Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 456 Guess what this character is?

It wasn't too late when we got back to Lujiawan.

It was 8 p.m., and Huang Ying and her friends were still awake. The three older girls were gathered around the tea table, reviewing their university textbooks, while the three younger girls were nestled on the living room sofa, each engrossed in a magazine. When they encountered unfamiliar words, they would ask each other for help.

Chen Fan moored the boat, picked up his backpack, and strode home.

Just moments ago there was a crescent moon in the sky, but now a gentle breeze blows and the clouds obscure it. Chen Fan climbs up the embankment, looks at the lights in his home on the hilltop, and suddenly feels a cool sensation on his face.

He looked up and saw that it had started snowing again. At first, there were only a few scattered flakes, but soon the snow covered the entire sky.

Reaching out to catch a snowflake, which instantly melted into a tiny water droplet, Chen Fan chuckled twice and continued on his way.

As soon as we stepped off the dike, chaos erupted in the educated youth compound.

Duo Duo and Qiu Qiu barked loudly, instantly waking up the horses, sheep, chickens in the coop, and the myna and falcon in their nest under the eaves of the new house behind.

The myna opened its eyes and curiously poked its head out of the nest. A moment later, it suddenly flapped its wings and flew away, calling out as it flew, "Little Chen is back! Little Chen is back!"

Chen Fan's face darkened. He picked up a pebble from the ground, flicked it with his finger, and the myna bird instantly let out a miserable scream, "Ah..."

Without even glancing at the myna bird lying on the ground, Chen Fan arrogantly stepped over it.

Hmph, who are you to call me "Little Chen"?
The noise outside startled Huang Ying and the others awake. They put down their books and gathered around the window.

It was pitch black outside, and Huang Ying couldn't see anything. "It looks like a myna bird?"

Yang Ju lay down next to her and said, "I think I heard Duo Duo and Qiu Qiu calling."

Liu Dan opened the window, listened for a while, and laughed, "No, it's Gun Gun barking."

The oriole grinned foolishly, "Gungung is so clever, its dog bark is so accurate."

Huang Ying glanced at her younger sister and said irritably, "What do you mean by barking like a dog? That's how pandas bark. Teacher Chen said that pandas have many kinds of calls. When a panda's bark sounds like a dog's, it means it's been frightened. It's probably been woken up from its sleep and is unhappy."

Suddenly, the rolling sound turned into a bleating sound.

Liu Dan's eyes widened instantly. "Gungung is happy."

Huang Ying's eyes darted around, and she suddenly jumped up, "Oh, it must be Teacher Chen who's back."

He ran outside as he spoke, and several girls quickly followed.

As soon as Chen Fan reached the top of the slope, he saw the gate being pulled open from the inside, and six girls ran out in a row.

Huang Ying ran ahead, shouting, "Teacher Chen is back!"

Chen Fan waved with a smile, "You guys aren't asleep yet?"

Yang Ju reached out and took his bag. "No, we're all studying. You were the one who said we should do more pre-reading."

Chen Fan smiled and nodded, then waved his hand and said, "It's snowing, everyone go inside."

Once inside, Yang Ju picked up her bag and headed upstairs. "Yang Mei, come upstairs with me and make the bed."

Liu Dan said to Chen Fan, "You haven't had dinner yet, have you?"

Chen Fan had just opened his mouth when he said, "I ate..."

Liu Dan then said, "We must be hungry from traveling, so let's have some more late-night snacks."

Then he waved to the oriole, "Let's go cook."

Seeing that she was now alone with Liu Lu, Huang Ying wasn't about to back down, and said, "I'll go heat up some bath water for you."

After saying that, he ran outside.

Liu Lu quickly followed behind, "Sister Ying, let me help you."

In just a few seconds, only Chen Fan remained.

He glanced at the stairs, then back at the kitchen with the lights on, and chuckled.

In this situation, who would want to leave without a special reason?!

First, I took a nice bath, changed my clothes, ate a bowl of longevity noodles, and finally received gifts.

Huang Ying knitted the scarf herself. ...Hmm, she had told Xia Yuping before that many people gave her scarves, but that was just a lie to make her seem less special. She didn't expect to actually receive a scarf when she came back.

With a scarf, everyone else will definitely look different.

Liu Dan made a pair of cotton shoes, but the craftsmanship wasn't as good as the pair Jiang Lili gave her last year. Yang Ju gave her a pair of leather gloves; judging from the leather, they were probably rabbit skins she had taken from her home.

As for the other three, they didn't give anything.

Chen Fan wasn't surprised. Huang Ying and the others had their own savings, but Huang Li and the others didn't. However, they said a few auspicious words, and that was enough to show their good intentions.

……

the next morning.

There were only a few embers left in the fireplace, but the room was still quite warm.

Chen Fan got up and dressed. The water in the kettle on the fireplace was still warm, just right for washing his face and brushing his teeth.

