Traveling back to 1977

Let me start by saying a few words about Chapter 376.
Live poultry order delivery, resolving transportation issues, training cooked food preparation and sales staff, renovation and opening of cooked food workshops and shops in the county town, management of personnel going to the county town, financial management and handover procedures, ...

Safety measures were listed out one by one and discussed with everyone. Chen Fan also offered suggestions, and the list of safety measures filled several pages.

After finishing writing, he let out a long breath, lit another cigarette, looked at everyone, picked up his notebook and said, "Let me summarize. Order delivery is divided into two parts. Lao Ye is in charge of the team's preparation work, and Sanhu will coordinate the transportation and delivery."

He looked at Ye Shubao as he spoke, and Ye Shubao took a sip of tea and nodded, "I can guarantee there will be no problem."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Sanhuzi went to do training. I will tell him about his work."

Chen Fan said from the side, "Captain Ye, I have a suggestion."

Ye Shubao looked at him, "What?"

Chen Fan laughed and said, "Why don't we just start a transport team? After all, Brother Sanhu is the militia company commander and security chief. We need to have a legitimate reason to bring him in for transport. Also, once the two big ships are put into use, we can turn the transport team into a side business."

Even a mosquito's leg is still meat, right? We'll see if other production teams, or even the commune, have any goods being transported to the county or prefectural committee. Anyway, Nanhu Commune doesn't have a freight unit, so we're not taking anyone's job. I doubt even the motorcade will object.

"Turning the transport team into a side business?"

Ye Shubao frowned, pondered for two seconds, and then turned to look at Secretary Yang and Captain Zhang.

They both fell into deep thought.

A moment later, the two nodded together.

As Captain Zhang thought about it, he said, "I think this matter has potential. Although there aren't many goods going between the commune and the county and prefectural committees on a regular basis, there are still some occasionally."

Our commune's water transport company generally doesn't take on small jobs; all the transport is assigned by the commune or higher authorities. They won't handle small quantities of goods like live poultry, so we have to use a horse-drawn cart ourselves. If we formed a transport team, we should be able to get some extra profit.”

Secretary Yang chuckled as he smoked, "I have no objection either."

In any case, whether it's a cooked food workshop or a transportation team, everyone receives a fixed number of work points, and the profits generated are managed by the brigade headquarters, so it doesn't have a real impact on him.

However, it's not without its advantages. By setting up a transport team and waiting for two large ships to arrive, it can be considered the second sideline unit of the Lujiawan Brigade, which is impressive enough to impress people.

Seeing that the proposal was approved smoothly, Chen Fan smiled silently from the side.

His idea was simple: first, separate the transportation team; then, when the time was right, it could naturally develop into a logistics company. Giving a heads-up in advance would save a lot of trouble in the future, so why not?

Moreover, the transportation industry belongs to the service industry, just like the construction teams before it. They rely on "craftsmanship" to make a living. As long as they don't violate the taboos of industrial production, they will generally be fine.

So Security muttered to himself as he added this entry, "The transport team has been separated. Why are things getting more and more complicated?"

Chen Fan only said one sentence, and Secretary Yang simply nodded. However, what he was thinking about was that since a transport team was needed, multiple issues such as equipment, site, personnel, helmsmen, sailors, mechanics, and dispatchers had to be considered.

If we weren't independent, at the very least we wouldn't need dispatchers, and other manpower could be reduced appropriately. Delivering goods to the prefectural committee and county town every day would be enough. So why would we need to consider anything else?

After finishing this record, they continued discussing other matters.

Chen Fan will naturally be in charge of the training. It can be done in the next two or three days, as long as it is ready before September 1st.

Today is August 22nd, there's definitely enough time.

As for the renovation, it was handed over to the construction teams of Team 4 and Team 6. Team 4 provided two or three "regular" master craftsmen, and Team 6's "toilet construction team" was responsible for the implementation.

Well, it doesn't sound good to bring the toilet construction team over to renovate the food store, but we can't find anyone else right now. The commune's construction team is busy, and besides, hiring someone else would cost money, so of course we have to do it ourselves.

