Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 458 Riding a Horse Fast

The door opened, and a gust of wind and snow blew in.

The postman from the post office also came in at the same time.

The postman took a package wrapped in newspaper from his mailbag, stuffed it directly into Secretary Yang's arms, and laughed, "I didn't even deliver it to the town, I came straight to your Lujiawan. When I got to the brigade headquarters, good heavens, it was pitch black, and there wasn't a soul in sight. After asking around, I found out that Company Commander Zhang came to your house to propose marriage."

He clasped his hands in a gesture of respect to the crowd, saying, "Congratulations! Double happiness!"

Secretary Yang smiled broadly, "Thank you so much."

He then stepped aside to let the person in, saying, "The banquet is about to begin, come in and have a simple meal."

The postman quickly waved his hand, "No, no."

He looked around at everyone and said with a smile, "Normally, I would definitely not be polite and would ask for a drink at the wedding, but today is different."

He patted the bulging mailbag as he spoke, "I still have more than a dozen notices to deliver here, and the recipients must be getting impatient."

Upon hearing this, Captain Yang stopped insisting and quickly took out two packs of Peony cigarettes, stuffing them into the parcel.

The postman made some polite remarks and then accepted the offer.

The double happiness cigarettes are safe to take.

As he was leaving, he waved to Chen Fan again, "Teacher Chen, there are too many letters and packages for you. They won't be delivered until this afternoon. Would you like me to take them to the brigade headquarters or deliver them to your home?"

Chen Fan came out and said with a smile, "You can leave it at the post office; I'll pick it up myself later."

The postman wasn't polite, smiling and waving, "Okay, just come and pick it up when you have time."

It wasn't that he wanted to be lazy; it was just that he had too many letters and packages to send to Teacher Chen, from all over the country, and he had to deliver them every few days. Sometimes he even had to use a handcart to pull them. Since someone from Lujiawan delivered food to the commune's cooked food shop every day, he got used to letting them pick them up themselves.

After the postman left, Yang Xingxiu and the others, who were eating in the kitchen, stopped eating and rushed into the living room.

Secretary Yang pulled over a stool, sat down, crossed his legs, spread the paper package on his lap, and slowly peeled it open.

A gust of cold wind blew in, and Zhang Changjiang quickly shouted, "Close the door, don't let the wind mess up the notice."

Yang Xingxiu quickly closed the gate and bolted it shut.

When she turned around, she saw her father holding a thick stack of letters, his mouth crooked from smiling.

Secretary Yang raised his head and chuckled, "Count them first, see if the numbers are correct."

He then lowered his head, counting, "1, 2, 3, ... 25?"

He looked up blankly, "How come there's still some left?"

Only 23 kids in the whole brigade registered for the college entrance exam. Whose letters were the extra two?
Anquan quickly came over, pointed to himself and laughed, "Mine, mine, and my wife's too."

Zhang Wenliang's eyes widened. "You filled in Lujiawan as your work unit?"

Anquan laughed and said, "Back then, wasn't I still a cadre stationed there? I was working in Lujiawan the whole time, so my contact address was naturally Lujiawan."

Secretary Yang quickly lowered his head. "Let me look for it."

He flipped through the pages from beginning to end, and finally found Anquan and his wife Yu Keying's admission notices at the bottom.

The fundamental difference between today's admission notices and those of the future is that the sender and recipient are different now.

As we all know, in later generations, admission notices were sent to the applicant in person, and the sender was the school. But this year, it was not the case.

Especially the first batch of students admitted!
The reason for emphasizing the first batch of people is that they are all from impeccable backgrounds, have no problematic connections, and can be directly admitted.

Anything that needs to be considered will not be included in the first batch of admissions.

Therefore, those admitted in later batches are not necessarily those with poor grades; there could be other reasons as well.

Most of these first batch of admission notices were issued in the name of the provincial admissions office.

Some applications are sent directly in the name of the school. If they are in the first batch, they are mostly from key universities. Otherwise, they are from universities that recruit students after the enrollment process has ended and the provincial admissions office has stopped caring.

The recipient is also important; it's not sent directly to the recipient.

Those with work units sent the documents to their work units, while those without work units sent them to the street offices, communes, or production teams. After review by the Revolutionary Committee, the documents were forwarded to individuals by the organization.

In fact, this is the second layer of review to prevent any from slipping through the net!

The candidates from Lujiawan had no problems, so Secretary Yang directly handed the two letters to Anquan.

Then everyone's attention turned to the safety in his hands.

Safety was not an issue either; he sat down next to Secretary Yang, tore open his letter, and pulled out two pieces of paper.

The smaller one was the admission notice.

(The admission notice is mostly half a page.)

Anquan held the notification letter, his eyes narrowing into slits with a smile.

Zhang Wenliang leaned his head forward, "Let me see."

