Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 649 Give It a Stimulation
At the entrance of Team 5, the original long strip of earthen-walled houses has disappeared, replaced by two rows of two-story brick and tile buildings facing each other from north to south.

Each building is 5 meters apart. In front of the building is a threshing ground, and behind it is a deep embankment. Going down the stairs leads to a vegetable garden.

Between the two rows of small buildings is a village road that is eight meters wide.

If you include the two sides of the field, the total width is close to 20 meters, which is equivalent to a standard two-way road.

They basically occupied the foundations of the original dirt roads and mud-walled houses.

The buildings on both sides are built on raised red bricks with their foundations level with the road. This avoids the need for excessive earthwork and also isolates the soil from moisture, making it more comfortable for people to live in.

However, the field in front and the road in the middle are still natural soil, with only simple compaction done.

It's not that we can't afford cement, it's that we can't buy cement.

Previously, Secretary Yang went to Secretary Qian of the commune, hoping to get approval to build all the village roads in Lujiawan into cement roads, especially the main road in the middle. As a result, he was scolded by Secretary Qian.

Cement is an important strategic building material. It's already good enough that they can get enough cement to build houses in Lujiawan. They want to build cement roads too.

Didn't you see that there's only one cement road in the whole town?!

The current rural construction projects do not include cement roads.

Yes, that's right. The houses in Lujiawan were all purchased under the guise of new rural construction, which is why they were able to obtain the necessary steel bars, cement, and other materials. Otherwise, they might not have been able to buy all of them.

So, there was no other way, and the commune members all moved into two-story buildings, but the roads they walked on were still muddy.

Chen Fan didn't dislike muddy roads at all. In fact, walking on dirt roads was quite comfortable, especially when wearing straw sandals, which gave him a very down-to-earth feeling.

As long as you don't go out in the rain, it's fine.

Light rain is fine, but heavy rain makes the roads really difficult to walk on. Even the hardest dirt roads will soften when it rains heavily, leaving potholes with every step. You have to be very careful even when wearing wooden clogs.

So many farmers simply walk barefoot on the ground, then rinse it with water when they get home, and it's clean and simple.

Chen Fan strode across the middle of the road with his hands behind his back. On both sides, the commune members were carrying the harvested grain into their houses, while Li, the team's accountant and scorekeeper, was making records at the door of a house.

"Old Zhang, eight dan of grain. It needs to be taken out to dry first thing tomorrow morning. We can't delay it."

Although Zhang Laoqi also shares the surname Zhang, he has no relation to Zhang Wenliang's family; they are just people with the same surname.

In 1938, his hometown was flooded. His grandfather brought his family from another province and wandered over. They were taken in by the Lu family and became tenant farmers. The Lu family even lent them grain, so they settled down there. Later, his father found a woman in the area, married her, and had him. So, they were able to put down roots.

Many tenant farmers in Lujiawan came from this background, which is why there are so many different surnames in the village. There are only a few large and powerful families, with the Yang, Zhang, and Huang families being the largest.

It's not just because they came early, but also because society stabilized after the founding of the People's Republic of China, which led to an increase in births. Otherwise, if people couldn't be retained, it would be useless to have more children.

Old Zhang wiped his sweat with a towel that had lost its terry cloth, tilted his head to watch Accountant Li finish writing down the accounts, and then handed him a cigarette, saying, "Don't worry about this, even if I'm lazy, I wouldn't dare delay the drying of the grain."

He looked at the threshing floor as he spoke, "There's a lot of rice harvested this time, I don't know if my little rice paddy will be big enough to dry it all."

Accountant Li lit a cigarette, took a puff, and frowned as he said, "There's nothing we can do about it. Although the rice paddy area is a bit larger than before, the rice yield has increased even more. Everyone's like this. We can only pile it up a bit thicker and have your wife in the house turn it over more frequently."

