Reborn in 1977

Chapter 573 I Am Useless

What kind of boat you sit on isn't important; what's important is who you sit with.

Naturally, Zhou Zhengdong's family followed Chen Fan onto the small yacht.

Chen Fan had originally planned to wash it down a bit, but after lifting the tarpaulin, he found that it had already been wiped clean, and couldn't help but sigh at how good it was to have a few apprentices.

If they weren't good, he'd expel them from the sect.

Zhou Yali followed her younger brother onto the boat and, without hesitation, plopped down in the passenger seat, curiously looking around, "There's even yachts in the mainland? It's so amazing, and so beautiful!"

Chen Fan slowly started the engine. Just as the machine roared to life, his ears suddenly twitched. He glanced at the console, a smile appearing on the corner of his mouth, then shifted his gaze and said, "You can't say 'yacht' in front of outsiders. Yachts are things for capitalist enjoyment. This is a speedboat, or a patrol boat, used for safety inspections or emergencies."

Zhou Zhengdong sat on the horizontal bench in the back, grabbing the wooden bar behind him. Hearing Chen Fan's words, he asked curiously, "Is this speedboat yours?"

Chen Fan steered the small yacht, slowly leaving the riverbank. The three large boats behind hadn't left the shore yet, but the small boat was already speeding ahead, bouncing up and down.

Then he smiled and said, "Half and half, I guess. Last year, the cooked food shop in Lujiawan opened, and they needed an engine to build a boat for deliveries. I repaired two sets of marine thrusters for the water transport company, and the water transport company agreed to help Lujiawan build a large wooden boat at cost.

At the time, I hitched a ride and designed this speedboat myself, asking the water transport company's repair shop to help build it. The ownership still belongs to Lujiawan, but it's actually for my personal use, to facilitate travel between Lujiawan and the prefectural committee."

Then he explained, "Back then, I was still a special commissioner at the Yunhu Health Department, and I had to report to the Health Department every week. It wasn't convenient to take a car, so I got a small boat to go directly from Lujiawan to the prefectural committee."

Zhou Yali really wanted to applaud, but her hands were holding the handles, so she could only look at her younger cousin with admiration, exclaiming, "Little brother, you can repair marine thrusters, design yachts, know medicine, and of course, write. Is there anything you can't do?"

Chen Fan pondered for two seconds, then sighed regretfully, "I can't farm."

Zhou Yali thought he was joking and laughed, "Don't try to fool me. You've been in the countryside for so long, how could you not know how to farm?"

Chen Fan blinked. That's right, I've been in Lujiawan for over a year, and I have a skill panel. How could I not know how to farm?

But I just don't know how to farm!

Zhou Zhengdong, sitting in the back, thought more about it. He advised again, "Xiaofan, are you really not considering going to America with us? With your abilities, whether it's writing or science and engineering, even without our help, you could easily become a millionaire, a billionaire. It's such a pity to stay in the mainland."

Hearing Chen Fan's words, Zhou Zhengdong immediately laughed, "There's nothing to regret. The motherland is my home, and construction depends on everyone. Regardless of ability, as long as you work hard, you are a builder of the country. As long as the results are useful to the people, then it's not a waste, and you don't necessarily have to go out and get a lot of benefits for yourself."

After a pause, he added, "Besides, I'm doing pretty well now. I have no worries about food and clothing, and I have a lot of preferential treatment in my position. What American millionaires can enjoy, I have. What they can't enjoy, I also have. If I go to America, I might not be as comfortable as I am now."

Hearing Chen Fan's words, Zhou Zhengdong could only gently shake his head and no longer勸說, but a hint of appreciation flashed in his eyes.

Chen Fan steered the yacht, introducing the scenery on both sides of the river, "This river is also a boundary river. On our left is Guifeng County. Lujiawan belongs to the Nanhugong Commune under Guifeng County.

But now we are implementing the grassroots 'three-level ownership,' which is the three-level structure of 'production team, production brigade, and commune.' The production team is the most basic accounting unit, mainly responsible for production. The production brigade is the most basic management unit, responsible for the overall management of the production teams within the brigade. The commune is responsible for all-round security within the administrative area, including politics, militia, agriculture, industry, social security, medical care, and education.

