Without realizing it, I have become a person of this era.

Fetch water from the water vat, brush your teeth with toothpaste, fetch water from the earthenware jar to wash your face, and hang the towel on the bamboo pole to dry...

Actually, there's nothing I can't adapt to. By the way, once my pottery skills improve, I definitely want to make a set of bathroom fixtures, then build myself a "modern" toilet, get a traditional shower system, and ideally, make a big bathtub!

In this era, everything else can be tolerated, but the toilet is the one thing that cannot be tolerated.

Seriously, if office buildings were all like these dry toilets, the idea of ​​"paid time to poop" would never exist. Chen Fan believes that no one can spend half an hour scrolling on their phone in a dry toilet!
After finishing breakfast while having a sweet dream, Jiang Lili carefully checked the clay she had sculpted the night before. Finding no cracks, she then inspected the various animals she kept, fed the falcon two fish, and then packed her things to go to work. Meanwhile, Jiang Lili took the puppy to the back to play with the ponies and lambs, and cooked pig feed.

Just as I reached the gate, there was a knock.

Chen Fan opened the door and saw Captain Yang standing there. He was immediately taken aback and, without inviting him inside, asked directly, "Captain, is there something you need?"

Captain Yang looked at the things on his person. "Oh, you've joined the militia?"

Chen Fan raised the gun in his hand, quickly shook his head and laughed, "No, this is a used gun, Company Commander Zhang gave it to me for practice."

"Oh."

Captain Yang's eyes darted around, and it was unclear what he was thinking.

Chen Fan then asked, "Did you come at this time because of something important?"

It means that if it's not important, I have to go to work!
"Ah, something's come up."

Captain Yang glanced habitually into the courtyard, not seeing Jiang Lili, but noticing a large wooden board under the eaves of Chen Fan's room, covered with various items, and couldn't help but ask in surprise, "What are those?"

He then went inside.

He certainly wouldn't have done that to someone else's home, but this educated youth settlement was a semi-open place. As long as you didn't go into the rooms, there were no other precautions, so it didn't matter.

Seeing that he had already gone inside, Chen Fan could only follow behind with a wry smile and said, "These are all clay blanks. I want to try firing a kiln of pottery myself."

Captain Yang turned around abruptly, staring intently at him with surprise in his eyes. "You know how to make pottery?"

If Chen Fan knows how to make pottery, does that mean the team won't need to buy bowls anymore? Or even better, could they start a side business team?!
Private factories are not allowed, but production teams are an exception. Production teams had previously run many side businesses, but unfortunately they were all taken over by the commune. Now, only the oil press, mill, and cotton ginning workshop in Team 10 remain. These three are closely related to the lives of farmers and cannot be taken away, so they have been preserved with great difficulty.

Chen Fan said with a wry smile, "No, no, I went to the commune a couple of days ago and happened to run into Master Zhu..."

He briefly explained the situation and concluded by saying, "One of the books is called 'Traditional Pottery Making,' and I thought I'd try making some myself."

Then he pointed towards the backyard, "Anyway, there are lots of miscellaneous trees there, digging a hole won't take much effort, let's give it a try."

Upon hearing this, Captain Yang clicked his tongue and shook his head, "It has to be you educated people. We roughnecks might not be able to learn even with someone teaching us, let alone learn from books on our own."

He then smiled and said, "Okay, take your time trying it. If you need any help, just let me know."

Chen Fan smiled and said, "Okay, I'll definitely ask the leader for help if I encounter any difficulties."

Captain Yang burst into laughter, "What kind of leader am I? At the very least, I'm a cadre in the brigade headquarters. If you really want to count, you're one of the leaders in our brigade."

Chen Fan chuckled awkwardly. If he was considered a leader, then there would be countless leaders across the country.

Only then did Captain Yang finally remember his purpose. He coughed and said in a low voice, "After you finish work this morning, could you come back for a visit?"

Before Chen Fan could ask a question, he continued, "I got a set of test papers from the commune primary school, but there aren't many educated people in our team. The highest level of education we have is only primary school graduation, and that was several years ago. It would be best if you could preside over this exam."

Chen Fan understood; he was referring to the veterinary selection exam, which had been scheduled the day before yesterday.

He immediately nodded and said, "Sure, I'll definitely come back if there are no special circumstances at the brigade headquarters."

Actually, he came back every day these past few days, but the educated youth settlement was at the very back, separated by a small grove of trees, so the villagers didn't know about it.

Seeing that he agreed so readily, Captain Yang nodded in satisfaction, "Alright, then don't bother with anything at noon today, just have lunch at my house."

After saying that, he left with his hands behind his back.

Before leaving, I glanced at the clay blanks on the wooden board, silently making some plans in my mind.

Things should return to normal tomorrow.
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(End of this chapter)