Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 386 Origin
Despite the doubts, Deputy Director Lin has not yet backed down.

He's worked at the docks for so many years, what kind of ships hasn't he seen?
A single-masted sailboat, not much bigger than a covered boat, looks like one that makes you hold your breath, fearing it might be blown over by the wind.

There are also people who cut bamboo from Jiang'an, Sichuan, throw it into the river, tie it into bamboo rafts at the river mouth, and then put them into the river to float downstream. There are even small houses built by the rafters on the rafts. Crossing the Three Gorges is so dangerous, but they still manage to go.

(The bamboo rafts and wooden houses on the river, the small ones were single-masted sailboats, they disappeared after the dam was built)
Compared to those strange and unusual boats and rafts, this boat in Lujiawan is at least a boat, and it looks stable and seems quite resilient to wind and waves.

He was simply surprised because he hadn't seen such a "retro" ship in many years.

After all, with the upgrading of ships over the past decade or so, this type of ship is no longer commonly seen on the river.

……

There were six people from Lujiawan this time: Secretary Yang, Ye Shubao, Anquan, and Zhang Wenliang, plus two members of the transport team responsible for driving the boat and carrying loads.

Although Secretary Yang is a principled person, he is also flexible and adaptable.

Giving gifts to individuals is taboo for him, but giving gifts to large organizations he is about to cooperate with is a friendly exchange between groups, and no one can find fault with it.

Before setting off, he personally selected six loads of gifts, including chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits that he was about to sell, as well as this year's newly harvested rice, tanned hides from the spring hunt, more than a dozen fresh fish, and so on, which were packed into separate baskets.

Leaving two team members to watch the boat, Zhang Wenliang took the initiative to carry a load of things and followed behind into the waiting room office building.

Needless to say, the lease was successfully signed by both parties in a harmonious and friendly atmosphere.

Starting tomorrow, a 40-square-meter shop next to the Yunhu Local Specialty Store at the pier exit will be used by Luwan Delicatessen. In addition, a new stall has been added in the waiting room, successfully completing the pre-booked task.

After leaving the waiting room, Chen Fan first put Lin Liwen on a tricycle so she could go back to her unit. Then, he took Secretary Yang and the others to the three bus stations they had visited that morning, both to sign contracts and to pay visits and give gifts.

After finishing these tasks, it was already evening.

As Chen Fan walked out of the bus station, he looked at the group and smiled, “Originally, Sister Zhou from the Health Department wanted me to go to those hospitals and health schools today, but in order to make a trip to the bus station and the dock passenger company, she specially arranged it for tomorrow, so today’s task is considered complete.”

It's getting late. Let's find somewhere to eat first, then rest at the guesthouse for the night. We'll go back tomorrow after we've finished visiting those places.

Secretary Yang waved his hand, "I won't stay here. I won't eat either. I'll just grab a bite when I get back."

Upon hearing this, Captain Ye remained calm. In his view, now that the team had its own private boat, they could leave whenever they wanted.

Besides, the ship is going back today anyway, and it will come to the prefectural committee to deliver goods early tomorrow morning. So why waste money? A few people staying overnight, plus food, will cost at least six or seven yuan.

But if we go back to stay there, we can save those few dollars. We should save where we can.

Zhang Wenliang and An Quan wanted to stay at the prefectural committee for one night.

Look here, the city is really different. The streetlights are on on both sides of the wide road before it gets completely dark. In the small square not far ahead, some people are playing basketball, badminton, and table tennis. Some people are playing chess and fighting each other. There is also a specially set-out "dance floor" where a group of young people are dancing and playing soothing music on a dual cassette recorder.

Dance?

Are you kidding me? It's only 77, and people in a small place like Yunhu are already dancing in public?
Seeing this, Chen Fan forgot to reply to Secretary Yang's words for a moment and stared wide-eyed at the scene.

Oh, so it was men dancing with men and women dancing with women. That's alright then.

Actually, starting this year, young people have been living quite carefree lives these past few years, with many even drinking and playing drinking games in restaurants. So much so that in 82 a regulation was issued prohibiting: "playing drinking games, drinking games, playing music, and dancing" in restaurants and canteens.

(This is it)
So before the cold snap hit, people's lives were actually quite fulfilling.

