Reborn in 1977

Chapter 399: Finally Arrived

It was when they needed to discuss matters that Secretary Yang realized the benefits of having a radio on the boat. Otherwise, he would have had to run back to discuss things with Captain Zhang and Captain Xiao, reach a consensus, and then return.

Now, there was no need.

In the boat's wheelhouse, he directly contacted Captain Zhang and Xiao Liewen at the Lujiawan Brigade headquarters via the radio.

"Hello, can you hear me clearly? The situation is like this: Little Chen's idea is that those diesel engines alone are worth a lot of money, not to mention the tractor attached to the diesel engine. Anyway, regardless of whether they can be used, buy them all back first. In short, this deal won't be a loss."

These radios were originally equipped with headphones, but Chen Fan had replaced them with a small speaker, so everyone could hear Captain Zhang's voice. "Buy them! Of course, we have to buy them! Even if we use them as tractors, it's a good thing! Where can you buy a tractor for 1200 yuan?!"

Immediately afterward, Xiao Liewen's voice also appeared, "Buy, buy, buy! Anyway, it's not like we don't have money. But let's see if there's room for bargaining on the price. Every little bit counts."

Secretary Yang, "Okay, okay, we'll definitely talk about the price. Then it's settled. I'll go back and find them now."

After he finished speaking, Chen Fan was about to turn off the transceiver when a voice suddenly came out, startling him.

"Oh my, so Lujiawan is so rich! Taking out twenty or thirty thousand yuan like it's nothing, that's amazing!"

Everyone stared blankly at the small speaker. Who was this person?

Secretary Yang blinked and picked up the microphone again to ask, when Captain Xiao's voice also rang out.

"Hey? Old Cao? What are you doing in there?"

Hearing this, everyone suddenly understood. It turned out to be Minister Cao from the county's Armed Forces Department.

Minister Cao continued, "Why am I in here? Old Xiao, have you forgotten? This is a special radio for the militia. This channel is also for the exclusive use of our county's militia. As long as my radio is on, I can hear everything you say clearly.

Goodness, the machine has been issued to you for several years, and you haven't used it once. But now that you've started using it, it's to do business... Oh, that's not right. This transceiver can't reach that far. Where are you?"

Xiao Liewen, "I'm still in Lujiawan. They're in the county town. Originally, this radio couldn't reach that far, but we modified the antenna, so it works now."

Minister Cao seemed a little surprised, "Oh, right, right, right, we also modified our antenna. But, does your production team have someone so capable?"

Xiao Liewen chuckled twice, but before he could speak, he heard Minister Cao say, "Oh, I know, it's that legendary Chen Fan, right?

I heard people say that he can write articles, repair electrical appliances, repair machinery, and even has some pretty good medical skills. Even the cooked food store you opened in the prefectural committee was created by him, and he also provided the卤味 recipe.

Hey, Old Xiao, is there really someone that amazing?"

As soon as Xiao Liewen heard this, he laughed heartily for several seconds before saying loudly, "Little Chen, say hello to Minister Cao."

Chen Fan picked up the microphone with a strange expression, pressed the button, "Hello, Minister Cao, I'm Chen Fan."

When Minister Cao heard this, he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, "Ah ha, so you're here too."

But after all, he was an old hand, and immediately said as if nothing had happened, "Little Chen is good, ah, versatile, and can wholeheartedly contribute to the production team, very good, very good. If you have the opportunity to come to the county, come and find me, I'll treat you to dinner, haha."

Chen Fan, "Okay, thank you, Minister Cao."

Minister Cao, "You're welcome, you're welcome."

Xiao Liewen, "What do you mean, 'if he has the opportunity'? He's in the county town now. You can just have them go to your place and you can treat them to a meal."

Minister Cao, "... Hello, hello, hello, why can't I hear you? ... This transceiver is really old, it's always malfunctioning."

Then there was no sound.

Xiao Liewen laughed and scolded, "Still so stingy."

Then there was no movement.

Secretary Yang waited for a while before turning off the power.

He turned to look at Chen Fan, his face full of hesitation, "So, when we talk in here, other people can hear us?"

Chen Fan smacked his lips, "Anyone on the same frequency and able to receive the signal can hear us."

He didn't expect that the county's radio would be on all the time. Wasn't that a waste of electricity?!

