Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 97: Write a Double Happiness
No matter how far the road is, it will eventually be reached. Even though Jiang Lili was unwilling, the two of them arrived at Team 10.

Even while still on the riverbank, Chen Fan could tell that Team 10 was different from the other teams.

He visited six teams: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. Except for team 5, which was the brigade headquarters and had a cluster of brick and tile houses, the other teams were almost all mud-walled houses, only varying in size.

The largest is Team 5, with a total of 53 households, including brick and tile houses. The smallest is Team 9, with only 29 households. Team 6 has the most houses, with 47 houses, except for Team 5.

However, although there were many houses, they were all ordinary dwellings, with only one livestock shed being slightly larger.

At the entrance of Team 10, there is a flat area nearly the size of three basketball courts, which is quite rare in Lujiawan.

On the east and west sides of the flat land, there are long rows of brick and tile houses, which is another major difference.

Standing beside him, Jiang Lili pointed to the two rows of brick and tile houses and said, "The ones on the west side are the oil press and mill, and the ones on the east side are the purchasing station, sales outlet and cotton ginning workshop."

Chen Fan looked down at that place and thought, "Heh, it's quite impressive."

He paused for a moment, then asked in confusion, "I seem to remember that these side jobs were all located near the brigade headquarters, so why is the one in Lujiawan so far away from the brigade headquarters?"

Jiang Lili smiled and said, "I heard it too. Back when we were starting a side business, Captain Xiao said that if we put the side business at the brigade headquarters, it would be fine for the teams in the south, but it would be hard for the teams in the north. It would take more than two hours to come and more than two hours to go back, which is really unreasonable."

However, if they were placed in the middle, those in the south could go to the commune, since it was close and wouldn't take long, while those in the north would walk less. Secretary Yang and Captain Zhang both agreed with him, and in the end, they decided on Team 10.

Chen Fan nodded in realization, "He is indeed a good leader who cares about the people."

In fact, the few people in the brigade headquarters were not even cadres, but they were much better than many leaders in later generations.

The two went down the slope of the riverbank. Before they even entered the village, two dogs ran out and stared at them. Jiang Lili immediately tensed up and stared at the dogs without blinking.

Chen Fan glanced at her and smiled, "It's okay, I'm here."

Then, without barking, the dog was teased with soft "sniffling" sounds. The dog straightened its neck, paused for a moment, then its tail swished, and it slowly turned and ran back.

Jiang Lili looked at him with amazement, "You're amazing! I'm too scared to even move when I see a dog."

Chen Fan laughed and carried the load inside. "If you encounter a dog later and it stares at you and won't let go, you can make this 'tsk tsk tsk' sound, with the tip of your tongue touching the root of your lower teeth. This is a sound to tease dogs, indicating that you like them. It works on big dogs, small dogs, pet dogs, and strange dogs."

Jiang Lili followed beside him, "Really?"

Chen Fan quickly added, "If that doesn't work, it's probably a vicious dog. You'll need to find something to hold in your hand, and if the dog charges at you, hit it hard immediately."

Jiang Lili nodded seriously, "Yes, I understand."

After a short while, Chen Fan walked to the threshing ground, looked around, and then headed towards the cotton-fluffing workshop.

These two rows of brick and tile houses are estimated to be more than 20 meters long. They are divided into three rooms: the left one is an oil press and a mill, and the other one is a warehouse; the right one is a purchasing station, a sales point, and a cotton ginning workshop.

How did he know?

It says so on the sign hanging at the entrance.

Stepping into the cotton ginning workshop, you'll find a cotton ginning machine right at the entrance, with more wooden parts than iron parts, giving it a very old appearance.

However, there was no one there. Chen Fan turned his head and saw that there was another room inside.

He put his load down in the corner and continued walking inside. As soon as he reached the door, he saw a large wooden bed about two meters by two meters. On the opposite wall hung a roll of white cotton netting. On the inner wall were tools such as a cotton gin and a bow hammer. Next to the wall was a long table with three drawers.

A person was sitting at a table with their eyes closed, resting. Hearing a noise at the door, they slowly opened their eyes, yawned, and looked at the two people, asking, "Fluffing cotton or ginning cotton?"

Everyone knows what cotton carding is: it's using a cotton carding bow to fluff up the raw cotton, so that it can be used to make quilts and cotton-padded jackets.

