Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 219 Shopping Mission
The four corners slant outwards by more than a foot. Goodness, this adds another foot-wide border to the building plot.

The original area was 166.66 square meters, but now it has to be 180 square meters or more!
Chen Fan was overjoyed and extended another invitation, "It's already noon, why don't we just have a simple meal here, so we don't have to go back and make it ourselves?"

You can't take someone's politeness to heart. Besides, it's just about digging a hole and burying a pillar; they've already accepted a pack of cigarettes, how can they possibly ask for a meal too?

All four of them politely declined with smiles.

"Next time, next time, definitely next time."

"Dinner is ready at home. I'll invite Teacher Chen for drinks another day."

In a few words, they picked up their carrying poles and ropes and left down the slope.

Captain Yang, however, hadn't left yet.

He walked over with his pipe in his hand, pointed down the slope to the educated youth's courtyard, and said, "Come on, I have something to tell you when we get back."

He then started walking forward.

Anything else?
Chen Fan raised an eyebrow and quickly followed, taking out a pack of Peony cigarettes and offering it to the person inside.

Captain Yang chuckled and didn't refuse. He took out the cigarette, smelled it, and said, "Let's have some Western food today."

Chen Fan also took out a cigarette and held it in his hand, laughing, "This is nothing special. I'll go out and bring you back a pack of foreign cigarettes another day. That's what you call a real foreign treat."

Foreign cigarettes are also available now, but they are classified as Class A cigarettes and are not easy to buy.

There are also imported cigarettes that are easy to buy and very cheap, and you don't even need a coupon. There is one called "Diamond", which is imported from Albania. Like economy cigarettes, it only costs 8 cents a pack. However, this cigarette is extremely difficult to smoke, so sales are naturally very poor. Once someone has bought it, most of them and the people around them will never buy it a second time.

The only slightly better option is the Cuban cigarettes that cost 2 cents a pack. Everyone knows Cuban cigars are good, but these cigarettes are a bit hard to describe. They're even harsher than old-fashioned tobacco. Instead of spending 2 cents to buy those cigarettes, you might as well roll some leaves yourself and smoke them.

Besides these two, there are also North Korean cigarettes, which come in a flat, hard box and are also pressed flat, and cost 2 cents.

Needless to say, these cigarettes were all imported to support our "brothers".

The really good cigarettes are the kind imported from Europe and America. These are naturally Class A cigarettes, and even if you have a ticket, you might not be able to buy them.

When Chen Fan said he was inviting Captain Yang to have some "foreign food," he was naturally referring to this kind of thing.

Captain Yang didn't take it to heart, assuming he was joking, and nodded with a smile, "Okay, I'll wait."

He quickly reached the bottom of the slope, looked at the back wall of the former educated youth compound, and asked, "How much distance do you plan to leave here?"

Chen Fan made a gesture, "Three zhang and three fen."

That is, 10 meters. Go back 10 meters from the back wall of the educated youth settlement, and that is Chen Fanxin's yard. Then climb up a small earthen slope, and that is his homestead.

This 10-meter area is nominally a "road" and cannot be used for anything else. This wasteland is 5 or 60 meters wide, which means that another 5 or 600 square meters of space has been taken advantage of.

Captain Yang nodded, "We can open a back door here later, so it will be convenient for people to come and go."

He was making plans for his daughter. Having a back door would make it easier for him to have contact with her. If he cut off contact, how would he get his hands on her?

However, Yang Ju and the others moved in under the pretext of being wary of "alone men and women". Once Chen Fan moves out, will they still be able to live there?

Let's not turn this into a backdoor for Xiao Jiang to use for his own purposes, shall we?

Yang Chuanfu was a little conflicted, wondering if he should use the excuse of asking for help with his studies to stay and not leave.

Chen Fan, on the other hand, was full of excitement and nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, that's what I think too." He turned around and pointed to the top of the slope, which was more than ten meters high, with one hand and the educated youth settlement with the other, gesturing as he said, "The terrain there is uneven, full of potholes, and it's not good for raising livestock."

