Reborn in 1977

Chapter 295: Accepting Invitations

In the front yard of the educated youth compound, a full ten square tables were arranged in the spacious courtyard.

Besides the thirty-odd helpers, the dozen or so construction team masters, Liu Jujiang and his fellow cooks, and the dozen or so people from Team 4 who came to deliver thatch, plus Chen Fan and Jiang Lili, the ten square tables were perfectly full, not one short.

Chen Fan stood up, raised his glass, first said a few words of thanks, and then drank the wine in his glass in one gulp. He was stunned for a moment in his heart, but remained calm on the surface, only giving Jiang Lili a subtle glance in the distance before announcing the start of the completion banquet.

What he drank was not wine at all, but a glass of plain boiled water, and warm at that.

Fortunately, it was summer. If it were winter, it would be steaming!

Chen Fan had just noticed that this glass of wine was poured by Jiang Lili. This girl wasn't afraid that someone would sit in the wrong seat and expose the whole thing.

Noticing Chen Fan's gaze, Jiang Lili in the corner pursed her lips and suppressed a smile, her shoulders still trembling slightly.

Huang Ying glanced at her, "What are you laughing at?"

Jiang Lili immediately raised her head and widened her eyes, "Huh? Did I laugh?"

Huang Ying looked at her with raised eyebrows, her eyes full of self-doubt, "Could it be that I saw it wrong?"

Yang Ju said from the side, "It's normal to laugh. We're finally done. We won't have to be so tired tomorrow."

As soon as she finished speaking, she turned and grabbed Huang Ying's arm, her eyes full of excitement, "Chen-laoshi's house is so beautiful! I've never seen such a beautiful house before. I have classmates who work at the town's water transport company, and their company's dormitories aren't even this nice. No, they're far from it. There's no comparison!"

The water transport company was the largest enterprise in Nanhugongshe, with more than 300 employees and more than 40 cargo ships, including 10 new-style iron-hulled ships. It could be described as rich and powerful.

Therefore, the water transport company's dormitories were also the best in the entire commune, a two-story building that even the brick and tile factories and cement factories that specialized in building materials could not compare with.

But compared to Chen-laoshi's big house, their small building was simply an eyesore!

Huang Ying said unconvinced, "Hmph, it's not like He Lianlian isn't my classmate. What company dormitory? Even the water transport company's office building can't compare, okay!"

Liu Dan was a year younger than them and not in the same grade. Coincidentally, there were no students from the water transport company in her class, so she couldn't get a word in.

But she also had something to say, "But that's Chen-laoshi's house. Why are you so happy?"

As soon as she finished speaking, three gazes met, colliding with fierce sparks!

Huang Ying coughed lightly twice, twisting and turning slightly, "With my relationship with Chen-laoshi, it would be easy to visit!"

At the dinner table, a certain Huang-surnamed woman's mouth turned up, and she even raised her rice bowl a little higher.

As soon as Yang Ju saw her mother's cold eyes, she immediately said, "Don't I have a good relationship with Chen-laoshi?"

Seeing Yang Shen's gaze soften and her own mother's eyes like knives, Liu Dan quickly said, "Chen-laoshi even said he would teach me how to cook the other day."

Seven people at the table looked at her together, Huang Ying and Yang Ju simultaneously blurting out, "When?"

Liu Dan slowly lowered her head, "The last time I steamed the buns so hard they were like rocks."

Pfft…

Half the table couldn't help but laugh quietly, only Liu Dan's mother almost fainted from anger.

If you can't make buns, don't do it. Why are you showing off?

Jiang Lili couldn't help but smile slightly, but seeing them vying for favor like this, she suddenly felt uncomfortable and said with her head lowered, "I estimate that Chen-laoshi's house will be completely built after the double抢 is over. At that time, the house will be ready to move into. I wonder when he will move in."

As soon as these words came out, Huang Ying and the other two immediately lost interest, and even the good dishes on the table no longer tasted good, as they picked at the rice grains with their chopsticks.

… …

"When to move?"

Chen Fan picked a peanut into his mouth, his brow furrowing slightly. There was too little oil, and it tasted a bit burnt. It shouldn't have been fried by Xiao Jiang.

Coming back to his senses, he said with a smile, "There's no rush. I heard that it's best to leave a new house open for a winter and a summer. It's not too late to move in during the Spring Festival."

An Quan nodded in agreement, raising his glass to clink with his, and said, "Moving into a new home for the New Year is also auspicious. That's good."

Besides Chen Fan, An Quan, Zhang Wenliang, and Team Leader Yang, the eight people at the table were Team 4's captain, Wang Dongping, and the masonry team leader, Master Wang Youhai, the carpentry team leader, Wang Youtian, and Wang Decang, who Chen Fan hadn't noticed before and no one had introduced to him, but who was actually the uncle of Wang Dongping, Wang Youhai, and Wang Youtian.

That is, the "chief designer" of the thatched roof.

All surnamed Wang!