Take hair perming as an example. As early as the end of 1976, the Beijing Wangfujing Siliang Hair Salon secretly resumed hair perming. The following summer, in May or June of 1977, it officially opened its hair perming service, charging 40 cents per session, which attracted a lot of foreign media reports at the time.

In comparison, this kind of ballroom dancing between people of the same sex is nothing special. In many workplace union activity rooms, there are even special dance parties for opposite-sex matchmaking.

Well, if you think about it, they're exactly the group that started square dancing later?

It's only because Lujiawan is a small place with inconvenient information and transportation that there hasn't been much change.

However, now that the prefectural committee's sales channels have been established, people will be coming and going to the prefectural committee every day. It's hard to say what changes will occur in the future.

Sure enough, the lively night scene deeply attracted Zhang Wenliang and Anquan, who were still young, and they could hardly take their eyes off it.

A few seconds later, Chen Fan quickly reacted and said to Secretary Yang, "It's getting dark, and it will take at least two hours to get back. It's so inconvenient to sail at night."

Secretary Yang immediately waved his hand, "It's alright, we brought searchlights, they can illuminate any road, there's nothing to worry about."

(Searchlight base; once the light is attached, it can illuminate a long distance.)
After a pause, Secretary Yang continued, "We still have two loads of the things we brought today left over. Let's keep them for you. Find a vehicle later and take them to the health department. They've helped us so much; we can't just leave without showing our appreciation."

Having heard what Secretary Yang had said, Chen Fan didn't know what else to say, so he nodded and said, "Understood, I will arrange it."

Seeing that Chen Fan couldn't be persuaded, Zhang Wenliang and An Quan could only resign themselves to following him back.

When they arrived at the pier by bus, they first helped Chen Fan carry the two loads of gifts up the pier before reluctantly leaving.

I'll come back early tomorrow morning, but the beautiful night view will be gone!
Chen Fan stood by the roadside, watching the wooden boat slowly sail away from the dock below the steps. He then turned to look at the chickens, ducks, and geese quacking in their cages and couldn't help but wipe his face.

I can carry one load, but two?
There's no other way but to take the bus.

Chen Fan carried a load in each hand, first went to the shop at the entrance of the waiting room to buy some things, and then carried the loads to the bus station.

People waiting for the bus nearby saw his travel-worn appearance (he had been out all day), glanced at the two baskets, and smelled a mixture of sweat and the odor of chickens, ducks, and geese, so they decided to keep their distance.

Is this being disliked?

However, Chen Fan didn't care. There were plenty of city people who looked down on farmers. Who did they think they were?

A short while later, the bus arrived at the station. After waiting for the others to board first, Chen Fan picked up a carrying pole and prepared to get on the bus.

Before they even reached the door, the ticket seller slammed it shut with a bang. The driver and she worked together seamlessly, launching the bus and speeding off.

Chen Fan quickly turned the load sideways, and the car sped past, kicking up a cloud of dust and leaving a trail of exhaust fumes.

Fortunately, he had practiced it, and immediately held his breath and took two steps back, returning to the side of the platform.

Damn, I got rejected again?
Is my handsome face being concealed?

He waited for two more buses, hoping to be the first to squeeze on so the ticket seller wouldn't close the door.

It's a pity this is a dock!
They lack everything except people, and besides, he has two responsibilities, so how could he possibly outcompete others?

I can't hit anyone, it's so frustrating!

In the end, he had no choice but to give up the idea of ​​taking the bus.

Fortunately, this is a pier, and there is also a taxi stand, so there are more rickshaws and toy cars coming and going than in other places.

However, there were many people in line.

He bought a taxi ticket, paid extra for the two carrying poles, and then silently waited in line for more than half an hour before finally getting into a small, unreliable taxi and returning to the health center's guesthouse, exhausted both physically and mentally.

As she entered carrying two baskets, the night shift receptionist at the counter immediately came out to greet her, "Teacher Chen, where have you been? Why are you carrying these things?"

He then reached out to take a load of it.

Chen Fan shook his head, put both loads in the corner, took a slight breath, and thought to himself that it was better to go home, where he wouldn't be looked down upon.

He then pointed to the four baskets and said, "These things were sent by our production team as a gift to show our appreciation for the health department's support of the production team. Please inform Sister Zhou first thing tomorrow morning so she can decide how to arrange them."