Ye Shubao frowned and asked, "Then, in the future, when we use this radio to contact each other, the county will be able to hear everything?"

Chen Fan thought for a while and said, "We can only wait until we get back and see if we can change the channel."

At this time, Secretary Yang figured it out and waved his hand directly, "It's okay, anyway, our production team doesn't have any secrets. Usually, we just report our location or contact each other in an emergency. If we really encounter any danger and happen to be in the county town, we can also ask the Armed Forces Department for help. It's a good thing!"

Ye Shubao thought it made sense, so he didn't say anything.

Chen Fan also breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know anything about the current radio communication channels, and he didn't know if there were any regulations, so he had only been contacting people on the original preset channel, and he didn't expect to cause this blunder today.

After the small interlude, Secretary Yang and the others went to the agricultural machinery factory again.

Seeing Secretary Yang and the others return so quickly, the people at the agricultural machinery factory were overjoyed.

They thought that, like before, the people from Lujiawan would never return. They didn't expect them to actually come back. This was promising!

When they heard Secretary Yang say that all 26 of them would be bought, they were even more overjoyed.

One side wanted to get rid of a burden, and the other side wanted to pick up a bargain. It could be said that they were a match made in heaven.

As for the slight price difference, after the factory director reported it to his superiors, the Agricultural Bureau immediately sent someone over to verify the situation. After confirming everything, they reduced the price by another 200 yuan on the original price.

In other words, such a "high-end harvester" with threshing and cleaning functions could be bought for only 1,000 yuan each, totaling 26,000 yuan for all 26!

Just as everyone in Lujiawan was beaming with joy, the cadre from the Agricultural Bureau put forward a condition, "These agricultural machines are only allowed to be used for agricultural operations and must not be modified for other purposes without authorization."

He pointed to the machines and said, "Otherwise, if you dismantle the diesel engines inside and use them for other purposes, that is a serious violation of the regulations, and the organization will definitely hold you accountable!"

Hearing this, Chen Fan and the others suddenly understood.

No wonder these machines had been sitting here for several years without anyone buying them. It turned out there were usage restrictions.

That was right. No one was a fool. With good diesel engines sitting here, how could no one have thought of it?

Secretary Yang first nodded repeatedly, "Of course, they will be used for agricultural purposes and will not be used for anything else."

After a pause, he tentatively asked, "If they are not suitable, can we modify them ourselves? Is that okay?"

The cadre gave them a meaningful look, and finally his eyes fell on Chen Fan's face. He smiled and said, "As long as they are used for agricultural operations, you can modify them as you like."

Chen Fan grinned. It was settled!

The scope of agriculture was very broad. In addition to tillage machines, irrigation machines, threshing machines, cotton ginning machines, oil presses... etc., etc., could all these be considered?!

Moreover, even if they couldn't openly modify them into tractors, could they use a harvester as a tractor and pull a large flatbed trailer behind it?!

Anyway, as long as they got the machines, there would be plenty of room to maneuver.

...

These harvesters were not too big and not too small. It was also a hassle to transport them back.

When they were first manufactured and distributed to the production teams below, they were filled with fuel and driven back directly.

However, Lujiawan had a large boat, so they could be transported by boat, which would also save some fuel.

In the following days, the big boat brought back goods and conveniently brought back four or five machines at a time. It only took six days to bring back all the harvesters.

As early as when the first batch of machines arrived, Chen Fan began to lead a group of selected people to modify them.

First, the threshing and cleaning parts were all removed, leaving only a harvesting function. Then, the machine was inspected to see if the size of the harvesting components was appropriate. Suitable ones were retained after adjustment, and unsuitable ones were directly removed and modified with reference to the hand-held reaper.

After more than ten days, the first batch of 4 machines were all modified, just waiting for the autumn harvest at the end of the month to test whether they were qualified.

...

The news that Lujiawan had bought 26 "disabled" harvesters from the county's agricultural machinery factory in one go spread like wildfire throughout Gufeng County, and most of the communes were saying sarcastic remarks with red eyes.

They were even waiting to see Lujiawan's joke.

And those in the local Nanhua Commune could no longer sit still.

At the commune, Secretary Qian immediately summoned Secretary Yang, and after clarifying the situation, he finally put his mind at ease. He also stated that as long as Lujiawan could really use this batch of agricultural machinery, the commune could solve the diesel supply.

