Reborn in 1977

The car went over a river embankment and stopped at the Qing Shan Commune station to pick up passengers. Zhang Wenliang took the opportunity to get off and buy some motion sickness pills. He and Zhang Juemin each took one, and then the car started again.

The journey would take them through four communes and across two rivers before reaching the county seat of Gufeng County, officially called Chengguan Town.

Not every county seat is called Chengguan Town, but places with a Chengguan Town are usually the location of the county government. Its prosperity is unmatched by ordinary towns.

Unfortunately, Chen Fan only saw a glimpse of the county town street scene from the car. After the car pulled into the station, Brother Meng shouted, "We're here, everyone get off."

After letting off the passengers who had boarded at the four commune stations along the way, he took Chen Fan and the others to the other side and put him on the bus to the prefectural committee, also asking the driver to take good care of him.

Naturally, he told the driver about Teacher Chen's "advanced deeds" again.

As soon as the driver heard that Teacher Chen was going to the Prefectural Health Department to write a first aid manual, he didn't even want a ticket. As soon as the time came, he drove off in a hurry.

The distance from the county town to the prefectural committee was about the same as from Nanhu to the county town, about an hour. The difference was that Nanhu and the county town were separated by two rivers, while the county town and the prefectural committee were separated by one river.

The car sped along the Yangtze River. After more than half an hour, it crossed the Yangtze River on a ferry pulled by a tugboat, and finally arrived at the boundary of the prefectural committee.

That is, Yunhu City.

Chen Fan looked at the densely packed ships on the river, including passenger ships of various sizes and freighters of all sizes.

Some freighters were the most advanced diesel-powered iron-hulled ships, with various materials piled up like mountains in the cargo hold, slowly sailing on the river. Others were old wooden-hulled sailing ships, with sails raised, filled with wind, carrying a small amount of cargo, watching the iron ships overtake them.

At the pier, hundreds of ships were docked along the shore. Almost every moment, ships were entering and leaving the port, and the sound of horns never stopped.

The Yangtze River, an important port, truly lived up to its name.

Fortunately, the river ferry terminal was not in the same place as the busy cargo and passenger terminals, but closer to the urban area.

A dozen minutes later, the ferry docked, the car continued forward, and finally entered Yunhu City.

After crossing the Yangtze River levee, Chen Fan saw Yunhu City in this era for the first time.

Both sides of the road were lined with buildings, mostly three or four stories high, and occasionally you could see five or six-story "skyscrapers."

The telephone poles along the road were covered with densely packed wires, probably not something that people with trypophobia could look at.

Crowds of people walking or riding bicycles were bustling about, and occasionally a jeep drove by, bringing a lively and noisy atmosphere.

The car drove to a busy intersection, and the driver suddenly stopped the car, turned around and said to Chen Fan, "Teacher Chen, you get off here. There is a bus stop ahead. Take the No. 11 bus there, and you can go directly to the Municipal Health Department."

Chen Fan stood up in a daze and quickly bowed his hands to thank him, "Thank you, Master."

The driver grinned and waved his hand, "You're welcome. You're here to write a book, and I'll give you a ride, which is also a contribution in a way."

Chen Fan chuckled, pulled Zhang Wenliang and Zhang Juemin, who were a little disoriented, and got out of the car unsteadily.

After they got off the car, the driver closed the door, stepped on the gas and drove forward.

A passenger in the back shouted loudly, "Master, please stop in front of the department store."

The driver didn't turn his head back, "Everyone gets off at the station. If you want to stop here and he wants to stop there, one step on the gas costs me two cents of fuel, are you paying for it?"

The passenger weakly said, "But just now…"

"What just now? What just now? There was no just now! Everyone gets off at the station."

… …

As soon as Zhang Juemin and Zhang Wenliang got out of the car, they squatted on the side of the road and vomited, attracting the attention of many people around, who then avoided them.

Chen Fan stood aside with his hands on his hips, not feeling embarrassed. When they were almost done vomiting, he took out a ceramic bottle from his bag and poured out two pills, "Here, this is a medicine to regulate qi and clear the orifices. It should make you feel better."

Zhang Wenliang took one and threw it into his mouth. Just as he was about to take his water bottle to drink water, he suddenly perked up, "It's sour and sweet, and it tastes pretty good."

Then he looked at him, "With such good stuff, why didn't you take it out just now?"

Zhang Juemin also ate one, and said as he ate, "Yes, it has hawthorn in it, which is very effective."

Chen Fan shrugged aside, "You guys were on the bus all the time just now, and you were still drowsy even after taking motion sickness pills. It's useless to take this medicine again."

Zhang Wenliang stood up, holding his head, "Then I'd rather take this. The motion sickness medicine makes me really dizzy."

As he said that, he put down his hand and looked around, his face gradually becoming dull, "Wow, it's so lively. Is this the prefectural committee?"

Zhang Juemin also looked around, but pretended to be calm, "Well, it's okay. It's just that the buildings are a little taller, they're all brick and tile houses, there are a few more people, they look pretty good, there are more cars…"

Then he couldn't stay calm anymore, his eyes following people's bicycles, "There are so many bicycles."

Chen Fan wiped his face, looked around, "Let's settle down first. As long as we're still here, there will be plenty of opportunities to see it."

Zhang Wenliang nodded and turned to ask, "Are we going directly to the Health Department to report now?"

Zhang Juemin was already tidying up his clothes and smoothing out the wrinkles on the corners of his clothes.

But Chen Fan shook his head and said, "Not today, tomorrow."

Zhang Juemin and Zhang Wenliang were stunned and looked at him together, "Why?"

