Reborn in 1977

Back at the educated youth spot, Jiang Lili looked at him and smiled, "Did you get the certificate?"

Chen Fan proudly took it out to show her, "Ta-da! It's right behind the educated youth spot. Captain Yang said he'll come over to set the boundary markers once I've chosen the location."

Jiang Lili took it with both hands, her face full of smiles, "That's great."

With his household registered, land allocated, and a job under the brigade's unified plan, from today on, Chen Fan is truly a member of the Lujiawan Commune.

After looking at it for a while, Jiang Lili's expression became somewhat complicated.

Chen Fan had already taken root and sprouted, but where was her own future?

Seeing that she was actually in a daze, Chen Fan cleared his throat and smiled at her, "Help me put the certificate in the cabinet. I'm going to go to the back to burn some charcoal."

Jiang Lili came back to her senses, "Ah? Burn charcoal?"

Chen Fan nodded and smiled, "That earthen kiln hasn't been used yet. Anyway, the pottery blanks still need a few days before they can be glazed, so I might as well try to burn some charcoal. Whether it succeeds or not, it'll at least help remove the moisture from the kiln."

Jiang Lili didn't understand these things, so she nodded, "Oh, how long will you be? Should I bring you food later?"

Chen Fan shook his head, "It should be quick. The materials are all ready. I'll just come back to eat when I'm done."

Then he went to the tool room, took a shovel and a machete, and walked towards the backyard.

Same old routine, over the wall.

If there weren't other educated youths here, he would really want to just open a back door.

When he arrived at the back, the little colt saw him and jumped around excitedly, calling out "Neigh, neigh" non-stop.

Chen Fan opened the wooden gate and went in, played with it for a while, and patted the two little lambs before starting to work.

First, he carried two bundles of straw and threw them over the wall, then climbed the ladder and went over the wall.

Checking the dried miscellaneous tree firewood, it was much drier than when it was first cut, and it should be completely dry in another two days.

For convenience, the dug pit was not far from here. Chen Fan first carried the two bundles of straw over, and then transported the firewood over and over again.

Then he began to prepare to burn charcoal.

He laid a layer of straw at the bottom of the pit, and then horizontally and neatly laid the firewood on top, almost filling the pit. Then he laid another layer of straw, pressed a layer of clay, but left gaps around the edges, and then continued to lay firewood and straw, and finally wrapped the entire pit with clay, jumping on it and tamping it firmly with his feet.

After that, he dug an air inlet at the bottom and poked an exhaust hole at the top on the opposite side.

Then he lit the kiln.

This simple process flow was so simple and crude that Chen Fan doubted whether he could really burn charcoal.

After the fire was lit, he ignored it, clapped his hands, and went back to eat.

Seeing him come back, Jiang Lili quickly set out the bowls and chopsticks and served the rice, "Are you done so soon?"

Chen Fan sat down, picked up the bowl and started eating, shaking his head and saying, "Not yet, I have to go over later and block the exhaust hole when the smoke is at its thickest, and the air inlet should also be made smaller.

I'll seal the air inlet tomorrow morning and pour water into the kiln from the exhaust hole, and then I'll have to wait two more days before I can open the kiln."

Jiang Lili looked at him, "Is that all it takes?"

Chen Fan chuckled, "Anyway, that's what the book says. I don't know if it will work, so I'll just give it a try."

Seeing his indifferent expression, Jiang Lili couldn't help but feel a little lost.

It seemed that all difficulties were not worth mentioning in his eyes. What kind of things would make him take it seriously?

Chen Fan inadvertently raised his head, saw her expression, and couldn't help but smile, "What's wrong?"

Jiang Lili came back to her senses and quickly lowered her head, "N-nothing."

Chen Fan blinked and didn't take it seriously, continuing to eat.

He quickly finished his meal and ran to the back to stare at the charcoal-burning kiln until the smoke became thicker and thicker. Then he pinched a piece of mud to seal the exhaust outlet, and blocked some of the air inlet, leaving only a bowl-sized opening, before going back to wash up and sleep.

