Reborn in 1977

Chapter 502: A Fruitful Return

February 16th, the tenth day of the first month.

In the small auditorium of the Municipal Health Bureau, a technical exchange meeting was underway.

Chen Fan stood aside, earnestly explaining the medical principles and operational techniques of the airway foreign body removal method.

Zhang Wenliang and An Quan were on the stage giving a demonstration.

Wasn't this just a first aid technique? Zhang Wenliang said he was very familiar with it.

It was just that An Quan was a little dissatisfied. Being hugged and having his stomach squeezed by Lao Zhang was very uncomfortable, okay?

It was only because he had a lot of fat on his stomach. If it were a skinny person, they might really throw up.

Oh, it seemed like Zhang Juemin was a skinny person?

Before long, the explanation was finished, and warm applause rang out in the auditorium.

Actually, everyone present had mastered these things. They came today just to see celebrities.

It was purely for the sake of joining in the fun.

Ye Anguo and the others applauded in a corner, but the smiles on their faces were a bit forced.

Fortunately, no one noticed these three minor characters, otherwise they would have been exposed.

Yang Jiamin sighed almost imperceptibly, "Will we be able to go out and eat by ourselves later?"

Xiao Huaqiang tried hard to maintain a smiling expression, "Keep your voice down. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. There's no reason to be picky."

Ye Anguo touched his stomach, "But they put sugar in the dishes!"

The three looked at each other and sighed in unison.

But they still had to smile on their faces. How annoying.

Last night, the leaders of the Health Bureau came to invite them to dinner. They were quite excited, thinking they could taste the delicacies of Shanghai, but as a result, they couldn't eat many of the dishes.

Braised pork with sugar, lion's head meatballs with sugar, steamed pork with rice flour and scrambled eggs with tomatoes with sugar were tolerable, but they even put sugar in the green vegetables?

After they reluctantly ate a few bites of the dishes, they took advantage of the fact that the leaders were chatting happily with Teacher Chen and quickly poured the tea from their teacups into their rice bowls, slurping down two bowls of plain rice.

After returning, Teacher Chen even criticized them, saying that they had been living too well these past few months and were actually starting to be picky?

If it were a year ago, would they have been able to eat up that table of dishes?!

Ye Anguo and the other two felt that it was because they were unwilling to eat the dishes and didn't want to leave too much food, otherwise the host would think the dishes were not tasty, so Teacher Chen ate half the table of dishes without saying a word. The taste was too unpleasant, so he vented his anger on them.

Even if it were in the past when there was nothing to eat, they still couldn't eat such sweet dishes!

Since they didn't have a good dinner, they could only make up for it with breakfast.

Three cents each for a sesame salty flatbread and light soy milk, four cents each for a sweet flatbread, tiger claw pastry, half a tael of fried dough sticks, and salty soy milk, five cents for sweet soy milk, eight cents a bowl for only two taels of clear soup Yangchun noodles, fifteen cents a bowl for vegetable soup noodles with stir-fried spinach and fried tofu...

The six of them ate a total of eight yuan, half of which went into Teacher Chen's stomach.

It made them suspect that Teacher Chen had eaten something bad last night and emptied his stomach?

Otherwise, how could he eat so much?

So now that it was time for lunch, the three of them were apprehensive.

On the stage, Zhang Wenliang and An Quan had successfully completed their task and retreated to the side to smoke and drink tea, while only Chen Fan was still sincerely communicating with many leaders and hospital staff.

Originally, everyone thought that Chen Fan should only have some understanding of first aid knowledge, after all, that's what the people from the Yunhu Health Department's first aid knowledge propaganda team said before.

But when they communicated at this time, as the topic unconsciously unfolded, everyone realized that Chen Fan not only knew a lot about first aid medicine, but he could also talk eloquently about any field that everyone mentioned.

It was just a pity that his research in other fields was not in-depth, only barely reaching the level of a professional physician.

Even so, it was already very remarkable.

Even in a big city like Shanghai, medical talents who have dabbled in various professional medical fields are not very common. Most of these people are senior emergency physicians from several major hospitals, who have to understand some medical knowledge of other subjects for work needs in order to carry out emergency treatment.

