Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 320 The mighty Yangtze River is all water

A few days passed in the blink of an eye.

May 28th, Saturday, the 12th day at Yunhu.

The day before, Zhang Juemin told Chen Fan that if he didn't go back by tomorrow, Secretary Yang and his men would come and kidnap him.

After repeated negotiations with Hao Liyang, Chen Fan finally agreed that he could leave today.

Over the past few days, under the arrangement of the Health Department, Chen Fan visited several of the larger hospitals in Yunhu, successfully completing his guidance mission. At the same time, the "Common Sudden Injuries and Illnesses First Aid Manual" was also successfully finalized, which is the main reason why he can set off back to Lujiawan today.

In the backyard of the Health Department's guesthouse, several porters were loading boxes and loose items onto a truck.

This includes old books, appliances, and machine parts that Chen Fan found at a scrap yard, a bicycle and sewing machine that he bought himself at a secondhand store, and souvenirs that the three of them purchased individually.

Then there were some "local specialties" sent by the health department.

Since it's part of the health system, local specialties naturally have their own unique characteristics.

What was given to Chen Fan was 100 kinds of commonly used Chinese herbal medicines, one jin of each, totaling 100 jin, which took several large cloth bags to pack.

Chen Fan had originally planned to get some good medicines like tiger bones and old ginseng, but unfortunately, the stock in Yunhu City was running low. He had to beg and spend an extra 50 yuan to get two tiger knee bones and one 30-year-old ginseng.

Tiger knee is the best part of a tiger's body. There is an ancient saying, "Kill a tiger and take its kneecap," and it is also the raw material for the finest tiger bone wine.

Using these two tiger knees and that 30-year-old ginseng as the main ingredients, along with more than a dozen other medicinal herbs, Chen Fan was able to concoct a vat of top-grade tiger bone wine.

The kind that makes your whole body feel hot after just one sip!
It wasn't for nothing that he spent 50 yuan.

He received medicinal herbs, while Zhang Juemin, as a proper production team health worker, received a commemorative toolbox from the health department.

Well, it was just an ordinary toolbox with the words "Commemorative of Yunhu District Health Department" printed around it. Zhang Juemin felt really cool carrying it around.

Chen Fan couldn't bear to look at their swaggering and arrogant manner.

Besides that, there was a messy stack of tickets and certificates, including tickets for the "three turns and one sound" (transfer, watch, radio, and receiver), all of which were provided.

In addition, Chen Fan used his exclusive secret recipe, "Five Ways to Cook Turtle," to get five packs of filtered Magnolia cigarettes from the section chief.

As a veteran cadre in the health system, I certainly know that soft-shelled turtle is a nourishing delicacy. However, there was no tradition of eating soft-shelled turtle in the Yunhu area in the past, and they didn't know how to prepare it themselves, so they could only imagine it.

Now that he's obtained the cooking secrets from Chen Fan and passed them on to the head chef of the health department's canteen without reservation, what are five packs of filtered cigarettes compared to that?!

Chen Fan even suspected that the "three turns and one sound" tickets were the price difference they paid later.

Zhang Juemin and Zhang Wenliang were very self-aware and refused to take any of these things, even when Chen Fan offered to share them with them.

Zhang Juemin also carefully instructed Chen Fan to keep those tickets and certificates carefully, especially the tickets for "three turns and one sound" (referring to a bicycle, a sewing machine, a radio, and a watch), as they would definitely be needed for his wedding in the future!

Chen Fan could only smile and remain silent, then shook hands with the leaders and senior experts from the health department to say goodbye.

Director, "Don't slack off on your studies once you get down here. Think about the job transfer again carefully."

Director, "Come and visit when you have time."

Hao Liyang said, "If you ever come to your senses, just give Section Chief Yan a call. Your position will still be reserved for you."

Yan Liyuan said, "If you encounter any difficulties down here, just give me a call. I will definitely do my best to help."

Chen Fan: "Thank you, thank you, thank you for your kind words, leader..."

After a bit of tugging, Chen Fan got into the passenger seat.

Zhang Juemin and Zhang Wenliang decisively climbed into the back cargo compartment, sat in the pre-reserved gap, and laughed heartily.

I heard that sitting here will prevent motion sickness, so I hope I won't feel unwell on the way back!
With a gesture from Yan Liyuan, the driver started the car and, amidst the waving farewells of the crowd, slowly drove away from the backyard of the health department, heading towards Gufeng County.