The receptionist immediately beamed with joy, "Oh, you're so kind."

If she weren't just a receptionist, she would definitely have been polite. But now, all she could say was, "Thank you!" Chen Fan smiled and waved his hand. "Thank you for your help. I'll go back and rest now; I'm too tired today."

The receptionist said, "No trouble at all. You can go back and get some rest. I'll take care of things here. I guarantee everything will be fine."

Chen Fan smiled, turned around and went upstairs.

Back in my room, I took a shower and changed clothes, and went to bed without even eating.

At midnight, Chen Fan opened his eyes, yawned, and got up to get dressed without turning on the light.

He wasn't wearing a shirt, trousers, or leather shoes, but rather a very ordinary dark blue homespun shirt and cloth shoes. This kind of clothing is almost ubiquitous in small towns.

While getting dressed, he walked to the map on the wall and reviewed the map of Yunhu City again, confirming that it matched his memory.

He then picked up a small cloth bag and put it in his pocket. He walked to the window, glanced outside to make sure no one was there, and then quietly pushed open the window, using one hand to support himself on the windowsill as he flipped over and jumped outside.

The person didn't fall down; instead, they remained hanging outside the window.

He first closed the window, then released his fingers, and finally landed on the ground.

Bending down and moving along the wall, I arrived at the courtyard wall. With a light push of my feet, I leaped into the air, reached out and touched the top of the wall, and was outside the courtyard.

Pressing his body against the wall, after a few seconds, when he heard no movement from the courtyard, Chen Fan walked around to the front along the shadows on the street. He saw that only the entrance and lobby of the entire guesthouse were lit. He didn't see any receptionists, but he could hear soft snoring coming from inside.

Needless to say, she's definitely asleep.

He smiled slightly at the inside and dashed away, disappearing into the darkness by the roadside.

At the same time, he suppressed the excitement in his heart and wondered if Master Lin would challenge him to a duel if he knew that his first time using kung fu was to do something sneaky.
Actually, he wasn't going to do anything bad. It's just that today in the waiting room at the dock, he heard Deputy Director Lin talk about how a certain village was washed away during the flood. He wondered if there was an opportunity to patch up his background.

If he never leaves Yunhu or Lujiawan, never seeks the limelight, and lives a low-key life, then his background is not important.

People like Secretary Yang don't care about their background as long as they contribute to Lujiawan; as long as they can help Lujiawan, that's all that matters.

Moreover, they will cover for you when others ask, so there is no need to worry about safety issues at all.

However, as the saying goes, "I may not use it, but I cannot live without it."

Whether to stay or leave is Chen Fan's own choice, but he cannot leave himself with a hidden danger because of this loophole, making him afraid to run away easily. Therefore, the best way is to eliminate this hidden danger.

Back then, it didn't matter whether you went on a trip, settled down elsewhere, or came back to visit occasionally.

However, Chen Fan hadn't come up with a good solution yet.

How about we become relatives?
Actually, it's no different from now.

Pay someone to buy your personnel file?
That's one way to do it, but he hasn't found a suitable approach after several months. This requires finding a trustworthy person; otherwise, it's better to do nothing.

Until today, after listening to Deputy Director Lin's words, he suddenly realized that perhaps he could make a move by focusing on the missing persons.

Each local police station has a household registration archive room, which contains the vast majority of population data for the area under its jurisdiction.

Why not all of them?
There are still unregistered residents, plus some migrant workers fleeing famine. Let alone now, even decades from now, we can't say we can find out 100% of them.

Therefore, Chen Fan was not afraid that his tricks would be discovered, because it was impossible to find out completely!

As long as there is a provenance that can convince all parties to believe it, this loophole can be plugged.

In the afternoon, he casually asked Deputy Director Lin about any other similar incidents.

In the end, it was discovered that there weren't many incidents, only two in recent years, but quite a few people had gone missing. However, he didn't know the specifics, only that the two incidents occurred in areas under the jurisdiction of the same police station.

Chen Fan now needs to find information and patch the problem!

It was already past midnight. The streetlights were off, the moon was dark and the wind was high. There wasn't a soul in sight on the street. Only Chen Fan's legs were almost blurry as he sprinted towards his destination with lightning speed.

He didn't care about main streets or alleys along the way, he only took straight routes. After more than half an hour, he finally finished running the 10-kilometer straight distance and arrived at the target police station.

