Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 339 Can't Endure Hardship
Inside the kitchen, Yang Ju was busy at the stove, one pot was steaming rice, and the other was preparing to stir-fry vegetables.

Seeing Chen Fan come in, she was slightly taken aback. "Why are you up so early?"

Chen Fan waved his hand and said, "Go out and rest for a while. I'll be in charge of logistics during this time."

Yang Ju was busy with her hands, saying, "No need, I'm almost done. I'll just prepare some vegetables and make some rice balls."

Seeing that she wouldn't leave, Chen Fan simply pushed her out, saying, "Just leave. Leave the kitchen to me."

Then, looking at the chopped vegetables at the bottom of the bowl, he said, "You can eat rice balls in the morning, but you'll never be able to eat them at noon or in the evening. I'll take care of this."

Yang Ju could only pout and raise her hands as she was pushed out.

Chen Fan busied himself in the kitchen for a while, and soon breakfast was ready.

It's called a rice ball, but it's actually a bowl of Yangzhou fried rice with diced cured pork. The cured pork was added by Chen Fan later. If you shape it, it becomes a rice ball; if you don't, it's fried rice.

Then add a large bowl of egg drop soup.

After finishing their meal, Jiang Lili and the other three were energized and, armed with sickles, prepared to head out.

Chen Fan wasn't idle either. He took the drawing board and carried it on his back, and also took out a lantern and flashlight that he hadn't used in a long time. "This will provide light."

It's still not dawn; even the faint starlight from a moment ago has faded. This is what they mean by the darkness before dawn. Walking outside might be fine, but if you're going to work in the fields, this little bit of light won't be enough.

Jiang Lili quickly said, "We can't bring the lantern. It contains an open flame and kerosene. If it breaks, it will cause a big disaster."

Although kerosene lamps are safe, they are still open flames. It's better to be safe than sorry, and in such situations, any potential hazards must be eliminated.

Yang Ju, "And the light will attract mosquitoes."

Huang Ying said, "From here to the field, the team leader will give us some instructions. Once the work officially starts, we'll be able to see it."

Liu Dan looked left and right, then nodded vigorously, "Mmm!"

Chen Fan pursed his lips slightly, put the lantern back, and only took the flashlight. "Let's go then."

The five of them left the educated youth compound together. At this time, people from the village ahead were already coming down and heading towards the fields to the west.

As it turned out, Chen Fan's flashlight was useless because no one else had brought one. If he turned on his flashlight, it would affect other people's vision and they might not be able to see the road.

Chen Fan was tall, and some people could spot him at a glance. They immediately greeted him loudly, "Teacher Chen, are you going to the fields too?"

He turned around and looked over, but couldn't see who it was, so he closed his eyes and shouted, "I'm going to paint a few pictures."

Someone immediately shouted, "Teacher Chen, you've worked hard! You're probably the only one in the whole brigade who gets up this early to go to the fields."

Chen Fan laughed and said, "No, Secretary Yang and the others at the brigade headquarters must have gotten up even earlier. They might already be in the fields by now."

“Secretary Yang and Captain Zhang are in charge of production, and they are cadres, so they are definitely different. Other coordinators don’t need to worry about them; they just need to do their jobs well.”

He was referring to people like storekeepers, accountants, sanitation workers (barefoot doctors), private school teachers, veterinarians, pig farmers, and duck farmers.

The production brigade would not officially require them to work in the fields, but some people would go to help on their own. However, on the one hand, there would be no mandatory requirements for them, and on the other hand, even if they voluntarily helped, the working time and intensity would definitely not be as high as those of other commune members. This could be considered one of the hidden benefits of the coordinating workers.

Chen Fan laughed and said, "I'm the team's communications officer. Writing reports in the fields is also part of my job."

"Nonsense! You, as a correspondent, haven't received any work points. And why write reports now of all times? If you ask me, the brigade should give you an extra work point. Then the correspondent and the data clerk are working for nothing. Even if you don't get two points, it wouldn't be unreasonable to give them one combined."

Then came the echoes of others, "Not at all, not at all, absolutely not at all."

Listening to their nonsense, Chen Fan laughed and said, "If I were to take three work points, you wouldn't think it's excessive, but I would think it's excessive myself. If you ask me, instead of taking one more work point, we should make each work point more valuable."

The newspapers all said that in some places, one work point was worth 3 cents, and one work point was worth 3 yuan. At the end of the year, the bonus was two or three hundred yuan. Except for not having workers' ration coupons and welfare items, their income was higher than that of workers.

Let's do our best in production and try to earn 3 cents' worth of work points, outperforming all the workers in town!