Without asking, it was clear that Team 4 was different from the three-legged stand of Team 6. That side was dominated by one family. Regardless of whether there were other surnames or not, with just these three, the Wang family could control Team 4's… hey, wait a minute, isn't Secretary Yang of the brigade also from Team 4?

Chen Fan looked at the four people in front of him, his mind a little confused.

As soon as An Quan finished speaking, Old Master Wang Decang, who hadn't said anything all along, said, "Yes, there are rules for moving house. First of all, you have to choose an auspicious day. There's a lot to it, that is… After choosing an auspicious day, you also have to choose the time. When moving house, you must choose the morning. You must never exceed three quarters past noon. After three quarters past noon…"

Execution?

Chen Fan, who had these two words flash through his mind, held his glass and looked at Grandpa Wang, who had been silent just now, but had become eloquent after drinking a little wine, and forgot to speak.

Wang Decang's face was flushed and his eyebrows were dancing, "After three quarters past noon, yang energy decreases and yin energy increases. Moving house at this time easily attracts dirty things to follow you back."

As he spoke, he wiped his mouth and looked directly at Chen Fan, "Of course, Chen-laoshi, you are the reincarnation of the Wenquxing, with divine power to protect you…"

As soon as these words came out, Wang Dongping, Wang Youhai, and Wang Youtian all covered their eyes, and An Quan and the others coughed incessantly.

Old Master Wang, however, was completely unaware and spoke with intonation, "I'm not talking nonsense. Look at you, with a full forehead, a round chin, clear eyebrows, and a straight nose.

What is this appearance called? It's called a dignified appearance, which can ward off evil! Look at the things you've done…"

Before he could finish speaking, Wang Dongping quickly supported the old man's arm, "Uncle, uncle."

Wang Decang turned to look at him, his expression quite displeased, "What?"

Wang Dongping, "Talk about the time to move."

Wang Decang said "Oh," came back to his senses, "Yes, talk about the time to move. There are rules for the time to move. It must be before three quarters past noon. Yes, I've already said it before. There's also the process of moving, which can't be taken lightly! Let me tell you, there are many tricks in it…"

Chen Fan held his glass and listened for half an hour, but he didn't come back to his senses, and could only keep saying "Oh, oh, oh."

During this time, Wang Dongping kept trying to stop him, but he couldn't.

However, when the Wang brothers saw that Chen Fan was listening intently, they couldn't help but feel relieved and secretly sighed in their hearts, Chen-laoshi, he's someone you can get along with!

Chen Fan was indeed listening with great interest.

Where can you hear these things in the future? If you want to find someone to tell you, you have to pay!

And it's not necessarily right.

At this time, Old Master Wang Decang talked about everything from astronomy to geography, from the middle to ghosts and gods, and everything related to home furnishing. All the words were based on evidence, logical and orderly, and sounded as if they were true.

That guy, it was even more exciting than Ghost Blows Out the Light!

Chen Fan was already conceiving ghost stories that could be written in the 1990s.

In any case, his attitude did win the Wang brothers' respect and admiration.

Once Grandpa Wang was thoroughly drunk, Wang Dongping immediately called a few people to carry him to a cart lined with straw to rest. He then had them pull him back home first, and afterwards return to continue toasting Teacher Chen.

Tonight, they were determined to drink until they dropped!

Besides them, representatives from other teams also came over to offer toasts.

Teacher Chen didn't have any portable space to cheat with. The secret to his ability to drink for so long without getting drunk was the bottle in front of him.

It was all water!

Seeing that he had finished drinking, Jiang Lili immediately brought him another bottle.

It was hard to say whether it was wine mixed with water, or water mixed with wine!

Because there were so many people, and she didn't know if anyone would tamper with Teacher Chen's wine, Jiang Lili didn't dare to use plain water.

Sure enough, someone, fueled by the alcohol, picked up the bottle and poured, causing Jiang Lili's heart to leap into her throat as she watched that person drink it down.

But, it seemed like it wasn't discovered?

After observing for a while, Jiang Lili felt relieved.

At this point, everyone was pretty much drunk anyway. As long as there was a hint of alcohol in the cup, who would know if it was diluted with water or not?!

With someone helping him cheat, Chen Fan naturally didn't feel even a hint of intoxication.

Fortunately, his acting skills were passable, especially when it came to feigning drunkenness, which he was very good at. He never revealed any weakness.

As the evening deepened, and people began to collapse one by one, Team 4's cart became useful.

Those who weren't drunk pulled the drunk ones, driving under the influence, away from the educated youth courtyard and back home.

The crowd gradually dispersed, until only the people from their own team and Team 10 were left.

One of the people from Team 10 sat across from Chen Fan, half-drunk and half-awake, and said, "Teacher Chen, there's something I've been wanting to tell you, but I haven't had the chance. I'm afraid if I don't say it now, I won't get another opportunity."

Chen Fan looked at this valiant fellow and couldn't help but wipe away a cold sweat. "W-what is it?"

The man smiled and said, "It's about when you saved Lao Gao's kid when we were watching the movie that day. Remember?"

Chen Fan was stunned for a moment, then nodded. "I remember, what about it?"

