Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 220: Stay
During lunch, Huang Ying, Yang Ju, and Liu Dan passed around the purchase voucher.

Of course they didn't find it strange. They had this at home too, enough to feed the pigs every day, so why would they find it strange?

But the fact that this thing was connected to Chen Fan made them find it very interesting.

Look at Teacher Chen, he's fair-skinned, tall, handsome, and even a bit dashing—he's just as good-looking as an actor in a movie.

Looking at the purchase order certificate, you can immediately think of pigs!

Then, when they connected Teacher Chen with pigs, the three of them couldn't help but want to laugh, but they didn't dare to, so they tried their best to hold it in, and their expressions became a little distorted.

Having already seen the purchase voucher, Jiang Lili understood their intentions best. She had already calmed down, but now they made her want to laugh again, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up.

Chen Fan, however, didn't care at all. He slowly spat out the fish bones and said with a smile, "Raising pigs is like studying; it also depends on talent. Unfortunately, I just don't have any talent for it. So in the future, I'll have to ask you all to at least help me raise the pigs to 120 jin (60 catties) so I can give you an answer."

By early 84 at the latest, the "commune to township, production team to village" reform would be fully implemented. From then on, the term "team number" would only exist in the mouths of people who lived through that era. Then, decades later, when the generation born in the new century grows up, they will find it strange that, even though we are from group number of a certain village, the elders always say that we are from team number number.
In fact, even before the spring of 84, after the Xiaogang reform was a great success, more and more production teams and communes secretly followed suit, and many things were quietly changing.

Therefore, the food stations, which were not officially dissolved until 84, had in some places stopped issuing purchase orders to production teams several years in advance.

As people's lives improve, their demand for meat will naturally increase. High demand will drive up pork prices, further pushing up the price of live pigs. At that point, without anyone issuing orders, many people in rural areas will voluntarily raise pigs.

With the popularization of hybrid rice, grain production increased and rice bran became more abundant, resulting in more feed for pig farmers. Previously, they could only raise two pigs, but now they could raise three or even four.

In this way, food stations, slaughterhouses, and meat processing plants all have an endless supply of live pigs, so there is no need to issue any more quotas.

After all, the purpose of assigning purchase quotas is to provide subsidies to farmers. Every penny saved is a penny earned, so why add to the burden? This is one of the reasons why purchase quotas were interrupted several times in previous years.

Therefore, if Chen Fan were a little bolder, he might not even have to submit the task of feeding a single pig and could have survived until the food station canceled its procurement.

Anyway, he's raising two pigs now, so he doesn't have to work hard himself. He can choose one to complete the task, which will give him a sense of participation in this era.

In the future, when I talk to my grandson, I can proudly say, "Back then, your grandpa was also someone who was entrusted by the country to carry out important tasks!"

Those who say this task is unimportant definitely don't eat pork.

Upon hearing Chen Fan's words, Huang Ying was the first to give her assurance, "Don't worry, Teacher Chen, I raised my own pigs. Last year, they weighed 150 jin (75 catties). If you leave them to me, there will definitely be no problem."

Upon hearing this, Yang Ju quickly chimed in, "The pig I raised has grown to 156 jin (78 catties), and that's what you'll eat before the Lunar New Year."

Chen Fan nodded immediately upon hearing this. "Yes, that pig is indeed delicious!"

Liu Dan wasn't going to be outdone, but her pigs were indeed smaller than theirs, so she could only mutter, "I... I can raise pigs too."

Only Jiang Lili remained silent.

Chen Fan had just told her that since Huang Ying and the others were helping, she shouldn't try to do every single task. She should at least give them a chance to show their abilities, and consider it as paying for their tuition with their labor.

So now Jiang Lili keeps her head down and doesn't say anything, nor does she compete with them.

Seeing that the three female comrades had signed up enthusiastically, Chen Fan was very pleased and nodded, saying, "Very good, that's the kind of pioneering spirit we need."

