Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 399 The wait is finally here

When it came time to discuss things, Secretary Yang realized the benefits of installing a radio on the ship. Otherwise, he would have had to go back today to discuss it with Captain Zhang and Captain Xiao, reach an agreement, and then come back.

We don't need to now.

In the ship's wheelhouse, he contacted Captain Zhang and Xiao Liewen, who were far away at the Lujiawan brigade headquarters, directly via radio.

"Hey, did you hear that? Here's the situation. Xiao Chen's point is that those diesel engines alone are worth a lot of money, not to mention that a tractor is attached to each of them. Regardless of whether they can be used or not, we should buy them all first. In short, this deal won't be a loss."

This radio originally came with earpieces, but Chen Fan replaced them with a small speaker, so everyone could hear Captain Zhang's voice: "Buy it! We definitely have to buy it! Even if we use it as a tractor, it'll be a good thing! A tractor costs 1200 yuan, where can we buy one?!"

Immediately afterward, Xiao Liewen's voice came out, "Buy, buy, buy! It's not like we're short of money. But let's see if there's any room for negotiation on this price. Every little bit helps."

Secretary Yang: "Okay, okay, we still need to discuss the price. Then it's settled. I'll go back and talk to them now."

After he finished speaking, Chen Fan was about to turn off the walkie-talkie when a voice suddenly came through, startling him.

"Wow, I didn't know you people in Lujiawan were so rich. You can just take out 20 or 30,000 yuan like that. That's incredible!"

Everyone stared blankly at the small speaker. Who was this person?

Secretary Yang blinked, picked up the phone again to ask questions, and at that moment Captain Xiao's voice rang out.

"Hey? Old Cao? What are you doing in there?"

Upon hearing this, everyone suddenly realized that it was Minister Cao from the county's armed forces department.

Minister Cao continued, "How am I in here? Old Xiao, have you forgotten? This is a special radio station for the militia. This channel is also for the militia in our county. As long as this radio is on, I can hear everything you say clearly here."

"Well, we've had this machine for years, and you've never used it once. Now that you've finally started using it, you're using it for business... Oh wait, this walkie-talkie can't reach that far! Where are you?"

Xiao Liewen: "I'm still in Lujiawan, they're in the county town. This radio station couldn't normally cover that far, but we modified the antenna, and it works now."

Minister Cao seemed somewhat surprised. "Oh, right, right, we also modified the antenna on this one. But your production team has someone with such great skills?"

Xiao Liewen chuckled twice, but before he could speak, he heard Minister Cao say, "Oh, I know, it's that legendary Chen Fan, right?"
I heard that he can write articles, repair electrical appliances and machinery, and is also quite skilled in medicine. He even helped you set up the delicatessen at the prefectural committee and provided the recipe for the braised dishes.

"Hey, Lao Xiao, is there really someone that amazing?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Liewen burst into laughter, laughing for several seconds before loudly saying, "Xiao Chen, greet Minister Cao."

With a strange expression, Chen Fan picked up the microphone and pressed the button. "Minister Cao, hello, this is Chen Fan."

Minister Cao felt a little embarrassed upon hearing this, "Ah, so you're here too."

However, being an old hand, he immediately said nonchalantly, "Little Chen is not bad. Ah, he's multi-talented and makes a great contribution to the production team. Very good, very good. If you have the chance to come to the county, come find me. I'll treat you to a meal, haha."

Chen Fan: "Yes, thank you, Minister Cao."

Minister Cao: "You're welcome."

Xiao Liewen: "What opportunity? He's in the county town right now. We can send them to your place and you can provide them with meals."

Minister Cao: "...Hello, hello, hello, why can't I hear you?...This walkie-talkie is really old, it keeps breaking down."

Then there was no sound.

Xiao Liewen laughed and scolded, "Still so stingy."

Then there was no further movement.

Secretary Yang waited a while longer before turning off the power.

He turned to look at Chen Fan, his face full of concern, "If we talk inside, can everyone else hear us?"

Chen Fan clicked his tongue, "Anything that's on the same channel and can receive the signal will do."

