Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 234 Transplantation
That afternoon, Chen Fan brought the five bags of rice to the brigade headquarters.

The mare has good stamina; she can easily pull things weighing over a thousand pounds, and she doesn't struggle even when going uphill.

But this cart won't do. With so little stuff on it, the tires will be visibly flattened. If more is added, Chen Fan will probably have to pay extra for repairs, or he might have to replace both tires at the brigade headquarters. So the thirteen bags of rice will have to be hauled in three separate trips.

The improvement of the load-bearing capacity of the cart requires two changes. The first is the tires. Although the current rubber tires are much lighter than the old wooden wheels and the load-bearing capacity has been improved, they are still not quite there yet.

If you replaced these light motorcycle tires with heavy motorcycle tires, or even wider and thicker agricultural vehicle tires, the load capacity could easily double. However, you might need to add a mule then.

Another issue is the road surface. The current dirt roads are really not easy to travel on. Only when the dirt roads are replaced with cement roads or asphalt roads can the capabilities of the horse-drawn carriages be fully unleashed.

Of course, it's still not as effective as a tractor.

Chen Fan drove the horse-drawn cart, handed the rice to Luo Guitian, the storekeeper at the brigade headquarters, and received a receipt. He also took a bag of buckwheat and a bag of sorghum from him, deciding to try brewing wine when he got back.

After finishing these tasks, he went to the broadcasting room to start work.

Turn on the radio.

Construction has ended.

Then I just sit here in a daze, wondering what to do now.

Just then, Zhang Wenliang rushed up and said, "Little Chen, Master Lu wants you to go there."

Although everyone in the village knew about Uncle Lu's situation, he generally only frequented the vicinity of his house, even going to work behind his thatched hut, and rarely came out. This was to avoid being discovered by outsiders and causing trouble for Secretary Yang and his team.

Therefore, whenever he wanted to find Chen Fan, he always had someone relay his message.

Chen Fan immediately stood up and walked out, not forgetting to ask him, "What's going on?"

Zhang Wenliang walked down the street alongside him. "I don't know, he didn't say."

He paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "But it shouldn't be anything serious. The old man looks radiant and healthy, and he speaks in a gentle and measured tone. He's probably asking about your studies."

As he said this, he was somewhat gloating. The famous Teacher Chen from Nanhu Commune never expected that he would be caught studying!
Chen Fan breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that Master Lu was alright.

At this moment, Zhang Wenliang turned to look at him again and asked with a grin, "How's your calligraphy practice with Master Lu going? Have you started copying regular script yet?"

Chen Fan glanced at him. "First learn to trace, then learn to copy, and only then can you practice calligraphy. Have you even studied calligraphy before?"

Zhang Wenliang's face immediately darkened. "Hmph, we didn't have the resources back then, so we just drew on the sand table with wooden sticks. Later, when we bought calligraphy brushes, we dipped them in water and wrote on the stone slabs. Unlike you, you haven't even started learning calligraphy yet, but you've already run to Xinhua Bookstore to buy a bunch of calligraphy practice books and blank paper. You're really burning money."

Chen Fan sighed softly, "Actually, I didn't want to waste it like this, but the main problem is that Fourth Master insisted that I learn how to use a feather brush first, and feather brushes are so difficult..."

He paused abruptly, turned to look at Zhang Wenliang, and asked with feigned curiosity, "Hey, Brother Sanhu, since you didn't have the means back then, why didn't anyone use a feather pen?"

Zhang Wenliang's face darkened further, and he muttered to himself, "That thing is so light, who but Master Lu could use it to write?"

But you can't say that, otherwise it would be seen as diminishing your own prestige.

He rolled his eyes slightly and immediately said, "Isn't this talking about you? Why do you keep bringing me up? Have you even learned how to copy?"

Chen Fan gritted his teeth, suppressing a laugh, and then sighed, "I had already finished learning to copy and practice calligraphy, and I was just about to learn to copy from memory. But then Fourth Master said that was enough and told me to switch to learning clerical script. I can't even copy regular script from memory yet, and he wants me to learn clerical script. Isn't that forcing growth? I'm still just a little seedling."

Zhang Wenliang glanced at him expressionlessly, "Is it really only a month and a half? You're just bragging."

Chen Fan chuckled, "There's no benefit in bragging to you, so what's the point?"

Zhang Wenliang's eyes darted around slightly. "I heard you're treating Cadre An to dinner tomorrow?"

Chen Fan nodded. "Yes."

Then, looking at him, she asked, "Want to come along?"

If it were during the off-season for farming like the Lunar New Year, he would have invited Zhang Wenliang long ago, but now, Comrade Zhang is probably too busy.

Sure enough, Zhang Wenliang shook his head repeatedly, "The team's paddy fields need to be plowed out as soon as possible, and base fertilizer needs to be applied. The vegetable garden also needs to be tilled. There really isn't enough time."

He looked at Chen Fan as he spoke, “I mean, I have an 8-pound turtle here. If you can really copy the calligraphy with a feather brush, then that turtle will be yours.”

Chen Fan chuckled and said, "Oh dear, you insist on giving me a big soft-shelled turtle. I feel so bad." Soft-shelled turtles, which used to be ignored in Nanhu Commune, can now be sold for a few cents. Live soft-shelled turtles are 2 cents a pound, and raw soft-shelled turtle meat, after being skinned and degreased, is 4 cents a pound. Even the state-run restaurants and government guesthouses in the commune are buying them, which has opened up a new source of income for the production team members.