And Chen Fan was able to reach this level at such a young age. In addition to having a famous teacher to guide him, his own talent was also crucial.

Thinking of this, several old professors couldn't help but feel a love for talent and asked Chen Fan if he had any plans to apply to medical school.

If he was willing, they could directly recruit him as a graduate student, and he could enroll in the second half of this year.

Unfortunately, Chen Fan politely declined.

They didn't know that the level of medical skill that Chen Fan was showing now was only at the LV3 level, that is, a professional physician, but a general practitioner.

And his real medical skill level was already LV5, the same as his literary level. Not to mention a graduate student, he could even be a graduate supervisor.

He was just hiding his clumsiness.

He didn't want to be a doctor, so why show so much for no reason?

If it wasn't for the fact that the Health Bureau organized this exchange meeting today and invited these top experts from major hospitals to exchange first aid techniques and experience with him, in order to avoid being "completely ignorant", he had to reveal a little bit of his foundation. Otherwise, it would be good to be an ordinary first aid physician in people's impression, why bother to cause trouble for himself?

In the morning, they held an exchange meeting, had a reception meal in the Health Bureau's cafeteria at noon, and then went to a nearby hospital in the afternoon for on-site technical exchange and demonstration.

Finally, they took a group photo and ended the event.

Originally, Chen Fan thought it would be a waste of two days, but it ended in one day, which was okay.

...

The next morning, everyone went to take care of serious business.

It's just that there was one more person in the team.

Yuan Chengguo was an ordinary employee of the Municipal Health Bureau, meaning he was a non-professional, the kind who did administrative work.

Originally, it was difficult for this kind of small comrade without a background to have the opportunity to enter the leader's vision, but this time, he was entrusted with an "important task" by the leader by virtue of being a local of Chongming Island, to assist Chen Fan in purchasing seedlings from the Chongming Island farm.

Although he was an administrative worker in the Health Bureau and had nothing to do with breeding seedlings, he had to complete the task assigned by the leader seriously.

Moreover, he was still calculating in his heart, if he could successfully complete the task this time and let the leader see his ability, would there be a greater chance of promotion in the future?!

So Yuan Chengguo was very excited, standing on the ship's deck, holding the railing, pointing to Chongming Island in the distance and said, "That is Chongming Island. Access is only possible by ferry, but the island's agricultural products, together with the several farms in Fengxian, Nanhui, and Baoshan, supply half of Shanghai, of which Chongming accounts for more than half, and the rest needs to be imported from other places.

There are many farms on the island, including Xinhai Farm, Dongfeng Farm, Changjiang Farm, Changzheng Farm, Yuejin Farm, Hongxing Farm, Qianjin Farm, and Qianshao Farm. They have all been reclaimed little by little over the years.

In the early years, the island was not like this. At that time, it was all wasteland, just like Nanniwan. It was many educated youth who went to the island that created so many farms today."

As he spoke, he also sang a song, "The flowers in the flower basket are fragrant..."

The tour guide was singing, and since they would have to rely on him to get connections later, everyone naturally applauded and cheered. An Quan even took out a harmonica to accompany him.

Before long, it even aroused a chorus from the passengers on the ship.

(In 1970, the first catamaran passenger ship, Huhang No. 8, ran on the Wusong to Chongming Nanmen Port route)

In the sound of the chorus, Chen Fan gradually put aside his idol baggage, and Zhang Wenliang and the others seemed to have found their organization, speaking a standard Yunhu dialect, which was extremely abrupt in the song.

Immediately, it attracted a burst of laughter.

A middle-aged man in his forties pulled him and asked, "Where are you from? Why are you going to Chongming? There is nothing to see there."

An old aunt next to him immediately interjected, "Can't they go to visit relatives? There are people living on Chongming Island, okay."

The middle-aged man was not convinced, "They are all outsiders, not even from Jiangsu. What relatives are they visiting? Chongming Island is basically all locals, and there are very few outsiders."

