Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 639 Commonplace meals
The sun sets much earlier at the end of September.

It wasn't even 6 o'clock yet, and the sky was already getting dark. Soon, lights came on in every household.

Before nightfall, Jiang Tiantian hurriedly entered the yard, closed the gate, parked her bicycle, and quickly went into the house, where she heard noises coming from the kitchen.

When I went over, I saw Chen Fan wearing an apron, busy at the stove, with Jiang Lili helping him.

She quickly washed her hands and went over to help her sister prepare the ingredients, asking, "Why are you cooking today?"

Although Chen Fan is a good cook, Jiang Lili usually does the cooking. But it has to be said that with his occasional guidance, her cooking skills are getting better and better. In her opinion, she is no worse than the head chef in the Writers' Association's canteen.

Before Chen Fan could speak, Jiang Lili said, "When Brother An and Sister Ying come over for dinner later, you know, no matter who cooks better, if Xiao Fan doesn't cook for them himself, Brother An will complain from beginning to end."

Jiang Tiantian couldn't help but chuckle, "So, in order to have some peace and quiet, Xiao Fan had no choice but to do it himself."

Chen Fan started stewing several main dishes, clapped his hands, turned around and said, "This is all I can do. Lili can stir-fry a few side dishes later."

As she spoke, she took off her apron, hung it on the wall, and was just about to go out when the doorbell rang.

Watching Chen Fan walk out quickly, Jiang Tiantian said to her younger sister, "Go wash your hands and go out to take care of things. I can handle things here."

Jiang Lili didn't stand on ceremony and smiled at her sister, "Okay."

He then got up, washed his hands, and quickly walked outside.

When she arrived at the living room, Chen Fan had already opened the courtyard gate and was leading An Quan and Yu Keying in.

He was still muttering to himself, "This is rare. You've come here so many times, but this is the first time I've seen you carrying something."

"Safety is absolutely guaranteed. Pshaw, it's not like you came to my house and took a gift."

Chen Fan said matter-of-factly, "It's my first time visiting your house, didn't I bring anything?"

Anquan stammered a few times, then could only offer a weak excuse, "That was at my parents' house, not my house. Did you bring a gift when you went to my house?!"

Yu Keying didn't bother with their bickering. When she saw Jiang Lili appear at the door, she quickly walked over and said, "Lili, it's been a long time."

Jiang Lili quickly helped her up, saying, "Slow down, you're pregnant and you still dare to run so fast."

Yu Keying said, "What's this? When we went to the countryside before, which of those rural women wasn't working in the fields even when they were about to give birth? I'm still a long way from giving birth. I'm not that delicate."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Lili seemed slightly lost in thought.

Yes, life in Lujiawan was tough back then. In the summer, we worked in the fields under the scorching sun, especially during the double harvest season, when our skin would peel off completely. In the winter, our hands were so frozen we couldn't even open our fingers, yet we still had to work on repairing water conservancy projects, our feet wading in icy water. By the time we finished, we were completely numb from the cold...

She shook herself out of her daze, helped Yu Keying change her shoes and go inside, and said with a smile, "Life is different now, so if we can be particular, of course we should be."

Yu Keying sat down on the sofa and teased her, "So you can't stand the hardship?"

Jiang Lili went to the side to pour tea and said with a smile, "I used to be reluctant to eat or dress well. I didn't even dare to put on the radio at home because when I think about the old days, I felt like it was a crime to eat or dress well."

But Xiaofan told me, "Don't go looking for hardship if you can't find it. You suffered before because you had no other choice. If you can live a good life, why not make the most of it?"

She brought over two cups of tea, placed them on the coffee table, and sat down next to Yu Keying. "So, now I eat meat every day, and when I have fabric, I make some new clothes for myself and my family. It also lets me test my designs. When life gets better, my mood is definitely much better."

After listening, Yu Keying suddenly had a realization and nodded slowly in agreement, "Yes, that makes sense."

Anquan, who was sitting to the side, suddenly slapped his thigh and said to Yu Keying with a smile, "Then, wife, shouldn't we go buy a big house?"

He looked up and around. “I think this kind of villa is particularly nice. It’s spacious, comfortable, and has excellent lighting and ventilation.”

Chen Fan sat down opposite him and asked curiously, "Didn't you say you were going to buy a villa last summer? Why haven't you bought it yet?"

Yu Keying smiled sheepishly, "Later I asked around and found out that a small villa like this costs more than 3 yuan, which is a lot more expensive than when you bought it, so I couldn't bring myself to make the decision."

Chen Fan blinked. "The price has gone up so quickly?"

But thinking about it, it makes sense. With high demand, house prices are bound to rise; he just didn't expect the price to react so quickly. Back in August, the villa Zhou Yali bought hadn't even appreciated much in price yet.

