Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 438 A Clear Background
Chen Fan didn't take them to find Jiang Lili. There were too many people around today, so it was better to keep a low profile and avoid causing trouble for the two sisters. He left the Education Bureau directly and took them for a stroll around Yunhu "CBD".

Instead of buying them gifts, they used the money they had earned from making pottery blanks to buy a hat for one of them and a wool scarf for the other, and gave them to Teacher Chen.

To Chen Fan's relief, the hat wasn't the most fashionable green, but a brown sheepskin cap, which he gladly accepted.

As for the detail that Liu Dan initially wanted to buy him a green thunder hat and he looked disgusted on the side, it can be ignored.

After browsing through department stores and secondhand shops, and then taking them to the Gongnong Restaurant for a meal, we finally picked up the yacht at the passenger terminal and leisurely headed back.

Sitting on the small boat, Liu Dan's face was flushed. Although she was very tired, her eyes were still full of excitement. "Teacher Chen, did I get into Peking University?"

With both hands gripping the steering wheel and without turning his head, Chen Fan said, "Since the teacher said so, it's probably pretty much true."

After a pause, before Huang Ying could repeat the question that had been asked eight hundred times that morning, she quickly added, "There's something you two must remember."

The two of them looked at him simultaneously. "What is it?"

Chen Fan said, "When you get back, don't tell them that you've been verbally notified by the teacher that you've been accepted. Just talk about the interview process and then the end of the exam."

Liu Dan looked puzzled. "Why?"

Chen Fan pursed his lips, glanced at her, and said, "You're easy to get beaten up."

The two looked at each other, stuck out their tongues, and giggled incessantly.

……

Happy times always pass too quickly; it felt like only a short time before we returned to Lujiawan.

As soon as Chen Fan got home, Yang Ju came up to him and said, "Teacher Chen, the brigade headquarters just called my dad and asked you to come over after you get back."

"Ah."

Chen Fan responded and then asked, "Is there anything you need?"

Yang Ju shook her head, took the backpack he handed her, and hugged it to her chest. "He didn't say anything."

Chen Fan didn't pay much attention. Anquan had just come over yesterday to talk about buying feed machines from Yunhu Machinery Factory, probably wanting to discuss it with him.

When he arrived at the brigade headquarters on his mare and saw Officer Zhu and a somewhat sullen Secretary Yang in the office, he realized that the situation was not as he had imagined.

Secretary Yang, sitting in his seat, saw him enter and immediately forced a smile, "Little Chen is here."

Chen Fan exclaimed "Ah!", smiled at Zhu Gong'an, and then went to find a seat to sit down.

He glanced again at Zhang Wenliang and Anquan, whose expressions were clearly off but who were still forcing smiles. Just as he was about to ask a question, Zhang Wenliang tossed him a cigarette and asked, "How did it go with the interviews you took them to today?"

Chen Fan took the cigarette, took out a lighter and lit it. "It feels alright."

Anquan smiled, as if he wanted to say something, but then pursed his lips and hesitated.

Chen Fan's eyes flickered slightly as he looked at Secretary Yang.

Secretary Yang unconsciously lowered his head, avoiding his gaze, and then pointed to Zhu Gong'an, "I called you here today because Zhu Gong'an has something to discuss with you."

Chen Fan then looked at Zhu Gong'an, took out his cigarettes, offered one to him, and said with a smile, "Judging from how nervous you all look, and with Zhu Gong'an coming in person, you haven't found any clues about my house, have you?"

Zhu Minggang had just taken the cigarette when he heard these words and was immediately stunned.

He turned to look at the others who also looked surprised, realizing that someone had given him prior notice. Then he looked at Chen Fan and forced a smile, saying, "As expected of Teacher Chen, you are indeed smarter than the average person."

Chen Fan instantly switched into his acting genius mode, feigning surprise as he looked at him, then at the others, before turning back with a complex mix of emotions in his eyes—anxiety mixed with surprise and anticipation—as he asked, "Did you really find it?"

Zhu Ming smacked his lips, forcing a smile, and was about to speak.

At this moment, Xiao Liewen suddenly tapped his pipe, knocking a clump of still-burning tobacco into the ashtray. He then turned to Chen Fan and said, "Little Chen, before Officer Zhu tells you anything, I have a few words to say to you first."

Chen Fan turned to face him, nodded seriously, and said, "Yes, please go ahead."

Xiao Liewen turned around to face him and said softly, "I won't go into detail about the contributions you've made to Lujiawan. I'll just mention one thing: although you haven't formally become my apprentice, you're practically my disciple. Do you acknowledge that?"

