Reborn in 1977

Chapter 3: What You Eat, You Must Return

"They're the same."

Director Zhu threw him a cigarette directly. After lighting it and taking a puff, he said, "There are two possibilities. First, he has a home he can't return to, or rather, doesn't want to return to. Second,"

He tapped his head. "I'm afraid there's really something wrong with his brain. He can't remember some things."

Team Leader Yang was stunned. After two seconds, he asked, "In your opinion, which possibility is more likely?"

Director Zhu shook his head. "Hard to say, hard to say."

After taking two more puffs, he whispered, "I reckon the problem is mostly in his head. He can't remember things. According to you, he only had a set of long underwear on his body and was soaking in the water in the dead of winter. Think about it, if you hadn't gone to fetch water, or if half an hour had passed, would he still be alive?"

Team Leader Yang shook his head without hesitation. "Don't even mention half an hour. Five minutes would have been too much. When I pulled him up, his skin was purple and his body was stiff. He could have died at any moment. I took off his clothes, wiped him dry, covered him with a padded coat, and carried him back. Then, I had Jiang Lili from the educated youth center give him two big bowls of ginger and brown sugar water, and I also boiled the medicine prescribed by Doctor Zhang and fed it to him. After he broke into a sweat, he finally came back to life."

"That's the thing."

Director Zhu smiled and said, "Who jumps into the river after taking off their clothes? In this cold winter, why don't you try walking around outside in your long underwear? Wouldn't that be asking for trouble?

In my opinion, this kid probably suffered a disaster. Someone stripped him of his clothes and threw him into the river. Luckily, he didn't die and floated along the water to your place, where you rescued him. But he escaped death but not suffering. His body was exposed to the cold, and his head might have been hit. That's why he can't remember everything from before."

Team Leader Yang frowned and narrowed his eyes, thinking. "Listening to you, that makes a lot of sense."

Then he pointed to the house over there. "What do we do now?"

Director Zhu took a puff of his cigarette and smiled. "He's not a criminal, so I can't take him back. How about this? Why don't you learn from Lei Feng and do a good deed to the end? Take him in for a few days. I'll ask around to see if anyone nearby has lost someone. Judging from his accent, even if he's not a local, he's from one of the nearby counties. It can't be too far. I'll come back after I get some news."

People in this era are vigilant, but the social atmosphere is also good. Everyone is learning from Lei Feng and doing good deeds. As long as it's basically determined that someone isn't a bad person, help will come from all directions.

Of course, encountering a bad person is another matter. After all, there's no shortage of bad people at any time.

Team Leader Yang had no other choice but to nod with a bitter face. "Alright, then."

Then he quickly added, "You have to hurry. A growing boy can eat his father out of house and home. I'm afraid I can't afford to feed him."

Director Zhu stood up, laughed, and scolded, "Stop it. Who in the entire Nanhugong commune doesn't know that your Lujiawan Sixth Team is a wealthy household? This year, one work unit (equal to 10 work points) is worth 65 cents. At the end of the year, each family gets dozens of yuan in dividends. If you're short of food, how are others supposed to survive?"

Team Leader Yang chuckled apologetically. "You can't say that. No one's food comes from the wind. We still have to save where we can. Besides, my 65 cents isn't anything. I heard that some places have 1.2 yuan. We still have to work harder.

Hey, if we find his family, you have to help us talk to them and get them to return the food he ate. Oh, and the 20 cents for Doctor Zhang's medicine yesterday."

Director Zhu said, "Wait and see. Let's find them first."

After saying that, he dropped his cigarette butt, stood up, patted his butt, and left.

Team Leader Yang also quickly followed.

Dozens of people were standing in the courtyard of the educated youth center. When they saw them come out, they all shut up and watched.

Director Zhu was used to this kind of scene, so he ignored it, only nodding to a few familiar faces. He walked outside, held his bicycle, and turned to wave to Team Leader Yang. "Don't bother sending me off. Go back."

Team Leader Yang also waved goodbye. "Take care."

After Director Zhu rode away, he turned back and walked inside with his hands behind his back.

Someone shouted, "Secretary Yang, why did Director Zhu leave? Isn't he taking the person away?"

Team Leader Yang waved his head and gave him a look. "You talk too much nonsense. He's not a criminal. What's there to take?"

Then, without going inside, he stood outside and shouted, "Old Liu, Old Huang, come out for a moment."

The two people inside walked out together. Accountant Liu walked up and asked in a low voice, "What did Director Zhu say?"

Team Leader Yang reached back to his lower back and pulled out a smoking pipe with a tobacco pouch. This was what he usually smoked. Packaged cigarettes were for social occasions.

He took out some tobacco, stuffed it into the pipe, struck a match, lit it, casually flicked the fire out, threw it on the ground, took two puffs, and then pointed to the house next door with his pipe. "Let's go to that house to talk."

Then he waved to the surroundings. "Stop watching. What's so interesting about a half-grown kid? Are you all looking for a son-in-law? Go back, go back."

Team Leader Yang obviously had a high reputation, and everyone listened obediently and walked out.

However, even if they left, they couldn't stop people from talking.

"Huang Laowu, you have five daughters in your family. Aren't you going to find a son-in-law? There's a ready-made one here."

The one called Huang Laowu put on a straight face. "Go, go, go. I still want to have a son to carry on the family line. Why would I find a son-in-law? If you want to find one, you go find one. Isn't your eldest daughter looking for someone to marry? I think this one is pretty good."

"Oh, don't even mention it. I really fancy this kid. He looks like someone from a painting, with delicate skin and tender flesh. He's even fairer than a girl. He looks like he comes from a cadre family. I'm just afraid he'll look down on us peasants."

"What's the use of being good-looking? He can't carry anything on his shoulders or lift anything with his hands. Even cadres have to plant rice seedlings when they come to the village. I think he's just for show."

"Maybe he's a scholar. He can earn a salary with a flick of his pen, which is ten thousand times better than you working in the fields."

… …

Chen Fan watched the people outside leave in a swarm, and his face immediately fell.

He had clearly seen that Team Leader Yang hadn't left, but had taken two other people to the next door to have a meeting. They were probably discussing how to deal with his problem.

He didn't know what to do.

Time travel, time travel. Why do people have to go time traveling when they have nothing better to do? Now look what's happened. He's traveled to this era.

Even if he wasn't satisfied with his previous life, he still had air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter. He had meat to eat and wine in his glass, and he had a little electric scooter to go out.

But now?

What year is it now?

Chen Fan looked around and stood up, wanting to find a calendar.

But after searching the whole room, besides the four bamboo beds, four wardrobes, this table, and a few bamboo chairs, there was only a portrait on the wall. Even the large teapot and teacup were plain, crude pottery. He couldn't find anything with writing on it.

Chen Fan thought for a moment and cautiously walked to the door, sticking his head out to look.

Four mud-walled houses were lined up in a row. There was a slightly lower house on the west side. Looking at the chimney in the back, he knew that was the kitchen.

The perimeter was surrounded by a courtyard wall less than two meters high, enclosing a large courtyard. Two wooden planks were installed at the entrance to serve as courtyard doors.

The main point was that there was no one in the courtyard.

Excellent!

Chen Fan wanted to go out and take a look to see if he could find any clues.

But before he could lift his foot, he saw the girl who had brought him clothes carrying a bowl out of the kitchen.

Almost without thinking, he quickly shrank back and ran to sit on the chair.