Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 79 Line Modification

Chen Fan sat beside him, speechless with astonishment.

These days, building a red brick house costs over 1000?
According to the work points system in Lujiawan this year, a strong laborer can earn 65 cents a day, which is 237.25 yuan a year. This is assuming no days off throughout the year and that the laborer can always get full pay.

But that's impossible in reality. For example, these past few days, the production team hasn't arranged much work. Even if they do assign some odd jobs, it's only four or five work points a day, so the actual income should be around 200 yuan.

Would it take five years to build a house without eating or drinking?
Indeed, houses have always been a major asset in any era!
……

After finishing their meal, the chefs rested for a while to digest their food before getting back to work.

Compared to being completely clueless in the morning, Chen Fan was now somewhat of an expert, and he kept circling around several places.

One minute they ran to the bottom of the slope to find out how this "fermented soil cement" was made, and the next they asked how the mud bricks were made. Then they ran to the construction site to watch them build walls.

To build a wall without tilting it requires not only the skill of the bricklayer but also the ability to make good use of various tools.

Not to mention trowels and mortar shovels, right-angle rulers, measuring tapes, plumb bobs, and even ink cartridges are used.

Chen Fan felt a little itchy to try it, but unfortunately he didn't dare to.

The bricklayers on other construction teams can only work under the supervision of their masters. If Huang Laosi, who has never even touched a trowel before, dares to go up and lay bricks, he might just faint.

I finally saved up some money to build a house, and you, a newbie, come and ruin it? If it collapses after a couple of days, who's responsible?
Chen Fan felt he couldn't afford to be disliked, so he could only give up in silence.

Feeling that he had mastered all the knowledge points of bricklaying, Chen Fan went to watch the carpenters make furniture.

He noticed that the carpenters hardly used any nails; all the doors, windows, and furniture were made with mortise and tenon joints, and all the joints were painstakingly hammered out by the carpenters with chisels.

The key point is that they were quite fast; in no time, a lot of parts were piled up on the open ground.

This skill isn't something you can learn just by looking at it; you have to spend time accumulating experience to truly master it.

Chen Fan has only just reached the level of an apprentice. If he wants to continue to improve, he needs to find opportunities to practice on his own.

Just as he was engrossed in watching, a bicycle bell rang. Turning around, he saw two technicians from the post office dart past like a gust of wind, happily rushing down the gentle slope and disappearing.

Chen Fan walked to the main road and looked around, then looked back. Had the loudspeaker been installed?
Isn't this a bit too fast? And I didn't even see them acting as matchmakers.
He rolled his eyes slightly and decided to go check on Captain Yang's house.

As a result, Huang Laosi thought he was about to leave, so he quickly called him back, "Master Chen, wait a moment."

Then he rushed to the room where they had lunch, and came out carrying a cloth bag. He handed it over with a smile and said, "Thank you for your hard work today, Master Chen. Here's a little something for you, please don't mind."

Chen Fan politely accepted it, then smiled and said, "Uncle Huang, then I'll take it without hesitation."

After a pause, he asked, "Will you need me to come help in the kitchen for the next two days?"

Huang Laosi laughed and said, "When it's time to raise the roof beam, I'll have to trouble you to make a trip. At other times, as long as there's wine and meat, it's fine, there's no need to be too grand. But today is the first proper meal, so it should be more sumptuous."

Chen Fan suddenly realized, then nodded and smiled, "Okay, I understand. I'll come over then."

He had originally planned to study here for three days, but if he came over, Huang Laosi would probably have to prepare an extra set of chopsticks and bowls. Since he hadn't helped with the meal, he felt embarrassed to eat. If he helped out, Huang Laosi would have to prepare cigarettes, alcohol, and gifts.

Alright, I'll just wait until the day the roof beam is raised before coming back.

Perfect timing, since installing doors and windows will only be done after the roof beams are raised, so it won't interfere with my gaining experience points.

