Reborn in 1977

Amidst the laughter, Chen Fan and Master Liu both started serving dishes.

The two main dishes, turtle and sauerkraut fish, were placed in the middle, surrounded by eight large bowls. Compared to the main courses, these dishes were much cheaper. Besides some cured meat and fish, most of the ingredients were vegetables from their own gardens. Plus, the turtle was dug up by themselves, and the black carp for the sauerkraut fish was caught by themselves. This large table of dishes really didn't cost much.

However, with so many dishes laid out together, especially the layer of oil floating on top of the sauerkraut fish, everyone's appetite was piqued.

There weren't so many formalities when eating at a banquet. Old Huang held up his wine glass and said a few words of thanks, and everyone started eating.

After everyone had taken a few bites, Captain Yang, sitting at the main table, suddenly stood up and said loudly, "Taking advantage of Old Huang hosting this banquet, I'll announce two things, so we can save the time of gathering everyone for a meeting later."

Everyone turned to look at him. Those facing away simply straddled their stools, and no one took it lightly.

Chen Fan was just about to put down his chopsticks to listen to Captain Yang's speech when he suddenly noticed that everyone was holding their chopsticks tightly, some even continuing to pick up food.

No wonder those people were straddling their stools instead of sitting backwards; they were combining eating and meeting.

Captain Yang placed both hands on the table, looked around at everyone, and said loudly, "I just received a call from the brigade headquarters, asking me to notify everyone of two things. First, the broadcasting lines have all been set up, and broadcasting will begin tomorrow…"

Before he could finish speaking, someone shouted at the top of their lungs, "Great!"

In the next second, everyone was excitedly discussing.

"Then we'll have loudspeakers to listen to in the future."

"We can listen to operas on the radio, and the brigade can use the loudspeakers to announce things. That's great."

"I heard people say that some places had village-wide broadcasting coverage years ago, and they even gave each household a small radio. But during the day, when people were working in the fields, they couldn't hear the loudspeaker announcements. Later, they installed large loudspeakers outside. We're doing it in one step."

"I still think large loudspeakers are better. When the sound goes off, everyone can hear it. The small radio is too quiet; you can only hear it if you sit right under it. You can't hear it clearly from a distance."

Even the construction team's masters were beaming with joy. They were also from the 4th team of Lujiawan, and the launch of Lujiawan's loudspeaker broadcasting was naturally closely related to them.

Only Chen Fan was dumbfounded. He was supposed to start work tomorrow, but no one had come to notify him, the broadcaster?

What's going on, did the offer fly away?

Captain Yang grinned with a flushed face and didn't bang on the table to silence everyone as he usually did. He waited until the noise subsided a little before saying loudly, "After this broadcasting system is installed, it will broadcast once a day from 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM. In the afternoon, it will be from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM in the winter and from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM in the summer. Basically, when the morning broadcast starts, it's time to go to work, and when the afternoon broadcast stops, it's time to finish work."

Immediately, a commune member laughed and said, "Then it'll be like a work bell and a quitting bell."

Then someone chimed in, "It's just like going to work."

Someone even shouted at Captain Yang, "Captain, are there any Sundays?"

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a burst of laughter.

Captain Yang pointed at the man and scolded with a smile, "You still want Sundays? Sure, if you don't take work points, every day is Sunday for you."

The man immediately surrendered, "What would I eat if I didn't take work points? I haven't had anything to do these past few days, and I don't feel secure without earning work points."

This sentence seemed to resonate with many people, and someone asked, "Captain, will we be reinforcing the dikes this year?"

"Will the ditches be repaired?"

"It's already the 11th day of the twelfth lunar month. If we don't arrange it soon, it'll be the New Year."

Captain Yang raised his hand, and the surrounding voices immediately stopped.

He then said, "The brigade hasn't notified us about the river work yet, but I asked around, and there should be a notice coming down soon. It's likely that there won't be a major repair this year, probably just three to five days of work, and it'll be done quickly."

Upon hearing this, everyone started discussing again.

"Three to five days of work is fine too."

"It's better than sitting at home."

"Since there's been no movement until now, I guessed that there wouldn't be a major repair. Last year, we started work as soon as the winter month began and worked for more than half a month. It's almost the New Year, and there's still no movement. It's too late for a major repair."

"A small repair every year and a major repair every three to five years. We had a major repair last year, so a small repair this year is normal."

Captain Yang waved his hand again, and after it quieted down, he continued, "Although there isn't much dike work, there's another task."

After looking around at everyone, he continued, "The commune has issued a notice that the schistosomiasis prevention station requires all ditches and ponds to be cleaned up. The ponds should be dredged to cultivate fields, and the ditches and canals should also be dredged to ensure that no snails are left behind."

Chen Fan, sitting at the same table, rolled his eyes slightly. Schistosomiasis prevention station? Schistosomiasis?

Before he could think more about it, the people around him had already become lively.

"Dredging the ditches is a big undertaking. I'm afraid it won't be finished in half a month."

"It's good that it's just dredging. If it were renovation, it would be more work than reinforcing the dikes."

"Don't talk nonsense. Reinforcing the dikes takes at most a month or so. Renovating the ditches would take at least two months. We'd have to start after harvesting the late rice. It's not this year for renovation."

Listening to the commune members' words, Chen Fan was completely confused. What were they talking about?

What is ditch renovation? Why would it take more than two months?

Unfortunately, Jiang Lili wasn't by his side to explain it to him.

After everyone finished discussing, Captain Yang said loudly, "These are the two main things. Broadcasting will start tomorrow, and the ditches will be dredged. We'll wait for the dike reinforcement notice, but it should be soon. Prepare the bamboo baskets, carrying poles, and shovels that need to be prepared. Don't wait until the notice comes down to repair them. It'll delay things and waste your own work points."

After a pause, he added, "Also, this time it's still the same as in previous years, a contract system. The section of the river dike belonging to our 6th team will be considered completed after the reinforcement is inspected and accepted. Some people shouldn't drag their feet, or Accountant Liu will deduct your work points, and don't come to me to complain."

Finally, he waved his hand, "That's it, you guys continue eating."

After speaking, he sat down, picked up his chopsticks, but then picked up his wine bowl and took a sip, turning a deaf ear to the surrounding discussions.

Chen Fan was about to ask a question when Captain Yang exhaled a mouthful of alcohol and said to him, "Just now, Deputy Captain Ye told me on the phone to notify you to go over earlier tomorrow morning. The brigade is broadcasting for the first time, so it's better to be early than late, you know?"

Hearing this, Chen Fan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the offer was still there.

Seriously, we're sitting at the same table. You could have told me earlier during all that time.

However, he only dared to complain in his heart, while on the surface he was respectful, "Understood, Captain. I'll get up and leave before dawn tomorrow morning."

Captain Yang smiled slightly and nodded with satisfaction, "Do a good job. More than three thousand people in the entire brigade are watching you."