……

Just like when we came, we first had to go to the dock to cross the Yangtze River.

The car continued on its way, and after about ten minutes, the Yangtze River embankment came into view.

Just as he was about to go uphill, Chen Fan saw a large crowd gathered not far ahead, and strange sounds seemed to be coming from them. Sometimes it was "eeeeeeee...", sometimes it was "gaga", and occasionally there were muffled snorting sounds.

To his ears, it was clearly a jumble of panicked cries like "I feel unwell" and "Go away," which made me a little strange.

He looked in that direction and asked, "Master, do you know what that place is for?"

The driver was also a full-time employee of the health department, so he naturally knew about Chen Fan's contributions and the attitude of many leaders in the bureau towards him, and therefore was very polite.

He pulled the car over there and said with a smile, "If you're interested, you can go and take a look."

Chen Fan smiled and was about to say no, when he suddenly saw a figure through the crowd and his eyes widened in surprise, "Holy crap, a panda?!"

"panda?"

The driver quickly realized, "Oh, then they must be artisans from Sichuan who have come here to set up stalls and perform for money."

Chen Fan quickly turned to look at him, his face full of shock, "Street performance? Performing with a panda?"

(Life is tough, so this cat performs for money. I don't think anyone wouldn't love this darling!)

Seeing Chen Fan's shocked expression, the driver couldn't help but laugh, "Yeah, it's just a panda. Tigers and bears can even do acrobatics, what's a panda?"

He paused for a moment, then continued, “Every spring and autumn, we have many farmers coming from Sichuan, Guizhou, and southern Zhejiang. They have many mountains and little land, and their harvest is not enough to feed themselves. So, during the period from rice planting to harvest, the production team will issue them letters of introduction so that they can come out and make a living.”

Those without skills would carry a bowl in their left hand, a stick in their right, and a cloth bag on their shoulder, begging wherever they went.

The truly skilled ones are like this: they can bring a monkey to perform with, or a few dogs to perform with, or even bears and tigers. But those usually require a group of at least two or three people; otherwise, they can't handle it.

At this point, he pointed to the crowd, "This should be the panda performers. But they don't dare to go to the city center. They only find places to set up stalls and perform in the districts or suburbs. Even if the police see them, they won't make things difficult for them if they show them a letter of introduction."

Chen Fan's eyes darted around, and he immediately opened the car door. "I'll go take a look."

As soon as he got out of the car, Zhang Wenliang and Zhang Juemin got out and followed behind him. They had heard Chen Fan speaking clearly in the driver's seat, so they didn't need to ask and just followed.

Chen Fan pushed his way through the crowd and saw a giant panda sitting restlessly in a large wooden cage, occasionally letting out roars, "Eee," "Gaga"...

Three short men stood nearby, looking anxiously at the panda in the cage, completely helpless.

Not far away, there were three carts. One cart was empty, while the other two each had a cage. One cage contained several dogs, and the other contained several monkeys. At this moment, they were all watching the agitated panda, lying obediently without moving.

The people around weren't afraid; they pointed and whispered curiously, all wondering what had happened to the panda. Chen Fan looked at the panda and slowly walked over.

One of them immediately said in a standard Sichuan accent, "Young comrade, don't come any closer, or you might get scratched by the cat."

Chen Fan smiled and waved his hand, "It's alright, I'm a veterinarian, I came to check on it."

"Are you a veterinarian?"

The person next to him was immediately overjoyed, but the next second, he looked miserable, "Even a veterinarian doesn't know how to treat cats."

The last person gritted his teeth and said, "Who cares about the details? At least the young doctor knows medicine."

He then bowed deeply to Chen Fan, saying, "Please, young doctor, take a look at me."

Chen Fan originally wanted to take out his veterinary certificate as proof, but they didn't even look at it and just put it back.

Just as he was about to approach the cage, Zhang Wenliang stopped him again.

He said to Chen Fan seriously, "You need to think this through. This is a bear, not a cat. Is this really okay?!"

Chen Fan smiled and said, "How can a man say no?"

He then patted his arm, walked to the cage, and asked the panda, "Hey, what's wrong?"

Hearing someone speak to it, the panda immediately pounced. The wooden cage was not very sturdy to begin with, and its pounce caused it to sway violently, startling the three street performers who rushed over to pull Chen Fan away.

