Reborn in 1977

The next morning, Chen Fan woke up from the Arhat bed, threw off the covers, stretched, and quickly got dressed.

Thankfully, young people have strong metabolisms, otherwise, relying on that little coal stove for heat, it would be really hard to survive the northern winter.

After getting dressed, he first went to the bathroom to wash up, then went to check the other rooms.

Well, all three old men were sleeping soundly, showing no signs of waking up, it seemed they had all indulged a bit too much last night.

Chen Fan didn't disturb them. He first replaced a half-burnt honeycomb briquette in the main room's coal stove, moved it to the kitchen stove, added another briquette, opened the stove door, placed the steamer with water on the stove, put in the dozen or so leftover buns from yesterday, and then went out with a basket and a few lunch boxes.

The early spring morning in Beijing was cold and dry. Chen Fan, his breath misting in the air, squeezed through the early morning crowd, and soon returned with a basket of breakfast.

Golden millet porridge, milky white soy milk, plain tofu pudding, plus two jin of fried dough sticks and four youbing pancakes... Heaven have mercy, in Yunhu, fried dough sticks are sold by the piece, here they're sold by the jin.

Chen Fan happily hurried back, thinking to himself that he had finally verified the information from the online North-South debates.

Dou汁 (douzhi) is for a few old people and laborers, normal people don't like that stuff; the tofu pudding here actually refuses sugar, showing no respect for customers, but they add three spoons of sugar to the soy milk.

So sweet.

The youbing is so big it can cover your face, and it's sweet, wouldn't a scallion flavor be better?

The jiaoquan is as thin as a bracelet, crispier than youdunzi, not as fragrant as mianwo; chao gan is boiled, not stir-fried; they don't sell炸酱面 (zhajiangmian) in the morning, saying it's a proper meal; 驴打滚 (lǘ dǎ gǔn), 艾窝窝 (ài wō wō), and 豌豆黄 (wāndòu huáng) have to be bought at a pastry shop; jianbing guozi is from Tianjin, they don't have it here... .

Missing the breakfasts of Jiangnan, so many kinds of noodles and so many kinds of rice noodles, so many kinds of buns and so many kinds of fried cakes, and Uncle Fu's guokui, hot dry noodles, and lotus root soup, Fu Lan's mazi doupi and scallion baba, Lao Biao's spring rolls with mixed noodles and earthenware pot soup... in terms of variety and quantity, it wins, not to mention the taste.

Chen Fan held a youbing wrapped around a fried dough stick in one hand and a cup of soy milk in the other, taking a bite that filled his mouth with oil and a sip that was pleasantly sweet.

Soon, the aroma woke up the three hungover old men.

They washed their faces, brushed their teeth, and began to devour the food at the table.

Lin Yuanxiang took a bite of a big meat bun, and said as he ate, "Yesterday we were so busy eating the dishes that I forgot to ask, what are you doing in Beijing?"

Chen Fan finished the last bite, picked up a rag to wipe his hands, "The Writers Association has something going on, I came here for a meeting."

Lin Yuanxiang nodded thoughtfully, paused for two seconds, "Then do you have to stay there?"

Whether in the past or now, all business trips and meetings will arrange accommodation, not to mention an organization like the Writers Association convening, they will definitely arrange everything properly.

Chen Fan nodded, "I'll go buy some vegetables later, and leave after lunch."

He was afraid that if he ate dinner, he wouldn't be able to leave.

Lin Yuanxiang thought for a moment, "When does it start?"

Chen Fan, "It hasn't been decided yet, I'll go to the post office later to make a call and ask when the Jiangnan Writers Association people will arrive, Chairman He should know the details."

Lin Yuanxiang nodded thoughtfully, "Then we'll wait until they arrive. You stay here for now."

Chen Fan quickly shook his head, "No, no, I can't sleep well here, and I didn't even take a shower last night, it's more convenient to go to the guest house, they have everything there. When I get settled, I'll come back and tell you the guest house's phone number, if you need anything, call there and I'll come."

There was a store with a public phone at the entrance of the hutong, but it was for serving the surrounding residents, it could only receive and make local calls, for long distance you still had to go to the post office.

Before Lin Yuanxiang could speak, Zhang Xuansong said, "Isn't it just taking a shower? It's a small matter, I'll take you to Qinghua Pool later, I guarantee you'll have a comfortable wash, and there's massage and foot trimming."

