Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 206 This trip can't be in vain.
Just as Chen Fan was wondering where to find industrial vouchers, Station Master Zhou and Wang Shiping walked over.

They first looked at the horse at the door and reached out to touch it, but the mare immediately reared up, kicking her front hooves and neighing loudly.

Fortunately, both of them were people who frequently dealt with livestock, so they quickly took two steps back to avoid facing the mare directly and to keep their distance.

Hearing the commotion, Chen Fan immediately turned around and ran out. He first pulled on the reins to calm the horse down, then smiled at the two men and said, "Station Chief Zhou, Dr. Wang, it's you two."

Station Chief Zhou pointed at the horse with a look of surprise, "How did you heal this horse?"

Chen Fan touched the horse's face, turned his head and laughed, "It's not cured yet. Once it's cured, its temper won't be so bad anymore."

He dared not say that the horse was fine, otherwise Gan Laibao, who was originally calm, would probably have been seething with anger.

What? It was half-dead in my hands, but it's fine now that you've taken it away?

Most importantly, what if people think he has some extraordinary abilities, able to cure a horse just by leading it away? If that's the case, what if someone with ulterior motives accuses him of possessing magic? Or what if everyone starts going to him to treat their livestock?
Anyway, he can't admit to this; keeping a low profile is the best approach.

Station Chief Zhou agreed, and said with a strange look, "Could it be that it refused to eat before, and now it's gone berserk?"

At this moment, Wang Shiping suddenly exclaimed "Ah!" and leaned close to Station Chief Zhou, whispering, "Station Chief, do you remember the horse from Team 3 of Bailang Lake five years ago?"

Station Master Zhou's eyes flickered slightly, then he turned around abruptly to look at him, and then turned around again to look at the mare. "Oh my, you know what, it really does look a bit like one."

Chen Fan was a little curious, "What happened to that horse at Bailang Lake?"

Bailang Lake is one of the five production brigades of Nanhu Commune. It is named after a large lake covering several hundred acres in the center of the brigade, which was built around the entire brigade.

Moreover, Bailanghu Brigade was the only production team in Nanhu Commune with "economic farmers".

"Economic households" refers to farmers engaged in economic production, as opposed to ordinary members of production teams.

In some areas, there is no farmland to produce food, so people can only grow cash crops such as tea, fruit trees, and medicinal herbs, or engage in animal husbandry.

Since they do not produce grain, these farmers can only have their food rations distributed by the state through a special "farmer's grain card," just like urban residents. They are also subject to various cash crop products.

Therefore, farmers are different from ordinary farmers. Their food rations are fixed, so they don't have to worry about a sudden reduction in production in a certain year, leaving them without enough food to eat and having to buy expensive "returned grain".

Grain sold back to the government is a very special type of grain.

In those days, in addition to the mandatory delivery of grain to the state, for various reasons, higher authorities would generally require local areas to collect as much grain as possible.

The original intention was good, and at first the farmers were very willing to sell their grain beyond their own rations to the grain depot, giving them less or no grain to keep for themselves.

However, when the policy was implemented at the local level, the desire to keep up with the Joneses gradually turned what was initially voluntary into mandatory.

Normally, after the production team completes its grain delivery quota, it keeps some reserve grain for unforeseen circumstances, and the remaining grain is distributed to each household, which the farmers can use as they see fit.

However, the grain depot would require the purchase of grain according to a certain ratio.

For example, if a farmer harvests 10 jin of grain this year, he first hands over 3 jin of grain to the government. The remaining 7 jin need to be sold to the grain depot, and the farmer can only control 3 to 4 jin.

As a result, unless it is a bumper harvest year, there is a high chance that the food rations on hand will not be enough to eat.

Under normal circumstances, if a member's family is short of food, they can use their work points to exchange for grain with the production team, and the amount will be deducted at the end of the year when the accounts are settled.

However, if even the production teams run out of grain, farmers can only go to the grain depot's sales outlets to buy "return grain" that is specially supplied to rural areas, but the price of the return grain is 20% to 30% higher than the market price.

This was one of the main reasons why many places didn't have enough food back then, followed by natural disasters such as droughts and floods.

That is to say, the Jiangnan region was prosperous, especially after the control of the Yangtze River floods, and most years saw bumper harvests, which is why such a situation was rare.

However, it's not uncommon; even a rare occurrence can be talked about for ten or eight years.

Therefore, most rural girls here, like people in other places, dream of obtaining urban residency and are proud to marry city dwellers. The most important reason is to secure a stable food supply, and the second is for the sake of face.