Hmm, it could also be because they received US dollars?
After a two-second pause, he said, "Sister Ying, you should buy a house sooner rather than later."

Yu Keying was a little confused. "Huh?"

Chen Fan laughed and said, "Think about it, the reason why housing prices are rising so fast, and by such a large margin, is because there are too many people who need housing. So as long as the housing problem persists, housing prices will definitely continue to rise in the future, right?"

Yu Keying also realized what was happening and nodded in understanding, "That's right."

She immediately turned to look at Anquan, "Old An, let's take a day off tomorrow morning and finalize the house as soon as possible."

Of course, I'd love to be safe, so I nodded repeatedly, "Okay."

Chen Fan said from the side, "As long as the house is good, it doesn't matter if you have more or less money. If you're short on money for the time being, you can ask Lili for some; she has some."

Jiang Lili nodded repeatedly, "I still have more than 5000 here. If you need more, just tell me."

Half of the money was her dividend from Lujiawan last year, and the other 3000 was living expenses given to her by Chen Fan. She didn't want it at first, but Chen Fan's words, "It's only right to give money to your wife for household expenses," made her heart flutter and her mind go blank. She accepted it in a daze.

If Chen Fan hadn't offered her more money later, and she hadn't been afraid of accepting too much and refused, she could have easily given him 5, let alone 5.

Anquan looked at Chen Fan and smiled, "I certainly won't stand on ceremony with you, but there's really no need for that."

He glanced at Yu Keying, then turned back and said, "Keying and I have discussed it. Once we buy a big house, we'll sell this one to my brother at the original price. With that money, we'll even have enough for renovations."

Yu Keying also laughed and said, "This house cost 4567 yuan, and the renovation cost another 800 yuan, totaling more than 5000 yuan. I was able to decorate my home as nicely as yours."

Jiang Lili took her hand and said with a smile, "Then I'll have to visit your new home sometime."

Yu Keying tightened her grip on her hand, her face full of smiles. "You're welcome anytime."

She paused for a moment, then looked around. "Hey, where's Sweetie?"

Jiang Lili suddenly stood up. "My sister is still busy in the kitchen. You guys sit down for a while, I'll go cook."

Anquan immediately looked at Chen Fan, "Wasn't it you who did it?"

Jiang Lili walked quickly inside, smiling as she said, "Xiao Fan made a few main dishes; I'll make the rest of the side dishes."

Anquan pointed at Chen Fan and said, "Slacking off."

Chen Fan ignored him and turned to Yu Keying, "Did you register for the international student selection exam a few days ago?"

The selection exam for international students that Professor Xu had mentioned to him before was held as scheduled on September 15th. Nearly 15000 people applied, but only more than 3000 met the admission requirements, which was quite brutal.

You should know that those who dare to sign up are all people with certain English skills. If they are not confident in their English, they wouldn't even dare to sign up.

What? Russian?

Sorry, we're not on good terms with Lao Su right now. We're lucky if we don't argue, let alone send students abroad.
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

Hearing him mention this, An Quan and Yu Keying exchanged a glance, both wearing bitter smiles. An Quan shook his head and sighed, "The selection exam for international students is basically just an English test. Back then, to be on the safe side, we directly gave up the additional subjects in the college entrance examination. Whether it's English or Russian, we've long forgotten them. How could we dare to sign up?"

Yu Keying pursed her lips and shook her head, then looked at Chen Fan, "What about you? Did you participate?"

Anquan immediately followed up, "With your English level, you'll definitely pass, right?"

Chen Fan picked up his teacup, took a sip, and sighed, "My English is definitely not a problem. My teacher even said he would get me a spot to be an international cultural exchange ambassador or something, but I didn't accept it. Of course, I didn't take the exam either."

The couple stared at him, mouths agape, for several seconds.

After a while, Anquan let out a long breath, turned to look at his wife, and whispered, "Why do I feel like hitting someone?"

Yu Keying hesitated for two seconds, "Hitting people is wrong. But I want to hit someone too."

Chen Fan had a long face and didn't want to talk to them.

You make it sound like you can beat me?

He put down his teacup and said to the two of them, "There's a reason why I'm not going."

Seeing that the couple were looking at him, he continued, "Given the current domestic situation, the trend is undoubtedly very clear. Regardless of which side is debating, their direction is actually the same."

That means we cannot go back to the past; we should focus our efforts on development, especially on economic development and improving people's livelihoods.

The issue between them is simply about what methods they will use to achieve this goal. Think about it, isn't that the truth?

The two men nodded thoughtfully.

After a two-second pause, An Quan looked up at him and asked, "What does this have to do with you not wanting to study abroad?"

Yu Keying frowned and asked, "That's right, you went abroad to study and came back, so you can still participate in building our country, right?"

Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly. He had forgotten that the international students of this era were very different from those of a few years later.

The people sent abroad now are basically all with the intention of returning home after completing their studies. They study hard overseas and will return to China to participate in its development as soon as they have mastered their skills.

For example, the first batch of 52 students selected at the end of this year included many researchers who had worked for many years. After being sent abroad in February next year, all of them studied diligently and returned to China without exception, making outstanding contributions in their respective positions.

Therefore, the old development path is almost untenable in the current environment.

He scratched his head and said with a smile, "What I mean is, if it's not for learning advanced foreign technology, then whether or not you go abroad is actually not important."

Staying in China might offer more opportunities for development, and the future situation might not be worse than returning from studying abroad.

Not many students have returned from studying abroad yet. When they do return, they bring back various experiences and observations from overseas. Over time, more and more people will yearn for life abroad, thus creating the study abroad boom from the mid-80s to the mid-90s.

So at this moment, all An Quan and Yu Keying could think about was that studying abroad would allow them to learn some advanced knowledge from overseas, and that studying abroad would give them a gilded edge, making them seem more capable than others.

As for what they could actually gain, or to change their lives, they didn't think too much about such specific things.

Hearing Chen Fan say that, they felt it made sense and stopped worrying about not being able to learn English well.

But the next second, Chen Fan said, "If you still have the energy, my suggestion is to try your best to learn English well."

The couple looked up at the same time, "Huh?"

what does this mean?
One minute they say staying might not be worse than studying abroad, and the next they're urging them to learn English well.

If I'm not going abroad anymore, why should I learn English?
Chen Fan said solemnly, "In July of this year, the higher authorities held a meeting to discuss economic issues and clearly emphasized that we should make full use of foreign funds and introduce a large number of advanced foreign technologies and equipment."

When my uncle returned to China last time, some leaders spoke with him, expressing their hope that he would invest in China.

At this point, the couple suddenly realized something.

Yu Keying said directly, "If this policy can be fully implemented, there will definitely be many more opportunities to deal with foreign businesses in the future. If we can speak English, we will have more opportunities to stand out in our workplace than others."

Chen Fan smiled and said, "Indeed."

Anquan slapped his thigh, turned to look at his wife, his face full of conflict.

Learning English from scratch is such a difficult task, who should be given it?
Yu Keying reached out and patted the back of his hand, laughing, "I'm not ambitious, but you're different. You're the head of the family, and you're smarter than me, so I'll leave this difficult task to you."

Security's face fell. "Fine, fine."

How many letters are there in the English alphabet?

Before he could remember, Jiang Lili came out of the kitchen carrying a tray and laughed loudly, "Comrades, dinner's ready!"

Anquan quickly got up and said, "I'll serve the dishes."

He's not good at cooking, but he's fine with helping serve dishes.

Many hands make light work, and in no time, all the dishes were served.

Anquan pulled out a chair and sat down, looking at the table full of dishes. "Wow, so many good dishes, how luxurious."

Chen Fan sat down next to him and said calmly, "It's just a home-cooked meal. We usually eat this."

Yu Keying looked at Jiang Lili and asked softly, "He wasn't bragging?"

Jiang Lili smiled and said, "The only difference today is that we added two dishes, and Xiao Fan made a few of them."

Yu Keying opened her mouth, looking at the chicken, duck, fish, shrimp and crab on the table, "You just said you didn't want to suffer, but this is all about eating and drinking well, okay?"

Chen Fan took out a bottle of his own brewed premium rice wine and poured it for Anquan. "For safety's sake, I won't let you drink baijiu today, so that Sister Ying won't have to take care of you when we get back. Let's drink rice wine today."

Actually, strong liquor existed as early as the Yuan Dynasty, but until the late Qing Dynasty, throughout my country's more than 3,000-year history of alcohol consumption, yellow wine was the dominant beverage. Why?

Safety, "...Why?"

Chen Fan put the bottle aside and chuckled, "Baijiu only became mainstream during the Republic of China era. Guess what kind of people held power back then?"

Anquan thought for a moment, "Warlord?"

Chen Fan smiled and nodded, "That's right, warlords. Think about what kind of people warlords are? They're all warriors who would die on the battlefield. It's normal for warriors to like baijiu (Chinese liquor), right?"

Therefore, baijiu can be considered a "martial spirit".

Yellow wine is mild and was a favorite of scholars in ancient times, hence it was called "literary wine".

We're both scholars, so drinking yellow wine is just right for us."

Then he picked up his bowl and clinked it against Anquan's, "Cheers!"

Anquan stared blankly at a large bowl of yellow wine, then downed it in one gulp. "You call this 'literary wine'?"
Rude is more like it.

(End of this chapter)