Chen Fan shook his head even more vigorously, "I don't want anyone to scrub my back."

Zhang Xuansong glanced at him, "Kid doesn't know how to enjoy himself."

Chen Fan sulked, "I'm 20 already, okay."

Well, actual age 29, 30 in lunar years, official age is fully 17 years old, approaching 18, 19 in lunar years, almost 20, just being rigorous.

Zhang Xuansong squinted at him, "Then are you married?"

Before Chen Fan could speak, he added, "If you're not married, you're a kid."

Chen Fan was speechless. This damn traditional thinking should be swept into the dustbin of history along with feudalism.

After they finished eating, Chen Fan neatly cleaned up the table... He was just lazy, not incapable of doing housework, after all, his housework skill was also LV3, and serving these few was not embarrassing, but an honor.

Returning from the kitchen, he moved the Eight Immortals table to the corner, returned the chairs to their original positions, brewed a pot of large bowl tea and placed it on the low table, pouring a cup for each of the three old men.

Lin Yuanxiang held the enamel mug and belatedly asked, "The breakfast food stamps were yours, right? How many did it cost? I'll give them to you."

Chen Fan also poured himself a cup of tea, held it and sat aside, exhaled a long breath, and said with a smile, "No need, I don't have anything else, but I have plenty of food stamps, if I don't do anything else, just eat and drink, I can eat here for a year."

Lin Yuanxiang was a little disbelieving, "According to one jin of grain a day, does that mean you have three or four hundred jin of food stamps?"

Chen Fan took a sip of tea, raised his head and smiled slightly, "I mean, enough for the four of us to eat for a year."

Lin Yuanxiang's eyes widened, "More than a thousand jin?"

Chen Fan shrugged innocently. He didn't want so many, but before the royalties were restored, the Jiangnan Literature and Art magazine gave him most of his "royalties" in the form of national food stamps, always giving dozens or hundreds of jin at a time, as if afraid he would have nothing to eat, but only having food stamps was useless, he still had to spend money to buy things.

This time, everyone knew he would be away for a month or two, so Lujiawan gave him a hundred jin of national food stamps, the machinery factory gave him two hundred jin, the cotton mill gave him two hundred jin, the health department gave him a hundred jin... Even if he was a big eater, he couldn't finish it all.

There were still hundreds of jin of rice at home in Lujiawan.

Oh, right, he also had more than a thousand jin of rice stored in the brigade headquarters, and he didn't know when he would finish eating it.

He was worried about this.

He couldn't spend it all, he simply couldn't spend it all.

The three old men looked at each other. After a brief silence, Lin Yuanxiang decisively changed the subject, "Then I'll give you vegetable coupons."

He went to his room, and came out a moment later, handing Chen Fan a stack of money and two coupons.

Chen Fan took it and looked at it, his eyes full of surprise, "So there really are vegetable coupons?"

(Vegetable Coupons)

Zhang Xuansong seemed to have finally found a sense of superiority, "Of course, you need coupons to buy everything, you can't buy anything without coupons."

Then he looked at Chen Fan and smiled, "What, you don't need coupons to buy vegetables there?"

Chen Fan raised his head and nodded seriously, "Yes, our commune's vegetable market is about to abolish coupons, only tofu still needs coupons, all other vegetables don't."

Li Shangde was very curious, "What about fish and meat?"

Chen Fan grinned, "Our commune has a fishing lake, and the entire Nanhu Dyke is surrounded by a large river, who would want to buy fish with coupons? It's better to go fishing yourself."

The three old men looked at each other again. In this day and age, there were still places where you didn't need coupons to buy vegetables?

Fortunately, when they heard Chen Fan say that pork at the food station still required coupons, they breathed a sigh of relief.

In the end, you still need coupons!

Chen Fan didn't lack money himself, but he didn't refuse the money given by Old Man Lin, put the money and coupons in his pocket, and asked, "Do you have a fishing rod at home?"

Zhang Xuansong immediately nodded when he heard this, "It's good to go fishing, the boiled fish you made yesterday was delicious, go catch two more to bring back."

Saying that, he supported himself with his crutches under his armpits and walked out, "Old Yan, are you home? Lend me your fishing rod."

A voice rang out in the front yard, "I'm just about to go to work, wait a moment, I'll get it for you."

After a while, Zhang Xuansong came back with a fishing rod and a small bucket.

