Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 173 Lesson

January 12th, the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, Saturday.

The 25th of the twelfth lunar month is not the point, nor is Saturday.

The important thing is that the first veterinary training course for the Lujiawan Production Brigade started today!

With the Chinese New Year approaching, classes are still being held. Chen Fan can only say that the brigade headquarters and the trainees have a really high level of enthusiasm for learning.

Perhaps it has nothing to do with the trainees; they are simply there to obey.

In the makeshift classroom converted from the brigade headquarters meeting room, Chen Fan flipped through the roster. "Um, I'm going to take attendance first. When your name is called, stand up and call out your name. Understand?"

Everyone shouted in unison, though not in perfect unison, "Understood." "We heard you."

Even if the answers are different, as long as the meaning is the same, that's fine. Chen Fan can't expect too much from these children who can only say they can read.

Oh, I almost forgot, he's a "kid" himself, just turned 16.

Shamelessly feigning innocence, he then began calling out names, "Team 1, Zhou Xuguang."

A 13-year-old boy immediately stood up and said, "Here."

Chen Fan clicked his tongue. He said it was for ages 12 to 16, and they actually picked a 13-year-old. Well, let him learn slowly. Anyway, the commune veterinary station couldn't possibly accept such a young student.

Continuing with roll call, "Team 2, Gao Xing'an."

The person who stood up this time looked rather large; although not tall, he had a broad frame.

Chen Fan sized him up for a moment, then looked at the roster. "You're 16 years old this year?"

Gao Xing'an grinned and chuckled, "Teacher, I'm 16 this year, and I'll be 17 after the New Year."

Chen Fan nodded, wondering to himself, "Could someone have changed their age? They look like they're 25, and their face looks too young."

This isn't just a wild guess; changing one's age is very common these days.

For those seeking education, employment, or military service, being over the age limit is no problem; they can simply ask the household registration officer at the brigade headquarters to change the number. Since they are all related by blood or marriage, the officer usually won't refuse.

Chen Fan raised his hand, gesturing for him to sit down.

Well, who cares if it's been changed or not, as long as I can keep up with the learning pace, that's fine. If I can't keep up, I can't blame myself.

Next up, "Team 3, Huang Gang."

It was another boy.

Oh, right, I don't know if it was planned beforehand, but all the people who came today were boys, not a single girl.

Chen Fan continued calling out names, "Team 4, Huang Zhihao."

"Team 5, Xiao Yimin." "Team 6, Yang Zhijun." "Team 7, Ye Ping." "Team 8, Zhang Wenzhong." "Team 9, Wu Fengwen." "Team 10, Su Guanglin." "Team 11, Li Zhengqun." "Team 12, Hou Xianglin."

Outside the conference room, several people crowded around the window to watch the commotion. Secretary Yang grinned and said, "Hehe, Little Chen actually looks like a teacher."

Ye Shubao nodded. "He does look quite presentable, even more so than Teacher Xiao from the village school. Sigh, I wonder if he was a teacher before?"

Xiao Liewen shook his head. "Who can say for sure? Anyway, he doesn't remember anything about his past."

Zhang Changjiang rolled his eyes and said, "Who cares if he's ever been a teacher or not, as long as he acts like one now."

Zhang Wenliang peeked around and said, "Oh, he even has lesson plans! The first lesson is about what they'll be learning, and he's even made a learning plan for them. That's great!"

The only one who was unhappy was Yang Xingxiu. "You guys are going too far! You won't even give a single girl a spot? Let me tell you, if the commune's women's director comes down to inspect and sees that there isn't a single girl in the veterinary class, I won't take responsibility for that."

Secretary Yang turned his head and said irritably, "These were all reported by the squad leaders. We didn't even ask them. What does it have to do with us?"

Yang Xingxiu didn't care that it was her father speaking. "How can it not be related? You're the one in charge. They cheated blatantly. How can you say it has nothing to do with you?"

Zhang Wenliang asked curiously, "How did you cheat?"

Yang Xingxiu said, “I know you all learned from Team 6 to select people through exams. Some teams have more than a dozen people, while others have five or six people who sign up for the exam. But what are the results? In some cases, girls clearly got first place, but here it’s all boys. When the higher-ups investigate, what am I supposed to say?”

Zhang Changjiang coughed lightly, "Xingxiu, this is a selection of veterinarians, not barefoot doctors. Tell me yourself, where are the veterinarians? Not to mention the whole commune, there isn't a single female veterinarian in the entire Gufeng County."

Yang Xingxiu was still unconvinced. "Just because our county doesn't have it doesn't mean other places don't. The New Year picture from 64 even featured a veterinarian girl. Does that mean women can't be veterinarians?"

(New Year picture of a veterinarian girl)
Upon hearing this, Captain Zhang and the others immediately fell silent.

The newspapers and New Year's posters are all promoting the veterinarian girl, what else can they say?
Zhang Wenliang took the initiative to take responsibility, pointing inside and saying softly, "They're all in class now, it's not a good time to change people, is it? Besides, in the production team, we only take the big animals to the doctor when they're sick. How can a young female veterinarian keep those pigs, cattle, and horses in check?"

Yang Xingxiu was seething with anger. "In short, this was not handled properly."

No one knows a daughter better than her father. Secretary Yang took a couple of puffs of his cigarette, squinted, and asked, "Did someone say something to you?"

Yang Xingxiu glanced at her father, paused for two seconds, sighed and said, "Zhang Cuie studied all night in this cold weather for the exam, and then took the exam again the next morning, which made her catch a cold. In the end, she got first place, but Xiao Yimin took it from her. How could she not be angry?"

Zhang Wenliang clicked his tongue, "So it was this girl. She's really stubborn. We told her not to take the exam, but she insisted on taking it."

The others also looked helpless.

Zhang Cuie was the youngest girl in the middle generation of the Zhang family in Team 5. In terms of age, she had to call Zhang Wenliang "Third Brother." She had the same stubborn personality as the Zhang family members. It was no wonder she was angry that her spot had been taken away.

However, the die is cast, and it's impossible and unreasonable to force this girl into the situation, so we can only make the best of a bad situation.

Chen Fan stood in front of the blackboard, going over the key points of knowledge with everyone step by step. "You have only one goal, which is to memorize the main contents of the 'Rural Veterinarian Training Manual' and obtain the 'Rural Veterinarian Certificate' in the graduation exam in two or three months."

However, only three people, including myself, can participate in the commune's veterinary training. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, we will all take a veterinary exam. I will ask Captain Zhang to ask Station Chief Zhou of the commune's veterinary station to come up with the questions. We will have a fair competition, and only the three people with the highest scores will be qualified to go to the commune to study.

That's the general outline. Now, please write down the key points from the veterinary manual. Over the next 20 days, we will be studying these key points.

Everyone immediately took out paper and pen to start taking notes, all of them determined to secure one of the two spots.

Although Teacher Chen said he would also take the exam, no one thought they could beat him. Didn't they see that it was others lecturing on the stage? All the knowledge was learned from others, so how could they possibly pass the exam?
(End of this chapter)