Old Zhang thought for a moment and said, “If you ask me, it’s because the harvest is too fast. In the past, it would take several days to finish harvesting. The first batch of harvested crops would be dried first, and by the time the later batches were harvested, the earlier batches would be almost dry. Harvesting one batch, drying another batch, harvesting another batch, drying another batch—that way, it wasn’t so rushed.”

Chen Fan walked over with his hands behind his back and chuckled, "Seventh Brother is right. You should go and give the suggestion to the brigade leader to let others use the farm machinery so we can continue to use manual labor. That way, the harvest will be slower."

Zhang Laoqi turned his head and saw that it was Chen Fan. He immediately chuckled and took out a cigarette, offering it to Chen Fan. "Oh, it's Teacher Chen. Have a cigarette."

He then chuckled dryly and said, "I was just kidding, don't take it seriously."

Accountant Li laughed heartily, "This guy just loves to talk nonsense. If you ask him to actually use a sickle to harvest, he'll complain it's too tiring."

Zhang Laoqi chuckled awkwardly, not daring to say a word.

Although he was more than ten years older than Chen Fan, he still felt a little intimidated in front of this teacher and didn't even dare to make a joke.

There's nothing else to it. Putting aside the many contributions Teacher Chen has made to the team, he himself is a high-ranking official working in the province. I heard that even the county head has to greet him first when he meets him.

It is because Teacher Chen is kind and righteous that he has not forgotten Lujiawan and often comes back to visit. He has not even moved his household registration. If it were someone else, they would probably have settled in the provincial capital long ago.

Most people in Lujiawan shared similar sentiments with Zhang Laoqi: they both loved and respected Chen Fan, while also harboring some fear of him.

This fear is not so much about being afraid, but rather the influence of the bureaucratic mindset that has been ingrained in the bones of most ordinary people for thousands of years.

A higher-ranking official can have a crushing effect, especially one of such a high-ranking position!

Chen Fan didn't care, of course. He was just joking. Seeing that Zhang Laoqi was a little hesitant, he simply didn't linger. He laughed and said, "It was just a joke. Who would be stupid enough to leave the farm machinery unused and instead use a sickle to cut crops?"

He then waved his hand, "I'm not chatting with you guys anymore, I have to go to the brigade headquarters, see you later."

Just as he was about to leave, Zhang Laoqi's wife came over with a cup of tea. "Teacher Chen, have some water before you go. You haven't even had a sip of water since you came into our house."

Chen Fan quickly smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, don't be so polite. We're all on the same team, so let's not stand on ceremony. Now, I'm off."

Hearing him say that, Sister-in-law Zhang immediately beamed with joy, "Then come again next time!"

"okay."

Chen Fan waved and strode out.

Along the short stretch of road, almost every household had someone come out to greet him. Before long, he had a handful of cigarettes in his hand, one tucked behind each ear, and the rest hidden between his fingers, just like some middlemen who secretly sell loose cigarettes.

When they were almost at the end of the road, Chen Fan turned right and entered a small alley.

This is the road leading to Master Lu's house.

After walking downhill for a while, and continuing forward, you'll find a small red brick house.

With the insistence of Chen Fan and several brigade leaders, the brigade provided the materials and the construction team provided assistance free of charge. In just two days, this small bungalow with red walls and black tiles was built in front of the thatched hut.

The house is not large, only 50 square meters. The layout is one bedroom, one living room, one kitchen and one bathroom. The living room is in the middle, which takes up nearly 20 square meters. The bedroom and small study are on the east side, which together are also 20 square meters, but the study is smaller and the bedroom is larger.

The kitchen is on the south side of the west side, and the bathroom is on the north side, each about 5 square meters.

Yes, all areas are usable floor area; there is no shared area.

The toilet's drain leads to a septic tank more than ten meters away, and there is a small water storage tank on the roof, so there's no need to worry even if the water supply is interrupted.

Overall, it's a huge improvement over the old thatched hut.

