Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 274 Everyone's Playing Mind Games

The next morning, Chen Fan took two lunchboxes to work.

When they arrived at the brigade headquarters, Secretary Yang and his team had already gone down to the fields to oversee the rice planting work.

Yesterday, Yang Chuanfu reported to Secretary Yang about the mussel shells found in the paddy fields of Team 6. After discussing it with Ye Shubao and others, he called each team and asked them to carefully inspect the paddy fields to ensure that such a situation would not happen again.

Still not at ease, he got up earlier than usual today, skipped work at the brigade headquarters, and went down to inspect several teams by himself, leaving only Xiao Liewen to watch the house.

Of course, Lin Yuanxiang was always by his side.

When Chen Fan entered, he saw the two men sitting in the office, smoking.

Seeing Chen Fan come in carrying two lunchboxes, Xiao Liewen asked curiously, "What, not going home for lunch today? You don't need to bring a lunchbox, just eat at my house. I'll prepare the dishes, and you can cook."

Chen Fan waved away the smoke in front of him, walked to the window and opened it, saying irritably, "Hey, you two seniors, is this what you're eating so early in the morning?"

Lin Yuanxiang chuckled and said, "I'm over 60 years old. As the old saying goes, I'm halfway to the grave. I can't even eat whatever I want anymore."

Xiao Liewen said, "I did have breakfast, a bowl of rice porridge and two eggs. I just came over to order it and you arrived."

Chen Fan glanced at the room full of smoke and said, "You really have a big puff of smoke."

He then placed one of the lunchboxes in front of them, saying, "I made this myself. You can eat it for breakfast or as a snack. Just try it out."

The other one was put in the bag.

Xiao Liewen reached out and took it. "What is this?"

Lifting the lid of the lunchbox revealed six small cakes inside.

Lin Yuanxiang leaned forward, then turned to look at Chen Fan, and asked in surprise, "Did you make this?"

Chen Fan sat down to the side and chuckled, "A little trick, just like steaming buns."

"That's so different."

Lin Yuanxiang picked up a piece, put it in his mouth and took a bite. His eyes lit up immediately. "Hmm, it tastes good, it looks decent."

Xiao Liewen also ate a piece, gave a thumbs up and nodded, "This thing is interesting, it's sweet."

Chen Fan grinned and chuckled. This was the most successful cake he had ever made. Using the same ingredients, it was definitely no worse than the big brand products of later generations. But Captain Xiao found it was sweet.

That makes sense. When older people eat cake, they only have two requirements: it should be oily and sweet. A good cake is one that meets these two conditions.

The two of them each ate one piece and then stopped. Xiao Liewen tore off two pieces of paper and packed up the remaining four pieces of cake. "I ate a lot this morning, so I'll save these for later."

He then returned the empty lunchbox to Chen Fan.

Chen Fan put the lunchbox back into the bag, then took out a stack of folded manuscript paper, unfolded it, and handed it over, saying, "This is a report on rice planting. Please take a look."

Xiao Liewen quickly took it and saw that Lin Yuanxiang was also craning his neck to look, so he handed it to him and looked at it together.

After quickly skimming through the manuscript, Xiao Liewen handed it all to Lin Yuanxiang, then turned to Chen Fan and asked, "Are you drawing anything?"

Chen Fan pointed to the location of the broadcasting room behind him, "I was busy writing yesterday and didn't have time to draw. I'll go there to gather inspiration later."

Xiao Liewen nodded slowly, looking at him with a teasing smile, "You said you're busy writing manuscripts and don't have time to draw, so let me ask you something."

Chen Fan: "Please go ahead."

Xiao Liewen, "Did you take off your shoes yesterday?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Yuanxiang stopped looking at the manuscript and went to look at Chen Fan.

Chen Fan looked at the two of them with a blank expression, "Huh?"

Xiao Liewen gestured, "When you were rescuing her, you didn't know? You're playing dumb, aren't you? That female educated youth, wasn't it you who rescued her?"

Chen Fan then realized what was happening, scratched the back of his head, and said with a strange expression, "She just cut her foot, that's at most helping, not saving someone, right?"

Xiao Liewen, "Regardless of whether you were helping or rescuing someone, did you go into the paddy field?"

Chen Fan nodded. "Yes."