Then he pulled Zhang Wenliang, "Tell me, am I right?"

Zhang Wenliang finally had a chance to speak, smiling and nodding, "Yes, yes, you are right, we are not visiting relatives, we are going to do something."

As a result, the middle-aged man blinked his eyes, "I can't understand your dialect very well."

Zhang Wenliang's face stiffened slightly. "I didn't even mind your terrible Shanghai-accented Mandarin, and you're already complaining about me?"

An Quan carefully put away his harmonica and burst into laughter.

He walked over and said, "They're from the Yunhu area of Jiangnan. I'm a local Shanghainese, living near the City God Temple. I spent ten years as an 'educated youth' in Yunhu and just came back. Now the production team there wants to start a breeding program, and they heard there are breeding farms here in Chongming, so I brought them over to take a look."

"Oh, so you're an old 'educated youth'."

The elder brother immediately shook An Quan's hand, grinning. "Good, good, all 'educated youth' across the country are one family, we should help each other."

An Quan was taken aback, looking at him in surprise. "You're an 'educated youth' too?"

Wouldn't that make him extremely old?!

The elder brother shook his head. "No, my brother-in-law is an 'educated youth'. He's also returned to the city. I'm just here to visit my sister."

An Quan didn't mind. "Haha, that still makes us half-family."

While they were chatting, Chen Fan leaned against the railing, took out a cigarette, and offered one to Yuan Chengguo. Yuan Chengguo immediately accepted it with trepidation.

He really hadn't expected that this nationally renowned Little Teacher Chen was so amiable, much better than those colleagues who got into university and thought they were hot stuff.

At this time, the elder brother began telling An Quan and the others about the farm situation on Chongming Island. Afraid that Chen Fan and Zhang Wenliang wouldn't understand Shanghai-accented Mandarin, he explained alongside him.

"Chongming Island has eight farms, and they're not randomly divided. Each farm has its own area of specialization. In the northern part of the island is the largest grassland farm, mainly growing pasture and raising cattle and sheep, providing fresh milk and mutton.

The farms in the central part mainly grow vegetables. The farm in the south is a large orchard. It's a pity it's winter now, otherwise I could take you to pick fruit. My aunt married over there, and with me, you wouldn't have to pay.

There are also farms specializing in growing flowers, growing tea, raising fish, and, most importantly, growing rice.

Finally, there's the breeding farm, also located in the south next to the orchard. That's where we're going today. They have chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, and some rabbits, but not many. This is mainly due to the impact of cutting off tails in earlier years, and many commune members no longer raise them at home.

The farm doesn't focus on raising rabbits, so they only kept some as breeding stock. Anyway, it doesn't take much effort. On the one hand, they eat them themselves, and on the other hand, they thought that if they ever relaxed the restrictions again, they could start breeding again, so they wouldn't have to look for breeding stock elsewhere."

After hearing his words, Chen Fan's eyes were full of curiosity.

Cough cough, of course, more than that, he was happy.

He flicked off some ash from his cigarette, which was immediately blown away by the wind, then coughed lightly and smiled at Yuan Chengguo, "Comrade Yuan, I'd like to ask, if we wanted to buy some other things, would that be convenient?"

Yuan Chengguo was stunned. "What else do you want to buy?"

Chen Fan said, "Just what you mentioned earlier, things from other farms, like flower seeds, tea saplings, and fruit tree saplings. If we could buy a pair of calves and a few lambs, that would be even better."

Cows can be milked, and as for the lambs, their breed would definitely be tastier than the local Yunhu sheep.

Yunhu mutton is too gamey, making it troublesome to prepare, and the taste of the cooked food is just so-so. If he could buy a few pairs of high-quality meat sheep to take back, then Lujiawan could have another flagship product in a few years.

Unfortunately, Yuan Chengguo's face looked troubled, and he shook his head gently. "Flower seeds and saplings aren't difficult. I can get my uncle-in-law to take care of it, but calves are absolutely impossible.

I have a few classmates who work at the pasture, and they told me that they value the calves more than human lives. The best veterinarian's dormitory is right next to the cowshed, and every calf receives special care. There's absolutely no way they'd sell them."

