Reborn in 1977

Seeing An Quan run ahead safely, Captain Yang also acted quickly.

Passing by Chen Fan, he patted him on the arm, "What are you standing there for? Let's go."

Chen Fan quickly followed.

Before long, they caught up, and An Quan had already taken out a cigarette and handed it over, "Master Guo, you're here so early today."

Master Guo took the cigarette and smiled, "Cadre An, are you here to work in the countryside this year?"

As he spoke, he looked at Captain Yang and Chen Fan who were walking over, "Oh, still in Lujiawan?"

An Quan took out a lighter, lit the cigarette, and leaned over, grinning, "It's fate."

At this time, Captain Yang also walked up and extended his hands with great enthusiasm, "Hello, Master Guo."

Master Guo lit the cigarette and slowly extended his right hand to shake it, appearing quite steady.

However, Chen Fan could also see that his slowness was somewhat different from arrogance, probably the kind of slowness most common in fat people.

Thinking of fat people, Chen Fan looked at this Master Guo and was amazed.

It's not easy to be able to be so fair and chubby these days. Thinking of Zhu, the pig slaughterer at the food station, one can only say that the grain system really nourishes people!

While pondering, Chen Fan's hands didn't stop. As soon as Captain Yang let go, he quickly stepped forward and extended both hands, "Hello, Master Guo, thank you for your hard work today."

Master Guo shook Chen Fan's hand, and the smile on his face became even stronger, "Teacher Chen, right? This is the first time we've met today. Seeing is better than hearing."

Chen Fan's attitude was very correct, and he smiled and said, "I don't dare to be called a teacher. Just call me Little Chen."

After chatting with An Quan and Captain Yang along the way, he now knew the weight of the grain depot inspector.

There are also regulations for production teams to hand in public grain and purchase grain. Generally speaking, the grain depot will divide the grain into 3 grades. Public grain needs to reach the first grade before it will be accepted into the warehouse, otherwise, the weight will be deducted.

The superficial meaning is to deduct the weight reduced by the moisture of re-drying, as well as related labor costs. In fact, only the inspector himself knows the truth.

There is no mandatory requirement for grain purchases, and they also accept the third grade. However, there will be a certain price difference between the first, second, and third grades.

For example, the purchase price of first-grade grain is 9 cents, the second-grade grain is only 8 cents, and the third-grade grain is less than 7 cents, only 6.5 cents. Don't underestimate the difference of one or two cents, but it adds up.

Taking Team 6 of Lujiawan as an example, the amount of grain purchased is as high as 45,500 jin. A difference of one cent is a difference of 455 yuan, which is more than one yuan per commune member. If it is listed in the third grade, it will be more than a thousand yuan difference.

How much money can the team earn in a year? This is more than a thousand yuan difference, wouldn't that be a complete loss?!

This is not even the worst. The worst is being rated as substandard, at which point the grain depot will refuse to accept it.

If they refuse to accept it, can you say you won't sell it?

Of course not!

Grain purchases are also a mandatory task, and together with public grain, they are called "requisitioned grain". Requisition is public grain, and purchase is acquisition, both of which are tasks that must be completed.

So after being rejected, you can only pull it back, re-screen for better rice, choose the largest and most plump grains, dry them in the sun for two or three days, and then pull them over to sell to them.

If you don't want to pull it back, you can only accept the deduction of weight and low price.

What a miserable word.

In addition to these, Chen Fan also knew that most farmers across the country should have experienced such experiences.

Especially in the 80s and 90s, the situation was countless times more serious than it is now.

In this era, although there are also cases of making things difficult, it is more of an arrogance in attitude and a sense of psychological superiority, and they will leave some bottom line when doing things.

Or, in the face of the collective production team, there is still some fear in their hearts.

In the 20 years after the commune was transformed into a household contract system, there was a real lack of bottom line!

Well, this cannot be said too much.

Seeing Chen Fan's low profile, Master Guo smiled even more happily, "Teacher Chen is too modest. Putting aside everything else, just by running a veterinary class and training 12 qualified veterinarians for Lujiawan, and then running a study class to teach the production team's children knowledge, you deserve the title of teacher."

