Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 668 Bronze Ware

Although he was suspected of being a scapegoat, Chen Fan still gladly accepted He Qingsheng's arrangement.

It's just a quota for going abroad. Look at how nervous they are, looking at it like it's a hot potato. But Chen Fan doesn't take it seriously at all.

Didn't we hold a selection exam for international students this year? In another month, at the end of December, the first batch of international students will head to the United States, and two years later, they will all return to China one after another.

Then came a steady stream of students returning home, bringing back not only advanced technologies and ideas from abroad, but also news from the outside world.

Yes, Professor Zhong was in the second batch, and he went to the UK at the end of 79.

It was from this time that a trend of going abroad began to sweep across China.

Those with employers are doing everything they can to get a spot to go abroad, while those without employers are also racking their brains to find a way out.

To be fair, the number of spots for studying abroad is indeed very precious, driving many people crazy.

Some immature young comrades even lost their minds in order to go abroad, and were willing to be manipulated as long as they were given a spot.

If things go as planned, that's fine; if they don't, a whole host of troubles will ensue.

In short, there was a whole bunch of messy and chaotic things going on.

However, those who control the allocation of quotas, apart from a very few who seek personal gain, have not incurred much public wrath.
Actually, as long as no one is deliberately targeted, isn't it normal to be rejected in such a large-scale selection process with limited spots?

Who would have the time to hold a grudge against the person in charge?
They're just being silly.

Therefore, as long as the principles of openness, fairness, and impartiality are upheld and no underhanded dealings are conducted, Chen Fan has nothing to fear.

Of course, we still have to put on a show, after all, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

After discussing the matter, He Qingsheng finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Chen Fan did not say anything against it.

There was no way to deal with this young man in the usual way you treat subordinates. I was just putting troublesome things in his hands, so I could only try to persuade him with kind words. Fortunately, the result was good.

After finishing their business, He Qingsheng threw away his cigarette butt, got up, walked behind his desk, opened a drawer, and took out an envelope.

Watching his actions, Chen Fan had a vague suspicion: "Could it be another money order?"

He Qingsheng walked over and handed it to him, smiling, "Open it and see for yourself."

Chen Fan opened the envelope and took out two money order slips, one for $3 and the other for $7, totaling $9. Sure enough, they were royalties sent by Takahashi Publishing House.

He Qingsheng sat down on the sofa and said to him, "The one with 32,000 copies is the reprint I told you about last time, and the one with 47,000 copies is the reprint of the second published work. They were sent over one after the other by President Takahashi."

President Takahashi?

Chen Fan gave him a strange look. He remembered that Old He, like him, used to call Takahashi Komoto.
Seeing his gaze, He Qingsheng's old face flushed slightly. He then coughed and said, "To be honest, they've treated us quite well. You can treat others as you would like to be treated, right?"

Chen Fan put the remittance slip into his pocket. "Perfect timing. I'm almost out of overseas remittance coupons. I can get a new batch."

He paused for a moment, then said to the two of them, "Don't let this get out of my mouth, or someone else will come looking for me to switch."

Although remittance certificates can be sold for money, he's not short of money, so why bother making that kind of money? He might as well keep them in his hands and avoid having to take advantage of Zhou Yali every time he needs foreign exchange.

Seeing Chen Fan's stingy attitude, He Qingsheng waved his hand generously, "It's alright, our unit doesn't lack these remittance certificates."

Just as Chen Fan was deep in thought, Tan Yong said from the side, "We have reached a cooperation agreement with Takahashi Publishing House, and have initially selected the works of 5 authors to send over, which have already passed their review."

I must say, this little notebook paid very quickly. While five works don't amount to your previous royalties, it's still tens of thousands of dollars, and the money has already arrived. These days, our organization really doesn't lack remittance certificates.

In this regard, Chen Fan and Tan Yong shared the same opinion.

The notebook may not be good at other things, but it's really good at making money.

After taking a sip of tea, Chen Fan patted his thigh, stood up, and said, "Is there anything else? I'm leaving now."

He Qingsheng quickly stood up and asked, "Where are we going? When Secretary Xu and the others come back later, we'll be discussing room allocation."

Chen Fan laughed and said, "I don't have a say in housing allocation. Do you think you'd agree if I said we should get a three-bedroom apartment for the junior staff in our department?"

He Qingsheng's face darkened, and he fell silent.

Chen Fan: "Professor Xu assigned me homework to go to the museum to study, and I also have to submit a paper before the winter break. I need to go and take a look as soon as possible."

Seeing that he truly had a mission, He Qingsheng said no more and waved him away.

……

November 29th, Wednesday, the 11th day of the tenth lunar month.

