Reborn in 1977

The car drove out of the school gate and stopped by the side of the road after a short distance.

The sidecar had already driven ahead and was waiting.

Chen Fan waved goodbye to the old experts, got out of the car, and sat in the sidecar, heading north.

He had only mentioned it to Yan Liyuan yesterday, and Yan Liyuan immediately called the director of the waste recycling company and gave him a letter of introduction, so he could go treasure hunting at any time.

Today, he lectured at the school until two or three in the afternoon. It was too late to go to other hospitals at this time, so he simply went to the waste recycling company to take a look in advance.

In less than half an hour, the sidecar arrived at the place.

Still on the embankment, the rider turned to look at Chen Fan and said, "This whole area is the factory area of the waste recycling company. Let's go find their director first, and then see what he arranges."

Chen Fan nodded, "Okay."

His eyes were fixed on the bottom.

When Jiang Tiantian pointed it out to him yesterday, it felt like there were only two large factory buildings here. Even if Jiang Tiantian told him that it was actually very big, he didn't have a very intuitive feeling.

When he arrived, he realized that it was not just big, it was probably the size of two football fields. However, because it was built on the embankment, it couldn't be so wide, so it became a long and narrow strip-shaped area. At both ends were two super large factory-style buildings, with the roar of machines coming from inside without any concealment.

The waste recycling company has machines?

Chen Fan felt a little magical.

Other areas were distributed in different zones, some looked like office areas, some were loading and unloading areas, and some were shipping areas. Although the entire factory area had different functions, it was not too messy, and everything was in order.

Just as he was letting his thoughts fly, the sidecar rushed down a long slope. Zhang Juemin and Zhang Wenliang, who were sitting behind the rider, both felt very strange, "Why do we get dizzy when we go downhill in a car, but not on a motorcycle?"

Chen Fan casually said, "Because the car has a shell that covers you, but the motorcycle doesn't."

Together with the rider, the three of them looked at him in unison, "Really?"

Chen Fan was immediately speechless, how could he say that? Say that I was just talking nonsense?

Fortunately, the slope quickly came to an end.

Here was a small open space, and on the side near the river was a two-story building, with people constantly going in and out. Seeing the sidecar coming, many people cast curious glances.

There were many tractors and trucks coming to the waste recycling company, but sidecars were rare, and it was even rarer to see the words 'Health Department' painted on the sidecar.

The driver generally only cared about sending people to the place, and didn't care or ask about anything else, so the rider sat steadily on the car.

Chen Fan got out of the sidecar himself.

At this time, Zhang Juemin smiled at him, "Xiao Chen, why don't you go by yourself? We won't go."

Zhang Wenliang nodded repeatedly, "It's not that we don't want to accompany you in, it's just that we get a headache when we see books,"

The expression on his face was particularly exaggerated to express its authenticity.

Chen Fan was speechless, "It's not that I'm talking about you, learning is a lifelong thing. Mr. Li insisted on reading and studying in his later years, and even hired a teacher to practice English. You have to learn from Mr. Li!"

The three of them immediately widened their eyes, "Mr. Li also learned English?"

Chen Fan nodded, "Yes, didn't you read Mr. Li's introduction of deeds?"

Hearing this, the three of them were stunned and didn't dare to make a sound.

Chen Fan then realized that this sentence was a bit heavy in this era, and quickly said, "Mr. Li started learning English at the age of 16 or 17. His English enlightenment teacher was a teacher who returned from studying in Japan at a new-style school in Xiangxiang County. The courses taught were English and music.

Although it was interrupted later, he picked up English again in the 1950s, and even many specific English phrases were determined or created by Mr. Li, such as Anti-revolutionary Line, and the famous paper tiger, … …"

Then he saw that the three of them looked confused, completely unable to understand what he was saying.

Chen Fan smacked his lips, "Anyway, that's what it means."

It's meaningless to say things that people don't understand.

Waving his hand, Chen Fan walked towards the office building himself.

As soon as he approached the corridor, someone greeted him, "Comrade, who are you looking for?"

There was no way, the sidecar plus the tall and handsome guy was really eye-catching, and it was impossible not to notice him.

Chen Fan immediately took out the letter of introduction, "Hello, I'm looking for your director."

The man took the letter of introduction and glanced at it. When he looked up, he was already smiling, "Ah, so it's Comrade Chen from the Health Department, hello, hello, our director has been waiting for you for a long time, come, come, this way please!"

Needless to say, their director must have told them in advance.

After all, there are not many opportunities to earn favors from the Health Department, so of course, they must be treated with caution.

Chen Fan followed him upstairs, secretly sighing in his heart that the Health Department's reputation was indeed extraordinary!

On the second floor, the middlemost room was the director's office.

After reading the letter of introduction and hearing Chen Fan's intention, the hospitable director said without hesitation, and immediately found an old cadre in his 50s, "Old Yang, this is Comrade Chen from the Health Department, who wants to find some old books here. You are responsible for receiving him. All the old books in our unit are open to him. He can have any books he wants."

A strange look flashed in the eyes of Comrade Lao Yang, and he cautiously asked, "Director, do you mean, any books are okay?"

In front of the guest, how could the director tolerate the doubts of his subordinates, and immediately put on a stern face, "As long as they are old books in the warehouse, they are all okay!"

He paused, feeling his attitude was too humble, and added, "Once it's all done, we'll settle the bill at waste paper prices. After all, we need to be official about this, understand?"

