Reborn in 1977

Chapter 337: Lighting the Fire

It was now early July, and Lu Jiawan was celebrating two major happy events.

The first, needless to say, was the official release of Teacher Chen's "edited" book, "First Aid Manual." Even before the book reached the Xinhua Bookstore, several hundred copies had been pre-ordered by various organizations. Combined with individual purchases, it set a sales record for the Nanhugongshe Xinhua Bookstore, even surpassing the last three issues of "Jiangnan Literature."

Of course, that's the single-issue sales record.

If you count the total sales volume, "Jiangnan Literature" would definitely win.

The high sales volume of the May, June, and July issues of "Jiangnan Literature" was also inseparable from Chen Fan.

Because Teacher Chen's article, "On the Field of Hope," was published in it!

In particular, cadres from various organizations who had previously spent time in production teams felt that the protagonist written by Teacher Chen had their own shadow, and they bought copies to give away.

The cultural centers of various organizations also actively purchased the magazine to show their support for the grassroots and to flaunt their achievements. Yet, even this couldn't compare to a single "First Aid Manual."

This only shows that people's sense of collective honor is truly strong nowadays.

And the biggest beneficiary, naturally, was Lu Jiawan, which had "cultivated" Chen Fan.

For a time, Lu Jiawan's reputation soared in Guifeng County, let alone within Nanhugongshe. Various units in the commune sent invitations to the brigade headquarters, wanting to invite Chen Fan to give lectures, and even some from the county.

They wanted Chen Fan to talk about what kind of mentality and spirit allowed him to research the "Airway Foreign Body Removal Method," and what kind of ideas led him to think of compiling a first aid manual to serve the masses and contribute to society!

Chen Fan politely declined all of these, strongly recommending Zhang Wenliang and Zhang Juemin to perform instead.

He was mainly afraid of trouble and didn't want to be in the limelight. He just wanted to live his carefree life in peace and quiet.

After a brief discussion, the four leaders of the brigade headquarters unanimously agreed.

They were also afraid that once Chen Fan went out, he would be poached by other units.

Although Chen Fan firmly rejected the invitation from the Prefectural Committee Health Department, what if a unit in the county offered better conditions?

For example, allocating housing upon arrival, providing treatment according to cadre rank, and maybe even finding him a wife.

No matter how good-looking the girls in Lu Jiawan were, they were still country girls. How could they compare to the cultured people in the city? By then, both husband and wife would be earning wages, a dual-cadre family, wouldn't that be better than staying in Lu Jiawan?!

Therefore, they firmly supported Chen Fan's idea, and no matter which unit came to invite him, they would politely deflect with vague answers.

They accepted all praise and gifts, but they wouldn't give up the person!

After much pushing and shoving, those units finally had to agree to let Zhang Wenliang and Zhang Juemin go.

Anyway, they also appeared in the book, and it was a live demonstration. With them there, the persuasiveness was no weaker than Chen Fan's.

Moreover, the rewards from the Prefectural Committee Health Department for this incident had also been distributed. Relevant personnel at all levels received rewards. The benefit Zhang Juemin received was that he was specially promoted by the Nanhugongshe Health Center to become a glorious full-time worker.

Including his ten years of experience as a barefoot doctor, he was given a fourth-grade salary of 56 yuan.

This was considered middle to upper level in the entire health center.

Because there were not many cadres in the health center, most were workers. Being able to reach the fourth grade was already very good.

Before 1968, graduates from technical secondary schools and universities were mainly assigned according to needs, wherever they were needed.

Under this circumstance, units in large cities and key large-scale projects naturally had an advantage, and in order to snatch people, various units also offered the most favorable conditions. What was a mere cadre position worth?!

This is also the origin of the saying that college students become cadres "upon graduation," which later became a common practice.

However, it doesn't mean that there was a regulation that technical secondary school and university graduates must be assigned as cadres.

After the resumption of the college entrance examination, the distribution of these graduates was also the same. Thus, there was the "golden decade" of technical secondary school students.

Think about it, both are junior high school graduates. One only needs to study for three or four more years to enter a unit as a cadre, while the other has to study for six to eight more years to enter a unit as a cadre. Moreover, at that time, everyone's salary standards were almost the same. What would you choose?

However, the higher authorities issued a notice in 1968, which contained two very crucial points.

First, the distribution of graduates must completely break the old system that graduates of colleges and universities can only be assigned as cadres and cannot be workers or peasants upon graduation.

What does that mean?

Graduates during this period will not become cadres upon graduation, they must start as peasants and workers!

Second, the distribution of graduates must adhere to the principle of facing the countryside, facing the border areas, facing industrial and mining areas, facing the grassroots, and combining with workers and peasants.

That is to say, the previous large city units and large project units will no longer have the advantage of priority selection.

How to distribute specifically depends on where the graduates come from.

If they are from large cities, they can stay. If they are from small places, especially rural areas, the best destination is the local county seat!

But who is willing to go to the commune or the production team?

Even if they stay in the county seat, they still have to go to the countryside for regular inspections. Ninety-nine point nine nine percent of people want to stay in the county seat.

Therefore, the commune health centers below are truly short of talent, and naturally there are fewer people with high salaries. It is not surprising that Zhang Juemin can occupy the middle and upper reaches.

Moreover, the health center is also happy to let Zhang Juemin and Zhang Wenliang go out together.

Zhang Juemin is already a member of the health center, which is also promoting the commune health center.