An 8-pound turtle is worth 1.6 yuan, which is equivalent to a pack of Donghai cigarettes.

Zhang Wenliang looked at him, raised his hand and said, "Wait a minute, a bet has to be reciprocal. What if you can't write it down?"

Chen Fan looked at him and said, "Go on."

Zhang Wenliang chuckled and said, "Next week is my father's 50th birthday. I'd like to invite you over for a drink and ask you to cook some of your best dishes."

Chen Fan clapped his hands, "Absolutely!"

Just as they reached the front yard, Zhang Wenliang pulled him into the office. None of the leaders were there. He skillfully pulled out his uncle, Captain Zhang's, calligraphy brush, turned around and handed it to Chen Fan, saying, "Never mind, I won't let you use a feather brush. You can use this wolf hair brush."

Chen Fan took the brush and examined it. Since he had never tried using a stiff-bristled brush before, he first tried it on the newspaper to get a feel for it, and immediately felt confident.

Compared to chicken feather brushes, these wolf hair brushes are so much easier to control.

Zhang Wenliang then pulled out a stack of leftover red paper from writing couplets during the New Year, spread it out on the table, took two steps back, pointed, and said, "Please."

Chen Fan didn't stand on ceremony. He dipped the tip of his pen into the ink bottle and quickly wrote a couplet: "Heaven adds years and man adds longevity; spring fills the universe and blessings fill the door."

Although it's a bit cliché, it's certainly fitting for the occasion.

Looking at the characters on the couplet, Zhang Wenliang was immediately surprised. The characters were even better than his own. Had he really only practiced for a month and a half?
Little did he know that for Chen Fan, ordinary skills that could be practiced every day were the easiest to level up. He could gain experience points just by moving his hands, and with experience points he could level up. After practicing every day for a month and a half, his calligraphy skill had now reached LV4. Not to mention brush calligraphy, no matter what kind of brush he used, he could write at the level of a quasi-calligrapher. It was just a matter of writing a few characters; it was really too easy.

In contrast, the basic attributes of physique, strength, agility, intelligence, and spirit have not changed for many days. For example, physique, if it weren't for the slight warmth after each training session letting him know that his physique is still improving, the unchanging value would make him think that there was something wrong with the skill board.

It's roughly similar to a red envelope game where you're short 0.1, then 0.01, then 0.001, and so on. At first, carrying a bucket of water would increase his physique by 0.5, then it took two or three days to increase it by 0.1, and now it takes a week to increase it by 0.1. Without external factors, he suspects he might not be able to raise his physique to above 10 until the next Spring Festival.

The main feature is an orderly decrease.

While Chen Fan was still sighing inwardly, Zhang Wenliang reached out and patted him on the shoulder, "I'll bring you the turtle and this couplet later, and we'll put them on my door. That way, I won't have to write new ones."

After saying that, he picked up the two pieces of red paper and swaggered away.

Chen Fan scratched his head, wondering if he had come to make a bet with him or to trick him into writing a couplet.

Oh, right.

Chen Fan slapped his forehead; he had come to deliver a message to Master Lu.

Remembering his business, he immediately headed towards Master Lu's house.

A short while later, after passing through the alley, Chen Fan saw Master Lu busy with something in front of his house.

Upon seeing Chen Fan approach, Master Lu immediately waved and pointed to a pile of "weeds" on the ground, saying, "Take a look and see if you can identify them all."

Chen Fan squatted down and looked at the "weeds," comparing them with his memories. He quickly recognized some of them. "These are plantains, which have diuretic, heat-clearing, vision-improving, and phlegm-reducing effects. They are mainly used to treat urinary retention, urinary tract infections, leukorrhea, hematuria, jaundice, edema, dysentery, diarrhea, epistaxis, red and swollen eyes, sore throat, cough, and skin ulcers."

This is honeysuckle, but it hasn't bloomed yet. It can clear heat and detoxify, and has a remarkable effect on febrile diseases.

This is *Commelina communis*, also known as orchid grass or bamboo leaf grass. It's used for colds and fever, thirst due to fever, sore throat, ... and also *Sedum sarmentosum*, *Kalimeris indica*, ...

He rattled off a string of names, all of which were herbs recorded in the Compendium of Materia Medica.

Master Lu nodded with satisfaction, and after he finished speaking, he smiled and said, "Not bad, not bad. You said you couldn't recognize them from the pictures, but I think you recognize them quite well. At this time, many herbs are just beginning to grow and sprout, but many of them are used as medicine by their flowers, fruits, or roots, and you can recognize them all. You are qualified in the field of identifying herbs."

Chen Fan grinned and chuckled dryly.

When he first looked at these hand-drawn herb pictures, he was really unsure of himself. He could hardly recognize any of them, and had no idea about most of them.

But when these herbs appeared in front of him, the power of his skill board became apparent. He could accurately match these herbs with the pictures in the book. In this way, no herb in the herbal books he had read could escape his eyes, ensuring that he would not make a mistake.

Master Lu clapped his hands, stood up, and smiled at him, "Since you know them all, I've saved myself a lot of trouble."

Then, pointing to the pile of herbs, he said, "You have a plot of land now, so take all these herbs back and make a medicinal garden. Plant them all, and it will be more convenient to collect and process them in the future."

(End of this chapter)