Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 186 Pure Male-Female Relationships
The more they chatted, the happier they became. Before they knew it, they had finished drinking tea and eating a plate of pastries that Chen Fan had brought out.

It wasn't until the radio announced the exact time of 12 o'clock that Jiang Lili suddenly realized, "Oh no, I haven't cooked yet."

He then hurriedly stood up and headed to the kitchen.

Chen Fan quickly stopped her, "What are you still doing? You're already full from eating rice candy, how can you still eat?"

Jiang Lili turned around, her face flushed, and said, "I can't eat anymore."

Chen Fan laughed and said, "Then let's skip lunch and have a nice meal together tonight."

He then stood up and said, "Yesterday I brought a charcoal stove over to Master Lu, and Captain Xiao saw it and wanted one too. I'll go get some clay to make one for him now."

Jiang Lili's eyes widened. "Making pottery in this cold weather?"

She paused for a moment, then frowned slightly and pouted, saying, "What if other people ask you for a charcoal stove in the future?"

Chen Fan looked at her with some surprise and chuckled, "Not bad, Comrade Xiao Jiang, you already know to take precautions."

Jiang Lili wrinkled her nose. "I'm not stupid. You're so capable. If you don't send people out, that's fine. But once you open this door, it'll be hard to stop. Then you won't have enough time to deal with them."

Chen Fan waved his hand with a smile and said softly, "I'm not stupid. The one I gave to Master Lu doesn't count. The one I gave to Captain Xiao today was traded to me for a sheepskin hat with ear flaps worth ten yuan, so it wasn't a freebie. If anyone wants it in the future, whether it's a charcoal stove or something else, the standard line is drawn here. Giving it away for free would force me to offend Captain Xiao, understand?"

Jiang Lili's lips parted slightly, her eyes widening. "So that's how it is."

Then her eyes curved into crescents as she smiled and said, "I'll go boil a pot of water; it won't be so cold if I use hot water to mix the mud."

This time, Chen Fan didn't stop her. While Jiang Lili went to boil water, he found a basket, took a shovel, and went to dig mud in the back.

With the support of the skill board, his pottery skills are getting better and better. Compared to the crooked and broken pieces he made the first time, his pottery pieces are now quite decent. Even without a potter's wheel, he can make a bowl that is almost round.

However, today he didn't make bowls, but instead pressed many clay slabs with a wooden board.

Jiang Lili watched from the side, her eyes full of confusion, "What are these?"

Chen Fan looked at her and chuckled, "Guess."

Jiang Lili wrinkled her nose and pouted, saying, "I can't guess."

Seeing her expression, Chen Fan couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Sister Jiang came by yesterday, and she unlocked a lot of Xiao Jiang's emoji expressions, which are much more vivid than before.

Compared to when we first met, when she would often lower her head and blush, it's a world of difference.

Jiang Lili wasn't angry when Chen Fan laughed at her; she just smiled and said, "Then what do you think it's for?"

These strange clay slabs were mostly square, but some were curved in various ways, some with an inward curve, some with an outward curve, and some with an inward curve like a tile, leaving her completely baffled.

Chen Fan didn't tell her the answer, but just smiled and said, "After this batch of ceramics is fired, if not too many are damaged, you'll know the answer then."

Looking at those clay slabs, he couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive, wondering if these terracotta slabs would warp when fired.
Seeing that he didn't say anything, Jiang Lili stopped asking and smiled as she sculpted the clay with him.

Compared to Chen Fan's rapidly improving skills, her craftsmanship was still at the level of making pottery for the first time. However, she didn't care. In Chen Fan's words, these were all things she used herself, so as long as they worked well, why bother with so much?

The two worked until after 3 p.m., arranging the clay blanks under the shed next to the kitchen.

This place, with ventilation from two sides and protected from rain and snow, was ideal for drying clay. Chen Fan built a rack here specifically to hold the clay blanks.

Looking at the shelves full of pottery blanks, the two exchanged a glance and chuckled.

……

Continue working in the afternoon.

Upon arriving at the brigade headquarters, Chen Fan first turned on the loudspeaker on time. After waiting for a while and confirming that there were no problems, he went to the front yard.

As in the morning, the learning content for this lesson was assigned, and the students were instructed to study on their own. If they had any questions, they could come back later for answers. Leaving the classroom converted from the conference room, Chen Fan walked through the main hall to the office opposite.

There's no one else here today, only Secretary Yang is on duty.

The production team and the factory are definitely not comparable. The factory has a 3-day holiday for the Spring Festival, from the first day to the third day of the Lunar New Year. Except for one or two people who stay on duty, everyone else can stay home.

From the first to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the production team headquarters would generally not be open for business, with only one person remaining on duty. All coordinating workers would resume normal work only after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

That's considered good. It's said that in some places, production teams will stay on the third day of the second lunar month until the "Dragon Raises Its Head" festival ends, and then they will resume normal work.

Therefore, during this period, all the leaders of the brigade headquarters will take turns on duty.

Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, and the person on duty is the highest-ranking official in the brigade, Secretary Yang.

Upon seeing Chen Fan enter, Secretary Yang put down the newspaper in his hand. "Little Chen, have you finished assigning the homework?"

The office and the classroom faced each other, so he could hear everything Chen Fan said clearly from there, so of course he knew.

Chen Fan leaned over and nodded. "That's it. Let them study on their own. I'll answer any questions they don't understand later."

He paused for a moment, then said with a fawning smile, "Secretary Yang, may I borrow the brigade headquarters' phone for a moment?"

"Use the phone?"

Secretary Yang looked at him with confusion, "What are you doing on the phone? Who are you calling?"

Could it be that this kid has acquaintances in the commune and wants to call someone to wish them a Happy New Year?

But that doesn't make sense either. He's forgotten so many things. Does he even remember whose phone number he called?
Thinking of this, Secretary Yang's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

broken.

Could it be that he's remembered something? Is this treasure going to slip away?

Just as he was scaring himself, he heard Chen Fan say,
"Didn't Xiao Jiang's sister come to see her and then rush back early this morning? It's snowing heavily, and the roads are slippery. Xiao Jiang was worried about her sister, so she asked me to call her sister's workplace to ask if she had arrived home safely."

Secretary Yang stared at him, blinking rapidly, and it took her a while to come to her senses. "Little Jiang? Sister?"

Chen Fan nodded. "Ah."

Secretary Yang blinked. "What's your relationship?"

Chen Fan was speechless for a moment, then raised his right hand with a serious expression, "I assure Mr. Li that our relationship is purely platonic."

"Oh."

Secretary Yang nodded in realization, "Alright then, let's make the call, right?"

He got up and walked to the cabinet at the back. He took out his key, unlocked a lock, and opened the cabinet door. Inside was a box made of white tin, with a small lock hanging on it.

After using a different key to unlock the small lock, a black telephone was revealed inside.

(Hand-cranked telephone)
They carefully lifted the telephone out, with a thick black line trailing behind it.

He then placed it on the table, looked at Chen Fan, and coughed lightly, "Go ahead and hit him."

Chen Fan tilted his head and looked at the telephone, silently recalling how to use this type of magneto telephone.

Should I grab the microphone first, or crank the handle first?

Seeing that he didn't move, Secretary Yang's expression changed slightly, and he smiled, "You don't know how to use it, do you? I'll teach you."

Then, pointing enthusiastically to the crank handle, he said, "See this? Crank it slowly, don't use force, or it will pull down. Be sure to crank it slowly. Once the signal is established, the phone will ring. Then you can pick up the receiver and tell the operator the phone number you want to call."

(End of this chapter)