Reborn in 1977

Chapter 413 Anonymous Letter

On the main road of Lujiawan, Chen Fan rode his horse in the front, followed by a mule pulling a cart. Jiang Lili and the other three sat on the cart, and Liu Dan waved the whip, slowly heading towards the commune.

On both sides of the road, combine harvesters shuttled back and forth in the rice fields. Wherever they went, the rice fell. Someone followed behind to bundle the rice and place it in the distance, and someone immediately came to carry it to the edge of the field.

On the ridges, diesel engines were generating electricity, and not far away, threshers roared, threshing the rice. Golden grains flowed into the baskets with a rustling sound, as beautiful as the smiles on the faces of the commune members.

However, there were only so many machines, and other places couldn't just wait. Many people were also waving sickles to harvest rice in the fields.

After the autumn harvest, due to the lack of sufficient fertilizer, the rice fields had to be left to rest for a period of time in order to restore soil fertility, so there was no need to rush as much as during the double抢 (rush harvest and planting season).

The harvested rice didn't need to be carried away; it was directly threshed at the edge of the field using pedal threshers.

The barrel thresher, which used to be the main force of threshing, had now been cruelly abandoned by Lujiawan.

Although they couldn't buy enough mechanical threshers, and could only have two teams share one, pedal threshers were still available. Naturally, the purely manual barrel thresher became an object of dislike.

The brigade headquarters had already spent a "huge sum" after buying that batch of agricultural machinery, placing an order with the county agricultural machinery factory to purchase a batch of pedal threshers, which not only ensured that each team had one, but also left six for rotation, ensuring that each team had two threshers. The difference was that the six mechanical ones could only be used in rotation.

With the addition of this batch of agricultural machinery, the commune members not only had their labor burden reduced a lot, but their mood was also more pleasant.

Not to mention every household, this year the brigade headquarters developed sideline businesses. Secretary Yang and the others were fair, and people from each team worked in sideline business units, and each team would have a share of the profits created.

Once it reached the team's account, wouldn't it be the same as reaching the hands of the commune members?!

Now it was "contracting production to the group." As long as people worked hard to earn work points, they would definitely receive a share of the income when the accounts were settled and dividends were distributed at the end of the year. Therefore, although they were also envious of those who could work in sideline business units, it couldn't be considered jealousy.

Firstly, people were selected based on their abilities. Secondly, even if they worked outside, wouldn't they also have a share of the benefits and results?

So even if they continued to do the most tiring farm work, their mood remained great.

Chen Fan looked at the lively labor scene, waved to the commune members from time to time, and walked through the golden rice fields. Soon, he arrived at the town.

Stepping onto the main road of the town, the sound of the loudspeaker, which had sounded somewhat ethereal just now, immediately became clear.

"…The deadline for the college entrance examination registration will be at 5:00 PM on the 7th. Students who have not yet registered, please hurry up and go to the Nanhugongshe school district office to get a certificate, and then go to the county education bureau to register.

Notice, notice, 1977 college entrance examination registration notice…"

Liu Dan shook the reins and urged the mule to run a few steps faster, catching up with Chen Fan, who was riding the mare. She raised her head and asked, "Teacher Chen, are there still people who haven't registered?"

Chen Fan shrugged and glanced at her. "Isn't it us?"

Today was already the 4th. He heard An Quan say that the courtyard of the commune school district office was empty, and he guessed that those who should have registered had already registered, so he brought them over slowly.

Anyway, there were still three or four days before the deadline, so what was the hurry?

The school district office was not just an office. Similar to the education department of the prefectural committee, it was actually an educational management organization dispatched by the county education bureau to various communes, and was responsible to both the county education bureau and the commune government.

Therefore, this was not a simple office, but a formal unit, located not far from the entrance of Nanhugongshe Primary School.

There were very few units with main buildings on the main road of the town. Most of them opened a door and then passed through an alley, and the unit was behind the buildings on the side of the road.

The school district office was the same.

On Shengli Street, which ran north-south, before reaching the intersection, there was a three-meter-wide alley. Following the alley inward, about 100 meters away, there was a small courtyard with only a one-story house. This was the school district office.

