Reborn in 1977

Chapter 128: Having My Own Plans

After wandering around the market and buying everything they needed, it was already 1 PM, so Chen Fan and the others prepared to head back.

The little colt was still sick, so he moved the newly bought items to the mule cart, allowing the colt to continue lying on the flatbed cart.

After leaving the veterinary station, they first went to the repair shop to pick up the leaf spring and the brass belt buckle. Master Liu was acquainted with them, so he chatted with the two craftsmen, the topic naturally being the little colt on the flatbed cart.

After checking the items and putting them away, Chen Fan noticed several small iron pots on the wooden架 nearby, so he asked, "Master, are these for sale?"

Hearing Chen Fan's words, the blacksmith turned his head to look at him, "These are made by me. If you want to buy them, it's 10 yuan per pot, no coupons needed."

Chen Fan had wanted to buy a small iron pot at the supply and marketing cooperative earlier, but unfortunately, he didn't have any industrial coupons. Here, no coupons were needed, and the price was even lower than at the supply and marketing cooperative, so he bought two without hesitation.

One was a round-bottomed wok, and the other was a flat-bottomed soup pot similar to an electric rice cooker inner pot.

Master Liu looked a little strange, "Did you buy a coal stove?"

Chen Fan spread his hands, "I don't have industrial coupons, so I can't buy a coal stove."

Then he explained, "I plan to modify the earthen stove so that I can use it with two small openings."

At this time, the blacksmith suddenly said, "If you want to buy a coal stove, I can make one for you, but the stove core and vermiculite are not easy to get. It will cost 20 yuan in total."

The core of the coal stove is made of a mixture of perlite powder and fire-resistant clay, and the filling in the middle is vermiculite. Both of these can retain heat, so that the heat of burning coal does not dissipate through the stove body, so it is also called an energy-saving coal stove.

On the contrary, the outermost iron sheet is the simplest. The blacksmith can make it by hammering, and there are no special requirements.

Faced with the blacksmith's kindness, Chen Fan laughed and said, "Thank you, but I'm from the production team, and I don't have coal tickets, so I can't use a coal stove even if I buy one."

The blacksmith looked at him meaningfully, smiled faintly, and said, "Of course I know which one you are, otherwise I wouldn't dare to sell you the iron pot. I don't sell this pot to just anyone. If you hadn't come with Master Liu, I wouldn't dare to sell it to you no matter how high the price."

"I don't have coal here, but I have some crushed charcoal, which I can spare a little for the coal stove."

Chen Fan's eyes turned slightly, and he immediately understood where the charcoal came from. The repair shop had a special supply of charcoal stone every month. Living near the mountains meant living off the mountains, so it was normal for them to have charcoal.

However, he hadn't really thought about buying a coal stove, but he didn't directly refuse. He just smiled and said, "When I need it, I will definitely come to you."

Today, he learned the method of burning earthen kilns. He wanted to go back and try burning charcoal himself. If he succeeded, he wouldn't need to buy it. If he failed, it wouldn't be too late to come again.

The blacksmith smiled slightly and didn't say anything more.

Chen Fan paid the money, took the two iron pots onto the cart, and then hurried back with Jiang Lili and Master Liu.

… …

When they returned to the educated youth point, they first unloaded the things in the yard, and led the colt to the pig house in the back.

Jiang Lili found two bamboo baskets, spread straw on them, put the two puppies in one, and used the other to hold the chicks. Both bamboo baskets were placed in the room, and the chicks and puppies became neighbors. Then, she was busy packing up other things.

After Chen Fan settled the colt, he and Master Liu drove the donkey cart back to the livestock shed.

The mules and donkeys were put into the pen, and the flatbed cart was returned to its place.

Only then did Chen Fan take out two packs of Peony cigarettes from his pocket, stuffed them into Master Liu's hand, and laughed, "Master Liu, thank you for your hard work today…"

Before he could finish speaking, Master Liu pushed them back hard, with a stern face, "What are you doing? I just helped you pull some things, and you're doing this? Put them away, put them away."

