Reborn in 1977

Chapter 668 Bronze Ware

Although there was a suspicion of being a scapegoat, Chen Fan was still happy to accept He Qingsheng's arrangement.

It's just arranging a quota for studying abroad. Seeing them looking nervous and acting like it's a hot potato, Chen Fan really didn't take it seriously.

Wasn't there a selection exam for international students this year? In another month, at the end of December, the first batch of international students will rush to the United States. Two years later, they will all return to China one after another.

After that, there will be a steady stream of international students returning to China. They will not only bring back advanced foreign technology and concepts, but also bring news from the outside world.

Well, Zhong Lao went to the UK in the second batch, at the end of 1979.

It was from this time that a craze for studying abroad swept the country.

Those with work units tried every means to compete for quotas to study abroad, and those without work units also racked their brains to get out.

Frankly speaking, the quota for studying abroad is indeed very precious, making many people crazy about it.

Some immature young comrades even lost their minds in order to study abroad, and were willing to be manipulated as long as they were given a quota.

It would be fine if they got what they wanted, but if they didn't, there would be a lot of trouble.

In short, there were a lot of messy things.

However, those who control the allocation of quotas, except for a very few who seek personal gain, have not seen how much resentment they have incurred?

In fact, as long as you don't deliberately target anyone, in this kind of large-scale selection where the number of places is limited, isn't it normal to fail?

Who would be idle enough to hate the person in charge?

They must be too full.

So, as long as you adhere to the principles of openness, fairness, and impartiality, and don't engage in shady operations, Chen Fan doesn't feel guilty at all.

Of course, the superficial work still has to be done, after all, a crying child gets candy.

After discussing this matter, He Qingsheng was finally relieved to see that Chen Fan didn't say anything against it.

There was no way to treat this young man in the usual way he treated his subordinates, because everything he stuffed over was trouble, so he could only persuade him with kind words, and fortunately the result was good.

After talking about the matter, He Qingsheng threw away the cigarette butt, got up and walked behind his desk, opened the drawer and took out an envelope.

Chen Fan looked at his movements, and had a faint guess in his heart, "Could it be another remittance slip?"

He Qingsheng walked over and handed it to him, smiling, "Open it yourself and see."

Chen Fan opened the envelope and took out two remittance slips, one for 32,000 US dollars and one for 47,000 US dollars, which added up to 79,000. As expected, they were all royalties sent by Takahashi Publishing House.

He Qingsheng sat on the sofa and said to him, "The 32,000 one is the reprint I told you about last time, and the 47,000 one is the reprint of the second published work. President Takahashi sent them one after another."

President Takahashi?

Chen Fan gave him a strange look. He remembered that Comrade Lao He, like him, used to call Takahashi 'Little Japanese Book'?

Seeing his eyes, He Qingsheng's old face turned slightly red, and then he coughed dryly and said, "Frankly speaking, they are quite nice to us. Treat others as you would like to be treated, right?"

Chen Fan put the remittance slip in his pocket, "That's good, I'm almost out of foreign exchange certificates, I can replenish a batch."

After a pause, he said to the two of them, "Don't spread this matter for me, otherwise someone will come to me to exchange it again."

Although foreign exchange certificates can also be sold for money, he is not short of money. Why bother to earn that money? It's better to keep it on hand, so as not to fleece Zhou Yali every time he needs to use foreign exchange.

Seeing Chen Fan's stingy appearance, He Qingsheng waved his hand very generously, "It's okay, our unit is not short of these foreign exchange certificates now."

Just as Chen Fan was lost in thought, Tan Yong said from the side, "We have reached a cooperation intention with Takahashi Publishing House, and initially selected the works of 5 writers to send over, which have been approved by them.

I have to say, this little Japanese book is very generous with money. Although the royalties for the 5 works are not as high as your previous ones, they are also tens of thousands of dollars. The money has already arrived. Now our unit is really not short of foreign exchange certificates."

In this regard, Chen Fan and Tan Yong maintained the same opinion.

Little Japanese books are not good at other things, but they are really good at giving money.

After taking a sip of tea, Chen Fan patted his thigh and stood up, saying, "Is there anything else? Then I'm leaving."

He Qingsheng quickly got up and asked, "Where are you going? Secretary-General Xu and the others will be back later, and they will discuss the allocation of houses."

Chen Fan smiled and said, "I can't say anything about the allocation of houses either. Do you think I can say to give Xiao Bian in our section a three-bedroom apartment, and you will agree?"

He Qingsheng's old face darkened, and he stopped talking.

Chen Fan, "Professor Xu has assigned me homework, I have to go to the museum to study, and I have to submit a paper before the winter vacation, I have to go and see it quickly."

