Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 509 Going to School

Inside the room, the small fireplace, which had been burning all night, still had a few embers, making the room warm and cozy. On a refurbished Republican-era mahogany bed, Jiang Lili was fast asleep, wrapped in a quilt. Suddenly, the alarm clock on the bedside table rang, and she immediately opened her eyes.

I reached out and pressed the button behind the alarm clock, and it stopped ringing immediately.

She didn't rush to get up. She dozed off for a while, then rested her face on her hands and stared at the alarm clock through the carved openwork of the bed railing, her face full of smiles.

This alarm clock is ordinary, but it is anything but ordinary to her.

This was the first gift Chen Fan gave her, and it was "compensation" for her because she made the most pottery.

From that day on, this alarm clock has remained by my bedside, from Lujiawan to the Prefectural Education Office, to my home, and now back here.

Now, I'm finally "at home," and as always, the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning is this little alarm clock.

Thinking about this, Jiang Lili became somewhat lost in thought.

A year ago, I was still a "backward" person who needed to learn and reform. According to the experience of those "like me", the best outcome would probably be to marry an ordinary farmer.

Or perhaps she could endure a few more years, eventually return to the city, marry a man who might be ordinary, but more likely "not so great," and live out her life numbly.

Or she could do what her older sister did before and make up her mind not to get married.

Who would have thought that on that day, she would suddenly meet a man who would change her life?
Jiang Lili's gaze gradually lost focus, her eyes filled with the image of a certain person, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously curled up.

Then,……

"Meow……"

Ok?
She immediately snapped out of her daze, propped herself up, and looked at the desk. She saw Banjin lying on a cotton mat, his eyes unfocused and not knowing where he was looking.

Seemingly sensing Jiang Lili's gaze, Banjin suddenly raised its head to look at her and meowed again. Then, as if it had thought of something, its expression suddenly changed, and a human-like look appeared in its eyes. It lowered its head and lay down on the mat, even turning its face away as if it didn't want to talk to you.

Feeling wronged and aggrieved.

Jiang Lili sat up straight, picked up her thick cotton-padded pajamas, and put them on.

Yes, she made this thing under Chen Fan's direction. The cotton mill couldn't produce anything else, but it had more cloth and cotton than it could use. Even if they didn't take advantage of the company, the factory would give employees welfare items every month, and they had a lot of these things at home.

Under Chen Fan's guidance, she made two sets for each of her family members, including him, of course. They usually wore these at home and only changed into casual clothes when going out or when guests came.

After getting dressed and getting out of bed, I walked to the desk, picked up Banjin, and poked its face with my hand. "I'm sorry, I was wrong yesterday. I forgot you were still in the box. I won't do it again."

Ban Jin naturally couldn't understand what she was saying, but he did sense her meaning and attitude, so he stuck out his tongue and licked her fingers to indicate that he accepted her apology.

The two raccoon dogs were "bodyguards" that Chen Fan had assigned to the two sisters. They could find their own food and support themselves without much effort, so they naturally came along this time.

However, to avoid trouble when boarding and disembarking, they put the bags inside their suitcases.

Of course, the suitcase had gaps left, otherwise it would have suffocated the ferocious beast that Chen Fan had painstakingly raised.

However, after disembarking yesterday, the two sisters were so focused on talking to Chen Fan that neither of them remembered that there were two cats in their suitcases. It wasn't until they opened their suitcases to take a shower and change clothes that evening that they discovered the two dizzy and starving raccoon dogs.

so poor.

After calming Banjin down, Jiang Lili put it down and quickly went to the bathroom to wash up.

When she stepped out of the room, she found that the other two rooms were empty. She stopped, her eyes darting around, and tiptoed quietly into Chen Fan's room.

There are three rooms on this floor. Chen Fan lives in the largest room, while the two smaller rooms are each occupied by one of the two sisters.

The three rooms were arranged exactly the same, each with a four-poster bed against the corner, a bedside table, a desk, a chair, a clothes rack, a wardrobe, and a large mahogany chest on a long table.

These are all antique mahogany furniture pieces from the Republic of China era, purchased from the warehouse of a secondhand store and refurbished by experienced craftsmen at the secondhand company. They look like they have the marks of time, yet they don't look old at all, making them "fine pieces" among secondhand goods.

These kinds of high-quality items are rarely seen in stores. Most of what is sold in stores are items that ordinary people put up for sale or sold to secondhand stores. These items generally don't have the value or need to be refurbished; they can just be cleaned and put on display for sale.

