Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 588: Compiled and Explained Immediately
Chen Fan pushed open the small door and, amidst enthusiastic applause, strode lightly onto the stage.

The applause intensified the moment he appeared.

As he walked onto the stage, Wang Zibo grabbed his arm and whispered, "I'm leaving this to you."

Chen Fan smiled and replied in a low voice, "Old Wang, you're not being fair. This is just a last-minute recruitment drive. What am I supposed to say about this later?"

Wang Zibo said, "Tui, you're still trying to recruit people? I've already covered for you for ten more minutes, and my voice is hoarse. This problem should have been yours to start, okay?"

Chen Fan: "Alright, one pack of Zhonghua cigarettes, that settles the matter."

Wang Zibo: "...Deal."

As the applause gradually subsided, Chen Fan raised his hands and clapped again, saying, "Let's thank Teacher Wang for sharing with our applause."

Applause rang out again, and Wang Zibo, with his hands raised, laughed heartily as he stepped back.

Once he entered the lounge, Chen Fan raised his hand and pressed it down, immediately silencing the room.

He glanced around before smiling and saying, "The question from that student isn't officially over yet, so I'll continue from where Teacher Wang left off."

As he spoke, he stepped down from the podium and walked up the steps toward Ning Jingmin.

He walked up to Ning Jingmin, looked him over carefully for a few moments, then took two steps down and asked the student who had asked the question, "Excuse me, do you have anything to add?"

The man blushed and lowered his head, "No, that's all."

I originally had two more sentences, but considering the difficulty of this task, which is almost equivalent to writing an essay based on a picture, and the fact that I couldn't even come up with a 200-word essay, I simply gave up.

Chen Fan waved his hand with a smile and said, "It's alright. The reason we're all sitting in this classroom is because we love literature, but our creative abilities still need improvement, which is why we've come all this way together. We're all working hard for our literary ideals, so there's nothing to be embarrassed about."

Upon hearing this, most of the students nodded slightly, and some even felt ashamed for having mocked him in their hearts earlier.

That classmate may not be very good, but how much better am I?

The right path is to learn humbly and strive to improve!
Chen Fan raised his hand again to quiet the room, and the room immediately fell silent. "Okay, I'll give you a demonstration."

He turned and looked at Ning Jingmin, then continued walking downstairs.

As they walked, he said, "He was an educated youth sent to the countryside. His surname was Liang and his given name was Ai Meng. After graduating from high school, he decided to apply to go to the countryside. His destination was Inner Mongolia, where 'three thousand orphans entered Inner Mongolia'."

In the blink of an eye, Chen Fan returned to the podium, his hands resting on the lectern, his gaze seemingly piercing through time, returning to 20 years ago. "Back then, there was a shortage of supplies, and more than 3000 orphans in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui were living in poverty. It was at this time that Inner Mongolia opened its arms and accepted them."

It was around that time that Liang Aimeng was still young. Inspired by this incident, his parents changed his name to Aimeng.

Ten years later, Liang Aimeng graduated from high school and decided to go to the land that his parents had told him about since he was a child, and to settle down there...

On the podium, Chen Fan improvised and gave a lecture.

The students listened intently.

Even Ning Jingmin's eyes widened. Was he talking about me?

Chen Fan glanced at his watch discreetly; it was almost lunchtime, and he needed to speed things up.

However, the essential content must not be omitted.

From Liang Aimeng's initial discomfort upon arriving in Inner Mongolia, to the harsh natural environment of the vast grasslands, especially with the arrival of winter when the entire grasslands are covered by thick snow, the people living on the grasslands still have to take care of their sheep, store feed, build warm shelters, and collect fuel...

Liang Aimeng, who was assigned to be a primary school teacher, not only had to work alongside other educated youth and herdsmen, but also had to ride horses to different settlements to teach students.

But while he poured his heart and soul into the vast grasslands, he never forgot his ideal: to become a glorious people's writer. ...

In just half an hour, as Chen Fan narrated, the students seemed to see a young man traveling from Shanghai to Inner Mongolia, his fair skin turning dry and sallow, riding on horseback day after day, spreading knowledge and sowing hope.

One day, when he saw a newspaper report that the Jiangnan Writers Association Correspondence Center was recruiting students, he resolutely decided to sign up.

Because of the long distance, he chose to register by telegram first, and then write a letter and send money. Finally, he was successfully admitted and was lucky enough to be selected as a student in the third face-to-face class.

When he set off, all the herdsmen of the production team came to see him off, cooking cattle and slaughtering sheep, as if they were holding a Naadam festival.

As they listened to the story, their eyes were filled with longing.