As for the original thatched hut, it was completely razed after the house dried out, and turned into a yard.

When Chen Fan arrived, Master Lu was preparing dinner in the kitchen. Upon seeing him, he immediately put down his knife and said through the window, "You've come at the right time. I'm craving chicken. Catch one and cook it."

After saying that, he dried his hands and came out.

Chen Fan didn't mince words. He walked through the main room to the backyard and said, "Other people's houses have a front yard and a vegetable garden in the back, but your house has the yard in the back and the vegetable garden in the back. There's no planning at all."

After saying that, he walked to the chicken coop with the shed in the backyard, grabbed a rooster, and came back.

Master Lu sat at the table, sipping his tea. He took a breath and said, "I'm simplifying things. What else could I do? Fill in the vegetable patch in front to make a field, and then dig up the field in the back to make a vegetable garden? Wouldn't that be too much trouble?"

Chen Fan walked into the kitchen, preparing the chicken while loudly proclaiming, "If you want a grander experience, what's a little trouble?"

After a pause, he added, "If you ask me, why are you even making dinner? Just come with me to the brigade headquarters for a good meal and drinks, and you won't even have to spend your own money. Wouldn't that be great?"

Master Lu ignored him and changed the subject, "Are you going to eat at the brigade headquarters?"

Chen Fan exclaimed "Ah," his hands still moving, "Yeah, by the way, I have something to say."

Master Lu, holding a teacup, chatted with him through the wall, "What could possibly be wrong with you? You're working in the provincial capital now, and the team is doing so well. Is there some kind of problem?"

Chen Fan: "There are no problems, but if it develops well, it can develop even better."

He didn't say what it was about, but chatted with Master Lu while he was busy in the kitchen.

In less than 20 minutes, the chicken was chopped into eight pieces and stir-fried in the pan.

After washing his hands, he came out, lifted his arms and said to Master Lu, "Simmer for 20 minutes first, then pour the vegetables you just prepared into the pot and simmer for a few more minutes."

Normally, Master Lu lives alone at home and just stir-fries some vegetables. It's only when he comes over that he kills chickens and ducks.

I didn't expect that although he came today, he wouldn't stay for a meal, so he has to eat by himself.

Seeing that Chen Fan was about to leave, Master Lu waved his hand and said, "Wait a minute, I have something to ask you."

Chen Fan looked at him. "What is it?"

Master Lu, "I prepared your betrothal gifts last year, when are you going to bring a wife home?"

Chen Fan blinked and said seriously, "Grandpa, that's not right."

Master Lu raised an eyebrow slightly. "What's wrong?"

Chen Fan said, "Think about it carefully. Didn't I dig those things out of the ground myself? How did they become the betrothal gifts you prepared for me? That doesn't make sense."

Master Lu rolled his eyes. "Don't try to fool me. If you think that's not enough, there's more in the garden."

He then looked at Chen Fan and chuckled, "But this time you have to bring the person here first."

Chen Fan hesitated for two seconds, then asked in a low voice, "If I bring a few, will you give me that many?"

Upon hearing this, Master Lu was immediately speechless with anger, glaring at him, "How many more?"

Chen Fan coughed lightly, "No, I just wanted to express this idea, to see if you have prepared a lot of things."

Master Lu sneered twice, "Hmph, don't say I'm a stingy old man. If you're capable, bring a few people with you, and I'll prepare a few betrothal gifts for you."

Chen Fan chuckled dryly, "Just kidding, just kidding. I'll definitely bring people back for the New Year."

He then coughed twice, "That's right, I'm not old enough yet, I have to wait two more years."

Master Lu waved his hand, "The person is the person, and the certificate is the certificate. Just bring the person back."

He then leaned on the table, let out a long breath, and chuckled, "I never thought that at my age, I would be able to see the younger generation get married. It's a blessing."