… …

The next morning, Chen Fan continued to slack off at work. He first learned calligraphy from Fourth Grandpa Lu for an hour, and then went to Captain Xiao's house to make him a large pot of Northeast-style pork stew, and drank five meats and six vegetarian dishes with Master Zhu, who came to wield the knife himself.

Being this drunk, it wasn't good to practice kung fu, or else who would be responsible if he plunged into the ditch?

Chen Fan then borrowed a horse from Zhang Wenliang and slowly rode back to the educated youth spot.

It's not like he was deliberately going back at this time.

Originally, he was going to the Tenth Team to buy sugar, but the sugar syrup needed something to hold it, so he could only go back to get the pottery jar first.

The water buffalo milk he bought last time had just run out, and the pottery jar was perfect for holding the sugar syrup.

If he happened to run into those few unfamiliar educated youths, it could only be said to be a coincidence.

When he returned to the educated youth spot, he dismounted, tied the horse to the cedar tree outside, and turned to enter the yard.

Inside the yard, Jiang Lili was wiping the doors and windows. Seeing him come back, she immediately smiled and said, "You're back."

Chen Fan looked at her, "Oh, cleaning?"

His eyes swept across the yard, and there was no one else there. Where were those educated youths?

Jiang Lili said with a smile, "Yes, today is Little New Year, we have to dust the house."

Chen Fan turned to look at her, blinking, "Are there any special customs for Little New Year?"

Decades later, let alone Little New Year, even the big New Year's Eve seemed to have nothing special. At that time, many people didn't even go back for reunion on New Year's Eve, and New Year's Eve dinner was eaten in hotels.

If there were any customs, it might be 'airing the Spring Festival Gala'. Meaning just playing it, whether you watch it or not is another matter.

Jiang Lili came over and smiled, "Of course there are special customs for Little New Year. The first is to clean the whole house. In the past, we had to worship the Kitchen God, but we don't need to do that now. In addition, we also eat tangyuan, which means reunion and roundness, and eat sugar cane, which represents 'rising steadily'. Wealthy families will also make new clothes on this day to wear during the New Year."

After hearing this, Chen Fan raised his head and said "Oh".

Spring cleaning, eating tangyuan, eating sugar cane, wearing new clothes?

No wonder there was no New Year's atmosphere in later generations. Every day was like New Year's, so where would the New Year's atmosphere come from?

Chen Fan was about to speak when he suddenly burped.

Jiang Lili took a look and quickly pointed to his room, saying, "I've already cleaned your room. Go in and sit down first, and I'll pour you a cup of hot water."

Chen Fan went back to his room and sat down, took a sip of the tea she poured, and smiled, "You cleaned my room too? Thank you."

Jiang Lili smiled, "It was just a matter of convenience. We're friends, no need to thank me."

Then she pointed outside, "You rest for a while, I'll go wipe the other rooms."

"Wait a minute."

Chen Fan stopped her, looked at her, and asked, "Did they slaughter the New Year's pig this morning?"

Jiang Lili nodded vigorously, saying with a face full of excitement, "This year, three pigs were slaughtered for more than four hundred catties of meat. Adding the pig offal, each person can get more than one catty. Captain Yang gave me one and a half catties of meat, without any pig offal."

After a pause, she lowered her head and said with a red face, "The captain said that you only have cured meat and no fresh meat, so he gave me a little more. I didn't want it at first, but everyone asked me to take it, so I took it back."

Meaning, because of Chen Fan's sake, she was given some special care. And the commune members wouldn't make things difficult for Chen Fan because of these few ounces of meat.

Chen Fan chuckled and nodded, indicating that he would keep it in mind.

Then he asked, "Where are those educated youths?"

Hearing this, Jiang Lili raised her head, her smile even brighter, "They only sent one representative over, took the meat and left, and didn't even come here. And he said that everyone had found a receiving unit and wouldn't be coming next year."

Chen Fan was stunned.

Not coming?

Then wouldn't it really become a lonely man and a widow in the future?