Reborn in 1977

Chapter W

With the official business concluded, according to custom, Team Leader Xiao should have treated Chen Fan to a good meal.

However, he led Chen Fan towards the brigade headquarters on the slope, saying with a smile, "It's quite a coincidence, actually. Last night, the brigade headquarters was connected to the commune's power grid. The post office sent a technician over today to install the broadcasting station's equipment. Once the equipment is installed, it can be used as soon as the entire brigade's wiring is connected.

They've been busy over there all morning, and Secretary Yang and Team Leader Zhang have been keeping them company. I thought I'd just combine the two groups and treat you together. I hope Master Chen doesn't mind."

Chen Fan laughed heartily and said, "You're too kind. If I wasn't afraid you'd say I wasn't giving you face, I wouldn't even have accepted this meal. After receiving that army coat and the big leather shoes from you, I've been feeling uneasy and constantly apologetic."

Team Leader Xiao also laughed and said, "Let's not mention that anymore. Anyway, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Now that you're here, you'll follow my arrangements. Whether the food is good or bad, it is what it is."

While they were talking, the two of them entered the brigade headquarters.

A young man in his twenties or thirties greeted him, "Team Leader Xiao is here."

Then, pointing to the backyard, he said, "Secretary Yang, Team Leader Zhang, Team Leader Ye, Sister Xingxiu, Platoon Leader Zhang, and Team Leader Guangwen are all at the broadcasting station, watching the people from the post office install the broadcasting equipment."

Team Leader Xiao's expression changed slightly. "What? It's been all morning, and it's still not done?"

The man wore a bitter face. "Not yet. It seems like there's some problem. The people from the post office have been looking for the fault, but they haven't found it yet."

Team Leader Xiao's face also lost its color, and without another word, he walked inside.

Chen Fan quickly followed behind.

Soon, they passed through the central courtyard and arrived at the small building in the back.

This used to be the embroidery building of the Lu family's young ladies, but now it has become the production team's most important warehouse and broadcasting station.

Chen Fan followed Team Leader Xiao forward and discovered that the broadcasting station was actually located on the second floor.

Ascending the stairs from the first floor, they entered a small room of a dozen square meters on the second floor. Several people stood against the wall, their expressions not very good.

Seeing Chen Fan arrive, they barely managed to squeeze out a smile and nodded to him, "Master Chen is here."

Chen Fan waved to them in greeting but didn't have a chance to speak.

Because Team Leader Xiao had already approached with a serious face, "What's the situation?"

Zhang Wenliang immediately said, "The radio and record player are both fine, but the most important broadcasting machine has a problem. We've been working on it for over two hours, and it's still not fixed."

Team Leader Xiao frowned tightly, staring silently at the technician who had taken off his cotton-padded coat and was only wearing an autumn shirt, yet was still covered in sweat.

The radio and record player were easy to deal with, but there was nowhere to buy a broadcasting machine. Apart from the postal and telecommunications system, only the military could get their hands on one. If this thing broke, it would be a troublesome matter.

Chen Fan looked around curiously and asked, "Why don't you take it apart?"

Everyone looked at him. The person who was repairing the machine glanced at him and said unhappily, "If you can't put it back together after I take it apart, will you pay for it?"

Chen Fan understood that he was in a bad mood, so he didn't argue with him. He simply said, "But if you don't take it apart, how can you find the problem?"

The man looked up, his face even more unpleasant. "Who are you? Are you the one who knows how to fix it, or am I?"

Secretary Yang tried to smooth things over, "Master Chen didn't mean anything by it. He was just asking."

The man didn't appreciate it at all and said impatiently, "If you don't understand, then shut up. This machine is brand new, and every one has been inspected before leaving the factory. There's absolutely no way there's a problem. Can you take responsibility for delaying my repair of the machine?"

Then, he buried himself in studying the wires, repeatedly debugging them, but without making any other movements.

