Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 365 You have to do it
The next morning at 8 o'clock, Chen Fan leisurely finished his breakfast in the guesthouse canteen, then walked through the internal passage of the canteen and entered the internal canteen of Yunhu Health Department.

As soon as he arrived, people recognized him and greeted him.

"Good morning, Teacher Chen. When did you arrive?"

"Teacher Chen is here at Yunhu! Let's have a drink together tonight."

"You're really good at keeping secrets. There wasn't a word from the office that you were coming. Is it another important mission?"

Chen Fan smiled and waved back, "Good morning, good morning. No need for drinking, I'm afraid you'll get drunk and your wife won't let you in. No, no, there's no mission, just a small matter. I came to discuss something with Section Chief Yan and Sister Zhou. Are they there? Is Section Chief Yan away on a business trip? Is Sister Zhou there? Okay, okay, I'll go myself..."

They talked as they walked, passing through the back garden of the health department and all the way into the office building. Chen Fan never lowered his raised hand.

After finally arriving at the political work office, the door was wide open, and several young women were chatting away inside.

Chen Fan walked to the door, knocked gently, and said with a smile, "Good morning, comrades."

The office fell silent instantly, and everyone looked towards the door.

The next second, a scream rang out.

Two women in their thirties rushed over with outstretched arms, "Hey, Xiao Chen, long time no see!"

Chen Fan was so frightened that he raised his hands. "Sister Qin, Sister Yu, don't scare me, I'm scared."

A girl in her early twenties behind her called out, blushing, "Little brother, come here quickly, I'll protect you."

A girl next to her immediately spat and said, "With your small frame, who can you protect?"

She then beckoned to Chen Fan, "Come here to your sister, Xiao Fan."

Hearing the commotion, Section Chief Zhou came out of the inner office. She first saw Chen Fan being pulled into the office by Sister Qin and Sister Yu, and immediately shouted, "Sisters, close the door! We can't let him get away! We have to make him take someone with him today!"

The office erupted in laughter.

Hearing the commotion, people in the surrounding offices laughed and shook their heads, sighing, "The world is going to the dogs! People's hearts are no longer what they used to be!"

Chen Fan was pulled inside by Sister Qin, and Sister Yu slammed the door shut, showing no fear whatsoever.

He was a little flustered when he first encountered them like this, but he's used to it now.

Don't say people are conservative these days. Even grown men would blush when the aunties in the countryside make jokes. The women in city workplaces are no less so. The unmarried ones are a bit better, but many of the married ones, especially those with children, can be considered "fierce."

Unfortunately, there was more than one formidable sister-in-law in this office.

Thankfully, they were just venting; no one actually laid a hand on them. In some factories, there are female workers who dare to strip male workers naked—that's not just being tough, that's being truly ruthless!

After a burst of laughter and joking, Chen Fan took out some small items from his backpack and distributed them to everyone. "Sisters, these are little trinkets that I carved myself. They're souvenirs I brought especially for you."

Everyone took it and marveled at it.

Sister Qin looked at Chen Fan and said, "You can also carve?"

Sister Yu's eyes lit up, "This is sculpted so realistically!"

Chen Fan chuckled and said, "Actually, it's nothing. Many people in the countryside know a little carpentry. Carving is similar; you'll get the hang of it with practice."

Once outside of Nanhu Commune, few people knew his background, so he could boast as much as he wanted.

However, it must be said that there are quite a few skilled carvers all over the country these days, and many of them are indeed carpenters by training. Some of the works carved by excellent carpenters can even be exported to earn foreign exchange.

For example, the Dunhua Forestry Bureau in Jilin Province took advantage of its abundant timber resources to organize a group of carpenters to create wood carvings, which were then exported to Europe.

(Roman warrior wood carvings exported to Europe by Dunhua Forestry Bureau in the 70s)
Chen Fan had previously learned seal carving from Master Lu. At the beginning, Master Lu had him practice his knife skills on wood first. Once he could make a knife cut on wood with ease, he could then practice on stone, progressing step by step.

Unexpectedly, Chen Fan was not only learning metal and stone kung fu from him, but was also a carpenter who was very familiar with wood. Furthermore, he was also a "kung fu master" whose first kung fu skill was Xingyi Five Elements Saber.