However, only a very small number of women can marry into towns and obtain urban household registration. As a result, many people set their sights on farming households, where they receive rationed food and are considered half "city dwellers." They may still be doing farm work, but that is still better than having a purely rural household registration.

The farmers living on Bailang Lake are fishermen who rely on that large lake for their livelihood. Every year, they have to hand over a certain amount of their catch, which is equivalent to farmers handing over grain. Grain reserves are not allocated to them, so compared to other groups, the pressure they bear is much lighter.

They frequently caught fish to hand over to the authorities, which required a large number of livestock for transportation. Therefore, Bailang Lake had the most mules and horses in Nanhu Commune.

Upon hearing Chen Fan's words, Wang Shiping immediately said, "Five years ago, there was a horse in Team 3 of Bailang Lake that was similar to this one. It didn't eat much, had no energy to work, and often stared blankly at the back wall of the stable with its rear end facing backward. Sometimes it would even bite other horses. When we brought it to our veterinary station for treatment, we couldn't find anything wrong with it. At the time, everyone said that the horse was going crazy."

He suddenly clapped his hands as he spoke, “Sure enough, on a stormy night, the horse suddenly broke free of its reins and plunged into Bailang Lake. By the time it was pulled out, it was already dead. Isn’t that strange?”

The more Chen Fan listened, the more he felt something was wrong. Why did that horse sound like it had severe depression?

First, he was listless and depressed, then he became manic and unstable, and finally he couldn't think straight and committed suicide.

He had indeed seen news reports before and knew that Ma also suffered from depression, but this was the first time he had ever heard of it in real life.

Station Master Zhou suddenly took two steps to the side, pulled Chen Fan aside, and whispered, "Did Gan Laibao ask you to take this horse back for treatment, or did you buy it?"

Chen Fan blinked. "It was bought, the money and goods were exchanged, and everyone put their fingerprints on it."

Station Master Zhou looked dejected. "Why did we buy it? This horse is not normal."

Chen Fan glanced at the mare staring straight at him and said, "Uh, it's okay, take your time."

Afraid that Station Master Zhou would continue talking about horses, he quickly changed the subject, "Station Master, do you have any industrial coupons?" Station Master Zhou was taken aback for a moment, and while reaching into his pocket, he said, "What do you need industrial coupons for?"

Chen Fan turned around and smiled at Wang Xiaoling, who was walking over and watching them chat with great interest. "I want to buy an air rifle. I need 3 industrial coupons."

"Buying an air rifle?"

Station Master Zhou had already taken out the industrial coupons, but upon hearing this, he stuffed them back in. He turned around and pointed at Wang Xiaoling, saying, "Xiao Wang, I'm not trying to criticize you, but how come you make money from everything? When Xiao Chen bought an air rifle, you didn't even try to stop him."

Wang Xiaoling was speechless. "Uncle Zhou, what are you saying? I'm a sales clerk! I'm already being lenient by not pushing sales when customers come to buy things, and now you're stopping me? If Director Qian hears this, will I even be able to keep my job?!"

No sooner had the words left her mouth than a fair-skinned middle-aged woman wrapped in a cotton-padded coat walked out from behind and said loudly, "What do you mean, whether you want to work or not? Did you get into another argument?"

Station Master Zhou turned to look at her. "Oh, you're coming to work in person today?"

"Pooh."

Director Qian spat, then laughed and scolded, "You can't expect anything good to come out of a dog's mouth. Are you just letting others take your class?"

She then looked at Chen Fan and her eyes lit up. "Oh my, where did this young man come from? He's so handsome! Which company do you work for? Do you have a girlfriend? If not, how about I introduce you to someone?"

Chen Fan opened his mouth wide and blinked. "I came to buy a gun, how did it turn into a blind date?"
At this moment, Master Liu and the others, who had fallen behind, caught up. They immediately spotted the mare that Chen Fan was leading, drove the vehicle to the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative, jumped off, and said, "Are you having a meeting here?"

Station Master Zhou and Director Qian both greeted him with smiles, calling him "Master Liu".

Master Liu grinned and waved, "Hello, hello."

He then looked at Chen Fan and asked, "You're here to buy something?"

Chen Fan: "Ah, I want to buy an air rifle."

As soon as he finished speaking, Director Qian asked, "Master Liu, is this someone from your village? I've never seen him before."