Cotton ginning is the process of separating cotton seeds from cotton fibers by pressing the harvested cotton. The separated cotton fibers are called lint.

Chen Fan pointed to the carrying pole outside and said with a smile, "Hello, Master, I'm here to fluff cotton and make a few cotton quilts."

The man got up and walked to the door. He looked at the cotton in the basket and was somewhat surprised. "You must have twenty or thirty pounds of this?"

Normally, when people come to make cotton wadding, they bring four or six pounds of raw cotton. These two baskets of his are five or six times more than others'. How could he not be surprised?

Chen Fan laughed and said, "There was a lot of cotton, so I fluffed it all together."

The man looked up at him, then at the somewhat reserved Jiang Lili beside him, and his eyes darted around a couple of times. "You're that educated youth, aren't you?"

Jiang Lili nodded gently, "Yes, hello." The man then looked at Chen Fan, his expression suddenly changing, "You must be Master Chen?"

Chen Fan blinked. "You know me?"

Upon hearing this, the man immediately beamed with joy, "Oh, it really is you!"

He then explained, "Now, there are many people in Lujiawan who don't know you. Everyone says you're a very good person."

I?
What a great person?
Chen Fan forced a smile and said, "No, no."

If this happened decades from now, and people would greet someone as a good person upon meeting them, it would be hard to tell whether they were praising them or insulting them.

This was a difficult topic to discuss, so he changed the subject and asked, "Master, what is your surname?"

The man smiled and said, "My surname is Huang. I'm a cotton carder here, and I also manage the cotton gins. You can just call me Old Huang."

Chen Fan greeted him again, "Master Huang."

The cotton craftsman chuckled and asked, "Master Chen, are you making cotton wadding?"

Chen Fan: "Ah, right, there are thirty catties of cotton here, all of which need to be made into cotton wadding. How long do you think it will take to finish?"

Without hesitation, the cotton maker replied, "That depends on how many kilograms you're making."

Chen Fan immediately looked at Jiang Lili.

How could he know how many kilograms of cotton quilt to make?

Jiang Lili said "Oh" and quickly added, "Make quilts weighing 4 jin and 6 jin."

The cotton merchant looked at the basket and said, "Is there about 30 jin here?"

Chen Fan nodded, "Exactly 30 jin."

The cotton craftsman said, "That's a total of 6 beds. Today is Monday, so you can come and pick them up on Thursday."

The market day is on Sunday, so Thursday is definitely an option.

Chen Fan nodded. "Okay."

He paused for a moment, then asked, "So how much is it in total?"

The cotton maker looked up and smiled, "It's 2 cents a pound, which is 6 yuan in total. This is a government fee, so I can't waive your bill. But I can assure you that I will use the best cotton netting to make the cotton wadding for you."

Chen Fan quickly cupped his hands in thanks, "Thank you, thank you, that's perfect."

Jiang Lili took out the money she had prepared and handed it to him. Chen Fan took it and gave it to Huang Mianjiang. Huang Mianjiang looked at this scene with a strange expression.

However, he didn't say much. He took the money, walked to the long table, opened a drawer, threw the money in, took out a stack of receipts, flipped them open, took out a carbon paper, put it in, and wrote a receipt.

Keep the original order, tear off the photocopy and hand it to Chen Fan, "Master Chen, you can use this order to pick up the goods later."

Chen Fan accepted the quilt with a smile and was about to say goodbye when Jiang Lili seemed to remember something and said softly, "Master Huang, this quilt is something Master Chen is going to sell at the market, so it's not appropriate to put his name on it."

Chen Fan stared blankly. A name written on cotton wadding?

What do you mean?
Upon hearing this, the cotton maker nodded and smiled, "I understand."

He then turned to Chen Fan and laughed, "Then I'll write double '囍' characters for you, everyone will like that."

Chen Fan smiled and cupped his hands in thanks, "Thank you for your trouble."

The cotton maker waved his hand, "It's nothing, it's just a small favor, not much effort at all."

As they left the cotton-fluffing workshop, Chen Fan looked at Jiang Lili with a puzzled expression. "What does it mean to write on cotton wadding?"

Jiang Lili smiled and whispered, "It's about using colored cotton threads to draw the shape of words on cotton wool, and then covering it with a cotton net to fix it. This is equivalent to marking the cotton wool."

Chen Fan suddenly realized, "So that's how it can be done?!"

(End of this chapter)