Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 89 Resuming Market Activities
Unfortunately, Chen Fan wasn't beside them and couldn't hear what they were saying.

He had nothing to do with the radio broadcasts, and he wasn't particularly interested in the news, so he just wandered around the room.

Feeling incredibly bored, I went to the doorway and looked outside.

There was no one in the corridor, and looking down, there was no one in the courtyard either.

Chen Fan rolled his eyes slightly, cautiously walked out, and looked around.

The door on the left, near the corridor, was locked, while the room on the right was unlocked.

He peered through the window and found it was a library.

Looking back again, there was still no one in the courtyard, so Chen Fan turned around and gently pushed the door open.
He quietly went inside, closed the door behind him, and observed carefully.

The interior was simply furnished, with only two shelves. One shelf was filled with newspapers, and the other was a bookcase with doors, fitted with glass, making the books inside clearly visible.

Needless to say, the first row is entirely filled with Mr. Li's works.

The second row also contains various theoretical documents.

From the third row onwards, there were no further categories. With his head pressed against the glass, Chen Fan saw the "Barefoot Doctor's Manual," the "Militia Military Training Manual," and a complete set of 21 volumes of the "100,000 Whys" published by workers, peasants, and soldiers.
Looking at those words on the book, Chen Fan was a little confused. Was "100,000 Whys" a publication by workers, peasants and soldiers?
Is there something wrong with it?

Okay, that's not important.

What's with the book "Carpentry" sitting next to it?

Are there books specifically about woodworking?

Continuing to look, next to "General Knowledge of Art" is "Illustrated Book of Grain Storage Pests", followed by another book, "Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric".

Among these books scattered haphazardly together, there happens to be one titled "How to Make a Good Rural Library?"
This nearly drove Chen Fan, a person with obsessive-compulsive disorder, to the brink of collapse.

The following books are more normal, such as "The Collected Works of Lu Xun", "Ode to Forestry", and "Mass Singing".

As for the other one of the legendary three great books, "Friends of Dual-Use Military and Civilian Talents," I haven't seen it, and I don't know if it hasn't been published yet.

It's unlikely they won't buy them. The three legendary books, "The Barefoot Doctor's Manual," "The Militia Military Training Manual," and "The Friend of Dual-Use Military and Civilian Talents," are called legendary books not only because their contents are comprehensive and extremely practical, but also because they are widely available. Even rural libraries commonly collect them.

If it's not here, it probably means it hasn't been published yet.

In addition, there is a fourth set of books, the "Five Small Industrial Technology Series," which is not included here, besides the three major classic books.

That makes sense. After all, this is a production brigade, mainly engaged in agricultural production, so they wouldn't have a set of industrial books here.

But why buy "General Knowledge of Art" and "Grammar, Logic and Rhetoric"?
Chen Fan couldn't resist looking at the huge pile of messy books.

I immediately opened the cabinet door and started organizing from the first row.

Mr. Li's books have been rearranged in chronological order of publication, followed by author, then date, and finally category.

Practical books are grouped together, reference books are grouped together, literary books are grouped together, and other books are grouped together.

They were then arranged according to the size of the books.

Fifteen minutes later, Chen Fan looked at the newly renovated bookshelf and smiled with satisfaction.

Just then, a voice came from the doorway, "What are you doing?"

Chen Fan turned his head and saw Zhang Wenliang standing at the door, looking at him with a surprised expression, his gaze constantly glancing into the bookshelf.

"Organizing the bookshelf."

Chen Fan frankly said, "I didn't know who arranged it before. It was too messy. Except for Mr. Li's books and other theoretical books, which were relatively neat, the other books were all placed randomly. The art books were placed together with the pest control books, and there were even a few comic books next to them. So I tidied it up."

"Oh."

Zhang Wenliang walked in with his mouth agape, looked at him, then at the bookshelf, and said, "They seem about the same."

almost?
Chen Fan's gaze darted around, and he asked in a low voice, "You didn't organize this, did you?" Zhang Wenliang immediately coughed and said confidently, "How could I? I'm in charge of the militia, how could I organize this kind of thing? It wasn't me, it definitely wasn't me!"

Seeing the suspicious look in Chen Fan's eyes, Zhang Wenliang held up the box he was carrying. "Well, Captain Xiao asked me to bring you the communications team's toolbox. Here you go."

Chen Fan quickly took the box, opened it, and saw that there were partitions inside. He put the box on the ground, took out the partitions, and found that there were three layers, with many things neatly arranged inside.

Scissor pliers, needle-nose pliers, various sizes of flathead screwdrivers, Phillips screwdrivers, light bulb test pens, and a few soldering irons—the kind that don't need electricity, you just heat them over a fire to use.

Hmm, it's a bit like the branding iron used for torture.

There is also an alcohol lamp used to heat soldering irons, but it does not contain alcohol.

The most valuable item is the bulky multimeter at the very bottom, which is over 20 centimeters tall and more than 10 centimeters wide, with a black plastic casing. This thing should be considered high-tech.

In addition to these tools, there were also some simple electronic components in the box.

only……

Chen Fan inspected everything, then looked up at Zhang Wenliang and asked curiously, "Brother Sanhu, these things all seem to be new?"

Zhang Wenliang nodded. "Yes, it's new. It hasn't been used since it was issued."

Chen Fan blinked. "Why not?"

Zhang Wenliang argued vehemently, "Nobody knows how to use it, so it's never been used."

Chen Fan was speechless.

He paused for a moment, then asked, "What about the communications team's equipment?"

Zhang Wenliang: "Oh, it's just a walkie-talkie. Except for a few years ago when the county militia used it for a county-wide skills competition, it's usually locked in a cabinet."

Chen Fan turned his head a couple of times, trying to search his vocabulary, and finally blurted out two words, "Pretty good."

Zhang Wenliang squatted down and said in a low voice, "It's not that we're reluctant to use it, it's just that in the situation a few years ago, if we accidentally broke it, we might get blamed. So we just locked it in the cabinet, less work, less mistakes, don't you think?"

Chen Fan then realized and nodded with a smile, "That's true."

Zhang Wenliang chuckled, then looked up at the bookshelf. "I see you're quite knowledgeable about these books. How about you take on a part-time data clerk role?"

Chen Fan's eyes lit up, "A raise...and a share?"

Zhang Wenliang patted him on the shoulder, stood up and laughed, "This is to give you more responsibility. Don't talk about work points. Do a good job. I have faith in you."

He started to walk out, but then suddenly turned back around. "Oh, right, you can take your time using this toolbox, no rush. Also, be sure to start your morning exercise at 6 a.m. sharp tomorrow morning, don't be late."

Without waiting for Chen Fan's reaction, he ran away as if his pants were on fire.

Chen Fan looked at the toolbox in his hand, then at the bookshelves on both sides, and couldn't help but chuckle twice.

Just as he finished organizing his toolbox, Captain Zhang ran up again. He first went to check the broadcasting room, but no one was there.

He immediately called out, "Little Chen? Little Chen?"

Chen Fan quickly walked outside, saying, "It's here."

Captain Zhang turned around quickly and almost bumped into him.

However, he was not surprised at all. With an excited look on his face, he said to Chen Fan, "Please make an announcement that there will be a market next Sunday, the 19th of the twelfth lunar month, in the 5th production team of Ganjiacun Village, which is next to the commune. Members who need it can go to the market."

Chen Fan blinked. "Going to the market?"

Just as he was thinking about opera, acrobatics, food stalls, and merchandise stalls, Captain Zhang nodded vigorously and said with emotion, "Yes, the market! The rural market, which has been suspended for ten years, is going to be restored!"

(End of this chapter)