Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 328 Furniture Delivered to Your Door
Construction began over there, and Wang, the craftsman from Team 4, came over and said to Chen Fan, "We received orders from the brigade headquarters to come and make furniture for you."

Chen Fan was taken aback. "Huh? The brigade headquarters is going to make furniture for me?"

Is there really such a good thing? Secretary Yang and the others didn't mention it just now.

Master Wang nodded and grinned, "Although our team doesn't get a share of the small water tower yet, all our teams can use the other water pump. Besides, our brigade has started a side business, so making money is only a matter of time. I estimate it won't be long before we can connect all the teams to running water."

Secretary Yang said that the two diesel engines and several hundred books are not enough to offset the two conditions you mentioned, so he asked us to come and make a complete set of furniture for your house, and also to build bookshelves to store your books.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan immediately beamed with joy, "Oh dear, how could I possibly accept this?"

He took out a cigarette and lit it around the house, then pointed to the large house and said, "Look at this house, how much furniture would it take to fill it up?"

Jiang Lili and the other three stood not far away, all beaming with joy, seemingly proud of their presence.

Master Wang took the cigarette, lit it, looked up at the large house, and said with a smile, "We also built this house for you. I have a good idea of ​​how to match the furniture. I came here today mainly to ask you what your ideas are, and also to take your measurements."

As for how much timber you need, don't worry, no matter how much wood you use, it won't cost as much as your diesel engine!

Chen Fan chuckled.

Putting everything else aside, 120 jin of bamboo a day adds up to 43,800 jin a year. Even if bamboo is worthless, 40,000 jin of bamboo a year is still a considerable sum, more than enough to cover the costs of those two diesel engines.

He not only didn't lose money on this deal, but actually made a huge profit.

However, since the leader was being kind and insisted on giving him furniture, he naturally had to accept it respectfully.

We're all family, why be so calculating!

Chen Fan chatted with Master Wang with a smile, and after they finished their cigarettes, he led them inside.

First, let's go to the living room on the first floor. "Look, I plan to keep this area as a living room, and over here we'll put a sofa set..."

Master Wang was taken aback, his expression clearly showing some difficulty. "A sofa? I don't know how to make one!"

He knew that sofas were comfortable to sit on, but he had never actually learned how to make them. In the end, he was just a carpenter in the commune; how could he possibly make such a sophisticated thing?

I heard they're going to add springs or something inside? And they'll be using a whole piece of cowhide?

Chen Fan quickly said, "I'm not talking about those Western-style sofas, but rather Chinese-style sofas similar to daybeds."

Chinese-style sofas became very popular in later generations. They were beautiful, stylish, and practical. Made with traditional craftsmanship, they would last for decades. He was even planning to make the whole set of furniture himself, but now that Master Wang and his team had come to carry out the task, it saved him the trouble.

Seeing that Master Wang seemed to understand somewhat, but not entirely, he immediately said to Jiang Lili and the others who followed him in, "Bring me my drawing board and a few more sheets of paper."

Just as Jiang Lili was about to turn around to get it, Liu Dan had already dashed out.

It has to be said that although this girl's brain is a little slow to react, her execution is exceptionally fast.

Soon Liu Dan ran back carrying the painting bag, panting as she handed it to Chen Fan, "Teacher Chen, here you go."

"Thank you."

Chen Fan took out his drawing board, secured the white paper, and began to draw the rendering. At the same time, he explained to Master Wang, "The wooden sofa is a bit like a small daybed. Here is a long strip, with a single chair on each side and a coffee table in the middle. We also need a few small stools."

This living room is a bit big, and it looks a bit empty with just one sofa set, so I'd like to put a tea table over there. A tea table is different from a coffee table; its internal structure is like this..."

As Chen Fan explained and sketched, one rendering after another was handed to Master Wang.

Sofas, armchairs, stools, coffee tables, tea stands, bonsai benches...

In addition to these standard pieces of furniture, Chen Fan also requested that a long bench cabinet be made.

The so-called stool cabinet is a stool that can be used as a cabinet.

The cabinet is against the east wall, stretching out in a long strip that fills the entire side. When there are many people, it can be used as a bench, and when there is no business, it can be used to store various tools.

These aren't agricultural tools. Although he lives in the countryside, he doesn't do farm work. Even if you gave him a set of farm tools, he wouldn't know how to use them.

The items to be stored are mechanical and electronic tools.