Zhang Wenliang and Zhang Juemin worked hard in various units in Nanhugongshe, and after finishing, they went to other places, suffering and enjoying it, working hard to glorify Lu Jiawan.

Thus, the first joyous event in Lujiawan was set. The second joyous event was the long-delayed commencement of the brick kiln.

Once the brick kiln was built, bricks for constructing the small water tower could be fired. When that happened, the small water tower could be built smoothly, and running water would soon be available. Wouldn't that be a great joy?!

Chen Fan leisurely held his teapot, sat in a makeshift shed, and directed the construction of the brick kiln.

“Firing bricks is a technical job, but the technical content is just like that, not complicated. You can learn it just by watching it once.”

As he spoke, he put down the teapot, stood up, and walked outside. Huang Ying immediately handed him a straw hat.

He readily took it and placed it on his head, put his hands on his hips, and shouted loudly, “The double rush harvest is just a few days away. We must fire the bricks before the double rush harvest. The brigade headquarters said I don’t need to teach the technique. Bullshit! As long as someone is normal, they can learn it after being taught once.”

Someone immediately shouted, “Teacher Chen, are you saying you’re going to teach us how to fire bricks?”

Chen Fan turned his head and laughed, “Master Peng, you’re here too?”

It turned out to be Old Peng, a retired hunter from Team 9.

Old Peng immediately shouted, “We also want to see the small water tower sooner.”

As early as before the end of the plum rain season, each team organized manpower to take soil here to make brick blanks. The brick blanks that were made were placed wherever there was space in the entire brigade, waiting for the end of the plum rain season. The brick blanks had already been made, and the quantity was only more, not less.

After that, taking advantage of the big sun, they were dragged to the field to dry in the sun. They were dragged to this place to be fired only when they were completely dry a few days ago.

First air-drying and then sun-drying, so that cracks are less likely to occur.

Originally, everyone came for the running water. At this time, hearing Chen Fan say that he could teach everyone how to fire bricks, they were immediately overjoyed.

If they could learn how to fire bricks, even if they couldn't fire bricks to sell, it would be good to fire them for their own use.

If conditions permit, who wouldn't want to live in a brick house?

However, the biggest expense of a brick house is the bricks. A red brick costs 3 cents. Building a 60-70 square meter house requires at least 10,000 bricks, which is more than 300 yuan. If you build a larger one, it will be even more expensive.

If you fire your own bricks to build a house, wouldn't you save this money?!

Chen Fan is willing to teach them because the technical difficulty is indeed very low. He himself does not expect to make money from this. It is better to be generous and directly teach them. On the one hand, he does not need to personally go out to fire bricks in the future, which saves trouble. Secondly, he can also sell favors, which is equivalent to earning twice.

Chen Fan looked at the surrounding crowd and shouted with a smile, “This thing is indeed not difficult. I will teach you how to build two brick kilns later, and you will know how to do it.”

Then, pointing to the neatly stacked brick blank walls not far away, “Children, don’t play inside. Those who have energy but nowhere to use it, go move bricks for me.”

Immediately, there were shouts from adults and giggles from children, followed by shrill cries.

Chen Fan was unmoved and strode to the bottom of the slope.

Several groups of people were working hard to shovel the ground here.

Chen Fan checked it and said, “Just level the ground, no need to dig too deep. If it’s too deep, it’s easy to have moisture. It’s almost good.”

Then he clapped his hands, “Bring the brick blanks and build the brick kiln first.”

Someone next to him asked, “Are you building a brick kiln with brick blanks?”

Chen Fan said, “I would like to build it with bricks, but there aren’t any. Let’s make a simple one first.”

After a pause, he said loudly again, “If you want to fire your own bricks in the future, this is the simplest way, even simpler than my firing pottery. Now listen to my command and watch carefully. After today, you will have to fire it yourselves.”

There was a loud shout from the surrounding area, “Okay.”

Then a group of people quickly gathered around.

Everyone was very conscious. Each team sent a few representatives, and quickly there were thirty or forty people around him.

Chen Fan also became serious at this time, picked up a brick blank, and while commanding, he demonstrated, “First use earthen bricks to surround a circle, surround this piece of land, don’t surround it too high, you have to lay bricks inside.

Then add coal briquettes layer by layer, and add bricks layer by layer. You can’t add too much coal briquettes and firewood, you must add just the right amount. If there is too much, the firepower will be too strong, and the bricks will easily be burned into heavy and hard ‘iron bricks’. The key is that the deformation cannot be used. If there is too little, the firepower will be small, and the bricks cannot be successfully formed, and they will break when pinched.

Leave a few openings below, first to facilitate people to carry them, and second to facilitate the circulation of hot air. This is what will be used during the later firing, …”

This brick kiln is different from the small earthen kiln that Chen Fan used to fire bricks before. The area and volume are many times larger. If he took Jiang Lili and them to do it, it would not be completed in 10 days.

But the advantage of the production team is that there are many people and great strength. As long as an order is given, there will naturally be people to dispatch.

So, with the joint efforts of so many people, in less than half a day, a brick kiln with a diameter of about 10 meters and a height of about 5 or 6 meters, like half a sphere, was built.

(Rural self-built brick kiln)

One brick kiln is definitely not enough, so everyone immediately started building the second one.

With the experience of the first time, everyone was familiar with the job, and the speed was much faster.

It took even less time than before to build the second brick kiln.

Then Chen Fan began to command again, “Each reserved hole must be filled with firewood. I count three, and everyone lights the fire together.”

Chen Fan raised his right hand high, quite like launching a rocket, “3, 2, 1, light the fire!”