Reborn in 1977

Chapter 283 You Want to Go Yourself?

Return gift?

Jiang Lili was slightly stunned, her face clearly showing some reluctance, but she still handed the cloth bag back, "I can't accept it."

She looked at Chen Fan, pouting and said, "I'm not helping you for anything in return. When I was injured, you helped me apply medicine every day, and I didn't give you any gifts."

Chen Fan looked at her, pondered for two seconds, and smiled, "That's not a return gift, it's just a gift for you."

Jiang Lili puffed out her cheeks and said with her head lowered, "Why give gifts for no reason?"

Chen Fan put his hands on his hips and refused to take it back, "Didn't Brother An ask me to exchange two belts? I made two extra when I was making them, but I didn't expect them to be too narrow. Such narrow belts can only be used by girls, but I don't have any other female friends, so I might as well give them to you."

As he spoke, he pointed to the bag, "If you don't believe me, see for yourself, aren't they women's belts?"

Jiang Lili lowered her head, her eyes rolling around.

Made two extra? Too narrow?

Your tailoring skills are better than mine now, and you also use a ruler to measure when cutting the leather. You made them too narrow?

I'd be a fool to believe you!

She blinked her eyes, but still opened the cloth bag to take a look, "Oh, are they really women's?"

Chen Fan coughed dryly, "Isn't that right? Actually, I didn't pay attention at the time. I only cared about checking the length of the leather, but I didn't realize that the width of the leather was not enough. It wasn't until I finished making it that I realized it was too narrow, less than two fingers wide. If a man used this, he would be laughed to death."

To show that it was true, he deliberately curled his lips and shook his head, "Anyway, I won't use such a thin belt. Brother An has one, which is for his wife, and he doesn't need so many. But I can't waste it. This is such good crocodile skin, and it's not easy to alter, so I thought I might as well give it to you."

Jiang Lili pursed her lips, her face full of suppressed smiles, so she quickly lowered her head, "Oh, is that so?"

Chen Fan nodded vigorously, his face full of sincerity, "Yes, that's how it is."

Jiang Lili raised her head, pursed her lips and smiled slightly, "Then, thank you."

Chen Fan coughed dryly, "Well, you're welcome."

He clasped his hands together and chuckled, "It's okay, it's just waste utilization anyway. If there are any more broken things in the future, I'll give them all to you."

Then he pointed outside, "There aren't many things. It's not enough to give them a share, so I can only give it to you. Keep it a secret."

When Jiang Lili heard this, she wrinkled her nose slightly, and then smiled, "But I can't use up two either."

Chen Fan spread his hands, "That's better than causing conflicts due to uneven distribution."

Then he said, "Anyway, the things are given to you, you can handle them yourself. Use them up if you can, and give them to others if you can't."

Jiang Lili's eyes rolled slightly, "Can I give one to my sister?"

Chen Fan laughed and said, "I said you can handle it yourself, you can give it to your sister or your mother."

Jiang Lili raised the bag and shook it, her face full of smiles, "Thank you."

Chen Fan waved his hand with a smile, "It's okay, it's okay, we're friends."

Jiang Lili pursed her lips and smiled, turned around and went out, and after taking two steps forward, she held the small cloth bag to her chest and ran happily back to her room.

Chen Fan walked to the door and poked his head out to take a look, touched his head, then put his hands behind his back and walked around the house twice before sitting down on the chair and humming a little tune while picking up his teacup.

After a while, a loud shout came from outside the courtyard wall, "Xiao Chen, are you home?"

Chen Fan raised his head and shouted, "I'm here."

At the same time, he got up and walked out.

When he walked to the door, he happened to meet An Quan, who invited him into the house again.

An Quan wiped his sweat and said breathlessly, "Oh, I'm so tired. I thought you went to the market."

As he spoke, he turned his head to look, "Hey, aren't you going to sell your pottery today?"

Chen Fan took out a cigarette and handed it to him, smiling, "I'm not going today anyway. There's nothing to buy anyway. Yang Ju and the other three went, and Master Liu drove the mule cart with them. Everyone there is from our own team, so nothing will happen."

"Oh,"

An Quan put the cigarette in his mouth and happened to see Jiang Lili coming out of the room to greet him.

He waved his hand, "Hello, hello."

Then he said in a low voice, "She didn't go?"

Chen Fan glanced at Jiang Lili and responded in a low voice, "Isn't she injured her foot? The wound has just healed, and it still hurts a little, so she stayed to recuperate."

The two talked and entered the central comprehensive room.

An Quan was not polite, he picked up the kettle to pour water himself, gulped down a large mouthful, and then said, "No wonder you asked me to come over to get the belt today, but you didn't give me an exact time. I thought you forgot, but it turns out you didn't go out."

