Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 607 Monthly Salary of Three Thousand
Over the next few days, Chen Fan went to the library every day, focusing his research on European history, religion, theology, and social customs.

Fortunately, Professor Xu's reading list included many books on European history, philosophy, literature, and languages, so he studied them to enrich the outline and details of the social background of his Western fantasy novel.

I arrived on July 9th. It took a week to find a mentor for Liu Lu. By the time he finished researching, it was already the end of July.

During this period, apart from researching, he spent the rest of his time at home spending time with his girlfriend.

Jiang Lili frequently traveled between school and home to be with him. It was only during summer vacation, when she didn't have to attend classes or do experiments all day, that she had the free time; otherwise, she wouldn't have had the chance to come back.

Just be extra careful to avoid your older sister, and absolutely don't let her find out, otherwise she'll definitely tell Mom and Dad, and you'll be completely finished!
However, this clandestine lifestyle actually gave her a little thrill, and she was especially happy whenever it was just the two of them at home.

Well, I don't exercise every time. Overworking is bad for your health.

More often than not, the two of them would snuggle together, Chen Fan holding a book and flipping through it, while Jiang Lili leaned against him, enjoying their rare time alone.

Chen Fan had incorporated kung fu into his body, so he was not far from being immune to heat or cold. Even when they hugged each other on a hot day, they rarely sweated.

Jiang Lili, on the other hand, was not so good at it. Even with a fan blowing on her, she would soon be covered in a fine sweat.

This impressed Chen Fan greatly.

Although it is said that a thin shirt is cool when sweat is fragrant, and a cool shirt is fragrant when sweat is thin, he felt he could not bring himself to wear it even if he was hot.

……

Thursday, March 7th.

After finishing the last page, Chen Fan put down the book, stretched, and said, "Finally finished reading."

Jiang Lili took the book from his hand and placed it on top of a pile of books on the table, all of which Chen Fan had borrowed from the library these past few days.

He would go to the library almost every other day to return and borrow books. In about ten days, he read more than a hundred books, covering all aspects of European society.

After arranging the books neatly, Jiang Lili asked curiously, "Does reading ten books a day really help?"

Chen Fan put his arm around her shoulder and laughed, "I'm just picking out useful things from these books, not memorizing them all, so of course it'll be quick. I read during the day and copy the key points into the computer at night. It's just organizing information, you can do that too."

This phrase is actually used to deal with his girlfriend. He can now basically remember everything he sees. If he looks at something a few times, he can deepen his memory and understand it better.

But it's not something I can easily talk about with others.

Although someone with super memory abilities would suddenly appear out of nowhere every now and then, he didn't want to stand out like that, so it was better to play it safe.

Otherwise, if he's mistaken for a qigong master in a couple of years and people ask him to perform, that would be incredibly embarrassing.

As soon as he said it, Jiang Lili believed him, her eyes filled with anticipation, "Then can I start writing the new book tomorrow?"

Chen Fan shook his head. "Not yet. I need to organize this information into background information first, then write the novel outline based on this background, and finally start writing the new book."

He deliberately raised his hand and calculated with his fingers, "If nothing unexpected happens, it should take about 10 days."

Jiang Lili rolled her eyes, hugged his arm tightly, and grinned, "I remember you could write more than 10,000 words a day at most. You said it's faster with a computer, so does that mean you can finish your new book before school starts?"

Chen Fan reached out and touched her head, ruffling her hair. "Do you want to be the first reader of your new book?"

Jiang Lili nodded gently, "Mmm."

Chen Fan pursed his lips. "I'm sure I'll be fine."

He paused for a moment, then sighed softly, "I'm just afraid someone will suddenly appear out of nowhere and interfere!"

Jiang Lili was stunned for a moment, blinked, and quickly realized, "Cousin?"

Chen Fan chuckled twice, "She's called my cousin, but she doesn't look as mature as my younger cousin. She's a total crazy girl. I don't think she'll give in to you."

Jiang Lili pouted, but before she could say anything, she burst out laughing. "My cousin is really funny. She's almost 20 years old, but she's still so innocent and naive, almost like a little girl."

Chen Fan shook his head slightly. "She is well protected and comes from a wealthy family, so she has no worries about food or clothing. If she were in a different situation, she wouldn't have this kind of personality."