Chen Fan was speechless and muttered in a low voice, "There's no way you can find the problem without even opening the case."

Team Leader Xiao was close to him and vaguely heard what he said. He immediately turned his head and asked in a low voice, "You know about this stuff?"

Chen Fan leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Regardless of whether I know about it or not, this person definitely doesn't know how to repair electrical appliances."

Team Leader Xiao's eyes widened. The technician sent by the post office didn't know how to repair the equipment?

He rolled his eyes, tugged at Zhang Wenliang's clothes, and signaled him to go outside.

Chen Fan also followed them out.

He couldn't help but feel irritated by the way that person was repairing the electrical appliance.

It was too low-level!

When they reached the corner of the outside balcony, Team Leader Xiao pulled Zhang Wenliang aside and asked in a low voice, "Do you know the background of this technician?"

As soon as Zhang Wenliang heard this, he understood what he meant. He glanced at Chen Fan and then turned his head to say in a low voice, "I don't know his background, but I know the background of the post office's installation and maintenance team."

Team Leader Xiao's eyes widened. "Tell me quickly."

Zhang Wenliang lowered his head. "Originally, there were only two technicians in the post office, one in charge of installation and one in charge of maintenance. They had both attended training classes in the early years, and their masters had already been transferred to the county. They became the pillars of the commune's post office. Later, the people recruited for the installation and maintenance teams were all educated youth who had gone to the countryside from the commune.

These people had a junior high school education, so they could pick things up quickly. But, you know, they only had a basic education. Following those two masters, the things they could learn were indeed limited.

So, if the commune had a broken telephone or radio, they would have to take it to the county for repairs. They could only do installation and wiring work, and they generally wouldn't dare to open the case, let alone the broadcasting machine."

Hearing this, Team Leader Xiao understood.

If this person couldn't fix it today, they would probably have to send it to the county seat.

But all the brigade members knew that the broadcasting system was about to be installed. If this was delayed, who knows when they would get it back? If other brigades installed loudspeakers and Lujiawan didn't, wouldn't that be infuriating?

He pondered for two seconds, then turned to look at Chen Fan.

Chen Fan immediately walked over.

He asked Chen Fan in a low voice, "Are you confident in fixing that?"

Chen Fan immediately shook his head. Seeing Team Leader Xiao's expression change, he quickly said, "As long as you let me open the case, I can find the problem. I definitely won't busy myself for nothing like him."

Team Leader Xiao slowly nodded, thought for a moment, took a deep breath, and walked inside.

Zhang Wenliang and Chen Fan exchanged a glance and quickly followed behind.

Team Leader Xiao walked into the room, looked at the technician who was still busy, first gave Secretary Yang and Team Leader Zhang a look, then tried his best to squeeze out a smile, and called out softly, "Comrade, comrade."

The man turned his head. "What is it?"

Team Leader Zhang immediately said, "Comrade Technician, this is our brigade's Team Leader Xiao Liewen, a combat hero. You have to be polite."

Hearing this, the man finally relaxed his expression, stood up, and said with some apology, "I'm sorry, Team Leader Xiao. I didn't mean to be disrespectful. It's just that this thing is too difficult to fix…"

In this era, a combat hero was not just an honor, but also involved serious issues of political stance, so he dared not be careless.

Team Leader Xiao smiled and waved his hand to interrupt him. "It's nothing, it's nothing."

After a pause, he smiled again kindly, "It's like this. We have a comrade in our team, yes, that's him."

He pointed to Chen Fan. "He used to repair this kind of thing. Why don't you let him try?"

The man stared blankly at Chen Fan, then looked back at him. "Let him try?"

Then, he frowned tightly. "What if he breaks it?"

Team Leader Xiao was speechless and wanted to scold him, 'Your thing is already broken!'

But offending the people from the post office would not be good for the brigade.

So, he grinned and said, "If it's broken because of him, I'll take responsibility!"