Reborn in 1977

Chapter 246: Starting the Renovation

A continuous 清明 (Qingming) rain lasted for three days. The militia hunting organized by the brigade headquarters was originally scheduled for two days, but Luciawan was only so big. On the first day, they had almost hunted all the prey they could. When they went out for half a day on the second day, the harvest was less than 20% of the first day, and they were all small things like wild rabbits. Therefore, it ended hastily at noon that day.

Except for some newborns and young ones, almost all the adult wild animals that could be seen with the naked eye were cleared out.

In fact, although it was said to be "sparing the small and hitting the big," so many militiamen couldn't control themselves when they started shooting, and some young ones still suffered the misfortune of being caught in the crossfire and became victims of the militiamen's guns.

The team all knew that Teacher Chen wanted fox fur to make a coat, and had already sent the fox fur to Team 9 to be tanned by Old Peng, who had been a hunter in the provincial hunting team, so they sent all the foxes they had hunted over.

It was a pity that Chen Fan had already exchanged for foxes with other prey before, and only five were sent over. In total, there were only 19, which was just enough to make a fur coat.

Chen Fan and the peregrine falcon's cooperation in catching wild rabbits also stopped at 120, most of which were small rabbits, with only 36 large rabbits, including 20 female rabbits. Hopefully, in the next half year or so, they can contribute hundreds more little rabbits.

But Chen Fan can't care about these rabbits now, nor can he care about his fox fur coat.

On this day, the rain finally eased a little. Taking advantage of the clear weather after the rain, before the ground was completely dry, Chen Fan directed the workers from the team who came to help to rebuild the toilet, stove, and transplant the big tree.

In the front yard of the educated youth spot, Jiang Lili, Huang Ying, and the four girls were all there, as well as several aunties, who were the mothers and aunts of Huang Ying, Yang Ju, and Liu Dan, who also took the initiative to come and help today.

Several large wooden basins were placed on the ground, filled with different kinds of vegetables. After being washed in the water, they were placed in the large bamboo baskets next to them for later use.

There was also a large wooden basin next to it, filled with more than a dozen cleaned big fish.

On the other side, soaking in the basin were wild rabbit meat, fox meat, and badger meat. There was only a little blood in the water in the basin, obviously this was not the first soak, and they were just waiting to set up the pot to blanch the water before starting a fire to stew.

Today, Liu Jujiang was in charge of cooking. He was wearing a blue褂 (gua, traditional Chinese jacket) and was busy in front of the two temporary earth stoves.

Yang Ju's mother, Aunt Yang, said with a smile, "Master Liu, how much will you charge for helping out today?"

Master Liu fiddled with the big spoon, stirring in the pot from time to time. Hearing Aunt Yang's words, he turned around and said with a smile, "How can I charge? If Teacher Chen didn't refuse to accept it, I would have to pay tuition."

Liu Dan's mother laughed and said, "I think you're still making a profit. You'll learn how to cook a few more dishes all at once. In the future, it is estimated that people from Qingshan Commune and Yangshan Commune will have to invite you to cook at banquets."

Master Liu raised his head and laughed, "I don't dare to think about places so far away, and I don't want to go. However, Teacher Chen's cooking skills are indeed amazing. He can cook not only home-style dishes and specialty dishes, but also wild game dishes.

In the past, when we made wild game, it was actually the method of home-style dishes. In the end, it still had a fishy smell. Some people like to eat it, but some people can't get used to it.

But according to the method taught by Teacher Chen, the wild game made has basically no fishy smell, but also has a very special aroma, and it is also very delicious. I estimate that no chef in the entire Guifeng County can do this."

As soon as he finished speaking, several people came out of the kitchen next door. They were carrying loads of black and yellow soil blocks with baskets, and asked loudly, covered in dust, "Yang Ju, where should we throw these things?"

They were demolishing the original earth stove, and Chen Fan was going to make a new one later.

Yang Ju quickly responded, but turned to look at Jiang Lili. Chen Fan hadn't told them about this, and didn't know if he had told Jiang Lili.

Jiang Lili immediately got up, pointed to the backyard and said, "Teacher Chen said that this soil is still useful, please carry it to the back."

Those people didn't say much, and went to the back, staggering with each step.

When they arrived at the back, the original two toilets had been demolished. Several thin men were digging the soil with iron shovels, and soon dug out two "manure vats", then wrapped the vats with ropes twice, and two people worked together to carry the manure vats to the livestock shed.

At this time, a large opening had been made in the courtyard wall in the passage between the two livestock sheds, about 1.5 meters wide, and the height… was very high.