Jiang Lili pursed her lips, immediately thinking of herself. Her smile faded slightly, but she still said, "This is her luck. This kind of personality is actually quite good. At least I like it very much."

Chen Fan tightened his arms around her, lowered his head to kiss her forehead, and smiled, "I still prefer your type, gentle and graceful like an orchid, elegant and refined like a chrysanthemum."

Jiang Lili blushed slightly and leaned into his arms with a smile.

Just as the two were enjoying their tender moment, the doorbell rang suddenly.

Not only that, but there was also a security guard shouting at the top of his lungs outside the door, "Old Chen, open the door, open the door now!"

Chen Fan was quite surprised and looked down at Jiang Lili, "You told them?"

Jiang Lili immediately shook her head, "No."

She paused for a moment, then explained, “Before the start of the semester, didn’t you introduce some businesses to Brother An that could both make money and develop relationships and increase his qualifications? After the semester started, he started implementing them and became extremely busy. Apart from Sister Ying coming here twice, Brother An hasn’t come even once. I haven’t seen them for two or three months either. I don’t know how they knew you came to Shanghai.”

Chen Fan patted her shoulder, and only stood up after she got up. He smiled and said, "It would be normal if Lao An didn't come; it would be abnormal if he did. Let's go downstairs."

Before he could even turn around, the voice outside the door rang out again, "Old Chen, Old Chen, stop playing dead! I know you're in there! Open the door, open the door, open the door quickly..."

Chen Fan poked his head out of the window, annoyed. "Calling back the soul? It's here. Wait here."

The two went downstairs. Jiang Lili turned and went to the kitchen, while Chen Fan went outside to open the door.

As soon as the small door opened, Anquan's round face came in, looking around. "In broad daylight, you didn't even answer when I called you. What are you doing?"

Chen Fan rolled his eyes, then his pupils contracted, and he smiled at Yu Keying, "Sister Ying, judging from your appearance, are you pregnant?"

Yu Keying walked in, one hand holding the iron gate, the other hand supporting her slightly protruding belly, her face beaming with an unstoppable smile. "Just four months along, my due date is at the end of the year."

Chen Fan chuckled, turned to look at An Quan, and gave him a thumbs up, "Brother An, awesome!"

Anquan stood proudly with his hands on his hips and his forehead held high, saying, "That's right."

He was truly pleased with himself. Not only did he buy a house and go to university this year, but he was also doing very well at the university, taking advantage of the situation and making a lot of money, both openly and secretly.

Most importantly, I finally dared to have a child this year, and I did it right away without any delay. I can definitely be considered a big winner in life.

Yu Keying walked in and immediately noticed the van parked under the shade of a tree on the side. She couldn't help but ask with curiosity, "Is this the van you designed?"

Chen Fan nodded and smiled, "You heard it from Lili, right? This car was only launched this month. The Shanghai Writers Association wanted to buy a few, so I bought one and registered it under their name, but I'm actually using it myself."

The smile on Anquan's face froze instantly. "Is this your car?"

He walked over, peered through the car window, turned back, and asked, "How much did you pay for it?"

Chen Fan gestured, "Not expensive. Eighteen thousand."

Anquan's face visibly darkened. "Damn it, I've been working day and night for almost half a year and I've only earned a little over ten thousand yuan. And you actually spent eighteen thousand yuan to buy a car?"

Before Chen Fan could speak, Yu Keying glared at him. "Are you not convinced or what? Don't you know that Xiao Fan bought this villa for 3 yuan?"

With a sigh, Anquan slumped his shoulders and said helplessly, "Can a house and a car be compared?!"

He turned to look at the car again, thinking to himself, "I really want one!"

This vehicle can definitely carry a lot of cargo.

At this moment, Jiang Lili walked out of the door, smiling and calling out, "Aren't you all coming in?"

Yu Keying immediately walked over quickly, "Coming, coming. Lili, I missed you so much."

Jiang Lili also noticed her slightly protruding belly and quickly went up to her, taking her hand. "Sister Ying, are you pregnant?" The two women went into the house while talking. Chen Fan shook his head at the security guard. "Go in. You can't drive, so there's no point in looking."

Safety raised an eyebrow slightly, "I'm going to learn to drive tomorrow!"

Chen Fan stepped inside, looking at him in surprise, "You have connections to learn to drive?"