Apart from these secondhand items, any complete sets of old furniture that appear are generally from "confiscation" in earlier years or a few years ago.

There are quite a few of these pieces of furniture. Some are sold, while others that are left over are temporarily stored in a warehouse or refurbished after a period of time before being put back on the market for sale.

However, this part of the furniture is unlikely to be a set; for example, the pieces Chen Fan bought are mostly different styles. Fortunately, he only looked at the material and workmanship, and put the style last, so he bought them all at once.

Of course, the prices are also quite high, with the average furniture in a room costing around 400 yuan, and there are 7 rooms in this building alone.

Not to mention the living room, dining room, and kitchen downstairs, the two living rooms and bathroom upstairs, and matching old-fashioned table lamps, radios, and other small items.

Anyway, when it came time to pay, Anquan finally found out that the change in Chen Fan's pocket was all in "thousands".

A few years ago, this would have been a prime target!

Jiang Lili walked around the room. The furnishings were the same, except for the different styles, there was nothing interesting about them.

But she loved to linger here, just like she used to go to Chen Fan's house every day, as if she could feel his presence, as if Chen Fan was always by her side.

She wandered around the room for a while before she came to her senses, quickly went to the bathroom to wash up, and then went downstairs holding onto the railing.

When she got downstairs, she glanced around and saw her sister reclining on a chaise lounge, engrossed in a book.

The other raccoon dog, Ba Liang, curled up in a ball, close to Jiang Tiantian's feet, seemingly trying to warm them.

Jiang Lili slowly walked forward, and with the last step, she jumped in front of her, startling Jiang Tiantian.

He put the book aside, patted his chest lightly, and glared at her with annoyance, "How old are you? Still acting like a child."

Jiang Lili chuckled, sat down next to her sister, squeezed her in a bit, and took her arm, asking, "Are you the only one here? Where's Xiao Fanren?"

As the two sisters were talking, the two raccoon sisters also came together, sniffing each other a few times, seemingly whispering something. Then they darted around the house a few times and disappeared.

Jiang Tiantian watched the two raccoon dogs run away and said softly, "Xiao Fan went out, saying he had something to do and would be back soon. Brother An and Sister Ying went to supervise the house renovation and left early this morning without even having breakfast. They only said they would be back for dinner tonight."

As she spoke, she raised her wrist and gently poked her sister's forehead with one finger. "You, you're the one who gets up the latest." Jiang Lili rubbed her forehead and pouted. "I usually get up very early. Xiao Fan set my alarm for 8 o'clock. I was too tired from the boat trip the other day, so I waited for the alarm to ring before waking up."

You should know that her biological clock is to wake up at 6 o'clock. If she hadn't been on the ship for 4 days, she would never have missed the time.

Jiang Tiantian patted her sister's face and smiled, "Okay, I know Xiao Fan loves you."

He then pointed to the kitchen, "There's breakfast left for you on the coal stove. Xiao Fan went out early this morning to buy it. Go and eat it quickly. When Xiao Fan comes back later, he'll take you to school to register."

Jiang Lili immediately stood up. "Then I'll go have breakfast."

Jiang Tiantian watched her skipping and jumping figure, and gently shook her head with a smile on her face.

This girl seems to be getting younger as she gets older.

After a few seconds of stunned silence, she suddenly came to her senses. She glanced at the clock on a tall table in the corner of the living room. It was already 8:15. Estimating that Xiao Fan should be back soon, she put away the books on the tatami mat and hurried upstairs.

Upon reaching the third floor, one of the two rooms is set up as a study, where musical instruments such as a piano and violin are also located.

The other room is a quiet room.

She didn't understand what this quiet room was for. The whole room was empty except for a large "quiet" character written on one of the interior walls. There was nothing else except for the shiny floor and wainscoting, which was suitable for exercise or dancing.

She tucked the book into a gap in the bookcase, glanced at the densely packed books inside, and couldn't help but gasp in amazement, while also feeling a pang of envy.

With so many books, I should be able to read them for many years.

Besides the bookshelves in this study, there are dozens of boxes of books in the attic, accessible via the stairs.

According to Chen Fan, these were all books he bought from several bookstores in the past few days. Most of them were used books, and a few were new books. The cost was not much, less than 500 yuan.

Ok? ? ?
Small towns usually only have one bookstore, which is Xinhua Bookstore, while big cities like the capital and Shanghai have bookstores that exist independently of Xinhua Bookstore.