Suitable for construction, dismantling, cleaning, and praying for blessings.

Avoid moving house.

Yesterday, Xu Qizhen went to the Urban Construction Committee and Housing Management Bureau to complete the handover procedures. After returning with the certificates and registering and archiving the information, she briefly discussed with He Qingsheng and the others and decided to allocate the houses today.

These days, most things are relatively slow, but there are also things that are exceptionally efficient, such as receiving wages, distributing benefits, and allocating housing.

Especially when it comes to housing allocation, most of the time the units have already been allocated before the dormitory buildings are even completed, and handing over the houses is just a formality.

For provincial writers' associations, allocating housing only after the residents have received it is considered slow.

Now that we have the house, we can't afford to slow down any longer. Everything was planned in advance, and there's nothing else to consider. Plus, with only a few people at the Writers' Association, things are even easier.

The list of who can live in the courtyard, who will be allocated three rooms, who will live in two rooms, and who will ultimately only be able to choose single dormitories has already been decided long ago.

So there's no need for any complicated procedures; we can just draw lots in batches.

Except for Chen Fan.

Everyone at his workplace knew that he paid for the apartment himself, spending a total of 3000 yuan, which was more expensive than the same apartment in a big city. It was only natural that he was the first to book an apartment.

Although the price was relatively high, I didn't rip him off.

In addition to the house, it also includes a complete set of furniture, all made of high-end wood specified by Chen Fan. The furniture accounts for more than half of the 3000 yuan price, guaranteeing a fair price and no deception of the young or old.

Not to mention that the property certificate includes the land in the front and back yards, so you can't lose money no matter how you calculate it.

(The private property certificate from 1975 is missing a 7 in the date print.)

(The date on the back cover is complete, but the style of this item varies across the country. Moreover, housing policies differed back then; many smaller places allowed the buying and selling of private houses, while only large cities with tight housing supplies would coordinate allocation and prohibit private transactions.)
Having received the property certificate meant the house belonged to Chen Fan, and he didn't interfere with the housing allocation process.
He turned and ran to the construction site next to the Wenyi New Village, where he found Huang Tianzhi. It was the same old story of Yan Daqiao.

Huang Tianzhi lit a cigarette and stared at him, somewhat bewildered. "You want to build a kang (heated brick bed)?"

As he spoke, he turned his head to look around, then turned back, his eyes filled with disbelief. "Although winters in Jiangnan are a bit cold, a heated brick bed? Isn't that a bit too much?"

Chen Fan, smoking a cigarette, sighed and said, "Have you ever slept on a kang (a heated brick bed)?"

Huang Tianzhi hesitated for a moment, then gently shook his head and asked again, "Have you slept with him?"

Chen Fan: "That's right. You only know the benefits of sleeping on a kang in winter after you've slept on one."

He gestured with his hands, "I went to see my house the day before yesterday. The master bedroom is quite large. I'll build a two-meter by three-meter kang (heated brick bed), and the foot of the kang will be right where the bathroom is, so it won't affect anything."

The kitchen is right behind the master bedroom, so the stove and kang (heated brick bed) can be set up in the kitchen. You can light a fire there and warm the kang here, how wonderful! In the summer, you can seal off the stove and replace it with a coal stove, which won't have a big impact on the temperature of the master bedroom.

I've thought all these details through; it wasn't just a sudden whim.

Huang Tianzhi clicked his tongue, scratched his head, and felt a headache coming on. "But no matter how much you dream about it, we don't have any master craftsmen here who know how to build a kang (heated brick bed)!"

Chen Fan flicked off the ash from his cigarette and said calmly, "It's just setting up a kang (heated brick bed), it's a small matter, I can do it."

He then pulled two design drawings out of his pocket and handed them to him, saying, "They're simple and easy to understand; even someone who can't read can follow them to carry out the construction."

Huang Tianzhi hesitated slightly, paused for two seconds before taking the drawing, and looked at it. It really was a design drawing for a traditional Northeastern kang (heated brick bed).

He couldn't help but be a little surprised, "Where did you learn this stuff?"

It's true that winters in Jiangnan are very cold, but normal people don't actually build kang (heated brick beds) at home. The reason is simple: while winters are cold, summers are even hotter, sometimes hotter than in Guangdong. If you built a kang at home, you wouldn't be able to stay indoors in the summer.

Unless you're like Chen Fan, who only uses a stove in winter and a coal stove the rest of the time, wouldn't that be too wasteful?

Chen Fan took a drag of his cigarette and chuckled, "Where did you learn that? From the library, of course. Practical architecture books also have it. It's just that you don't like reading. As long as you read more, you can learn a lot of strange and wonderful knowledge from books. It's definitely not a waste of time."