Chen Fan chuckled softly upon hearing this, his playful mood immediately vanishing. He said with a smile, "Grandpa, I see you're still in good health; even more good fortune is yet to come." Fourth Master Lu shook his head, glancing at him with his eyes, "They say having many children and grandchildren brings good fortune. I wish I could, but it all depends on how hard you try."

Chen Fan's face fell. They're already pressuring him to have children before they're even married. That's going too far.

He immediately turned his head and quickly walked out.

Following that was Master Lu's hearty laughter, "Hahahaha..."

Chen Fan walked to the brigade headquarters with his hands behind his back. It was already dark, but there were lights and voices inside, so they were going to have their working lunch here today.

He first patted the two horses that were obediently standing by the door, telling them to go to the stable next door for some hay for dinner. Then he strode into the yard and asked, "Old Zhang, what's good to eat?"

There was no one in the office, but Zhang Wenliang's voice came from the small canteen in the back of the building: "It's not served yet. Ask your apprentice."

Huang Li had already run out of the kitchen with a spatula in hand, grinning as she said, "Master, today I made braised eel, braised soft-shelled turtle, cherry pork, lion's head meatballs, and tofu soup."

Chen Fan nodded, stopped at the restaurant entrance, and said to her, "That's right. The reason I brought you to the cafeteria is to give you more opportunities to practice. You don't usually have the chance to make these kinds of delicate dishes, so you have to find opportunities to practice more."

Huang Li nodded vigorously, "Okay, I understand, Master."

Seeing his master give him a thumbs up, he walked into the dining room before happily turning around and going into the kitchen.

Chen Fan pulled out a chair and sat down. Seeing that everyone at the table was glaring at him, he couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"

Zhang Wenliang covered his forehead, looking at him with a complicated expression. "Are people so open about abusing their power for personal gain these days?"

Chen Fan pursed his lips and looked at everyone, saying, "Didn't you eat the dishes she made?"

The group looked at each other, thought it made sense, and then continued their conversation as if nothing had happened.

Chen Fan took a sip of tea, then turned to Yang Xingxiu and asked, "Sister-in-law, when is your due date?"

By this time, Yang Xingxiu's belly was quite large. Hearing Chen Fan's words, she couldn't help but touch her belly, look at Zhang Wenliang, and then smiled at him, "It should be the end of January."

Chen Fan did some quick calculations and said, "Then it's perfect for the New Year."

He then clasped his hands together and said, "Congratulations!"

Then he turned to Zhang Wenliang and said, "You'd better behave yourself and not make your sister-in-law angry, otherwise when the children come out, the two of them will gang up on you."

Before Zhang Wenliang could even speak, Secretary Yang and the others burst into laughter, bending over with mirth.

Zhang Wenliang sat in the chair with a bitter face. He wanted to lash out, but on one side were his father-in-law, uncle, master, and deputy captain, and on the other side was the instigator. His wife was watching him closely, not to mention that even his master couldn't tell how good the kid's skills were now. It was simply outrageous.

So he could only sigh and drink his tea.

A short while later, Huang Li brought over two middle-aged women to serve the dishes, as well as two bottles of baijiu (Chinese liquor) made from bayberries, each weighing about two jin (1 kg).

Chen Fan now prefers to drink yellow wine, but Secretary Yang and his group don't like it, nor do the visitors. So, only white wine is available here.

Zhang Wenliang picked up the wine bottle and poured some wine, while turning to look at Chen Fan, "Where did you go for a stroll today?"

Chen Fan took the wine glass handed to him, put it down and said, "How can you say I'm just strolling around? I went from one end of the village to the other and back again, and took a lot of pictures of the villagers working. I'll write a news article for you tomorrow and have your transport team take it to the prefectural committee and the newspaper. It'll definitely be published, okay?"

I'm doing this to promote the production team!

Secretary Yang coughed lightly, looked at him, and said, "Did you take pictures of the leaders?"

Chen Fan paused for a moment, looked up at him, and said, "How about we film it now?"