Back then, in the freezing cold and snowy weather, he used the Five Elements Blade to clear the thicket behind the educated youth compound, and in the process, he honed his swordsmanship to perfection. Now, he has long since mastered the art, and whether it's a large knife, a small knife, a long knife, or a short knife, he can wield them with ease and grace.

So, to increase the difficulty a little, when practicing carving, he would take a carving book he found in a pile of old books and practice carving techniques little by little according to the knowledge in the book.

In the end, it took a week to upgrade the carving skill to LV5 Master level.

This time, I came to the prefectural committee to register for the correspondence university, so naturally I had to run some business for Lujiawan. Since I had to run some business, I couldn't leave the health department. And since I was coming to the health department, I had to bring some local specialties.

He couldn't bear to bring expensive items, and he felt embarrassed to bring cheap ones, so he packed up all the little trinkets he had carved before. More than twenty small things, each about the size of an egg, were packed into just one small bag.

It seems to be working quite well.

After dealing with the older sisters using a bunch of little tigers, little foxes, big flying wolves, big lions, little fierce dogs, etc., Chen Fan wiped the sweat from his forehead and went into the small office inside at Sister Zhou's invitation.

Sister Zhou is the head of the Political Work Section and the director of the office. She is in charge of both ideological work and logistics, and she has absolute power in the logistics department.

If you want to sell live poultry, she's the one to go for.

Turning on the electric fan and serving a cup of hot tea, Sister Zhou sat behind her desk and smiled at Chen Fan, "Did you come here suddenly today just to drop by, or is there something you need to take care of?"

Chen Fan smiled and said, "Both. On one hand, I came to see you all, and on the other hand, I really have something to take care of."

Sister Zhou rolled her eyes at him, picked up her teacup, took a sip, and said, "Although you didn't agree to come and work for Deputy Director Hao, everyone in our department treats you like family. Just say what you need to say directly, don't be as hesitant as those people who try to pull strings."

Chen Fan chuckled and said, "I'm telling the truth."

He paused for a moment, then explained what he was there to do at the prefectural committee, and finally said, "Now that I've registered, I'm here to see you, Sister Zhou, and maybe we can discuss whether we can buy some chickens, ducks, and geese from Lujiawan."

Without hesitation, Sister Zhou nodded and said, "Sure, even the health systems of Gufeng County and Shuanghe County have ordered your products, so our prefectural committee system certainly won't be left behind. I'll have someone contact the units below and have them report their quantities, so I guarantee we won't hold you back."

She paused for a moment, then skipped over the topic and looked at Chen Fan with a half-smile, "You refused to work at the health department last time, and now you're here to enroll in a correspondence university. What, do you look down on our health department and want to go to a better place?"

Chen Fan immediately shook his head, "No way, Sister Zhou, don't slander me out of thin air. Didn't I just say that I applied for literature?"

"Oh,"

Sister Zhou nodded in realization, "That proves I was right. Sure enough, every young person has a literary dream. You want to join the Provincial Writers Association or a newspaper or publishing company, right?"

Chen Fan looked at her speechlessly and decisively gave up on treatment.

Seeing his expression, Sister Zhou couldn't help but giggle.

After she finished laughing, her expression turned serious, and she looked at him and asked, "Okay, I believe you want to settle down in the countryside. So, when you get married, do you also want to find a rural wife?"

Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly. Why is it always about work or his wife? Can't they talk about something normal?
He shook his head and laughed, "I haven't thought that far ahead yet. The key is whether the person is suitable. If I like her, a rural wife would be fine too. If I don't like her, even if she's from a cadre family in a big city, I wouldn't want to marry above my station."

Hearing this, Sister Zhou sighed inwardly, "That's just the idealistic thinking of a young person. You'll understand when you grow up that finding a wife with a good family background and good qualities is very important for family life."

She looked up at Chen Fan and said seriously, "I'm not kidding you. All the girls in our department are top-notch. They're incredibly sought after, both inside and outside the company. If you're really interested, I'll be your matchmaker. I guarantee you won't regret it."