Chen Fan was a little worried looking at the missing piece of the courtyard wall. He was still thinking of only opening a hole the size of a door frame, and then making a frame with wooden strips to build a door, but the commune members who came to help just now used too much force, and a small section of adobe bricks on the top collapsed directly, turning it into what it is now.

Captain Yang lit a cigarette and laughed awkwardly on the side, "It's okay, it's okay, it's the same to build bricks on top after the door frame is installed."

Accountant Liu patted the dust on his hands and laughed, "Or just get two door panels more than two meters high, which would be even more trouble-free."

The Huang warehouse keeper was immediately choked by a puff of smoke, coughing non-stop, and then looked at him and scolded with a smile, "Install a door more than two meters high? I can't believe you thought of that. It's convenient to install the door, but wouldn't it be difficult for you to open and close it?"

Accountant Liu took a breath of cold air, "It seems so."

Chen Fan couldn't help but laugh, waved his hand and said, "I'll do this myself later, it won't have much impact."

As soon as he finished speaking, he smelled a stench.

Without turning his head, he knew that the manure vat must be coming, and immediately supported the low wall and jumped into the stable next to him.

As for the little mare, the foal, and the two lambs, he had already let them go to the back slope to frolic, so as not to get in the way here.

But Chen Fan didn't care about the two piglets in the pigpen opposite.

These two piglets really had pig brains. When they got here, they didn't know how to pay respects to the boss, they only knew how to eat, drink, poop, and sleep, or run around in the pigpen. If they were released, God knows where they would run, so naturally they couldn't be released.

Four men carried two manure vats over, and Captain Yang and the others quickly dodged.

The man at the head shouted, "Haven't you smelled the stench of manure before? If you have the ability, don't carry manure to fertilize the fields."

Accountant Liu covered his mouth and nose, still unconvinced, "Fertilizing the fields is a last resort. Do you like to run to the latrine to smell the stench for no reason?"

The man didn't say much, walked up to him, deliberately leaned in front of Accountant Liu, scaring him to quickly flip into the stable, accompanying Chen Fan who was laughing from ear to ear.

After the two manure vats went out, a gust of wind blew in from the gap, and the air suddenly became much fresher.

At this time, the person carrying the soil blocks from the stove also came over and asked loudly, "Teacher Chen, where should I throw this stove soil?"

Chen Fan quickly jumped out of the stable, while walking out, he said, "Carry it to the back, crush it and make a septic tank."

After leaving the door hole and walking west, then turning a corner, there were several people digging a pit not far away.

They weren't digging pits right against the courtyard wall; instead, they first dug a trench connected to the newly built toilet. The trench extended over ten meters, and near the field, they dug a large pit, which would serve as the septic tank.

Besides the toilet, livestock manure could also be shoveled here. It would be cleaned out once a month and used for composting and fermentation, turning into farm fertilizer in just one month.

As for who would clean it?

Chen Fan didn't need to worry about that. He just needed to hand over the "cleaning rights" to Captain Yang, who would not only arrange for someone to do it properly but also credit him with work points, which would be settled uniformly during the dividend distribution.

Even manure was valuable.

When Chen Fan arrived, the trench had already been dug, and workers were laying bricks with "mud cement."

Seeing Chen Fan, a man in his twenties shouted, "Teacher Chen, you're using bricks to pave the sewage ditch, making it more luxurious than some people's houses!"

Everyone burst into laughter, but there was no malice in it.

Because the bricks Chen Fan provided were all burnt "black bricks," which were very brittle. They would break with just a couple of taps, making them unsuitable for building houses. However, when combined with mud cement, they were perfect for building sewage ditches that needed to prevent soil contamination.

Besides the trench, the septic tank and compost pit were also made of these black bricks.

Chen Fan stepped forward and laughed loudly, "Of course! As the saying goes, 'No manure stink, no rice flower fragrance.' Manure is great for fertilizing the fields. The more fertile the field, the better the harvest. Such good stuff deserves a mansion to live in, right?"

His words caused another burst of laughter.

Even the people in the courtyard heard him and were holding their stomachs with laughter.

Someone even shouted over the courtyard wall, "No wonder Teacher Chen is renovating the toilet; it's to make the manure more comfortable!"

A few jokes quickly narrowed the distance between Chen Fan and the commune members.

Although he had been living here for over two months and had interacted with everyone many times, he wasn't really familiar with most people, except for a few.