At worst, we can change their name and call them "Lujiawan Decoration Team" to the outside world. That way, they will be different from the commune's construction team, and it will sound better.

Okay, this is it.

As for personnel management and financial process integration, that's naturally something for Secretary Yang and Ye Shubao to take care of.

This is their job, it's what they should do.

After arranging everything, Anquan put away his notebook and said with a smile, "Lujiawan has been quite the talk of the town in Nanhu Commune lately. Not only did they build a cooked food workshop and open a shop in the county, but they also built a small water tower, expanded the village primary school, and even set up a study class and study room at the brigade headquarters. Everyone's talking about it with great interest..."

Captain Zhang chuckled and was about to speak when Chen Fan asked, "By the way, how's the village primary school expansion going? And what about the study classes? How are they doing?"

Upon hearing this, Secretary Yang, Captain Zhang, Ye Shubao, Anquan, and Yang Xingxiu all turned to look at him, their eyes filled with speechlessness.

Secretary Yang sighed softly, "Xiao Chen, I know you're very busy, busy with this and that, but you were the one who proposed this village school and study class, so can't you pay a little more attention to it?"

Chen Fan said matter-of-factly, "You've taken it to heart, haven't you? I'm asking you now."

One sentence from him made Secretary Yang's blood pressure soar, and he was completely upset, so he could only angrily smoke.

Yang Xingxiu said with a helpless expression, "This matter was originally under Captain Zhang's jurisdiction, but he was busy, so he handed it over to me. Let me tell you about it."

Firstly, including Xiao'e, there are 20 students in the class. They have three hours of intensive study time every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning. Xiao'e is mainly the teacher, covering subjects like politics, Chinese, mathematics, physics, chemistry, history, and geography. She doesn't cover all subjects every time; she rotates between them, teaching three or four subjects each time. And it's not always Xiao'e who teaches; occasionally, students who are making rapid progress will teach. However, everyone is progressing quite quickly; almost everyone has learned the junior high school content.

Chen Fan nodded slightly. He had been cultivating these people's basic knowledge since before the Lunar New Year, and had even used his teaching aura to give them a few lessons.

Moreover, the content of primary school textbooks at this time was relatively simple. If someone hadn't reached junior high school yet, it could only mean that they were not suited for learning and that they should find a job in the production team as soon as possible.

Yang Xingxiu paused for two seconds, and seeing that Chen Fan did not intend to speak, she continued, "The progress at the primary school is also good. In about three months, everything that needs to be prepared has been prepared."

Teacher Xiao continued as principal, responsible for teaching first grade. All twelve veterinarians were assigned shifts, two per day from Monday to Saturday, one for second grade and one for third grade.

Hearing this, Chen Fan nodded as usual. After waiting for two seconds and not hearing Yang Xingxiu's words, he looked up and asked, "What about the fourth and fifth grades?"

Yang Xingxiu smiled helplessly and said, "There's no such thing as a fourth or fifth grade." At this moment, Secretary Yang took over the conversation, tapped his pipe and said, "I personally oversaw the enrollment. All children aged 7 to 12 must return to school. Those under 15 can also return to school if they request to. The tuition fee is tentatively set at 1 yuan per semester, and students must bring their own food. Families with particularly difficult circumstances can apply for tuition reduction or exemption."

The term "family in extreme poverty" refers to those who have difficulty even putting food on the table.

In a place like Lujiawan, there are only two reasons for this outcome: one is laziness, and the other is excessive procreation.

Even Secretary Yang and his team didn't have a good solution. What could they do but prepare more relief food to keep them from starving?

These thoughts flashed through Chen Fan's mind, and he couldn't help but smile bitterly. Even a god couldn't help the first type of person, and as for those who had multiple children, life would only get better once the children grew up.

Fortunately, there aren't many lazybones in Lujiawan, only a few, otherwise he wouldn't have chosen to settle here.

The reason Chen Fan chose Lujiawan was not only because he had initially ended up there, but also because of the people there. They were hardworking, kind, and there were many beautiful young women. Of course, this last point isn't the main point. In any case, a good living environment was very important to Chen Fan, and the people there were of paramount importance!