The usually generous An Jian was now handling the object of her affection like a priceless treasure, saying, "Slow down, be careful not to break it!"

Zhang Wenliang rolled his eyes. "I didn't even reach out!"

Anquan chuckled awkwardly and carefully handed it over. Zhang Changjiang took it and passed it around for everyone to see.

Only then did Anquan open the other sheet of paper.

This is a document with important information for new students.

(Notes for new student enrollment. Please pay attention to point four.)

Chen Fan moved closer to the security guard and quickly scanned the page. When he saw one line, he was surprised, "Huh? There's a 10 yuan registration fee?"

Didn't they say that vocational school and university education has been free these days?
Anquan looked up at him and smiled, "Ten yuan a semester is a bit more than middle school, but it's okay. It's only equivalent to two yuan a month, which most families can afford."

Chen Fan blinked. "What if you can't afford it?"

For example, in Lujiawan a year ago, two yuan a month was not a small amount for many families. Ten yuan might require selling more than 100 jin of grain to make up for it, which would amount to more than 10 jin a year, enough for a strong laborer's food supply!
This is Lujiawan, a land of plenty. If it were in a place like the Northwest or Southwest where earning enough to eat is a struggle, 10 yuan could almost bankrupt a family.

Anquan meticulously folded the note paper according to the original markings, then stuffed it back into the envelope before saying, "This year, the college entrance examination policy should still be the same as it was 12 years ago. You need to pay the tuition fee first, and then make a refund or additional payment based on the subsequent situation."

For those with employers, it goes without saying that all expenses, including tuition, miscellaneous fees, living expenses, transportation fees, and food expenses, are borne by their former employers.

If you are not employed and cannot afford the tuition, you should apply for agricultural, teacher training, military, or medical programs. These four types of schools do not charge tuition, and the prepaid tuition will be refunded later.

If you fail to get into one of these four categories and are assigned to another school or major, you can only seek help from the production team, commune, or street office. Once you get to the school, you can apply for a scholarship and food allowance.

If the school verifies that a family is indeed experiencing financial hardship, they may receive a partial or full reduction in tuition and fees. In addition, they will receive a full scholarship and meal allowance, amounting to approximately 17 to 19 yuan per month.

At this point, he looked up and smiled, "Under normal circumstances, it's not a problem to finish university with the help of school subsidies. The country selects university students, and it certainly won't let any student be unable to afford to go to school."

Chen Fan nodded slightly. Paying 10 yuan per semester and receiving a 19 yuan monthly stipend was acceptable. Besides, tuition and fees could be reduced or waived. No wonder college students back then said that college was free these days.

After reviewing the safety notice and instructions, Secretary Yang looked at the large stack of admission notices in his hand and couldn't contain his excitement. Zhang Changjiang, who had worked with him for many years, knew exactly what he was thinking and immediately said with a smile, "This is truly a double celebration, but I'm afraid I won't be able to have this meal."

He spread his hands at Secretary Yang and said, "Give me all the letters. I'll take them back to the brigade headquarters and tell them to come and collect them."

Secretary Yang tucked the letter into his pocket, stood up, and said, "This is a great event for Lujiawan. As the brigade secretary, how can I let personal matters interfere with public duty?"

He immediately turned to Zhang Wenliang and the others, saying, "We're all family, so I won't stand on ceremony with you today. You can eat here while I go to the brigade headquarters to tell them to come and pick up the letter."

Before Chen Fan could deliberately step forward to take the job, he unlatched the door, didn't even put on his straw hat, and rushed straight into the wind and snow.

The others realized that they were in no condition to have the meal.

They all rushed out with smiles on their faces.

Chen Fan was still shouting from behind, "Uncle Yang, at least leave Team 4 here!"

Secretary Yang stopped abruptly, slipped, and nearly fell flat on his face.

He turned around and glared at Chen Fan hatefully, "Why didn't you say anything just now!"

Chen Fan felt wronged. "How was I supposed to know you were in such a hurry?"

Secretary Yang took out the letters from his pocket, found the two from his team, and handed them to his youngest daughter, saying, "Take these to them."

At the same time, he added, "Check if they filled out the application, and let me know when you get back."

The youngest daughter grabbed the letter and rushed to the side, saying, "I know!"

Because it was snowing and not convenient to ride bicycles, Chen Fan didn't make any special arrangements by riding a horse when he came over; everyone had to walk.

Seeing everyone's joyful expressions, Chen Fan had an idea and called out to Secretary Yang, "Uncle Yang, I suddenly have an idea."

Secretary Yang turned and glanced at him. "What are your thoughts?"

Chen Fan smiled and said, "I want to add a segment to the radio station."

Captain Zhang turned to look at him, "What program?"

