Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 230 Amusing the Scene

They ate and chatted, with Chen Fan doing most of the talking, while the others added their own comments, and Anquan was responsible for taking notes.

However, Chen Fan didn't have as deep an understanding of the current era or the local situation as they did. He absolutely refused to mention anything he didn't understand, only offering his ideas and suggestions, and focusing solely on the aquaculture itself. The specific implementation plans were left to Secretary Yang and his team to finalize and implement.

The security department was mainly responsible for communicating with the commune. The policies were already in place, and the production brigades were already supported in developing sideline businesses to increase the income of commune members. If Lujiawan wanted to set up a breeding farm, all they had to do was report it.

However, as is customary, it is only natural to plead poverty with the commune and ask for some resources.

Asking Secretary Yang and his colleagues to do this kind of thing might be too much of a hassle, or even if they did ask, the results might not be very good. After all, besides Lujiawan, the commune has four other production brigades, and they can't afford to favor one over the other.

But safety is different. He is a cadre stationed in the area, with the responsibility and obligation to help the production teams. He is also familiar with the commune and knows them inside and out. Moreover, he is from the tax office. He knows better than anyone which units have money and which units are good for fundraising. There is no one more suitable than him to do this job.

Moreover, he has a legitimate reason for wanting the breeding farm project. If the other cadres stationed here also want resources, then please find your own projects first.

The meal lasted until 10:30 p.m., and the dishes had to be reheated twice. In the end, only a pot of stew was left on a charcoal stove, and some vegetables were added to it. The banquet turned into a hot pot, and the hot pot turned into soup base. Five or six bottles of Yunhu Daqu liquor were also consumed before the meal finally ended.

Secretary Yang and his three colleagues, along with security personnel, stayed here for the night. They made do with benches, planks, and straw. Old Captain Yang's family had plenty of benches and planks, and his sons had plenty more. They could easily take any more; there was enough room for five more people.

Captain Yang naturally went home, while Chen Fan stumbled back to the educated youth settlement.

Pushing open the courtyard gate, the yard was pitch black, but thankfully, under the starlight, some outlines could be seen.

He quietly closed the courtyard gate, bolted it, and then walked to the door of his room.

Just then, a "chirp chirp" sound came from above.

Chen Fan looked up and saw two round, bright eyes staring at him without blinking.

He pointed with his finger and made two "cheep cheep" sounds, "Go to sleep."

The falcon then retracted its head and remained silent, but when Chen Fan entered the room, it poked its head out again, this time looking in the other direction.

Chen Fan gently lifted the door slightly and then pushed it open to minimize the noise. He then groped his way inside and turned on the light.

The orange lights came on, illuminating the house and the ground in front of the door.

I poured myself a small half-cup of water from the kettle. Drinking alcohol makes my mouth dry, but I was going to sleep soon, and drinking too much wouldn't be good either. A small half-cup of hot water was just right.

Sitting in the chair, holding a water glass, drowsiness crept in, and with his eyes slightly closed, Chen Fan didn't really want to move.

Just then, a figure appeared at the door. He looked up and saw that it was Jiang Lili.

He looked at her in surprise, "Why aren't you asleep yet?"

Jiang Lili tiptoed in, bent down slightly, and tilted her head to look at him. "Are you alright? Have you had too much to drink?"

Chen Fan smiled and looked at her, saying, "Do you not believe in my ability to dodge alcohol, or do you not believe in my ability to pretend to be drunk?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Lili couldn't help but burst out laughing.

She recalled the scene before the Lunar New Year when she was at Captain Yang's house, slaughtering a pig and eating a pig-killing feast, and how Chen Fan spilled wine and pretended to be drunk.

Chen Fan laughed and said, "When it comes to alcohol, if I'm with friends, I can drink a whole bottle if I sip it slowly. But if someone tries to persuade me to drink, I won't drink. I'll avoid it if I can, and if I can't avoid it, I'll drink less. If I don't want to drink, I'll pretend to be drunk. The point is, I can't let myself get really drunk."

This was a skill he learned from his seniors when he was doing business before he transmigrated. However, this skill was not easy to learn; it required both talent and experience, and most people couldn't master it. If one tried to learn it against their will, people would see through it immediately and think that the person was too fake, which would only damage their character.

Jiang Lili smiled, straightened up, and asked softly, "Are you hungry? I'll cook you some noodles."

Chen Fan quickly waved his hand and patted his stomach, "I ate too much, my stomach is still round."

Then he pointed towards the next room and asked in a low voice, "Are they all asleep?"

Jiang Lili nodded gently, "They studied until 10 o'clock, then washed up and went to sleep, not long after."

After a pause, she added, trying to cover up her misunderstanding, "I couldn't solve a problem, and I kept thinking about it for a while, so I couldn't fall asleep. Then I heard you come back, so I came to check on you."

Chen Fan feigned sudden realization, "Oh, I see."

He then looked at Jiang Lili and deliberately asked, "What question? Tell me, and I'll see if I can answer it."

Jiang Lili's face immediately turned red, and she quickly said, "No need, it's already very late, and you've been busy until now, you should get some rest."

Then he turned around and went to get the enamel basin, saying, "I'll get you some water."

After saying that, he turned and ran out.

Chen Fan grinned, laughing silently.

After a while, he gradually calmed down, slowly exhaled a long breath, and leaned back in his chair with his eyes half-closed, his gaze unfocused, seemingly lost in thought. Soon, Jiang Lili brought over a half-basin of water, first placing it on the basin stand that Chen Fan had made himself, then picking up the foot basin from the lower shelf of the stand and going to the kitchen to fetch more water.

Chen Fan then got up and went to wash his face.

Jiang Lili brought over the foot-washing water, placed it on the ground, and then said casually, "I'm going back to sleep. You should get some rest too."