Secretary Yang continued, "There are now 97 students in total, averaging 8 students per team. If we include the dozen or so children from the original school, that's a three-digit number. It's a 'big school' second only to the Nanhu Commune Central Primary School."

The situation in other production team village schools was similar to that of Lujiawan, with two grades and twenty or thirty students. In comparison, Lujiawan Village School was the largest.

He took a sip of water, then smacked his lips and said with a wry smile, "After registering everyone, Teacher Xiao gave them an entrance test to make it easier to divide them into classes. As a result, out of so many children, more than half of them were only at the first-grade level, only about 20 were at the second-grade level, and even fewer were at the third-grade level, just enough for 10 people."

He sighed deeply, "So, for now, three grades are enough for the school. We'll talk about the fourth grade next year."

Chen Fan suddenly understood. After figuring out the situation, he smiled and said, "That's right. Those who are the right age, willing to study on their own, and have reached the level of senior students are basically in the veterinary class. The rest who can reach the level of a third-year student are already quite good. Everything is difficult at the beginning, so let's take it slow."

Hearing him say that, Yang Xingxiu felt much better.

She smiled at Chen Fan and said, "School starts on September 1st, are you coming?"

Chen Fan scratched his head, looking somewhat troubled.

If he went there, he would definitely be pulled onto the stage to speak, but that's what he hates most, so he would definitely stay as far away as possible.

But it was his idea to expand the village school, and there was no suitable reason for it...

correct.

Chen Fan's expression immediately changed, and he said with a troubled look, "I would like to go, but isn't that September 1st? The county's cooked food shop is opening, and I also have to go to the prefectural committee. The leaders of their health department are so generous. They brought together the health school and several hospitals to order so many chickens, ducks and geese from us. In addition to live poultry, they also need cooked food. I have to go and show my appreciation."

Upon hearing this, Secretary Yang and the others nodded in unison, indicating their understanding.

Captain Zhang said, "We'll keep an eye on the school, but we'll have to trouble you with the county town and the prefectural committee."

Chen Fan smiled and said, "It's not much trouble. I'll do my best."

As long as I'm not allowed to speak publicly, that's fine.

……

The next day, Chen Fan arrived at Team 5 early to train the female workers in the cooked food workshop.

Upon arriving here, we found the brigade headquarters surrounded by a large, dark crowd.

If it weren't for the fact that everyone seemed to be in stable condition and that laughter could be heard, Chen Fan would have thought something terrible had happened.

As soon as he appeared, countless greetings rang out.

"Teacher Chen is here."

Good morning, Teacher Chen.

"Teacher Chen, my daughter Guixiang has been selected to work in the workshop. We'll have to trouble you to take care of her."

"Teacher Chen, my daughter Mingying is a saleswoman. She's quite clever, but she's a bit naive. I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you with this."

Chen Fan dismounted, letting the mare go to the livestock shed on her own. He then greeted everyone with a smile as he walked towards the brigade headquarters.

He now knew what kind of people these were.

Today marks the official start of training. Most of the female workers who need training have already entered the brigade headquarters. The people outside are either their family members or people who came to watch the excitement. I estimate that each team has 10 to 8 people accompanying them. With about a hundred people crowded together at the entrance of the brigade headquarters, how could it not be lively?

Chen Fan went inside and indeed saw 30 women comrades in the study room. In addition to the original 18 workers, there were 12 reserve people.

Yang Xingxiu told them that it was to prepare for opening a shop and expanding the workshop in the future, so they all came happily.

These people are all quite young. The oldest is only 28 years old and is a mother of two. The youngest is only 18 years old, got married last year, and just gave birth. They have never attended school and only learned to write their own names in a literacy class.

Seeing Chen Fan approach, Yang Xingxiu immediately walked over and whispered, "Everyone's here, do you want to say a few words?"

Chen Fan immediately shook his head, "I won't say anything. Let's see if you have anything to say."

Yang Xingxiu nodded slightly, turned to look at everyone, and said, "Comrades, now that Teacher Chen has arrived, let me say a few words."

Chen Fan stood aside with a smile. It was a characteristic of the times, so it was understandable.

As long as I'm not allowed to talk about it, that's fine.

(End of this chapter)