Without alerting the gatekeeper and the police officers on duty, he secretly went around to the back, rested for two minutes to catch his breath, then took out a cloth to cover his face before climbing over the courtyard wall and using a thin wire to enter the archives room.

Regarding the issue of the thin iron wire, as everyone knows, Chen Fan understands a bit about mechanics and also knows some kung fu, so he has a particularly good feel for it and everyone can understand.

After entering the room and closing the door, I checked the room. There was only one window, and the curtains were already drawn. I then looked at the placement of everything in the room and even squatted down to gently touch the floor with my fingers.

Hmm, there's no dust. It seems I mopped the floor before leaving get off work. So I took off my shoes, leaving only my socks on, and took out a cloth to wipe the area I had just stepped on. I then placed my shoes on the cloth.

After doing all that, he took out a small flashlight he had bought at the store at the entrance of the waiting room, turned it on, put it in his mouth, and continued to open the cabinet doors.

(Tiger brand pocket flashlights were rare back then, but they were usually available in shops at bus stations and docks.)
First, I looked for the categories. In a filing cabinet in the corner, I finally found a missing filing cabinet and started looking through the files one by one.

It has to be said that the number of cases involving accidents and unexplained disappearances is quite large, numbering in the hundreds, and he needs to find the right person from these hundreds of documents.

Then they switched the prince with a cat!
If he can't find it, he can only try his luck at other police stations.

However, he was lucky. After searching and carefully reviewing all the missing persons' information, several hours had passed before Chen Fan finally selected three relatively ideal replacement candidates.

After looking at the three documents and pondering for a few seconds, Chen Fan made a decision.

He first put the other two photos back in their original positions, then placed the last one on the file box. He took out a small knife, gently peeled off the original photo, and then took out a photo of his own registration from his cloth bag, applied the glue he had brought with him, and stuck it on.

After waiting a while and feeling the glue on the photos to make sure it was almost dry, I put all the documents back in their original positions.

The three missing persons documents, besides the personal information form, also included a short record of circumstances, which was intended for future retrieval and verification. Now, however, it has become convenient for Chen Fan.

One of the names was that of a person from the small village that was swept away by the flood. He was also surnamed Chen, but his given name was different. His family background was ordinary, and he himself was ordinary. He returned home to farm after finishing elementary school. Almost everyone he knew lived in this village. Even if Chen Fan changed his name on a different form, no one would know.

The downside is that it's hard to get information from the elementary school, and there are teachers there too. But after so many years, the teachers probably don't even remember what he looks like, so changing his name is quite normal. Anyway, there's no way to verify anything now, so whatever he says is the truth.

If there isn't a more suitable option, this is a good choice.

The other applicant also had the surname Chen, but the background information wasn't as good as the first one. It was the first one he selected, but also the first one he rejected.

The one I finally chose has a perfect background.

First of all, his name is also Chen Fan. In this era, it's not common to have the name Fan. He doesn't even need to change it. Moreover, looking at the photo, he has a rather handsome appearance and looks six or seven parts similar to Chen Fan. Isn't this fate?!

My ancestral home is in the north. Ten years ago, I moved from the provincial capital to Yunhu with my parents due to their job changes. Both my parents were technicians. At that time, it was the busy period of the Third Front construction, and the people I usually came into contact with were limited to my colleagues at work.

Chen Fan's activities were limited to school and home. He was usually quiet and reserved, and his teachers and classmates did not have a deep impression of him. His greatest hobby was reading.

His parents were both college graduates, and they had hundreds of books at home, enough for him to read for many years.

Unfortunately, before he could see much of the family, things went from bad to worse. His parents had unstable jobs, going from technicians to sanitation workers, then to cleaners, and finally both died of illness a few years later.

He himself jumped into the river to swim two years ago, and according to people who saw it nearby, he dove in and never came up again.

As for relatives back home, we've lost contact with them for several years, and we don't even know if they're still alive.

Even if there really is someone, it doesn't matter. After so many years, who would still recognize whom?
Besides, I've lost my memory.

The two years in the middle are hard to explain, but these are minor details and insignificant.

Chen Fan put the documents back in their original place, carefully checked them again, and then left silently.

He's just waiting for this information to be discovered; then he'll be someone with a background!
(End of this chapter)