Reborn in 1977

Chapter 432 A Promising Young Man

When Zhu Gong'an brought the leaders over, Secretary Yang naturally couldn't let them eat leftovers, so he had people set up another table in the small cafeteria in the central courtyard.

Since these leaders had all served in the military, he pulled Xiao Liewen along to accompany them, while the others stayed outside with the prospective college students.

The leaders from the Provincial Department were also very polite, not mentioning the investigation of Chen Fan at all.

At the dinner table, they only chatted with Secretary Yang and Captain Xiao, praising them profusely.

There were many things to praise about Lujiawan now: the bumper harvest in agriculture, the profitable side businesses run by the team, and Chen Fan, the well-known writer… Compared to the vast majority of ordinary production teams across the country, these were all topics worth boasting about for three days.

During the conversation, the leading official wanted to probe Xiao Liewen's background, but Old Xiao was a man who had seen the world.

No matter how much he praised him, he wouldn't go into detail about his time in the army.

He didn't reveal the army unit number or the names of his old leaders, at most only mentioning some well-known battles, making it sound like he was there at the time.

The leader didn't mind.

When he returned, he could go to the Armed Forces Minister of Gufeng County to understand the situation… Within the scope of his authority, he could completely know what he should know, so there was no need to get to the bottom of it now.

If Xiao Liewen's file was outside his authority, then asking would be in vain, and instead bring trouble upon himself, so why bother?

However, from Xiao Liewen and Secretary Yang, he also obtained some other information related to Chen Fan.

He learns things quickly, and he is serious and responsible in his work, hardly considering personal gains or losses.

The other information obtained was similar to what he had heard from Zhu Ming.

After mutual verification, a more three-dimensional image of Chen Fan emerged.

He is very talented, learns everything quickly, has the drive of a young man, and also the responsibility and ambition of a young man.

He has a superficial understanding of rural life and a half-baked understanding of social interactions.

It was clear that he didn't have much social experience, but he could definitely be regarded as a promising young man who was close to the masses, hardworking and simple, selfless in his work, and dared to take responsibility!

This image was very consistent with the portrait deduced by Zhu Ming.

After they finished eating, the leader and Zhu Ming took the initiative to take out grain coupons, meat coupons, and meal expenses and handed them to Secretary Yang.

Secretary Yang politely declined a couple of times, then readily accepted them.

This was originally the rule for cadres going to the countryside, and there was nothing wrong with accepting them.

Before, when An Quan was still a cadre of the tax office, he had to pay for meals when he ate in Lujiawan.

Instead, after he resigned, he became a freeloader here, never paying for a single meal.

He justified it by saying that his work was offsetting his debt, but he spent all day hanging out with Chen Fan and Zhang Wenliang, making Secretary Yang scold him for not doing his job and corrupting the team's outstanding young people.

When Secretary Yang and Captain Xiao came out with the leaders from the Provincial Department, the crowd outside had already dispersed, and Captain Zhang and Ye Shubao were nowhere to be seen.

Only Chen Fan, Zhang Wenliang, and An Quan were still sitting on the benches, chatting idly.

An Quan was reeking of alcohol, his face redder than a monkey's butt, and he shouted loudly, "I just don't understand, Chen Fan, all day long you're either rowing a boat to fish in the river, or riding a horse and walking the dog, wandering around the brigade and harming small animals.

And you, Zhang Wenliang, you're in charge of the militia company, the transportation team, and the breeding farm, these important units of the production team, but what happens?

You either go fishing and hunting with Chen Fan, or you pester him to make you delicious food.

What do you call this? It's called dereliction of duty!

Yet Old Yang still says that I corrupted you, what did I corrupt you with?

I'm just following behind you, picking up some soup to drink, is it easy for me?

Who corrupted who after all?"

When the leaders from the Provincial Department heard this, their eyes were full of suspicion, and their eyes drifted to Chen Fan, then to Zhu Ming.

Either fishing or riding a horse and walking the dog?

Was he talking about Chen Fan, the promising young man who was hardworking and simple, selfless in his work, and dared to take responsibility?

Secretary Yang's face was dark at this time… not because he had revealed his true colors in front of the leaders, he didn't even know what these leaders were here for.

The main thing was that he felt too embarrassed.

Just now, people had praised Chen Fan to the skies, but now you were saying that he was a gluttonous loafer like a rice worm, it would be strange if he wasn't angry.

Immediately, he ran two steps to gain momentum and kicked someone's butt.

An Quan jumped up with a whoosh, "Who kicked my butt?"

When he turned his head, his face quickly changed, "Hehe, hello Secretary Yang."

Secretary Yang said with a dark face, "I don't deserve it, just call me Old Yang."

An Quan blinked, pursed his lips, and leaned closer to him, "Look at you, why are you still angry?

There are still outsiders here."

Secretary Yang glared at him, gritting his teeth and whispering, "You still know there are outsiders here?

Just now, people praised Little Chen a lot, well, before they even left, you sold him out completely."

Chen Fan and Zhang Wenliang's faces were flushed red… not because they had drunk too much wine, but mainly because they were holding back their laughter.

As for image?

Chen Fan didn't care at all.

He didn't want to be a star or a leader, so what did he need a persona for?

Of course, he would do whatever made him happy!

An Quan's lips moved, wanting to quibble, when he heard Secretary Yang cough and say loudly, "The three of you clean up the office, we'll have a meeting later."

As soon as he finished speaking, the three of them quickly slipped away.

Originally, the leaders from the Provincial Department wanted to take the opportunity to chat with Chen Fan a few words, but well, it wasn't easy to speak now.

