Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 355 Taking Photos
The next day was indeed another sunny day.

The torrential rain that lasted half the night washed the dirt road into mud, but when the sun came out, it soon became a solid dirt road again, only now there were more footprints of people and cattle on the road.

There is less dust now.

Overnight, the river swelled by two or three meters, reaching a distance of only about seven meters from the embankment.

How do I know so clearly?

very simple.

On the outer river embankment, at regular intervals, there is a long row of "water level gauges" extending down the slope into the water.

These water level gauges are concrete pillars that run down the riverbank. They are painted white with lime, and the specific water level lines are marked with red paint and numbers. Even if someone is illiterate, as long as they can recognize money, they will know what these numbers mean.

Farmers rely on daily inspections of these water level gauges to report their measurements to their teams, which then report to the brigade, which in turn reports to the water conservancy bureau, and so on. Data from countless water conservancy bureaus is collected and sent to the provincial water conservancy department, thus forming the hydrological change data for a province.

This information will not be wasted.

The Water Resources Department will compile this data, extract water level information for important river sections, and broadcast it to the entire province via radio at fixed times every day.

All water transport vessels in the entire Jiangnan region rely on listening to these water level reports to obtain firsthand information on the water levels of the entire basin. Based on this information, they determine which rivers are navigable; which rivers have particularly rapid currents requiring expert helmsmen; which rivers have too low a water level and require detours; and which rivers are too shallow and may run aground at certain points…

If the water level rises too quickly, the provincial water resources department and local water resources bureau will issue early warning information, and real experts will conduct a "consultation" to give a forecast result, which will be submitted to the higher authorities for decision-making to determine whether it is necessary to defend the dike or divert the flood.

For example, in 98, when the Yangtze River experienced a major flood and the water level had exceeded the historical high, at the most dangerous moment, the Ministry of Water Resources gathered dozens of water conservancy experts from all over the country. All of them stayed at the Jingzhou Hotel and, through calculations day and night, came to the conclusion that "there was no need for flood diversion," which was then used to make a decision by the deputy general manager who was staying there.

Based on this, the deputy general manager withstood the pressure to divert the floodwaters and instructed his soldiers to guard the dike firmly, saying that as long as the dike stands, people will live; if the dike falls, people will die!
In the end, except for a very few towns that were submerged due to the breach of the dike, the entire Jingjiang area was preserved intact, especially protecting Wuhan downstream and areas further downstream.

Therefore, these seemingly insignificant cement pillars are related to the lives and property safety of countless people in the Yangtze River basin.

……

Chen Fan rode his mare behind Secretary Yang and the others, counting the water level gauges as he inspected the entire river within the Lujiawan area.

Such a long distance naturally meant everyone rode horses; if they relied solely on their own two legs, they might not be able to complete the journey in a single day.

On the dike, countless sentry posts were erected overnight, one every 500 meters.

Most of the sentry posts are thatched huts, with a few wooden stakes as supports, straw mats for the walls, and straw for the roof. Most of the space inside is filled with sacks and shovels, which are ready to be filled with soil to block water at any time. Only the remaining small part has three bamboo beds, which are where the flood control personnel sleep.

In addition to the thatched sheds, there are also more than a dozen rain shelters made of tarpaulin. However, new thatched sheds are being built next to these rain shelters, and this will be the residence of the flood control workers for the next two or three months.

No wonder that after Chen Fan proposed building a permanent outpost and solving the elevation difference problem yesterday, the leaders all agreed.

The conditions at these outposts are indeed terrible. The hardship endured by the people is secondary; the key issue is that flood control supplies are easily damaged. If there were permanent outposts, these flood control supplies could undoubtedly be used for a much longer period of time.

Therefore, they would naturally prefer to build permanent outposts.

However, brick-making takes time, and getting a report from the commune for cement takes even longer. For the time being, the flood control outpost in Lujiawan could only use thatched sheds.

If everything goes smoothly, construction can only begin after the autumn harvest, once the cement permit is approved.

What if the commune doesn't approve the cement?

Hmph, let's talk about that later!
The people of Lujiawan are willing to contribute, but they can't just contribute in isolation. Since I've already brought my own red bricks, and it's for guarding the dike, wouldn't it be reasonable for the water conservancy department to provide some cement as support?

If the commune and the water conservancy station don't even provide this much benefit, then we can endure hardship.

So what if we live in thatched huts? We've lived like this for the past twenty-odd years. Who's afraid of who?!

