Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 268 Injured
Five teams rode out on horseback, strolling through the fields, where a bustling scene unfolded everywhere.

Someone spotted Chen Fan from afar and immediately shouted, "Teacher Chen, out sketching?"

Chen Fan looked up at the sound and saw many women "scattered" in the fields, holding green rice seedlings in their hands and deftly planting them into the paddy fields.

Each paddy field can house anywhere from eight to ten people; a dozen or so paddy fields would house over a hundred people.

In addition, many people pulled out rice seedlings from the paddy fields, put them in baskets, and then young and strong men carried the baskets to the fields for the women to plant.

Chen Fan snapped out of his daze, but quickly realized what he meant and replied loudly, "That's right, we'll broadcast it to our own team tomorrow about the field trip."

Someone immediately burst into laughter, "Teacher Chen, then you should write about us better."

Chen Fan laughed and said, "No need to write it out specially, just write it as it is, and you will be the best production team members."

A burst of laughter immediately erupted from all around.

Someone exclaimed, "As expected of Teacher Chen, cultured people really know how to talk!"

Amidst laughter and chatter, Chen Fan crossed the fields of Team 5, passed the main road of Lujiawan and the wooden bridges over the two ditches, and arrived at the fields of Team 6.

The situation in Team 6 was similar to that in Team 5. They were basically divided into two groups. One group was busy pulling seedlings out of the paddy field and transporting them to other plowed paddy fields, where the people guarding the fields would then plant the seedlings.

Seeing this scene, he suddenly thought of a poem: "Planting green seedlings with your hands, you see the sky reflected in the water. Only when the six senses are purified can rice grow; retreating is actually moving forward."

The people responsible for transplanting rice seedlings are mainly women, but there are also quite a few men. They hold the seedlings in their hands, roll up their trouser legs high, and step barefoot into the paddy field, transplanting the seedlings while backing away, carefully planting each bunch of green seedlings in the paddy field.

Chen Fan greeted everyone along the way and observed the rice planting progress. At the current pace, it would probably take five or six days at most to complete all the rice planting work.

Although it can't match the efficiency of a rice transplanter, it's not much slower.

Just as Chen Fan was pondering, a startled cry suddenly came from afar.

A thought struck him, and he immediately looked up. He saw some commotion in a paddy field, and his brows furrowed slightly.

If he remembers correctly, that place should be the educated youth field?
Now there is only one educated youth left, Jiang Lili. However, it is impossible for her to cultivate such a large paddy field by herself, so the team took over the management. Now, the people cultivating this land with her are Yang Ju and a few other young women.

Chen Fan hesitated only briefly before pulling the reins, turning his horse around, and galloping off in that direction.

The young mare trod across the narrow ridges of the field with ease, and soon reached the edge of the field.

Chen Fan braced himself on the horse's back and leaped over its head, landing on the ridge of the field. He then saw Yang Ju and Huang Ying carrying Jiang Lili toward him, with Liu Dan supporting her back from behind.

Jiang Lili raised one foot high, and Chen Fan could clearly see that her foot was covered in blood, probably because she had stepped on something and cut her foot.

Yang Chuanfu was also nearby. He ran barefoot towards them, shouting, "What's going on?"

Chen Fan patted the mare and said softly, "Turn around."

Then he took off his shoes, rolled up his trouser legs, and stepped into the field.

At this moment, Yang Ju shouted to Captain Yang, "Lili stepped on a clam shell and cut her foot."

Yang Chuanfu was both shocked and furious. "A clam shell? The paddy field has been plowed three times, where would a clam shell come from?"

As he spoke, he turned around and roared, "Who cultivated this field?"

The fields, which were just moments before filled with laughter, are now completely silent.

Chen Fan, expressionless, strode across the water, then took Jiang Lili from the panting Yang Ju and Huang Ying, carrying her horizontally towards the paddy field ridge.

Captain Yang heard no reply and his face grew increasingly grim. When he turned around and saw this scene, he didn't say much, but simply said loudly, "Xiao Chen, take Jiang Lili back on horseback first, preferably to the brigade headquarters, and ask Doctor Zhang to take a look."

Jiang Lili, who was being held by Chen Fan, was already blushing. Hearing Captain Yang's voice, she couldn't help but say, "No, no need."

Captain Yang ignored her and said to himself, "Go see Dr. Zhang, and the medical expenses will be paid from the public account."

No one around said anything. Firstly, the medical expenses were not much, as such scratches usually only cost a few cents. Secondly, this was considered a "work injury," as who would have known that there would be clam shells in a paddy field that had been plowed several times?

Who knows if there are still clam shells in the paddy field? Will I be the next one to get hurt?

At this moment, Chen Fan finally came to his senses and first looked at Jiang Lili's feet. There was a long wound on the sole of her left foot, which was covered with mud and blood, making it look shocking.

He turned to look at Jiang Lili, who was covered in cold sweat, and asked softly, "Do you still feel your feet?"

Jiang Lili, panting heavily, replied, "Yes."

She paused for a moment, then said softly, "It just hurts a lot."

Only in front of Chen Fan did she dare to utter the word "pain". Chen Fan smiled and said, "If you know it hurts, then it's okay. It shouldn't be too serious. I'll take you back and put some medicine on it."

