Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 7 I'm so embarrassed

After Captain Yang and his team finished giving their instructions, they left together.

Chen Fan remained alone in the house, looking at the straw-covered bed, the unmade quilt, the empty bed frame and wardrobe beside it, and the equally empty yard outside the door.

Looking at myself again, I saw that I was wearing shoes that no one knew who had worn them, and cotton-padded clothes and jackets that no one knew who had worn them. The only things that truly belonged to me were a pair of underwear and a set of thermal underwear. A feeling of desolation welled up inside me.

Who else has had a worse time-travel experience than me?!
Since waking up today, one thing after another has kept him busy.

Now that things have calmed down, I finally have time to reflect on my situation.

After two minutes of deep thought, I finally came to the conclusion: thinking about it more is useless!
Being in an unfamiliar place, penniless, without any skills, and without even an identity document, what can one do if they can't run away and have nowhere to go?

Chen Fan couldn't help but look up at the sky and sigh, "I'm so hungry!"

I haven't eaten anything since I woke up. If you include the time I was unconscious after being rescued, it's been almost a day and a night. During that long, apart from two bowls of ginger and brown sugar water and two bowls of medicine, I haven't eaten anything else. How could I not be hungry!
Looking down at the edge of her cotton-padded coat, which only reached her thighs, she let out another long sigh, "It's so cold!"

Then I quickly climbed into bed, pulled back the covers to cover my legs, which were almost frozen.

Winters in Jiangnan are much colder now than they were decades later. He remembers that after the turn of the millennium, apart from a heavy snowfall in 08, the snow in his hometown would at most cover the ground with a single layer, and it would melt away completely in two days.

When I was a child, the snow in winter could be a foot deep. If you stepped on it, your whole calf would be submerged. And the snow would last for a long time, not melting until spring. So my deepest memory of winter back then is snow.

The climate in the Jiangnan region in the 70s was even colder than in the 90s.

Despite it being a sunny day, he was still wearing a cotton-padded coat, but with only a thin pair of pajama pants on his lower body, he still couldn't keep up.

After sitting in the haystack for a while and finally warming his legs, Chen Fan faced a new problem: "I'm starving to death, when will they send rice?"

Just then, he suddenly smelled the aroma of food and involuntarily sniffed. Who was cooking?
Then he was filled with frustration again, because no matter who was cooking, no one would bring him a bowl of food.

Just then, Jiang Lili timidly walked to the door, glanced inside, and without coming in, stood there and said, "Chen, Chen Fan, I've made some food. Would you like some?"

Have a meal?

Chen Fan's eyes lit up instantly. He threw back the covers and got out of bed. "Oh dear, how could I do this? This is so embarrassing! Where is it? In the kitchen?"

He had long forgotten what Captain Yang had just told him.

Keep your distance? Will keeping your distance fill your stomach?
Jiang Lili was a little stunned by him. After a couple of seconds, she reacted and pointed to the kitchen, "It's in the kitchen."

"okay."

Chen Fan, wrapped in his cotton-padded coat, walked over there. After taking two steps, he looked back and saw Jiang Lili still standing there. He couldn't help but say, "What are you still doing? Come and eat with us."

Jiang Lili quickly lowered her head and said, "Oh, oh."

As she followed behind, a strange feeling suddenly arose in her heart: who was treating whom to dinner?

Upon entering the kitchen, Chen Fan went straight to the stove. It was an earthen stove built of yellow mud and stones, far less refined than the handmade products of later Kuaishou influencers; it was the kind that just needed to be functional. The countertop wasn't covered with anything smooth, and the soot from the stove had blackened the yellow mud on it.

There are two pots on the stove: a large iron pot used for cooking rice and vegetables, and a small, deep, hemispherical iron pot mainly used for boiling water. When cooking, the pot is filled with water, and the heat from the stove simultaneously boils the water, making it a highly efficient way to use energy.

However, the fire often went out before the water boiled, and the crudely made pot lid couldn't keep out the soot, so few people would drink the water boiled in the earthenware jar; it was mainly used for washing.

In rural areas, the smoke vent of the stove is usually located on the side, so that the fire can be lit in the front and the food can be cooked in the back, which is very convenient.

In his previous life, Chen Fan had seen this kind of earthen stove at a farmhouse when he participated in a company event. Although that one was a refined and improved version from later generations, this one was a crude and primitive version, but the layout and style were similar. So he went directly to the back of the stove, lifted the blackened wooden pot lid, and a rich aroma of rice wafted out.

The pot was filled with fragrant white rice cooked over a wood fire, and on top of the rice were two bowls, one large and one small. The large bowl contained cabbage, and the small bowl contained half a bowl of very thin egg custard. The yellow egg custard and white rice complemented each other, making Chen Fan swallow a lot of saliva. He quickly put down the pot lid and went to pick up the bowl of egg custard, but as soon as he touched the rim of the bowl, he was burned and pulled back.

Jiang Lili came in at this moment, busy taking bowls and chopsticks, placing them on a small table to the side, and then reaching for the egg custard bowl on the rice.

Chen Fan quickly called out, "Be careful, it's hot."

Jiang Lili simply pinched the rim of the bowl, twirled it a couple of times, lifted it onto the table, and couldn't help but smile, saying, "It's nothing."

She quickly lowered her head, took out the cabbage, and then busied herself serving rice.

Chen Fan stared wide-eyed, raised his hand to look at it, then looked at Jiang Lili's hand, but unfortunately the lighting in the kitchen was poor, so he couldn't see it clearly.

He couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "Looks may be ruthless, but when it comes to action, it's an iron fist!"
The rice bowls were placed on the table, and the two sat facing each other and began to eat.

Two bowls of rice, three bowls of vegetables.

Besides the half bowl of steamed egg custard and stir-fried cabbage, there was also a bowl of pickled vegetables that every household in this rural area makes. The pickled vegetables are made by drying radishes until they are half-dried, then mixing them with homemade fermented bean paste or chili sauce. They only need two or three days to become flavorful and are very appetizing.

Chen Fan was also extremely hungry, so he picked up his rice bowl and started eating.

After eating a few bites, he noticed that there was only one pickled radish in Jiang Lili's bowl, while the stir-fried cabbage and steamed egg custard were untouched.

He couldn't help but ask, "Why aren't you eating any vegetables?"

Jiang Lili's hand suddenly paused, then she said casually without looking up, "You eat it, I don't like these."

Who doesn't like vegetables but only likes pickled radishes?
Chen Fan immediately put down his chopsticks and bowl, picked up the egg bowl and spoon, and poured most of it into her bowl. He then added a large chopstick of cabbage to her bowl before continuing to eat.

Jiang Lili looked at the food in her bowl, then stole a glance at him, but as if afraid of being discovered, she quickly looked away. The corners of her mouth curled up slightly, but she quickly pursed her lips. After a while, she picked up a small piece of egg and put it in her mouth, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl up again.

After finishing two bowls of rice, Chen Fan let out a long, satisfied sigh, "I'm alive again!"

At this point, apart from the bowl of pickled vegetables, the other bowls were cleaner than if they had been licked clean.

(End of this chapter)