Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 435 Interview
In the study on the second floor of the new house, Chen Fan stood in front of the desk, holding a brush and sketching on a piece of white paper. In no time, a simple drawing of a rural house appeared on the paper.

Several individual building renderings, construction drawings, and 12 different overall renderings—these are the results of his work over the past few days.

Outside the open window, bursts of rumbling sounds could be heard from time to time; it was cargo ships transporting materials for dike repair and workers busily at work.

After the heavy snow, northerly winds blew for two or three days, and a few light snowfalls occurred before the sky finally cleared, the temperature rose rapidly, the ice and snow on the ground melted, and the dike repair project in Lujiawan began in full swing.

Each team was assigned a section of responsibility, and more than a thousand strong laborers dug up soil from the mountain, mixed it with the transported stones, and filled it onto the dike.

It was through years of dike repairs that the Yunhu area, which was prone to flooding before the founding of the People's Republic of China, was transformed into a veritable land of fish and rice.

This water conservancy project, which lasted for more than 30 years, laid a solid foundation for water security in later generations. After the 1990s, such a scene could only be partially reproduced in the winter of 1998.

Later, cement roads were built on the dike, and even when water conservancy projects were to be built, they were all handed over to professional construction companies. The days of farmers carrying loads on the dike were completely over.

Chen Fan withdrew his gaze from the distance and silently pondered the future appearance of the stone slopes and cement embankments, reflecting the rural houses next to them. He then put his thoughts on paper, imagining rows of dust-proof trees growing between the earthen slopes and embankments where he would live.

A myna bird flapped its wings and landed on the windowsill, yelling at the top of its lungs, "It's so noisy! It's so noisy!"

Without turning his head, Chen Fan picked up a bean and threw it at the person.

The myna bird fell to the ground, crying out, "It's dead! It's dead!"

Then his head tilted to the side, and he lay there motionless.

Huang Ying came up carrying a tray and saw this scene. She immediately smiled and said, "Great! We'll have roasted myna bird today."

The myna bird suddenly opened its eyes wide, and with a whoosh, it flew away, its cries fading into the distance, "Bad guy, bad guy..."

Huang Ying chuckled, placed the tray on the table, picked up a small ceramic bowl from the tray, and said with a smile, "Teacher Chen, this is crucian carp and tofu soup made by Huang Ying. Please try it."

Chen Fan put down his pen, took the pen, tasted it, smacked his lips, and then drank it all in one gulp.

Huang Ying's eyes immediately lit up. "Did I pass?"

Chen Fan placed the bowl on the tray with a look of disgust. "It's too early. The ginger flavor is too strong, obviously too much was added. The beany smell can't even be masked by the ginger. It's obvious that the tofu wasn't prepared properly."

A good crucian carp and tofu soup should have a milky white broth, a rich aroma, and the freshness of the fish and tofu should blend together yet remain distinct. It is especially important to ensure that the flavor of the seasonings does not overpower the main ingredients, but rather enhances the freshness of the crucian carp and tofu. The most crucial aspect is to thoroughly remove both the fishy and bean-like smells.

The fishy smell is gone from this soup, but the ginger and bean flavors are too strong. It's barely on par with Chef Zhu's at the commune-run restaurant; he still needs more practice.

Huang Ying pouted, "Then why did you drink it all in one gulp?"

Chen Fan gave a light "humph," and said, "Isn't it perfect that it's cold? We should have some hot soup to warm ourselves up. We can't waste it."

The oriole picked up the tray. "Alright, I will tell the oriole everything you said."

She was just about to leave when she saw a painting on the corner of the table, and her eyes lit up. "Is this our team's design drawing?"

Chen Fan glanced at it, then picked up the brush again. "It's a simple sketch; the garden design hasn't been added yet."

As he continued drawing on the unfinished blueprints, he laughed and said, "My plan is to divide it into several steps. First, build the houses, then renovate the greenery, and finally transform each team's residential area into an open, garden-style community, while retaining the rural residential characteristics of Yunhu Water Town."

Huang Ying blinked, feeling a little confused. "Garden? Garden community? What's that?"

Chen Fan turned to look at her and laughed, "You'll find out later."

Huang Ying wrinkled her nose, but the next second she couldn't help but grin.

Although I couldn't understand it, I could tell that Teacher Chen was very capable.

Just then, Liu Lu came running up, holding a sleeveless jacket in her hand, and said excitedly, "Teacher, look at the jacket I made."

Chen Fan stepped forward, took it, shook it, and said with a conflicted expression, "Hmm, not bad, you can wear it now."

Huang Ying put down the tray in her hand, walked over, picked up a corner and looked at it. She turned to Liu Lu and said, "The clothes you made are much better than those sewn by hand, but that's thanks to the sewing machine. Later, have your sister show you that beige trench coat. Teacher Chen made it by hand, and her craftsmanship is even better than the clothes sold in department stores."

Liu Lu pouted, "My sister is such a stingy person. She won't even wear those clothes, let alone lend them to me. I've asked her so many times, but she still won't."

Huang Ying smiled with her lips pursed, without saying a word.

Even she wouldn't agree. That was the first piece of clothing Teacher Chen gave them, and it was handmade. No wonder she wouldn't part with it.

Chen Fan handed the jacket back to Liu Lu and said with a smile, "You've only been learning tailoring for a short time, and it's already quite good. Take your time. As long as you find the shortcomings, even a little progress is good."