Chen Fan said, "It's already past 4 o'clock. In a little over an hour, it'll be time to get off work. By the time we get there, they might be starting their political studies. They won't have time to arrange anything for us."

These days, many workplaces have an hour of study after work. But regular workers don't have to do it so often. It's mainly for government officials. The Municipal Health Department definitely requires it.

Zhang Juemin thought about it and agreed, so he asked, "Where do we go now?"

Chen Fan said, "Let's go shopping first."

Zhang Juemin and Zhang Wenliang were stunned again. "Shopping?"

Chen Fan spread his hands and smiled, "Clothes make the man, and gold ornaments the Buddha. If we don't dress up a bit, they might not take us seriously."

With a snap of his fingers, he turned and walked forward, "First, let's find a place to buy some clothes, then find a guesthouse to stay in for the night. Tomorrow, we'll go to the Health Department clean and presentable."

Zhang Juemin, clutching his canvas bag, followed behind, his eyes full of reluctance, "I'm just here to accompany you. I don't need to buy clothes, do I?!"

Chen Fan nodded, "No, just change into some clean clothes."

Zhang Wenliang was a little tempted, "I'd like to buy some, but I don't have any cloth coupons."

Chen Fan said, "It's okay, I have some here. If you don't need much, I can lend you some."

Zhang Wenliang was curious, "Where did you get cloth coupons? Can our Nanhu coupons be used here?"

Chen Fan said, "Let's try it. If it doesn't work, I have 20 feet of provincial coupons."

Zhang Wenliang was immediately shocked, "Provincial coupons? Where did you get those?"

Coupons also have a scope of use. Generally, they are issued by the local county according to a unified plan. However, if the local commune has surplus unplanned materials, it can also issue its own coupons, but these coupons can only be used locally.

The coupons issued by Nanhua Commune can only be used in Nanhua. The coupons of Guifeng County cannot be used in the Prefectural Committee, but the reverse is possible.

Therefore, the higher the level of the issuing unit, the more valuable the coupons.

Until today, the highest level of coupons Zhang Wenliang had seen were those uniformly issued by Guifeng County. Most of the time, they were still the coupons issued by Nanhua Commune itself. Provincial coupons? Unthinkable!

Chen Fan didn't have that concept and found it very normal, "Oh, it's just the last time my article was published in 'Jiangnan Literature'. The magazine sent some coupons."

He casually explained, noticing an old man who looked kind, and quickly stepped forward, politely saying, "Uncle, hello. Could you please tell me how to get to the department store?"

The old man was also very enthusiastic and pointed to the intersection, "Not far. Turn right here, walk two stops forward, and the department store is across the street."

"Okay, thank you."

Chen Fan thanked him and looked back at Zhang Wenliang and Zhang Juemin, "Let's go buy things first, then find a guesthouse to settle down, and then go eat."

Zhang Juemin immediately said, "Don't you still have rice balls? Just borrow a pot from the guesthouse to heat them up. Why waste money?"

Chen Fan was unwilling to give up. He still wanted to eat in a restaurant, so he said, "What if they don't lend it to us?"

Zhang Juemin looked disbelieving, "It's just borrowing a pot. How could they not lend it?"

Zhang Wenliang was a little tempted, "Brother, we haven't eaten in a restaurant in the Prefectural Committee yet. Why don't we try it?"

Zhang Juemin glared. He might not dare to scold Teacher Chen, but he wasn't afraid to scold you?

He was about to speak when Chen Fan said, "Uh, we're on official business this time. If we don't spend any money, wouldn't that be...?"

He only said half the sentence, but Zhang Juemin suddenly woke up. That's right, it's not his own money!

He immediately cleared his throat, "We still need to be frugal."

Chen Fan and Zhang Wenliang both thought he was still refusing and couldn't help but feel disappointed. Then they heard him say, "Let's just eat one meal today. We'll talk about the future after we finish the rice balls. Don't be too wasteful."

Yay!

Chen Fan's pace immediately became three points lighter, and Zhang Wenliang also seemed to have gained strength. He was no longer dizzy, his eyes were no longer blurry, and even his churning stomach had calmed down. He quickly caught up and urged Chen Fan to walk faster.

After walking for a while, Zhang Juemin raised his hand to wipe his sweat and said, panting, "How much further is it?"

Chen Fan looked ahead, "Soon, just one more stop."

Zhang Wenliang asked in confusion, "How far is one stop?"

Zhang Juemin was also a little curious, "I only know about 'li'. What kind of unit of measurement is this 'stop'? How many 'li' is one stop equal to?"

Chen Fan pointed to the bus stop sign on the side of the road, "It's this bus stop. The bus stops here to pick up and drop off passengers, and then stops at the next stop. It can't stop in between. The distance between two stops is one stop."

Zhang Wenliang and the others suddenly realized and muttered that they had learned something new.

The three of them walked forward, seemingly unable to get enough of the scenery on both sides.

Chen Fan, however, felt it was a bit monotonous. These days, unlike later generations, almost all the buildings along the road have been converted into shops. Not now. There are shops, but most of them have the sign of a department store of a certain unit, such as the Towel Factory Department Store, the Hardware Factory Department Store, the Supply and Marketing Cooperative Department Store, the Agricultural Materials Company Department Store, ... and then some units.

Besides that, there are also many houses right on the side of the road. The living room faces the road, and passers-by can see the furnishings of their house at a glance.

However, although it doesn't have the prosperity of later generations, it also doesn't have the hustle and bustle of later generations. This road has both the atmosphere of human life and less of the impetuousness of a "commercial street", but instead has a kind of peaceful stability.

After walking another stop, Chen Fan finally saw the sign for "Yunhu City Third Department Store".