Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 265 Did you see it?

Having successfully obtained a whole crocodile skin, Chen Fan could finally begin making his own belt.

However, making a belt from crocodile skin is much more difficult than making one from cowhide.

If not layered, cowhide can be 3 or 4 millimeters thick, while crocodile skin is only about 2 millimeters thick. If used as a belt, it needs to be double-layered.

First, he experimented with rabbit skin and fox tail to improve his tailoring skills to LV3. After two days of hard work, he finally made his first belt.

That morning, Chen Fan, wearing a freshly made belt, rode a tall horse to work.

Upon arriving at the brigade headquarters, Zhang Wenliang was leading the militia in training. Now, due to the need to work and concerns about their physical stamina, the daily training during winter has been reduced to once a week; the only constant is their attitude towards training.

Chen Fan stood to the side with his hands behind his back, his back straight. It was only because he didn't have a big belly that he looked like a corrupt official.

Zhang Wenliang gave him a strange look, but since he was in the middle of training and couldn't speak, he could only wait until he finished training to talk.

At this moment, Lin Yuanxiang and Xiao Liewen walked over one after the other. Seeing Chen Fan standing to the side, Lin Yuanxiang called to the two puppies a few times. Duoduo and Qiuqiu turned their heads and glanced at him, then squatted in place without moving. Only when Chen Fan "mooed" twice did they reluctantly run over.

Lin Yuanxiang bent down and picked up the two dogs, chuckling, "You two heartless bastards, I feed you delicious food every day, and you don't even respond when I call you. You deserve a spanking."

Duo Duo looked at Qiu Qiu and said, "Woof woof (What did he say?)"

Qiuqiu barked twice, "Woof woof (I don't know)."

Xiao Liewen walked straight towards Chen Fan and laughed loudly, "You usually arrive around 7 o'clock, why are you here so early today?"

Chen Fan turned around with his hands on his hips, grinning, "Ah, I got up a little early today, so I arrived early."

Just as Xiao Liewen was about to speak, he suddenly noticed the shiny, golden copper belt buckle on his waist. "Oh, is this your new belt?"

Chen Fan's grin widened. "Oh, you saw it?"

Xiao Liewen's eyes twitched slightly. "I'm not blind. Your brass buckle is shining brightly in the sun. How could I not see it?"
He didn't speak, and Chen Fan didn't mind. He laughed and said loudly, "I didn't buy it. The supply and marketing cooperative only has artificial leather and canvas belts. I wanted to buy a belt, but they said I had to go to the county town. Look at me running around like this, just for a belt, isn't that crazy?"

I wasn't planning on buying it anyway; I figured I could just wrap it with a cloth strip, which would be a good way to be thrifty.

Unfortunately, man proposes, God disposes. Guess what? There was an old man in Team 9 who used to work for the provincial hunting team. He had a crocodile skin that nobody wanted.

Although crocodile skin isn't as good as cowhide, it's still leather, so I bought it, cut off a piece, sewed it up myself, and made a leather belt.

He straightened his back as he spoke, "Look, this is it."

Xiao Liewen was furious; he had made a mistake by asking about the belt.

Lin Yuanxiang stepped forward and exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, it really is crocodile skin!"

Seeing that someone was willing to cooperate, Chen Fan immediately turned around and adjusted his target, "That's right, even though crocodile skin is rare and comes from the water, the skin is not 'watery' at all. It's genuine crocodile skin, no worse than cowhide. If you use it sparingly, it can last for more than ten years."

Lin Yuanxiang straightened up, looked at him, and asked, "Did you buy it by cutting off a strip, or did you buy the whole hide?"

Chen Fan laughed and said, "Of course it's the whole piece. They only have one piece of leather. If you just pull a strip from the middle, what else can you use it for?"

Lin Yuanxiang nodded slowly, then asked, "You just said that you made this belt yourself?"

Chen Fan held his head high, his face full of pride, "Yes, I made it myself."

Unfortunately, he was happy too soon.

Lin Yuanxiang immediately put the two dogs on the ground and said to him, "Since you can sew your own leather belt, making a saddle shouldn't be a big problem."

Chen Fan's expression stiffened slightly. "Huh? A saddle?"

Lin Yuanxiang nodded and said, "Yes, saddle."

His expression changed faster than turning the pages of a book. Just a moment ago, the sky was clear and bright, but the next second he was heartbroken. "Your horse, it breaks my heart to see it. It was a perfectly good warhorse, but it doesn't even have a saddle. A few days ago, Lao Xiao told me that there was still an old military horse saddle in the brigade headquarters warehouse, but the leather was badly damaged, and only the frame was left."