Chen Fan nodded without hesitation, "Not even half a person, I consider you my master."

Strictly speaking, he had four masters in Nanhu Commune: Xiao Liewen, who taught him martial arts; Master Lu, who taught him traditional culture such as music, chess, calligraphy and painting; Doctor Lu, who taught him acupuncture, pulse diagnosis and medicine; and Doctor Dong, who taught him orthopedics and massage. He respected all of them from the bottom of his heart.

Xiao Liewen smiled with satisfaction and continued, "I dare not accept the title of master. After all, I haven't passed on any particularly powerful skills to you. If you really want to recognize a master, go and recognize your Uncle Lin. He has taught you all his most treasured skills. In the past, these things were only passed on to the disciple who was to inherit the mantle!"

Chen Fan smiled and nodded, "Of course I will acknowledge Master Lin as my teacher."

Xiao Liewen nodded in satisfaction, then said, "What I mean is,"

As he spoke, he pointed at Zhu Ming and said, "No matter what Officer Zhu says to you later, you must remember one thing: whether it's Lujiawan or here, it's your eternal home. You have a home, understand?!"

Chen Fan took a deep breath and nodded seriously, "Understood."

Xiao Liewen then gestured to Zhu Gong'an to continue, while he himself lowered his head to fill the tobacco bowl.

Zhu Gong'an coughed lightly, took out a document bag from his briefcase, took out a few sheets of paper from it, and handed them to Chen Fan, saying, "Take a look at these first."

Chen Fan took the document, glanced at it, and then looked down at the file. The top one was the same file he had exchanged his photo at a local police station. Seeing Chen Fan intently studying the contents, Zhu, the police officer, spoke softly after a long pause, “When you first arrived here, I reported your situation, and the local police department immediately notified all relevant units in the region to search for you.”

However, at the time, they only searched the case files and missing persons records from the past year and found no clues.

Until a few days ago, when the Public Security Bureau requested the compilation of population data from the past five years, the Chengbei Jiefang Street Machinery Factory Police Station of the Prefectural Committee finally found this file in your possession from the missing persons records.

After a pause, seeing that Chen Fan still hadn't reacted and was still flipping through the documents, he continued, "After they notified me a couple of days ago, I immediately went to the prefectural committee. Based on this form, I went to the schools you attended and your parents' former workplaces to find out more, which indirectly confirmed the authenticity of the information. I only managed to find out everything this morning and then rushed back immediately."

In fact, the provincial department leaders were in charge of investigating all these matters, and he was just assisting them. In the end, the provincial department leaders believed that they had found out the truth, so they handed over the task of notifying Chen Fan to him. The others had already returned to the provincial capital, and the matter was considered to have been "brought to light".

Zhu Ming spoke for a long time, but seeing that Chen Fan still didn't react, he couldn't help but smile bitterly and turn to look at Secretary Yang and the others.

As a result, including Xiao Liewen, who had just comforted Chen Fan, the group either looked up at the ceiling or smoked with their heads down, and none of them made eye contact with him.

Zhu Ming wiped his sweat, turned to look at Chen Fan, exhaled softly, and said in a low voice, "Your parents are both from the north. Later, they were transferred to our provincial capital for work. When the Yunhu Machinery Factory was built, they volunteered to support it and were transferred to Yunhu. They were among the earliest backbone members of the Yunhu Machinery Factory."

What happened afterward was simply unavoidable...

He looked up as he spoke, “However, we only found out during our investigation that your parents’ case was cleared up last year, and their positions and reputations were restored by their work unit. It’s just a pity that we can’t find their family members because so much time has passed, and we’ve lost contact with their relatives in their hometown in the north. So it’s been left there, and the compensation hasn’t been paid out.”

When your superiors heard that you were still alive, they were quite happy and said that as long as you were willing to go back, Yunhu Machinery Factory could accept you at any time, and they could solve both your household registration and employment issues.

The leaders of the machinery factory also said that they knew you were now a well-known writer and a deputy section-level cadre in the prefectural health department, and that if you were willing to go to the machinery factory, they could arrange a position of equivalent rank for you.

For example, you could be a deputy director in charge of medical and health management, or a deputy director of the office. They could even recommend you for further studies at the Prefectural Committee's Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Institute. If you successfully obtain your certificate, you can be promoted to director.

By the time he finished speaking, Chen Fan had almost finished reading all the materials.

