Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 221 Gathering Materials
"Oh? Your dad also worked as a sent-down cadre?"

After lunch, Huang Ying and her two friends, who had been assigned the "pig-raising task," rushed out to gather pig feed. They set a great goal: to raise Teacher Chen's pig to 200 jin (100 catties) and achieve great success!
Without having to do any work, Chen Fan sat in the kitchen drinking tea and chatting with Jiang Lili, who was washing dishes. The topic was naturally the cadres stationed there that they had just talked about.

As Jiang Lili washed the dishes, she nodded with a smile. "It was probably about 10 years ago. At that time, my dad hadn't been transferred to the city's cotton mill and was still working at the Textile Industry Bureau. He was selected to be stationed at a production team next to Yunhu City. He lived there for more than half a year, guiding them to improve cotton planting and harvesting processes, which increased cotton production significantly. It was because of that time that the city leaders saw that he could handle production, and that's why they transferred him to the cotton mill."

Chen Fan sipped his tea, his eyes thoughtful.

In 70, the First Ministry of Light Industry, the Second Ministry of Light Industry, and the Ministry of Textile Industry were merged into the Ministry of Light Industry. The Ministry of Textile Industry was not restored until 78. So, 10 years ago, the Textile Industry Department had not yet merged with the other Light Industry Departments of the Prefectural Committee, but was independently responsible for managing textile-related work in the entire Yunhu area.

In the era when cotton, grain, and oil were the dominant commodities, this unit wielded considerable power.

Moreover, for a long time, the whole country implemented a policy of "taking production as the center". Even a lateral transfer from a government unit to a factory unit was considered a "promotion", let alone an upward transfer.

It seems Jiang Lili's father is quite impressive.

But the next second, Chen Fan shook his head, dismissing the thought. Whether someone is powerful or not has nothing to do with him; why think so much about it?

However, he was more interested in the matter of the cadre stationed there, and immediately asked, "Did he tell you about the stationing?"

Jiang Lili slowed down her washing of the dishes and said with a smile, "Of course, I've not only told it, but I've told it many times, almost every year. That production team isn't far from our cotton mill, only about 20 miles away. People from their team often come over."

She paused for a moment, then lowered her head and said, "My sister told me that after my dad changed jobs, people from his team came over several times."

Chen Fan raised an eyebrow, his eyes darting around, just as he was about to speak.

Jiang Lili suddenly smiled and said, "Let me tell you a few interesting things."

Chen Fan looked at her, a smile spreading across his face. "Okay."

Jiang Lili laughed, "I heard it from my dad. He encountered a lot of interesting things when he was stationed there. Well, let me start with the 'three togethers' (living together, working together, and living together). In the beginning, the production team my dad went to had 32 households. After deducting one household of educated youth collective and one household of 'errand runners', there were 30 households left..."

She had barely begun when Chen Fan raised his hand and asked, puzzled, "What is a errand runner?"

Jiang Lili was taken aback for a moment, then looked at him in surprise, "You don't know what a servant is?"

Chen Fan looked completely bewildered. "Is it strange that I don't know? Are you specifically responsible for running errands for the production team?"

He kept thinking back to who the errand boy was in Lujiawan. After much thought, he realized that whenever there was a problem, Secretary Yang and the other leaders always seemed to look for Zhang Wenliang. Could it be him?

Jiang Lili stuck out her tongue, coughed lightly, and explained, "A errand runner is someone who lives alone in the team. He's unmarried and no one takes care of him. If that were all, he wouldn't be called an errand runner."

Most importantly, he himself doesn't like to work, just drifts through life, doesn't think about his future, and runs around like a wild horse without a rein, living one day at a time, not caring about tomorrow. That's why people call him a gofer.

Chen Fan blinked rapidly. So that's what it meant?

Thank goodness, when I heard the first half, I thought they were talking about me. So, according to this logic, isn't this errand boy pretty much the same as those good-for-nothing hoodlums and loafers in the city?
If there's any difference, it's probably that "errand runners" are just lazy and rarely do anything bad that harms others for their own benefit.
After explaining the story of the errand boy, Jiang Lili continued telling the story of her father's time working in the production team. "There was an errand boy like that in that production team. His parents died early, and he separated from his brothers when he was young. He was 30 years old and still unmarried. He didn't raise chickens, ducks, or pigs, and he was always lazy and irresponsible at work. My dad made him his first target, determined to change him, to help him shed his backward image, and ideally, to help him settle down and start a family..."

After washing the dishes in the kitchen, Jiang Lili had only just begun to speak when she moved on to the "general office" to continue her conversation.

Chen Fan casually unfolded a textbook and placed it on the table, saying with a smile, "Just in case someone suddenly comes in, putting a book here can help keep them in the dark."

Jiang Lili blushed slightly, seemingly lost in thought, and then casually brought the textbook to her face, saying, "Perfect, I can read it while I'm explaining."

Chen Fan pursed his lips slightly. Listening and reading at the same time is possible, but how can the speaker read the book?

It was clearly a cover-up.

He then took out his notebook and pen, ready to take notes.

Seeing his actions, Jiang Lili hesitated for a moment, "Do you... want to write it down?"

Chen Fan knew what she was thinking without even asking, and immediately smiled and said, "Don't worry, I just think it's interesting for cadres to go to the countryside to work, and I want to gather some material to write a novel about it."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Besides your father's story, you can also talk about the cadres who came to Lujiawan to work. Anything you see with your own eyes or hear about is fine. That way, you won't have to worry about anyone figuring out whose story it is based on the plot."

Hearing this, Jiang Lili's expression softened, and she nodded with a smile, "Okay, then I'll tell you everything I know."

One person spoke, and the other took notes. By the time Huang Ying and the others returned carrying pig feed, Chen Fan had already filled more than a dozen pages with notes, enough to piece together the weight of a long novel.

However, he plans to write it as a collection of stories, keeping the characters and background the same, and writing each story as a chapter. This will significantly reduce the difficulty, making it equivalent to a short story, which is perfect for him to practice writing.

Once you've finished writing a few story chapters, it will be much easier to start writing a medium-length or longer novel.

Seeing them return, Chen Fan naturally closed his notebook, went out to take a look, and exclaimed, "Wow, you cut so much pig feed?"

Huang Ying wiped the fine sweat from her forehead and said with a smile, "If you feed the pigs more, they will grow better."

Chen Fan said with a smile, "Eating too much is not good either. Pigs, like people, need to leave some room in their stomachs, otherwise they will easily get indigestion. It's better to eat smaller meals more frequently than to eat too much at once. Besides, these two are just piglets, how much more can they eat?"

He really didn't expect that these three girls would be so reliable. They brought back three loads of pig feed in one go. Even two adult pigs couldn't finish it, let alone two piglets.

He was the team's veterinary authority, so Huang Ying and the other two naturally trusted him completely. They looked at the three loads of pig feed with regret, asking, "What about the extra?"

Chen Fan laughed and said, "It's alright. The lamb and the two horses can eat too. But you don't need to fight so many in the future. You should spend more time studying. I'm waiting for you to finish high school so I can teach you practical skills."

Huang Ying and the other two nodded repeatedly and excitedly carried pig feed to the back.

(End of this chapter)