Today, with Captain Yang's call to action, thirty people came to help, which was also an opportunity to get to know everyone.

With these men who spent all year toiling in the soil, there was no need to say anything else. Just be down-to-earth and tell a few common sayings, and you could quickly bridge the gap.

As Chen Fan was joking around and handing out cigarettes, Accountant Liu ran over from behind and shouted, "Xiao Chen, the trees have been brought over!"

Chen Fan immediately turned around and shouted, "Okay, I'll be right there."

He turned to greet the others and quickly ran towards the dirt slope.

Of the thirty strong laborers who came today, the Yang, Liu, and Huang families each sent ten people. Three people were dismantling the earthen stove in the front kitchen. Don't underestimate that earthen stove; it had been burning for ten years, and the stove platform was already rock-hard. If only one person was trying to break it, it would be difficult to do so in a short time.

Five people were dismantling the toilet in the backyard, and by the way, they carried the manure jar to the back, where they would build a "public toilet" in the field embankment below the septic tank for the commune members working in the nearby fields to use.

Needless to say, this was also Chen Fan's suggestion.

Eight people were digging the trench and septic tank. Digging the pit was simple, but laying the bricks was a bit troublesome. To finish as soon as possible, naturally, a few more people were needed.

And the remaining half, a full fourteen people, had gone to help Chen Fan carry the big trees.

After the hunt, they had to quickly clear some of the wasteland to prepare for planting livestock grass for breeding. Otherwise, after this rain, in a few days, the weeds in the wasteland would grow like crazy, growing several inches overnight, and reaching half a person's height in a few days. It would be much more difficult to deal with then.

Just taking advantage of the rain stopping today, each team organized women and the elderly to clear the weeds, while the men took a temporary rest to prepare for the next stage of heavy farm work.

In Team Six, just like the other teams, they were busy clearing several nearby wastelands. The only difference was that Captain Yang transferred some people to help Chen Fan renovate his house and homestead.

In those wastelands, besides the weeds, there were also many miscellaneous trees, including more than a dozen fir and camphor trees. However, because they were robbed of nutrients by the miscellaneous trees and weeds, they appeared somewhat underdeveloped, with thin trunks and not very lush branches and leaves, the kind that no one would care about if they were cut down.

Captain Yang discussed it with Chen Fan and decided to transplant these dozen or so trees to him. In addition, some peach, pear, osmanthus, and other short tree species were also dug up to replace some useless miscellaneous trees, which would also facilitate grafting fruit trees in the future.

As for the cost, according to Captain Yang, there was no need to pay. Anyway, when the breeding industry developed in the future, those trees would have to be cut down as miscellaneous trees. Just give each of the helpers a pack of economy cigarettes.

Chen Fan thought for a while and agreed to half of Captain Yang's opinion.

Half meant that he wouldn't pay for the trees planted outside the "two acres of land." If he paid for them but planted them on public land, what would that be?

Only for a few trees planted in his own courtyard did he symbolically give 10 yuan together.

This price was actually no different from giving them away for free. Just that kind of wood used for telephone poles cost 32 yuan per pole, even though it had been treated. But how could a camphor tree more than a foot thick be worth only 10 yuan?

Not to mention that Chen Fan also picked more than a dozen peach, pear, and osmanthus trees to plant in his yard, all for 10 yuan. In the future, they would all belong to him personally, which was simply a bargain.

Chen Fan quickly ran to his homestead and saw several flatbed carts parked at the bottom of the slope from afar. Everyone was carrying trees up the slope, planting them in the pre-dug pits.

On the other side of the invisible dirt slope, he could vaguely hear some voices, obviously someone was transplanting big trees there.

Chen Fan stood aside, saying how hard everyone was working and seeing if there was anything he could do.

As a result, Captain Yang disliked him and waved him away, "You don't understand this kind of thing. Go stand aside and don't get in the way."

Chen Fan decisively retreated, stood by the courtyard wall, and watched everyone busily working for him with embarrassment.

Someone put the tree into the pit, picked up the carrying pole, and came down, shouting at Chen Fan, "Teacher Chen, I heard people from Team Nine say that you taught them how to make wild game meat the day before yesterday, and it tasted very good. Do we have any wild game to eat today?"

Chen Fan raised his voice and laughed loudly, "Yes, definitely. Yesterday, I invited Master Liu to come over and told him how to make wild game. Master Liu is preparing lunch in the front yard now. Everyone should drink a few more cups later when we eat lunch."

Hearing his words, the atmosphere suddenly rose, and more than a dozen people shouted in unison, "Okay!"