Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 429 Multiple Investigations
December 21, the 11th day of the 12th lunar month, Changsha, Orange Isle.

A cadre surnamed Zhang from the Funan Provincial Education Commission, speaking to a group of middle-aged people around 50 years old, passionately explained in standard Funan Mandarin, “In the autumn of 25 years ago, the young Mr. Li went from Shaoshan to Guangzhou and revisited Orange Isle. Although it was autumn at the time, the scenery was even more beautiful than in spring.”

The name "Mr. Li" immediately drew everyone's attention, making them forget to even look at the surrounding snow scenery.

Cadre Zhang nodded secretly in satisfaction, pointed to the west and continued, "At that time, the red leaves of Yuelu Mountain across the way were like fire. Facing this beautiful landscape, Mr. Li's passion burst forth and he wrote the timeless masterpiece, 'Just Like Us Young Students'."

As he spoke, he raised his finger, skillfully adjusting his emotions... It was impossible not to be skilled; in the Jiangnan region, from Fubei to Jiangxi, from Anhui to Jiangsu, the teachers in the college entrance examination question-setting team would be organized to take a short trip after completing their tasks, as a perk after their hard work.

No matter where they go, Shaoshan will definitely be one of their stops, and going to Shaoshan will inevitably involve passing through Changsha.

Since they were all from the education system, the provincial education commission would definitely arrange for someone to receive them, so he was designated as the tour guide for the tour route from Orange Isle to Yuelu Mountain.

Today, he is hosting a tour group from Jiangnan Province, which is the fifth such group he has ever hosted. He is very familiar with the tour guides' scripts.

"Alone in the chilly autumn, the Xiang River flows northward, past Orange Isle. Behold, mountains ablaze with red, forests dyed in vibrant hues; the river, clear and blue, teems with boats racing. Eagles soar in the sky, fish dart in the shallows, all creatures vie for freedom under the frosty sky. A sense of desolation washes over me; I ask this boundless earth, who controls destiny?"

Just as Officer Zhang was reciting with great emotion, a staff member from the scenic area walked over quickly.

Seeing that Mr. Li was reciting his poems, he did not speak immediately, but stood aside and waited.

Only after the poem was finished and the conversation shifted to other matters did he approach and loudly ask, "Excuse me, who are Teacher Guo Huaimin and Teacher He Tianpei?"

Guo Huaimin and He Tianpei were listening intently when they heard someone call their names. They turned around, raised their hands, and walked out of the crowd. "I am Guo Huaimin." "I am He Tianpei."

The man looked at them and said, "Your provincial education commission called our provincial education commission and told you to go back immediately. They have something important to discuss with you."

The two exchanged a glance, then walked out without saying a word, leaving the others looking at each other in bewilderment.

Guo Huaimin walked up to the man, took out a cigarette, offered him one, and asked in a low voice, "Comrade, did they say anything on the phone?"

The man took the cigarette, smiled, and shook his head. "I just received a call from our provincial education commission to relay this message. I don't know anything else."

He paused for a moment, then added, "By the way, your company told you to make a call back first, and then buy the earliest train tickets to go back."

After saying that, he waved goodbye and turned to leave.

Guo Huaimin and He Tianpei frowned, explained the situation to the team leader, and then headed back together.

He Tianpei looked puzzled. "Why are you calling us back at this time?"

Guo Huaimin gently shook his head, "I've been with you the whole time, how would I know what's going on?"

He frowned as he spoke, then suddenly thought of something, "Do you think the scores of the students from Lujiawan were abnormal when the college entrance examination results came out?"

He Tianpei raised an eyebrow and chuckled dryly. "Is that all? Didn't we already give Secretary Zhou and Director Wang of the Provincial Education Commission a heads-up? We told them that the students in Lujiawan have a solid foundation of knowledge, and we even gave them the test papers from the mock exam we gave Lujiawan back then, asking the question-setting team to be careful to avoid those question types when setting the questions."

Strictly speaking, this approach is unfair to the students of Lujiawan. We've already gone this far, what's the point of further investigation?

Guo Huaimin took a deep breath, frowned, and slowly shook his head. "Then I just don't understand."

After a couple of seconds of hesitation, he simply waved his hand and said, "Forget it, if you can't figure it out, then don't think about it. Let's go back to the guesthouse and make a call first. We'll talk about the specifics when we get back to the provincial capital."

……

Nanhu Commune and Police Station.

The director put on his cotton-padded coat and hat and walked out of the office. Looking at the snow outside, he muttered, "This damn weather, the snow hasn't melted even after it stopped."

The instructor, wrapped in a cotton-padded coat, walked over and said with a smile, "It's not cold when it snows, but it's cold when the snow melts. If the snow really melts, it will be much colder than it is now."

As the director walked downstairs, he laughed and said, "It's not as cold as it was at this time last year, is it?"

The instructor nodded. "To be precise, it was in January of this year that the lowest temperature was close to minus 19 degrees Celsius, and the Yangtze River almost froze. Although it's cold today, it's still much warmer than then."

The two talked and soon walked down to the courtyard.

The instructor took out his whistle and blew it loudly. In less than 5 seconds, all the police officers from the police station appeared in front of him, stood in a row, and counted off.