Although Chen Fan wanted to say that the people of Lujiawan would ultimately benefit from building the Yonggu outpost, he knew in his heart that things shouldn't be done that way.

Since it's a matter for the water resources department, the department must share some of the costs. Otherwise, if everything has to be borne by the grassroots level, more and more tasks will be pushed onto them in the future.

Can Lujiawan afford the cost of one water conservancy project, and also the cost of countless other projects?

Therefore, he also supported Secretary Yang and his group's opinion. If the higher authorities provide support, then we'll build it; if they don't, then we'll just let it stagnate.

That being said, this possibility certainly exists ten years from now, but at the present stage, the likelihood of this happening is not high.

If they knew that a permanent outpost was to be built in Lujiawan, the commune and the water conservancy station would generally give their full support, as evidenced by the previous construction of a small water tower for tap water.

As long as it's something that benefits the public and the people, the commune and higher authorities are very willing to support it, within their capabilities.

After walking around the riverbank and confirming that everything was normal, we returned to the brigade headquarters, where the leaders approved our trip to the county town to "find sales channels" the next day.

The same few people were still in the office, but now there was a security guard.

Secretary Yang sat in his seat, stuffing tobacco into his pipe, and said with his head down, "With you going, the hopes of the entire brigade are pinned on you. You must do your best."

The ducks and geese have grown up and started laying eggs, and the chickens have also started laying eggs. Some villagers are even preparing to hatch the next batch of chicks. If they don't find a market to sell them soon, even if they have earthworms to feed them, they won't be able to feed so many chickens, ducks, and geese.

Besides, isn't the purpose of farming to make money? How can you make money if you don't sell your produce?!
Upon hearing Secretary Yang's words, An Quan couldn't help but shudder and said with a bitter face, "Secretary Yang, we are already under a lot of pressure, please don't put any more pressure on us."

He's been so worried these past few days, he's lost his appetite.

Captain Zhang looked at him and asked, "Has the official letter from the commune arrived yet?"

Anquan immediately nodded, "I'm coming down. I asked our Director Hong to go see Secretary Qian together. Secretary Qian was very supportive and issued an official letter on the spot."

He paused for a moment, then said with a wry smile, "But you also know how arrogant the people in the supply and marketing system are. They might not even give face to units in the county, let alone the commune. So whether it will work out or not depends on our two 'heroes'."

As he spoke, his gaze turned to Zhang Wenliang and Zhang Juemin.

Zhang Wenliang immediately raised his head and hand, "Stop, I'm not some hero, I'm just a guide. How to negotiate the specifics is up to you and Uncle Ye."

As he spoke, he turned to look at Chen Fan, "Why don't we ask Teacher Chen to step in? That would be a hundred times better than me and my brother. Last time, those organizations all wanted to invite him, but he avoided it, so my brother and I ended up just filling in."

Chen Fan immediately raised his hand and clapped, "Not bad, not bad, you can even use idioms now."

Zhang Wenliang blushed, rolled his eyes, and said, "Get lost."

Seeing everyone looking at him, Chen Fan remained calm. "Relax, everyone. It's just a dozen or so ducks and 6000 geese. Selling them won't be difficult. Not only will the county commerce bureau not refuse, but even if they disagree, I have my own ways."

Then he coughed lightly and said casually, "Of course, it would be best if Brother An and Captain Ye could handle the dozen or so units in the county."

The people who were initially pleased with Chen Fan's words suddenly gave a collective "tch!" when they heard the second half of his sentence.

Saying it means not saying it.

……

The next morning, Zhang Wenliang, Zhang Juemin, Ye Shubao, An Quan, and Chen Fan, who was going to register at the prefectural committee along the way, boarded a bus to the county town.

The driver was still Mr. Meng.

Chen Fan sat in the passenger seat as usual, opened the window, and looked at the surging river. He felt a little uneasy. "Master Meng, is it okay to cross the river in such a big current?"

Master Meng skillfully steered the car onto the ferry, pressing the clutch as he did so. The ferry swayed violently in the surging river, and the car rocked along with it.

You sway, I sway, and everyone sways even more.

Zhang Wenliang and the others turned pale and were even prepared to abandon their vehicle and jump into the river.

They were still on the shore, so jumping into the river now would make it easier to swim back! But Master Meng was used to it. He calmly drove the car onto the middle of the ferry, then turned off the engine, pulled the handbrake, and turned to look at Chen Fan with a smile, "Teacher Chen, don't worry, I've been driving this road for twenty years, I guarantee there won't be any problems."