If it hadn't been for that incident, he wouldn't have thought about teaching first aid knowledge to the veterinarians.

Could it be that saving someone had caused trouble?

The man shook his head, smiling. "It's like this, actually, the next day, Lao Gao went to our Team Leader Su, wanting to invite you to dinner…"

Before he could finish, Chen Fan repeatedly waved his hand. "No need, no need, it was just a small effort, why bother with a meal."

If it were Team 6 or Team 5, he might have gone, but Team 10 was too far. Even if he could ride a horse over there, he wasn't too keen on going just for a meal.

Hearing Chen Fan's refusal, the man's expression didn't change. He just waved his hand and said softly, "Teacher Chen, I'm just delivering a message. Listen to me finish, and then my task is complete. Whether you go to dinner or not is up to you. If you say you'll go, you'll go. If you say you won't go, then you won't go."

An Quan was also somewhat tipsy at this point, after all, he was drinking real wine, not water mixed with wine. He patted Chen Fan on the shoulder, squinting his eyes, and said, "Then you should listen to him finish, and then decide."

Chen Fan raised his eyebrows and smiled at the man. "Okay, you go ahead."

In his heart, he was thinking, could there be some hidden story?

The man rested his arms on his thighs and smiled at Chen Fan. "It's like this, I have to explain it clearly, otherwise people will say that the people of our Team 10 are impolite, which wouldn't be good."

Chen Fan "Mm-hmm"ed twice, without interrupting.

The man continued, "Lao Gao's surname is Gao, and the child you saved that day is his only child, his only son. The Gao family is counting on that child to carry on the family line.

The day after the movie, he went to find our Team Leader Su, wanting to invite you to dinner to express his gratitude. But unfortunately, you were building your house that day, so he couldn't invite you. When he heard the news, he wanted to come and help, but he has a limp, one of his legs doesn't have any strength."

As he spoke, he patted his left leg, his smile disappearing. "It's a problem he had since he was a child. He can't do heavy work and can only work with the women. Everyone in our Team 10 knows this, so it's not that he didn't want to come, but that our team leader didn't approve it. It's not that he's ungrateful."

Chen Fan immediately nodded. "Understood."

The man smiled and said, "Thirdly, Lao Gao's surname is Gao, but actually, that's not his real surname."

Hearing this, Chen Fan was immediately dumbfounded. What did that mean?

He turned to look at the others. An Quan and Team Leader Yang both looked thoughtful, while Zhang Wenliang seemed to understand.

Chen Fan blinked, thinking, so you all knew?

Were they playing charades?

The man took a breath and continued, "Lao Gao's real surname is unknown. All that's known is that his surname is Takahashi."

Chen Fan immediately realized and blurted out, "Japanese?"

There was no such surname among the Chinese compound surnames!

The man nodded solemnly and said, "Yes, Japanese. He's a Japanese war orphan. When the main force attacked in '45, the Japanese troops either ran or died. Later, in a Japanese hospital, they found him and a nurse. He was only 10 years old at the time, and the nurse was 6 years older than him, which is his current wife."

After a pause, the man wiped his face and continued, "When the main force left, they left him and that nurse in Lujiawan. The main force commander personally requested us to treat them equally, without discrimination, and certainly not to shout slogans of killing them.

From that day on, he was called Gao Qiao, and the nurse who took care of him later married him when he grew up and became his wife.

Over the years, everyone in our team has remembered the instructions of the main force commander and treated him equally."

Speaking of this, the man patted his thigh again. "But they are Japanese after all, how can we treat them equally? Just because of the commander's words, we hated them to death in our hearts, but we were also afraid that he would get sick or die. We weren't even that concerned about our own people."

The man sighed deeply. "Anyway, that's the situation. Actually, Lao Gao has been diligent and conscientious all these years and has never caused any trouble. He's also honest and law-abiding. After he had a son, he put all his heart and soul into his son.

If something had happened to his son that day, let me tell you, Teacher Chen, I'm not exaggerating at all, he and his wife would definitely not have survived that night. They would have died together."

At the end, he clapped his hands and smiled. "Anyway, that's the situation. I'm only responsible for conveying the situation clearly. As for Lao Gao, how can I put it? It's been decades, and we've all seen what kind of person he is. To be honest, he's not bad. The hatred we had in the past is gone now. But whether you accept his invitation to dinner is still up to you."

After he finished speaking, Chen Fan pondered for two seconds, then nodded and said, "Okay, I understand the situation."

He raised his head and smiled. "But I'm a little dizzy right now. Tomorrow, I'll give Team Leader Su an answer tomorrow, okay?"

The man laughed. "Of course, no problem."

Saying that, he stood up and waved his hand. "Teacher Chen."

Then he waved to An Quan and the others. "Cadre An, Company Commander Zhang, Team Leader Yang, you guys continue drinking, I'll go back first."

After saying that, he slowly moved his stool away and staggered out, the other three people from Team 10 who were with him quickly stepped forward, greeted Chen Fan, and took him away together.