Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 42 Return Gift
Chen Fan leaned on his dog-beating stick with his right hand and waved with his left, "Hey, is this Lujiawan Team 5?"

The big yellow dog at the front was about to issue a warning when it heard the greeting. Its eyes widened instantly, and it instinctively let out two "woofs".

Chen Fan beamed with joy, "It really is this place. Luckily I didn't go to the wrong place. Could you help me call someone, or you can take me there?"

The big yellow dog tilted its head twice, then suddenly turned to face a spot to its left. The dogs behind it continued to stare at him intently, as if he had a flower on his face.

Chen Fan followed the gaze of the big yellow dog and saw a dozen men standing in a row in the ditch not far away, with only their heads sticking out, all staring intently at him.

That look in his eyes was like he was looking at a mental patient.

They were working when they suddenly heard a dog barking, and then they saw this scene.

If this person could just utter a single word, someone would stand up for him. But he doesn't say a word and just barks like a dog. What's going on?
Chen Fan's expression stiffened slightly, but he quickly regained his composure and waved a friendly wave, "Everyone's busy, aren't they?"

A man in his twenties or thirties nodded blankly, "Ah, digging for soft-shelled turtles."

After he said it, he realized what he meant and said, "Who are you? Why are you barking at a dog?"

The militia's training manual states that whether they are spies or thieves, most of them are skilled at training dogs—not necessarily making the dogs incredibly powerful, but using techniques and tools to silence them. This person is someone I've never seen before; he came without saying a word, only barking at the dogs. He might be one of those bad guys.

Didn't you see that those dogs haven't barked at all?
Chen Fan, unaware that he was being suspected, pointed to the dogs and laughed it off, "It's nothing, just teasing them."

He then walked towards the ditch and said loudly, "My name is Chen Fan, I'm from Team 6..."

Before Chen Fan could finish speaking, the man's eyes lit up, but his vigilance remained. "Do you have any proof?"

He then struggled to climb up, grabbed a handful of dry grass to wipe the mud off his hands, and gripped the wooden shovel tightly. The people still in the ditch also gradually made their way to the edge of the mud pit, ready to rush up at any moment.

Chen Fan felt a chill run down his spine. He immediately took out the letter of introduction, opened it, and handed it over, saying, "This is a letter of introduction from Captain Yang."

The man pinched the edge of the letter of introduction between his fingers, examined it carefully, and frowned deeply. "Why is there no stamp on this letter of introduction?"

Chen Fan looked at him in confusion, "Didn't Captain Yang say that the official seals are all at the brigade level, and he just needs to sign them?"

The man suddenly realized, glanced at the signature, and saw that it was indeed Yang Chuanfu's name. He grinned and said, "Oh, right, then it must be right."

Then, looking at Chen Fan, he said, "You must be Master Chen. Welcome, welcome."

Chen Fan breathed a sigh of relief, and while exchanging polite words, he put the letter of introduction back into his pocket.

Then he noticed that he was holding a wooden shovel covered in mud, so he asked, "How many turtles have you dug up?"

Looking further into the ditch, they saw that the pond mud at the bottom of the ditch had been turned upside down, and six bamboo baskets were placed in the silt, each filled with turtles of varying sizes. It was possible that the entire family had been wiped out.

The man reached into his pocket, but found nothing.

When you go out to work, you only have loose cigarettes with you. It's not a big deal to offer loose cigarettes to guests. That's how it is in many rural areas. It's just that you've already finished rolling some cigarettes and there's not enough time to roll some new ones, so you naturally put your hand down.

He then laughed and said, "We haven't dug much yet. We dug a lot yesterday afternoon while clearing the pond, and this morning we turned over the nearby ditches and dug up quite a few big ones. Now we only have some small fish left."

Chen Fan glanced at the turtles, each the size of a large bowl, in the basket, and then, thinking about the ones he had picked up, each the size of a washbasin, he couldn't help but nod slightly, "They are indeed a bit small."

Upon hearing Chen Fan's words, the man's expression changed slightly. "Master Chen, can't we cook these small turtles?" Chen Fan quickly shook his head and smiled. "No, no, we can cook them. Not to mention these big ones, we can even cook the ones the size of a child's palm."

"what?"

The man stared at him wide-eyed, puzzled. "There's not even a tiny bit of meat on it, what can it do?"

Chen Fan grinned, "Even mosquito legs are meat. A turtle the size of a palm can at least be gnawed on. It's even more delicious than an old turtle when used to make soup."

Upon hearing Chen Fan's words, the man couldn't help but laugh out loud, and the dozen or so people still busy in the ditch nearby also burst into laughter.

They were all amused by the idea that even mosquito legs are meat. If mosquito legs were edible, they could eat so many mosquitoes that they would disappear from the village.

A joke instantly bridged the gap between them.

The man pointed towards the woods and laughed.

"This isn't the place to talk. Come on, I'll take you to the brigade headquarters. There are a lot of dogs in the village, and if no one is there to guide them, they might get chased."

Chen Fan smiled and cupped his hands in thanks. "By the way, may I ask how to address you?"

"No need to thank me, it's my duty. My name is Zhang Wenliang, you can call me Lao Zhang or Sanhu, I'm the third child in my family, everyone in the team calls me Sanhu."

As Zhang Wenliang walked, he said, "After Captain Yang came yesterday, our whole team was looking forward to eating turtle meat. We've finally been waiting for you to come."

Chen Fan, it's only been one day, why are you exaggerating like that?
……

Lujiawan Brigade Headquarters.

Squad leader Zhang Changjiang, deputy squad leaders Ye Shubao and Xiao Liewen, and squad leader Zhang Guangwen of Team 5 were sitting in the reception room at the entrance, smoking.

Ye Shubao yawned. "Old Yang said Chen Fan is coming this afternoon, but he didn't say what time. Should we send someone to urge him?"

Zhang Guangwen smoked a cigarette. "It's not even 1 o'clock yet. Old Yang is slaughtering a pig for the New Year today. We'll definitely invite him over for a pig-slaughtering feast, a meal and drinks. It wouldn't be surprising if he came over at 2 or 3 o'clock. If no one comes by 2 o'clock, I'll send Sanhu on horseback to check."

The Jiangnan region is crisscrossed by waterways, and has always had more boats than horses. However, in the later stages of the War of Resistance against Japan, the northern troops began to equip themselves with mechanization, and a large number of warhorses, packhorses, mules, and donkeys that were phased out were dumped on the southern troops.

Because of the numerous waterways here, vehicles have to cross rivers after only a short distance, making it inconvenient for mechanized troops to carry out operations. Mules and horses are more suitable.

After the victory in the War of Resistance against Japan, these livestock were all captured. The best warhorses and pack horses were naturally taken away by the main force, while the old, weak, sick and disabled ones were left in the local area to be used for plowing and pulling carts.

If it weren't for the fact that a large number of horses were slaughtered for food more than a decade ago, and that the cost of raising horses was too high, we might be able to run a horse farm now.

Although the number of livestock is far less than in the past, there is still no shortage of them. Each team has several mules or donkeys. When there is an emergency, they ride horses. Although they can't run fast, it's still better than walking.

Ye Shubao nodded, "Okay, then let's wait a little longer."

After pausing for two seconds, he asked again, "Guangwen, this time we invited someone over to teach us how to cook turtle, which is turning waste into treasure, and we're even passing on our skills. How do you plan to reciprocate?"

(End of this chapter)