Huang Tianzhi shook his head with a wry smile, "Alright, since you want to install the kang (heated brick bed), I'll arrange for a few people to go over now, and it can be done today."

Chen Fan chuckled and said, "Don't worry, we won't let the workers work for free. Just tell us how much they need, and we'll settle the accounts later."

He wasn't involved in the design of this house from start to finish; he only saw what it looked like a few days ago.

Looking at the shimmering lake surface and feeling the chilly lake breeze, I thought that winter might be particularly cold, so I decided to build a kang (heated brick bed) at home.

Just like he told Huang Tianzhi, it's one thing if you haven't slept in this thing, but since you've enjoyed it, you naturally want to live in it even more comfortably.

When Huang Tianzhi heard him mention the construction fee, he shook his head and laughed, "There's no need. It's just a minor renovation. The workers and materials are readily available, so there's no need to charge you. I'll just calculate their attendance as usual."

Chen Fan smiled and nodded, without refusing.

People who live off their employers' money won't be taken seriously unless it's excessive.

Well, there are some serious people out there, but most of them are just treated like mascots. And then, that's it.

Huang Tianzhi didn't delay at all; he immediately assigned a team to renovate houses in the neighboring Wenyi New Village.

The master craftsman leading the group didn't take it too seriously at first, but when he heard Huang Tianzhi say that he wanted to build a kang (a heated brick bed), and then saw the two blueprints, his expression became extremely strange.

There are actually people in Jiangnan who build kang beds?

Overall, he was in a pretty good mood. The project wasn't complicated, and he even learned how to build a kang (heated brick bed), so he should consider it a win, right?

I just don't know where the next family with a heated kang bed is.
……

Chen Fan didn't stay in the room to supervise. With Huang Tianzhi personally making arrangements and the old craftsman interested in the kang (heated brick bed), plus the old craftsmen's dedication to their craft these days, there was no need to worry about the quality. He could just come back to inspect it tomorrow.

What if the experienced craftsman doesn't do a good job on his first try?
What does it matter? The people are right there at the construction site. We can just bring them over and fix it. It's not troublesome at all.

After leaving the construction site, he drove through the Jiangnan University campus without stopping, heading straight for the Jiangnan Provincial Museum.

……

The Provincial Museum is also located in the city center, not far from Jiangnan University, and near the Cultural Palace.

This area is almost the concentration of cultural institutions in the provincial capital. The Provincial Department of Culture, the Provincial Bureau of Culture, the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, as well as the original members of the Jiangnan Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles: the Writers Association, the Music Association, the Drama Association, and the Dance Association are all located in this area.

In addition, there are workers' cultural palaces, youth palaces, and so on.

It is quite reasonable for the provincial museum to be located here.

Yesterday, after receiving his royalties, Chen Fan came here with a letter of recommendation written by Professor Xu. Director Zhang personally received him and issued him a temporary pass.

From today onwards, he will come here every day to learn about national treasures.

After parking the car, Chen Fan took his pass and entered the museum, where Director Zhang was already waiting at the entrance.

Upon seeing him enter, without any further pleasantries, she led him inside, explaining, "The Jiangnan Museum certainly can't compare to the Forbidden City, but backed by the culturally and economically prosperous Jiangnan region, it has plenty of good things to offer."

The museum has a wide variety of collections, with items spanning thousands of years of history, from ancient times to the present.

From bronzes, lacquerware, gold and silver wares, and bamboo and wooden slips, to jade, ceramics, calligraphy and paintings, and rare ancient books, the collection is comprehensive and encompasses almost everything.

Chen Fan followed a step behind him, looking at the collection protected by the glass case, his eyes barely changing.

Antiques are something that people who like them really love, but people who don't see them as just jars and pots or old junk.

This has almost nothing to do with whether someone is cultured or not.

Even among scholars and writers, not everyone likes these kinds of things. Some love calligraphy, some love bronze and stone inscriptions, and some love antiques. Everyone has their own preferences.

Perhaps in terms of value, antiques hold the highest status, but in terms of personal taste, isn't everyone a treasure? Where does the distinction of high and low come from?
Therefore, in Chen Fan's eyes, these treasures were indeed just so-so, perhaps not even as good as the three pandas at home.

Well, even this square cauldron in front of us won't do.

Director Zhang took out a key and opened the glass protective cover, revealing the bronze cauldron from thousands of years ago to Chen Fan.

He turned to look at Chen Fan and said softly, "Old Xu's intention is for me to introduce you to some national treasures as much as possible, and most importantly, to teach you the methods of appraising treasures, because it includes knowledge of the social and technological level, aesthetics, and historical background at that time."

Today, my first lesson for you is about bronze ware!

(End of this chapter)