However…

He looked at Chen Fan's back, a smile appearing on the corner of his mouth.

The Chen Fan he'd heard about from Zhu Ming, Xiao Liewen, and Secretary Yang had some impulsive flaws, but he always felt it was too superficial, a bit like a movie's goody-two-shoes protagonist—too good to be true.

This farce unfolding before him, however, painted a clearer picture of Chen Fan's character.

Unless life was crushing you, which young person wouldn't want to have fun?

Fishing, hunting, riding horses, walking dogs—that was how a young person should be.

Only then did his doubts about Chen Fan subside to their lowest point, and he planned to shift his focus to investigating missing persons' leads after arriving at the Yunhu Public Security Bureau.

...

Secretary Yang and Xiao Liewen saw the leaders off into the car, watched the jeep leave, and turned back to the office.

Inside the room, Chen Fan was sprawled on the table, talking to a myna bird, "Meeting time, meeting time."

The myna bird stared at him intently, "Meeting time, meeting time."

Chen Fan nodded in satisfaction, "Yes, that's right. Go on."

The myna bird blinked, spread its wings, and flew out the window.

Seeing this, Secretary Yang even forgot to get angry, and looking out the window, he asked, "What's going on here?"

Chen Fan pointed outside, "Didn't you say there was a meeting? I asked Little Eight to notify Captain Zhang and Captain Ye. They're both resting at Captain Zhang's house."

Secretary Yang was dumbfounded.

Xiao Liewen couldn't help but take two quick steps forward, "Where did you find this myna bird?"

He stroked his head and clicked his tongue in wonder, "I know myna birds can talk, but I've never seen one speak so clearly."

Chen Fan immediately pointed to An Quan, who was trying to shrink his head, "Didn't Brother An say I'm always riding horses and hunting? I caught this myna bird a couple of days ago, and I've been training it these past few days."

Along with the bird, he had also caught a tabby cat less than a year old, naming it Baliang. Chen Fan planned to train them for two months before sending them to Jiang Tiantian.

Actually, his main goal was to catch the cat. The myna bird was just an unexpected bonus.

It's said that myna birds can talk, and he wanted to see if he could train the myna bird to be a messenger. It would definitely save a lot of trouble in the future.

Hearing Chen Fan's words, Secretary Yang immediately came back to his senses, pulled out his pipe, filled it with tobacco, and said with a cold face as he returned to his seat, "Are you all very idle?"

Zhang Wenliang immediately raised his head, "Not idle, very busy. But the most important work recently is strengthening the dike. I've already organized the people; all that's missing is the materials."

Minor repairs could be done with local materials. Anyway, there were plenty of small hills in Lujiawan, and one hill was enough to repair the dike for several years, but major repairs wouldn't work.

This required the use of a large amount of stone, and some places even needed steel and cement, not to mention the necessary soil.

But the stone, steel, and cement hadn't arrived yet, so some work really couldn't be started.

Secretary Yang took a puff of his pipe and said, "It's winter now, and the water level in the river is low. Large ships have too deep a draft to enter easily, so the water transport company plans to use smaller boats to transport the materials. They should arrive in a couple of days at the earliest."

Xiao Liewen also lit his pipe, looked at Zhang Wenliang, and said, "Although it's been snowing these past few days, some things can still be done in advance. Besides, it hasn't snowed for two days now. Can the earthwork be started? Can the logistics be prepared? The materials not arriving is not an excuse to be lazy!"

Zhang Wenliang was very clear that now was not the time to explain, so he honestly nodded and admitted his mistake, saying that he would organize people to start work after the meeting.

Of course, he didn't forget to give An Quan a resentful look.

It was all this guy's fault!

An Quan blinked, calmly drinking tea and smoking, as if he hadn't seen anything.

Chen Fan shifted his gaze, and seeing Secretary Yang turn his attention to him, he immediately asked seriously, "Uncle Yang, is today's meeting to discuss the dike strengthening?"

Secretary Yang looked at him with a smile that wasn't quite a smile, and said softly, "Yes, besides that, there are a few other things."

After a pause, he added, "Don't rush. We'll talk about it together when Lao Zhang and Lao Ye arrive."

An Quan and Zhang Wenliang exchanged a look, both able to see the embarrassment in each other's eyes.

The "culprit" was fine, but the two followers were scolded. Where could they go to reason?

Seeing their expressions, Xiao Liewen immediately "hmph"ed, "You're still not convinced, are you?"

The two immediately shook their heads, "No, no."

Xiao Liewen wore a stern face, "Still not? Am I blind?"

He pointed at Chen Fan and said, "What is Little Chen's job? He's a veterinarian, a broadcaster, and even the teacher is a voluntary side job. Has his work had any problems? Isn't every task completed well?

And look at you…"

Saying that, he "hmph"ed again and directly turned away, "I can't even bear to look."

The two of them lowered their heads together, scolded.

After two seconds, An Quan suddenly raised his head and said in confusion, "That's not right. Little Chen's work is done, so the unfinished work is San Huzi's. What does it have to do with me?"

Xiao Liewen's expression stiffened, and his gaze turned to Secretary Yang.

That's right, what did it have to do with him?

Secretary Yang's eyes flickered, and seeing that he hadn't even wiped the corners of his mouth clean, he immediately had a flash of inspiration and said, "Didn't you say you're working to pay off your debt? Then your job is to assist San Huzi. If his work isn't finished, it means you haven't finished it. What else do you have to say?!"

An Quan was immediately stunned. Could it be like that?