For example, Chen Fan searched through foreign language bookstores, ancient bookstores that deal in rare books, Shanghai bookstores that mainly sell secondhand books, as well as children's bookstores, Shanghai music bookstores, art bookstores, and science and technology bookstores.

(The Shanghai Secondhand Bookstore, which opened in 56 and was later renamed Shanghai Bookstore, mainly deals in secondhand books. Sometimes you can find even better antique books than in antiquarian bookstores.)

When the bookshelf he ordered arrives, I'll put all these books inside. It will look really nice!

After putting the books away, Jiang Tiantian went upstairs to her room to change her clothes.

She's going to register at Fudan University soon, so of course she needs to change her clothes.

However, there's no need to replace it with something too nice. Just make sure it's clean and tidy without any patches, otherwise it will be too eye-catching and might attract trouble.

He wore black trousers over a pair of knitted woolen trousers, a cotton-padded jacket over a blue vest, a hat, a scarf, and all his documents before going downstairs.

In the living room, Jiang Lili had already finished breakfast. When she saw her sister come down and see her appearance, she quickly ran upstairs, saying, "I'm going to change my clothes."

When Chen Fan returned, he saw two little country girls wrapped up tightly.

He had a bicycle in each hand. After Jiang Tiantian opened the door, he pushed the bikes into the yard, looked at the two of them, and smiled, "Are you two ready?"

Jiang Lili hopped up to him, her face full of smiles, and nodded, saying, "Everything is ready, we can leave anytime."

Then, looking curiously at the two bicycles, they asked, "Whose bikes are these? Are we going to ride them over?"

I brought back two bicycles, probably for them to ride, but I don't know where I borrowed them from.

Looking at the bicycle and then at Chen Fan, Jiang Lili felt that this man was really amazing. No matter where he went, he could quickly make a name for himself and make friends everywhere.

After Jiang Tiantian closed the door and returned, Chen Fan smiled and said, "I'm going to ride a bicycle there, but it's not borrowed; I just bought it."

"what?"

The two sisters looked at him, then at the bicycle, their eyes filled with disbelief.

To put it ironically, these days bicycles are harder to buy than houses. After all, houses don't require coupons, but bicycles do, and they are relatively scarce coupons.

Seeing their expressions, Chen Fan knew what they were thinking, and immediately smiled at them, "There are plenty of these in secondhand stores. If you don't have to be picky, you can buy the bicycle a few days ago."

However, I want to buy new ones. Someone from his company told me that a batch of surplus export products will be transferred over in a few days. They're all brand new, without any defects, and no invoice is required. So I asked him to keep an eye out for them for me.

After saying that, he shook the bicycle handlebar in his hand and laughed, "I didn't expect you guys to be so lucky. You arrived last night, and their goods arrived too. Moreover, they are rare 26-inch Phoenix bicycles, which are perfect for you to ride around school."

He only learned when he bought furniture last time that Shanghai also had its own light industrial products for export these days, including Phoenix bicycles and Shanghai brand watches, which were mainly sold to Southeast Asian countries through Hong Kong.

In order to earn foreign exchange, the factory will produce more than the order amount each time, hoping that customers will see the good quality of the goods when they are delivered and place more orders.

Of course, most of the time it's disappointing. After a period of stockpiling, most of these "end-of-line" products are eventually sold off by secondhand stores, which has become the first choice for many people to buy bicycles.

Those looking for a cheap car can buy a used one, while those without a ticket can try their luck and buy a new car.

The two sisters were lucky, and Chen Fan was able to buy this rare 26-inch bicycle.

Therefore, in a big city like Shanghai, there are always more opportunities than in smaller places.

The two sisters also loved the bicycle. Its crisp bell and petite frame made it much more attractive than the 28-inch bicycles they were used to.

Moreover, the export products are superior in terms of materials and craftsmanship; the metal tubes on the handlebars are so shiny that they can even reflect a person's image.

Chen Fan let go of her hand and stood aside, laughing, "Stop touching her. Get your documents ready, ride out, and we'll report for duty."

The two sisters exchanged a glance. The older sister's smile held a hint of embarrassment, but the younger sister didn't seem to mind. She raised her head with a charming smile and said, "We've been ready for a long time. We're just waiting for you to come back so we can set off."

Chen Fan waved his hand and said, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go to university!"

The three of them went out together. Chen Fan rode one bike with Jiang Lili on the back, and Jiang Tiantian rode another bike by herself. They headed towards Shanghai Textile Institute.

(End of this chapter)