He took a puff of cigarette, and a look of reminiscence appeared in his eyes, "Back then, I didn't study hard, and I didn't meet a good teacher, the supervision was not strict, and I was too indulgent, so the foundation was too poor. Later, I was recommended to the county's grain school for further study, and many subjects failed. It took a lot of effort to catch up.

Only those who have gone to school but are unable to do what they want know the value of knowledge. Teacher Chen, you are able to impart knowledge and are so attentive, it is very rare!"

Chen Fan pursed his lips and smiled, thinking, so you are showing off that you have attended a technical secondary school?

Although it is only an internal school in the grain system, it is also a technical secondary school.

However, he also heard that this Master Guo is probably an important reserve talent of the grain depot, about the same level as An Quan, so it is no wonder that his clerical worker with a career establishment is lukewarm to An Quan, the small leader of the tax office.

Everyone is about the same, who is afraid of who!

After chatting for a while, Chen Fan took the lead, Captain Yang and An Quan cooperated, and finally brought up the matter of writing a novel.

An Quan pointed to Chen Fan and said to Master Guo, "These two days, Lujiawan is building a small water tower and has invited two master craftsmen from the county to give guidance. Teacher Chen chatted with them and, after listening to the master craftsmen's stories, said he wanted to write a novel about construction workers."

When Master Guo heard this, he couldn't help but feel envious, "Those two master craftsmen have made a profit!"

It is rumored that Teacher Chen never fails to deliver, at the very least, it will be the Prefectural Committee Daily. When the article is published, won't the county construction company become famous in the province?!

Isn't this making a profit!

Just as Master Guo was secretly envious, Captain Yang quickly said, "Little Chen, our grain depot collects grain for the country, and all the grain in the entire commune must be handed over here. They are also responsible for management, which is not only hard work but also a heavy responsibility. Why don't you write a novel about the grain depot too?"

Chen Fan's face showed embarrassment, cooperating in acting, "I'm worried about what to write for the next novel. It would be very suitable to write about the story of grassroots grain workers, but I'm not familiar with the work of grain workers."

An Quan immediately said, "You're not familiar with construction workers either, how can you write it? Isn't it just that you listened to Master Qiu and Master Ma tell you the stories of that year."

Then he pointed to Master Guo, "You can also ask Master Guo for advice. Master Guo has worked in the grain depot for almost 20 years and has seen a lot. What kind of scene hasn't he seen? As long as you sincerely ask for advice, Master Guo has a belly full of stories here."

Master Guo had already smiled like Maitreya Buddha, raising his hands and gently waving, "You're being too serious, I've just worked for a longer time."

After a pause, he smiled again, "But speaking of stories, I really know some here."

He could see that these people were singing a duet to him today.

But even if he knew this was a "trap", he was willing to jump into it.

Didn't you see how those people who had worked as rural cadres in that article "On the Field of Hope" were showing off? Although he had also worked as a rural cadre before and was one of them, how happy is it to be the only one in a large group!

So as soon as Chen Fan gave a hint, he readily agreed, "As long as Teacher Chen is interested, I have many stories to tell you."

Captain Yang immediately clapped his hands, "Then I'll arrange lunch today, at the state-run restaurant in the commune, and invite Master Guo for a drink. We'll chat while drinking."

As long as Master Guo is willing to raise his hand and raise the grade by one level, it will be hundreds of yuan more. What does a meal count for?

Since he had already accepted the olive branch from others, Master Guo also went along with the flow, "Okay, then I'll bother you."

Then he looked at the large grain transport team and said with a smile, "It's almost time. This is the public grain you transported, right? Let's check it first."

Captain Yang was overjoyed and quickly turned sideways and extended his right hand, "This way, please."

Master Guo did not act immediately, but pointed to the small bungalow he had just come out of and said, "Call two people to help me move those tables inside, as well as the chairs and scales."

Captain Yang immediately waved his hand and shouted, "Yuejin, take the militia squad and move the tables, chairs, and scales in the room."

As soon as the voice fell, 11 people immediately rushed out of the team and swarmed into the small room, carrying out three square tables, as well as several benches and two scales.

These were the desks for the grain depot staff today.

Master Guo directed them to put the square tables in the designated positions, and then picked up a large record book and an iron drill from one of the tables.

The iron drill was a flat iron pipe with an empty middle part, revealing a large hole. It was somewhat similar to the three-edged military刺 in "ZNH Bodyguard".

