Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 260 Almost all dug up
After listening to Captain Yang's words, Chen Fan finally understood a little about this side hustle fee and knew what it was all about.

In short, as long as it doesn't interfere with your regular work, you can earn some extra money in your spare time without anyone charging you.

Although Chen Fan earned a lot of money, it was due to his own abilities and did not exceed the rules.

However, if you miss work and affect the production team's output, it will indirectly affect the income of all team members, especially the public income. You will then have to make up for the work you did to compensate the production team for the losses of other team members and the public.

This can also be considered a manifestation of collective cooperation.

As for whether the fee is high or low, or whether it is fair or not, that's a matter of opinion.

Those who paid for the sideline work felt it was too much, while the commune members who actually worked there felt they were being charged too little. The conflicts were complex and difficult to resolve.

Captain Yang took a couple of puffs of his cigarette, glanced at Chen Fan who seemed to be deep in thought, and suddenly said in a low voice, "You don't need to pay the side job fee, but if you have some spare cash, it's best to pay the team some money. It doesn't have to be much, 5 or 10 yuan is fine."

Chen Fan, who was deep in thought, looked up at him, his eyes darting around, and he immediately realized, "The money to buy the soil?"

Captain Yang nodded, gave him a thumbs up, and smiled, "That's why I say you're smart."

He paused for a moment, then explained, "Under normal circumstances, members don't get paid for digging some soil or cutting down a few trees in the team, and no one goesssips about it."

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan thought to himself, "The first time I went to the market, I only cut down a few bamboo poles, and you still charged me 50 work points."

Captain Yang, unaware of what he was thinking, continued, "Don't misunderstand, no one's gossiping now. I'm telling you this as a precaution. Better safe than sorry. If one day the commune's inspection team comes to conduct an inspection, and someone accidentally says something wrong and causes trouble, it won't be good for you either."

Chen Fan immediately nodded and smiled, "I understand."

Seeing that Captain Yang had finished his cigarette, he handed him another one and whispered, "Isn't 10 yuan a bit too little?"

Captain Yang took the cigarette and lit another, chuckling, "What's so bad about it? The team isn't trying to get rich by selling soil. You can buy quicklime for two yuan a truckload, and this little bit of soil can only sell for two mao a truckload at most. If you ask me, just give us five yuan as a token gesture. If someone comes to inspect later, we can get away with it."

He paused for a moment, then continued, “You just announced that the market will be reinstated regularly. If you sell pottery every time you go to the market, you can pay 10 yuan each time, which will cover the entire year’s expenses. You can pay 10 yuan for just a little bit of clay, enough to dig up half a mountain. No one can find fault with that.”

Chen Fan smiled and nodded, "Okay, then I'll pay 10 yuan."

Captain Yang looked at him and asked, "Are you really planning to sell pottery every month?"

Chen Fan shrugged and laughed, "Anyway, I'm just idling around. I'll make a few every day, fire a kiln every two weeks, and sell as many as I can. If I can't sell them one day, I'll just stop firing them."

Captain Yang nodded. "That works too."

He then looked at him and laughed, "However, your squat toilet can probably still be sold for a while, but I don't know if the potters of the Victory Brigade can replicate it."

Chen Fan wasn't worried about this.

He laughed and said, "Even if he can copy it, does he know how to build a flush toilet? Don't underestimate a toilet. There are many intricacies involved. How to smooth the floor, how to determine the height difference, and there are also sewers and septic tanks. If you don't understand these things, even if you have a squat toilet, you may not be able to flush the water down. If there is a problem, not only will you have wasted your efforts, but you will also be scolded to death."

Captain Yang laughed heartily, "I knew you had a trick up your sleeve."

He paused for a moment, as if he had just thought of something, his expression changed slightly, and he looked at Chen Fan and asked, "Our team bought your squat toilets, and when they ask you to fix them, how much will you charge?"

If, as Chen Fan said, building toilets is not so simple, then what other options are there besides continuing to ask Chen Fan to build them?
Chen Fan shook his head, "I won't take a single penny, I'll even give it to you."

Captain Yang looked at him, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Chen Fan laughed and said, "I don't have that much time to build toilets for people. When the first batch of squat toilets is fired and the first toilet is built, you can pick a few more people who are willing to learn how to build toilets, and I will teach them how to build this kind of flush toilet."

Captain Yang was overjoyed and turned to face him, his eyes filled with surprise, "Really?"

Although building toilets isn't considered formal bricklaying, it does require some skill. In Nanhu Commune, a town with five production brigades, there are thousands of households, and new houses are built every year. If flush toilets could become widespread, it would be a skill that could support a family!
The construction teams in the town don't offer toilet construction services. The dormitories of town units are built with communal toilets, which are not located with the houses. In rural areas, when building a new house, people dig a pit and build a dry toilet themselves, which saves a lot of money. Professional toilet repairmen do exist, but they are indeed rare.