Seeing that he really had a task, He Qingsheng didn't say much, and waved his hand to let him leave.

… …

November 29th, Wednesday, the twenty-ninth day of the tenth lunar month.

It is advisable to build, dismantle, clean, and pray for blessings.

Avoid moving.

Yesterday, Xu Qizhen went to the City Construction Committee Housing Management Bureau to complete the house delivery procedures, brought the certificate documents back, registered and archived the information, and after a simple discussion with He Qingsheng and others, they decided to allocate the houses today.

Most things are relatively slow this year, but there are also some that are particularly efficient, such as receiving wages, distributing benefits, and allocating houses.

Especially the allocation of houses, most of the time they have already been allocated before the unit dormitory building is built, and the house delivery is just a formality.

The Provincial Writers Association is considered slow to allocate the houses after they are in hand.

Now that the houses are in hand, of course they can't be slow anymore. Everything has been planned in advance, and there is nothing else to consider. In addition, there are not many people in the Writers Association, so it is even easier to say.

Which people can live in the small courtyard, which people can be allocated three-bedroom apartments, which people can live in two-bedroom apartments, and finally who can only choose single dormitories, the list has already been determined.

So there is no need to be long-winded, just draw lots in batches.

Only Chen Fan is excluded.

Everyone in the unit knows that he paid for it himself, a total of 3,000 yuan, which is more expensive than the same house in a big city, so it is natural to decide on the house first.

Although the price is relatively high, it didn't cheat him.

Because in addition to the house, it also includes a full set of furniture, all made of high-end wood specified by Chen Fan. Of the 3,000 yuan, the furniture money accounts for more than half, ensuring fair prices and no deception to the old or the young.

Not to mention that the land deeds of the front and back yards are also included in the real estate certificate, so it won't be a loss no matter how you calculate it.

(The private house certificate in 1975, the date is missing a seven)

(The date on the back cover is complete, but the style of this thing is different all over the country. Moreover, the real estate policies were also different back then. Many small places could buy and sell private houses, and only large cities with tight housing sources would统筹调配 and prohibit private transactions.)

Taking the real estate certificate means that the house belongs to Chen Fan himself. He didn't participate in the allocation of houses,

Turned around and ran to the construction site next to the Literary New Village and found Huang Tianzhi.

As usual, he used cigarettes to build a bridge.

With a cigarette lit, Huang Tianzhi looked at him in a daze, "Do you want to build a kang?"

As he spoke, he turned his head to look left and right, then turned back, his eyes full of disbelief, "Although Jiangnan winters are a bit cold, a heated kang? Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?"

Chen Fan, smoking a cigarette, said with a sigh, "Have you ever slept on a kang?"

Huang Tianzhi hesitated for a moment, gently shook his head, and then asked, "Have you slept on one?"

Chen Fan, "Of course. It's because I've slept on a kang that I know the benefits of sleeping on one in winter."

He gestured with his hands, "I went to see my house the day before yesterday, and the master bedroom is quite large. I'll build a big kang there, two meters by three meters. The edge of the kang will be right at the location of the bathroom, so it won't affect anything.

The kitchen is right behind the master bedroom, so the kang stove can be set up in the kitchen. Firing the stove there will warm the kang here, how great! In the summer, the stove can be sealed off and replaced with a coal stove, which won't have too much of an impact on the temperature of the master bedroom.

I've thought about all these details, it's not just a sudden whim."

Huang Tianzhi smacked his lips, scratched his head, and felt a bit of a headache, "But no matter how beautifully you imagine it, we don't have any experienced craftsmen here who know how to build a kang!"

Chen Fan flicked the ash off his cigarette and said calmly, "It's just building a kang, a small matter. I know how."

As he spoke, he took out two blueprints from his pocket and handed them to him, "Simple and easy to understand, even someone who can't read can follow them to build it."

Huang Tianzhi's eyes showed a slight hesitation, and after a couple of seconds, he took them over and looked at the drawings. It really was a blueprint for a large Northeast kang.

He couldn't help but be a little surprised, "Where did you learn this stuff?"

It's true that Jiangnan winters are cold, but normal people really don't build kangs in their homes. The reason is simple: although it's cold here in the winter, it's even hotter in the summer, even hotter than Guangdong. If you have a kang in your house, you won't be able to stay in the house in the summer.

Unless it's like Chen Fan, where the stove is only used in the winter, and a coal stove is used at other times, but wouldn't that be too wasteful?

Chen Fan took a puff of his cigarette and chuckled, "Where did I learn it? The library, of course. It's also in practical architecture books. It's just that you don't like to read. As long as you read more, you can learn a lot of strange knowledge from books, it's definitely not a waste of time."