He hadn't expected the county radio station to be running all the time; wasn't that a waste of electricity?!
Ye Shubao frowned and asked, "So, if we use this radio to communicate from now on, the whole county can hear it?"

Chen Fan thought for a moment and said, "I can only wait until I get back and see if I can change the channel."

At this moment, Secretary Yang came to his senses and waved his hand, saying, "It's alright. Anyway, our production team doesn't have any secrets. We usually just report our location or contact each other in case of an emergency. If we really encounter any danger and happen to be in the county town, we can ask the armed forces department for help. It's a good thing!"

Ye Shubao thought it made sense, so he kept quiet.

Chen Fan breathed a sigh of relief. He knew nothing about the current radio communication channels and did not know whether they were under control. So he had only used the original channels for communication, and he did not expect to make such a blunder today.

After the minor incident, Secretary Yang and his group went to the agricultural machinery factory again.

The people at the agricultural machinery factory were overjoyed to see Secretary Yang and his team return so quickly.

They thought that, like before, the people of Lujiawan had all gone and would never return, but unexpectedly they all came back. This is promising!

When they heard Secretary Yang say that all 26 units here would be bought, they were overjoyed.

One side wants to get rid of the burden, while the other side wants to take advantage; it's a case of mutual interest.

As for the slight price difference, after the factory manager reported it to his superiors, the Agricultural Bureau immediately sent someone over to verify the situation and then reduced the price by another 200 yuan from the original price.

In other words, such a "high-end harvester" with threshing and cleaning functions can be bought for only 1000 yuan each, and all 26 units will cost a total of 26000 yuan!
Just as everyone in Lujiawan was beaming with joy, an official from the Agricultural Bureau put forward a condition: "These agricultural machines are only permitted for agricultural operations and may not be modified or used for other purposes without authorization."

He pointed to the machines and said, "Otherwise, if you take the diesel engines out of the machines and use them for other things, that would be a serious violation of regulations, and the organization will definitely hold you accountable!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan and the others suddenly realized what was going on.

No wonder these machines have been sitting here for years without anyone buying them; it turns out there are usage restrictions.

That makes sense. Nobody's stupid. A perfectly good diesel engine is right here. How could nobody think of it?
Secretary Yang nodded repeatedly, "It will definitely be used for agricultural purposes, and will not be used for anything else."

He paused for a moment, then tentatively asked, "If it doesn't work, we can modify it ourselves, right?"

The officer gave them a meaningful look, then his gaze finally settled on Chen Fan's face. He smiled and said, "As long as it's used for agricultural operations, it can be modified as you please."

Chen Fan grinned. Perfect!
Agriculture encompasses a very broad range of machinery. Besides tillage equipment, it includes irrigation machines, threshing machines, cotton gins, oil presses, and so on. Could all of these be included?
And even if it can't be openly converted into a tractor, wouldn't it be possible to use a harvester as a tow machine, pulling a large flatbed cart behind it?
Once you get the machine, there's not much room for maneuver.

……

These harvesters aren't that big, but they're not that small either, so transporting them back is a hassle.

When they were first manufactured, they were distributed to the production teams below, and after being filled with fuel, they were driven back directly.

However, there are large ships in Lujiawan, so the goods can be transported by boat, which can save some fuel.

In the following days, the large ship returned with four or five machines, bringing all the harvesters back in just six days.

As early as when the first batch of machines arrived, Chen Fan began to lead a selected group of people to carry out the modifications.

First, disassemble all the threshing and cleaning parts, leaving only the harvesting function. Then, inspect the machine to see if the size of the harvesting parts is suitable. If it is suitable, keep it after adjustment, and remove the unsuitable parts directly. Then, modify it according to the hand-held reamer.

After about ten days, the first batch of four machines were all modified and were ready to be put to the test at the end of the month during the autumn harvest to see if they were up to standard.

……

The news that Lujiawan had bought 26 "crippled" harvesters from the county's agricultural machinery factory in one go spread like wildfire throughout Gufeng County, and most of the communes were making sarcastic remarks with envy.

They were even waiting to see Lujiawan make a fool of itself.

The locals in Nanhu Commune also couldn't sit still.