After packing their things and going downstairs, the girls were already busy.

Now they all live in a room with a kang (heated brick bed). Originally, Chen Fan planned to live in this room by himself. Just imagine how comfortable it would be to snuggle on the kang on a cold day!
However, he had gotten used to living on the second floor, so the room ended up being a good deal for the girls.

Anyway, the kang (heated brick bed) is big enough for six girls to sleep in, and it also saves some charcoal.

The snow fell all night, but it wasn't very thick. Apart from Liu Dan and Huang Li preparing breakfast, everyone else was busy shoveling snow, and soon the threshing ground was cleared.

After breakfast, Yang Ju brought over the mare with the saddle already on.

Upon seeing its owner, the little mare instantly rushed forward and plunged headfirst into Chen Fan's arms.

Chen Fan patted the mare's head a few times, laughed, mounted his horse, and rode off towards the brigade headquarters through the snow.

I don't know if it's because of the snow or because it's too early, but Lujiawan is unusually quiet this morning, and there's not even any smoke from the chimneys.

However, one could faintly hear the sounds of chickens crowing and dogs barking on the slopes of the residential area.

The little mare trotted along the village road with light steps and soon arrived at Team 5 of Lujiawan.

It wasn't until Chen Fan walked into the courtyard of the brigade headquarters that he saw someone there.

An Quan and Zhang Wenliang were painting lime on the wall when they suddenly heard someone behind them say, "What are you doing?"

The two were startled and turned around abruptly. When they saw that it was Chen Fan, they were both pleasantly surprised.

Without even putting down the brush in his hand, An Quan pointed at Chen Fan and said, "Hey, you're coming back?"

Chen Fan walked forward with his hands behind his back. "Hmph, I just went to take care of some business. Of course I have to come back. Besides, I'm still the health department's special envoy stationed in Lujiawan."

Zhang Wenliang put down the brush, picked up a rag to wipe his hands, and smiled, "Have you finished your business over there?"

Chen Fan took out two cigarettes and handed them to them. "That's about right. Anyway, that should keep them busy for a while. I'll go over in a couple of days after I finish your business." Zhang Wenliang had a dark face, and it was hard to tell if he was blushing. He pretended to be nonchalant. "What business could I possibly have? There are some things to take care of at the team. Also, it's been a month since the college entrance exam ended, why haven't the admission notices arrived yet?"

Knowing him as he did, Chen Fan thought he should be a little embarrassed, so he glanced at An Quan first and asked, "Brother An, Brother Sanhu said he's fine. When are you going back to Shanghai?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wenliang's eyes widened, his expression immediately changed, and he said with a cigarette in his mouth, "Go back? What are you talking about? The admission notice hasn't even arrived yet. Are you going back to starve?"

Chen Fan explained seriously, "There's definitely no problem with An Ge's admission notice. I've already asked a friend in the Education Department to help check. He's been admitted to Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and the notice has already been sent out. If there are no unforeseen circumstances, it should arrive in the next couple of days."

Anquan's expression changed instantly, and she looked at him with surprise and delight. "Really?"

Chen Fan nodded with a smile, "Of course it's true, you can't joke about something like this. I also inquired about your sister-in-law's, and she was accepted too. You were both her first choice."

Anquan clapped his hands in delight, forgetting that he was still holding a brush and got lime all over his hands.

However, he showed no sign of frustration. He casually tossed the brush aside, grabbed a rag to wipe his hands, and grinned from ear to ear.

Zhang Wenliang was happy for him too, lit a match to give him a cigarette, and laughed, "Old An, you've finally made it through."

Then she turned to look at Chen Fan, "These days, he's become more and more anxious. Sometimes he can't sleep at all. If it hadn't snowed last night, which would have been perfect for snuggling in bed and sleeping soundly, he probably wouldn't have been able to sleep either."

Anquan grinned from ear to ear, "After all the hardships, things are finally looking up! After all the hardships, things are finally looking up!"

Zhang Wenliang laughed for a while, then looked at Chen Fan, "Didn't you inquire about Xiao'e and the others?"

"I've inquired about it."

Chen Fan looked up at the sky and saw that it had started snowing again. He walked under the eaves and said with a smile, "But when I inquired, they had encountered some problems and it wasn't finalized yet."

Zhang Wenliang was immediately startled. "What's the problem?"

Just then, Zhang Cuie walked into the courtyard, accompanied by a slightly older girl, Zhang Xiuyue, who had taken over her job as a broadcaster.

Upon seeing Zhang Cuie, Zhang Wenliang quickly shut up and gave Chen Fan a meaningful look.

The meaning is clear: don't tell Xiao'e about this for now.

Chen Fan ignored him completely and waved to Zhang Cuie, who was running over calling "Master," saying, "Slow down, be careful not to fall."

Zhang Cuie rushed up to him, grinning sheepishly, and said, "Don't worry, I practice the Baguazhang you taught me every day, so my feet are very steady."