Anyway, Nanhug Commune had a major oil consumer like the waterway transportation company, and they couldn't use up all their diesel every year. Saving a little here and there would be enough, so there was no need to worry at all.

What the commune leaders cared about was whether Lujiawan could actually use these machines. If they could, then the other production teams could also quickly promote mechanization.

Hand-held harvesters were also machines, and the higher-ups wouldn't care whether you used combine harvesters or hand-held harvesters during assessments. It was better than some places where they even counted human-powered wheeled rice transplanters as mechanical power.

The commune was sitting tight, waiting quietly for the autumn harvest to test the machines.

The other four production teams didn't have the qualifications to summon Secretary Yang and his people, so they went to Lujiawan one by one to investigate the situation on the ground.

However, these things had nothing to do with Chen Fan anymore.

He had already completed the modification plan and had a group of people proficient in carpentry do it once. These things were not complicated in the first place, so he could leave the rest to them.

He also didn't ask about the tractor driver training quota given by the commune.

Because at this time, the news he had been waiting for finally appeared!

… …

On October 12th, Chen Fan sat in the broadcasting room, holding a newspaper in his hand, his face beaming with joy.

Zhang Cuie, who was studying, unconsciously raised her head and glanced at him. She happened to see him giggling and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Master, what are you laughing at?"

Chen Fan handed her the newspaper in his hand and said with a smile, "Look."

Zhang Cuie took it and scanned the page, quickly locking onto the target.

She suddenly raised her head and said in surprise, "Manuscript fees are being restored?!"

Chen Fan nodded, pointing to the newspaper and smiling, "The news was announced today. The National Press and Publication Administration issued the 'Notice on the Trial Implementation of Remuneration and Subsidies for News and Publication Manuscripts', in which Article 2 stipulates: 'Remuneration for manuscripts is 2 to 7 yuan per thousand words'."

It wasn't easy. After waiting for more than half a year, it finally arrived!

Although this manuscript fee standard was only one-third of that in the 1950s and one-half of that in the 1960s, and it was paid in one lump sum without printing royalties.

However, this was a signal. Now that basic manuscript fees had been restored, would printing royalties be far behind?!

Thinking of this, Chen Fan stood up spiritedly and walked out.

Zhang Cuie was reading the newspaper. Hearing the movement, she quickly raised her head and asked, "Master, where are you going?"

Chen Fan said without turning his head, "Going back to write."

Watching her master's figure disappear at the door, even Zhang Cuie, who had 100% trust in her master, couldn't help but have black lines on her head at this moment.

Was it really necessary?

Two to seven yuan per thousand words. Calculating based on the 40,000 words or so that Master publishes in "Jiangnan Literature and Art" every month, it would only be 80 to 280 yuan?

Oh, it's actually quite a lot!

After calculating the bill, Zhang Cuie's eyes also lit up.

Master is already so famous, so it definitely won't be a 2-yuan manuscript fee, right? It should be calculated at least at 5 yuan, or even 6 or 7 yuan, so the monthly manuscript fee would be at least 200 yuan, and 2,000 to 3,000 yuan a year?!

So much money!

No wonder Master is so anxious. If it were her, she would be anxious too.

… …

Chen Fan rode his horse quickly back home, completely ignoring that the secretaries and captains of the other four brigades were in the office, repeatedly haggling with Secretary Yang and the others, demanding to rent the harvesters.

He himself didn't know why these production team leaders had so much confidence in him. They hadn't even verified it yet. Couldn't they wait until the autumn harvest began and verified it before mentioning it?

But anyway, it had nothing to do with him. In terms of technology, all of Nanhug Commune combined was not as good as him, but in terms of playing tricks and negotiating conditions, ten of him were not as good as one Secretary Yang.

In short, he wouldn't suffer a loss.

The little mare galloped across the fields, seemingly able to feel the owner's urgent mood. Her four legs ran into a blur. In less than 3 minutes, she ran into the courtyard of the educated youth center, leaving only the surprised eyes of the Lujiawan commune members.

Running so fast, what happened to Teacher Chen?

Chen Fan jumped off the horse and glanced at the general affairs office. Seeing that no one was there, he went straight to the back.

