Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 47 Loudspeaker

Chen Fan imitated them, placing his teacup on the ground beside his feet, holding a cigarette in his hand without smoking, and said with a smile, "He's gone. The butcher who came today is Master Zhu from the food station."

Zhang Changjiang nodded. "Master Zhu is a veteran. He started learning to slaughter pigs from his master when he was a teenager. After completing his apprenticeship, he worked independently for a few years. Later, when the public-private partnership was established, he went to the food station to be in charge of slaughtering pigs. It's been almost twenty years now."

Chen Fan quickly calculated that he must be around 45 years old by now.
But thinking about how Master Zhu looked earlier, he seemed younger than his actual age, while some people in the village who were younger than him looked much older.

Ye Shubao chuckled from the side, "Is the one making the pork stew Liu Jujiang from your team 5?"

Before Chen Fan could answer, Xiao Liewen grinned and said, "Who else could it be but him? He's the one who organizes all the weddings and funerals in those teams, and he's been making the pork stew for so many years. It's unlikely that he'll be replaced."

Seeing the questioning looks from the group, Chen Fan nodded, "Yes, it's Master Liu."

Xiao Liewen laughed twice, seemingly celebrating his brilliant strategy.

Then he turned to Chen Fan and asked with a hint of curiosity, "He made a pot of pork stew, but you didn't make a pot of turtle meat?"

Chen Fan turned around to face him. "I didn't make turtle meat, but I made blood sausage, which is also a pork stew, but from Northeast China. I also made stir-fried pork liver and twice-cooked pork."

Zhang Changjiang was slightly taken aback. "Oh, you can even make Northeastern-style pork stew?"

Before Chen Fan could speak, Xiao Liewen asked excitedly, "You know how to make blood sausage?"

Chen Fan looked at him and said, "Ah, I can do it."

Xiao Liewen looked at him with hopeful eyes, "Next time I slaughter a pig in my house, could you help me make some blood sausage?"

Then he turned to Zhang Changjiang and the others and said, "If I think about it, it's been over twenty years since I've eaten this. I had even forgotten what it tasted like, but now that he mentioned it, all I can think about is blood sausage. I'm so hungry for it."

Chen Fan nodded without hesitation, "Sure, it would be my honor."

Many people would give anything to do for war heroes, so what's there to hesitate about?

"Good good,"

Xiao Liewen was overjoyed. "Oh my, it's been so many years since I've had this. I really miss it."

She paused for a moment, then looked at Chen Fan expectantly, "Can you make Northeastern-style pork stew?"

Chen Fan chuckled and said, "Yes, I do. Actually, the pork stew in Northeast China isn't that different from what we have here. The main difference is that it uses pickled cabbage as a base..."

Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Liewen slapped his thigh and laughed, "Yes, yes, it's sauerkraut! Their sauerkraut is really flavorful... oh my!"

Xiao Liewen suddenly sighed, "I haven't eaten those things for many years. Back when our team retreated to Dandong, the first meal we had was 'pig-killing feast.' After that meal, we parted ways. It's been more than 20 years. So I've been craving that taste for more than 20 years."

After a two-second pause, he suddenly stood up. "No, I have to send someone to invite Master Zhu over. He'll slaughter the pig for me tomorrow. I can't wait."

Chen Fan was both amused and saddened upon seeing this. He quickly stood up, grabbed Xiao Liewen, and said with a smile, "Captain Xiao, if you want to eat blood sausage, Captain Yang has three at home. You can have someone go and buy one. Keep your pig, and I'll make you a vat of sauerkraut. Later, I'll make a pot of Northeastern-style pork stew. You can arrange for a few people to learn how to make it, so you can have sauerkraut every year. There's no rush." ​​Xiao Liewen looked at him in surprise, "You're willing to teach?"

Chen Fan laughed and said, "What's there to be unwilling to teach? I taught them the dishes I made at Captain Yang's house today as well."

As he spoke, a hint of regret appeared on his face. "It's a pity we don't have any fresh pork offal right now, otherwise I could teach you how to make these dishes."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Changjiang immediately stood up and shouted to Zhang Wenliang, who was busy below, "Sanhu, Sanhu."

Zhang Wenliang turned his head and glanced at it, then quickly ran up. "Uncle, what's wrong?"

Zhang Changjiang: “Go to the communications room now and call Zhu Gong’an. Ask him to check with the food station to see if they have any fresh pork offal. Buy a set and bring it back. When he comes, treat him to drinks.”

"Hey, that's good."

Without asking any questions, Zhang Wenliang turned around and ran into the courtyard.

Chen Fan watched his retreating figure, then turned back to look at Zhang Changjiang, completely bewildered. "Communications room?"

What day is it? The production team is on the phone now?

Zhang Changjiang leaned back in his chair, saw Chen Fan's expression, picked up his teacup and took a sip before slowly smiling and saying, "Our brigade has two lines, one on the east and one on the west, both leading directly to the commune police station. They are communication lines laid before liberation, but they can only be used for single-line communication."

Later, when the militia division was being built on a large scale, our militia regiment's communications platoon modified these two lines. Each squad had a simple telephone, through which they could contact the police station. In emergencies, the squad could call the police station, and the police station could then directly contact other squads, notifying the entire unit of the message in the shortest possible time.

As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Shubao said, "But soon we won't have to go through so much trouble. This time, when Secretary Yang went to the commune for a meeting, it was because the commune was going to build a broadcasting station in the brigade. Each team will be equipped with a loudspeaker. When something happens, we can just shout it out in the brigade and everyone in the brigade will know. That will be much more convenient."

Chen Fan looked blankly at the radio station. He knew about the radio station. There was a utility pole in the village with a large tin loudspeaker on it. Every morning at 6 o'clock, when the broadcast started, the loudspeaker would ring. It was a very vivid memory for him when he was a child.

But what is the technical principle behind a single-line telephone? It can only make calls to one specific number and cannot make calls to others?
And why is it installed at the police station? Shouldn't it be installed at the brigade headquarters, and then the brigade headquarters would contact the police station?

I don't understand.

At this moment, he vaguely understood why Officer Zhu had arrived so quickly after Captain Yang shouted when he woke up the day before yesterday—it turned out they had contacted each other by phone.

As soon as I called, they came right over on their bicycles; they were really fast.

On the other side, Ye Shubao brought up the loudspeaker, and the others immediately turned their attention to it. Even Xiao Liewen was less concerned about the Northeastern pork stew and started chatting enthusiastically about who would operate the loudspeaker and who would have the key.

After a while, Zhang Wenliang came out of the yard. "Uncle, Officer Zhu went to the countryside and isn't at the station. Officer Zeng answered the phone. He sent someone to the food depot, and it just so happened that Master Zhu was butchering a pig and had some fresh offal, so we ordered it. But everyone at the depot is very busy and can't leave, so I have to go get it myself."

Zhang Changjiang waved his hand, "Hurry up and ride over there on your horse, Master Chen is going to make a pork stew for Captain Xiao."

Zhang Wenliang nodded, "Okay, I'll go then."

(End of this chapter)