While talking, he pulled over a chair and sat down, turning to look at Chen Fan, "Then you're not going to the brigade headquarters to work either?"

Chen Fan rolled up his sleeves, lit a cigarette himself and accompanied him, smiling, "The rice transplanting is over, and there are no other important things. Zhang Cuie is in charge of the broadcasting room, so it's okay if I don't go. I'm just doing something at home."

After saying that, he got up and walked out, "I'll get you the belt."

In less than a minute, he turned around and came back, holding two crocodile leather belts in his hand, and put them directly on the table, then sat down aside.

An Quan was just about to take it, but suddenly his eyes froze, "Hey, why are the two different?"

Chen Fan turned to look at him, "You want two belts, aren't they one for you and one for your sister-in-law?"

An Quan's expression stiffened slightly, and he quickly smiled, "Yes, yes, yes, I forgot to tell you. I didn't expect you to remember it yourself, hahaha, it's one for each."

As he spoke, he first took the women's style and opened it, carefully looked at it twice, and couldn't help but nod repeatedly, "Yes, yes, not bad, more than one finger wide, just the specifications for women's."

Then he went to look at the belt buckle and was surprised again, "Yo, this belt buckle is pretty good, and it has a pattern. It seems to be made of brass, where did you buy it?"

Chen Fan snorted twice and said proudly, "Bought it? You go outside and buy one for me to see. I made this myself."

Then he pointed at him, "Just a piece of sheepskin, exchanged for two brass-buckled belts, you can just be happy about it."

An Quan looked at him in surprise, "You can also make copper?"

Chen Fan's ability to make belts was already surprising enough for him. He didn't expect that he could even make copper products. Where did this kid learn so many skills?

Looking at An Quan's surprised expression, Chen Fan chuckled and said, "I'm a bit particular about doing things. I don't like to do semi-finished products. Since I promised to give you two belts, then it must be complete. I can't just give you two pieces of leather. But this kind of buckle is not available in the supply and marketing cooperative. I thought this kind of buckle is not complicated, so I went to the waste recycling station to buy some scrap copper, brought it back and melted it myself, knocked and beat it, and I didn't expect it to be made."

An Quan's eyes were full of emotion, and he gave him a thumbs up, "Just one word, I'm convinced!"

Chen Fan laughed and waved his hand, and said, "Actually, it's nothing. Brass is relatively soft, and it's easier to forge or engrave, but the disadvantage is also obvious, that is, it's easy to deform after a long time."

Anquan waved his hand dismissively, a cigarette butt clenched between his teeth, and said, "It's fine. Leather deforms easily but is also easy to bend back into shape. If you made it out of iron, it'd be impossible to restore it to its original form."

Chen Fan smiled, then looked at the leather again, a hint of regret in his eyes. "It's a shame there aren't any suitable dyes. This leather is all its natural color. It would look even better if it were dyed black or red."

Anquan chuckled and placed the belt on the table, smiling as he said, "Having it at all is good enough. Why wish for so much more? That's just called insatiable greed."

Chen Fan chuckled twice, but didn't say anything.

Who cares if it looks good on you or not? The main thing is, it's the first time I'm giving a girl something, and it turns out to be something so raw and unfinished. It just doesn't feel perfect.

Anquan, of course, didn't know Chen Fan's little thoughts. He took a puff of his cigarette and looked at him, asking, "Is your saddle finished too?"

Chen Fan replied, "Almost. If you hadn't come, I'd be doing the final steps on the saddle."

Anquan chuckled. "Sounds like I came at the wrong time."

Then he put the two belts into the satchel he had brought with him, stood up, and said, "Let's go. Take me to see your saddle."

Chen Fan didn't stand on ceremony. He got up and walked outside. "It's not finished yet. It's just sitting in the stable."

Anquan followed him to the backyard, saying in an annoyed tone, "At least it's a saddle. You're just leaving it in the stable? Right next to the pigsty!"

Chen Fan snorted twice. "If not in the stable, where should I put a saddle?"

He paused for a moment, then added, "But that stable is a bit too small. It was originally a pigsty, so it's not really suitable for horses to live in."

He pointed to the row of rabbit cages in the backyard. "Once I get rid of these rabbits, I'll remodel this area and build a bigger stable. The original location will be for the two little sheep."

Anquan surveyed the backyard. A row of livestock sheds on the north side, rabbit cages on the east side, two toilets on the west side, and a vegetable garden in the middle.

He chuckled softly. "I suddenly feel like you're living a better life than most people. So many livestock being raised, vegetables being grown, and you even have two jobs with guaranteed income. Even I, as a cadre, don't live as freely as you do."