He then smiled and said, "At the time, she couldn't walk, so two girls from the same village carried her out. I was afraid they would fall, so I went over and helped them."

Then, his face was full of confusion, "How come you all know about this?"

Xiao Liewen coughed lightly, "Such a big thing has happened, shouldn't your Captain Yang report it to the brigade headquarters?"

The report was a report, but Yang Chuanfu reported that there were clam shells in the paddy field that had cut someone. He only learned about the other things from the conversations of the older women in the team. When he got home, even his family members were asking him if Chen Fan had something going on with that female educated youth.

So, when he saw Chen Fan this morning, he naturally wanted to verify it.

Yes, it's about verification, definitely not gossip.

Chen Fan genuinely believed it was Captain Yang who said it, so he recounted the events of yesterday morning in detail, concluding, "That's the situation. At the time, I was the only man around the paddy field where the incident occurred. How could I not care?"

Xiao Liewen pursed his lips thoughtfully, "So, you took your shoes off back then?"

Chen Fan was speechless. Why was everyone arguing about whether or not he had taken off his shoes?

Xiao Liewen coughed lightly and looked at him seriously, saying, "Whether you took off your shoes or not seems like a small issue, but it's actually a big one. Taking off your shoes means you wanted to help, but you weren't out of your mind. Not taking off your shoes means you were out of your mind at the time, so you need to explain clearly why you were out of your mind."

Chen Fan said with a sullen face, "I'm completely confused by what you've said."

Lin Yuanxiang watched Lao Xiao ramble on and on, and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Seeing his reaction, Chen Fan knew perfectly well that Xiao Liewen had teased him, and he couldn't help but cover his eyes, unable to bear to look.

Xiao Liewen laughed a few times, then his expression changed. He coughed and said to Chen Fan, "Seriously, Chen, you're still young. You've just turned 16 or are almost 17, right? Although according to the old rules, you could be considered 18, according to national regulations, men can only get married at 20. At the earliest, you'll have to wait another 3 years."

Hearing this, Chen Fan became interested and deliberately contradicted him, feigning sudden realization, "Oh, so men can only get married at 20. But I heard that so-and-so from Team 10 was not even 18 when he got married during the Spring Festival, right? Why did he have his wedding banquet so early?"

Xiao Liewen, with a long face, pointed at him and said, "We're talking about your problem now, don't try to change the subject."

Chen Fan suppressed a laugh, "Captain, I understand what you mean. Don't worry, as you said, I'm still young. Even if I wanted to get married, you wouldn't give me a letter of introduction. And you wouldn't agree to a wedding banquet either. Besides, I'm not even thinking about getting married. I don't even have a girlfriend. Who would I marry?"

Xiao Liewen blinked, looked at Lin Yuanxiang, then at him, and asked in a low voice, "You... you really didn't have anything going on with that female educated youth?"

Chen Fan shrugged. "What could it be?"

He even gave examples with self-righteousness, "Let's not talk about anything else. Xiao'e is still sitting in the broadcasting room now, and Huang Ying, Yang Ju, and Liu Dan are also living in the educated youth compound. What do I have with them? Nothing at all! You can't just say that I have something with Comrade Jiang because I hugged her yesterday. I was just being a doctor with a parent's heart, purely helping out. There was nothing else. It would be the same with anyone else!"

Hearing this, Xiao Liewen was relieved and immediately coughed, "That's good, I was just reminding you anyway."

He paused for a moment, then added, "What if something really happens..."

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Fan jumped up and walked out, saying, "I'm going to work."

Xiao Liewen immediately shouted, "One article isn't enough, write a few more. And don't forget to draw."

Chen Fan had disappeared from sight; only his voice could be heard: "I know."

Hearing that there was no more noise outside, Xiao Liewen turned to look at Lin Yuanxiang and whispered, "Do you think everything is alright?"

Lin Yuanxiang looked at the manuscript, chuckled, and said, "If I have nothing else to do, I'll pry out these eyes."

Xiao Liewen's expression changed slightly. "Really?"

Lin Yuanxiang turned to look at him, smiled, and said, "Tell me about that female educated youth first. Why are you acting this way? What are you wary of them for?" Xiao Liewen didn't hesitate and briefly explained the situation, finally saying, "I'm not afraid of those people, and I don't think there's anything wrong with this girl. However, this was a decision made by several people in the brigade headquarters. We'll leave her alone and uninvolved, as long as she doesn't cause any problems here. We'll send her back safely and intact one day. No matter where she goes, our mission will be complete."

