Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 25 Demonstration

The next morning, Chen Fan was woken up by a knock on the door.

Bang bang bang...
"Open the door, Chen Fan! The sun's already high in the sky, and you're still sleeping? Get up!"

Chen Fan opened his eyes. This was... Captain Yang?

He jolted awake, sat up abruptly, quickly threw off the covers, got out of bed, wrapped himself in his cotton coat, and ran to open the door.

He rushed over before he even got up, and he was knocking on the door so urgently. Could it be that Officer Zhu has arrived?

News in less than a day? Is it fake?
Using the faint light filtering through the crack in the door, Chen Fan nervously unbolted the door and pulled it open. Before he could even react, he saw a hand coming straight at him, which startled him so much that he quickly took a step back.

Captain Yang missed his target with his slap and almost fell inside. He quickly grabbed the door frame with his other hand to steady himself.

Chen Fan stared at him blankly. "What's wrong, Captain? What happened?"

Captain Yang strode inside, saying, "Look at the time, you're still not up."

When he walked in, Chen Fan saw two other people standing at the door. One was Jiang Lili, and the other was Captain Yang's daughter, the one who had gone to catch turtles with a basket yesterday. He had seen her at his house before.

When Jiang Lili saw Chen Fan looking at her, she whispered, "Xiao Ju came to find you a long time ago, but you didn't get up, so she waited here until now, and then Captain Yang arrived."

Just as Chen Fan was about to ask what was going on, Captain Yang called out from inside the room, "Don't talk about that now, quickly wash your face and come with me, the whole team is waiting for you."

Chen Fan looked at him, puzzled. "Why are you waiting for me?"

Captain Yang's eldest daughter, Yang Ju, stepped forward and said, "It's about skinning the turtles, as you mentioned. We don't know how to do it. We either tear them up or can't tear them at all. We've already wasted two turtles, which is why my dad sent me to find you."

Just for this?

Chen Fan was dumbfounded, not knowing how to react.

Why all the fuss? I thought something terrible had happened, but it turns out it was just about making soft-shelled turtles?
Who's making soft-shelled turtle so early in the morning?

Jiang Lili couldn't help but laugh when she saw Chen Fan's expression, but since there were outsiders present, she quickly lowered her head.

Captain Yang took out his pipe, lit it, took a puff, and said to Chen Fan, "Why are you still standing there? The whole team is waiting to see how you cook turtle. Hurry up and wash your face and go over there. Do you want us to bring you over in a sedan chair?"

When the captain spoke up, and mentioned that the whole team was waiting for him, Chen Fan didn't dare to delay. He grabbed a basin and ran to the kitchen, grabbed a bowl to use as a mouthwash cup, tore a small hole in the tooth powder packet, poured a little bit of powder onto his toothbrush, and started brushing his teeth.

I must say, this tooth powder is quite refreshing, even more so than some toothpastes. How come I've never seen this in later generations?
After brushing his teeth with a swaying motion, he fetched water to wash his face, poured out the dirty water, ran back, and straightened his clothes. "Captain, that's enough."

Captain Yang nodded, got up and started to walk out. As he passed Jiang Lili, he suddenly turned around and looked at her, saying, "Come on over too."

Jiang Lili was stunned for a moment, but after she came to her senses, she quickly nodded repeatedly, "Oh."

Only then did he follow Chen Fan out with a joyful expression.

Chen Fan deliberately slowed his pace a few steps, waiting for Jiang Lili to catch up, and then asked in a low voice, "What time is it now?"

Jiang Lili looked up at the hazy sun. "It should be almost 8 o'clock by now."

Chen Fan stared blankly. Was it not even 8 o'clock yet?
In this cold weather, it's probably no earlier than 6:30 AM, maybe even 7 AM. Why are they coming to look for someone so early?

Now that there's no farm work in the village, don't people sleep in late?

Seeing his expression, Jiang Lili couldn't help but smile slightly. She then glanced at Captain Yang, who was walking ahead with his hands behind his back, and quietly pointed at him, signaling Chen Fan to hurry up and follow.

The production team didn't need to close the door during the day, and there wasn't much of value at the educated youth settlement, so Jiang Lili simply closed the door and quickly ran a few steps to follow behind them.

Soon they reached the top of the slope and could see a large group of people chatting in the middle of the road, their voices so loud that even the trees couldn't block them out. By this time, Yang Ju had already run home ahead of time, shouting loudly, "They're here! They're here!"

Good heavens! The villagers who were just standing or squatting motionless suddenly came to life, craning their necks to look this way.

Captain Yang, a man of many experiences, walked forward with his hands behind his back and his head bowed.

Chen Fan was a bit reserved since he was new to the job, but fortunately, he had been in the workplace for a few years and had a strong mentality. He maintained a stiff smile and nodded to a few familiar faces from time to time.

Jiang Lili, with her head bowed, followed closely behind Chen Fan, not daring to even lift her head.

It only took a few steps to reach Captain Yang's door.

By this time, a large pot had been set up on the rice threshing floor. The pot was steaming hot and filled with water, but it had cooled down a bit by then.

There were two baskets on the ground next to them, and there were quite a few turtles in the baskets. It was impossible to count how many there were at the moment.

On the other side, on the counter made of door panels, there were two wooden basins. The turtles in the basins had been cut into eight pieces, but their shells were black and white, which should be the failed experiments that Yang Ju mentioned.

Upon seeing Chen Fan approach, Accountant Liu immediately squeezed forward, grinning and saying, "I never knew you had this trick up your sleeve."

He gave a thumbs up and said, "The turtle meat you made yesterday was really delicious, even better than chicken! You're amazing!"

The storekeeper, Huang, also chimed in with a smile, "Turtles were originally considered worthless trash here, but with your arrival, they've been turned into treasure, which is a way to generate income for our production team!"

Before Chen Fan could speak, an older woman next to him shouted, "What did I tell you yesterday? Don't underestimate him just because he's not good at carrying water; he definitely has real skills."

"Is that what you said? You clearly said that he had to work in the fields and wouldn't earn more than 5 work points a day."

"Pah, you call him a mere showpiece."

"..."

Well, yesterday's blow has been reviewed again today.

Jiang Lili glanced at Chen Fan cautiously, afraid of embarrassing him, but to her surprise, he acted as if nothing had happened, still smiling and exchanging pleasantries with Accountant Liu and Warehouse Keeper Huang.

"I just happened to remember it; it was purely by chance."

Accountant Liu didn't care about coincidences; he was more curious about something else. "I heard from the team leader that you said yesterday that soft-shelled turtle is a famous dish and very nutritious?"

Chen Fan nodded, "That's right, soft-shelled turtles are very nutritious; there's a saying that one soft-shelled turtle is equivalent to two chickens."

Accountant Liu exclaimed in surprise, "Oh, one turtle is equal to two chickens?"

People around them were also talking about it, pounding their feet and regretting their actions.

“Every year when we cleaned the pond, we would throw away hundreds of turtles. That’s equivalent to throwing away more than a thousand chickens.”

"That's right, our whole team has less than 300 people, so each person gets three or four chickens."

"It's all ruined!"

Upon hearing the adults' words, a child immediately asked expectantly, "Mom, are we killing a chicken today?"

Immediately someone nearby shouted, "Kill the chickens! Tell your mom to kill all the chickens and have a good meal!"

"Huang Laojiu, are you shameless? If the child cries later, I'll make him come to your house to kill a chicken."

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(End of this chapter)