Not for holding fish, it's for bait.

Chen Fan stepped forward to take it and looked at it, "Hmm, not bad."

Then he walked out.

Lin Yuanxiang shouted from behind, "Take the bucket with you."

Chen Fan waved his hand without turning his head, "No need, I won't bring back any extra."

Zhang Xuansong grabbed him, "Kid, I know you're good at fishing, you want to exchange fish for meat coupons, right? Old Lin is telling you to bring back more fish, you can salt it and eat it for a few more days."

Chen Fan shrank his neck, turned around and went into the kitchen, carrying two buckets with a carrying pole, and successfully left the yard.

Li Shangde approached Lin Yuanxiang, looked at the door, then turned to look at him, "He's going to get stock, right?"

Zhang Xuansong turned around and went back to the house, smiling from ear to ear, "It's good to bring back more fish, isn't it?!"

...

Chen Fan walked through the streets carrying a bucket and a fishing rod.

An old man on a bicycle came over, "Are you going to carry water and go fishing by the way?"

Chen Fan looked at him, then looked at the back seat of his bicycle, and paused for two seconds, "Are you going to Shichahai?"

The old man proudly raised his head, "Of course, it's the only place nearby where you can fish."

Chen Fan, "If you take me there, I'll give you a big fish later."

The old man scoffed, "Big fish? How big can it be? Young man, let me tell you, there are no big fish in Shichahai at this time of year."

Chen Fan smiled slightly, "Yesterday afternoon I caught a carp weighing three and a half jin."

The old man was immediately surprised, "Was that you?"

He looked him up and down, decided to take a gamble, and waved his head, "Get in the car."

Chen Fan sat sideways on the back seat, the carrying pole steadily placed on his shoulders, the fishing rod held high, and soon arrived at Shichahai.

It was still early, and only a few people were sitting by the lake fishing. This old man was obviously a regular, familiar with greeting people, while setting up his equipment to prepare.

Chen Fan jumped out of the car, stood in a position not far from him, adjusted the float, put on the bait, and threw the rod out.

Half an hour later...

Chen Fan looked at the two buckets with worry, surrounded by a semicircle of old men, each with their mouths wide open.

Why only a semicircle?

The other semicircle is the water.

Until an old man weakly asked, "Young man, can you exchange these fish?"

Chen Fan raised his head, why are you only asking now?!

He doesn't accept food stamps, meat coupons are preferred, oil coupons and cloth coupons, and industrial coupons are also acceptable.

Before long, both buckets were empty, and his pockets were bulging with various coupons and certificates.

The result was that everyone got a large fish today.

Chen Fan caught a few more large ones before politely refusing the later arrivals and making a hasty retreat with his buckets.

First, he took the fish back and returned the fishing rod to Old Zhang, also giving him a fish as a thank you.

Then, carrying a shopping basket, he hurried to the market, buying a large amount of meat and vegetables, as well as a big jug of soybean oil.

City dwellers didn't need oil coupons to buy oil; they could just go to the grain station with their grain and oil booklet, and the clerk would make a record in the booklet.

However, rural residents without a commodity grain ration had to use oil coupons. When the salesclerk saw Chen Fan buying oil, besides marveling at how handsome this young man from the countryside was, she didn't know whose relative he might be, and had no other questions.

After finishing all this, it wasn't even 9 a.m. yet.

In reality, he had already been busy for three hours.

The time was neither early nor late, so Chen Fan picked up the kung fu practice he had missed in the morning and slowly practiced his boxing in the courtyard.

Zhang Xuansong carried a chair out of the house and sat at the door to watch.

Lin Yuanxiang sat on the Arhat bed, a cigarette in his mouth, his eyes slightly narrowed, smiling very contentedly.

Li Shangde simply closed his eyes, his ears twitching, clearly listening intently to the sounds outside.

In his ears, Chen Fan's breathing was soft, even, and long, his heartbeat deep and powerful, and there were no extraneous noises when his muscles and bones moved, indicating that he had clearly reached the realm of perfect integration.

Listening to his footsteps… they were barely audible?

Li Shangde gasped and turned to look at Lin Yuanxiang, asking in a low voice, "Are you really sure he's only been practicing for a year?"

