Reborn in 1977

The small yacht sped along the Liuhua River, with the rolling hills of the Qingshan Commune on the southeast bank covered in rapeseed flowers.

To say 'covered in rolling hills' isn't quite accurate.

Because the Yunhu area is hilly, there are hardly any mountains. Within a few hundred miles, there are only a few places that could be considered 'mountains'. The 'mountains' of Qingshan Commune, like the villages where the various teams of Lujiawan live, are just small mounds only a dozen to thirty meters high.

The shortest are only a dozen meters, and the highest doesn't exceed 40 meters, which is about the height of a 10-story building. In a real mountainous area, it would only be a small stepping stone.

But in this area, the dense small hills become the so-called 'mountainous area', which is how Qingshan Commune got its name. Because of the abundance of hills and scarcity of land, it also gained the status of a 'semi-agricultural household', mainly responsible for the rapeseed planting tasks of Gufeng County. All grain is produced and sold locally. The difference between them and agricultural households is that they are responsible for their own grain and do not have an extra grain quota.

This alone greatly reduced their burden.

Moreover, the price of oil is much higher than that of grain. Retail soybean oil is 80 cents a pound, and rapeseed oil can sell for 2.2 yuan.

Even if directly selling rapeseed, the purchase price is 23 cents and 2 li per pound, with a price ratio of 3.5:1 compared to grain.

Moreover, the yield of rapeseed per mu is not low. Thanks to the efforts of rapeseed breeding experts represented by Fu Tingdong, the rapeseed yield has increased from less than 100 jin per mu per year in the 1950s to an average yield of 255 jin per mu per year.

Another thing is that rapeseed doesn't require specific land, so the planting area is larger than paddy fields.

Therefore, the life of Qingshan Commune was pretty good in the past, just like the Bailang Lake Brigade of Nanhu Commune, which specialized in raising and selling fish. Several rapeseed planting production teams have also become secondary desirable places for young women from the surrounding rural areas.

The primary choice, of course, was to marry a worker in town and get a grain ration book.

Of course, neither the 'primary' nor the 'secondary' can compare with the current Lujiawan.

Now, the bachelors of Lujiawan are very picky. Their first choice for a wife is from their own brigade. Only if there are no suitable candidates in their own brigade will they consider girls from the town. Those few agricultural brigades have already been relegated to third place.

There's no way around it. Who told Lujiawan's dividends to explode last year? The income of any villager is several times that of a worker in town, and the income of a strong laborer is ten times that of an ordinary worker.

And this is just the dividend, not including the rations, pork, rapeseed oil, etc., that are distributed.

Anyone with eyes can see that as long as there isn't another 'cutting the tail' incident, the days of Lujiawan will definitely get better and better.

The wheel of fortune turns.

It was during the Qingming Festival, when the rapeseed flowers were in full bloom. Chen Fan was driving his boat, enjoying the winding rapeseed flowers. He was thinking about taking some time to go there after returning, taking a photo to send to Jiang Lili, when he saw a group of tourists in the rapeseed flower fields?

Tourists?

Chen Fan almost ran the boat ashore when he saw the group of people taking pictures in the rapeseed flowers with cameras.

There were a dozen people, both men and women. Where did these young spirits come from?

Are there even people like me who are pursuing spiritual enjoyment after solving their survival problems?

But there are still things to do now, and it's not the time to pursue the truth. He shook his head, turned the speed to the maximum, and the small yacht bounced and floated forward on the water.

When the manuscript fee arrives, first change to the latest model of the boat engine.

The fastest one!

A little over an hour later, the small yacht docked at the freight terminal. Chen Fan greeted the manager familiarly, left two packs of cigarettes, found his GAZ car that he had parked here the day before yesterday, and left.

First go to the cotton mill. It's a working day, so Jiang's family is naturally not there. He drove directly to the office building of the cotton mill.

When Chen Fan arrived, Jiang Heng and Shen Xueyi were both extremely busy, but when they saw him, they put down their work and warmly received him.

Jiang Heng sent his colleague out first, closed the door casually, and without summoning a secretary, personally poured tea.

Shen Xueyi sat next to Chen Fan, smiling and asking with concern, "You've been gone for nearly two months. Are you exhausted outside? When did you come back?"

Chen Fan smiled and said, "It's okay. Since the time is long, it's not so rushed, so I'm not too tired."

Jiang Heng put a cup of tea in front of him, turned around and sat on the other side, smiling and said, "No matter what, business trips are definitely not as comfortable as being at home."