About 100 meters further in was Nanhugongshe Primary School.

Chen Fan rode his horse to the entrance of the school district office, looked ahead at Nanhugongshe Primary School, which was located on a slope and could see three one-story buildings through the fence, then dismounted and walked straight into the courtyard gate of the school district office. Liu Dan also quickly directed the mule to follow in.

After tying the reins and parking the cart, Chen Fan waved his hand and entered the house first.

No need to ask or look for it, you could see a large desk as soon as you entered the door, with a sign on it, "College Entrance Examination Certificate Issuance Office."

Alright, they had set up the stall at the door, so let's go over.

Chen Fan took out a cigarette and handed it over. "Comrade, hello, we are here to get college entrance examination certificates."

The man had already seen Chen Fan and the others. He smiled and took the cigarette, taking the certificate of introduction while saying, "The candidates from our commune have basically all registered, except for a few of you. As expected of Teacher Chen, you are so calm."

Chen Fan chuckled. "We were also afraid that there would be too many people and you wouldn't be able to handle it, so we specially chose a time when there were fewer people to come over."

As for why this comrade, whom he had never met, would recognize him, did he still need to ask this question?

After saying that, he gestured to Huang Ying and the others. "Bring out your household registration booklets."

Although they didn't need a letter of introduction from the production team, they still needed proof of identity, otherwise how would they verify the personnel information?

Jiang Lili and the others quickly took out their household registration information and placed it on the corner of the table.

The clerk didn't hesitate, registered the basic information, and stamped four seals in a row before handing the certificates back to them.

Jiang Lili held the commune certificate in her hands, her eyes full of disbelief.

Did she get it so easily?

Had she been worrying for nothing all this time?

With the certificate in hand, Chen Fan was also very happy, and offered another cigarette, laughing, "Thank you, thank you, you've worked hard!"

The clerk didn't stand on ceremony, and took it over smoothly, looking at Chen Fan with a smile, "Teacher Chen, I heard that you are going to take the postgraduate entrance examination directly?"

Chen Fan laughed. "The main thing is that I have already registered for correspondence university, and it doesn't feel cost-effective to participate in the college entrance examination again, so I want to try taking the postgraduate entrance examination."

The clerk nodded slightly, glanced at the four excited girls next to him, and his eyes were a little complicated.

Chen Fan noticed his gaze and was slightly stunned. He pondered for two seconds, turned to look at Jiang Lili, and said, "You guys go outside and wait for me for a while."

The four girls didn't care, and walked out happily holding the certificates.

After they left, Chen Fan took out a lighter, lit it and handed it to the clerk, smiling, "Comrade, is there something wrong with them?"

The clerk held his hands, brought the cigarette butt to the flame to light it, took a light puff, looked up at Chen Fan, his eyes a little playful, and said with a smile, "Teacher Chen is indeed extraordinary, you can see that?"

Chen Fan chuckled, looked around, took out a whole pack of filtered Yulan cigarettes from his pocket, covered it with his hand and put it in the half-open drawer, and said softly with a smile, "Please give me some pointers, Comrade!"

The clerk glanced at the drawer, his smile even brighter. He didn't sit anymore, stood up and said softly, "There is definitely no problem with the three locals, it's just that little Jiang, is her surname Jiang?"

Chen Fan nodded, his smile gradually fading, "What's wrong with her?"

The clerk continued, "Before the registration notice was even issued, we received several letters about her, requesting that she not be allowed to go through the registration procedures.

I also asked the comrades in the county education bureau, and they also received the same letter. It's just that they are all anonymous letters, and I don't know who wrote them."

Hearing this, Chen Fan frowned immediately.

Did he really run into this kind of person?

Anonymous letters are the most annoying. You can't even find the person, so how can you have a friendly conversation with him?

Seeing that Chen Fan didn't make a fuss, a look of appreciation couldn't help but appear in the clerk's eyes. Although the policy was already very clear, units at all levels would not ignore this aspect, especially some leaders, who would rather do less or not do it than make a mistake.

In fact, it can't be blamed on those people. The main thing is that the turn was too fast. Before, all the procedures were required, but now they suddenly said that they were not needed. God knows whether the superiors would settle accounts after the autumn harvest, so of course they had to be cautious.

