Reborn in 1977

Chen Fan sat beside them, his mouth agape in astonishment.

Building a brick house cost over 1000 yuan these days?

According to the work point value in Lujiawan this year, a strong laborer earns 6 jiao 5 fen a day, which amounts to 237 yuan and 2 jiao 5 fen a year. This is assuming they work year-round without rest and always earn the maximum work points.

But that's impossible in reality. For example, these past few days, the production team hasn't arranged much work. Even if they arrange some odd jobs, it's only worth four or five work points a day, so the actual income should be around 200 yuan.

Building a house requires five years of saving without eating or drinking?

Indeed, houses are a major asset in any era!

…

After finishing their meal, the craftsmen rested for a while to digest before getting back to work.

Compared to being completely clueless this morning, Chen Fan could now be considered half an expert. He kept wandering around to different spots.

He'd run to the bottom of the slope to figure out how to make this "fermented earth cement," then ask how the earthen bricks were made. Then he'd run to the construction site to watch them build the walls.

As a wall goes up, it has to be kept straight. Besides relying on the bricklayer's skill, it also requires skillful use of various tools.

Brick trowels and mortar shovels go without saying, but right-angle rulers, tape measures, plumb bobs, and even ink markers are used.

Chen Fan felt a bit itchy to try it himself, but he didn't dare.

Even the bricklaying apprentices in the construction team could only work under the supervision of their masters. If someone like him, who had never even touched a brick trowel, dared to go up and lay bricks, Huang Laosi might get so dizzy with anger that he faints.

They barely scraped together some money to build a house, and then some newbie comes along to ruin it? Who's responsible if it collapses after two days?

Chen Fan decided he couldn't risk being annoying, so he reluctantly gave up.

Feeling that he had already grasped the key knowledge points of bricklaying, Chen Fan ran off to watch the carpenters make furniture.

He noticed that the carpenters hardly used any nails. All the doors, windows, and furniture were actually mortise and tenon structures. All the joints were painstakingly chiseled out by the craftsmen.

The key was that they weren't slow either. In no time, many parts were piled up in the open space.

This kind of skill can't be learned just by watching. You have to accumulate experience over time to truly master it.

Chen Fan was only at the level of a beginning apprentice. To continue improving, he needed to find opportunities to practice.

Just as he was watching with great interest, the sound of a bicycle bell rang. Turning around, he saw two technicians from the post and telecommunications office drifting past like a gust of wind, cheerfully speeding down the gentle slope.

Chen Fan walked to the main road and looked around, then looked back at the rear. Could the loudspeaker be installed already?

Wasn't that a bit too fast? And he didn't see them stringing any wires?

His eyes flickered slightly, and he was about to go to Captain Yang's house to take a look.

But Huang Laosi thought he was leaving and quickly stopped him, "Master Chen, wait a moment."

Then he quickly rushed into the room where they had eaten lunch and came out carrying a cloth bag. He handed it over with a smile, "You've worked hard today, Master Chen. It's just a small token, please don't be offended."

Chen Fan politely accepted it and smiled, "Uncle Huang, then I'll shamelessly accept it."

After a pause, he asked, "Will you need me to come over to help with the cooking the day after tomorrow too?"

Huang Laosi smiled and said, "When we raise the roof beam, we'll still need to trouble you for a trip. At other times, as long as there's wine and meat, it doesn't need to be too grand. Today was the first proper meal, so we had to make it more lavish."

Chen Fan suddenly understood and nodded with a smile, "Okay, I understand. Then I'll come over again at that time."

He originally wanted to stay here and learn for three days, but if he stayed, Huang Laosi would have to prepare an extra set of chopsticks. Since he wasn't doing any work, he was too embarrassed to eat. If he helped out, he would have to prepare cigarettes, alcohol, and gifts.

Alright, he'd better wait until the day they raise the roof beam before coming again.

Coincidentally, installing doors and windows is done after raising the roof beam, so it wouldn't delay his chance to gain experience points.

