Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 59 is just a code name.

Chen Fan took off his green military uniform, put on the homespun shirt that had just been delivered, and then put on his cotton-padded jacket. He immediately felt much more relaxed.

Most importantly, no one would say anything if he went out to work wearing this kind of homespun clothing, and even he himself didn't feel bad about it.

Chen Fan looked at the cotton shoes that Jiang Lili had brought, sat down and tried them on. They were a little big, but not too tight. With insoles and socks, they should fit perfectly.

Hey, how does this girl know her shoe size?
He took off his cotton shoes, put on the cloth shoes that Captain Yang had given him, and then put the cotton shoes back into the wardrobe.

Then, carrying the letter of introduction and picking up the wooden stick, he first walked to Jiang Lili's door, coughed twice, and said, "Cough cough."

Jiang Lili glanced back, pouted, and lowered her head without saying a word.

Chen Fan leaned against the doorframe, looked at her and smiled, "Those cotton shoes, did you make them especially for me?"

Jiang Lili said without looking up, "When it snows in a few days, those cloth shoes won't be able to withstand the snow. I happen to have some scraps of cotton, not enough to make clothes, so I'll make you a pair of shoes."

The day before yesterday, I saw Chen Fan sitting alone, crying (actually, it was the smell of ginger from soaking his feet). I also saw him staring at his worn-out cotton shoes, and I thought he was feeling sentimental about his past and thinking of his family somewhere. I felt sorry for him. In addition, the weather is getting colder and it's really hard to get through the winter in just a few shoes, so I made him a pair of cotton shoes.

Unexpectedly, Deputy Captain Xiao gave him a pair of heavy leather shoes, making him feel somewhat superfluous.

Chen Fan smiled and said, "Thank you, but those shoes are a bit small, they're a little tight on my feet."

"what?"

Jiang Lili looked up, stood up, and walked over, asking in surprise, "Is it too small? I made it a little bigger on purpose."

Chen Fan looked curious. "Do you know my shoe size?"

Jiang Lili's eyes showed a hint of nervousness. "I made them according to your cloth shoe size. In winter, you need to wear socks, so I made them a size bigger. It's okay if they're a little big because cotton shoes are thick and will wrap around your feet. But why are they still too small?"

If they're too big, you can put in two pairs of insoles, but what if they're too small?
Chen Fan suddenly realized, "Oh, I see."

Then he nodded, "I remembered wrong, it's not too small, it's a little big. If there were an insole, it would be just right."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Lili's face stiffened slightly, then she became furious and said, "Hmph, bad person."

Then he turned around and sat down heavily in his chair, sulking and not wanting to say a word.

Chen Fan chuckled, "Don't be angry. A prime minister's belly can hold a boat. How can you, a grown woman, hold a grudge against a little man like me?"

Jiang Lili burst out laughing, then tried hard to keep a straight face, but couldn't manage it, and finally could only chuckle, "How can you be like this?"

Chen Fan said in a serious tone, "Mr. Li said that men and women are equal and women can hold up half the sky. We can't always say that men are big and women are small. We can also talk about women being big and men being small."

Jiang Lili glared at him with a smile, "You cheat."

He paused for a moment, then said, "You're clearly only 16, but you lied to me that you were 18 and called me Xiao Jiang."

Chen Fan said with a straight face, "I'm 17 now, I'm 18 in the traditional Chinese way of counting age, I'm not lying."

Jiang Lili was both amused and exasperated. "You're just making excuses. I already told you I've lived for 59 years."

Chen Fan continued to argue, "Years and ages have no necessary relationship; it's just a beautiful misunderstanding."

Seeing that Jiang Lili was still holding back her words, he took a bold step and said, "How about this, from now on you call me Xiao Chen, and I'll call you Sister Jiang, is that alright?"

Jiang Lili felt a little dizzy. "What Sister Jiang? People thought it was Hongyan."

She then pouted, "I wouldn't dare call you Little Chen. Everyone in the team calls you Master Chen now. If I call you Little Chen, wouldn't that make me look like I've made a mistake?"

Chen Fan seized the opportunity and said, "Then you can call me Master Chen too, just like the team leader."

Jiang Lili couldn't help herself and kept giggling. After laughing for a while, she walked over, looked at the sky, and said softly, "Okay, okay, I forgive you. It's getting late, you should hurry up and go, otherwise you'll be late and have to come back in the dark."

Chen Fan looked at her and smiled, "So you're not angry anymore?"

Jiang Lili smiled and shook her head, "I'm not angry anymore."

Chen Fan said, "Let's agree on this. From now on, you can still call me Chen Fan, and what should I call you?"

Jiang Lili thought for a moment, "Just call me by my name."

He then laughed and said, "Anyway, a name is just a label, it doesn't matter what you're called."

Chen Fan nodded in deep agreement, "I agree with that. Anyway, a name is just a label, so I'll still call you Xiao Jiang."

Jiang Lili was speechless.

Chen Fan waved and said, "Goodbye, Xiao Jiang. See you tonight."

Before Jiang Lili could speak, he dragged the dog-beating stick and fled in panic.

Watching Chen Fan's retreating figure, Jiang Lili couldn't stop smiling.

After a while, the smile on her face gradually disappeared, a hint of sadness flashed in her eyes, she gently bit her lip, lowered her head and turned back to her room.

……

Chen Fan used the dog-beating stick as a crutch and strode towards Team 8.

This time, he didn't take the main road of the production team, but instead walked along the dike.

Yesterday, the people from Team 7 brought him back, and they came back from the river embankment. That's when he learned that the residential villages of the Lujiawan Production Team were all built along the river embankment. If you were in the same team, walking along the river embankment was the shortest route. On the contrary, the "main road" was rarely used; people only walked that way when going to the commune.

So after Chen Fan got to the river embankment, he discovered that not only did pedestrians love to walk along it, but even power lines were laid out along the embankment.

Standing on the riverbank, you can see groups of commune members working busily in the distance.

About five or six people are responsible for one location. After the location is determined, a large pit is dug first, the utility pole is erected, and then it is clamped with three or four one-meter-high wooden stakes to prevent it from tilting. Then it is nailed tightly with spiked nails. To prevent accidents, wire or bamboo strips are wrapped around it several times. After it is confirmed to be stable, the pit is filled and compacted.

Only then can a utility pole be considered erected.

However, right now they're just laying the poles; the top is bare and there's nothing there. We'll have to wait for the power company and post office to come and lay the cables and do the testing before we can get power and communication, and then the loudspeaker can be used.

As Chen Fan walked along, people waved and greeted him as he passed by.

He didn't know them either, but that didn't stop him from waving and exchanging greetings, shouting as he walked along the riverbank.

"Ah, go to Team 8 and teach them how to kill turtles."

"Okay, I'll come visit you guys when I'm done with this."

"Slaughtering a pig? Great! I'll definitely come and have some pork stew when I have time."

"Thank you, thank you. I have to rush to Team 8 now. Talk to you later, goodbye!"

They walked and shouted all the way until they finally arrived at their destination.

Then today I spent half a day working in Team 8 and Team 9 respectively, until I was sent back by the people from Team 9 in the evening. That was when the task of teaching how to cook turtle was completed.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!!!

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(End of this chapter)