Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 351 Food Distribution
August 9th, the 25th day of the 6th lunar month.

Chen Fan got up at around 6 a.m. as usual, washed up, and practiced Baduanjin in the yard while waiting for breakfast.

We also waited for the newspapers to announce the resumption of the college entrance examination.

Just yesterday, the higher authorities officially decided to abolish the recommendation-based admission system and reinstate the unified examination and admission system for colleges and universities.

However, there are still more than two months before it is made public to the whole society, so we might as well use this time to give the students in the training class a boost.

Otherwise, once the news is officially announced, countless people will flock to Lujiawan to borrow books, and it will be unlikely that you can study in peace then.

There are still more than 800 million educated youth in rural areas, most of whom want to return to the city. The college entrance examination is the best opportunity for them. In addition, there are junior and senior high school graduates in various places. It is easy to imagine the sensation that will be caused when the news of the resumption of the college entrance examination is announced.

Now, many people in Nanhu Commune know that the study classes in Lujiawan are teaching math, physics, and chemistry, and they teach even more than in schools. How could these people let go of such a good resource?

Even if it means breaking my head, I'll fight for a chance to change my destiny!
Putting aside other things, Anquan and his wife, as well as the nurse from Shanghai at the health center, are very likely to be among the candidates.

In fact, in previous years, not everyone went to university through recommendations. There was another type of university where students could be admitted through examinations, and the future prospects were very bright: art schools.

Almost all art colleges still maintain an assessment and admission system.

Just like in later generations, art colleges today are divided into two main categories: cultural and professional. After going through several procedures such as written tests and interviews, those who pass the exams will receive an admission notice and can go to the school to enroll.

If someone fails the exam, the person who made the recommendation will also be eliminated.

However, their enrollment numbers are extremely limited, and they primarily recruit students proactively. This means they go to a location and announce a temporary recruitment drive; only then will talented young people in the area be notified and go to register and take the exam.

At that time, there were many people like Jiang Lili who saw this opportunity as one of the ways to get out of the mire. Even if they were already dirt poor, they would try to learn musical instruments and painting. If they really didn't have money to buy musical instruments, they would just scream at the top of their lungs, focusing on a primitive style.

Believe it or not, some people actually managed to get into art schools by playing musical instruments and singing.

Anquan never gave up on musical instruments; in fact, he was waiting for such an opportunity, but unfortunately, he never got it.

Chen Fan is now learning the "Four Great Skills" from Master Lu. He can sing a few songs when no one is around. As for musical instruments, he learned the harmonica and accordion from An Quan. After activating his musical skills, he automatically learned to play the erhu, flute, suona, and yueqin after Master Lu explained them a few times. Not to mention his painting skills, he has artistic talent.

Unfortunately, Chen Fan never considered trying his luck.

Well, the main problem is that we haven't found anyone with artistic talent in Lujiawan, so it's best to just focus on preparing for the college entrance exam. Otherwise, it would be quite impressive to cultivate an artist.

As Chen Fan practiced the Eight Pieces of Brocade, his mind wandered, sometimes thinking about the college entrance examination, sometimes about the autumn harvest, and sometimes about how much wine could be made from the wild fruits on the small hill behind him.
And if all the students from Lujiawan pass the exams, who will do the work for them?
Should we take on a few more apprentices now, or wait until this group's college entrance exam results are released?
Anyway, we need to find some people to help us.

Only after Huang Ying and Liu Dan carried the dining table out of the kitchen, followed by Yang Ju carrying a bowl of vegetable and minced pork porridge, and Jiang Lili carrying a tall steamer, did he slowly finish his practice and walk towards the dining table.

After the tables and chairs were set up, Chen Fan sat down in the main seat. Huang Ying served him a bowl of porridge, which he took and drank a mouthful of. Then he picked up a small steamed bun that Jiang Lili had placed in front of him and ate his breakfast with relish.

The busy harvest season is over, and the good old days are back – that's life!
After eating a few steamed buns, Chen Fan asked, "What farm work is there today?"

Although the double harvest season is over, the farm work is far from over. It will take until at least the winter months or even the twelfth lunar month, when the weather is freezing cold, the rice paddies are empty, all kinds of crops have been harvested and processed, the fish ponds are dry, and the lotus roots have been dug up. Only then will there be less work to do, and then we can turn to other small-scale water conservancy and other infrastructure projects.