Chen Fan wiped the snow off his face. "I just remembered. I won't say anything now; you'll find out soon enough."

Secretary Yang chuckled twice, "Don't cause me any trouble."

Chen Fan confidently gestured, "Just wait and see, I guarantee everyone will be satisfied!"

……

Half an hour later, even though it wasn't yet afternoon broadcast time, the loudspeaker emitted a piercing noise.

Two seconds later, Teacher Chen's long-lost voice rang out over Lujiawan.

"Hey, hey, hey, fellow commune members, pay attention!"

Zhang Cuie glanced at her cousin, who had a blank expression, and whispered, "When other people speak in a local dialect, it's considered rustic, but when Teacher Chen speaks in a local dialect, do you think it's rustic?"

Zhang Xiuyue shook her head repeatedly, "I don't think it's rustic."

She turned to look at her cousin, a hint of curiosity in her eyes, "Why is that?"

Zhang Cuie pointed at Chen Fan, "Listen first, I'll tell you later."

Chen Fan, holding the microphone, said in heavily accented Mandarin, "Today is a good day. First of all, Comrade Zhang Wenliang, the older single man in our Lujiawan production team, who is also our militia company commander and security chief, is engaged to Comrade Yang Xingxiu, the women's director. The wedding is set for January 17th, the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month..."

In the corridor outside the broadcasting room, everyone looked dazed.

What is he doing?
Zhang Wenliang gritted his teeth, "Why did he ask me to notify the candidates to come and pick up their admission notices?"

Anquan stood by with a smile, saying, "It's a happy occasion, isn't it?"

In the various production teams of Lujiawan, the commune members who were huddled at home warming themselves by the fire couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Company Commander Zhang is finally getting married."

"This is a big deal; Teacher Chen even had to announce it over the loudspeaker."

"That's a bit too much."

"I think Teacher Chen's idea is good, sending blessings via radio. I just don't know if ordinary members of our commune get this treatment when they get married?"

……

After finishing his speech, Chen Fan took a sip of hot water, smiled at Secretary Yang and Captain Zhang who rushed up to him, winking and gesturing, signaling them to calm down, and then continued into the microphone.

"Today's segment marks the first broadcast of our Lujiawan Broadcasting Station's 'Sending Blessings to the People' program. From today onward, whenever any comrade in our production team gets married and reports to our broadcasting station, the announcer will send their blessings. The happy occasion of Comrade Zhang Wenliang and Comrade Yang Xingxiu will be the first blessing we broadcast."

Upon hearing the announcement over the loudspeaker, the members who had been making sarcastic remarks just moments before immediately clapped and applauded.

"This program is great, this program is great, it's so down-to-earth!"

"Announcing names and sending blessings over a loudspeaker, isn't that the same treatment as being a leader?"

"From now on, anyone who gets married can enjoy the same treatment as a leader."

……

When Secretary Yang and Captain Zhang heard this, they finally understood what Chen Fan's idea was. Hearing the applause and cheers from the villagers outside, they couldn't stop smiling and gave Chen Fan a thumbs up.

Chen Fan returned a smiley face and continued broadcasting, "Our broadcast usually only sends blessings for happy occasions, mainly weddings and the birth of babies. We won't waste electricity on other things, okay?"

These words elicited another burst of laughter from each squad.

Chen Fan rested his arm on the table, gesturing for Secretary Yang to bring out all the admission notices, and then said, "Today's blessings, besides the happy occasion of Company Commander Zhang and Sister Yang, include another great joy."

Upon hearing this, almost the entire Lujiawan area fell silent again, with everyone sitting in the main room waiting to hear more.

Only the members of Team 4, who already knew what it was about, ran to the eaves and looked at the loudspeaker at the highest point in the village.

Chen Fan announced loudly, "This is a joyous occasion! Congratulations to all the students from Lujiawan who took the college entrance examination this year (according to the lunar calendar)! All 23 students have been admitted to universities. They are Zhang Cuie, Huang Ying, Yang Ju, Liu Dan, Zhou Xuguang, Gao Xingan, Huang Gang, Huang Zhihao, and..."

Let's give them a big round of applause!

When the first name was read out, Zhang Cuie couldn't help but cover her mouth.

She looked at Chen Fan's back, then at Secretary Yang, her uncle, her third brother... everyone was giving her a thumbs up, and her eyes instantly welled up with tears.

Meanwhile, shouts could be heard from outside.

Amidst applause and cheers that even the wind and snow couldn't dampen, Chen Fan smiled and said, "Everyone whose names are called, please go to the brigade headquarters to collect your admission notices..."

Before the announcement from the loudspeaker had even faded, people from each squad were already sprinting towards the brigade headquarters.

There were still people chasing after them, shouting, "Hey, come back! Ride a horse! Ride a horse is faster!"

(End of this chapter)