Shen Xueyi's face was quite displeased, "Didn't you train so many veterinarians for the production team? Why do you have to go there yourself to buy seedlings?"

She now directly regards Chen Fan as her son-in-law, and her words imply that we are all one family, so she is naturally a little dissatisfied with the production team that is 'torturing' her own son-in-law.

Chen Fan smiled and chuckled, "Actually, the main reason is that Lili and the others are going to school, and I also have to go to the capital in March, so I simply went a few days earlier and went with the people from Lujiawan to pave the way for Lili and the others."

Shen Xueyi's face had already changed, and she smiled so wide that she couldn't close her mouth, "They're not children, so why do they need you to arrange things in advance? But you are thoughtful, but you are too hard on yourself."

Chen Fan, "It's okay, I'm young and strong."

Jiang Heng nodded lightly with a smile on the side, and after they finished speaking, he asked softly, "How is the work going? Is everything going smoothly?"

Chen Fan turned around to face him, "Everything is going well. I came back the day before yesterday. It was inconvenient to visit that day, so I went back to Lujiawan first, and then came here today."

As he spoke, he picked up the gift package and placed it on the coffee table, "This is something I brought back. Uncle and Aunt, try something new."

Then he untied the package, "These oil paper packages contain wild animal meat. I have already prepared them. They are cooked and can be eaten directly, but it is best to heat them up. Also, the weather is gradually warming up, so it is best to finish them as soon as possible, but don't eat too much at once. This is frog oil, this is dried forest frog, this is ginseng..."

Jiang Heng looked at the things in the package, his eyes full of surprise, "These are all specialties of the Northeast, right? I heard that the machinery factory has cooperation with FAW, so did you go to Changchun?"

Chen Fan nodded with a smile, "I stayed there for a few days, but mainly Director Yang and the others were talking about work, so I just mixed in some specialties."

Shen Xueyi's eyes were more and more satisfied as she looked at him, and she said with a smile, "What I heard is not like this. If it weren't for you, they wouldn't be able to go to the capital, let alone talk about cooperation with FAW."

Then she looked at the full bag of things again, "You child, you brought so many things back from such a long distance. You are too thoughtful. We are all one family, so there is no need to be like this."

Chen Fan smiled and chuckled, without saying anything.

Shen Xueyi said again, "Auntie knows you are busy, but you must have a meal here today no matter what. No matter how busy you are, you can't delay eating, right!"

Chen Fan quickly said, "This is really not possible. I have to rush to the provincial capital now."

Jiang Heng and his wife looked at each other, and looked at him in surprise, "Go to the provincial capital now?"

Chen Fan nodded, turned to look at Jiang Heng, lowered his voice and briefly explained the matter, and finally said, "So I have to rush to the provincial capital to get the approval as soon as possible, so that I can sign the contract, and the other party can make the payment."

Hearing this, Jiang Heng's heart was both surprised and happy. He was surprised that his son-in-law had such a good opportunity to earn foreign exchange with his articles.

Whatever the reason, the fact is that he sold the article to the little devils and earned foreign exchange.

What he was happy about was naturally the unexpected foreign exchange income.

Since he resumed his work, he has submitted an application to the higher authorities, hoping to import several advanced foreign machines, on the one hand, to replace some of the old machines, and on the other hand, to cooperate with the machinery factory to see if there are any conditions for imitation.

But this requires foreign exchange, and it is not a small amount.

But now there is a glimmer of hope.

If I do some work before this foreign exchange arrives, then will it be possible to approve the purchase of one or two machines?

Or, to take a step back, if I don't want the machines, can you buy me some foreign textile technology information?!

Thinking of this, Jiang Heng did not dare to delay, and immediately stood up and said, "Earning foreign exchange is a major event, so you should set off earlier so that you can arrive earlier, but you must be careful on the road. In any case, safety comes first."

Chen Fan was not polite, stood up and smiled, "Don't worry, I will be careful."

Then he said goodbye to the two, "Uncle and Aunt, goodbye."

Shen Xueyi sent him to the door, "When you come back safely, Auntie will make you something delicious."

Chen Fan waved his hand with a smile, "Okay. Goodbye."

…

After coming out of the cotton mill, Chen Fan drove the car onto the provincial highway and drove towards the provincial capital.

Rushing as fast as he could, without even eating dinner, he finally arrived at the Cultural Palace Guest House when there was still a glimmer of light in the sky.

It was the place where the Provincial Writers Association held a meeting last time.