Chen Fan muttered to himself, "The problem is, this isn't a road!"

Thankfully, although it was a bit shaky, under Master Meng's control, the car successfully crossed two large rivers and then headed straight for Gufeng County.

An hour later, the car pulled into the station, and Master Meng waved goodbye to Chen Fan, saying, "Have a safe and smooth journey, Teacher Chen."

Chen Fan grinned and said, "Thank you for your kind words. Next time I take the bus, I'll bring you a roast duck."

Master Meng laughed heartily, "That's great, I'll be waiting."

As a seasoned driver, he certainly wasn't short of food, but the gift from Teacher Chen had a different meaning, so he had to accept it.

As they exited the station, the group stood by the roadside, looking around.

Chen Fan: "Where to now?"

Zhang Wenliang wiped his face, took out a small notebook from his pocket, opened it and said, "Let me check the address. Last time they all came to pick people up in a car. Now that we're going to their door, I really don't know how to get there."

Anquan stood to the side, fanning himself with a folding fan and wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Last time it was an invitation, this time it's a voluntary visit, of course it's different."

Ye Shubao leaned closer to Zhang Wenliang, tilting his head to look, "Did you find it?"

Zhang Wenliang handed him a small notebook. "Look at this. It's from the county's water transport company. It's a big company with over a thousand employees, even bigger than a construction company."

They have a lot of people, and they work on a ship, so there are often situations that require emergency medical attention. They were very welcoming when they asked us to come over last time. Why don't we go here first?

Ye Shubao looked around and said, "Anywhere is fine. Which way do I go?"

Then everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

Finally, Zhang Wenliang glanced at An Quan and said, "Brother An, it's normal that we haven't been here before. Don't tell me you haven't been here either."

Anquan was displeased upon hearing this. "What are you talking about? Although I've been to the county town before, it was all for official business. I would come, go to my work unit, and leave as soon as I finished. Sigh, you've been in the county for more than half a month. Why don't you admit that you don't know the way?"

Zhang Juemin clicked his tongue, "During that period, I would take a car every day when I went out. After talking to one family, the car would come to pick me up for the next one. How could I know the way?"

After thinking for a moment, Anquan said, "How about I call a friend and see if he's free to come and be a guide?"

At this moment, Chen Fan suddenly pointed to the opposite side and said, "Wait, let me take a picture first."

Hearing the sound, everyone looked over and saw a "Xinguang Photo Studio" across the street. The signboard seemed new, and the storefront looked quite large, with three rooms in a row, and it was a three-story building.

It seems to be another large unit.

An Quan looked at the photo studio, a little confused. He blinked and was about to speak when he saw Chen Fan crossing the road to the other side. He quickly followed, "Wait, what time is it? You still want to take pictures?"

Chen Fan didn't even turn his head. "Taking a photo is definitely useful. I'm planning to enroll in a correspondence university at the prefectural committee. How can I manage without a registration photo? Besides, the veterinary certificate the veterinary station gave me doesn't even have a photo attached or stamped yet. I'm too embarrassed to show it to them. Hey, why don't we set up a photo studio in our Nanhu Commune?"

Upon hearing that Chen Fan was going to enroll in a correspondence university, An Quan couldn't help but curl his lips. "What's the use of you going to a correspondence university? You don't have a job, so you can't get promoted. Will getting a diploma increase your salary or get you a promotion? Look at me, I didn't enroll. Going to a correspondence university is not as good as going to our finance and taxation school for half a year of advanced studies. You just like to make things difficult for yourself."

Chen Fan kept walking, saying, "I'm happy to."

He then turned to look at Anquan and said, "Hey, don't say I didn't warn you, a university degree does give you extra points. You don't need it now, but when you're moving up in the ranks, don't let someone with a university degree push you out. It'll be too late to regret it then."

Safety paused for a moment, then thought it might actually be true.

Before, when I wasn't getting promoted, I didn't need to think about this. But now that I'm about to become a cadre, if I have the opportunity to come to the county and open up the promotion channels, my educational background will become a very real issue.

Just as he was thinking about whether or not to go to register with Chen Fan, Ye Shubao said to Chen Fan from the other side, "I heard Secretary Qian say that he had previously asked the county for help in opening a photo studio in the commune town, but photographers are in high demand and no one wants to go to Nanhu."

