Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 64 is too low-quality.

After the business was finished, according to custom, Captain Xiao's family was to treat Chen Fan to a good meal.

However, he led Chen Fan toward the brigade headquarters on the slope and said with a smile, "It's quite a coincidence. Last night, the power lines between the brigade headquarters and the commune were connected, and today the post office sent a technician to install the broadcasting station equipment. Once the equipment is installed, it will be ready to use as soon as the power lines for the whole brigade are connected."

They've been busy over there all morning, with Secretary Yang and Captain Zhang keeping them company. I'll just combine your two groups for a meal; please don't mind, Mr. Chen.”

Chen Fan laughed heartily and said, "You're too kind. If I wasn't afraid you'd think I was being disrespectful, I wouldn't have even eaten this meal. I've been feeling really bad about accepting your military overcoat and leather shoes."

Captain Xiao also laughed and said, "Let's not talk about that. Anyway, you're here to do as the host says. Once you're here, just follow my arrangements. Eat well or not, it's all the same."

While the two were talking, they entered the brigade headquarters.

A young man in his twenties or thirties greeted him, "Captain Xiao is here."

Then he pointed to the backyard and said, "Secretary Yang, Captain Zhang, Captain Ye, Sister Xingxiu, Company Commander Zhang, and Captain Guangwen are all at the broadcasting station, watching the post office staff install the broadcasting station."

Captain Xiao's expression changed slightly. "What? It's been all morning, and it's still not done?"

The man looked distressed. "No, it seems there's some problem. The post office staff have been looking for the problem, but they haven't found it yet."

Captain Xiao's face turned pale, and he walked inside without saying a word.

Chen Fan quickly followed behind.

After a short while, we passed through the central courtyard and arrived at the small building at the back.

This place used to be the boudoir of the Lu family's young ladies, but now it has become the production team's most important warehouse and broadcasting station.

Chen Fan followed Captain Xiao forward and discovered that the broadcasting station was actually located on the second floor.

Going up the stairs from the first floor, in a small room of about ten square meters on the second floor, several people were standing against the wall, their faces not looking too good.

Upon seeing Chen Fan approach, she managed a weak smile and nodded to him, "Master Chen is here."

Chen Fan waved to them, but didn't have a chance to speak.

Because Captain Xiao had already approached with a serious expression, asking, "What's going on?"

Zhang Wenliang immediately said, "The radio and record player are both fine, but the most important thing, the broadcasting equipment, is malfunctioning. We've been working on it for over two hours, and we still haven't fixed it."

Captain Xiao frowned and stared silently at the technician who had taken off his cotton-padded coat and was only wearing an autumn shirt, yet was still covered in sweat.

Radios and record players are fine, but there's nowhere to buy a broadcasting machine. Apart from the postal and telecommunications system, only the military can get them. If that thing breaks, it's a real problem.

Chen Fan watched from the side and asked curiously, "Why don't you open the shell?"

Everyone looked at him. The man who was doing the repair glanced at him and said irritably, "If you can't put it back together after taking it apart, are you going to pay for it?"

Chen Fan understood that he was in a bad mood, so he didn't argue with him. He simply said, "But how can we find the problem if we don't break down the shell?"

The man looked up, his face growing increasingly grim. "Who are you? Who do you think you are, the one who can fix things or the one who can?"

Secretary Yang tried to smooth things over, saying, "Young Master Chen didn't mean anything by it; he was just asking casually."

The man, however, showed no appreciation and said impatiently, "If you don't understand, shut up. This machine is brand new; every single one has been inspected. There's absolutely no chance of it malfunctioning. Can you take responsibility for delaying my machine repair?"

He then buried himself in studying those wires, repeatedly adjusting them without taking any other action.

Chen Fan was speechless and muttered under his breath, "It would be a miracle if they could find any problems without even opening the shell."

Captain Xiao, who was close by, vaguely heard his words and immediately turned his head and asked in a low voice, "You know about this?"

Chen Fan leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Whether I know it or not, this guy definitely doesn't know how to repair appliances."

Captain Xiao's eyes widened in disbelief. The technician sent by the post office didn't know how to repair the equipment?
He rolled his eyes slightly, tugged at Zhang Wenliang's clothes, and gestured for him to go outside. Chen Fan followed him out.

He couldn't help but feel irritated when he saw the man repairing the appliances.

That's so low-class!
Once they reached the corner of the outer balcony, Captain Xiao pulled Zhang Wenliang aside and whispered, "Do you know anything about this technician?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wenliang understood what he meant. He glanced at Chen Fan, then turned his head and whispered, "I don't know his background, but I do know the background of the post office's installation and maintenance team."

Captain Xiao's eyes widened. "Speak quickly."

Zhang Wenliang lowered his head and said, "Originally, the post office only had two technicians, one in charge of installation and the other in charge of maintenance. They were both trained in training courses in the early years, and their mentors had long been transferred to the county. They became the backbone of the commune's post office. Later, the installation and maintenance teams were all educated youth sent to the countryside by the commune."

These people have a junior high school education, so they can get started quickly. However, that's all they have. Following those two masters, they can only learn so much.

Therefore, if any telephones or radios in the commune broke, they had to be taken to the county for repair. The local officials could only do installation and wiring work; they generally didn't dare open the covers, let alone open the radios.

Upon hearing this, Captain Xiao understood.

If this person isn't handled properly today, I'm afraid we'll have to send him to the county seat.

But all the members of the brigade knew that a broadcast system was going to be installed soon. If this was delayed, who knew when it would be able to be brought back? If all the other brigades had loudspeakers installed, but Lujiawan didn't, wouldn't that be infuriating?

He hesitated for two seconds, then turned to look at Chen Fan.

Chen Fan immediately walked over.

He whispered to Chen Fan, "Are you confident you can fix that?"

Chen Fan immediately shook his head. Seeing that Captain Xiao's expression had changed, he quickly said, "As long as I open the lid, I can find the problem. I definitely won't be wasting my time like he did."

Captain Xiao nodded slowly, thought for a moment, took a deep breath, and then walked inside.

Zhang Wenliang and Chen Fan exchanged a glance and quickly followed behind.

Captain Xiao walked into the room, looked at the technician who was still busy, first gave Secretary Yang and Captain Zhang a wink, then forced a smile and called out softly, "Comrade, comrade."

The man turned around. "What is it?"

Captain Zhang immediately said, "Comrade Technician, this is Captain Xiao Liewen of our brigade, a combat hero. You must be polite to him."

Hearing this, the man's expression finally softened, and he stood up, saying with some apology, "I'm sorry, Captain Xiao, I didn't mean to, it's just that this thing is too difficult to repair..."

These days, being a combat hero is not just an honor, but also involves serious issues of political stance, so he dares not be careless in the slightest.

Captain Xiao waved his hand with a smile, interrupting him, "It's nothing, it's nothing."

He paused for a moment, then smiled gently and said, "It's like this, there's a young comrade in our team, yes, that's him."

She pointed at Chen Fan and said, "He's repaired these things before, why don't you let him give it a try?"

The man stared blankly at Chen Fan, then at him, "Let him try?"

He immediately frowned, "What if I break it?"

Captain Xiao was speechless and wanted to yell at him, "This thing of yours was bad to begin with!"

However, offending the people at the post office would not do the brigade any good.

He grinned and said, "If it was broken because of him, I'll take responsibility!"

(End of this chapter)