From this perspective, a commune is a large unit, and the county can only be regarded as a management department, a bit far from the common people. The common people rarely go to the county."

After a brief explanation, he continued to introduce, "On the right is another county, Shuanghe County. Lujiawan's cooked food has gradually been sold here, and we also purchase some live poultry from the production teams here to supplement the shortage of goods. …"

When the boat reached the Qingshan Commune, Chen Fan pointed to the rolling rapeseed on the left and said, "You're a little late. If you had come last month, you would have seen rapeseed flowers all over the mountains and plains, golden yellow, especially beautiful. Now there are only rapeseed seeds, and they can probably be harvested in half a month.

Of course, it needs to be good weather. If it rains a few times, the harvest time will be delayed by a few days.

This is still good. If it rains heavily for several days in a row, then it will be terrible. So, the countryside still relies on the heavens for food. If the heavens don't give face, the production team will suffer losses.

But Mr. Li said, 'Man can conquer nature.' Our country's scientists are working hard to cultivate better rapeseed seeds. Maybe one day, farmers will be able to get rid of their dependence on the climate and have a bumper harvest no matter how bad the weather is."

The Zhou family listened to his words, nodding from time to time or exclaiming in surprise.

Between introducing and bragging, the small yacht rushed into the Lujiawan section of the Liuhua River, heading towards Team 6.

A group of people stood on the beautiful cement wharf of Team 7. Chen Fan had good eyesight. With a casual glance, he saw that the commune's Secretary Qian and several commune cadres were present, with Secretary Yang and Team Leader Zhang accompanying them.

As for the other leaders of the brigade, they were not here.

Without thinking, he knew that Secretary Qian and the others must have come to welcome Zhou Zhengdong and the accompanying cadres from the province.

Chen Fan didn't care. Anyway, the big boat could only dock here, and the two foreigners and the accompanying cadres from the province were there, enough for Secretary Qian and the others to deal with. He didn't need to be there.

He continued to drive forward, and when he reached Team 6, he saw a dozen people waiting there on the simple wharf.

In the sky, the hobby swooped down towards the yacht and landed steadily on the front deck, flapping its wings at Chen Fan and chirping happily.

Zhou Yali immediately leaned forward, staring at the hobby with glowing eyes, "Wow, this bird isn't afraid of people."

Chen Fan pushed the operating lever, slowing down, and laughed, "Do you want to play with it?"

At this time, even if Zhou Yali was stupid, she would have reacted, looking at Chen Fan in surprise, "You raised it?"

Chen Fan whistled, and the hobby spread its wings and jumped lightly, landing on his shoulder.

He casually grabbed the hobby's claws and handed them to Zhou Yali, "Be careful, don't hurt it."

Zhou Yali quickly and carefully held it in her hands, staring at the hobby with wide eyes, not knowing what to do.

She had never played with birds before. The hobby thought she would feed it like Jiang Lili used to, and was wondering why she hadn't given it any meat yet.

Zhou Zhengdong and Zhao Wanru couldn't hide their surprise. Could birds be trained to be so obedient?

At this time, a mynah also descended from the sky, landing on Chen Fan's shoulder and shouting loudly, "Chen Fan is back, Chen Fan is back."

The corners of Chen Fan's mouth twitched slightly. This bird wasn't afraid of being beaten.

But it wasn't convenient to hit it now. If it fell into the river, it would really be gone.

Then he reached out and grabbed it, throwing it into the sky, "Go away."

The mynah fluttered its wings and flew away, still shouting, "Chen Fan is bad, Chen Fan is bad…"

Amusing Zhou Zhengdong and the other two, they burst into laughter.

Soon, the small yacht docked. Without Chen Fan having to do it himself, Yang Mei had already jumped onto the back deck, grabbed the cable, jumped ashore, and tied it tightly to the wooden stake.

At Chen Fan's gesture, Zhou Zhengdong took the lead in stepping onto the wooden trestle bridge on the dock.

Team Leader Xiao immediately greeted him, but his gaze was aimed at Chen Fan.

Chen Fan stood up and waved to them, "Master Xiao, Team Leader Ye,…"

While still on the boat, he introduced loudly, "This is my uncle, his surname is Zhou, this is my aunt, her surname is Zhao."