Master Guo, carrying his iron drill, walked over to the grain transport team and plunged it into a large sack.

After pulling it out, he tucked his notebook under his arm, poured some grain from the hole into his palm, and then picked up a few grains and chewed on them.

After chewing a few times, he spat the grain on the ground. The grain in the iron drill was also poured onto the ground. He continued to walk forward, randomly inserting the drill into a sack of grain below.

He repeated this action over and over.

Chen Fan followed behind, feeling a little sorry as he watched the grain scattered on the ground.

Seeing his expression, Team Leader Yang shook his head with a smile, even secretly giving him a thumbs up.

Chen Fan immediately understood that Master Guo was being lenient; otherwise, he would have spilled much more grain.

After sticking about a dozen sacks, Master Guo turned around, smiled at Team Leader Yang, who had been following him, and said, "This year's grain is good."

These few words made Team Leader Yang beam with joy.

The commune members of the Sixth Team of Lujiawan also looked delighted, quietly telling each other that the inspector said this year's grain was good.

The happy mood quickly spread, attracting the eager anticipation of the Sixth Team of Bailang Lake behind them.

The inspector's mood was crucial for handing over public grain. It seemed that the inspector was in a good mood today!

With so much grain, it was impossible for Master Guo to inspect only a dozen sacks.

He wandered back and forth among the Lujiawan grain transport team, checking from time to time, including the loose grain carried in baskets. He patiently checked everything, even reaching his hand into the bottom to check the quality of the grain below.

This took nearly half an hour before he finally finished the inspection.

Then, he made a record in his notebook and said, "Okay, all are first-class."

As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding Lujiawan commune members immediately jumped up, raising their hands and cheering.

This first hurdle of handing over grain for the summer harvest was cleared!

There were three hurdles for handing over grain, and inspection was the first. After passing the inspection hurdle, the next step was to weigh the grain.

It was not until this time that the weigher arrived late.

Master Guo took the initiative to greet him and said a few words in a low voice. The weigher's face immediately broke into a smile, and he greeted Anquan, Team Leader Yang, and Chen Fan with a beaming face. Then, after simply smoking a cigarette, he did not waste time and called the people of the Sixth Team of Lujiawan to weigh the grain.

The people behind immediately followed, pulling the carts over in batches and lifting the sacks onto the scale.

The weigher sat upright at the Eight Immortals table, moving the steelyard weights. For each cart that passed, he issued a receipt.

He was afraid of getting things mixed up.

(Grain purchase receipt from the 1980s)

First, the public grain was weighed. For each cart that passed, he issued a receipt and made a record in his notebook. He continued until he had collected enough public grain before loudly shouting to stop. Then, he began to weigh the surplus grain.

The process was the same. Cart after cart of grain passed in front of him, and he made a record and issued a receipt.

(Reserve grain purchase receipt from 1977)

After issuing the receipts, these documents would be handed over to Team Leader Yang for safekeeping. He would give them to Accountant Liu for registration and then go to the grain depot's finance department to collect the money from the sale of the grain, which would finally be handed over to Custodian Huang for bookkeeping, counting it as one of the production team's income for the year.

This year's surplus grain was 45,500 jin. The purchase price for first-class grain was 9 fen and 5 li, for a total of 4325.29 yuan.

This alone, for the more than three hundred members of the Sixth Team of Lujiawan, meant an average of more than ten yuan per person.

After the grain passed through the two hurdles of inspection and weighing, the task of handing over grain was not yet finished.

The grain transport team had to reload the grain onto the carts and transport it to the granary behind, personally pouring the grain into the granary before the task was completed. (This image cannot be displayed.)

This was the third hurdle, the entry-into-granary hurdle.

Under the command of the warehouse manager, the dozens of flatbed carts and wheelbarrows of Lujiawan, carrying more than a hundred loads of rice, orderly entered the warehouse.

Thus, after rushing to the grain depot at 6:00 in the morning, and then starting the inspection at 7:00, everyone was busy until nearly 10:00 before they completed today's grain delivery task.

Even so, everyone's face was filled with happy smiles.

With the public grain stored in the warehouse, one of the most important tasks of the year was completed, and everyone could breathe a sigh of relief.

As for the second most important task, it was naturally the autumn grain storage in the second half of the year (lunar calendar).