Chen Fan chuckled and said, "Of course it's true, but I have one condition."

Captain Yang's expression turned serious. "Go on," he said.

Chen Fan said, “The condition is that when they repair toilets for others, they can only buy squat toilets from me. Moreover, people from Lujiawan can buy them for 10 yuan, but people from outside can buy them for 12 yuan.”

Chen Fan set two prices, which stemmed from what Captain Yang had just said. He advised him to pay 10 yuan to the team to deal with the commune's inspection, but Chen Fan thought about something deeper.

Currently, he makes money by firing pottery, and there are no rumors circulating in the production team. Even if someone is jealous, they talk about it behind closed doors, and there is no public discussion.

But people always change. What if one day someone feels they are making too much money and don't have to pay for a side job, gets envious, and starts spreading rumors?
So he came up with the idea of ​​using price differences to make people on his team feel like they got a good deal, which would reduce the number of envious people.

As for teaching others how to build toilets, it's naturally to facilitate the sale of squat toilets. Otherwise, he wouldn't have time to do sales or anything like that, and he wouldn't be interested in providing after-sales service.

Conversely, by helping the team build a "toilet construction team," you can not only solve your own "after-sales" problems but also gain a volunteer sales team—a win-win situation, isn't it?

He thought it was a good idea, and Captain Yang thought it was even better, so he immediately agreed, "Okay, no problem, we'll do it your way!"

He dusted off the sawdust from his clothes and stood up. “We’ll have lunch here. We still have cured meat and fish at home. We’ll also slaughter a chicken. I’ll go call Lao Liu and Lao Huang over so we can have a drink together.”

The toilet construction team slots can't all be reserved for the Yang family; the Liu and Huang families definitely need some too. We'll worry about that later and find a few more people to learn the skills first.

Leaving aside the secrets to building a toilet, Chen Fan's bricklaying skills the day before yesterday were already considered those of a mason. With such a good opportunity, how could he not learn? Even if he couldn't take on house-building jobs like the construction teams in town, it would be good to do some repairs for himself and his relatives.

The Yang, Liu, and Huang families each sent two or three people. If business was bad, they would take turns going out to earn extra money. If business was good, they would be divided into two or three teams. The more they earned, the more the teams could collect on side income, which was a win-win situation.

Having received such a great benefit, it's only right that I treat Chen Fan to a big meal.

Chen Fan waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "I won't drink today. I'll come and teach them next time you build a toilet, and then we can drink."

He pointed in the direction of the brigade headquarters and laughed, "This afternoon, Captain Ye asked me to go and check on the situation at the farm. If I drink now, I won't be able to work this afternoon."

Captain Yang didn't insist on keeping the guests, and nodded, "Okay, then we'll save it for next time."

He looked up and laughed, "Mine will be the first one built."

Chen Fan: "Absolutely."

...Back at the educated youth settlement, Jiang Lili and the others immediately packed up their textbooks and went to prepare lunch.

Before Chen Fan even reached his room, the two puppies ran over and circled around his feet.

Both puppies are now two months old. Because they eat well every day, they both weigh over 10 pounds. Qiuqiu is still Qiuqiu, and Duoduo has also grown into a ball.

He bent down, picked up the two dogs, weighed them in his hands, and said, "You two are no good. If you keep going like this, how will you guard the house and hunt prey?"

Duoduo is a little spotted dog with white fur and spots, and one eye has a black spot on it, making it look like half a panda. Qiuqiu is a chubby little yellow dog, named Qiuqiu by Jiang Lili because of its plumpness.

As a result, Qiuqiu is still Qiuqiu, and Duoduo has also turned into Qiuqiu.

Looking at these two supposedly the smartest Chinese rural dogs in the world, Chen Fan couldn't help but complain, "Can't you two act like purebred dogs? Look at other people's dogs, they can chase chickens and ducks with ease, but all you two can do is chase chicks. Can't you be a little more ambitious?"

Dodo, "Woof, what's the prey?"

Ball, "Woof woof, why is chasing chicks so unambitious?"

At the kitchen doorway, Jiang Lili, who was washing vegetables, saw this scene and couldn't help but shake her head and laugh.

Huang Ying came over carrying a fish. Following her gaze, she chuckled and said, "Teacher Chen is training the dog again."

Upon hearing the news, Liu Dan poked her head out, her eyes full of confusion. "I've seen Uncle train dogs with a lot of skill. Can Teacher Chen really train dogs like this?"

Yang Ju poured the rinsed rice into the large pot against the wall, put the lid on, and then turned to the stove to start a fire. Looking at Liu Dan at the door, she laughed and said, "Teacher Chen isn't training the dog, she's teasing it."

Liu Dan turned around, her eyes even more confused, "But, the puppy does become more obedient after each training session."