When Chen Fan clapped three times and announced the end of the story, almost everyone stood up and applauded.

Many people around Ning Jingmin greeted him.

"Old Liang, I never imagined your experiences were so tortuous. Your spirit is something we should all learn from."

"Well done, Lao Liang! I will definitely take you as my role model, study hard, and give back to society."

"Old Liang, you've had it so tough. First you rode a horse, then you took a car, then a train and then a bus. It must have been so difficult."

"It must have been a long journey from Inner Mongolia, you must have had a tough trip..."

Ning Jingmin looked terrified as someone held his left hand while holding his right. He wanted to explain but couldn't get a word in edgewise.

Finally finding a moment of respite, she quickly shouted, "I'm not Liang Aimeng, I'm Ning Jingmin!"

At the door of the lounge, Tan Yong and the others stared in disbelief, exchanging glances and thinking to themselves, "Can a literature creation class really be taught like this?"
Wang Zibo gasped, "This novel is very mature."

Tan Yong nodded in deep agreement, “First, we take the ‘three thousand orphans entering Inner Mongolia’ as the background and connect it with the educated youth going to the countryside, forming a closed loop of mutual cause and effect.”

Secondly, the initial discomfort of the educated youth upon arrival depicts the harsh natural environment of Inner Mongolia, naturally evoking the noble quality of their own decision to accept orphans under similar circumstances, thus elevating the spiritual realm. …

Several teachers from the Chinese Department of Jiangnan University joined the discussion, including Guo Huaimin, an old acquaintance of Chen Fan and formerly of the Yunhu Correspondence Center, who is now one of the instructors in the Chinese Department.

However, while he was discussing this, he was also thinking about other things.

They were discussing Chen Fan's impromptu artwork when Bian Huifang quickly brought up Chen Fan's water bottle.

Chen Fan stood on the podium, unscrewed the cap of his bottle, took a sip of water, and waited for Ning Jingmin to shout, which silenced the room before he smiled and said, "Excuse me, student, what's your name?"

Ning Jingmin swallowed hard, looking at Chen Fan with a chill running down his spine.

The story you just heard, apart from the general background and some minor details, is very similar to my own experience. How did Chen Fan know that?
He paused for two or three seconds before cautiously saying, "My name is Liang Ai... ah no, my name is Ning Jingmin."

Chen Fan waved his hand, signaling everyone to stop laughing, and then asked with a smile, "Where are you from?" Ning Jingmin blinked, "Inner Mongolia, Xilin Gol."

These words caused another uproar in the room.

"It really is Inner Mongolia?"

“I’ve talked to him. He’s also a former sent-down youth, it’s been ten years.”

"You still dare to say you're not Liang Aimeng?!"

Chen Fan quickly raised his hand and pressed down. After the noise disappeared, he said, "Classmates, Teacher Wang just asked you to make up a story about this student. What I just said was also made up on the spot. The truth is, this is the first time I have met this student and I know nothing about his background."

After the words were spoken, there was a two-second silence, followed by the first round of applause, which quickly turned into thunderous applause.

Countless students clapped and chatted.

"That's amazing. He only glanced at it twice and was able to come up with such a long and good story, and it's so similar to Lao Liang's, no, Lao Ning's situation."

"Yes, no wonder Chen Fan is so young yet can write so many excellent works. This skill is something that can't be learned."

"I'm completely convinced. I used to doubt how Chen Fan, at such a young age, could write so many good articles, but after seeing this today, I'm utterly impressed!"

"Who says it isn't?"

Chen Fan pressed his hand down again, and after things quieted down, he continued, "Although it's supposed to be made up on the spot, it can't be made up randomly."

He stepped down from the podium and walked towards Ning Jingmin, and everyone's eyes followed his steps.

A short while later, Chen Fan walked up to Ning Jingmin and began his on-site teaching, "Everyone, please look. Ning Jingmin's complexion is dark, his skin is quite dry, and the pigmentation on his face is uneven in different areas. This is a typical characteristic of people in the Northwest or North, in areas with abundant sunshine."

However, people at high altitudes usually have noticeable red cheeks, but Ning didn't, so I guessed it might be in the Inner Mongolia area.

Of course, this guess may not be accurate, but that's okay. We're creating content; as long as it's logically sound and the setting matches the characteristics of the people in that area, it's acceptable.

He turned and looked around, then asked, "Students, what comes to mind when you think of this area?"

Some answered, "The vast grasslands," "Mongolians," "herdsmen," "riding horses," "the wind blowing the grass low to reveal cattle and sheep," "the setting sun over the long river, the lone smoke rising straight in the vast desert."...