Liu Lu's gloomy mood instantly brightened. She hugged the jacket to her arms, nodded, and smiled, "I understand, thank you, teacher."

Huang Ying, standing nearby, was unhappy and wrinkled her nose, saying, "Teacher Chen, you're too biased! You encourage Xiao Lu even though she made such a mess, but you only criticize my sister's fish soup."

Chen Fan snorted and said to her, "Liu Lu had never been involved in tailoring before, but she was able to make a jacket on her own in just over a month, which shows that she has worked hard and made great progress. What about your sister? She used to be the head cook at home, and her home-cooked dishes weren't bad. I explained the secrets to her, but she still can't make a decent bowl of soup. Shouldn't she be criticized?"

Huang Ying pouted, lowered her head, and remained silent, thinking to herself that she would definitely give Huang Li a good scolding later.

After criticizing her, Chen Fan added, "However, you can't blame her for not working hard. A tailor can practice cutting and sewing with scraps of cloth or even leaves, but a chef can only practice with ingredients. There are only three chances a day, so the practice time is insufficient, and of course, progress is slow."

This period cannot be compared to ten or twenty years later. Back then, there was an abundance of various dishes, and those who learned to be chefs were usually apprentices in restaurants. Since there were plenty of ingredients available, they naturally had many opportunities to practice.

Even so, unless you attend a culinary school where you pay tuition, it's difficult to get the chance to work on the stove without at least one or two years of apprenticeship. This shows how difficult it is to become a good chef.

Tailors are different. As long as the master is willing to teach, they can get a basic grasp of the skills in three to five months, and at most reach the level required to work in a factory within a year.

Of course, just like a chef, becoming a top-notch tailor still requires time and experience.

Compared to Huang Li, who studied cooking, and Liu Lu, who studied tailoring, Yang Mei, who chose to study winemaking, found it easier.

Brewing is nothing more than a few processes, the most crucial of which are the yeast, the recipe, and the temperature. It is a skill that is easy to learn but difficult to master. In other words, it is quick to pick up and you can open your own distillery after learning for a few months.

As for brewing top-quality wine, that depends on talent and luck.

At this time, Chen Fan's design drawings were almost finished, so he asked Huang Ying to put the drawings away, and then slowly went downstairs with his hands swinging, and sat in the yard to bask in the sun.

A few days ago, when it snowed, the temperature here dropped to as low as -10 degrees Celsius. After the sun came out and basked in the sun for two days, it's warm and sunny again today, and the temperature has risen to around 15 degrees Celsius.

Wearing a thin cotton-padded jacket, I lay on a recliner covered with cotton quilts and soon became so warm that I felt drowsy.

A delicious aroma wafted from the kitchen not far away; it was Huang Li preparing lunch.

Now Liu Dan has voluntarily given the cooking duties to Huang Li, so that she can have more opportunities to practice.

She, along with Yang Ju and Huang Ying, prepared for university by studying in advance.

There are dozens of textbooks in the study on the second floor. One of them chose journalism, another chose mechanical engineering, and another chose foreign trade. They could find relevant textbooks in each of them and would read books at the tea table when they had nothing to do.

In Chen Fan's words, those who can get into key universities are the best students from all over the country. These girls can only stand out in the Lujiawan area. Their high scores in the college entrance examination are due to their early learning. If they don't work hard enough, they will probably drag others down when they get to university.

Startled by Chen Fan's words, they panicked and immediately began to study in advance according to the study plan he had set for them, striving not to fall behind in university!

……

After a while, Huangli prepared lunch and called people to eat.

Chen Fan stretched in bed and was about to get up when the myna bird landed on the coffee table next to him and called out loudly, "Dinner's ready! Dinner's ready!"

Looking at this noisy myna, I felt a little regretful for teaching it to speak human language.

Can't we just be quiet for a while?

But now that they've gotten to know each other, he felt too embarrassed to roast it and eat it. So he just waved to Liu Dan, who had just come out, and said, "Give it a handful of millet."

Liu Dan grinned and chuckled as she ran into the kitchen, grabbed a handful of rice, and threw it onto the empty ground next to her.

The myna immediately flew over to peck at the food, but suddenly more than a dozen sparrows flew down from the sky and pecked at it, trying to steal the food. It was so angry that it cursed loudly, "Bad bird, bad bird!"

Just then, a voice came from the front slope, "I just arrived and I heard the myna bird cursing the bad bird. Did the hawk bully it again?"

On a tree branch overhead, a hawk turned its head, chirped twice, spread its wings, and flew over someone's head, leaving a pile of bird droppings.

He quickly dodged away, letting out a long breath with lingering fear, "Luckily I was quick."

Then he looked up and cursed, "What a bad bird!"

Chen Fan walked to the edge of the field, looked at him and smiled, "Who told you to wrong it first?"

After climbing up safely and with great effort, he spotted the myna bird among the sparrows. While cursing the bird as it snatched grains, he couldn't help but laugh and say, "Hey, I really wronged it."

Chen Fan pointed to the kitchen, "You came at just the right time, didn't you? We were just about to eat, and you managed to crash our meal again."

Anquan rolled up his sleeves and walked inside, saying irritably, "It really is a coincidence today, okay? I came to deliver a message, but I just happened to be here!"

Chen Fan walked beside him and asked, "Report a message? Report what message?"

Anquan walked into the restaurant, saw Huang Ying and Liu Dan adding chairs and setting out bowls and chopsticks, and said with a smile, "Tell them they're going to the prefectural committee for an interview tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)