When he arrived at the new house, as expected, Jiang Lili and the others were all studying at the tea table in the living room on the first floor.

Captain Yang said that he would give them a vacation to prepare for the exam after the autumn harvest, but in fact, after October 1st, he had not called them to work again.

The reason for saying after the autumn harvest was just to hope that they could participate in the autumn harvest. Although it was not as busy as the double抢 (qiang) season, it was still a period of tight manual labor, and the four young girls were considered rare labor force, so of course they could not be easily given up.

But now that there was agricultural machinery, it was hard to say whether they would be needed at that time.

The four girls each occupied one side of the tea table, concentrating on their studies. It was not until Chen Fan approached that they suddenly woke up.

Jiang Lili quickly got up, took a teacup, poured water for him, and asked at the same time, "Why are you back so early today?"

Chen Fan smiled, took the teacup, took a sip, looked at them, and asked, "How's the progress?"

Yang Ju stretched lazily, rubbed her dry eyes, and said with a smile, "It's okay. Now I don't look at geography and history, I only look at mathematics, physics, and chemistry. The progress is quite fast."

Chen Fan nodded, "Politics, Chinese, and English are also very important and cannot be neglected."

Yang Ju nodded repeatedly, "Yes, I'm studying these too."

Chen Fan smiled and asked Huang Ying and Liu Dan again, and the situation was similar.

It's just that the two of them were in the liberal arts direction. After studying mathematics, physics, and chemistry until now, they had put down physics and chemistry, and only mathematics was still being persisted with. The focus was also on politics, history, and geography.

As for English, Chen Fan had stipulated that they should have an hour of morning reading every morning. Anyway, it was enough to cope with the exam.

Finally, he looked at Jiang Lili and said, "How much of my manuscripts have you transcribed?"

He was now used to writing in cursive script, but he couldn't use cursive script when submitting manuscripts.

Who could guarantee that the editor would be able to understand cursive script?

So, so far, all of his manuscripts would be handed over to Jiang Lili to help transcribe them once.

Jiang Lili was not bothered by the trouble either. She would transcribe a few pages of paper every night, and if she encountered unfamiliar cursive script, she would directly ask Chen Fan.

Her handwriting was elegant and delicate, and each stroke was very neat, which was very pleasing to the eye.

In order to prevent the editor from misunderstanding, she would mark the words "Chen Fan manuscript, transcribed by Xiao Jiang" in small characters below each page of paper.

From April to now, she had transcribed more than 600,000 words of manuscripts for Chen Fan, averaging 120,000 words per month, half of which had already been published.

At this time, when she heard Chen Fan's words, she immediately nodded and said, "Less than 20,000 words are left, and the others have been transcribed."

Chen Fan said with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work. After you finish transcribing the last 20,000 words, you don't have to transcribe anymore."

Jiang Lili was stunned, "Ah?"

Huang Ying immediately asked, "Teacher Chen, are you not writing articles anymore?"

Chen Fan shook his head and said with a smile, "No, I will transcribe myself in the future, so Xiao Jiang won't have to work so hard."

Hearing this, Jiang Lili lowered her head silently and murmured, "It's not hard."

Huang Ying and the other three also looked surprised.

Before, they had not thought about replacing Jiang Lili and helping Chen Fan transcribe the manuscripts, but their handwriting was indeed worse than Jiang Lili's. They were unwilling, but there was nothing they could do.

But why didn't he want her to transcribe now?

Chen Fan saw her appearance and chuckled softly, "The reason I'm not letting you continue to transcribe is because you have to learn new things."

Jiang Lili raised her head and looked at her in confusion, "New things?"

Chen Fan nodded, "Starting today, I will teach you how to draw."

Jiang Lili was stunned for a moment, then her eyes lit up, and she pursed her lips and nodded gently, "Oh."

At this time, her heart was full of joy. It turned out that the reason he didn't let me transcribe was because he was going to teach me how to draw?

She didn't forget that she had told Chen Fan that she wanted to be a fashion designer in the future, so drawing naturally had to be learned.

After a pause, she said softly again, "Actually, I can continue to transcribe manuscripts, it won't delay my studies."

She thought that Chen Fan didn't let her transcribe manuscripts in order to make time for learning to draw.

Chen Fan shook his head and grinned, "I will write faster and submit more often in the future, and you won't have enough time."