Chen Fan held his hand to stop him from moving, and said with a smile, "Please let me finish speaking."

Master Liu glared, "Okay, you speak, I'll see what you can say."

Chen Fan laughed, "When we went out today, I said I would treat you to soft-shelled turtle meat, but now there's not even soft-shelled turtle soup. I can't let you work for nothing, can I?"

Master Liu smiled, "That's the reason, but we have to pay attention to the rules when doing things. If you give me two packs of economy cigarettes, I will accept them, but this Peony cigarette is too expensive, I can't afford it."

Chen Fan, "There's a second reason."

Master Liu looked at him, "Because of the little colt?"

Chen Fan smiled, "It's those veterinary books. If it weren't for your face, how could these good books fall into my hands."

Master Liu laughed, "Good books also need someone who can understand them."

After a pause, he said with disappointment, "It's not that I'm criticizing you, but you clearly have this talent, why are you unwilling to be a veterinarian?"

Chen Fan tightened his grip on his hand and said in a low voice, "Master Liu, I have my own plans for this matter. Just watch."

Hearing him say this, Master Liu was first startled, and then his eyes were full of strangeness. This kid is mysterious, what is he up to?

Chen Fan finally said, "I still want to ask you for a favor. You have raised livestock for decades, and you can be considered half a breeding expert. You are also very familiar with how to deal with the minor problems of these livestock. In the future, I would like to ask you for knowledge in this area. I wonder if it's possible?"

This was also the reason why he revealed to Master Liu that he had other plans.

He still wanted to get some benefits from Master Liu.

Although he had a skill panel, the progress of having someone guide him and learning on his own was very different. He had clearly rejected Master Liu's proposal for him to become a veterinarian. If he turned around and asked questions again, he would probably ignore him, so he deliberately said this to reassure him.

Sure enough, when Master Liu heard his words, he immediately grinned and smiled, "Okay, why not? Even if you don't say it, I will teach you how to raise horses properly, otherwise it would be a pity if you ruined such a good colt."

Having said that, Master Liu accepted the two packs of cigarettes.

However, when Chen Fan left, he took out a bundle of dry grass from the nearby forage shed, "Take this back to feed the colt. It's cold at night, so put more straw for it."

Chen Fan didn't refuse, and walked back with the forage.

Back at the educated youth point, Jiang Lili had already sorted out everything, "The chicks and puppies are in the room next to yours. The stone mill is also in that room. Soybeans, enriched flour, sugar, and these are all in your room, on the bamboo bed where the sundries are stacked.

The cured meat and cured fish have been put back in their original places, and the meat has been taken to the kitchen. It's just that I don't know where to put the water buffalo milk, so I put it on the table in your room."

After a pause, she said again, "You have to go to work later, I'll get you something to eat."

Saying that, she was about to go to the kitchen.

Chen Fan looked at the time, just 1:30, there were still two hours, so he waved his hand and smiled, "Wait, I'll do this meal."

Jiang Lili looked at him in surprise, "Ah? You're going to cook?"

She blinked her eyes blankly, "You don't want to cook the two pounds of meat now, do you?"

She had only seen Chen Fan cook two or three times, but each time it was a grand affair. Now that he was about to start, wouldn't he make a big meal?

But Chen Fan shook his head, "I won't cook meat now, I'll talk about it at night."

Then he said mysteriously, "Go and pick some wild oranges for me, I have a use for them."

Late-maturing varieties of oranges are still available after the first month of the lunar year. In the mixed forest behind the educated youth point, there are several orange trees. It's just that these orange varieties are not good. Not only are they small in size, but they also taste very sour. Even if they are ripe and fall to the ground, you can't taste any sweetness, and they are the kind that even small birds look down on.

Hearing Chen Fan ask her to pick wild oranges, Jiang Lili was naturally very surprised, "What do you want that thing for?"

Chen Fan laughed, "Of course, to make something delicious."

Jiang Lili didn't understand even more. If you want sourness, you can use vinegar. That thing is sour and astringent, what can you do with it?

But she couldn't resist Chen Fan, and was still urged to go to the back.