In those days, there were no auxiliary police officers. Everyone in the police station was a formally employed police officer. The total number of police officers in the country was only 70, which is incomparable to the more than 3 million registered officers 200 or 40 years later. Not to mention the auxiliary police officers and security guards, whose numbers far exceeded those of formal police officers by several times.

One director, one deputy director, one instructor, and five police officers—that's the entire force of the Nanhu Police Station.

After the instructors took their positions, the director glanced at everyone and said, "At ease. Xiao Li and Lao Liu, stay here. The rest of you go to the school district office to provide support. Do you all understand the requirements?"

Everyone immediately answered in unison, "Understood."

"it is good."

The director waved his hand and said, "Let's go." He turned around and was about to leave when he saw a jeep drive into the yard.

Everyone immediately stopped in their tracks, and the first thing they noticed was the white top and blue bottom color scheme.

(Similar to this one, this one is from the 90s, you can tell from the license plate. The one from 77 couldn't be seen because there was a handsome guy on it -_-||.)
These police cars are actually BJ212 military vehicles retired from the military. Even so, they are not something that grassroots units can be equipped with. At the very least, only regional public security bureaus or public security bureaus in economically prosperous districts and counties are qualified and have the conditions to use such second-hand vehicles.

Putting everything else aside, just considering gasoline alone, how many local police stations can afford it?

What kind of vehicles do grassroots units use?
Of course, it's the sturdy and durable "28-inch" bicycle that can travel 100 kilometers on just two steamed buns!

Between bicycles and jeeps, there is another powerful motor vehicle, the legendary "sidecar tricycle".

(That's him)

As someone working at the Nanhu Police Station, I naturally know what the county public security bureau's vehicles look like, and this one is clearly not.

Were they from the prefectural committee? Or from somewhere else?
The director guessed as he walked toward the car.

At that moment, all four car doors opened simultaneously, and four people got out.

When you meet someone, first salute them, then verify their documents and look at their letter of introduction.

After completing the procedures, the director immediately saluted again, saying, "Please give instructions, leader."

The leader returned the salute first, saying, "At ease."

He then looked at the people behind him and asked, "Are you guys getting ready for a field mission?"

The director smiled and said, "Today is the day for physical examinations and filling out college application forms. To make it more convenient for students who live far away, the commune health center has set up the physical examination location at the school district office. There are more than 100 students here for physical examinations, plus their accompanying family members, so the number is quite large. Therefore, we plan to go over there to maintain order and prevent anyone from causing trouble."

The leader raised an eyebrow, just about to ask, "How come more than 100 people from one commune have entered the physical examination and college application process?"

As far as he knew, most grassroots communes had fewer than 20 people undergoing physical examinations, some even fewer in the single digits or zero.

The Nanhu Commune alone has more than 100 people?

But when he thought about the purpose of coming here, a bitter smile appeared on his face.

This Chen Fan is truly a genius!

He has nurtured so many talented people for the country; hopefully, nothing bad will happen to him. Otherwise, unless the evidence is conclusive, this matter will be very difficult to handle, and it would also be a loss for the public.

Coming to his senses, he composed himself, looked up, and asked, "Who is Zhu Ming?"

The director immediately turned around, and the others also turned their attention to a middle-aged man in the crowd.

Zhu, the police officer, was taken aback for a moment, but quickly recovered and strode up to his superior, stood at attention and saluted, "Reporting, I am Zhu Ming."

The leader nodded slightly, then said to the director, "You guys continue the operation. I'll go find Comrade Zhu Ming to get some information."

A few minutes later, in the small conference room of the police station, after listening to his superior's words, Zhu Ming immediately replied without hesitation, "Report..."

Before he could finish speaking, the leader waved his hand and smiled, "Although this matter is very important, don't be too nervous. Relax and treat it as a normal conversation."

"Yes."

Zhu Ming swallowed hard, his mind filled with what his leader had just said.

With 29 cut-off scores for key universities, 27 cut-off scores for undergraduate programs, and 43 cut-off scores for vocational college programs, it's no wonder that over 100 people from Nanhu Commune participated in physical examinations and college application forms.

At a ratio of 2 to 1, that's how many people you need.

The reason why these people achieved such high scores was that they were all directly or indirectly related to Chen Fan.

The direct link is that everyone who passed the key university entrance exam and the undergraduate entrance exam had attended the training class at Lujiawan and listened to Chen Fan's lectures.

Others who were indirectly related to the exams also achieved such good results thanks to the materials Chen Fan brought back from the prefectural committee, as well as photocopies of his lecture notes for the students in Lujiawan, and their studies in the college entrance examination review class at Nanhu High School.

Then I thought about Chen Fan's background... I'm completely numb now.

No wonder even provincial leaders had to personally lead a team to investigate. How could anyone feel at ease if they didn't get to the bottom of it?!
Zhu Ming picked up his teacup, took a sip of water, and organized his thoughts. He began to recount his story from the first time he met Chen Fan, including Chen Fan's activities over the past year, explaining everything in detail.

The lecture lasted for more than two hours, and the provincial department clerks filled most of their notebooks with notes.

(End of this chapter)