Seeing that it was Chen Fan, Xiao Peng, who happened to be on duty today, was very surprised and a little delighted, "It's Writer Chen, why are you here?"

She paused, feeling her words might be ambiguous, and quickly added, "I mean, your Writers Association doesn't work here anymore, but it's not too far. It's just three stops away, in a small red building. That's where it is."

Chen Fan leaned against the service desk, looking at her with a smile. "Do they have a guest house?"

Little Peng shook her head. "No, they don't."

Then she giggled, "You want to stay overnight, right? I'll take care of the formalities for you."

Saying that, she lowered her head to grab a register and began to fill it out. "You're now the Director of the European and American Division of the Foreign Liaison Department of the Writers Association, a deputy division-level cadre. You can have a single room. I'll get you a cadre room."

Then she looked up. "Have you eaten? The guest house cooks are off work, but there are still ingredients. But I'm not a good cook, I can only make noodles."

Chen Fan said, "Thank you, then could I trouble you to make me a bowl of noodles."

Little Peng beamed. "Okay! I'll add an egg for you too."

After speaking, she took out a key and placed it on the counter. "Room 302. You can go straight up. I'll bring the noodles up to you when they're ready."

"Thank you."

Chen Fan took the key but didn't leave. "Can I call the Writers Association from here?"

Little Peng immediately nodded. "We have a direct line. We can call anyone in the cultural system, including the Writers Association. Who are you looking for? Chairman He?"

As she spoke, she placed her hand on the phone. Seeing Chen Fan nod in confirmation, she immediately picked up the receiver. When the other end answered, she immediately said, "This is the Cultural Palace Guest House. Please connect me to Chairman He of the Writers Association. Director Chen Fan of their Foreign Liaison Department wants to speak with him."

The direct line was fast. In less than a minute, the call was connected.

Taking the receiver from Little Peng, Chen Fan held it to his ear and said, "Chairman He, this is Chen Fan."

He Qingsheng was still at work when he received the call, and he was a little confused. "You're at the Cultural Palace Guest House? Why did you run to the provincial capital again?"

Chen Fan looked around, turning his head, and said softly, "It must be something important. Come here first. I'm in 302. We'll talk when we meet."

He Qingsheng was filled with curiosity, but he didn't say much. Not to mention that this kid was deeply favored by the two old predecessors, Ba Jin and Mao Dun, even if he wasn't, he was still the junior he valued most. Moreover, he knew in his heart that Chen Fan wasn't the kind of person who didn't know what was important. So he hung up the phone, tidied up a bit, and rode his bicycle to the meeting.

When He Qingsheng knocked on the door, Chen Fan was eating noodles with large mouthfuls.

There was also a package of venison on the table.

There was no way around it. He had already prepared for the possibility of missing dinner. Even with this bowl of egg noodles, it wasn't enough to fill his stomach, so he could only supplement it himself.

He Qingsheng walked into the room, placed his briefcase aside, and frowned as he looked at the bowl on the table. "You haven't eaten yet?"

Chen Fan sat down in a chair and handed him the whole pack of cigarettes. "This can't be a midnight snack, can it?"

He Qingsheng took the cigarette and sat on the sofa by the window, glaring at him unhappily. "You're just the kind of guy who takes an inch and wants a mile. Once you get familiar, you don't know how to talk properly."

Chen Fan finished the noodles in two or three bites, even drinking the soup in the bowl clean. Then, taking the venison as a snack, he walked to the sofa and sat down, saying, "That's not true. Look, I'm familiar with Elder Ba, and I still always talk properly."

He Qingsheng rolled his eyes, glancing at his hand. "What's that?"

Chen Fan handed it over. "Venison, try some."

He Qingsheng pinched a piece and threw it into his mouth. "Where did you get this? This stuff is hard to find."

Chen Fan said, "I hunted it myself."

He ate another piece, and seeing the disdainful look on He Qingsheng's face, he smiled and said, "After the meeting last time, didn't a few people come to find me? They were from Yunhu Machinery Factory. The situation at the time was..."

After explaining it simply, Chen Fan smiled and said, "Mr. Qu Bo also knows about this. You can ask him and it will be clear."

He Qingsheng's eyes widened as he listened. "You really hunted it yourself?"

Even Qu Bo was brought up, as well as the First Ministry of Machinery Industry and FAW. It seemed that this matter couldn't be faked.

Without waiting for Chen Fan to answer, he quickly asked, "You didn't bring me any?"

Chen Fan looked at him with a guilty expression, then picked up another piece of venison and threw it into his mouth. "I didn't expect us to meet so soon. How could I bring it for you? Next time, definitely next time."