Upon hearing this, everyone cheered in unison.

The sounds came from all directions and spread in all directions, adding a touch of noise to the quiet early morning.

They arrived at the field in no time, where hundreds of people were scattered along the field ridges. It seemed that the entire team had come, waiting for Captain Yang to announce the start of the double harvest.

In fact, it's almost the same even if not everyone comes.

During the double harvest season, everyone in the team, except for the elderly with mobility issues and children under 10, has to go out. So, in addition to adults, there are also quite a few teenagers here.

They held their mothers' hands, most of them still dozing off. But once the double harvest begins, they will be thrown into the intense labor.

They didn't need to harvest the rice themselves. Instead, when the adults harvested it, the adults led the children, and the older children led the younger children, to carry the harvested rice ears together. Those who were strong would tie them up, while those who weren't strong would wait for the adults to tie them up.

After the harvest is complete, they will also pick up any leftover rice ears in the fields to ensure that "every grain is safely stored."

Moreover, at this time, not only teenagers, but also many four- or five-year-old children would participate, carrying baskets and picking up rice ears from behind.

This was not play, but real labor, which made full use of every bit of the production team's labor force.

Captain Yang stood on a relatively high mound, holding a sickle and shouting, "The work assignments are all as we discussed yesterday. Is there anything else you don't understand?"

Everyone looked around, but no one spoke.

Captain Yang didn't waste any time. "Alright, I hereby announce that the summer double harvest has officially begun for the 6th team of the Lujiawan Production Brigade."

Then he roared, "Raise the flag for me!"

As soon as the words were spoken, several red flags were raised high and set off in different directions.

The signs had different words written on them, including "Lujiawan Team 6", "Team 6 Militia Platoon", "Advanced Women's Group", and "Active Laborers Squad".

Even when only Jiang Lili remained in the educated youth compound, a flag bearing the inscription "Lujiawan Educated Youth" was planted in the educated youth field.

In short, there aren't many people, but there's a lot going on.

Chen Fan and the others were standing on the ridge of the educated youth field. After Captain Yang finished speaking, Huang Ying turned to Chen Fan and said, "Teacher Chen, we're going to the field."

He looked at the four of them and nodded gently, "Be careful, don't hurt yourselves." Hearing this, Jiang Lili couldn't help but blush. She thought of the time she cut her foot while planting rice and felt that Chen Fan was talking about her.

Yang Ju laughed heartily, "It's alright, it's not like this is our first time working in the fields, we're used to it."

After saying that, he picked up his sickle, walked down the ridge, bent down, and began to harvest.

Jiang Lili, Huang Ying, Liu Dan and she stood side by side, about a meter apart, marching together toward the other end of the rice paddy.

As the rice paddies were disturbed, some small flying insects took flight. Some fluttered away, while others landed on people, causing painful stings.

Chen Fan waved away a few insects, looked at their backs, and then looked up at the sky. The darkest time had passed, and a faint light appeared on the horizon, giving the whole world a touch of color. The people in the rice paddies were no longer as indistinct as before.

He didn't rush to other places; instead, he opened his painting bag on the edge of the field, took out his easel, placed his canvas on the easel, and then picked up his paintbrush to start painting.

At 6:30, the production team's loudspeaker started broadcasting half an hour earlier than usual.

Zhang Cuie's voice echoed over Lujiawan, "Comrades, comrades, good morning! It's that time of year again for the double harvest season. Every summer, it's time to rush to harvest the early rice and plant the late rice..."

Chen Fan raised his head and looked in the direction of the loudspeaker, his eyes filled with an irrepressible smile.

This article was written by Zhang Cuie herself, and he didn't make many changes before letting her broadcast it directly.

Although there are still many flaws, no matter what you do, taking the first step towards success is the first step towards building self-confidence. I believe that after today, Zhang Cuie will be even bolder and more confident.

Then I'll be able to relax a lot more!
From dusk till dawn, from sunrise to noon, the villagers worked in the rice paddies, and the loudspeakers over Lujiawan never stopped blaring.

After the county radio station's news broadcast ended, Zhang Cuie would play songs for everyone, or read a passage from a newspaper article about exemplary deeds, to encourage them.

Someone approached Chen Fan and laughed loudly, "Teacher Chen, you've done a good job training this disciple!"

Chen Fan turned his head and looked over, smiling as he said, "There's a saying that goes, 'The master leads you through the door, but the cultivation is up to you.' You say I'm a good teacher, but I'd say she has good comprehension. Besides, in addition to learning well, the most important thing is that she has the will. Today's broadcast wasn't arranged by me; it was her own idea."