Team Leader Xiao immediately stretched out his right hand and laughed, "Mr. Zhou, hello, hello."

When he called him 'Mr.,' his mouth slipped a little, mainly because he wasn't used to it.

Zhou Zhengdong shook his hand and greeted with a smile, "Hello, hello."

Chen Fan helped Zhao Wanru and Zhou Yali ashore, and smiled at the same time, "Master Xiao is the deputy team leader of our production brigade, and also the master who taught me kung fu."

Hearing this, the smile on Zhou Zhengdong's face immediately became a little more sincere, "So it's Master Xiao, hello, hello, thank you for taking care of our Xiaofan."

Xiao Liewen grinned and laughed, "No, no, in the end, Xiaofan is still smart, consider me lucky."

Afterwards, Team Leader Ye, as well as Team Leader Yang, Huang the custodian, and Liu the accountant of Team 6 also stepped forward to shake hands and welcome them one by one.

When Team Leader Yang stepped forward, Chen Fan specially introduced, "Last year, when I fell into the water and drifted here, Team Leader Yang was the one who rescued me."

Hearing this, Zhou Zhengdong's face was filled with gratitude, holding Team Leader Yang's right hand with both hands, tears almost coming out, "Thank you, thank you! Great kindness, unforgettable!"

With this, Team Leader Yang was embarrassed and blushed, "Don't, don't, don't, I just happened to see it, just gave a hand, don't be so polite."

After a lot of thanks and refusals, Team Leader Yang was released and quickly led the way, taking them towards the dike.

Chen Fan glanced at the three orioles who were giggling stupidly beside him and said to Zhou Yali, "They are my apprentices. Her name is Huangli, she is learning cooking. Her name is Yangmei, she is learning winemaking. Her name is Liulu, she is learning tailoring."

Then he pointed to Zhou Yali, "Call her Shigu (martial aunt)."

The three orioles were overjoyed and bowed respectfully at ninety degrees, "Hello, Shigu!"

Calling her Shigu meant that they were officially recognized as disciples!

From today onwards, they were also considered inner disciples, of course, they were full of joy.

Oh, do you want to hold a apprenticeship banquet to announce the whole brigade?!

But with Master's reputation, if he accepts disciples, it is estimated that the entire Prefectural Committee will know!

Then they were sent a brain collapse by Chen Fan, "Why don't you keep up."

The three little girls immediately snapped back to reality, grabbed the luggage they had brought from the boat, and ran forward as fast as their little legs could carry them.

Zhou Yali followed beside Chen Fan, bringing up the rear, and asked in a low voice, "Little brother, do you know kung fu?"

Chen Fan's expression remained unchanged, "I know a little."

Zhou Yali pouted, "How come you know a little about everything?"

Chen Fan pondered for two seconds, "I don't know anything about farming."

Zhou Yali rolled her eyes, "The same joke isn't funny the second time."

Before long, the group returned to Chen Fan's house. While still on the slope, Zhou Yali hid in the crowd, widened her eyes, and exclaimed, "Wow, a big snake!"

Xiao Hua straightened up, looked at the woman who was frightened out of her wits, and was immediately frightened out of her snake wits. It almost fled in panic until it saw its owner waving, then quickly lay on the ground and slipped into the woods on the east slope.

Chen Fan patted Zhou Yali's shoulder, "Okay, it's just a snake. It's one I keep. There are no mice when it's around."

Zhou Zhengdong looked at him curiously but didn't say anything.

When he was a child, he had heard his parents tell stories about their old home, one of which was about people keeping house snakes. So, although he was surprised, he didn't find it unimaginable.

He just didn't expect his nephew to keep snakes too?

As for Captain Xiao and the others, they all stood aside smiling silently, with looks on their faces as if they were waiting for a good show.

Under her younger cousin's comforting, Zhou Yali finally came back to her senses, but she was still a little shaken, "Why do you keep snakes?"

"Okay, okay, no more snakes."

Chen Fan pointed to the panda enclosure they had just walked to, "How about looking at the pandas?"

At this moment, Gun Gun was clinging to the railing with both hands, grunting at Chen Fan.