There are no driving schools now. To learn to drive, you have to wait for your employer to allocate a spot. How could a student like him possibly get a spot?
She quickly walked up to him, grabbed his arm, and whispered, "Guess what my school is about?"

Chen Fan's eyes darted around slightly. "Your school still maintains relationships with car companies?"

The university where the safety is located is Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Needless to say, most of the majors at this school are related to transportation.

For example, there are related majors involving transportation such as airplanes, trains, cars, and ships.

But that was before.

In the early days of the People's Republic of China, in order to coordinate resources, many schools made adjustments to their majors.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University received the College of Science from National Jinan University, the Department of Aeronautical Engineering from Zhejiang University, the Department of Aeronautical Engineering from Nanjing University, and the Department of Civil Engineering from Fudan University.

Then the Department of Shipping Management of the School of Management was split off and merged into Shanghai Maritime College, which was later merged into Dalian Maritime College, which is now Dalian Maritime University.

Later, the Transportation Management Department of the School of Management was merged into Northern Jiaotong University, and the Financial Management Department was merged into Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, which later became Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. The Textile Department was merged into East China Textile Institute, which is the school Jiang Lili is currently studying at.

As for automotive-related majors, they had already been merged into Changchun Automotive and Tractor College in 54, so Shanghai Jiao Tong University did not have any majors directly related to automobiles at that time. However, due to management needs, some finance-related majors were reinstated.

If there's anything related to cars, it's that students majoring in mechanical engineering can also work in car factories.

Chen Fan looked at the security guard and asked, "So you got involved with the mechanical engineering department?"

Anquan snorted smugly, "What do you mean by 'connecting'? I'm a big shot at school, you know. I can even get a word in with the school leaders."

Change shoes, enter the room, and sit down.

Jiang Lili ladled out two bowls of mung bean soup and placed them on the table. "This was made this morning. Have some to cool off in the summer."

He then smiled at Yu Keying and said, "Sister Ying, I didn't know you were pregnant. I'll go to the kitchen and heat this up for you."

Chen Fan, sitting to the side, waved his hand and said, "It's okay to drink a little."

He then beckoned to Yu Keying, "Sister Ying, let me take your pulse."

Yu Keying didn't hesitate and extended her hand. Chen Fan placed his fingers on her wrist, and after a few seconds, gestured for her to withdraw them, smiling, "It's okay, it's healthy, you can drink a little."

Jiang Lili then filled another bowl and placed it in front of her.

Anquan picked up the soup bowl and asked in surprise, "When did you buy the refrigerator? Who gave you the ticket?"

Old Chen has connections in the Jiangnan Writers Association. No matter how capable he is, how could he possibly intercept someone else's refrigerator voucher in Shanghai?

You should know that refrigerators are a rare commodity these days, with demand far exceeding supply. If the supply isn't increased, you'll have to wait at least three to five years to buy one.

Chen Fan leaned back in his chair, smugly swinging his legs, "What need is there for tickets? Just take the remittance certificates and go directly to the foreign-related stores to buy them."

Although most of the remittance certificates he received from the last manuscript were exchanged, he still had more than a thousand yuan left.

A few days ago, I saw the two sisters sweating profusely every day because of the heat, so I went out and bought a refrigerator so I could make cold drinks to cool off.

Anquan gulped down a mouthful of mung bean soup, exhaled a long, comfortable breath, then put down the bowl and sighed, "I thought that with these past six months of hard work, I could catch up a little, but you're already using remittance certificates. Why was I born if I'm already here?"

Chen Fan slowly took a sip of soup and immediately corrected him, "The person surnamed He has nothing to do with me."

Anquan was stunned for a moment, and when he came to his senses, he was both amused and exasperated. "What nonsense is this?"

Yu Keying finally understood what Chen Fan meant. She almost spat out her mung bean soup, took out a handkerchief to wipe her mouth, and shouted at Jiang Lili, "Control your man!"

Jiang Lili raised her hand with a smile, "I can't control him."

Yu Keying shook her head helplessly, "You're completely under his thumb; you're bound to suffer a great loss sooner or later."

Jiang Lili turned to look at Chen Fan, her eyes full of love, "Then I'm willing too."

Yu Keying raised her hands in surrender, then stood up, pressing on the sofa armrest. "Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore, it makes me angry just hearing about it. Come on, take me to the study, let's see if you've bought anything nice."