Master Liu pointed at Chen Fan and laughed, "Hey, new guy, Master Chen, have you heard of him?"

Director Qian suddenly realized, her eyes lighting up as she looked at Chen Fan. "Oh, you must be Master Chen. You must be single, right? How about I introduce you to someone?"

Chen Fan looked completely bewildered. What was wrong with him?
The four girls on the donkey cart behind him were on tenterhooks, staring at Chen Fan expectantly.

Fortunately, Master Liu waved his hand and said, "Young Chen is only 16 this year. What's the point of introducing him to someone? They can't get married anyway."

Director Qian looked regretful. "That's indeed a bit small. In a couple of years, Sister Qian will introduce you to other ones."

These days, when people date, they're basically aiming for marriage. Unless there are special reasons, if you date for four years and still don't get married, you'll likely be drowned in gossip.

Then Director Qian finally remembered the important matter. He looked at the air rifles that hadn't been put away yet on the counter and said to Chen Fan, "Why do you have money to buy an air rifle? It's 38 yuan apiece, ridiculously expensive, and you need industrial coupons. Go find Station Chief Zhou and ask him if anyone in the countryside wants to sell a gun. There are plenty of guns to buy. A double-shot hunting rifle is only 30 yuan. It's not as cost-effective as buying an air rifle."

Chen Fan blinked rapidly. If he wasn't mistaken, she was trying to push the business away.

Now he understands why there are no air guns displayed here; it turns out no one is buying them.
He didn't know that although gun control was implemented after the founding of the People's Republic of China and gun licenses were issued, these were practically useless. Especially from the late 60s onwards, when the idea of ​​universal conscription was promoted, nobody knew how many guns were hidden in civilian hands.

In big cities it might be a bit better, but in rural areas, saying that every household has a gun might be an exaggeration, but that's definitely an understatement to say that every squad has a gun. The types are even more varied, from shotguns to hunting rifles, from the Hanyang rifle from a hundred years ago to the latest Type 56 semi-automatic rifle, and there are even quite a few mortars and grenade launchers.

Forget about registering at the police station, who the hell has time to report that stuff?
Only cadres in government units and educated intellectuals would have the conscious idea of ​​obtaining a gun license.

Therefore, guns were worth the least at this time, only slightly more than scrap metal.

It wasn't until 1981, with the enactment of a new "Gun Control Law," that all guns belonging to government departments and enterprises were confiscated, and only "non-professional hunters" were allowed to possess no more than two guns. This significantly reduced the number of gun owners and the amount of guns in possession.

At this time, the price of guns also skyrocketed. For example, the "工" brand air rifle rose to 220 yuan per unit in 85. Although this was related to the rise in prices, the increase was much higher than inflation.

Later, for various reasons, air guns still had a considerable market in big cities, but in rural areas, unfortunately, firearms were the mainstream!

It wasn't until 96, when the strictest gun control law was enacted, that guns gradually disappeared from people's lives.

Now, if it weren't for the higher-level unit ordering and distributing the goods, the Nanhu Supply and Marketing Cooperative wouldn't sell these air guns.

Selling air guns is less profitable than selling bullets!
Hearing Director Qian's words, Chen Fan was conflicted for a moment, wondering whether he should still buy the gun.

Station Chief Zhou patted his arm and said seriously, "Do you want an air rifle, or any kind of gun will do?"

Chen Fan's eyes darted around slightly. "A musket is definitely out of the question, and an old gun won't do either."

Station Chief Zhou immediately said, "That's fine then. It's not easy to get proper rifles. They're mostly managed by the militia. It's not that ordinary people don't have them, but they're rare. Most of them have shotguns and hunting rifles. We're on our way to the Victory Brigade for a medical call right now. There's a family there who have five or six hunting rifles. If you really want one, I can get one for you. Just give them ten or twenty yuan."

What else is there to say? Chen Fan immediately nodded, "Okay."

He paused for a moment, then looked at the smiling Director Qian and Wang Xiaoling and said, "I can't have come here for nothing today, Sister Qian, could you please get me a small alarm clock?"

Then he gave a thumbs-up and pointed at Station Chief Zhou, saying, "Station Chief Zhou, here's the industrial coupon."

Upon hearing this, everyone burst into laughter.

Wang Xiaoling quickly issued the invoice and took the goods, Chen Fan paid the money, and Station Master Zhou took the invoice with a wry smile.

After getting the alarm clock, Chen Fan greeted the others, mounted his horse, and rode away in a cloud of dust.

(End of this chapter)