At the commune, Secretary Qian immediately called Secretary Yang over. After clarifying the situation, he felt relieved and said that as long as Lujiawan could actually use these agricultural machines, the commune could solve the diesel supply problem.

Anyway, Nanhu Commune has a water transport company that consumes a lot of oil. They can't use up all the diesel fuel every year. They can save a little bit and still have plenty. There's no need to worry at all.

What the commune leaders cared about was whether Lujiawan could actually use these machines. If so, the other production teams could also quickly advance mechanization. A hand-held harvester is a machine, after all. When superiors assess a machine, they won't care whether you're using a combine harvester or a hand-held harvester. It's better than some places that count wheeled rice transplanters, which rely entirely on manpower, as machines.

The commune remained calm and collected, quietly waiting to test the machines during the autumn harvest.

The other four production teams were not qualified to recruit Secretary Yang and his team, so they all came to Lujiawan to conduct on-site investigations.

However, these things are no longer related to Chen Fan.

He had already completed the renovation plan and led a group of skilled carpenters to carry it out. These things were not complicated to begin with, so the rest could be left to them.

He ignored even the tractor driver training slots provided by the commune.

Because at this moment, the news he had been waiting for finally arrived!
……

On October 12, Chen Fan sat in the broadcasting room, holding a newspaper in his hand, his face beaming with joy.

Zhang Cuie, who was studying, unconsciously looked up and saw him grinning foolishly. She couldn't help but ask curiously, "Master, what are you laughing at?"

Chen Fan handed her the newspaper and said with a smile, "Look."

Zhang Cuie took it, her eyes scanning the page before quickly locking onto her target.

She looked up abruptly, and exclaimed in surprise, "Royalties have been reinstated?!"

Chen Fan nodded, pointed to the newspaper and smiled, "Today's announcement is that the State Administration of Press and Publication has issued the 'Notice on the Trial Measures for Remuneration and Subsidies for News and Publication Manuscripts,' Article 2 of which stipulates: 'Two to seven yuan per thousand words for manuscripts.'"

It wasn't easy! We waited for more than half a year, and it's finally here!

Although this royalty standard was only one-third of that in the 50s and half of that in the 60s, and was paid in full upfront with no additional royalties for print runs.

However, this is a signal: now that basic royalties have been restored, how far away can print-based royalties be?!
Thinking of all this, Chen Fan stood up with high spirits and walked out.

Zhang Cuie was reading the newspaper when she heard the noise. She quickly looked up and asked, "Master, where are you going?"

Without turning his head, Chen Fan said, "Go back and write the article."

Watching her master's figure disappear through the door, even Zhang Cuie, who trusted her master completely, couldn't help but feel annoyed.

As for it?
Two to seven yuan per thousand words. Based on the fact that Master publishes about 40,000 words of articles in "Jiangnan Literature" every month, it would only be 80 to 280 yuan.
Wow, there are quite a lot!

After settling the accounts, Zhang Cuie's eyes lit up.

With a master who's so famous, his royalties certainly wouldn't be just 2 yuan. They'd have to be at least 5 yuan, maybe even 6 or 7 yuan. So his monthly royalties would be at least 200 yuan, and that would be two or three thousand a year!
Wow, that's a lot of money!

No wonder Master was so anxious; she would have been anxious too.

……

Chen Fan rode his horse back at full speed, completely ignoring the fact that the secretaries and captains of the other four brigades were in the office in the brigade headquarters, repeatedly arguing with Secretary Yang and the others about renting a harvester.

He himself didn't know why these production team leaders were so confident in him. They hadn't verified it yet. Couldn't they wait until the autumn harvest started and verify it before making any moves?
Anyway, it has nothing to do with him. In terms of skill, even binding the entire Nanhu Commune together is not as good as him, but when it comes to scheming and negotiating, ten of him can't compare to one Secretary Yang.

In short, you won't suffer any losses.

The mare galloped across the fields, seemingly sensing her owner's urgency. Her four legs blurred as she ran, and in less than three minutes, she was in the courtyard of the educated youth settlement, leaving the Lujiawan commune members staring in astonishment.

Why is Teacher Chen running so fast?
Chen Fan dismounted, glanced at the control room, and seeing no one there, walked directly to the back.