Chen Fan turned to look at her and smiled, "Whoever marries you in the future will be incredibly lucky."

Jiang Lili had gotten used to his "improperness" by now, and blushed as she said reproachfully, "You're so annoying."

After saying that, he turned around and left, walking briskly back to his room.

Chen Fan watched her figure disappear, a smile still on his face, but he was stunned for a moment.

Once I came to my senses, I threw the towel into the hot water, wrung it out, spread it out, and covered my face. The steam rising on my face felt incredibly comfortable!
……

The next day at work, Chen Fan went to the brigade headquarters, found Ye Shubao who was in charge of production management, and asked, "Captain Ye, can I store some grain?"

In the brigade headquarters office, the four leaders looked up at him together.

Secretary Yang's mouth dropped open. "I've heard of borrowing grain, but what do you mean by storing grain?"

Chen Fan chuckled and said, "I still have 13 sacks of rice, but I don't have a granary to store them. Yesterday, a huge rat got into my house. If Yang Ju hadn't gone to scoop rice, it would have almost succeeded. So I'm thinking of storing the grain in the brigade's warehouse, and taking it out when needed. What do you think?"

Captain Zhang put down the documents in his hand and looked at him with a strange expression. "Isn't that just like a bank? If you deposit grain here, are we supposed to charge you interest?"

Chen Fan immediately shook his head, "That's impossible."

He then laughed and said, "After all, when commune members borrow grain from the team, they don't charge interest, do they?"

Xiao Liewen chuckled, "It's rare to see you not trying to take advantage of others."

Hearing this, Ye Shubao looked at Chen Fan and laughed, "Only you would have to pay for raising a few rabbits. Let me tell you this first: if you choose work points, you'll be paid according to the standard for the general workers, 10 points a day, starting today and continuing until the rabbits are handed over to the brigade. I know that Huang Ying and Yang Ju are actually raising those rabbits, so you're basically getting work points for free."

Chen Fan was about to speak when Ye Shubao raised his hand to stop him, "Don't try to argue with me. Anyway, they are apprentices under you. You teach them skills, and they work for you. That's only natural. Nobody can say anything wrong with that. Besides, when you sell your stuff, you give them a share. That's also considered being fair."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Fan slapped his thigh, his face full of agreement, "Captain Ye really understands me!"

Ye Shubao chuckled, too lazy to pay him any attention, and continued, "Now that we've talked about work points, let's talk about the market price of rabbits. Small rabbits are 1 yuan a pair, and live large rabbits are 27 cents a pound. An adult rabbit weighs about 5 pounds, which is about 1.35 yuan. Didn't we say yesterday that you had to choose one of the two? Now you can choose for yourself, which one do you choose?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan silently made his own calculations.

If we choose work points, there are about 8 or 9 months left from now until the end of the year. If we refer to the value of work points last year, it would be about 150 to 175 yuan. This amount is fixed.

However, if he were to buy them at market price, the amount of money would be uncertain. Based on the current number of rabbits, they could breed three times by the end of the year once they reach adulthood. Since rabbits mature in about six months, the newly hatched baby rabbits are unlikely to generate any profit. Therefore, the only ones that can breed are the 12 female rabbits he has caught.

Then, each rabbit can produce 6 to 10 offspring per litter. Taking an average of 8, the final number of offspring is 288. A pair of baby rabbits costs only 1 yuan. Including adult rabbits, the final result is roughly the same as earning work points.

They look the same, but he can keep catching rabbits!
So, is there even a need to consider how to choose?
Thinking about this, Chen Fan suddenly realized that they were forcing him to catch more rabbits!

The more you catch, the more you earn, so why wouldn't you work hard to catch them?!

Chen Fan rolled his eyes slightly and deliberately hesitated before saying, "How about I choose work points? I can earn more if I choose work points."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Xiao Liewen pointed at him and cursed, "You're smart all your life but foolish this time! You think you get more work points because you have fewer rabbits now. If you catch more rabbits to breed, even just a few more pairs, you'll earn much more than you would with work points."

Chen Fan looked like he suddenly realized something, "Oh yeah, how come I didn't think of that? We can keep catching rabbits?!"

Xiao Liewen, beaming with pride, was about to reprimand him a couple more times when he saw Ye Shubao across from him suppressing a laugh. Suddenly realizing what was happening, he pointed at Chen Fan and chuckled, "You little rascal, you're trying to amuse me, aren't you? Go catch some rabbits!"

Chen Fan dusted himself off and left, not forgetting to wave to Ye Shubao, "Captain Ye, get the money ready, I'll sell you a thousand rabbits. Also, lend me a cart later, I'll haul the rice over."

Ye Shubao laughed and shouted, "Hey, I haven't agreed yet!"

Chen Fan clung to the doorway, staring at him with wide eyes. "Seriously? I'm storing the grain in the brigade headquarters warehouse. What's the difference between that and lending you the grain for free? And you still won't agree to that?"

Ye Shubao, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, said, “I can agree to it. There’s still some buckwheat, corn, sorghum, and other miscellaneous grains left over from completing our tasks in the brigade’s warehouse. Not many people want these things. If you can think of a way to get rid of them, I’ll let you store the grain here.”

Chen Fan's eyes darted around slightly. "Hmm, I'll bring the rice over later. Buckwheat, corn, sorghum? Let me think about it first."

Ye Shubao laughed and scolded, "You're forcing me to buy something."

Chen Fan explained seriously, "No, it was the brigade headquarters that helped me solve the problem first, and then I used my meager talents to help the brigade headquarters solve the problem of how to handle the miscellaneous grains. How is that forced buying and selling?"

Ye Shubao was too lazy to listen to his nonsense and waved his hand, "Get lost."

(End of this chapter)