He Qingsheng's face immediately darkened, then his eyes glanced down, and he snatched half a pack of venison from Chen Fan's hand. "No next time. This pack is mine."

Chen Fan looked at his empty palm, then looked at him, swallowed the venison in his mouth, and gently raised his thumb. "You're really something!"

Then he wiped his hands with a towel, lit another cigarette, leaned back on the sofa, and said, "I came here today because of this."

He Qingsheng chewed the venison laboriously, his little eyes flickering as he listened.

"You saved a little Japanese guy?"

"His great-grandfather came looking for you, and he's a capitalist in the publishing industry?"

"He wants to sign a contract with you to publish your book in Japan?"

"Approval? What approval?"

When Chen Fan finished speaking, he got up and ran out.

Chen Fan quickly asked, "Where are you going?"

He Qingsheng held the doorknob and turned back. "I'm going to get you the approval document!"

Chen Fan said, "You don't even know which articles they are yet."

He Qingsheng opened the door and walked out. "I've read your articles. I'll bring it back and you can fill it out yourself."

Then with a bang, the door was closed from the outside.

Chen Fan shrugged, sat down, looked at the empty oiled paper package, and couldn't help but be stunned.

Did I talk for a long time?

Did he finish such a big piece of meat?

Hmm, I heard that venison is very nourishing. I hope he doesn't get a nosebleed.

Having completed his task, He Qingsheng's attitude was as he expected, so Chen Fan relaxed, turned on the radio, filled his teacup, and took a newspaper in his hand, sitting on the sofa and waiting quietly.

This wait lasted for more than an hour.

It wasn't until after 8 o'clock in the evening that He Qingsheng returned with an excited face.

Following behind him were Secretary-General Xu Qizhen and a leader from the Cultural Department whom he had met at the last meeting.

They were all acquaintances, so there was no need for a special introduction. After a brief greeting, He Qingsheng first sat down with a thud and slapped two pieces of paper in front of him. "Approval document. Here, the 'Works' column is left for you to fill in more, and there's also foreign business information. You should also fill it in yourself later. And, don't fill it in randomly, or I'll punish you."

Xu Qizhen grinned. After he finished speaking, she looked at Chen Fan with a smile and said, "Director Chen..."

Chen Fan quickly waved his hand. "Sister Xu, didn't we say last time that I'll call you 'Sister,' and you can call me Xiao Fan, Xiao Chen, or Chen Fan, whatever you like. This 'Director' sounds awkward."

Xu Qizhen laughed. "Okay, okay, it's my fault. Ahem..."

She coughed twice and continued, "Xiao Fan, can I discuss something with you?"

Chen Fan nodded. "Go ahead."

Xu Qizhen exchanged a look with the leader of the Cultural Department and He Qingsheng, and said softly, "It's like this. I heard from Lao He that you know Japanese and can translate yourself, but seeing that you have quite a few works to publish, it should take a long time to finish them all by yourself, right? Wouldn't that delay things?"

Chen Fan rolled his eyes. "So, what do you mean?"

Xu Qizhen smiled. "This is what I was thinking. There are also several very good translators in the Writers Association, some of whom are very knowledgeable about Japanese and have translated works before. So I was thinking, can we hand over the translation task to them?"

Chen Fan blinked, still guessing the meaning of her words. He Qingsheng, who had just lit a cigarette, said directly, "Let me tell you directly. It's just that the foreign exchange you're earning this time is too much, and everyone wants to get a piece of the pie. If it weren't for this, I would have come back a long time ago."

Ah?

Chen Fan turned to look at him. "Get a piece of the pie?"

You want to fleece me?

He Qingsheng didn't know what he was thinking and said naturally, "In short, it's to allow several translators to earn some foreign exchange as well. But don't worry, it won't affect your royalties. Their translation fees will be paid separately by their own units. Your royalties are still yours and won't be affected."

Chen Fan nodded suddenly. "So, the units of those translators will pay them to translate my articles and submit them? So I don't have to pay their royalties?"

There's such a good thing?

Xu Qizhen smiled aside. "This matter is already them taking advantage, how could we let you suffer."

Chen Fan blinked, feeling a little puzzled. Are they taking advantage?

Then he asked, "So, they're just after the reputation?"

At this time, the cadre from the Cultural Department smiled. "Of course, it's not just the reputation. Your foreign exchange royalties can't be kept, but their units can."

Chen Fan blinked repeatedly. So, it's still for foreign exchange. But, this is okay too?