I was thinking of fixing it up and putting it on your horse, but now it's great! Just take out the saddle, peel off the outer skin, and cover it with crocodile skin, and it'll be a brand new saddle. Isn't that wonderful?

Chen Fan blinked rapidly, paused for several seconds, and then chuckled awkwardly, "No, Uncle Lin, I still have a use for this crocodile skin."

Lin Yuanxiang said irritably, "Useful? What's the use? Is it for making leather jackets or leather shoes? If making leather jackets isn't enough, then make leather shoes. The supply and marketing cooperative stores sell leather shoes. Artificial leather ones are only 5 yuan, and cowhide ones are only 15 yuan. Where can't you buy them? But can you even buy leather or saddles?"

Chen Fan's face stiffened slightly, but he felt that what he said made sense, so he said with a bitter face, "Alright then, let's make the saddle first."

He was planning to make a few more things with that crocodile skin, but well, he showed off his new belt, and then it all fell through.

Seeing that he was willing to listen to advice, Lin Yuanxiang was immediately pleased. "That's right. Once the saddle is made, we'll buy some canvas straps to make a bridle, and then we'll make a pair of stirrups. That'll complete the warhorse's equipment."

Chen Fan said with a stiff face, "But we're still missing rifles and sabers."

Xiao Liewen laughed and scolded from the side, "Should we also get you a military uniform, a belt, and all the necessary equipment, so you can just become a cavalryman?"

Chen Fan chuckled dryly, "No need, it's fine as it is now."

Lin Yuanxiang clicked his tongue and pondered for a moment, "To be honest, it does feel a bit lacking without equipment."

He then looked up at Chen Fan and smiled, "Forget about the guns. I've heard you have two hunting rifles and a small pistol yourself. But I can get you a saber."

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan was stunned for a moment, staring blankly at him, "You have a machete?"

Then he remembered that he was Captain Xiao's old comrade-in-arms, both of them had been on the battlefield, so it wasn't surprising that he had a saber.

Lin Yuanxiang laughed and said, "Yes, I have a machete, but I can't give it to you for free."

Chen Fan shrugged and smiled, "What are the conditions?"

To be honest, he wasn't really that interested in sabers. If he really wanted one, he could just build a furnace in his backyard, find some scrap metal and coal, and make one himself.

The forging skill wasn't activated for nothing! But seeing that Old Man Lin wanted to play games, he figured he might as well play along; after all, he wouldn't lose anything.

Lin Yuanxiang laughed and said, "Let's not talk about the conditions for now. Once you've finished making the saddle, and the time is right, I will naturally give you the saber you want."

Chen Fan readily agreed and immediately laughed, "Alright, then I'll be waiting for your saber."

Just then, the militiamen finished their morning exercises. Zhang Wenliang wiped his sweat, ran over, bent down to look at Chen Fan's new belt, and said, "Heh, where did you buy this belt? It's quite nice."

Chen Fan spread his hands at him, "Don't even think about it. I'm going to use the rest of the hides to make saddles. There's nothing for you."

Zhang Wenliang straightened up and gave him a disapproving look. "Stingy."

Xiao Liewen and Lin Yuanxiang, who were standing nearby, burst into laughter.

Chen Fan shrugged helplessly. What's so funny about this?

Xiao Liewen waved his hand at the other militiamen, "Dismissed after training."

He then pulled out a pipe from his waist, rolled some tobacco, and looked at Zhang Wenliang, saying, "We're going to start transplanting rice today. During the transplanting period, you must do a good job of security. All the militiamen should go to the fields with guns. I don't need to go into the details of the precautions. You need to explain them to them clearly and make sure that there are no mistakes."

When it came to serious matters, Zhang Wenliang became serious and nodded without hesitation, "I have made all the arrangements and I guarantee that the mission will be completed."

Xiao Liewen nodded, lit a match to put on his cigarette, and continued, "After the rice planting is finished, it will be around May. May 1st is a Sunday, and we need to go to the market. You can check then, set a time, and arrange the spring training."

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan was immediately drawn to the conversation.

Great! The militia's spring training has finally arrived, and we can openly play with guns again.

It's a pitiful story, really. They bought those three guns and only had a good time firing them once, which wasn't enough for them. This time, they were determined to have a good time firing them.

Moreover, they could use the militia's rifles instead of wasting their own hunting rifle bullets.

A single shotgun shell costs four cents! That's expensive!

Just as Xiao Liewen and Zhang Wenliang were discussing the militia's spring training, Zhang Changjiang and Secretary Yang also arrived.