Turning it over in his mind, he immediately said, "Frankly speaking, everyone in our unit needs to thank you. The higher-ups gave us a task, requiring the enrollment rate to reach a certain level. In the past, we could only barely complete the first-grade enrollment target. Anything higher than that was really beyond our capabilities.

This year, we have to thank you for supporting the expansion of the Luciawan village school and actively promoting veterinary medicine and sideline occupations, which allowed the leaders of the production team to see the role of knowledge. As a result, the other four production teams have also begun to value education. We haven't even put in much effort, and we've already exceeded next year's target. We must remember this favor."

Chen Fan smiled, waved his hand, and said, "No, no, I just did something that was good for myself. I don't deserve the thanks."

The clerk smiled and said, "Even if it was unintentional, it really helped us a lot."

After a pause, he added, "People who know you also know that you live in the Luciawan educated youth center for a long time. Now there's only Xiao Jiang at the center, and you two have a very good relationship.

So, instead of waiting for you to ask for a favor, we might as well directly approve her application and issue her a certificate of good standing."

Chen Fan clenched his hands, raised them, and waved them at him, "Thank you, thank you."

The clerk took a puff of his cigarette, smiled, and waved his hand, then changed the subject, saying, "Teacher Chen, I have a sincere piece of advice, of course, it's up to you whether you listen or not."

Chen Fan, "Please speak."

Clerk: "Since those people have sent letters to us here and to the county, they definitely won't leave out the prefectural committee, and maybe they'll even send them to the provincial education commission. We can get through this level easily, but the levels above are hard to say."

He looked at Chen Fan and said seriously, "So I want to remind you, help if you can, and let go in time if you can't, so as not to have too much hope and too much disappointment."

Chen Fan thought for a while and nodded lightly, "Thank you for the advice, thank you!"

The clerk could tell from his expression that he didn't want to give up, so he couldn't help but ask curiously, "It's not going to be easy to get her into the exam room. What's your relationship with her that makes it worth helping her so much?"

In the eyes of outsiders, a romantic relationship seemed impossible. Besides her, an educated youth, there are also three local girls living there. Their behavior is very normal, and there's no basis for spreading rumors.

But if it's not a romantic relationship, what kind of relationship would make Teacher Chen go to such lengths to help her?

Chen Fan smiled and said softly, "You should have heard about how I came to Nanhu, right?"

The clerk nodded, "Yes, I heard that you floated over from the water, and it was Captain Yang from your Sixth Team who fished you out."

As he said this, he couldn't help but marvel at Yang Chuanfu's luck.

Looking at how well the sideline occupations in Luciawan are doing now, rescuing Chen Fan is more valuable than finding a gold mine!

Just as he was distracted, Chen Fan smiled and said, "You only know one thing, not the other. Besides Captain Yang rescuing me, I also have to thank two people. If it weren't for them, my little life would have been gone long ago."

The clerk immediately became interested and looked at him curiously, "Who else?"

Chen Fan: "The first is Dr. Zhang, the barefoot doctor in our team. He prescribed two doses of medicine for me, and I sweated a lot, which barely saved my life."

The clerk nodded repeatedly, "Doctors save people, they should indeed be thanked."

After a pause, a flash of inspiration came to his mind, and he looked at him and asked, "The other one, wouldn't it be Xiao Jiang?"

Chen Fan smiled and nodded, "At that time, I was unconscious, almost in a coma for a day and a night. It was Xiao Jiang who boiled those two doses of medicine and fed them to me little by little with a spoon. If it weren't for her, I guess I would have been gone long ago."

The clerk suddenly understood, "So that's how it is, no wonder."

No wonder Chen Fan never shied away from Xiao Jiang's background and treated her almost the same as everyone else. So the root of it was here.

A life-saving benefactor, everything can be explained.

After understanding this, the clerk gave Chen Fan a thumbs up, "You are a man of righteousness."

Then he took out the pack of cigarettes from the drawer and handed it back, "Take this back, otherwise, I'll burn my mouth smoking it."