Huang Tianzhi shook his head with a wry smile, "Okay, since you want to build a kang, then I'll arrange for a few people to go over there now, and it can be modified today."

Chen Fan laughed, "Don't worry, I won't let the craftsmen work for nothing. Tell me how much the labor costs will be, and I'll settle it all together later."

He hadn't participated in the design of this house from beginning to end, and he didn't see what it looked like until a few days ago.

At that time, looking at the sparkling lake and feeling the chilly lake breeze, he thought that it might be particularly cold in the winter, so he wanted to build a kang in the house.

Just like he said to Huang Tianzhi, it's okay if you've never slept on one, but since you've enjoyed it, of course you want to live more comfortably.

When Huang Tianzhi heard him mention construction costs, he shook his head and smiled, "There's no need, it's just a slight modification. The workers and materials are all readily available, so why would I take your money? I'll just calculate their attendance as usual."

Chen Fan smiled and nodded, without refusing.

Eating from the public coffers is commonplace, as long as it's not too excessive, no one will take it seriously.

Ahem, it's not that there aren't any people who take it seriously, but most of them are revered and treated like mascots. And then, there's no then.

Huang Tianzhi didn't delay at all and immediately dispatched a team to the Literary New Village next door to modify the house.

The experienced craftsman leading the team didn't take it too seriously at first, but when he heard Huang Tianzhi say that he was going to build a kang, and then saw the two blueprints, his expression became extremely strange.

Someone actually wants to build a kang in Jiangnan?

But all in all, he was in a good mood. This project wasn't complicated, and he could also learn how to build a kang, so he should consider it a win, right?

He just didn't know where the next family to build a kang would be?

… …

Chen Fan didn't stay in the house to supervise. With Huang Tianzhi personally arranging things above and the experienced craftsman interested in the kang below, plus the piety of old craftsmen towards their skills these days, there was no need to worry about the quality at all. He could just come back tomorrow to inspect it.

What if the experienced craftsman didn't build it well the first time?

What does it matter? The people are right next to the construction site, just pull them over and modify it again, it's not a hassle at all.

Leaving the construction site, he drove through the Jiangda campus, but didn't stop there, heading straight for the Jiangnan Provincial Museum.

… …

The Provincial Museum is also located in the downtown area, not far from Jiangda, near the Cultural Palace.

This area is almost the concentration point of cultural institutions in the provincial capital, including the Provincial Department of Culture, the Provincial City Cultural Bureau, the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and the original member units of the Jiangnan Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles: the Writers Association, the Musicians Association, the Dramatists Association, and the Dancers Association.

In addition, there are the Workers' Cultural Palace, the Youth Palace, and so on.

It's also very reasonable for the Provincial Museum to be located here.

After Chen Fan collected his manuscript fee yesterday, he took the letter of recommendation written by Professor Xu to report here. Director Zhang personally received him and issued him a temporary pass.

From today onwards, he would come here every day to learn about national treasure knowledge.

After parking the car, Chen Fan entered the museum with his pass. Director Zhang was already waiting at the entrance.

Seeing him come in, he didn't waste any words, and led him inside, introducing at the same time, "The Jiangnan Museum certainly can't compare to the Palace Museum, but backed by the prosperous Jiangnan in terms of culture and economy, there are still many good things.

The collection is diverse, with items ranging from ancient times to the present, encompassing thousands of years of history.

From bronzeware, lacquerware, gold and silverware, bamboo and wooden slips, to jade, ceramics, calligraphy and painting, and ancient rare books, the types are comprehensive, almost all-encompassing."

Chen Fan followed a step behind him, looking at the collections protected by glass covers, his expression hardly changing.

Antiques are something that people who like them, really like them very much, but people who don't like them, just see them as some jars and pots, old miscellaneous items.

This has almost nothing to do with whether or not one has culture.

Even among literati and scholars, not everyone likes these kinds of things. Some people love calligraphy, some people love epigraphy, some people love antiques. Everyone has their own favorite.

Perhaps in terms of value, antiques have the highest status, but when measured in terms of hobbies, who isn't a treasure? Where does the distinction between high and low come from?

So, these treasures are indeed just so-so in Chen Fan's eyes, probably not even as good as the three pandas at home.

Well, not even this Fang Ding cauldron in front of him.

Director Zhang took out the key and opened the glass protective cover, and this bronze cauldron from thousands of years ago was displayed in front of Chen Fan.

He turned to look at Chen Fan and said softly, "Old Xu's idea is to have me introduce you to as many national treasures as possible. The main thing is to teach you the methods of appraising treasures, because it includes knowledge such as the social and technological level, aesthetics, and historical background of the time.

Today, the first lesson I'm giving you is bronzeware!"