Chen Fan snorted twice, smiling as he said, "That's because I have a lot of help. If you let Yang Ju and the others go back, I'd go crazy with all the work in this yard. And when Jiang Lili returns to the city, I guarantee you, this yard will have, at most, two dogs and two chickens, and then these two horses. Nothing else."

Anquan followed him to the stable and looked at the little mare and foal, whose coats were shiny and well-groomed. He asked curiously, "Did you brush their coats?"

Chen Fan, hugging the horse's head, said without turning his head, "No, the four of them made a schedule themselves. Two people come over every morning to clean the manure and brush the coats."

Anquan was speechless for a few seconds, then finally said, "You really are a master!"

Chen Fan shrugged. "I wouldn't dare call myself a master. A young master, at most."

Then he walked into the stable, hugged the little foal's outstretched head, and pointed to the saddle on two parallel wooden posts against the wall, saying, "I've been working on it for five days, a little bit each day. I also have to adjust it according to the horse's body size. In a little while, I'll sew a few places together, and it'll be complete."

Anquan walked closer to take a look, and couldn't help but be a little amazed. "Your saddle is really exquisite. Girth strap, stirrups, everything is complete. It's much more complicated than common saddles."

Chen Fan chuckled. "This was designed with reference to the warhorse saddles of the brigade headquarters. How could it not be complicated?"

Anquan curled his lips. "No wonder there are rings and hooks on it. Those are for hanging a saber, right?"

Chen Fan coughed dryly. "They're mainly for hanging some bags. What era are we in? Who still uses sabers?"

Anquan smiled, and was just about to say "That's true," when he saw a curved knife in the corner and pointed to it, saying, "Then what's this?"

Chen Fan glanced at it and said nonchalantly, "Oh, I've been learning weapons from Uncle Lin these past few days. I originally wanted to use bamboo and wooden knives, but bamboo and wood aren't durable. They break as soon as they're touched, so I wanted to make a knife out of scrap iron myself. This one isn't finished yet."

Anquan walked closer to look. The blade was covered in hammer marks, and he was speechless. "I don't think you want to make a practice knife. I think you want to forge a hundred-refined steel blade."

Chen Fan's expression didn't change. "I'm a perfectionist. Since I've chosen to forge a knife myself, of course I want to forge one that I'm satisfied with."

As he said this, he turned to look at Anquan. "For example, I want to put a buckle on your belt. That's perfectly reasonable, isn't it?!"

Anquan was speechless.

Are those the same?

Putting down the heavy, unfinished version of the saber, he turned to look at Chen Fan and said, "Some time ago, Captain Ye led a few people to reserve a lot of chicks, ducklings, goslings, and livestock seedlings from the other four production teams. Some were delivered sporadically before the rice transplanting, and then a few days ago everyone was busy with transplanting, and no one delivered any. I estimate that after the market today, a large batch of chicks, ducklings, and goslings will be delivered starting tomorrow."

"From rice transplanting to the double harvest, there are still about two months. We have to seize these two months of 'leisure' and steadily receive this batch of seedlings. You and your veterinary students have a heavy burden."

After he finished speaking, Chen Fan nodded without hesitation and said, "Don't worry about that. These past few days, I've been summarizing the things to pay attention to when raising chickens, ducks, and geese. In addition to the content in the books, there are also my own experiences from raising chickens for the past two months. After I finish summarizing, I'll gather all the veterinarians in the entire brigade and give them a lecture."

He paused for a moment, then added, "And Yang Ju and the others have gradually taught everyone in Team Six how to raise earthworms. When the time comes, you and Captain Yang can discuss it and have the three of them each lead a team to pass on the earthworm farming experience to each small team. Then, every few days, inspect them to see if they've gone astray, and correct them in time. That way, in less than half a month, we can spread the experience of raising chickens, ducks, and geese."

Anquan nodded. "Okay, it's good that you have an idea."

Then he looked at Chen Fan thoughtfully. "Only the three of them know how?"

Chen Fan smiled. "Of course, Jiang Lili also knows, but..."

He pointed to the front yard and said, "Don't we have more than 20 chickens in our own yard? We have to leave someone to take care of those chickens, right? Besides, she's an educated youth. If we let her lead a team to pass on experience, people won't be convinced."

Anquan curled his lips and glanced at Chen Fan disdainfully. "Hmph, I won't say some things. You know it in your own heart."

Chen Fan widened his eyes. "If you have something to say, just say it. I hate people who only say half of what they mean."

But Anquan threw away his cigarette butt. "I won't say it. You can think about it yourself."