He brought back so many electronic and mechanical parts from Yunhu Waste Recycling Company that he couldn't rub them together by hand alone. When he bought screws, rubber pads, wires and other small spare parts at the store, he originally wanted to buy two sets of tools as well.

One set is for mechanical disassembly and assembly, including various sizes of wrenches, pliers, scissors, screwdrivers, etc.; another set is for electrical appliance repair and disassembly, including small screwdrivers, soldering irons, multimeters, etc.

But in the end, I didn't buy it.

Because they are too expensive, a single wrench costs several dollars, not to mention professional tools such as hydraulic jacks. With this whole set of equipment, he is not just fake bankrupt, but truly bankrupt!
Based on the principle of "saving as much as possible and using what works," he went to Yan Liyuan for help, asking him where he could buy such cheap second-hand tools.

Then Yan Liyuan went to the logistics department of the health department and found two sets of tools to give to him, one mechanical and one electronic.

They claimed it was discarded old stock, and then Chen Fan brought it back, along with a perfectly intact electric drill.

This row of tool cabinets is used to store these tools.

If it's just some small tools, of course you don't need such a big cabinet; any large wooden crate would suffice. But since you're going to build cabinets and benches, why not build more? You can also store other things there.

After the living room furniture was designed in a short while, Chen Fan led them to other rooms.

The west side of the first floor is the large living room, while the east side, separated by the doorway and stairwell, is a three-bedroom, one-living room layout. The small living room, only twenty or thirty square meters, doesn't need much. Two armchairs, a coffee table, two bonsai stools, and a storage cabinet are enough.

There are three rooms: one master bedroom and two guest bedrooms.

The guest room is very simple, with a bed, two bedside tables, a large wardrobe, two chairs, a coffee table, and a clothes rack.

Since the room was large enough, Chen Fan did not choose the most common vertical clothes rack of that era, but rather a horizontal bar style similar to a clothes drying rack, and thoughtfully drew a rendering of the effect.

With Master Wang's skills, he can replicate it just by looking at the design.

The two guest bedrooms were furnished the same. Then, in the master bedroom, Chen Fan pointed to a reserved area without ceramic tile flooring and said, "I want to build a kang (heated brick bed) here, and install a kang cabinet. The rest will be similar to other homes, with a wardrobe, a five-drawer chest, a clothes rack, and two chairs. That should be enough."

Master Wang looked at the renderings Chen Fan had drawn and nodded repeatedly. "Simple, making these things is not difficult."

He then looked up and said, "We've finished looking at the first floor, let's go upstairs."

Chen Fan led the way, saying, "Please."

Upon reaching the second floor, we first went to the west hall. The hall, about eighty or ninety square meters in size, had only a few wooden pillars supporting the roof beams, offering no obstruction of view. Through the glass windows, the distant scenery could be clearly seen.

To the south are the educated youth settlement and villages, to the north is a small grove of trees that gradually descends, and the river embankment in the distance, and to the west are the fields where the commune members work. It offers a 270-degree panoramic view with endless beautiful scenery.

The sun is a bit too bright, so we need to put up curtains.

Chen Fan walked in and gestured as he said, "I plan to turn this into a study, and all those books will be placed here. There will be a large desk against the east wall, and bookshelves in the rest of the room."

A moment later, he turned to look at Master Wang and handed him the sketch. “I don’t want a tall bookcase, I just want a low cabinet like this, about 1.2 meters tall, with doors at the bottom and shelves on top. The shelves don’t need doors, so they can be easily accessed.”

Master Wang glanced at the bookcase design on the paper, then looked around before turning back and laughing, "You don't want the tall cabinets to block your view?!"

Chen Fan laughed heartily, "Master Wang's insight is brilliant."

Master Wang smiled and shook his head, "It's not that I have a brilliant idea, it's that you have a good thought."

He looked around and said, "Only a large hall like this is suitable for making low cabinets."

In a normal household, the bookshelves are taller than a person, all to save space. Only a place with enough space can afford to be so extravagant and wasteful.

After looking at the study, let's go see the rooms on the second floor.

As Chen Fan walked along, he said, "The living room is the same as downstairs. The master bedroom needs a big bed, a large wardrobe, a five-drawer chest, just the standard configuration. This guest bedroom is about the same."

Finally arriving at the last remaining room, Chen Fan gestured and laughed, "Just put up a daybed here, nothing else."

Master Wang looked at him, puzzled. "Just the Luohan bed?"