Wait a minute.

After they had finished speaking, Chen Fan said, "That's right, everyone is absolutely right. So these things can become elements of our creation. Then, based on these elements, we can conceive a storyline and incorporate everything that can be used."

When we combine these plot points with a reasonable logic, we can form a complete story. I assigned Ning Jingmin the identity of an educated youth sent to the countryside, because his appearance doesn't resemble that of a Mongolian, so this setting makes sense…”

He Qingsheng set aside one hour for Chen Fan's lesson.

When Chen Fan announced the end of get out of class, it was exactly one hour, no more, no less, perfect.

After waving goodbye to his classmates, Chen Fan returned to the lounge and was immediately surrounded by people.

With his hands behind his back and a serious expression, Tan Yong said, "Although this is Comrade Chen's first time giving a public lecture, his performance is commendable. In my opinion, he can be given more responsibilities."

Xu Qizhen immediately raised her hand, "I second that proposal."

Wang Zibo turned to Bian Huifang and said, "Bian, when you're compiling the course schedule, please offer a regular course for your Director Chen. But don't overwork your director; one course per term is enough."

Fortunately, Bian Huifang wasn't stupid. She turned to look at Chen Fan and saw her director rolling his eyes. She just chuckled and pretended not to hear.

She knew her director's character better than anyone. He was the type who would rather lie down than sit, and would rather sit than stand. If it weren't for Chairman He's forced assignment, she wouldn't have expected him to come and give a lecture.

That makes sense, the correspondence center was set up by the director himself. If he were to teach classes, wouldn't that be the same as the principal becoming a teacher?
Well, I'm not going to take on this myself. If anyone's capable, let them talk to the director themselves.

Seeing that Chen Fan was unyielding, Tan Yong and the others were at a loss. This kid had accumulated too many merits; he couldn't be beaten or scolded. Trying to "bribe" him? But he was already a deputy director at such a young age.

Well, to be honest, this deputy director position was actually forced upon him by He Qingsheng. Once someone is willing to take over, Chen Fan will have to be freed up immediately.

According to the rules, I will have to be promoted one level.

Moreover, Tan Yong had previously made a verbal promise that once Chen Fan achieved results, he would recommend him as vice chairman when the council was elected at the end of the year.

Thinking of this, Tan Yong couldn't help but let out a cold breath through his teeth. His grades were already out in the open. Were they really going to send him up at the end of the year?
Age doesn't matter; in the past, there were 20-year-old officers at the rank of major general or provincial governor. In recent years, there have been many officers who rose rapidly through the ranks.

In Chen Fan's case, as long as he has made contributions, no one will gossip.

The key issue is that the external relations department's Europe and America branch hasn't found a replacement yet. Otherwise, could we let him continue to handle it on his own?

Chen Fan didn't want to talk to Tan Yong and the others, but he couldn't ignore the teachers at Jiang University.

Especially Guo Huaimin, who was an old acquaintance and had received a lot of help from him back then.

So when he saw Guo Huaimin walking over, he quickly stepped forward to greet him, "Teacher Guo, it's been a long time."

Seeing that Chen Fan was still so polite, Guo Huaimin was greatly pleased. He reached out and shook hands with him, laughing heartily, "That's right. We're in the same school, but it's been two months, and this is the first time we've met."

At this point, he held Chen Fan's hand tightly and said seriously, "It's rare for us to meet. How about this, I'll treat everyone to lunch, along with the leaders of the Writers' Association. Let's have a big meal together."

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan smiled wryly and said, "Teacher Guo, it's not that I'm being disrespectful, it's just that I have to go to the provincial military hospital every afternoon to assist the doctors there in treating veterans. Not only can I not drink alcohol, but I also have to leave right away."

Guo Huaimin naturally didn't doubt his words, so his expression changed slightly. "Then how about this, when you're done with your work, let's get together in the evening."

Chen Fan immediately smiled and said, "That's no problem. As long as it doesn't interfere with important business, you can decide the time and place."

Guo Huaimin was overjoyed. "Great! Let's do it tonight at our school's staff canteen."

He pulled Chen Fan aside and whispered, "Don't let the fact that it's a staff canteen fool you, the chef's skills are really good, you definitely won't be disappointed."

Then he said to Tan Yong and the others, "We hope that you leaders will do us the honor of coming."

Tan Yong held up a thick piece of paper as a fan and waved it back and forth, saying, "Is the head chef of the staff canteen still Old He from before?"

Seeing Guo Huaimin nod, he smiled and said, "If there's a free meal and drinks, I certainly can't miss it."

Upon hearing this, everyone burst into laughter again.

(End of this chapter)