When they arrived at the new house, Jiang Lili and the others were indeed studying at the tea table in the living room on the first floor.

Captain Yang said he would give them a break to prepare for the exam after the autumn harvest, but in fact, he hadn't called them to work since October 1st.

The reason for saying "after the autumn harvest" is simply to hope that they can participate in the autumn harvest. Although it is not as busy as the double harvest, it is still a time when manpower is scarce. The four young women are valuable laborers, so of course they cannot be easily abandoned.

However, now that we have agricultural machinery, it's hard to say whether we'll actually need them.

The four girls were each occupying one side of the tea table, engrossed in their studies, when Chen Fan approached and they suddenly snapped out of their daze.

Jiang Lili quickly got up, grabbed a teacup to pour him water, and asked, "You're back so early today?"

Chen Fan smiled, took the teacup, took a sip, and looked at them, asking, "How's the progress?"

Yang Ju stretched, rubbed her dry eyes, and laughed, "It's alright. I haven't been studying geography and history yet, just math, physics, and chemistry, and the progress is pretty fast."

Chen Fan nodded. "Politics, Chinese, and English are also very important; they can't be neglected."

Yang Ju nodded repeatedly, "Yes, I'm learning all of these."

Chen Fan smiled and asked Huang Ying and Liu Dan, and the situation was similar.

However, both of them are humanities majors. They have given up on physics and chemistry, and only mathematics is still being pursued. They have also focused on politics, history and geography.

As for English, Chen Fan stipulated that they should read for an hour every morning, which would be enough to pass the exam.

Finally, looking at Jiang Lili, he asked, "How many of my manuscripts did you copy?"

He is now used to writing in cursive script, but he cannot use cursive script when submitting articles.

Who can guarantee that an editor can understand cursive script?
So far, all of his manuscripts have been copied by Jiang Lili.

Jiang Lili didn't mind the trouble; she would copy several pages every night, and if she encountered any unfamiliar cursive script, she would directly ask Chen Fan.

Her handwriting is elegant and graceful, with each stroke perfectly neat and pleasing to the eye.

To avoid any misunderstanding from the editor, she would write in small print at the bottom of each page: "Chen Fan's manuscript, copied by Xiao Jiang".

Since April, she has transcribed more than 600,000 words of manuscript for Chen Fan, averaging 120,000 words per month, half of which have already been published.

Upon hearing Chen Fan's words, she immediately nodded and said, "There are less than 20,000 words left; the rest have all been copied."

Chen Fan said with a smile, "You've worked hard. Once you finish copying the last 20,000 words, you won't have to copy anymore."

Jiang Lili was stunned for a moment, "Huh?"

Huang Ying immediately asked, "Teacher Chen, aren't you writing articles anymore?"

Chen Fan shook his head and laughed, "No, I'll copy it myself from now on, so Xiao Jiang won't have to work so hard."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Lili lowered her head silently and murmured, "It's not hard work."

Huang Ying and the other two were also full of surprise.

They had considered replacing Jiang Lili and helping Chen Fan copy the manuscript before, but their handwriting was indeed worse than Jiang Lili's, so they were unwilling but had no other choice.

But why are they not letting her copy anymore?
Seeing her expression, Chen Fan chuckled softly, "I'm not letting you keep copying because you need to learn something new."

Jiang Lili looked up at her, puzzled. "Something new?"

Chen Fan nodded. "Starting today, I'll teach you how to draw."

Jiang Lili was taken aback at first, then her eyes lit up, and she nodded gently with her lips pursed, "Oh."

At this moment, she was overjoyed. So the reason she didn't let me copy was because she wanted to teach drawing?
She hadn't forgotten that she had told Chen Fan that she wanted to be a fashion designer in the future, so naturally she had to learn to draw.

She paused for a moment, then said softly, "Actually, I can continue copying the manuscript; it won't interfere with my studies."

She thought that Chen Fan didn't let her copy the manuscript so that he could make time for her to learn to draw.

Chen Fan shook his head and grinned, "I'll be writing faster in the future and submitting articles more often, so you won't have enough time."

(End of this chapter)