Unless someone from Nanhu is sent to the county photo studio as an apprentice, and then returns after completing their training. I just don't know if he arranged anything after that.

Listening to his words, Chen Fan had already stepped into the photo studio.

The storefront has three large rooms. The two rooms on the left and right are display windows, showing photos of various sizes. The main door is in the middle, with several door panels folded open.

Upon entering, there are several props on the right and a row of glass cabinets on the left, with two people standing inside.

Chen Fan walked straight over and said, "Hello comrade, I would like to have some ID photos taken."

One of the girls, in her early twenties, looked at Chen Fan with shining eyes and said, “Hello comrade, a one-inch ID photo costs 38 cents and can be picked up in a week.”

Standing behind, Zhang Wenliang bumped Zhang Juemin with his shoulder. The two brothers looked at each other, their faces full of helplessness.

Why haven't they ever encountered such enthusiastic sales staff?!
Chen Fan frowned slightly. "It'll take a whole week?"

The saleswoman smiled and patiently explained, "We don't have developing equipment here. The photos have to be sent to Yunhu for developing. They are sent every two days, and it will take about two more days for the developing to be completed. Then the truck that sent them will bring them back, so it will take about a week."

Chen Fan said "Oh," and was about to speak when he heard the young girl say, "It's considered good if we can get it developed in a week here. Have you ever taken a photo at Tiananmen Square?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan was stunned. What, are you trying to compete? Showing off that you've been to Tiananmen Square?

Seeing that Chen Fan didn't speak, the girl smiled and continued, "I went to the capital for a study trip in April this year and took a picture in Tiananmen Square. There are so many people taking pictures there, the queue is more than 4 meters long, and they use up so much film every day."

There weren't enough rolls of film to be developed in the shop, so to save time and money, they arranged for someone to take the film by train to Changchun to develop the photos, and then bring them back after half a month.

Almost all the people taking photos there are tourists from other places, so they have to mail these photos back to the tourists. It's lucky if they receive them back in a month. Think about it, you have to wait a month to take a photo at Tiananmen Square, but here you only have to wait a week! Isn't that fast?

Chen Fan pursed his lips, somewhat speechless, then managed to stammer, "The capital also has a Beijing Film Studio, so why not send them there?"

The little girl was stunned and didn't know how to answer.

Seeing that she was stumped, Chen Fan quickly took out some money and said, "Okay, one week it is. Here's four cents, please count it."

The young girl refused to take the money, instead pointing to the smiling older woman standing nearby and saying, "Sister Mei is the cashier, you give the money to her."

Chen Fan quickly changed seats, handed over the money, received two cents in change, and a receipt.

(1-inch registration photo, 38 cents)
Seeing that Chen Fan had paid, the young girl leaned closer and said, "Comrade, would you like to take a photo? It only costs 95 cents to take a 6-inch photo, which includes two photos and a negative. You can develop it yourself later."

Moreover, our photo studio has many backdrops, including West Lake, Huangshan Mountain, the Great Wall, the sea, and even Tiananmen Square. Whatever background you want, you can choose it, ensuring you can travel all over the country without leaving home.

Chen Fan was also curious, mainly because he had never taken a photo in a photo studio before he transmigrated, and he really didn't know what photo studios were like now. He immediately asked the girl with great interest.

Ye Shubao and his companions stood aside, pitifully ignored, and could only chat aimlessly by themselves.

Ye Shubao asked softly, "Is he always this popular when he buys things outside?"

Zhang Wenliang felt a chill in his heart and a sour taste in his mouth. "Don't even mention the Nanhu Supply and Marketing Cooperative. It's only because Sister Wang got married that they might have come to Lujiawan to snatch him away. Their Director Qian treats Xiao Chen like his own son, and he's always thinking about introducing him to potential partners."

The same thing happened when I went to the prefectural committee last time. Whether it was at Xinhua Bookstore, department store, secondhand shop, or cotton mill store, there were no salespeople with bad attitudes.

At first, we both thought the sales clerks at the prefectural committee were just nice, but when I went to ask them about something, they were completely unresponsive. It just goes to show that all crows are black!

At this moment, Chen Fan walked over, grinning and chuckling, "It's not that bad. If someone treats me with respect, I'll treat them even better. As long as we're polite, there's no need for so much unreasonable trouble."

He paused for a moment, then said, "I want to take a picture, do you want to take it?"

Ye Shubao and the other three looked at each other, then coughed in unison, "Slap!"

(End of this chapter)