Immediately, Zhou Yali's eyes went straight again. She jumped and skipped over, "Ah… giant pandas…"

Not only her, but even Zhao Wanru and Zhou Zhengdong couldn't stand still. They also walked over quickly, cautiously touching the panda's paws.

Gun Gun blinked and turned its gaze to Chen Fan, "Who are they?"

Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly. He patted Zhou Yali's shoulder again, "Go put down your luggage first, and we'll go in and play with them later."

Zhou Yali could only reluctantly continue forward, but as soon as she turned around, she saw two horses staring straight at her… No, were they staring at her younger cousin?

At the feet of the two horses, there were also two dull-looking sheep.

Beside the sheep, two dogs were squatting on the ground, panting and wagging their tails so enthusiastically that they had already swept the floor clean.

The released kestrel and budgerigar also landed on the thatched roof of the veranda, chirping and cooing happily.

She grabbed Chen Fan's hand, her face full of surprise, "Is this a zoo?"

Chen Fan shrugged, "To be precise, it's the Yunhu Zoo Lujiawan Cooperation Center."

He wasn't talking nonsense. He had mentioned this to Guo Daorong, the vice director of Yunhu Zoo, who was also a member of the Provincial Writers Association. At the time, Lao Guo said he could help him think of a solution.

Now the result was out. He had put a sign on his small courtyard, so even if the Wildlife Protection Law was introduced in the future, it would not affect these small animals living and working here in peace.

It was just that the sign would have to wait until he personally went to the zoo and passed the animal breeder qualification certificate before it would be issued to him. And he would also become a voluntary breeder at the Yunhu Zoo Lujiawan Cooperation Center.

So troublesome, but he had to do it!

Amidst the chaos of birds flying, dogs jumping, and horses running, Captain Xiao and the others stayed in the front yard sitting, smoking, and drinking tea, while Chen Fan took his uncle's family to settle into the rooms.

There were three rooms upstairs and downstairs. Huangli and the other three shared the largest room on the first floor, leaving two guest rooms. Chen Fan lived in one room upstairs, leaving two rooms as well.

When Zhou Zhengdong and the others heard that Chen Fan was upstairs, they chose the rooms above without saying a word.

After they went upstairs to put down their luggage, simply washed up, and changed their clothes, the convoy behind them also arrived, along with Secretary Qian and Secretary Yang.

The three cars stopped at the bottom of the slope. After the truck unloaded its goods, it left on its own.

Under the gaze of many people, Zhou Zhengdong shook Secretary Yang's hand and said solemnly, "Old brother, I won't say any more words of thanks…"

Then he pointed to the pile of cardboard boxes, "These are a small gift from me, this uncle, on behalf of Xiaofan to the village. Please accept them."

Secretary Yang didn't even look at the pile of household appliances and said with a serious face, "Comrade Zhou, if you put it that way, I really can't accept these things."

Before Zhou Zhengdong could ask, he turned to look at the onlookers and said loudly, "This is Little Chen's uncle. He brought these things here, saying they are gifts for our village to thank us for taking in and taking care of Little Chen. Everyone, tell me, can we accept them?"

The next second, hundreds of people said in unison, "We can't!"

Zhou Zhengdong's expression became even more surprised. He looked at Secretary Yang and asked, "Why?"

He could definitely tell whether it was politeness or sincerity. He couldn't hide it from his eyes with those simple and honest faces in front of him.

However, these were more than a dozen color TVs and a few refrigerators. Weren't they even a little tempted?

Secretary Yang shook his hand and said in a deep voice, "That's right. Little Chen was rescued by Captain Yang from our 6th team, and the team also arranged for his life and work.

But the favor he owed the team had long been repaid a hundredfold, a thousandfold. We can't say that we saved him once and then hold on to him and fleece him for the rest of his life, right?

No matter where you go, there is no such reason. So, we can't accept your thank-you gift."

As soon as Zhou Zhengdong heard this, his face was immediately full of embarrassment. He sincerely wanted to give something, but he couldn't give it away?

Especially after hearing Secretary Yang's words, he was clearly an honest person. If it were an dishonest person, let alone fleecing him for the rest of his life, they would have wanted to fleece him for generations!

If he had wanted to repay a favor before, now he really liked this place. No wonder his nephew had already gone to work in the provincial capital, but he still kept his household registration here and refused to move it away.