Chen Fan weakly raised his hands, "Sister Zhou, I'm not even 17 years old yet, I'm still a child, please let me go."

"fart."

Sister Zhou scoffed, "Don't even mention the countryside, there are countless 17 or 8-year-olds in the city who hold banquets. Using age as an excuse, I think you're just fooling me."

Chen Fan's eye twitched slightly. He was about to explain when Sister Zhou waved her hand and said, "Forget it, I'm too lazy to argue with you." Then she slapped the table and shouted, "Xiao Ling, come in."

The girl who had just been shouting that she would protect Chen Fan pushed open the door and entered. "Sister Zhou, what's the matter?"

Sister Zhou, with her head held high, said, "Go, tell the receptionist to prepare a first-class meal."

Pointing at Chen Fan, she gritted her teeth and said, "That kid doesn't know what's good for him. I'll keep an eye on you guys at noon. Get him drunk!"

Xiaoling covered her mouth and giggled a few times. After understanding what Sister Zhou meant, her eyes dimmed slightly. She forced a smile and said, "Oh, then I'll go and inform them."

With that, he turned and walked out.

For Chen Fan, Sister Zhou is now a VIP client. Since the VIP client wants to drink, he naturally has to accompany her.

So, what was originally planned as leaving after finishing business was postponed by another day.

……

Sunday, May 8.

Chen Fan traveled by car and eventually returned to Lujiawan.

In the brigade headquarters office, Secretary Yang held up the correspondence university admission notice and read it carefully.

Captain Zhang, standing nearby, kept glancing up at the text, his face showing considerable displeasure. "It's just a few lines of text, maybe even 50 words in total, and you've been reading it for almost half an hour. Is it really necessary?"

Secretary Yang wasn't angry at all. Without even looking up, he said, "Hmph, I've never seen what a university admission letter looks like in my entire life. What's wrong with taking a look a little longer?"

(The correspondence course admission notice is indeed less than 50 words in total.)

Seeing that Secretary Yang was so aloof, Captain Zhang had no choice but to continue waiting.

Anquan, Ye Shubao, Xiao Liewen, Zhang Wenliang, and Yang Xingxiu had divided up all of Chen Fan's correspondence course textbooks and were each reading them.

A short while later, Zhang Wenliang covered his eyes and groaned, "Oh my god, I can't take it anymore, I'm going to go blind."

Yang Xingxiu snatched the book from his hands with a fierce but gentle movement, saying, "If you're blind, don't read it!"

Then, holding the book with a worried expression, she said, "I recognize all these words, but why can't I understand them when they're put together?"

Ye Shubao lit a cigarette and said while smoking, "Don't say you can't understand it, I can't understand it either."

Anquan looked at him with confusion, "Xingxiu graduated from elementary school, right? You only attended a literacy class, and you're even better than her?"

Ye Shubao's expression stiffened slightly. He coughed and returned to his seat. "Isn't reading so many documents also a form of learning?"

Xiao Liewen glanced at him and said, "So what if you don't understand? So what if you came from a literacy class? Our old company commander also came from a literacy class. It's not shameful."

Ye Shubao sighed softly. It's not shameful to come out of a literacy class, but compared to graduates of higher primary schools, isn't it shameful?

Anquan put down the book, shook his head and sighed, "I'm also a proper high school graduate. The textbooks we used back then were much more difficult than the high school textbooks now, but looking at these university textbooks still gives me a headache."

As he spoke, he turned to look at Chen Fan and said, "Don't laugh at me, but I used to really think about applying for a literature major. But after reading your books, I realized that literature is really not something I can handle."

Chen Fan looked up and smiled, "Everyone has their strengths. Although you're not good at literature, you have a good talent for mathematics, and accounting is also your forte. If you work hard in these areas, you have a good chance."

Safety nodded thoughtfully. "That makes sense."

He then spread his hands and laughed helplessly, "It's a pity. I have absolutely no chance of getting into university through the special admissions exam you mentioned. Even if I want to go to university, I can only wait for next year's admissions."

Chen Fan smiled slightly as he listened.

next year?

Hmph, you'll be working your butt off in two months at most!