Jiang Lili forced a smile, her lips trembling slightly, "Mmm."

Chen Fan then looked up at Captain Yang, who had already walked up to him. After quickly stepping onto the ridge, he said to him, "I just checked Xiao Jiang's injuries. We need to stop the bleeding immediately. I'll take her back to clean the wound and stop the bleeding first. If that doesn't work, we'll go find Doctor Zhang."

Yang Chuanfu took a deep breath, his face still looking grim, but he didn't say much. "Okay, you make the arrangements."

He gritted his teeth, turned his head and looked around, "Damn it, we have to find him."

Chen Fan suddenly remembered something and whispered, "Captain, I remember a few days ago, a group of kids were playing with clam shells in the village. Could they have run over here and accidentally thrown them into the field?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Chuanfu immediately realized that it was indeed possible.

A paddy field that has been plowed several times will definitely not have any clam shells, but if children throw them into the field, then there's nothing that can be done.

When the pond was being cleared before the Spring Festival, a lot of clam shells were found, of all sizes. The meat was removed to feed the pigs, and the shells were left piled up on the edge of the pond and left unattended, becoming toys for the children. The adults usually didn't bother with them, but they never expected it would cause this mess today.

As for what to do next, Yang Chuanfu will naturally have to worry about it. Now, Chen Fan needs to hurry up and send Jiang Lili back for treatment.

He turned around and helped Jiang Lili onto the horse, then patted the horse's rump. The mare immediately walked forward, while he picked up his shoes and quickly followed behind.

Ignoring the stares of those around him, Chen Fan led his horse back quickly, and soon arrived at the educated youth settlement.

Jiang Lili endured the pain and was about to jump down when Chen Fan caught her halfway down and held her in his arms, making her blush bright red.

Chen Fan didn't put her down, but carried her towards the general ward, saying, "You're injured now, don't move around. I'll wash your feet and apply medicine for you."

Jiang Lili, her head bowed, murmured, "No, no need, I can do it myself..."

Before she could finish speaking, Chen Fan helped her to a chair and then went to fetch water.

Now that the weather has warmed up, the charcoal stove that helped Chen Fan get through the winter has long been sealed away, and there is no hot water in the kitchen, so he has to burn it on the spot.

While the water was boiling, Chen Fan took a basin of cold water and placed it next to Jiang Lili's feet. Then he took a clean cloth and wiped her feet.

Jiang Lili pulled her legs back slightly. "I can do it myself."

Without looking up, Chen Fan grabbed her feet and cleaned them little by little.

Then I changed the water to a basin of half-boiled hot water and cleaned the wound again.

The wound on the sole of my foot is about five centimeters long, almost a quarter of the length of my foot. The wound is split open on both sides, and the flesh is a bit white. It looks painful.

Chen Fan then looked up and smiled at Jiang Lili, "It's not a big problem. The mud and water have all been cleaned up. Just add some strong liquor to disinfect it, bandage it up, and it will be completely healed in a few days."

Jiang Lili's ears were red, and her voice trembled slightly as she spoke, "Th-thank you."

Chen Fan put her other foot into the basin of hot water, then pulled over a chair, placed her injured foot on it, and said with a smile, "You used to fetch water for me all the time, but I never said thank you that much."

He then went to his room, took a bottle of 56-degree Yunhu Daqu liquor, poured some into the jar, and carefully wiped the wound with a cotton ball.

As soon as she applied the product, Jiang Lili couldn't help but pull her leg back slightly, but quickly managed to stop herself.

Chen Fan looked up at her, smiled, pulled out a chair and sat down, placing her feet on his lap. He held her feet firmly with one hand while using the other to clean and disinfect them. After cleaning the wound thoroughly, he took out a small ceramic bottle, uncorked it, poured some powder onto the wound, and smiled as he looked down, saying, "You're lucky. This is an anti-inflammatory and tissue-regenerating powder that I made myself. I've never used it on anyone before; you're the first."

Despite the strange sensation in her foot, Jiang Lili pretended to be calm and said, "Then I've become a guinea pig."

Chen Fan turned to look at her and laughed, "Are you scared?"

Jiang Lili pursed her lips and smiled, "Don't be afraid, I believe in you."

Chen Fan continued applying the medicine, "Hey, you should trust me. Although this medicine has never been used on humans, I have tested it on rabbits several times and I guarantee it will work."

Jiang Lili wrinkled her nose. "Oh, so you're not mistaking me for a rabbit."

Chen Fan applied the medicine powder, then took out a pack of unopened bandages from the bag. "You're much better than a rabbit. Rabbits can only be bandaged with coarse cloth. This is a professional bandage I got from the veterinary station. It has the effect of preventing inflammation and speeding up healing. I guarantee you can get out of bed in three days and be lively and energetic in five days."

Jiang Lili said reproachfully, "The bandages from the veterinary station? Isn't that still a rabbit?"

Chen Fan laughed heartily, bandaged her foot, and even tied a bow on the instep, saying, "That's a pretty rabbit too."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Lili blushed deeply again and lowered her head, remaining silent.

(End of this chapter)