Upon hearing Chen Fan's words, Huang Ying immediately swallowed the bun in her mouth and said preemptively, "We'll go to the village entrance to collect the grain and oil later, and then we'll go to work."

Chen Fan then remembered that Captain Yang had said yesterday that he would be the first to receive his rations this morning.

As soon as Huang Ying finished speaking, Yang Ju chimed in, "We just finished planting a few days ago, so we haven't been as busy these past few days. We've mainly been weeding, catching insects, and cutting grass to feed the pigs. Nothing else much."

Liu Dan finally swallowed what was in her mouth. She was about to speak when she felt a little choked. She took another sip of porridge before saying, "This period is mainly about field management. We'll be busy again during the autumn harvest."

They've been learning junior high school agricultural basics from Chen Fan, and have now learned quite a few new words. Before, even if they did field management work every day, they wouldn't have known these terms existed.

After they finished speaking, Chen Fan understood the situation and immediately said, "Perfect timing. The autumn harvest is around the end of October, and we'll be extremely busy then. Use this time to focus your time and energy on your studies and try to finish all the math, physics, and chemistry textbooks in two months."

The four girls looked up at the same time, "Huh?"

Huang Ying asked blankly, "Why the rush?"

Liu Dan felt a little guilty. "Two months is too short, isn't it?"

Yang Ju gritted her teeth, wanting to express her determination to complete the task, but she was also afraid of exaggerating her abilities.

Only Jiang Lili pursed her lips, her eyes thoughtful.

Seeing Jiang Lili's expression, Huang Ying's heart skipped a beat. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head, and she quickly asked, "Teacher Chen, do you have other plans?"

Hearing this, Yang Ju also asked, "You have to finish learning everything in two months? Do you have other things to do afterward?"

Chen Fan waved his hand and smiled nonchalantly, "Nothing's wrong, don't overthink it. I just set this timeframe based on your progress."

As he ate, he said, “I give you lessons every night. In fact, your basic knowledge is already quite solid. Besides you, the students in the brigade’s study group are not much slower than you.

Ultimately, the content in the self-study series on math, physics, and chemistry isn't particularly advanced. It's just that your previous foundation was too weak, which is why you found it difficult. Now that your foundation is solid, learning the later material should be much easier.

And another one,..."

At this point, he popped the last steamed bun into his mouth, ate it in a few bites, wiped his mouth, and looked at them with a smile, saying, "The sooner you finish learning these basics, the better you can continue with the next stage of your professional studies. And for me, it will be easier, and I won't have to teach you every day anymore."

In the future, I'll just help you with some basic questions in my spare time, and that should be enough. As for professional courses, we'll definitely need to find professional teachers. We'll ask the brigade headquarters to send an official letter to the schools in Yunhu, pay them some tuition fees, and hire a few teachers for correspondence courses. That should be enough.

By then, I will have accomplished my mission, spending my days walking among the various teams, examining the livestock, and feeling much lighter.

After he finished speaking, the four of them looked at each other, and after a couple of seconds, they couldn't help but smile and try to suppress their laughter.

When Chen Fan so seriously told them to finish all the basic courses within two months, they thought he had something else on his mind. They never expected it was just to slack off.

Now each team has its own veterinarian, and they manage things quite well. Why would he need to go around patrolling the villages? Besides, being a broadcaster is also his job. Why not just say he broadcasts from the broadcasting room?

All they want is to play outside every day!
The four girls felt they had seen through everything, and naturally found it amusing.

However, Chen Fan's words make sense. Now that the foundation has been laid, learning the later content does seem easier than the earlier content.

Two months is fine. With Teacher Chen helping me with tutoring every night, I don't believe I can't master it!

After finishing breakfast and tidying up their things, Chen Fan put his hands behind his back and took the lead.

The four girls naturally followed behind, whispering among themselves.

Huang Ying covered her mouth and said, "Look at Teacher Chen, doesn't he look a bit like Secretary Yang of the brigade?"

Yang Ju immediately grabbed her braid, "Ah, you said Teacher Chen looks like an old man."

Huang Ying immediately winked at her, "You're trying to sow discord. I meant that Teacher Chen is like a leader."

Liu Dan sighed from the side, "Xiao Ying, it's a pity you're not an official."