Chen Fan smiled and nodded, "There are already 5 bedrooms, so there's no need to build another bed. Besides, the daybed can also be used as a bed."

Actually, he wanted a quiet room. After learning Lin Yuanxiang's secret skills, he estimated that he would have less and less time to practice martial arts in the future, and would need a quiet room to regulate his mind and body. This room was the reserved space for his cultivation.

Master Wang didn't understand what he was going to do either, so he nodded and wrote it down. Then he said, "You have a lot of things, especially the bookshelves. There are at least twenty or thirty of them. I'll be working with a few craftsmen, and even with other helpers, it will take at least a month to finish."

Chen Fan nodded, "Okay, I'm not in a hurry to move in anyway. You can arrange it later, let's build the bookshelf first, and the furniture can wait."

Master Wang smiled and said, "Okay, I understand. We will make the bookcase and deliver it as soon as possible."

He paused for a moment, then asked, "What color do you want for these furniture pieces?"

These days, the most common furniture color is brown, followed by red and yellow, with yellow ranging from deep yellow to pale yellow.

However, you can also paint it with other colors; the colors are not limited.

If you're not afraid of being laughed at by outsiders, you can paint it in all sorts of colors and nobody will care.

Chen Fan shook his head, "Just apply clear varnish, no other color."

Master Wang looked at him in surprise, "Just applying clear varnish again?"

Varnish is a transparent paint, most commonly tung oil. When applied to wood, it's like giving the wood a patina, showcasing its natural grain.

When this house was built, all the pillars, door frames, and windows were simply painted with clear varnish, and now even the furniture is painted with clear varnish.

How vegetarian must this be?!
However, since Chen Fan liked it, he didn't say anything more.

The client has the biggest demands, especially since it's one of the team's most popular players.

Oh, that's right.

Looking at Chen Fan, Master Wang suddenly had a thought: Could it be that Teacher Chen is trying to save money for the brigade?
Although he wanted a lot of furniture, if he cut down trees in his own team, he wouldn't have to pay anything. He could even make his own tung oil.

The paint used for coloring has to be bought with real money.

Aside from this reason, Master Wang really couldn't figure out why Teacher Chen refused to use paint.

Even as he was leaving, he held Chen Fan's hand and exclaimed, "What a good person!"

Chen Fan watched Master Wang and the others leave, blinking in confusion. "How am I a good person?"

At this moment, Yang Ju walked over and asked him, "Teacher Chen, should we prepare two tables of food for dinner tonight?"

Since arriving at the educated youth settlement, we used to be able to eat banquets only twice a year, but now we can do so frequently.

Even when there are no banquets, there is always an abundance of fish.

She's living such a miserable life that she doesn't even want to go home anymore.

The thought of eating only vegetables and pickles at home every day makes her not want to go back.

Just as she was in a daze, Huang Ying came over and said, "If we're having a banquet, we only have meat and chicken at home, and then rabbit. There's no fish."

Actually, there was no fish left in the house before Chen Fan left. During that time, they were busy building the house and ate all the twenty or thirty big fish they had saved up. These days, the girls hadn't had much meat. It wasn't until Chen Fan came back today that they were able to eat meat and fish again.

Chen Fan first said to Huang Ying, "It's okay, I'll go catch some fish after I'm done with these two days."

With his current LV3 fishing and hunting skills, he can easily catch a lot of fish with a simple cast of his net.

The main reason was that he had just returned from the prefectural committee, and the brigade headquarters had assigned two major projects. He needed to sort things out before he could attend to his personal matters.

Anyway, a few more days won't make a difference. Besides, we still have cured meat, fish, and sausages at home. Not eating fish for a few days won't have any impact.

After he finished speaking, he looked at Yang Ju and said, "There's no need to prepare a banquet or cook dinner today. They'll all come to your house for dinner after they finish their work."

Yang Ju was stunned. "Huh? You're coming to my house for dinner?"

Just then, Liu Dan came running over, excitedly saying, "My uncle just said that they're counted as working in the brigade today, so I don't need to cook and can just come to your house for dinner tonight."

The three of them were naturally happy to have food without having to cook.

Chen Fan told them to go to the front yard and get ready, to pack everything up, and then they could go to the front for dinner together that evening.

After watching the three of them enter through the back door, he waved to Jiang Lili, who was lagging behind, and said, "Your sister brought you something. Come with me to get it."

(End of this chapter)