Anyway, Section Chief Yan said yesterday it was a 'purchase,' so collecting some waste paper money is only right and proper.

Surely this Comrade Chen wouldn't refuse to cough up even a penny a pound for waste paper, would he?!

Old Yang nodded slowly, "Understood!"

He then turned to Chen Fan with a smile, "Comrade Chen, just take out whatever books you fancy. We can settle the bill together later, how about that?"

Chen Fan detected the hesitation in his words. If he could be a bit more assertive, he might even be able to freeload a bit. Or, more subtly, he could put the bill on the Sanitation Department's account. Everyone does it anyway, and they wouldn't dare to ask the Sanitation Department for payment.

However, Chen Fan believed he had principles. How could he do something like freeloading?

He immediately pulled out a pack of Yulan cigarettes with filter tips, which he had swiped from the director that morning, handed one to each of them, and said with a smile, "No problem, no problem at all. Sorry for the trouble, leaders."

The director took the cigarette, his gaze instantly fixed on it. He then glanced at Chen Fan imperceptibly, cleared his throat, and turned to Old Yang, saying, "Since Comrade Chen is paying for them, you absolutely must not sell him any of that 'rotten paper,' understand?"

He winked at Old Yang intensely, glancing at the cigarette from time to time, hoping he would understand.

Good heavens, even he couldn't get his hands on filter-tipped cigarettes. This young man could actually pull them out to offer. Considering Section Chief Yan personally called, did he even need to think about it?

This person's background couldn't be insignificant!

Inspired by the director's look, Old Yang had a flash of inspiration and immediately nodded, saying, "Understood. Any paper that's rotten is useless and definitely can't be charged for."

Then, Old Yang muttered to himself, should it be half-rotten, or eighty percent rotten? The leader didn't give any clear instructions!

Chen Fan stood aside, lost in thought. Could it be that many of the books in the warehouse were rotten?

With a slight question in his mind, he said goodbye to the director and followed Old Yang out.

Old Yang didn't walk ahead but walked alongside him, appearing a few centimeters behind due to the height difference.

At the same time, he chuckled softly, "Comrade Chen, have you been here before?"

Adhering to the principle that the more you say, the more likely you are to make a mistake, Chen Fan smiled and gently shook his head, "No, I haven't."

Old Yang laughed heartily, thinking to himself that it was good he hadn't been here before.

He then said with a smile, "Then shall I give you a tour?"

Chen Fan, "I'd be delighted."

Old Yang then calmly pointed to the factory building behind them, "That's where we process scrap iron. We've introduced advanced machinery. All the scrap iron will be pressed into iron blocks and then sent to the steel mill as raw materials. We also have cleaning equipment, sorting equipment, all kinds of waste processing machines, we have them all in this factory building."

Then he pointed to the factory building in front, "This is the warehouse. The processed waste materials will all be brought here and then shipped out.

The other places in the middle are mostly related to production and construction, and then there are the offices of various departments. You see that building, that's the trade union, next to it is the workers' cultural palace, and over there is the bathhouse."

Chen Fan couldn't help but be curious when he heard this, "There's even a bathhouse?"

Bathhouses are more common in the north, but a rare thing in the south.

Old Yang said with a smile, "It's due to the nature of the work. The workers in our unit exert a lot of physical strength, and most of the waste products are dirty. After finishing work, the dust on their bodies can't be washed off, so we specially built a bathhouse for the workers to take a bath and wash themselves clean before going home."

After listening, Chen Fan could only sigh at the good welfare benefits of this unit.

How much money would it cost to build a workers-only bathhouse that doesn't generate any profit!

Before long, they arrived at the warehouse area. Chen Fan looked at the busy workers going in and out and followed Old Yang inside.

Old Yang pointed to the innermost corner and said, "The old books are all in the innermost corner. Although this is a warehouse, a place to store processed items, some dust is inevitable. In order not to affect the lifespan of the books, we generally find the cleanest place to put them."

Chen Fan nodded as he followed him inside.

A large area at the entrance of this warehouse was filled with large iron blocks.

These iron blocks were made of scattered scrap iron. They were pressed into square shapes by some kind of machine, making them very convenient for loading and transportation.

Further inside, there were broken enamelware, glass, plastic… As Chen Fan walked in, he found that there weren't many types of waste products here, far less than the garbage disposal stations of later decades, and he couldn't even see a piece of cloth.

That's right, who would throw away old clothes these days?

If clothes were so torn that they couldn't be worn, those without money could cut them up and patch them, and those with money could give the unwanted old clothes to poor relatives or acquaintances. Even if there was a spendthrift who dared to throw away a piece of clothing, it would be swept away by the cleaner at the first opportunity, and it wouldn't even reach here.

Just as Chen Fan was secretly lamenting that there was nothing good here, a pile of broken appliances suddenly appeared in front of him?

These appliances were mainly radios, with a small number of record players, and no higher-end TVs or all-in-one stereos were seen.

Seeing Chen Fan looking at this pile of things, Old Yang couldn't help but smile, "These have all been disassembled by appliance repair shops, and basically only the shells are left. They're almost useless, otherwise they wouldn't be here. We didn't break these things up either. We're going to send them to appliance factories for them to refurbish and use."

Chen Fan smiled and nodded, without saying anything.

Further ahead was the old book area.