He slowly and methodically arranged the papers before looking up at Zhu Ming, his eyes slightly reddening. His voice trembled slightly as he asked, "Is it possible there's a mistake?"

God knows how many episodes of "Those Years, Those Rabbits, Those Things" he recalled in order to capture this emotion.

Zhu Ming took a deep breath, blinked, and then said softly, "Based on the evidence we have so far, you are indeed Chen Fan, that should be correct."

He pointed to the documents in Chen Fan's hand, "Look at this photo. Although it's from more than two years ago, it still looks about 9% like you now."

Chen Fan glanced at it, frowned slightly, and remained silent.

That said, the time frame was a bit short, only half a year. Even though I polished off the shine from the photo's surface and there are yellowed edges from the dampness in the paper pile, the changes are still not significant. If I had taken the photo looking like I did when I first arrived, the result would have been even better.

Zhu Ming continued, "Looking at your family background, both your parents are highly educated. Your father is a top student who graduated from Tsinghua University with a degree in mechanical and electrical engineering, and your mother is a returned overseas student who is fluent in English and French. She later taught herself Russian and translated many professional documents."

"You were able to repair the public address system as soon as you arrived here, and you learned mechanics and English very quickly. You can even draw. This accumulation of knowledge must be largely due to your parents' teachings and the hundreds of professional books at home."

After a pause, he analyzed from other aspects, "Our staff took your file and visited people at the school and the machinery factory who knew your parents. They all said they remembered you, saying that you were not very talkative, and that you would study and read at home by yourself every day after school. You were a good child that everyone praised."

He sighed again, "After you fell into the water, some of your parents' coworkers tried to find you, but they couldn't find any clues. They were very happy to hear that you were still alive."

Chen Fan hesitated for two seconds, then asked, "You just said that they..."

He waved the documents in his hand. "I mean, Chen Fan's parents are both from the north. Don't they have anyone left in their hometown?"

Zhu Ming immediately shook his head, "No. The machinery factory also contacted the Provincial Department of Commerce, asking them to look for your parents' past records, but they found nothing, only a few scattered pieces of information in the Department of Commerce's archives."

Your father is probably from Beijing, and your mother is from Tianjin. As for your family's financial situation...,

He coughed twice as he spoke, "Ahem, you could say it was a good match, back then it was considered quite good."

Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly. If he wasn't pretty good, he wouldn't have ended up in such a sorry state.

After a brief silence, Chen Fan handed the documents back to Zhu Ming and said with a smile, "Thank you for your help. If it's convenient, please give my thanks to the police officers who helped me find the information."

Zhu Ming didn't accept it, but just waved his hand and laughed, "Hey, it's all part of the job, no need to thank me."

She paused for a moment, then handed him the file folder in her hand. "This isn't a file. You can keep it yourself. I've already added a note to your household registration information. The key is yourself."

He looked at Chen Fan and said softly, "What are you thinking? Do you want to go back to the machine factory? Or stay here?"

Chen Fan laughed without hesitation, "I'm not familiar with the machinery factory. Even if this information is true, it's still a stranger to me. If I want to go to the city, I can go to the health department. Why would I go to the machinery factory?"

He then looked at Secretary Yang and the others, and said with a smile, "Unless Lujiawan refuses to take me in, then I'll have no choice but to go to the health department."

Upon hearing this, Secretary Yang immediately removed the pipe from his mouth and shouted, "If you're willing to stay, then stay here and behave yourself. Anyone who dares to make you leave, I'll skin them alive!"

Xiao Liewen nodded repeatedly and laughed, "Didn't I just say that this is your home? Of course you can stay as long as you want in your own home. You don't need to worry about anything else. I'll take care of you if anything happens."

Now that Chen Fan's origins have been clarified, and everything seems reasonable and perfectly legitimate, even his strange and unusual abilities have been explained, what is there for him to worry about!
Chen Fan smiled and nodded, stuffed the documents in his hand into a file bag, handed it to Secretary Yang, and said with a smile, "Then keep this at the brigade headquarters."

Without saying a word, Secretary Yang snatched the file folder, stuffed it into the drawer, and patted his chest to guarantee, "Just leave it here. From now on, you're a native of Lujiawan, and I guarantee no one can touch you."

After a long silence, Anquan suddenly spoke up, "His file is in the health department. Shouldn't this be moved along with his personal file?"

Several pairs of eyes stared at him simultaneously. An Quan felt a jolt of fear and quickly said, "What I mean is, with Xiao Chen's connection to the machinery factory, can we buy the feed mill sooner?!"

(End of this chapter)