Chen Fan braced himself against the cage with one hand, turned around and waved to them to indicate that everything was alright, then turned to look at the panda, "What's wrong with you?"

The panda didn't know how to express itself, it just whimpered, "It hurts, it hurts."

After saying that, it suddenly turned around and started spinning in the small cage.

Chen Fan's veterinary skills were not acquired in vain. Unlike when he asked Xiao Ma, he could only guess that it was gastroenteritis. Based on the panda's current behavior, he already had a diagnosis in mind.

He immediately turned to the three of them and said, "If I'm not mistaken, it should be about to be produced."

"Production?"

The three of them looked at each other.

Finally, two of them focused their gaze on the other person's face.

The man was completely stunned. "What are we going to do?"

Regardless of the animal, there will be some differences between them and their usual state for a period of time after giving birth. In the better cases, the differences are small and will pass quickly. In the case of large differences, they may even be completely different animals.

She only learned a little about panda training from someone else, and then went into the mountains to find a baby panda. Since she didn't know how to raise it herself, she sent it to her master to raise with his pandas. It was fine for the first two or three years, so why did she suddenly get pregnant this year?
And there were absolutely no signs.

Chen Fan looked at the panda and made "clucking" sounds.

After a short while, the panda calmed down, sat in its cage against the wooden fence, and let Chen Fan pat its head.

Right there, the panda suddenly opened its legs, and with a "whoosh," a "little mouse" fell out.

Chen Fan opened his eyes wide, his eyes full of laughter, "Hey, it's born."

Just as he was about to speak, another "little mouse" fell out with a "biu".

Chen Fan's mouth dropped open. "They're twins?!"

He was happy, but the street performer had a long face; he didn't know how to raise a red panda!

Chen Fan turned his head and saw his expression, and was immediately stunned. "What's wrong?"

The man didn't say anything, just looked at the three pandas in the cage—one big and two small—with a frustrated expression on his face.

We don't know how to raise red pandas, and giant pandas probably won't be able to earn money by performing for a while. What should we do?
He didn't speak, so his companion whispered about his predicament.

Chen Fan rolled his eyes, looked at the panda, then at the man, and asked, "Where did you get this panda?"

The man sighed and said, "How else could I have done it? I went into the mountains myself and set a trap to catch it."

He gestured with his hands as he spoke, "When I caught it, it was only about the size of a dog. I raised it for two or three years, and I don't know how many bamboos I cut down to raise it to this size."

Chen Fan blinked and asked, "So, are you selling this panda?"

The man was taken aback and looked at him in surprise. "You want to buy it?"

Chen Fan glanced at the panda sniffing around the two "little mice" and occasionally taking a bite, then stood up and laughed, "That depends on how expensive it is. If it's not too expensive, I can buy it."

The man asked, puzzled, "Why are you buying a panda?"

Chen Fan waved his hand, "I'm a veterinarian at the zoo. If you're selling me, I'll just consider it a donation to the zoo."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Juemin and Zhang Wenliang exchanged a glance, thinking to themselves, "This kid is quite the liar!"
The man looked relieved and smiled at Chen Fan, "Look at this cat, it's worth a big fat pig, and it can even perform. I've made some money coming out here every two years, look at this..."

Chen Fan thought for a moment and said, "Okay, let's go with the price of live pigs, 5 cents a pound."

He turned to look at the panda, then back at it, and said, "This panda of yours probably weighs no more than 150 pounds. I'll give you 75 yuan, and the two smaller ones are extra. How about that?"

75 yuan?
The man's eyes lit up, but then a sly glint appeared in them. "Give me some more, give me some more!"

Chen Fan thought for a moment, "80 yuan at most, if it's okay, great, if not, forget it."

The man bowed and scraped, saying, "How about we round it up to 100?"

Chen Fan bowed respectfully, "I can't afford it, farewell!"

After saying that, he turned around and left.

The man quickly shouted, "80, 80 it is!"

Ten minutes later, a space was cleared on the truck, and the three street performers worked together to lift the cage onto the truck.

Chen Fan shooed Zhang Wenliang to sit in the front, then leaned against the cage and petted the giant panda. "From today onwards, your name will be 'Gungun'."

Then, looking at the two red pandas, he said, "You should be named 'Yangtze River,' and you should be named 'All Water'!"

Thank you everyone for your votes! (heart emoji)
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(End of this chapter)