He turned to look at Lin Yuanxiang, "If she gets married here, blocking all her future prospects, and then one day her family turns her fortunes around, do you think her family will cause us trouble?"

The present is different from the future. In the era of collectivism, everyone is caught in a web, and every little thing affects the whole situation. There's no escaping it.

Lin Yuanxiang pursed his lips and sighed after a long while. Then he said, "If you ask me, you're all stuck in a rut. Let her make her own decisions. As long as you don't bully her, even if her father becomes the top leader of Yunhu one day, it won't be your fault."

Xiao Liewen chuckled awkwardly, "There's another one. There are a few people in the team who think Xiao Chen is a pretty good guy and are wondering if they could keep him."

Lin Yuanxiang chuckled twice and said, "Young people who don't get married lack stability, even if they build a house here. A house isn't a home; a home is when you get married, have children, and have a family. As long as he marries a girl from your team, even if he remembers his origins one day, he will still be connected to your Lujiawan."

Xiao Liewen nodded slightly, "That's what we think too."

Then he chuckled softly, "At first, I was worried about whether there was something wrong with his background, but after seeing his skills, I really couldn't bear not to use him. This is what I think: even if he has a bad family background like that female educated youth, it doesn't matter. As long as he doesn't commit any crimes, Lujiawan can tolerate him."

Lin Yuanxiang glanced at him. "What if they're criminals?"

Xiao Liewen looked at him, "What do you think he is?"

Lin Yuanxiang was silent for two seconds, then gently shook his head. "There was no murderous intent in his eyes, and he wasn't ruthless enough. No."

After pausing for two seconds, he said, "After observing him for so many days, I've pretty much figured him out. He's simple-minded, principled yet flexible, and has a high aptitude for martial arts. He's definitely a promising talent. Teaching him a few skills will ensure that my lineage has a successor and doesn't die out."

Xiao Liewen: "Then why don't you teach it? And you still have questions?"

Lin Yuanxiang frowned and slowly shook his head. "I always feel that he's hiding something."

He turned to look at Xiao Liewen and said softly, "Back then, I was injured by a bomb and my brain was damaged. Although I still remember my skills, I have forgotten many things, including you old brothers. It took me a year or two to slowly remember them all."

Look at him again; aside from not remembering where he came from, he's overflowing with all sorts of amazing skills.

He pointed to the wrapped cake on the table and laughed, "Putting everything else aside, just this thing, others may not know, but you should. This is something only Western restaurants have. Even the master chefs at time-honored pastry shops can't make a cake this soft. Yet he can. And his memory is excellent; he learns everything instantly. Can someone with a brain injury do that?"

Xiao Liewen seemed to understand something. "You mean, he didn't lose his memory at all?"

Lin Yuanxiang smiled and said, "I was just saying it's possible."

Xiao Liewen spread his hands, "But he doesn't have any bad intentions. I've been watching him for over two months. This guy is definitely from a wealthy family. He's clueless about many common things, but he has a high level of professional knowledge. Isn't that a common problem for children from wealthy families?"

Lin Yuanxiang nodded. "Some outstanding children from wealthy families are indeed very capable and of high quality, but they are unaware of the hardships of ordinary people, just like Chen Fan. What I'm struggling with now is which wealthy family he is backed by."

He turned to look at Xiao Liewen and laughed, "Don't let him be from some old rival's faction. We've worked so hard to teach him, only to end up doing all the work for our opponent."

Xiao Liewen scoffed, "What kind of enemy do you have? Isn't it just about fighting for credit back then? It's been so many years and you still can't let it go. Besides, if this kid were really from your old rival's lineage, would he be completely clueless about kung fu?"
You didn't see how weak and frail he looked back then. His steps were unsteady and he was weak and listless. Even a woman was stronger than him. He had definitely never trained.

"I don't know what you're worried about. I was thinking of showing you all your skills, and in a year or two, sending him to the army for some serious training, even if he's under your old rival. That would still be contributing to the country, what's wrong with that?"

Lin Yuanxiang clicked his tongue, considered it for a moment, and nodded, saying, "Okay."