Captain Yang blushed slightly. If he didn't know that Chen Fan's words were unintentional, he would have thought that Chen Fan was mocking him.

This wasteland was indeed unwanted, which is why it was allocated to Chen Fan. It was essentially making use of waste, and no one in the team objected at the time. This is one of the reasons why he took action today to give Chen Fan an extra ten square meters of residential land—it's a small form of compensation.

Another reason, of course, was to thank him for helping Team 6 train a veterinarian.

Yang Chuanfu was unaware that this kind of isolated plot of land was exactly what Chen Fan wanted.

The place is spacious and quiet; I couldn't be more satisfied.

Chen Fan was still excitedly telling him about his plan, "There happens to be a large, unused livestock shed at the educated youth settlement, so I want to keep all the livestock here and open a back door here so it will be convenient to go up and down."

Actually, he just didn't want to be too close to the livestock shed.

In this respect, he was no different from those who opened vegetable gardens more than 10 meters away from the educated youth dormitory.

As for other little schemes like building a manor, it was naturally inconvenient to tell Captain Yang.

Captain Yang turned around and looked at the two acres of cleared earthen mound, then suddenly laughed and said, "You said you wanted to plant trees earlier, you wouldn't be thinking of taking over this nearly 10 acres of wasteland, would you?"

Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly. Was my intention already that obvious?
He quickly laughed and said, "What are you talking about? What do you mean by occupying space? Who else would build a house here besides me?"

Then he joked again, "Are you going to pick up another person and make them my neighbor?"

The villagers are unlikely to come over. Even if they want to build new houses, there are reserved plots of land for them. Even if the number of households in the village doubles, it would be enough. Who would be so crazy as to come here and keep him company?

Captain Yang burst into laughter, "If I were to pick up another one as capable as you, my little place wouldn't be able to accommodate them!"

After saying that, he walked back with a smile, a cigarette dangling from his lips.

Soon they arrived at the educated youth settlement. After entering the courtyard, Captain Yang took out a small notebook and handed it to him, saying softly, "This is your purchase permit."

Purchase order certificate?
Chen Fan was stunned. Before the Chinese New Year, Jiang Lili had told him that if his household registration was registered here, he would be assigned production tasks to raise pigs and chickens. He didn't expect it to happen so soon.

He then reached out and took it, examining it closely. It was a square card that, when folded in half, became a small rectangular notebook.

(Purchase Certificate)

The cover contains the individual's personal information, including the commune, production brigade, and team, and finally the head of household's name. The back has instructions, and inside are purchase information for three categories: live pigs, live poultry, and fresh eggs.

The table below shows the date, quantity, weight, and the person in charge.

Having received this purchasing permit, Chen Fan was now a genuine "rural person," tasked with fulfilling production duties assigned by his superiors and contributing to the country's development!
Fortunately, his task wasn't too demanding.

Captain Yang smoked a cigarette and said softly, "You're all alone, so we won't assign you any heavy tasks. Considering the actual situation, you only need to hand over one pig every four years, weighing no less than 120 jin (60 catties). You don't need to hand over any other live poultry or fresh eggs. We haven't lacked live poultry and eggs for the past two years. The food station hasn't issued any purchase assignments for two consecutive years. They only accept live pigs."

The purchase price of live pigs is determined by their grade, with the highest being "Special Grade," followed by grades one, two, and three. The purchase price for a Special Grade live pig is 57.5 cents. I won't go into the details of the lower grades, but given your relationship with Old Zhu, it will definitely be a Special Grade pig.”

He chuckled again, "But you're earning two work points, so you don't care about the money. Just consider it as completing the task."

Chen Fan grinned dryly, "A pig to be handed over every four years?"

I wonder if they'll still be doing these sales in four years!

(End of this chapter)