Chen Fan said seriously, "Being steady also requires caution. You can't be careless just because you've learned a little kung fu, or you'll fall down."

Seeing that her master seemed a little angry, Zhang Cuie immediately stood up straight and nodded earnestly, "I understand, Master, I will be careful."

Seeing that she had really remembered, Chen Fan smiled and nodded, then turned to Zhang Xiuyue and said, "Xiaoyue, I told Secretary Yang before that you will be a formal broadcaster starting from New Year's Day, so you have to work even harder."

Zhang Xiuyue was a little nervous in front of Chen Fan. Upon hearing Chen Fan's words, she nodded repeatedly and whispered, "Yes, Teacher Chen, I've got it."

Chen Fan smiled again, "But don't be too nervous. Remember what I said. Doing things boils down to four words: 'bold and meticulous.' If you have any questions or anything else, feel free to come to me."

Zhang Xiuyue nodded again, "Yes, thank you, Teacher Chen."

Seeing that she was still a little reserved, Chen Fan waved to the two of them, "Alright, the broadcast is about to start, you can go in now."

After the two left, Zhang Wenliang immediately grabbed Chen Fan's arm and whispered, "You said there was a problem. What problem?"

Chen Fan looked at him and said irritably, "A problem doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing; it could also be a good thing. Why are you in such a hurry?"

Anquan chimed in with a laugh, "Exactly. Didn't you see how calm and collected he was? If something really bad had happened, he would have already found a way to solve it. Why would he be here chatting with you like this?"

Zhang Wenliang breathed a sigh of relief and pointed at Chen Fan, saying, "You little brat, you were just trying to scare me."

Chen Fan's face fell. "This time, really, there isn't any."

Zhang Wenliang's expression changed slightly. "So, it existed before?"

Chen Fan quickly changed the subject, noticing that all the slogans on the wall had been painted over, and asked curiously, "What are you doing? Rewriting the slogans?"

Anquan waved his hand and said, "No, didn't the newspaper say a few days ago that they were going to promote the 'second simplified characters'? The commune also held a meeting and required all production teams to change their propaganda slogans to the second simplified characters. In the future, literacy classes and schools should also try to use the second simplified characters."

However, the production team was extremely busy recently, and we didn't have time to do it. Since it's snowing heavily today and it's difficult to work, we'll work with Old Zhang to finish this task.

After saying that, he picked up the brush and handed it to Chen Fan, "Want to do it together?"

Chen Fan decisively took two steps back and said seriously, "Sorry, I can't read!"

This is absolutely no joke. The second round of simplified characters was only implemented for a few years. When he went to school, the first round of simplified characters was still in use... That's not quite right either.

Although the second round of simplified characters was later abolished, some of them were still retained and used together with the first round of simplified characters.

As for which characters were simplified to the first level and which were simplified to the second level, he genuinely didn't know.

He said he couldn't read, but Anquan wouldn't let him off the hook, immediately throwing a piece of paper at him, "Here, a list of simplified characters, just write according to it."

Chen Fan took it in his hand and first looked at the table of contents.

This is the first table of simplified Chinese characters, containing 248 simplified characters. It is clearly written on paper and will be implemented immediately upon publication.

Looking at these simplified characters, Chen Fan was indeed very confused.

Well, without a reference table, this thing is quite abstract when taken out of context.

No wonder it was canceled a few years later; some characters were indeed simplified excessively.

The character has a grass radical, a roof radical, and a "一" (one) below it. Can you guess what character this is?

The answer is "guess".

Yes, just throw away the pig below!

Is there another "辶" plus "占"?

That's right, it's the "jian" in "construction".

Do you know which country is the Kingdom of Thailand?

Yes, it's Thailand.

And then there's the character with the radical for earth (土) plus the radical for "up" (上), who would have thought it would be the character for soil (壤)?!
In comparison, whether Fu becomes Fu, or Fu becomes Fu, these are minor issues.

As for Dai becoming Dai, Xiao becoming Xiao, and Yan becoming Yan, if our ancestors didn't mind changing their surnames, it shouldn't be a big problem, right?

There are also some characters that most character sets in later generations cannot type, such as "餐" (cān), which is represented by only half of a head.

(Simplified Chinese characters. Guess what the three characters in the bottom right corner are.)

After looking at the simplified Chinese character list, Chen Fan promptly tossed it back to Anquan, saying, "I haven't studied it, I don't know how."

Before Anquan could speak, he took an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to Zhang Wenliang, saying in a low voice, "Here, don't say I'm disloyal, take these things, then go home and change your clothes. Since we're off work today, we'll go to Secretary Yang's house later."

Zhang Wenliang was still feigning ignorance when he shamelessly tried to act cute, asking, "What?"

Anquan's face darkened. He snatched the envelope from the man's hand, opened it, and nodded, saying, "With these, the marriage proposal is a sure thing!"

(End of this chapter)