Carrying the bag, he walked back to Captain Yang's house. He first greeted the big yellow dog that had run out after hearing the noise, looked up at the loudspeaker on the roadside utility pole, and then naturally turned inside.

He stood at the door and looked around. No one was in the main room, so he called out, "Is the captain here?"

A group of people immediately poured out of the next room, including Captain Yang's family, as well as custodian Huang and accountant Liu. Everyone's faces were beaming with joy, indicating that things were going relatively smoothly.

Captain Yang smiled and said, "Little Chen is here. Come in, have a seat."

As he spoke, he pulled up a chair.

Chen Fan looked inside curiously. "The loudspeaker is installed? I don't see any wiring."

Storekeeper Huang laughed and said, "No need for the hassle of running cables. Our team already has telephone lines. With a little modification and a section of the main line running to the brigade headquarters, the broadcast can be used."

As they talked, they walked inside, and a group of people rushed in again.

As soon as he entered the door, Chen Fan broke out in a cold sweat.

He saw a large, dark coffin against the wall, and his heart was indeed quite frightened.

But he wasn't too scared.

Upon seeing the large coffin, he suddenly remembered that when he was a child, he lived in his maternal grandfather's house, and there was also a large coffin like this in his grandfather's room.

I overheard the adults chatting back then, and it seemed that men in the village who could afford it would prepare such a coffin for themselves once they reached fifty.

Moreover, the quality of the coffin cannot be poor, as its quality directly affects the face of the person and their family. Therefore, many people will order a coffin from a coffin shop in advance and then let it air dry at home.

Later, when cremation was implemented, this practice disappeared from the village and was sealed away in Chen Fan's childhood memories.

It wasn't until I saw it now that I suddenly remembered.

His gaze lingered on the coffin for a few seconds, then, after calming himself, he turned to a black wire attached to the wall. The wire extended all the way to the roof beam, leading outside to a loudspeaker.

Is this a telephone line?

Thinking of what the custodian Huang had said, he couldn't help but blink. Could it really be like that?

If the original telephone line is converted into a broadcast line, will the telephone still work?

Accountant Liu also said with a smile, "Using the original telephone lines as broadcast lines can save costs and time. When the broadcast is on, you can't make phone calls. Just turn off the broadcast and the phone can come in. Moreover, now all the teams have their telephone lines connected to the brigade headquarters, so if there are any issues in the team, there's no need to go through the police station, which is much more convenient."

Chen Fan asked curiously, "Why didn't you just connect the telephone line to the brigade headquarters back then?"

Accountant Liu laughed and said, "In the beginning, the telephone lines were laid by the Japanese. Their command post was in the original town, so the line had to be connected there. Later, in the 1950s, when they carried out renovations and established militia, the command post and the police station were in the same place, so the line was still connected to the town. It remained untouched until today when it was moved to the brigade headquarters."

Chen Fan then realized, "So that's how it is."

At this moment, Captain Yang said, "The technician just said that we need to connect the lines to each team one by one and also connect the main line to the brigade headquarters. It will probably take another 4 or 5 days to finish. We can take advantage of these days to get your household registration settled so that you can start working properly."

Another 4 or 5 days?
Chen Fan said "Oh," and then asked, "Is there anything I can do?"

Accountant Liu chuckled and said, "Just stay inside and wait to get your household registration booklet."

The custodian, Huang, explained, "It's just a registration. Accountant Liu has already written your information into the team's collective household registration book. Once the form is submitted to the brigade for stamping and then taken to the police station for filing, the police station will issue you a household registration book."

He paused for a moment, then continued, “Back when we had collective household registration books, it wasn’t so complicated. Everyone in our village was on one household registration book, one page for one household, and we had our own stamp. Once we stamped it, that was it.”

Later, the system was changed to be based on the family unit. Only after obtaining a family household registration booklet did people need to wait to receive the booklet.

Once you receive your stamped household registration booklet, you'll no longer be an unregistered resident; you'll be a member of our Lujiawan production team, and even the head of a household.

(End of this chapter)