Yang Ju was speechless and couldn't help but shake her head in surprise.

Is it really possible to train a dog just by talking to it?
Chen Fan lifted the two puppies high and carried them far away into the room. He placed the two dogs on the table, sat down beside them, and said with a serious face, "To be a good dog, you must know how to obey orders, listen more and do more, and be less mischievous and ask fewer questions. From today onwards, you will come with me for training every day. You must correct your bad habit of only chasing chicks."

Duo Duo and Qiu Qiu exchanged a glance, then jumped off the table and ran outside, barking, "Woof woof woof woof! (Yay, finally we can go out and play!)"

Chen Fan looked down as he watched the two dogs frolicking in the yard, and for some reason felt like the Paw Patrol had been deployed.

……

After having lunch and taking a nap, Chen Fan prepared to go to work at the brigade headquarters.

He whistled by the back window, and when he went out to wash his face, the little mare was already running into the yard waiting for him.

The little pony followed behind, gazing at him longingly, as if to say, "I want to go out and play too."

The two puppies had already run to the door and were standing there, running out to look outside and then running back in to look at him, keeping themselves very busy.

Chen Fan looked at the foal and snapped his fingers. "You come along too."

He then mounted his horse.

The mare snorted and carried him outside. The foal, given permission, ran happily around him, nearly trampling on Toto, which made Toto neigh at it repeatedly.

Unfortunately, they couldn't understand each other's language, and the little pony didn't know what Duoduo was cursing at it.

Chen Fan rode on horseback, with a foal and two dogs leading the way. Soon, even a falcon landed on his shoulder to join in the fun. Only two pitiful lambs were left in the backyard, bleating incessantly.

Not long after leaving the hospital, a rat snake poked its head out of the roadside bushes, flicked its tongue at Chen Fan as if to say hello, then glanced timidly at the Eurasian falcon before decisively turning around and disappearing back into the bushes.

Chen Fan noticed a large bulge in the middle of its belly, wondering if it had eaten a mouse or some unlucky sparrow.

It must have been a rat. Anyway, the rat snake stayed here for two days, and no more rats were seen near the educated youth settlement. Chen Fan was very glad that he had spared its life.

……

Before long, they arrived at Team 5. Before they even entered the woods on the side of Team 5, Zhang Wenliang suddenly appeared out of nowhere and shouted at him, "Are you performing in a circus or here to deliver goods to the farm?"

After taking a few steps closer, he looked at the foal that was glaring at him and said with a laugh, "If you keep looking at me, I'll keep you as a stud."

The foal shook its head and decisively hid on the other side of its mother, blocking the view of a certain bad guy.

The falcon also remembered that Zhang Wenliang was not a good person, so it immediately spread its wings, flapped twice, and flew into the sky.

Only two puppies stared at him longingly, wondering if they had seen him somewhere before.
Chen Fan chuckled and said, "You're really something that horses and birds hate, only dogs don't mind you. Once the farm is built, you'd better stay away from there."

Zhang Wenliang stood still, waiting for Chen Fan to approach before smiling and saying, "Then you'll be disappointed. After discussion and decision by the brigade leadership, I have been appointed as the deputy director of the breeding farm, specifically responsible for the security of the breeding farm and resolutely preventing saboteurs from disrupting the production order of the breeding farm."

He put his hands on his hips, quite proudly, "So not only do I need to be close to the farm, but I also need to patrol there several times a day."

When they got closer, Chen Fan dismounted and, holding the reins, walked with Zhang Wenliang toward the brigade headquarters, saying, "Then you should be more polite to the small animals, lest you scare them before they grow up."

Zhang Wenliang curled his lip, "They definitely won't be afraid of me. If they're afraid, they'll be afraid of you, the 'executioner' who specializes in killing rabbits."

Chen Fan smiled. "Then you don't eat rabbit meat?"

Zhang Wenliang: "Go ahead and eat. I eat rabbit meat. It has nothing to do with the rabbit being afraid of you."

He paused for a moment, then said, "The next market day is May 1st, right? I'd like you to help me cook a pot of turtle meat again. But this time it won't be much, only forty or fifty catties, and after this, I won't need to cook any more for a while."

Chen Fan turned to look at him, "Why did you stop?"

The two of them worked together. Zhang Wenliang provided the turtles and handled the sales, while Chen Fan was responsible for cooking them. After deducting the cost of oil, sauces, and turtle meat, the profits were split equally between them. Last time, Chen Fan received more than 30 yuan, which was neither a lot nor a little.

For a production team member, earning this much in one go is quite impressive. How can you just quit like that?
Zhang Wenliang shrugged and said helplessly, "The big turtles have almost all been dug up, and what's left are just tiny turtle hatchlings the size of a palm. What can we do with them?"

Happy New Year!!!
I'll update more next year, could you give me your monthly vote? (`) Sending love
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(End of this chapter)