He then reached into his bag to rummage for the camera.

Xiao Liewen said from the side, "What are we filming now? Filming people eating and drinking? If people see that the labor scenes are all of the commune members, but the eating and drinking are all of the cadres, wouldn't that cause misunderstandings?"

Chen Fan: "No. I also filmed the lunch scene. Most people who saw it just said we ate together."

He paused for a moment, looked at the huge portions of four dishes and a soup on the table, and laughed, "You could also say that you can eat without forgetting your work."

Ye Shubao picked up his glass and said, "It's good to keep work in mind while eating. Come on, let's have a drink first. I'm exhausted today. Let's discuss the work arrangements for the next few days."

Zhang Changjiang took a sip of wine, picked up a lion's head meatball with his chopsticks and put it in his bowl, looking at him and saying, "Haven't everything been arranged? What's there to discuss?"

Ye Shubao picked out an eel and said with a smile, "Didn't Xiao Chen want to take pictures? We can bring out what we've already agreed on and discuss it further."

Chen Fan pointed the camera at the two of them and snapped two photos, which startled Ye Shubao. "You're really taking pictures?"

"Of course we'll really film it, what else would we do?"

Chen Fan checked the camera, took a picture of Secretary Yang and Xiao Liewen respectively, then put the camera away and said, "If you have nothing else to say, then I'll talk to you."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at him.

Chen Fan smiled and said, "These past few days, you've seen me wandering around like a loafer, but that's not the case. I've been observing the production team's situation in various aspects."

Yang Xingxiu immediately asked, "So, what problem did you observe?"

Chen Fan hesitated for two seconds, then said, "Not for now."

Zhang Wenliang rolled his eyes. "That's like saying nothing at all."

Chen Fan coughed lightly, "Can you let me finish what I have to say?"

Zhang Wenliang ate his food and said, "Okay, go ahead and tell me."

Chen Fan pursed his lips, picked up a lion's head meatball, ate it in two bites, and then continued, "There are still many areas in the team that can be improved, but there's no rush now. On the one hand, everything is running smoothly for the time being, so there's no need for improvement. On the other hand, it's still a problem of insufficient talent."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Liewen couldn't help but put down his chopsticks and nod, "I've also noticed the issue of talent you mentioned."

He turned and looked around at everyone, then said seriously, "We've been wanting to buy those minivans produced by the Yunqi Factory, haven't we? But we can't find a single driver in the entire brigade. Otherwise, wouldn't it be so convenient to buy a few minivans and use them specifically for delivering goods to the prefectural committee?"

Zhang Changjiang nodded in agreement and said to Chen Fan, "The land for the garment factory has been selected. Considering the convenience of transportation and the requirements of Secretary Qian of the commune, it will be located at the ferry terminal on the west side of the commune. Our cargo ships can reach it after a short distance."

Moreover, the land was provided free of charge by the commune. Their condition was that once the garment factory opened, a batch of workers would be allocated to the town to help solve several employment problems.

We agreed on this after the meeting.

Secretary Yang continued, "There's no way around it. Our team's side businesses have expanded too much. From animal husbandry to cooked food, every link requires manpower. Take the tailors in this garment factory, for example. You might think that operating a sewing machine is very simple, but after learning from Liu Lu for a few days, they realize that making clothes well and to the standard is not simple at all."

Right now, there's a shortage of people in every field: tailors, farm machinery repairmen, drivers, agricultural technicians, livestock farmers… but these aren't skills that can be learned easily; you need to find professionals.

Ye Shubao took a sip of wine and joined in, "Do you remember last year when you repeatedly emphasized the importance of cultural learning in the team? At that time, everyone in the team nodded and agreed, but actually many people didn't take it to heart."

Before the college entrance examination, who would take studying seriously? No one! Because going to school was useless, and studying was a waste of time.

