Reborn in 1977

Hearing Chen Fan's words, Captain Yang's face showed difficulty.

He took a puff of his cigarette, looking troubled. "That's a problem."

If someone else said this, he would have slapped them across the face. It's just a short walk, how could they not manage?

But yesterday, the whole village heard about Chen Fan carrying a few buckets of water. The kid wobbles even with half a bucket, making people worry he'll fall off the riverbank. He really is a bit weak.

If it were just the two nearby teams, he could manage. But those further teams would be a bit troublesome.

Especially the furthest teams, 1 and 12, which are at least a two-hour walk away. With Chen Fan's physique, could he even make it? It really is a problem.

The entire Lujiawan area is a roughly irregular triangle, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, bordered by riverbanks on both sides. The production team is arranged along the two riverbanks, from 1 to 12, forming a circle. Where the land is wide, the length is shorter, and where the land is narrow, the length is longer, ensuring each team has roughly equal land. Because the west side is shorter and the east side is longer, the bottom forms a diagonal line on the map, so teams 1 to 5 are on the west side, and teams 6 to 12 are on the east side, with unequal numbers.

In fact, the entire Nanhu Commune is a large embankment surrounded by two rivers, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, with the commune headquarters in the middle.

Lujiawan is at the narrower end, and it's the only production team on this side.

The wider side is equivalent to more than four Lujiawans in area, so it's divided into four production brigades, plus the centuries-old Nanhu Town, together forming the entire Nanhu Commune.

In terms of geographical location, Lujiawan's team 6, like team 5, is closest to the commune, which is one reason why the educated youth center is located in Lujiawan's team 6.

Why not put it in team 5?

That's because team 5's houses are too good. Half of them are large brick houses left by the Lu family, and the other earthen houses are newly built in recent years. Putting the educated youth center there wouldn't reflect the spirit of hard work.

So, team 6, not far from the commune and full of mud-walled thatched houses, became the best choice for the Lujiawan educated youth center.

But now they weren't going to the commune... Captain Yang suddenly thought, if he went to the brigade headquarters to claim credit, would Captain Zhang go to the commune to claim credit?

Very likely!

He glanced at Chen Fan, then looked at Liu Jujiang, and suddenly had an idea.

He cleared his throat and said, "Well, Xiao Chen just fell into the water, and his body hasn't fully recovered. Walking long distances isn't very convenient. Old Liu is an old member, familiar with the environment, and has tough feet. So, he'll have to work a little harder and run to the further teams. Also, in terms of distribution, we'll give Old Liu an extra share, say 60 work points, how about that?"

When Liu Jujiang heard this, his face lit up with joy, and he nodded repeatedly, "No problem, as long as Comrade Chen has no objections, I'm fine with it."

He sat in his chair, smoking and grinning from ear to ear.

He wasn't afraid of going far, just afraid of earning fewer work points.

Once the production team entered the twelfth lunar month, there was hardly any regular work to do, so naturally, he couldn't earn many work points. Now that he had the opportunity to earn 10 extra work points, he was of course happy.

Chen Fan was also happy. He didn't have to walk far, saving a lot of energy!

Although he would get 10 fewer work points, he couldn't get rich with those few points. Compared to solving his identity problem, it was more important to win over the team members and establish good relationships with them.

Seeing that Chen Fan was so easy to talk to, Liu Jujiang felt a little embarrassed.

He had learned from Chen Fan himself, but now he was taking advantage of him, which wasn't right. After thinking for a moment, he said to Captain Yang, "Comrade Chen has it rough too, why not give him a few work points, I can take less."

Before Captain Yang could speak, Chen Fan quickly said, "No need, no need, one thing is one thing, doing as much work and earning as many work points is a matter of principle, we can't make exceptions."

Captain Yang also waved his hand, "What's the use of a few work points? If you feel bad, you can teach him a couple of your skills later, and that'll make up for it."

Chen Fan also smiled and said, "That's a good idea, I'll have to learn more from Master Liu when I have the chance."

Liu Jujiang thought it was right. This kid didn't look like someone who would be a chef, and the villagers nearby only recognized him, who would recognize a little kid? This wouldn't take away his work. He could teach him two local specialties when he had the chance, which would be a way to repay the favor.

Yeah, that's what he'd do!

Seeing that the problem was solved, Captain Yang said, "In that case, teams 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9 are the closest teams, so Xiao Chen will take a trip there, and Old Liu will go to the other teams."

After a pause, he added, "Tomorrow morning, my family will be butchering the New Year pig, and I'll need Master Liu's help to make the pig-butchering dishes. So, we'll start tomorrow afternoon. If there are no problems, I'll notify the brigade headquarters and have them prepare."

Chen Fan nodded and asked one last question, "Captain, do we need to bring our own rations?"

When Captain Yang heard this, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "You're going to teach people how to cook, and they'll skimp on your food? Or do you not provide meals when you hire people to work where you're from?"

Accountant Liu, who hadn't spoken, couldn't stop laughing, "Xiao Chen just can't remember things."

Warden Huang also laughed, "Xiao Chen's spirit is good, though. You have to calculate everything clearly, so there's no trouble later."

Captain Yang slapped his thigh and laughed at Chen Fan, "If they don't give you food, you come back and tell me, and I'll get you a year's worth of grain next year!"

Chen Fan widened his eyes, "What if I just refuse to eat it? Can I still get it?"

As soon as he said this, the hall burst into laughter, filled with a joyful atmosphere.

...

Back at the educated youth center, Chen Fan first ran to Jiang Lili's door and proactively brought up the matter, "Captain Yang asked me to go to several nearby production teams to teach them how to cook soft-shelled turtles."

Jiang Lili walked out and stood at the door, her eyes widening, "Really?"

Chen Fan nodded and said with a smile, "It's not for nothing, each team gives 10 work points, and I'm going to 5 teams, so I can earn 50 work points."

A look of surprise appeared on Jiang Lili's face, "That's great, that's like me working for 6 or 7 days."

So, she only earns 7 or 8 work points a day?

Chen Fan blinked, suddenly remembering what Captain Yang had said about "piecework," and asked, "Hey, how do you usually calculate work points? I mean, some people can get 10 work points a day, while others only get 7 or 8, and some jobs are hard while others are easy, how does that work?"

"Oh."

Jiang Lili said without hesitation, "There are several ways to record work points: 'fixed points, fixed record,' 'fixed points, flexible evaluation,' 'piecework,' and 'contract work.'

"'Fixed points, fixed record' is to evaluate the work points that each working day should earn according to the strength of the labor force and the level of technical skills, and then record the points according to the actual attendance time.

This is also the most common daily scoring method in the production team. For example, a man can earn 10 work points for working a day. If it is during the 'double抢' period or when carrying loads, he can earn up to 12 work points a day. Women earn fewer, generally 7 or 8 points, and will not exceed 10 points at most. The elderly and children who work earn the least, sometimes 5 or 6 points.

"'Fixed points, flexible evaluation' is based on 'fixed points, fixed record,' and scores are given based on work performance and results, and then this score is multiplied by the original standard score."

Chen Fan nodded slowly, understanding that it was like a performance coefficient.

Jiang Lili continued, "Piecework is to mark a task with a score, and points can be recorded when the task is completed. Contract work is similar, but it is mainly aimed at the production team. For example, every year's load-carrying task is that the commune contracts a section of the riverbank to the production team and gives a total number of work points. The production team then arranges members to complete the task and distributes the work points according to the members' performance."

Chen Fan blinked, not expecting that there were such flexible distribution methods during the production team period, which was a bit beyond his imagination. He thought that everyone was doing the same, whether they worked hard or not.