Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 338 The Double Rush Begins

When thick smoke billowed from the brick kiln, Chen Fan took off his straw hat, used it as a fan, and walked towards the main road through the path that the commune members had spontaneously created.

Seeing Chen Fan leave, everyone couldn't help but applaud and cheer.

Hmm, it looked a bit like they were giving them a grand send-off.

Why does it feel like everyone dislikes me?

At this moment, Secretary Yang, Captain Zhang, and several others walked towards us.

When Secretary Yang saw Chen Fan, and then glanced at the two brick kilns billowing thick smoke, he asked loudly, "How is it?"

Chen Fan grinned and said, "Anyway, the preparations are all done. This time we even used coal briquettes, which is much better than when I used charcoal-fired bricks."

Coal briquettes are residues brought from coal mines. Add some soil and mix them, and you have coal briquettes that are even better than charcoal. The temperature they produce when burned is more suitable for firing bricks.

Upon hearing this, Secretary Yang's lips immediately curled into a wide grin. "So, it's settled then?"

Chen Fan shook his head, "No one can say for sure before the kiln is opened."

He walked over to Secretary Yang, took the cigarette offered by Anquan, lit it with a lighter, turned to look at the brick kiln, and said, "Let's light the fire, and then it's up to fate. If we're lucky, we'll be good if we can get 9% good bricks; if we're unlucky, we'll be lucky if we can get half."

Xiao Liewen looked at him speechlessly, "Can't you say something more inspiring?"

Chen Fan chuckled and said, "No matter how much ambition you have, it's useless. Think about it, even the brick and tile factories in the commune sometimes only have a yield rate of about 8%. How high a percentage of good bricks do you expect to produce from our earthen brick kiln?!"

Ye Shubao waved his hand, "It's alright, it's just some wasteland soil anyway, it's worthless, so it's fine if it's ruined. At worst, we can just haul the ruined bricks out to repair the road. This road is full of potholes, we're not worried about not having a place to fill them!"

Secretary Yang and Captain Zhang nodded slightly, "That makes sense."

Since it's free, we can just fire a few more kilns.

Secretary Yang gestured, "Let's go back and talk."

With that, he turned and walked towards the path in the fields.

Chen Fan had originally planned to go home, but at this point he had no choice but to follow them to the brigade headquarters.

He waved to Jiang Lili and the others to go back, and then quickly followed behind Anquan.

The kiln was located at the entrance of Lujiawan Village. It was convenient to get to Team 5 from there, especially by walking along the country path, which was only a ten-minute walk.

Looking at the rice ears in the field, which were already turning yellow, a gentle breeze blew, and the rice ears rose and fell, creating layers of waves.

Chen Fan threw his cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out, then asked, "How did you all end up together?"

I didn't see them when the brick kiln was being built. They only appeared after the fire was lit, and they came together. Could something have happened?

Anquan nodded, pointed to the rice paddies next to him, and said, "We just went to a meeting at the commune. The double harvest is about to begin, and the commune has gathered the leaders of several production teams for a meeting on the double harvest, demanding that the work be done well and that nothing go wrong."

Ye Shubao continued, “It’s all the same old story. Actually, we don’t need them to hold a meeting. Who among us would dare to be careless at this time? Let’s not talk about official positions or money bags. At the very least, we should take the food in our bowls seriously. Otherwise, if we go hungry, it will be ourselves and the people of our brigade who suffer.”

At this moment, Secretary Yang laughed and said, "But this trip wasn't in vain. The commune provided a batch of agricultural machinery and fertilizer, which will be of great use."

Chen Fan noticed that Secretary Yang was talking about agricultural machinery rather than agricultural machines, such as sickles, threshing machines, and windmills, which are not related to machinery but are very useful for the double harvest season.

The double harvesting season sounds simple: it's about rushing to harvest early rice and rushing to plant late rice, but it involves a lot of hard work.

