Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 92 A Pleasant Thing That Turned to False Hope

After everyone left, Chen Fan and Jiang Lili tidied up the yard and moved the chairs back into the room.

Carrying two chairs into the house, Chen Fan said, "You went to the market that day, right?"

Jiang Lili swept the floor with a broom, shook her head and smiled, "I don't have anything worth buying, so I won't go."

Chen Fan turned to look at her, "Uh, if you don't go, who will help me?"

Jiang Lili burst out laughing. "Alright then, I'll go with you."

Chen Fan then continued working, laughing, "In Captain Yang's words, it's good to watch the excitement whether there's something to do or not; maybe you can buy something suitable later."

For example, we could buy some chicks while we're at it, and once they're a few months old, they can eat eggs every day. If they sell piglets, we'll buy a couple, and we'll slaughter a pig for the New Year next year too.

Seeing Chen Fan happily lost in his daydreams, Jiang Lili couldn't help but grin.

When she heard Chen Fan mention the Year of the Pig, she seemed to remember something and suddenly exclaimed, "Chen Fan, you might be assigned tasks next year."

Chen Fan had just come out of a room when he heard her words and was taken aback. "What mission?"

Didn't Captain Yang say that if he didn't get assigned homestead land or participate in production team labor, he wouldn't be assigned any tasks?
He doesn't need to do things like dike repairs or water conservancy renovations, and he won't have to pay for not doing them.

Otherwise, if they don't give you this or that, and you still have to take on obligations, who would be happy?

Jiang Lili said to him, "It's not the production team's task, it's the food station's task. They don't look at anything else, they just look at the production team's household registration book and assign it according to the households."

Chen Fan blinked. "What are we being assigned?"

Jiang Lili said, "Every year, we are forced to sell one pig to the food station. The standard changes every year. This year, the standard is 120 jin (60 catties). It cannot be lower than this weight."

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan recalled what Jiang Lili had told him before and nodded in realization, "Paigou, right?"

Jiang Lili: "Yes, it's a purchase assignment. Purchase assignment tasks usually involve paying 5 and keeping 5. If the task assigned to you is to raise one, you can raise two or just one, but you'll lose everything after completing the task."

Chen Fan: "What if I raise three?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Lili was so startled that she dropped the broom and waved her hands repeatedly, saying, "I can't possibly gather that much pig feed!"

Chen Fan was speechless. "I didn't ask you to hit me."

Look how frightened this child is.

Jiang Lili breathed a sigh of relief, squatted down to pick up the broom, and looked at him with a worried expression, "But you can't cut that much pig feed."

Chen Fan: "...I was just saying."

Hearing this, Jiang Lili finally felt relieved.

Only families with seven or eight members would dare to raise three pigs; otherwise, they would usually only raise two at most. Here, it's just Chen Fan and himself. Raising one pig is fine, two might be a stretch, but three?
Spare her!

……

After tidying up the yard, Chen Fan took out the radio from another cabinet, placed the alarm clock on the corner of the table, and set the time so as not to be late for work in the afternoon.

Next comes the repair time.

Open the lid and inspect.

After Jiang Lili finished her work, she saw Chen Fan hunched over the table, busy with something, so she curiously walked in.

Chen Fan glanced at her, continued inspecting the parts, and smiled, "Once this thing is fixed, we can listen to the radio."

Jiang Lili sat down opposite him, rested her chin on her hands, and asked curiously, "Can this be fixed?"

When Company Commander Zhang brought it over last time, she heard that it had been around for many years. Electrical appliances are easily damaged if they are not used for a long time, let alone after so many years.

Chen Fan stared at the multimeter. "It's not a big problem. The situation is much better than I expected."

Although this radio is an old relic, it is well preserved, unlike those things that have been neglected for many years and are covered in dust.

At least this place is quite clean inside and out.

After a short while, Chen Fan finished the inspection, let out a long breath, and looked at her with a smile, saying, "It's a minor problem; we might not even need to replace any parts." He then removed the lampshade, struck a match to light it, and turned up the flame, causing the kerosene lamp to immediately emit thick black smoke.

There was an alcohol lamp in the toolbox, but unfortunately there was no alcohol, so I had to use a kerosene lamp instead.

Chen Fan picked up a soldering iron and heated it over the flame. Once the tip was red-hot, he began to repair the broken solder joint.

Watching Chen Fan work diligently, Jiang Lili's gaze lingered on his face, and for a long time, she forgot to look away.

Chen Fan repaired the damaged area, checked it again with the multimeter, looked up and smiled, "Done, it should be fine now."

Jiang Lili suddenly snapped out of her daze, her pretty face instantly turning bright red. "Oh, oh."

Several seconds passed before she realized what was happening, and she looked in surprise at the dense array of electronic components inside the radio. "It's fixed already?"

"It's fixed."

Chen Fan chuckled and said, "It wasn't a big problem to begin with; anyone with a little electronics knowledge could fix it."

First, blow out the kerosene lamp and put the lampshade back on.

Then put the cover back on the radio and tighten the screws.

Chen Fan picked up the power cord plug, "La la la la, now it's test time."

Then his expression froze, and he looked at Jiang Lili, "Didn't the power company install sockets for us?"

Jiang Lili rolled her eyes and thought for a moment, then gently shook her head, "No."

Chen Fan's face immediately fell.

Happy for nothing.

Jiang Lili smiled and comforted her, "You work at the radio station, so you can listen to the radio every day. It's the same thing. It doesn't matter if there's no electricity."

Chen Fan sighed and looked at her, saying, "That's so different. The radio station broadcasts programs from the county radio station, which only air for two hours in the morning and one hour in the afternoon. There are no programs at other times."

If this radio works, I can listen to the People's Radio. Do you know how many hours the People's Radio broadcasts each day?

Jiang Lili's eyes darted around slightly. "The broadcast started at 4 a.m. and ended at 1:35 a.m. the next day."

Chen Fan was taken aback. "Oh, you knew that?"

Jiang Lili lowered her head and smiled, "I used to love listening to the radio, and I would often stay up very late listening to it."

Chen Fan chuckled, "I didn't realize you were such a night owl."

Jiang Lili smiled at him, then unconsciously lowered her head, a hint of sadness flashing in her eyes.

Staying up late to listen to the radio is something from a long time ago.

When Chen Fan was in college, he studied vacuum tube radios and even found a program schedule from the People's Radio Station.

Starting in the mid-1970s, People's Radio had four programs: Channels 1 and 2 broadcast nationwide, Channel 3 broadcast to Taiwan, and Channel 4 broadcast to border and minority areas, accumulating more than 70 hours of broadcasting per day.

The broadcast started at 4 a.m. with "The East Is Red" as the opening song, followed by a program preview. This marked the beginning of the day's broadcasts, which lasted until 1:35 a.m. the next day.

It only takes a break from 2 pm to 4:30 pm on Tuesdays, and it broadcasts continuously at other times.

When he was asked to be a broadcaster, he thought he would be relaying the People's Radio Station, but it turned out he would be relaying the county radio station, and only broadcasting for 3 hours a day.

He could listen to the People's Radio at other times, but as a newcomer, he couldn't very well occupy the broadcasting room to listen to the radio.

I was hoping that fixing this radio would give me more time for entertainment, and more importantly, allow me to stay informed about the latest political news.

Unexpectedly, we had a radio but no power outlet.

It seems I'll have to wait until I go to the market to buy a power strip from the commune.

(End of this chapter)