Jiang Lili immediately got up and helped her upstairs. "Sister Ying, you've come at the right time today. There really are some good things here. Have you ever seen a personal computer? There's one in Xiao Fan's room."

Yu Keying looked surprised. "A computer? Aren't those things usually huge? Can they fit in one room?"

After the two women went upstairs, Anquan took out a cigarette, tossed one to Chen Fan, put one in his own mouth, lit it, and took a deep drag. "Ever since she got pregnant, I've had to avoid smoking. They say the smoke is bad for both adults and children, and it's been awful for me."

Chen Fan took out a lighter, lit it, and looked at him with a smile, saying, "This is called a sweet burden."

Anquan shook his head and chuckled, "Indeed, no wonder you're a great writer, your expression is truly unique."

He took a couple more puffs before slowing down and saying with a smile, "This morning I went to the Literature and Art Publishing House to discuss with them about helping me with the publication of the school magazine. I happened to run into your sister-in-law and that's when I heard you were in Shanghai, so I brought Keying over to see you."

She pointed at Chen Fan and said, "You're the same kind of person who forgets his friends for the sake of a pretty face. You came without saying a word, and I had to come to you in person."

Chen Fan flicked his cigarette ash and laughed, "I heard from Lili that you're incredibly busy all day long. How could I possibly bother you for no reason? Wouldn't that hinder your progress?"

"What progress have you made?"

Anquan shook his head and said to him, "I only make a little money. Compared to you, it's nothing."

He paused for a moment, then chuckled softly, "But I must say, those suggestions you gave me before the start of the semester were immediately turned into reports and submitted after the semester began. They quickly gained the support of the school leaders, and things have gradually started to open up and develop over this period of time."

Chen Fan raised an eyebrow slightly. "Oh? It looks pretty good?"

Anquan's smile widened. "It's alright. When I first enrolled, the scholarship system hadn't been officially implemented yet, and some impoverished students were having trouble making ends meet. My report was submitted and quickly gained the attention of the school leaders. Projects such as work-study programs and cooperating with Chongming Island farms to run sideline businesses were soon implemented."

He turned to look at Chen Fan, grinning from ear to ear, "These projects quickly helped those students solve their living problems, and as the leader, I was qualified to participate."

Following your suggestion, I found a few unemployed educated youth who had returned to the city to cooperate with. We bought goods from the sideline trade cooperative at a low price, then added a little extra and sold them to those educated youth. They then used the introduction letters given by the street office to sell their goods in crowded places like docks and train stations. After a few months, I saved up quite a bit of money and finally didn't have to worry about money anymore.

The student grants that are now widely known in later generations, which mean that you don't have to spend money to go to college and you even get money, were not actually widely implemented at the beginning.

The resumption of the college entrance examination last year was too hasty. In the previous regulations on student aid, since the admitted students tended to be workers and farmers who could receive salaries from their original units, a large number of them were not eligible for student aid. Only a very small number of them were able to receive student aid.

As a result, those in need of help among the first batch of college students after the resumption of the college entrance examination did not receive timely financial aid.

The scholarships will not be reinstated until the second half of this year, when the 78 cohort of students enrolls. They will basically cover 7-8% of the students, but even so, the coverage will vary and will not be exactly the same for everyone.

As for the remaining 20-30%, they are either employed and have a job, meaning they are on-the-job employees whose salaries are paid by their original employers, and therefore do not need student aid.

The last group consists of families with better financial conditions, such as parents who are both employees or even cadres; these individuals are not eligible for student aid.

It is under these circumstances that we see those impoverished students, who cannot even guarantee their basic needs, mentioned in the context of safety concerns.

Schools have an obligation to help impoverished students. In this case, if a student submits a work-study application, the school can provide the platform and the student can work independently, and the application will naturally receive support smoothly.

Chen Fan wasn't interested in those things; instead, he asked curiously, "How much did you earn?"

Anquan glanced at him, exhaled a puff of smoke, and didn't hide anything, "In less than 5 months, I've only earned a little over 10,000 yuan, which isn't enough to buy your van."

Chen Fan put a cigarette in his mouth, raised his hand and clapped lightly, "Not bad, Lao An. On average, that's a hundred a day, right? A monthly salary of three thousand is enough to be considered a white-collar worker."

Around 2000, the standard for a white-collar worker was only 3000 yuan a month. Old An can be considered 20 years ahead of his time.

(End of this chapter)