Lin Yuanxiang looked at him, the corners of his mouth practically reaching behind his ears. "Unbelievable, right? I was the same as you back then, I couldn't believe it either. According to Old Xiao, he started practicing a few days before the Spring Festival last year, using the Xingyi Five Elements Fist as a foundation. He mastered it in seven days and even comprehended the five types of power.

Afterward, he used the Five Elements Saber to train his power, and he also entered the realm of mastery in less than half a month. Later, he also taught him the Xingyi Spear technique, integrating the various types of power into one.

At this point, he had been practicing for less than two months. So Old Xiao panicked and quickly wrote me a letter. When I saw the letter, I didn't believe it at first, thinking that Old Xiao must be exaggerating, but thinking about it, even if there was some exaggeration, he should still be a promising talent, so I took care of some official business and then rushed over."

As he spoke, he turned to look at Chen Fan in the courtyard outside, paused for several seconds, and then said, "I tested him for half a month and thought his character was good, so I could pass on my family's kung fu to him."

Speaking of which, he turned to look at Li Shangde, held up one finger, "One week, in one week's time, he learned all the kung fu I taught him. On the last day, it only took him more than two hours to comprehend and learn all the internal cultivation techniques such as the Toad Breath, Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound, Swimming Dragon Force, Mind Intention Grip, and Primordial Force."

Li Shangde smacked his lips. Although he couldn't see the figure outside clearly, he still tried to look over, muttering, "Isn't that learning as soon as you see it?"

Lin Yuanxiang nodded in agreement. "That's when I realized that what Old Xiao said was not only not an exaggeration, but rather an understatement."

Li Shangde closed his eyes again, his ears twitching slightly. "A set of Tai Chi is so skillfully performed in his hands that he doesn't seem like a young man at all. Maybe Old Xiao wasn't holding back; maybe this kid felt he hadn't practiced enough and only told him after he had perfected it."

Lin Yuanxiang paused slightly and couldn't help but nod. "There's really a possibility of that."

At this moment, Chen Fan finished his movements, stood still, and slowly exhaled a long breath.

The white air was like an arrow, slowly dissipating only after leaving his mouth by two feet.

Zhang Xuansong gently tapped his cane twice, nodding and smiling, "Good kung fu."

Chen Fan turned around and smiled, "I wouldn't dare compare with you. Yesterday, your footwork, as steady as a pine tree taking root, was truly an eye-opener for me."

Zhang Xuansong laughed loudly, "How many years have I been practicing, and how many years have you been practicing? Isn't it normal that you can't compare to me?!"

Then, supporting himself with his cane, he slowly walked over and said, "Do you know which school of kung fu I practice?"

Chen Fan thought for a moment, "Old Lin said yesterday that you are from Quanzhen. Could it be a secret Quanzhen transmission?"

This Quanzhen Sect was of course not the one on Mount Zhongnan, but referred to a Taoist sect distributed throughout the country.

The Quanzhen for martial arts, the Zhengyi for drawing talismans. Of the dozens of sects on Mount Wudang, the Quanzhen Sect accounted for more than half, including Zhang Sanfeng, who also came from the Quanzhen Sect.

Zhang Xuansong nodded, a hint of emotion flowing in his eyes. "The Quanzhen Dao is very widely distributed, divided into the Southern and Northern lineages. The seven Quanzhen patriarchs, Zhang Bolui, Liu Yongnian, Shi Tai, Xue Daoguang, Chen Nan, Bai Yuchan, and Peng Si, founded the Southern Seven Lineage. The seven patriarchs are collectively known as the 'Southern Seven Immortals'.

Where there are Southern Seven Immortals, there are naturally Northern Seven Immortals. The Northern Seven Immortals are the seven direct disciples of the Quanzhen Dao patriarch Wang Chongyang, namely, Danyangzi Ma Yu, Changchunzi Qiu Chuji, Changzhenzi Tan Chuduan, Yuyangzi Wang Chuyi, Taiguzi Hao Datong, Changshengzi Liu Chuxuan, and Qingjing Sanren Sun Bu'er.

Later, Ma Yu founded the Yuxian Sect, Qiu Chuji founded the Longmen Sect, Tan Chuduan founded the Nanwu Sect, Liu Chuxuan founded the Suishan Sect, Hao Datong founded the Huashan Sect, Wang Chuyi founded the Yushan Sect, and Sun Bu'er founded the Qingjing Sect."

Hearing this, Chen Fan roughly understood that Old Zhang must be a descendant of one of the Northern Seven Immortals.