After a pause, he thought for a moment and then said, "Brother An, my suggestion is that you study that 'Self-Study Series of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry' carefully. If I'm not mistaken, there should still be this set of books for sale at the Xinhua Bookstore of the Prefectural Committee. When we go to the Prefectural Committee to deliver goods in a few days, I suggest you come with us and buy a set of books."

Even if it's just for enrolling in a correspondence university next year, you need to prepare in advance. To put it bluntly, you're already 27 or 28, almost 30. You also have to work, and your energy, attention, and memory are all about to decline. If you don't start learning now, even if you enroll in a correspondence university later, you'll find it very difficult to study.

After listening to his words, An Quan frowned and pondered for a few seconds before saying, "Let me think about it. This is something I really need to consider carefully."

At this moment, Secretary Yang raised his head, handed the admission notice to Captain Zhang, who had been eagerly awaiting it, and said to Anquan, "What's there to think about? This year you were stationed in Lujiawan, and your performance in all aspects was outstanding. The rice harvest was bountiful; Lujiawan has never harvested so much grain before."

An Quan smiled modestly, "It's just that the weather was favorable this year, and we used hybrid rice seeds; it was pure luck."

Secretary Yang glared at him, annoyed. "Was I praising you? I was saying that you don't need to worry about anything anymore. The late rice is growing now, and you can tell from the seedlings that it's growing very well, just like the early rice."

Thanks to your and Lao Ye's efforts, the breeding farm in our production team has gradually gotten on track, and now even the sales channels have been solved.

You no longer need to focus solely on production like you did in the first half of the year. While you're still stationed in Lujiawan and not as busy, take some time to think about your own affairs.

What Xiao Chen said is right. If you want to improve, you can't stagnate in your academic qualifications. Even Xiao Chen is working hard to improve, so why can't you give it another shot?

Chen Fan scratched his head, feeling that what he was saying sounded a bit strange.

Why can't I strive to improve myself?

However, An Quan took Secretary Yang's words to heart. After pondering for two seconds, he looked at Chen Fan and said, "Okay, then when we go to the prefectural committee to deliver the goods in a few days, I'll go with them and buy that set of books."

He paused for a moment, then quickly added, "But if there's anything I don't understand, you'll have to give me a lot of pointers."

Before Chen Fan could even nod, Yang Xingxiu laughed and said, "You can attend classes with our classmates. Xiao'e is teaching very well now; all the students can understand her lessons, and she's progressing very quickly. She's already finished the first book. There are over twenty people in our class, so you can ask any of them for help."

As a result, Anquan rolled his eyes and said, "Forget it, I can't afford to embarrass myself by learning from those teenagers."

Hearing this, Yang Xingxiu was slightly taken aback, then pointed at Chen Fan and said, "Isn't he just a kid too?"

Chen Fan immediately sat up straight. Yes, I'm still a child.

Secretary Yang and the others all looked at Chen Fan, and after a few seconds, they all shook their heads.

Anquan clicked his tongue and sighed, "Honestly, who would treat a prodigy like Xiao Chen like a child?"

Zhang Wenliang almost shook his head off. If Chen Fan was still a minor, he was already in his early twenties, several years older than Chen Fan.

Looking at their achievements, it's truly disheartening to compare them!
Most importantly, aside from showing off new things like hunting rifles or new belts, Chen Fan's behavior and speech are far more mature than his peers, making people subconsciously overlook his age and no one treats him like a teenager.

After chatting, all the textbooks were put away and placed in front of Chen Fan, along with the admission notice that had been passed around.

Watching Chen Fan pack his things, An Quan coughed lightly and said to him, "We haven't been idle these past two days while you were away. Now we're here to update you on the progress of our work, and these two tasks absolutely require your help."

Chen Fan retied the book with the rope, staring intently at him. "I know one is to select people to work in the county's cooked food workshop and teach them how to cook cooked food. What's the other one?"

A few days ago, they found a courtyard in the county to set up a workshop, and also three shops, which they planned to use as business premises.

These places need to be simply renovated before they can be used. At the same time, he also needs to train the workers in the cooked food workshops. Only by taking multiple measures in all aspects can he ensure that the cooked food shops can open normally as soon as possible.

Besides this, what else would require Teacher Chen's intervention?

(End of this chapter)