At the time, they outwardly agreed to your request, but their real intention was to have their child study veterinary medicine under your guidance. It wasn't until so many students went on to university that people started to take it seriously.

And then what? The team's side business developed well, and they could earn several thousand yuan in dividends every six months. Not to mention the workers, even the cadres could hardly compare. So everyone started to slack off again.

Until now, ..."

He pointed outside, seemingly to someone, and said, "The good positions in the side businesses have all been taken by kids with a good education. Those who aren't well-educated can't even be taught, so they've started to pay attention to it again."

After saying that, he clapped his hands and said, "That's the situation right now. After several internal struggles, most of the commune members still want their children to improve their studies, but the problem is that teachers are hard to find. This isn't elementary school teaching addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; we need skilled teachers. What do you suggest we do?"

While they were talking, Chen Fan kept looking left and right, his hands and mouth never stopped.

After they finished speaking, he nodded, took a sip of wine, looked at everyone and said, "The driver problem is easy to solve. I know people at the Yunhu First Long-Distance Bus Company Training School. Ask them for help, and we should be able to get a few spots."

Xiao Liewen was overjoyed. "That's great!"

Secretary Yang grinned and said, "No matter what their conditions are, just agree, and we will definitely comply."

Chen Fan smiled and said, "What kind of conditions could there be? It's the same as other units. You have to bring your own bedding and luggage, live on campus for three months, pay for all your own food and lodging, and pay 150 yuan per person for tuition."

150 yuan per person may seem like a lot, but don't think it's expensive. If possible, there are plenty of companies that would accept tuition fees of 500 yuan, but spots are hard to come by.

Upon hearing this, Secretary Yang nodded without hesitation, "No problem."

He then asked, "Anything else?"

Chen Fan continued, "For other gaps, we can refer to the practices of the transportation team and the retired employees of the water transport company, and go to the relevant units in Yunhu to find people."

"If you're willing to pay a high price, hiring a group of people, whether for labor or teaching, should be achievable."

Zhang Wenliang nodded along with the others, then suddenly frowned and asked, "Since we can hire an experienced master, why not just hire one directly instead of sending Liu Lu to Shanghai for further training?"

Chen Fan glanced at him. "Liu Lu is one of us, but what about those experienced workers?"

Zhang Wenliang blinked and consciously shut his mouth.

Let Liu Lu be the training instructor first. Even if the experienced instructors come later, they should still respect her. If it's the other way around, the experienced instructors might take over, and then it will be difficult to manage them.

Seeing that he had figured it out himself, Chen Fan continued, "Originally, I wanted to bring up the issue of education. Compared to when school started, the children at school have become much more lax, and the members of each team seem to be quite content with their lot."

Hearing this, Secretary Yang and the others couldn't help but blush a little.

The idea of ​​being content with what you have is nothing more than being happy with a little wealth.

With a new house built, livestock raised at home, and a large bonus due at the end of the year, who would want to live a life of hard work from dawn till dusk?!
Xiao Liewen stuck his head out, his eyes darting around, already plotting how to torment the man.

Ye Shubao exchanged a glance with him, and they tacitly reached an agreement.

Chen Fan continued, "So, I was thinking of giving the commune members a little incentive. What Uncle Yang just said about providing some jobs to the commune is a good idea. Actually, it's not impossible to expand the scope to other production brigades, but we need to consider the reasons carefully, otherwise a good thing can easily turn into a bad thing."

Secretary Yang took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, frowning thoughtfully. "Hmm, I understand that."

In terms of extensive knowledge and experience, Chen Fan certainly lacked confidence in them. However, when it came to managing the members of the production team, even though Chen Fan considered himself exceptionally intelligent, he dared not claim to be more capable than Secretary Yang and his team.

So he skipped that topic and continued, "That's the arrangement for now. As for the school, I'll go there to give a lecture when I have time, to boost the students' morale."

Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged glances, their dark expressions instantly vanishing, replaced by relieved smiles.

(End of this chapter)