The people around nodded in agreement.

"That's true. Yesterday, when the double harvest started at Bailang Lake, their broadcasts were silent. I reckon this time, our Lujiawan broadcasts will be in the spotlight again."

As soon as he said that, bursts of laughter erupted from the surrounding area.

It was never this lively during the double harvest season before. Although there were no loudspeakers back then, the commune had one, but it wasn't this lively.

So in the end, the radio station in Lujiawan was the best!
The sun climbed higher and higher, its heat burning intensely on people's skin. The temperature rose accordingly, and even the occasional breeze couldn't dry the sweat on people's bodies.

Chen Fan carried his sketchbook and moved from one flag to another, sketching one image after another.

People who were full of energy in the morning are now exhausted. Even strong laborers in their twenties and thirties are panting heavily when they walk.

Carrying something on a shoulder pole?
Oh, they're holding their breath and encouraging themselves!

Chen Fan looked up at the sky and estimated that it was already 11 a.m., so he packed up his painting bag and headed back.

Normally, he would be greeted and spoken to by many people, but now, even if they bump into him, he just smiles and keeps walking, carrying the rice stalks.

The main force in harvesting rice is women and a small number of men. The children, big and small, are responsible for collecting the scattered rice ears and bundling them up. Carrying the rice ears is all the work of the men. They have to carry these rice ears to the threshing ground of each household, where elderly men will untie the bundles of rice, then use rakes to break them apart and spread them out on the ground to dry.

As for the old woman, she should be busy at the stove at this time, preparing lunch for her family members who have gone to the fields.

Normally, we can eat only two meals a day while working, but during the busy harvest season, we must eat three meals a day, and we should try to eat well, otherwise our bodies will definitely not be able to handle it.

If there are no elderly people in the family, things can be really tough. When the women come back from the fields, they have to rush around the stove to cook and prepare water for the afternoon.

Chen Fan is now going to play the role of "old woman".

He never imagined going to the fields to harvest the crops and suffer such hardship, especially after witnessing a morning of labor. His biggest feeling was that if he were to do it himself, he probably really couldn't do it.

It's not that my body can't take it, but that I can't bear the suffering.

Under the scorching sun, they bent over in the rice paddies, sometimes for the entire morning, without even a moment to straighten up and rest. Everyone was racing against time to harvest, and if you straightened up too often, you might miss harvesting a single row of rice.

If we miss harvesting this one row, it could delay subsequent planting and drying, and then we might encounter a sudden downpour, resulting in huge losses!

In this situation, everyone is actually suffering double the physical and mental torment; it's truly unbearable.

Anyway, Chen Fan didn't think he could endure this hardship.

However, he's perfectly capable of handling logistics.

He hurried back to the educated youth compound, put the painting bag in the room, kicked the two dogs away, picked up a vegetable basket, and went to wander around the vegetable garden behind the compound.

When you're too tired, you shouldn't eat a lot of meat or fish, otherwise you're prone to indigestion. Also, when you're too tired, you won't have an appetite and won't be able to eat meat or fish.

Therefore, the dishes prepared at this time should be as light as possible, easy to eat quickly, and easy to digest. However, since they need to engage in high-intensity labor, they also need to be nutritious and able to withstand the strain of physical exertion without feeling hungry easily. This puts a greater test of their cooking skills.

He looked around the vegetable garden and made up his mind.

First, I picked some cucumbers, eggplants, and green beans, grabbed a few chili peppers, washed and chopped them in the kitchen, then went to my room to get some cured meat, took a few eggs, and then scooped out a large bowl of the pickled peppers that Yang Ju had brought from home. I also scooped out some small fish from the fish tank.

Stir-fried cucumber with diced cured pork, eggplant and green beans, stir-fried eggs with chili peppers, and finally a bowl of small fish with ground pepper paste.

This was the first meal Chen Fan prepared for them, a "double-harvest menu".

The pepper should be pressed until it's mushy, and the small fish should be tender. When the two are mixed together, it's both appetizing and nutritious. The other dishes are also light and delicious, but they're not lacking in oil, so they're sure to keep you full.

No need for soup, just cook a pot of porridge and steam a basket of rice. Eat the porridge first to whet your appetite, then eat the rice to fill you up.

In other words, steaming buns and mantou requires fermenting the dough, and there's no time to do it today, but it's okay to do it tomorrow. Otherwise, it's fine to eat buns and mantou with porridge and vegetables.

After the food was ready, Chen Fan added two more fires to the stove and boiled a large pot of water.

The table was then moved to the outdoor area.

It's hot outside, so it's more comfortable to eat out.

(End of this chapter)