For the common people of this era, besides their own lives, the most important thing was handing over public grain.

For the people, farming and paying grain was simply a matter of course, and there was nothing happier than completing the task of paying grain.

At this time, Team Leader Yang also breathed a long sigh of relief.

He remembered the matter of inviting Master Guo to dinner, so he asked Accountant Liu and Custodian Huang to go to the grain depot office building next door to settle the bill and then ask Master Liu to take everyone back to the production team.

At this time, there was no need to pay attention to formation. The commune members piled up the empty baskets and put them on the flatbed carts, which were then pulled back by the strong laborers.

The emptied sacks also had to be taken back to the production team.

These sacks were issued by the commune for preventing flood disasters. If there were emergencies such as piping or high water levels, these sacks would be used to fill the riverbanks with soil. Now they were only temporarily requisitioned, and even the holes pierced during inspection had to be repaired.

Taking advantage of them temporarily saved the production team a lot of money on sacks.

More than three hundred people came out, but half as many returned. It was rare for everyone to come to the commune, and they had just experienced the busy double rush, so they naturally wanted to stroll around the commune, even if they didn't buy anything, just for entertainment.

After everyone had dispersed, only Anquan, Team Leader Yang, and Chen Fan were left, waiting for Master Guo to finish his work before going to dinner and chatting with him.

Master Guo, in addition to inspecting the Sixth Team of Lujiawan and the Sixth Team of Bailang Lake, also inspected the two production teams that came later, and after being busy until almost 11:30, he packed his things and walked over, "Sorry for the wait, let's go."

Team Leader Yang naturally said it was nothing, and diligently invited Master Guo to go first. Soon they arrived at the state-owned restaurant.

Arriving here, Chen Fan felt like he was back home.

Although he had only been here twice, he had become very familiar with the waiters and the chef, Zhu Hao. He greeted them familiarly at the door and even went to the back kitchen for a tour.

Seeing Chen Fan making friends so widely, the smile on Master Guo's face couldn't help but become even more pronounced, and his attitude became much more humble.

While eating, he drank wine and told Chen Fan a lot about the various typical events that the Nanhu Grain Depot had encountered since its establishment.

Originally, Chen Fan was only perfunctorily dealing with it for the sake of the task, but after hearing the stories he told, he couldn't help but become interested. He ran to the Xinhua Bookstore across the street and bought a pen and a notebook, recording the stories Master Guo told one by one.

Seeing Chen Fan being so serious, Master Guo couldn't help but nod secretly, and his interest in talking became even higher.

This meal lasted from 11:30 in the morning until 2:00 in the afternoon. If Master Guo hadn't remembered that there were still teams coming to deliver grain in the afternoon, he probably could have chatted here all afternoon.

After the farewell, Master Guo hurried to the grain depot, while Chen Fan and the others walked slowly behind.

Looking at the returning grain transport teams from other teams on the street, Chen Fan said with a smile, "The task is completed, Team Leader, you should be relieved now."

Team Leader Yang nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, I'm relieved, I'm relieved."

He put his hands on his hips, looking particularly high-spirited, "I've led teams to deliver grain for many years, and this is the first time it's gone so smoothly."

Saying that, he patted Chen Fan on the shoulder and smiled, "Thanks to you!"

Chen Fan shook his head with a smile, "It's still because the quality of our production team's grain is good this year. Otherwise, even if I talked until my mouth was dry, Master Guo wouldn't dare to easily upgrade the grade."

Today was definitely Master Guo giving a favor. Chen Fan also saw the inspections of other production teams later, and none of them said that all of them were first-class grain. At least 20% to 30% were second-class grain.

Regardless of custom or the actual situation, just like no one can get 100 points on a Chinese test, the grain depot will not designate 100% first-class grain for any production team!

All designated as first-class grain, are you that capable?!

Therefore, Team Leader Yang saw this favor clearly. In his heart, he naturally wanted to give Chen Fan credit, even to say that he was the biggest contributor.

Moreover, besides the Sixth Team, other teams in Lujiawan should also pass the inspection much more smoothly this year.

Don't look at the monk's face, look at the Buddha's face. Who doesn't know that Teacher Chen is the coordinator of the Lujiawan Brigade? Since he has already sold his face, it is only right to show mercy and give other teams some convenience.