Secretary Yang, supporting his bicycle, walked inside, asking, "Why aren't you all going in?"

Xiao Liewen turned around and said with a smile, "We just arrived not long ago. Their militia just finished training, so I discussed the spring training with Sanhuzi."

As Zhang Changjiang approached, he laughed loudly, "We should go inside to talk, otherwise we'll just starve outside!"

Xiao Liewen stepped inside, laughing as he said, "The east wind is blowing now; if the northwest wind blows, it'll be autumn training time."

They all went inside, but instead of going to the office, they sat down in the reception room at the front.

After offering cigarettes as usual, Secretary Yang leaned back in his chair and, without treating Lin Yuanxiang as an outsider, said directly, "Anyway, this is the arrangement every year. Today, it's still me, Lao Zhang, and Lao Ye going to inspect each team so that it's easier to handle any issues."

Old Ye told me yesterday that he wouldn't be coming over this morning; he'd go directly to the later teams to check on the rice planting progress. Old Xiao will stay behind to coordinate, Sanhuzi will lead the brigade's militia squad to patrol each team, and my daughter will also go down to mobilize the women comrades to ensure proper logistics. No one can be careless.”

As he spoke, he turned to look at Chen Fan, took a puff of his cigarette, and said, "Xiao Chen, you need to keep a close eye on the broadcasting station these next few days. Although Xiao'e is already proficient in using the broadcasting machine, she is still too inexperienced and doesn't know how to repair it. I'm afraid that if something goes wrong, she won't be able to handle it. It's more reassuring to have you here to watch over it."

Chen Fan immediately nodded, "Okay, I'll be here for the next few days."

At this moment, Zhang Wenliang turned to look at him and asked, "Your team's 'toilet construction team' can't even build toilets independently?"

Chen Fan smiled and said, "I only guided them in building the first few toilets. Starting yesterday, they were able to build them independently. I checked later and they were almost the same as when I was there. They can be considered to have graduated."

He paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "Besides, these days are all busy with rice planting. The men are carrying seedlings and the women are planting them in the fields. There's no time to build toilets. Even the most important things can wait until after the rice planting is finished."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the room nodded in unison.

Xiao Liewen chuckled and said, "I was worried that you were so focused on building the toilets that you neglected the rice planting. But it seems you haven't lost your minds after all."

He was one of the first people in Lujiawan to renovate the toilets. A few days ago, Chen Fan led the toilet construction team to renovate the first toilet at Captain Yang's house, and the second toilets to be renovated were at Xiao Liewen's and Zhang Changjiang's houses.

With these two examples, more than half of the people in Team 5 ordered squat toilets from Chen Fan.

However, Chen Fan no longer sells squat toilets directly, but supplies them to construction teams. They cost 10 yuan each, and the construction teams don't add any markup; the cost is included in the price for the users. To build a new toilet, excluding material costs, it takes three workers, each worker earning 3 yuan, plus a few packs of cigarettes, which is about 20 yuan. For most members, this is completely within their acceptable range.

Hearing Xiao Liewen's words, Chen Fan chuckled and said, "That's impossible. Even if the construction team members wanted to make money and didn't want to plant rice, Captain Yang wouldn't let them do that. They are all from the Yang, Liu, and Huang families, and none of them dare to disobey Captain Yang's orders."

Secretary Yang listened and nodded slowly, smoking and smiling without saying a word.

Although he and Yang Chuanfu were not on the same team, they were distant relatives. If the Yang family dared to cause trouble, he would lose face; conversely, if they did, he would gain face.

“There’s one more,”

Zhang Changjiang said to Chen Fan, "You're a master at writing articles, and rice planting is a top priority for our production team. Take a look and figure out how to write two good articles, preferably ones that can be published in the Yunhu Daily. I'll give you credit for that."

Hearing this, Chen Fan, who was already mentally prepared, readily agreed.

It's just writing articles. After reading so many newspapers in the archives, he had already figured out the formula for writing articles these days.

He could write ten articles, not just two, and from different angles.

You could write an essay about the leadership role of the brigade headquarters, an essay about ordinary members, an essay about the militiamen's tireless efforts to prevent sabotage, or an essay from the perspective of an elderly person who experienced the old era...

There were too many to count; for Chen Fan, it was no use at all—he only needed his hands.

Several brigade leaders sat there smoking, and soon arranged the spring planting and rice transplanting work for this year, and then went about their respective tasks.

After they all left, Xiao Liewen stood up and said, "Wait here for a moment, I'll go find the custodian, Lao Luo, and get that tattered saddle."

(End of this chapter)