Carrying the bag back, he greeted the big yellow dog that ran out after hearing the noise when he reached Captain Yang's house. He looked up at the loudspeaker planted on the roadside telephone pole and then naturally went inside.

He stood at the door and looked around. There was no one in the main room, so he called out, "Is the captain here?"

A group of people immediately poured out of the adjacent room. Besides Captain Yang's family, the Huang clerk and Accountant Liu were also there.

Everyone's faces were full of joy, so it seemed that things were going relatively smoothly.

Captain Yang smiled and said, "Little Chen is here! Come, come, sit down."

He said, pulling out a chair.

But Chen Fan looked inside curiously, "Is the loudspeaker installed? I don't seem to see any wires being strung?"

The Huang clerk smiled and said, "There's no need to go to so much trouble with wires. Our team already had telephone lines. With a slight modification and a main line to the brigade headquarters, the broadcast can be used."

As he spoke, he walked inside, and the group of people swarmed in after him.

As soon as he entered, cold sweat broke out on Chen Fan's forehead.

He saw a large, black lacquered coffin placed against the wall, and his little heart was indeed quite startled.

But he wasn't too scared.

Seeing this large coffin, he suddenly remembered that when he lived in his maternal grandfather's house as a child, his grandfather's room also had such a coffin.

At the time, he heard the adults chatting. It seemed that men with means in the village would prepare such a coffin for themselves when they reached their fifties.

Moreover, the quality of the coffin couldn't be poor. The quality directly affected the face of the person and their family, so many people would order them from coffin shops in advance and then let them dry at home.

Later, with the promotion of cremation, this custom disappeared in the village and was sealed in Chen Fan's childhood memories.

Only when he saw it at this moment did he suddenly remember.

His eyes lingered on the coffin for a few seconds, and after calming down, he turned to a black wire attached to the wall. The black wire extended to the roof beam, leading outside to connect to the loudspeaker.

Was that the telephone line?

Thinking of the Huang clerk's words, he couldn't help but blink. It could actually be done like this?

The original telephone line was used as a broadcast line. Could the telephone still be used?

Accountant Liu also said with a smile, "Using the original telephone line as a broadcast line can save costs and time. When the broadcast is in use, you can't make phone calls. As long as you turn off the broadcast, phone calls can come in. Moreover, all the small teams have now connected their telephone lines to the brigade headquarters, so if anything happens in the team, there's no need to go through the police station. It's much more convenient."

Chen Fan was a little curious, "Then why didn't you connect the telephone lines directly to the brigade headquarters back then?"

Accountant Liu smiled and said, "In the beginning, the telephone lines were buried by the Japanese devils. Their headquarters was in the original town, so they definitely had to connect there. Later, in the fifties, when they carried out renovations, the command post and the police station were in the same place, so it was still connected to the town. It hasn't been changed until today when it was changed to the brigade headquarters."

Chen Fan suddenly understood, "So that's how it was."

At this time, Captain Yang said, "The technician said that they have to connect the lines one team at a time and also string a main line to the brigade headquarters. It's estimated that it will take four or five days to finish. We'll take advantage of these few days to get your household registration sorted out. That way, you'll be officially employed when you take the job."

Still need four or five days?

Chen Fan said "Oh" and then asked, "Is there anything I need to do?"

Accountant Liu chuckled, "Just wait peacefully at home to get your household registration booklet."

The Huang clerk also explained, "Actually, it's just a matter of registering. Accountant Liu has already written your information on the team's collective household registration book. After submitting the information form to the brigade for stamping and then taking it to the police station for filing, the police station will issue you a household registration booklet."

After a pause, he added, "It wasn't so troublesome when we used to have collective household registration books. Everyone in our village was in one household registration book. One page was one household, and the seal was in our own hands. Stamping it was all that was needed.

Later, when it was changed to family units, with family household registration booklets, we had to wait to get the booklet.

Once you get the stamped household registration booklet, you will no longer be an unregistered person. You'll be a member of our Lujiawan production team, and a head of household too."