As a result, Chen Fan grabbed his hand and stuffed it back into the drawer, and closed the drawer. He chuckled and said, "How can you take back something that's been given away? If you think highly of me, just keep it. No matter what, I must remember the favor of you giving Xiao Jiang the green light today."

The clerk heard this and thought, hey, isn't this what I just said?

Looking at Chen Fan again, seeing his firm gaze, he smiled and shook his head, "Then I'll shamelessly accept it."

… …

Coming out of the school district office and turning onto the main road, Yang Ju drove the mule alongside Chen Fan.

Huang Ying quickly asked, "Teacher Chen, what were you talking about inside for so long?"

Chen Fan turned his head and saw that all four girls were looking at him nervously, so he shook his head and smiled, "It's nothing, I just asked him about the time arrangement for the college entrance examination."

This reason was very reasonable, so Huang Ying, Yang Ju, and Liu Dan all breathed a sigh of relief.

Only Jiang Lili frowned slightly.

Since he was asking about the time arrangement, why did he avoid them?

Before she could think too much, she heard Huang Ying ask, "Then how is the time arranged?"

Without thinking, Chen Fan said, "First, go to the county to register. After the list is sent up, wait to participate in the preliminary exam. The preliminary exam is scheduled for December 6th, 7th, and 8th for three days. On the 6th, there will be Chinese and liberal arts or science comprehensive, the 7th is mathematics and politics, and the 8th is the additional subject.

After the exam, the teachers in this county will immediately grade the papers and release the scores. Only those who pass the preliminary exam will be eligible to participate in the re-examination for three days on December 10th, 11th, and 12th.

The re-examination is the formal college entrance examination. Those who pass the exam will be notified to participate in the physical examination. The time for the physical examination has not yet been determined, but it should be in late December.

If the physical examination is qualified, you can go to the commune school district office to fill in your application. After you get here, it has nothing to do with the candidates. Later, admission notices will be issued based on the scores and application. After receiving the admission notice, completing the household registration transfer procedures, and bringing all the materials, you can report to the school at the specified time."

After saying this, Huang Ying and the other two had already opened their mouths wide.

So there are so many things to do?

Isn't it just finishing the exam?

Chen Fan looked at them, glanced at Jiang Lili, who suddenly seemed a little depressed, and guessed that she might have guessed something. A burst of annoyance suddenly surged in his heart. He was silent for two seconds, and then said seriously, "It is already November 4th, and there is only one month left before the preliminary exam, and the re-examination will be immediately after the preliminary exam. Time is tight, hurry back to study."

As soon as he finished speaking, the little mare sped off like a shooting star.

Liu Dan looked at her and quickly waved the whip on the mule, "Giddy up!"

Jiang Lili held onto the side of the flatbed cart, watching Chen Fan's figure getting farther and farther away, and her heart couldn't help but sink. Looking at the certificate of good standing in her hand, it seemed to weigh a thousand pounds.

… …

Back at home, it was still relatively early, so Huang Ying and the others joined Mr. and Mrs. Anquan to continue studying.

Chen Fan went up to the second floor, thinking about how to deal with it.

After a while, Jiang Lili walked over and stood not far in front of him, wanting to say something, but she couldn't open her mouth.

Chen Fan looked up at her, and after a few seconds, he suddenly smiled and said, "Why so lifeless?"

Jiang Lili took a deep breath, staring blankly at him. After a few more seconds, she finally said, "What exactly happened just now?"

As soon as the words came out, she startled herself.

It turned out that her voice was already hoarse, barely audible.

When Chen Fan saw her like this, he quickly stood up, poured a glass of water, walked over and handed it to her, and said softly, "Don't worry, take a sip of water to moisten your throat first."

Jiang Lili looked at him. After a long while, she lowered her head weakly, "I don't want to drink it."

Chen Fan put the glass on the table, cleared his throat, and said to her, "Comrade Jiang Lili, raise your head."

Jiang Lili raised her head, looking at him with a blank expression.

Chen Fan's face changed, and he said seriously, "You guessed right, someone wrote a letter of complaint, not wanting you to sign up for the college entrance examination, … …"

Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Lili's eyes turned red. She quickly covered her mouth and began to sob softly.

But the sound was very, very small, for fear of being heard.