Otherwise, the Southern Seven Immortals would be mentioned casually, while the Northern Seven Immortals would not only have their Taoist names mentioned but also the branch sects introduced.

Zhang Xuansong turned to face him, saying, "My lineage is the direct line of the Yuyangzi Wang Chuyi Yushan Sect."

Chen Fan suddenly nodded, a flash of inspiration in his mind, "Iron-Foot Immortal Wang Chuyi?"

Legend has it that Yuyangzi lived in seclusion in the Yunguang Cave, often standing on a dangerous cliff on one foot for days without moving, so people called him "Iron-Foot Immortal."

No wonder Zhang Xuansong had such good lower body skills; it was an ancestral inheritance.

Seeing that Chen Fan even knew the ancestral master Iron-Foot Immortal's nickname, Zhang Xuansong couldn't help but smile. "That's right, it's Iron-Foot Immortal Wang Chuyi."

He paced with his cane, continuing, "My skills are different from Old Lin's. His kung fu was learned from his comrades in the army, and his foundation wasn't actually that good."

Hearing this, Lin Yuanxiang was unconvinced and immediately jumped out, "Explain to me, what do you mean by 'the foundation wasn't that good'?"

Zhang Xuansong turned his head and glanced at him disdainfully, "Hmph, you're just a Guanzhong swordsman who learned a little bit of the Red Fist style, and later you even lost all your swordsmanship. Did I say something wrong?"

Lin Yuanxiang's face instantly turned red, saying something about a swordsman being a swordsman and Red Fist also being a famous fist style. Zhang Xuansong and Li Shangde in the house laughed heartily, and the courtyard was filled with a joyful atmosphere.

Seeing that Old Lin was about to explode, Chen Fan quickly asked Old Zhang for guidance, "So what skills have you learned?"

Zhang Xuansong stopped laughing and said proudly, "Wang Chongyang founded the Quanzhen Sect, honoring the Supreme Lord Lao as the Supreme Ancestor and the Eastern Flower Emperor as the First Ancestor, passing down the ancestral Changchunzi Qiu Chuji True Lord and the Reviving Ancestor Wang Changyue True Person, deeply obtaining the Taoist internal alchemy method…"

Just as he said this, Lin Yuanxiang said faintly from the side, "Don't engage in feudal superstition; all alchemy methods are deceptive…"

Zhang Xuansong was so angry that he almost had a myocardial infarction, pulling Chen Fan into the house, "Don't pay attention to him; let's go inside and talk."

Li Shangde walked out leisurely, watching the door slam shut, turned to look at Lin Yuanxiang, and smiled, "Satisfied?"

Lin Yuanxiang laughed and turned to walk into the house, "What am I satisfied or not satisfied about; it's not me learning kung fu."

Saying that, he sat down on the Arhat bed, chuckling, "Old Zhang guards a body of profound mystical skills and doesn't teach anyone, and he also adheres to the rules and doesn't learn the skills that we old guys have researched. He says that if he can't find a disciple, he'll take them into the coffin with him, but in the end, he still has to take them out, doesn't he?"

Li Shangde also came back, sighing softly, "Old Zhang is not easy either. His master is gone, and more than a dozen fellow disciples are also gone. He's the only one alive in the entire monastery and has a broken leg. How can he dare to hand over the secret kung fu of the monastery? He's also afraid of how he'll answer to his master if he goes down there one day."

Lin Yuanxiang was silent for a few seconds, saying, "In my opinion, letting this lineage be cut off is the greatest filial impiety."

Li Shangde chuckled, moving his body backward and leaning against the bed to drink tea.

Hmph, stubborn as a mule; wouldn't Old Zhang have had this idea if you hadn't always been showing off in front of him?

…

In the room, Chen Fan sat cross-legged on the hard board bed, slowly circulating his energy and practicing according to the method taught by Old Zhang. Before long, he felt warm all over, which was very different from the six internal cultivation techniques that Old Lin had taught him before.

Zhang Xuansong sat on the chair, looking at Chen Fan's current state, and couldn't help but be overjoyed.

To be able to pick up the Pure Yang Dan Gong so quickly was something he had never seen or even heard of.

He had been arguing with Old Lin for half his life, but he never thought he could pick up such a bargain from him. He had made a profit, a profit.

Anyway, he was determined to take this disciple. Even Liu Shuai couldn't stop him, he said so!