Or rather, the "double rush" is just one major category, which includes many smaller categories: rushing to harvest, rushing to plow, rushing to plant, rushing to harvest grain, rushing to harvest hay, rushing to irrigate, rushing to thresh, rushing to get sunlight, rushing to thresh in drying yards, rushing to seize the farming season...

So much farm work has to be completed in just 20 days. (The time for the double harvest varies from place to place; it may take as long as 40 days or as short as half a month, depending on the crop being planted and how much "advanced" agricultural machinery is available.)

This short period of time is the most, most, most difficult time of the year, enough to make the entire village, young and old, suffer terribly. Any support from the commune would be a tremendous boon to the production team.

Chen Fan followed them back to the brigade headquarters and listened as they assigned tasks.

Who is responsible for the preparatory work? It starts with the inspection and repair of agricultural machinery: sickles need to be sharpened, carrying poles need to be reinforced, baskets need to be repaired, the threshing ground needs to be leveled, and so on.

He listened and took notes, gradually developing a concrete understanding of the double harvest season.

However, when the double harvest season officially began, he realized that he still lacked sufficient understanding of it.

……

A few days later, as most of the rice in the paddy fields turned golden yellow with only a few scattered green spots, the double harvest season officially began in Nanhu Commune, or rather, in the entire Yunhu area.

That morning, Chen Fan was still asleep when he faintly heard noises outside.

He immediately opened his eyes, got up, put on a T-shirt, and went outside.

Despite the sweltering summer heat, the countryside was still somewhat cool in the early morning. As soon as he opened the door, he felt a cool breeze blowing in his face.

Looking outside, the sky was dotted with stars, and the lights in the girls' dormitory were already on, with flames burning in the kitchen.

Chen Fan immediately went over, just as Jiang Lili came out of the room.

She seemed to be still half asleep, her body was swaying slightly, and she wasn't even wearing shoes, just barefoot, with her trouser legs rolled up to her knees.

Huang Ying and Liu Dan followed, dressed exactly like Jiang Lili, with their trousers rolled up and sleeves rolled up.

The three of them are here, so Yang Ju must be busy in the kitchen.

Why don't they have short-sleeved shirts and shorts? It's not that short-sleeved shirts and shorts don't exist in this era, but rather that they can only be worn in summer. If you don't have enough clothes, it's definitely not cost-effective.

They made long-sleeved shirts and trousers, which could be rolled up in the summer and rolled down when it got cold, so they could be worn from spring to summer and then to autumn. That's why many people in the countryside didn't have short-sleeved shirts and shorts back then.

Upon seeing Chen Fan, the three of them were momentarily stunned.

Huang Ying stepped forward and said in surprise, "Teacher Chen, why are you up too?"

Chen Fan looked at them and asked, puzzled, "What time is it? Why are you up so early?"

Liu Dan couldn't help but yawn. "We set our alarm for 4 o'clock."

4:?
Chen Fan opened his eyes wide, about to ask them why they got up so early.

At this moment, Jiang Lili whispered, "Get up at 4 o'clock, and go to the fields after breakfast. It will be 4:30. It will be dawn soon, so we can work a little longer before the sun comes out."

Huang Ying continued, "When the sun comes out, it will be very hot, and it will be even more uncomfortable then. It's better to get up early and go to work."

Liu Dan said weakly, "Teacher Chen, no one can take leave during the double harvest season, so we can't cook for you these few days."

Chen Fan quickly waved his hand, "It's okay, it's okay, I'll cook for you during this time."

Then he frowned slightly, "But it's only 4 o'clock, isn't that too early?"

Huang Ying smiled and said, "It's not early. It's early when it's time to transplant rice seedlings. We have to get up at 2:30 to pull the seedlings then. This is nothing."

Chen Fan was speechless. Only now did he have the most direct understanding of the double harvest.

After pausing for two seconds, he strode towards the kitchen. "You don't need to worry about things at home these next few days. I'll take care of the logistics."

(End of this chapter)