Then he looked up and laughed, “I’ll ask him one last question. If he’s right, not only will I not know the tricks of my trade, but I’ve also learned the secrets of those old guys over the past two years. I can teach them to him all of that later.”

Xiao Liewen immediately beamed with joy, "That's right! It's not easy for you to find a successor, and it's also difficult for him to learn some skills. This way, isn't it the best of both worlds?"

Lin Yuanxiang shook his head and said to him, "You've gone to so much trouble to do him favors, aren't you afraid that one day he'll turn around and leave?"

Xiao Liewen chuckled, "What kind of favor is this? I just think he's a good prospect. If he can be trained well, he'll be excellent material for the army. Besides,"

He suddenly lowered his voice and whispered, "I don't think he's a heartless person. The better you treat him, the better he treats you. As long as you keep that in mind, he won't be able to escape the web of human relationships in Lujiawan."

Lin Yuanxiang pointed at him, "I didn't expect you, Xiao Manzi, to be so cunning."

He then stood up, stretched, his bones cracking and popping, and twisted his neck before laughing, "I'm going to go talk to him."

Xiao Liewen waved his hand, "Go ahead, go ahead, it doesn't matter whether he's at the radio station or not, just chat whatever you want."

……

When Chen Fan entered the broadcasting room, Zhang Cuie was already sitting there as usual, but she looked somewhat worried.

"what happened?"

Chen Fan walked over to take a look and said, "Oh, you're writing a news article."

Zhang Cuie quickly stood up, poured him a cup of tea, and then said with a bitter face, "I've written several articles myself, but when I compare them with the articles in the newspaper, I feel that my writing is terrible."

Then, looking at Chen Fan with admiration, she said, "Teacher, you're amazing! Your novel has been published in 'Jiangnan Literature'."

Chen Fan blew on his teacup, took a small sip, and grinned, "Your situation is similar to mine back then. When I first started learning to write, I buried myself in my writing and thought, 'Hey, not bad at all!' But after reading other people's writing and then looking at my own, I thought, 'Pah, what kind of crap is this?!'"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Cuie couldn't help but burst into laughter.

After laughing, she hesitated for a moment, then asked, "You're not lying to me?"

Chen Fan raised his head and laughed, "What's the point of lying to you? There's no good food for me if I lie to you."

Zhang Cuie immediately took out a lunchbox, took out a sweet potato from it, and offered it with both hands, saying, "Teacher, here you go."

Chen Fan didn't stand on ceremony, picked it up and took a bite, "Mmm, delicious."

He then took a lunchbox out of his bag and handed it to her, saying, "I originally brought this for Secretary Yang and the others, but they're not here, so you're lucky."

Zhang Cuie's eyes lit up. "What is it?"

Chen Fan handed it forward, "Open it and see for yourself."

Zhang Cuie took the lunchbox, opened the lid, her eyes full of curiosity. She sniffed it carefully, then looked up at Chen Fan and asked, "What is this?"

Chen Fan then realized that she, like Huang Ying and Yang Ju from yesterday, had never seen a cake before, so it was normal that she didn't recognize it.

He smiled and said, "This is a cake, a kind of pastry. Try it."

Zhang Cuie's face lit up with surprise. She looked down and exclaimed, "Oh, this is a cake? I've seen it in a book!"

She carefully picked up a piece, as if afraid of crushing it, then brought her mouth to take a small bite, looked up, her eyes already narrowed to slits with laughter, and said, "Delicious."

Chen Fan laughed heartily, "They're all yours."

He paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "However, there's a condition. After eating the cake, you must write a decent news report; consider it homework."

Zhang Cuie nodded immediately, "I guarantee I will complete the mission."

She looked down at the cake, then looked up again, her face showing some hesitation. "Teacher, could I just eat one piece of this cake and take the rest home for my parents to try?"

Chen Fan smiled and nodded, "Since it's given to you, of course it's up to you to decide."

Zhang Cuie immediately beamed with joy, "Thank you, teacher."

Just as Chen Fan was about to speak, a voice came from outside, "Little Chen."

He immediately turned and walked out, standing in the corridor looking down. "Uncle Lin, is there something you need?"

Lin Yuanxiang waved to him and said with a smile, "Are you free? Come down and chat."

Since you've come all this way, how can you say you're too busy?
Chen Fan took off the cloth bag and shook it. "I'll be right back after I put the bag away."

(End of this chapter)