Chen Fan blinked, a little disappointed. "Is that so?"

After a pause, he asked with a bit of hope, "What about lambs?"

Yuan Chengguo frowned, slowly shaking his head. "I'll have to ask about that, but there might be a little hope compared to calves."

He looked up and explained, "After all, sheep are raised for meat. Selling live sheep and selling mutton are both selling, it just depends on whether their leader approves."

Chen Fan blinked. Since it could be discussed, then let's discuss it properly!

...

The ferry crossed the mouth of the Yangtze River and made a turn, finally arriving at the Nanmen Pier on Chongming Island.

(Nanmen Port Pier in the 1970s)

The ferry docked, and the passengers disembarked one by one onto the trestle bridge. Many people were still waving goodbye to Zhang Wenliang and the others.

After exiting the pier, Zhang Wenliang looked left and right, his face still a little excited, and whispered, "So even big piers have rural areas?!"

An Quan took out a cigarette and lit it. "That's for sure. Every big city has rural areas. Whether it's Shanghai or the capital, such a big place can't all be urban?"

He handed another cigarette to Yuan Chengguo, smiling. "We've arrived at your territory, so it's up to you now."

His little roundabout connections were useless here, so he might as well not mention them.

Chen Fan patted Yuan Chengguo's shoulder, pointed to An Quan, and said with a smile, "He just got into Shanghai Jiaotong University, majoring in finance. Maybe he'll have the chance to become your colleague in the future."

Finance-related majors aren't only needed by the finance bureau or tax bureau, but are also urgently needed professional talents by all units. It's said that those near the water get the moon first, so maybe An Quan really has a chance to enter the Health Bureau.

But this was more of a joke.

For An Quan, financial institutions like banks or the tax system were where he most wanted to go.

Yuan Chengguo was also good at handling things, immediately pulling An Quan over and praising him for a long time. "So you're a new university student, and from a key university too. Then I definitely have to report back to the leader and pay special attention to Brother An. We'll be relying on you in the future, Brother An!"

An Quan waved his hand pretentiously, "Don't worry, it's nothing."

Seeing his pretentious look, everyone burst into laughter again.

Having a local snake made things easier. Yuan Chengguo went to the port to make a phone call to an acquaintance, and before long, a three-wheeled vehicle came rumbling over to pick them up.

Then things were easy.

First, they had a good meal at the farm, fulfilling their personal obligations, and then Zhang Wenliang took the letter of introduction and began to handle official business.

The person who came out to entertain them was the farm director.

Originally, this kind of thing didn't require him to come forward, but an insider led the way, revealing Chen Fan's background, as well as the message from the leader of the Health Bureau, so the director also took it seriously.

He led the group to a rabbit shed and pointed around, saying, "These are all white rabbits, different from wild rabbits. These rabbits don't like to move. They either eat or sleep every day, and they don't do much activity. They're very easy to raise."

He took the Zhonghua cigarette with a filter tip that Chen Fan handed over, and the smile on his face deepened by three points. "If you want these, don't talk about buying or not. I'll make the decision and give you ten pairs. Is that enough?"

Chen Fan diligently lit the cigarette for him, smiling. "If we only wanted white rabbits, we would definitely accept your kindness. But we also want to buy some high-quality meat chickens, so we can't shamelessly take them for free."

"Meat chickens, huh?"

The director scratched his head, pondered for two seconds, and nodded, saying, "We also have some high-quality egg-laying chickens. Do you want them?"

Chen Fan's eyes lit up. "Yes, yes, yes."

Then the director took them around the farm, and Chen Fan wanted everything he saw.

But considering the inconvenience of transportation and the reality of Lujiawan, he had to regretfully give up some of them.

In the end, he chose white rabbits, meat chickens, and egg-laying chickens.

All transactions were from public to public. After completing the procedures, Yuan Chengguo took them to other farms.

After the last round, it was incredible. The three-wheeled vehicle was full of things. Later, Yuan Chengguo had to borrow another vehicle.

Only then did they return fully loaded.