Huang Ying was speechless, while Yang Ju covered her mouth and giggled uncontrollably. Even Jiang Lili couldn't help but grin silently.

Chen Fan, who was walking along peacefully, suddenly turned around and glared at them, "Each of you write a diary entry in English and hand it in to me before 10 p.m. tonight."

? ? ? ?
By the time the four girls realized what was happening, Chen Fan had already turned around and continued walking forward.

Huang Ying suddenly let out a mournful cry, "No..."

Yang Ju looked worried. "I've only just finished the first book of English."

Liu Dan stared blankly, "Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?"
Jiang Lili couldn't help but chide, saying reproachfully, "I didn't say anything just now."

Without turning his head, Chen Fan said, "This is to cultivate your team spirit."

Jiang Lili was immediately speechless. Huang Ying and the other two looked at her with pity, then shrank back guiltily, not daring to utter a sound.

Jiang Lili burst out laughing.

Chen Fan walked ahead and, hearing the burst of laughter behind him, couldn't help but smile as well.

……

Normally, when walking through the village, there are people at every household, the only difference being how many there are. But today, I walked all the way ahead and didn't encounter a single person.

It wasn't until he reached the open space next to the livestock shed that Chen Fan realized the entire village had come here.

On the vast open space, hundreds of people huddled together, chatting loudly in small groups.

It's not about families gathering in small groups, but rather the elderly looking for each other, men looking for each other, women looking for each other, and young people looking for each other.

They were all beaming with excitement, talking loudly about all sorts of topics.

So-and-so from Team 7 and so-and-so from Team 10 have taken a liking to each other and will probably get married around the New Year; the small water tower might be topped out today, when will we be able to use running water; Liu the Cripple from Team 8 is acting like a young man again, he's over 50 years old and still wants to ask a matchmaker to find him a wife; the three girls from our team all live under the same roof as Teacher Chen, they should be able to beat that little girl from Team 5, right?
When he realized he was the one being gossiped about, Chen Fan's face immediately darkened. He walked forward with his hands behind his back, his path like a boiling kettle, with everyone quickly making way for him.

Huang Ying and the others followed behind, their faces flushed, nodding to those they knew, but their pace was not slow at all.

Walking through the crowd, we found Accountant Liu and Warehouse Keeper Huang doing the final inventory, while Captain Yang checked the accounts.

When they saw Chen Fan approaching, they simply nodded and went back to their work.

Since they were doing serious business, Chen Fan naturally didn't want to disturb them, so he waited obediently to the side while scanning the surroundings with sharp eyes, hoping to put some psychological pressure on them and let them know that they couldn't gossip casually.

Then I received a friendly smile and a pair of eyes.

Chen Fan was heartbroken because something went wrong.

A moment later, Captain Yang made a gesture, and Master Liu immediately struck the gong. With the sound of the gong, the scene immediately quieted down.

Accountant Liu stepped forward, holding a thick ledger, and said as he looked through it, "Please be quiet for a moment. I'd like to report on this year's early rice harvest and the distribution of grain rations. Our Lujiawan Team 6 has 350 mu of paddy fields, and the total income from early rice is 232579 jin..."

Even though the members already knew the approximate number, they couldn't help but whisper and discuss among themselves.

Accountant Liu turned to look at Master Liu, "Uncle."

Master Liu immediately struck a gong, and the scene instantly quieted down.

Accountant Liu continued, "70 mu of them were planted with hybrid rice, and the harvest was 63009 jin."

When everyone heard this number, they wanted to say something, but they all held back.

Accountant Liu looked up and glanced at the table, a smile appearing on his lips. He quickened his pace and read, “The grain delivered to the public is 23030 jin, and the grain purchased is 45500 jin. However, the purchase of grain brought back 4325.29 yuan. This account will not be paid out yet; it will be settled at the end of the year.”

Of the remaining 164049 jin, 12000 jin were handed over and retained, leaving 152049 jin. Following the principle of 70% labor and 30% rations per person, the ration portion is 106434.3 jin. Our team has a total of 343 people, regardless of gender or age, so each person's ration is 310 jin and 3 liang.

At this point, he closed the ledger, raised his head, and said loudly, "Now, let Manager Huang preside over the distribution of rations. Everyone line up, and each household should send one person to collect them."

