Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 231 Treat
Buckwheat, corn, sorghum?
Chen Fan walked to the broadcasting room muttering to himself, turned on the radio, and started broadcasting on time.

He then opened the drawer, took out the book he had bought, "Knowledge of Rural Sideline Production," and began to look through its contents.

Last time I asked Zhu Hao to buy 18 books, but I only finished reading 3 medical books and one book, "Traditional Pottery Making". I only recently started reading "Knowledge of Rural Sideline Production" and "Common Rural Animal Husbandry", which is also because I'm working on my animal husbandry farm. I haven't even had time to focus on "Construction Technology" and "Traditional Grass Pulping and Paper Making", let alone the other books.

Now that Ye Shubao is asking him for help, whether it's for real or a joke, he has to show some attitude and give him an answer as to whether he has a solution or not.

Of course, it's best to have a way, as this way, through back and forth, will deepen interpersonal relationships.

Chen Fan first looked at the catalog, looking for projects that could utilize these grains.

Rural areas have five main industries: agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery, and sideline industries.

The first four are easy to understand, but the last one, "side occupation," has a much broader scope. It includes all rural production activities except for agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishing.

Another meaning refers to ancillary production in rural areas or by farmers that serves agricultural production and people's lives. Examples include transportation, gathering, fishing, hunting, processing of agricultural and sideline products, handicrafts, and other ancillary production not belonging to agriculture.

In general, side hustles are so wide-ranging that they encompass almost everything.

Of course, due to practical limitations, there aren't many common sideline businesses in rural areas. Grinding tofu, pressing oil, boiling sugar, bamboo weaving, straw weaving, woodworking, and brewing are some of the more common ones.

brewing?
Chen Fan turned to that page according to the table of contents and carefully read the contents. The most common brewed products are vinegar, soy sauce, and alcohol. Buckwheat, corn, and sorghum are all materials that can be used to brew alcohol. Since the brigade headquarters has extra grains, why not use them to brew alcohol?
He picked up the book and ran downstairs. When he got to the brigade office, he saw Captain Yang and the others walking out one by one.

Chen Fan was taken aback. "The leaders have gone out on inspections again?"

"Inspection my ass, get out there!"

Xiao Liewen turned around and looked at him, then at the book in his hand. "What? Can't you read? If you can't read, then nobody here can. Uh... unless you go find Master Lu."

Chen Fan clicked his tongue. "You're a deputy captain, after all. You've attended literacy classes in the army and can even write calligraphy. Can't you act like a cultured person?"

Xiao Liewen walked up to him and said, "You'll never be associated with being a 'cultured person' in this lifetime."

He beckoned and took the book from his hand, "Let me see what this is, brewing wine?"

He turned to look at Chen Fan. "You want to brew wine?"

Chen Fan looked at Ye Shubao and said, "Captain Ye, didn't you say that there are a lot of grains in the warehouse that you can't sell? I was thinking that it would be good to use those grains to make wine. I heard that Old Tang from Team 7 knows how to make wine. Let's ask him to make wine with these grains and then take it to the market to sell. Wouldn't that be a good way to both dispose of the grains and earn more income? It's a win-win situation."

Ye Shubao chuckled twice, took out a cigarette he had rolled himself, lit it, and said with a smile, "Old Tang is in the same team as me. If you can think of this, how could we not?"
"Let me tell you, not only Old Tang can brew wine, but there's also Old Hou from Team 12 who can. It's just that their skills aren't good enough. They only know how to brew wine with rice and wheat, and sometimes rice wine. If they try to brew other grains, they can't control the heat properly; either the taste is wrong, or it gives them a headache. After trying twice, they were afraid of wasting grain, so they never dared to try again."

He glanced at Chen Fan and chuckled, "Why don't you give it a try?"

Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly. "It's just a difference in the type of grain; it shouldn't be that complicated, right?"

Ye Shubao shrugged. "It's not complicated, but they don't know how."

Xiao Liewen returned the book to Chen Fan, put his hands behind his back and said, "This grain is different, so the fermentation time and the proportion of yeast are different. If the proportion and process are not right, it doesn't mean that the wine made is undrinkable, but the quality will be a bit poor. People who are not particular can drink it, but if you take it to the market to sell, it will probably not fetch a good price."

Captain Zhang also said with a smile, "The main thing is that they don't lack rice for brewing, so there's no need for them to brew this unfamiliar mixed grain liquor and ruin their own reputation."

For our brigade headquarters, a thousand or so kilograms of miscellaneous grains wasn't worth the trouble, so in the end, these grains were mostly distributed among the various teams to be used as fattening feed for the pigs for the New Year.

Ye Shubao walked over, patted Chen Fan's arm, and said with a smile, "Young man, not bad, commendable attitude. Although the idea isn't great, I still have to give you praise."