Then, changing the subject, he continued, "However, while striving to be the first, we must also emphasize unity, just like our production team. If everyone gives their all, how can we not have a bumper harvest? Therefore..."

He smiled at the three of them and said, "I'm leaving the pig farming to you!"

The three girls nodded vigorously, as if they were receiving an important mission.

Of course, Chen Fan wouldn't let them work for nothing.

Regardless, once the news of the resumption of the college entrance examination is announced, we must send them to the examination hall. That should be enough to compensate for their labor value. After returning the purchase certificate to Chen Fan, Huang Ying suddenly said, "Teacher Chen, have you heard? More cadres are coming to our team."

Chen Fan was taken aback. "What cadre?"

Before Huang Ying could speak, Yang Ju quickly explained, "They are 'stationed' cadres. From the start of spring plowing until the autumn harvest, almost every year cadres are sent to villages to work on-site. On the one hand, they guide production, and on the other hand, they train themselves."

Guiding production?

Chen Fan asked thoughtfully, "Are they from the agricultural technology station?"

Huang Ying reacted quickly and interrupted, "No, it's from all kinds of units. Last year it was the tax office, the year before it was the finance management office, and before that there were post and telecommunications offices, grain management offices, land management offices, and health clinics. It's different every year."

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan was puzzled. "The grain depot is fine, but what are the people from the post office coming to provide guidance on?"

Yang Ju said with a smile, "I heard my dad say that they actually came to check on the work situation in our team."

Chen Fan, (￢￢)?
Is there something wrong with what you said?

Yang Ju continued, "Actually, it depends on the person. Some cadres are very capable; they are even better at farming than farmers. A couple of years ago, there was a cadre surnamed Fan who taught our team a lot of useful farming and animal husbandry knowledge, which helped us increase our yield."

There's also Zhao, the cadre who came down last year. He's very good at writing reports and often helps my dad write them, asking the commune for pesticides and fertilizers, and he always manages to get them.

Chen Fan's eyes twitched slightly upon hearing this.

Is it because you're good at writing reports?

However, he understood. Just as Yang Ju had said before, these cadres stationed in the production teams were there to "guide" rural production work and help the units they were stationed in solve some problems within their capabilities. On the other hand, their presence in the production teams was also a form of training for themselves, which would definitely add to their records and prove useful in critical moments.

After pausing for two seconds, Chen Fan suddenly asked, "What impact will it have on us if cadres are stationed here?"

He drew a circle as he spoke and laughed, "I'm not talking about the team, I'm talking about this little courtyard of ours."

Huang Ying instantly understood what he meant and immediately chimed in, "He would take turns eating at the homes of various commune members, take turns sleeping there, and work alongside everyone else."

Chen Fan thought for a moment and asked, "So he also comes here to eat and sleep?"

Huang Ying and the other two were stunned for a moment, then slowly shook their heads, indicating that they did not know.

When they all fell silent, Jiang Lili raised her head and whispered, "The cadres stationed here won't be coming."

Chen Fan turned to look at her and asked curiously, "Why?"

Jiang Lili pursed her lips and said, "The requirement for them is 'three togethers,' which means 'eating together, living together, and working together.' These are the three ironclad rules imposed by the highest authorities on all cadres sent to the countryside. No one can or dares to violate them. Otherwise, if someone secretly reports them, the consequences will be dire, and they may even lose their cadre status."

The "Three Togethernesses" requirement was limited to families of production team members, and specifically, to poor and lower-middle peasants. Our area was a youth settlement, outside the scope of the "Three Togethernesses" requirement, so no matter who came, they wouldn't be allowed to come.

Chen Fan suddenly realized that there was such a rule.

He now has a deeper understanding of the cadre stationed there.

If that's the case, and the "three same" principle must be upheld, then they wouldn't just be sent to supervise production.

However, we can only determine the specifics once the officials arrive and see for themselves.

(End of this chapter)