As soon as he finished speaking, he coughed and looked at Chen Fan, "Educated youth households, 5 people, Teacher Chen, you can come and collect them."

Chen Fan was a little confused. "Wait, isn't Jiang Lili the only educated youth household?"

Accountant Liu said with a smile, "When you registered your household, it was temporarily registered at the educated youth settlement. You haven't gone to the team leader to change it yet, so you are considered an educated youth household. Huang Ying, Yang Ju, and Liu Dan are currently living in the educated youth compound. Although they haven't changed their household registration, they are also considered educated youth households. Why don't you just get registered together with them?"

These words elicited soft laughter from the crowd, which quickly subsided.

Chen Fan was speechless.

Alright, I'll take it.

He then walked over to custodian Huang.

The warehouse keeper, Huang, looked at him and smiled, "There are five people in your yard, so you can receive 1551.5 jin of rice. Also, Captain Yang said yesterday that as long as you can help us complete the grain delivery task, you will be rewarded with a bag of corn."

We just wanted to deliver the grain smoothly, but it was all classified as first-class grain. So, after discussion among the team leaders, we decided to give you an extra bag of corn as a bonus.

Team leader discussion?

It's just the three of you!

Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly. "The corn is a bit dry. Can we exchange it for a bag of sweet potatoes?"

Without even consulting Captain Yang, the storekeeper Huang immediately agreed, "No problem, then one bag of corn and one bag of sweet potatoes."

Sweet potatoes are much cheaper than corn, so every little bit saved counts!

Captain Yang was naturally delighted. He directed several militiamen to move Chen Fan's rations and rewards over, and even assigned someone to "help Teacher Chen take them back."

As he loaded the bags onto the cart, the man chuckled, "Don't worry, as long as Teacher Chen agrees, I can help him pound the grain into rice."

A burst of laughter and giggles immediately filled the air.

Chen Fan smiled and said, "I appreciate your kindness, but there's no need to pound the rice. I still have two large bags of rice left to eat. We'll talk about it after we finish the rice."

Just then, an unknown woman shouted, "Teacher Chen, this is new rice, it's different!"

Then, one by one, they explained to Chen Fan that new rice tastes much better than old rice.

Chen Fan naturally knew that new rice and old rice were different. Even though this old rice was just last year's paddy and not that old, he was still somewhat tempted.

He thought for a moment and then asked, "How do we pound the rice?"

He wasn't very good at pounding rice. He'd been here for over half a year, and the rice he ate had always been given to him by others. The paddy rice was stored in the brigade headquarters' warehouse, and he hadn't pounded any rice yet.

As a result, the storekeeper Huang started to chase people away, waving his hand at the militiaman and saying, "Help Teacher Chen take it back, and while you're at it, explain to Teacher Chen how to pound rice."

Upon hearing this, the surrounding area burst into laughter again.

Chen Fan's face fell; well, he was probably going to become a laughing stock.

However, he didn't mind the good-natured joke. After the man pulled the cart away, he immediately followed behind and humbly asked, "So how does the production team pound rice?"

When people nearby saw him like this, any remaining sense of humor vanished instantly, and they all remarked to those around them with admiration, "No wonder Professor Chen is so talented despite his young age. He really isn't afraid of being laughed at; he's only focused on his studies!"

Ignoring the people around him, Chen Fan waited for the man's answer.

Huang Ying quickly ran forward, approached him, and explained, "When I was a child, we pounded rice with a stone mortar. We would put the rice in the mortar, and there was a lever or wooden stake that we could step on to pound it little by little. That's how everyone pounded rice back then."

Later, the commune distributed several machines to the production teams, including oil presses, cotton gins, and threshing machines. They also distributed a rice milling machine. With the rice milling machine, everyone took turns going to the 10th production team to mill rice, and they no longer had to manually pound the rice bit by bit.

Chen Fan nodded slightly, paused for two seconds, then turned to Yang Ju and said softly, "Xiao Ju, I'm going to give you some homework."

Without hesitation, Yang Ju ran forward and said, "You tell me."

Chen Fan said seriously, "In my study on the second floor, there are many mechanical engineering books that you can read freely. However, you need to draw up a design drawing for a rice milling machine before December 31st this year."

Yang Ju was stunned for a moment, "Huh?"

(End of this chapter)