Just as he was in a dilemma, Chen Fan walked over and smiled at Secretary Yang, "Uncle Yang, my uncle doesn't know our relationship, but his intentions are good. How about this…"

He pointed to the appliances, "Let's say that my uncle donated these to the production team on behalf of overseas Chinese to enrich the lives of our members. What do you think about dividing them up?"

Zhou Zhengdong immediately smiled and said, "Yes, yes, yes, it's not a thank-you gift, it's just a meeting gift."

Hearing this, Secretary Yang's face immediately cleared up and he grinned, "Then we won't be polite."

Then he waved his hand, "Move it."

Section Chief Lu stood in the crowd, turned his head, and asked the accompanying staff, "Did you film it?"

The man immediately nodded, "I filmed it."

Section Chief Lu whispered, "Be sure to record this in detail."

After a pause, fearing that his subordinates were too stupid, he whispered again, "Don't mention anything about repaying favors. The focus is on the overseas Chinese giving gifts to the production team."

The subordinate really hadn't thought of this, and immediately nodded in understanding, "Understood, Section Chief!"

After dealing with the gifts, the main personnel went back to sit at the door of Chen Fan's house. The non-main personnel, referring to the commune cadres, consciously left.

In the end, today was just Chen Fan's family affair. It was enough for them outsiders to show their faces and express their attitudes. It was not appropriate to get too involved.

As for the people from Lujiawan who stayed, they were all Chen Fan's close friends, so naturally it was different.

In the open space in front of the house, two foreigners were sitting on the side teasing the dogs because only dogs didn't need to talk.

Zhou Zhengdong and Zhao Wanru sat on bamboo chairs, chatting with Secretary Yang and the others about various interesting things. Obviously, Chen Fan was the center of the topic.

Three girls were busy in the kitchen preparing today's lunch.

Zhou Yali was wearing the white coat that Chen Fan had given her, holding Chang Chang, who was about to turn one year old, and smiling from ear to ear.

After a while, she suddenly said, "Little brother."

Chen Fan touched Gun Gun's head, told it to be good, and turned to look at her, "What's wrong?"

Zhou Yali sighed faintly, "I feel like I'm a good-for-nothing."

Chen Fan was stunned, "What do you mean?"

Zhou Yali raised her head, "Well, I thought I was quite excellent. I often got A's on exams at school, and I also got into New York University. My extracurricular grades were also good, and I never embarrassed my daddy and mommy when I went out with them.

But, look at you, writing articles as a great writer, becoming famous throughout the country at a young age; knowing medical skills, being a very powerful doctor; also knowing how to cook, hunt, brew wine, make clothes, know kung fu, be a veterinarian, know calligraphy, and make pottery…"

As she counted, she found that her fingers were not enough, so she simply stopped counting and sighed again, "You know more things than I have fingers. Compared to you, I'm just a good-for-nothing."

Just now, she went to chat with Huangli and the others, wanting to inquire about her younger cousin's life here, but she didn't expect to suffer a series of blows.

From the mouths of those three little girls, she didn't hear even a single flaw in her younger cousin, let alone bad words.

What good-looking, gentle personality, never getting angry… These were all basic characteristics.

The point was that what her younger cousin knew was really a lot.

Being both literate and martial was not enough to describe it. In addition to those things she just counted, there were also architecture, painting, teaching, playing musical instruments, and singing.

Oh, right, there was even blacksmithing?

Oh my god, she couldn't imagine how one person could know so many things?

If Gun Gun's attraction wasn't so great, she wouldn't even want to hold Gun Gun now and wanted to go back to her room and hug herself.

The gap between people is really bigger than the gap between people and dogs.

Looking at Zhou Yali, who was a little depressed, Chen Fan pondered for two seconds and said softly, "That's not true. I think you have an advantage that's quite obvious."

Zhou Yali raised her head, her eyes full of hope, "What advantage?"

Chen Fan looked at her with encouragement in his eyes and said, "At least you have self-awareness."

?

Zhou Yali's clear eyes were full of doubt. Self-awareness?

When she reacted, she was so angry that she was about to throw the panda in her hand over.

Is this an advantage?

[I used to be able to write 10,000 words a day, but now it's hard to write 5,000. I'm a good-for-nothing]