After saying that, he threw away his cigarette butt, put his hat on his head, and said, "Take your time to think about it. It would be best if you could come up with a solution, but it's okay if you can't. This afternoon, bring the grain over and find Lao Luo to put it in the warehouse for you and make a registration."

He waved and turned to leave.

At this moment, Chen Fan suddenly asked, "If I store rice and collect miscellaneous grains, how much can I get?"

Ye Shubao turned around and looked at him, asking in surprise, "Getting mixed grains?"

Xiao Liewen stared at Chen Fan and asked with a strange expression, "You don't mean to brew your own wine, do you?" When the others heard this, they first thought it was absurd. Was brewing wine really that easy to learn?
But considering Chen Fan's past "achievements," it doesn't seem impossible.

He can even learn veterinary medicine by reading books, so what's a little winemaking to him?
Chen Fan said seriously, "That depends on the price of grains."

Ye Shubao rolled his eyes slightly and said, "One pound of rice is equivalent to five pounds of corn or ten pounds of buckwheat and sorghum."

These miscellaneous grains are generally planted on wasteland, not in paddy fields, and cannot even be considered "intensive farming." They are planted solely to fulfill the small production quotas assigned by the commune.

Even so, after submitting their tasks, there was still a considerable amount left over. Each squad would use miscellaneous grains to make up the difference when submitting their tasks to the brigade headquarters, which is why the brigade headquarters always had a lot of miscellaneous grains left over each year. In fact, at the end of the second year, these miscellaneous grains were returned to the squads as subsidies.

It's just a small amount of stuff, and they keep passing it around like it's an old tradition.

Upon hearing Ye Shubao's words, Chen Fan immediately replied without hesitation, "Then I'll keep these grains."

Captain Zhang leaned closer to Chen Fan, looking at him with surprise. "You're not really planning to brew wine with all this grains, are you?"

Ye Shubao's eyes darted around slightly as he said to him, "How about this, if you take it to brew wine, it won't count as you exchanging it. You just need to bring back half of the wine later, okay?"

Chen Fan shrugged and held up the book in his hand, saying, "I learned this from the book. I'm afraid that even if I dare to brew something, you guys won't dare to drink it."

The four of them looked at each other and thought it made sense.

Secretary Yang coughed lightly and said, "Anyway, a thousand or so catties of miscellaneous grains can't be exchanged for a sack of rice. Let's just exchange them."

After saying that, he left with his hands behind his back.

Captain Zhang and his two companions chuckled awkwardly and then left together.

Chen Fan walked back with the book in his hand, silently pondering to himself that brewing wine didn't seem too complicated. All he needed was a pot and a few vats... Hmm, he'd give it a try when he had time.

He's increasingly feeling like he's playing a game. He builds his own houses, fires his own pottery, and although he doesn't grow his own grain, the crops grow around him and look pretty much the same. He also has skills in tailoring, calligraphy, painting, animal husbandry, veterinary medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, fishing, and hunting...

Looking at the book "Knowledge of Rural Sideline Production" in his hand, he suddenly had a feeling that once he learned what was in those dozen or so books, he could live a very comfortable life, not to mention 77, even if he were thrown into the 7th century.

……

After get off work, Chen Fan rode his mare and pulled a cart back home, passing through the rice paddies of Team 5. When he reached Team 6's territory, he suddenly spotted a familiar figure in the paddy field and immediately called out, "Brother An, you can even plow the fields?"

While holding the plow, Anquan shouted, "What's plowing? I can still eat!"

Chen Fan burst into laughter. He thought he had talked a lot of nonsense, but he didn't expect this senior to be even more outrageous than him. Captain Yang was right, he really was a man who talked a lot of nonsense.

Although he may be a bit of a joker, he's very reliable when it comes to doing things safely.

I only came here yesterday to observe, and this morning I started plowing the fields. I got covered in mud. Not only was my attitude good, but the quality of the plowing was also good. It seems that I haven't given up the old skills I learned before.

Chen Fan smiled and shouted, "Have you made plans for lunch today? Why don't you come back with me for lunch?"

"Safety? You're too late. I've already arranged for myself to stay at Huang Laosi's house. It's a newly built house, and he insisted on inviting me over."

Someone nearby shouted, "Old An, you're missing out! Teacher Chen is an excellent cook."

Upon hearing this, An Quan was somewhat surprised, "Really?"

Chen Fan: "If you don't believe me, how about coming to my place tomorrow?"

After thinking for a moment, Anquan said, "Anyway, you're not an educated youth, you're just staying temporarily at the educated youth settlement. Okay, I'll come over to your place for a nice meal tomorrow night."

(End of this chapter)