Chapter 42: Return Gift
Chen Fan propped himself up with the dog-beating stick in his right hand and waved his left hand. "Hey, is this Team 5 of Lujiawan?"
The big yellow dog in the front was about to issue a warning when it heard the greeting. Instantly, its eyes went wide, and it instinctively "wooed" twice.
Chen Fan smiled happily. "It really is here. Luckily, I didn't go the wrong way. Can you help me call someone over, or you can take me there."
The big yellow dog tilted its head twice and suddenly turned to a certain position to his left. The dogs behind him were still staring at him intently, as if he had a flower on his face.
Chen Fan followed the big yellow dog's gaze and saw more than a dozen men standing in a row in the ditch not far away, with only their heads exposed, all staring at him intently.
Their expressions were like they were looking at a mental patient.
They had been working when they suddenly heard a dog bark, and then they saw this scene.
If this person could say a sentence, someone would stand up, but what was the situation with him not saying a word and just imitating dog barks?
Chen Fan's face stiffened slightly, but he quickly returned to normal and waved friendly. "Are you all busy?"
A man in his twenties or thirties nodded blankly. "Yeah, digging soft-shelled turtles."
After the words came out, he realized it and asked, "Who are you? Why are you barking at the dog?"
The militia textbooks stated that whether they were spies or house thieves, most of them had the ability to train dogs, not to train the dogs to be very powerful, but to use some skills and tools to keep the dogs from barking. He had never seen this person before. He came without saying a word and only barked at the dog. He might be a bad person.
Didn't he see that those dogs hadn't barked?
Chen Fan didn't know that he was being suspected. He pointed to the dogs and laughed. "It's nothing. Just teasing the dogs."
Then he walked to the ditch and said loudly, "My name is Chen Fan. I'm from Team 6..."
Before Chen Fan could finish speaking, the man's eyes lit up, but his vigilance didn't decrease. "Do you have proof?"
As he spoke, he tried hard to climb up. After coming up, he casually pulled a handful of withered grass, wiped the mud off his hands, and tightened the wooden shovel in his hand. The people still in the ditch also walked to the edge of the mud pond one after another, ready to rush up at any time.
Chen Fan felt a little numb in his heart and immediately took out the letter of introduction, opened it, and handed it over. "A letter of introduction from Captain Yang."
The man pinched the edge of the letter of introduction with his fingers and looked at it carefully, his brows furrowed tightly. "Why doesn't this letter of introduction have a stamp?"
Chen Fan looked at him in confusion. "Didn't Captain Yang say that the official seal is in the production brigade and his signature would be enough?"
The man suddenly realized it. He looked at the signature, and it was indeed Yang Chuanfu's name, so he grinned and smiled. "Oh, right, right, that's right."
Then he looked at Chen Fan. "You're Master Chen. Welcome, welcome."
Chen Fan breathed a sigh of relief. While exchanging pleasantries, he put the letter of introduction back in his pocket.
Then he noticed that he was holding a wooden shovel covered in mud and asked, "How many soft-shelled turtles have you dug up?"
He also looked into the ditch and saw that the pond mud at the bottom of the entire ditch had been turned over and was in a mess. Six bamboo baskets were placed in the silt, all filled with more than half a basket of soft-shelled turtles of different sizes. He might have wiped out their entire family in one fell swoop.
The man reached out to touch his pocket, but he touched it empty.
He only brought loose tobacco with him when he came out to work. It was okay to offer guests loose tobacco. That's how it was in many rural areas. It was just that the ones he had rolled before were already finished, and there wasn't enough time to roll more now, so he naturally put his hand down.
Then he smiled and said, "We haven't dug up much now. We dug up a lot yesterday afternoon when we cleared the pond. We turned over the ditches nearby this morning and dug up a lot of big ones. Now there are only some small fish left."
Chen Fan looked at the soft-shelled turtles in the basket that were as big as sea bowls and thought of the ones he had picked up that were as big as washbasins. He couldn't help but nod slightly. "They are a little small."
When the man heard Chen Fan say this, his face changed slightly. "Master Chen, can't these small soft-shelled turtles be made?"
Chen Fan quickly shook his head and smiled. "No, no, they can be made. Not to mention ones this big, even ones the size of a child's palm can be made."
"Huh?"
The man widened his eyes and looked at him in confusion. "They don't have any meat. What can you make?"
Chen Fan grinned. "A mosquito leg is still meat. A palm-sized soft-shelled turtle can at least be gnawed on a few times. It's fresher than old soft-shelled turtles for making soup."
Hearing Chen Fan say this, the man couldn't help but laugh loudly, and the dozen or so people still working in the ditch also laughed.
They were all amused by the mosquito leg is also meat. If mosquito legs could be eaten, he could guarantee that they could eat all the mosquitoes in the village to extinction.
A joke instantly narrowed the distance.
The man raised his hand and pointed in the direction of the woods, and said with a smile,
"This is not the place to talk. Let's go, I'll take you to the brigade headquarters. There are many dogs in the village, and it's easy to be chased if no one leads you."
Chen Fan smiled and cupped his hands. "Thank you very much. By the way, may I ask how to address you?"
"Don't mention it. It's my duty. My name is Zhang Wenliang. You can call me Lao Zhang or Sanhu. I'm the third oldest in my family. People in the team call me Sanhu."
Zhang Wenliang said as he walked, "After Captain Yang came yesterday, everyone in our team was looking forward to eating soft-shelled turtle meat. We finally waited for you."
Chen Fan thought, It's only been a day. Why are you saying it so exaggeratedly?
...
Lujiawan Brigade Headquarters.
Brigade Leader Zhang Changjiang, deputy leaders Ye Shubao and Xiao Liewen, and Team 5's team captain Zhang Guangwen were sitting in the reception room at the door, smoking.
Ye Shubao yawned. "Old Yang said that Chen Fan would come in the afternoon, but he didn't say what time. Should we send someone to urge him?"
Zhang Guangwen smoked and said, "It's not even 1 o'clock yet. Old Yang is slaughtering a New Year pig at his house today. He'll definitely invite him over to eat pig-slaughtering dishes. It wouldn't be surprising if he's eating, drinking, and doesn't come until two or three o'clock. If no one comes by 2 o'clock, let Sanhu ride over and take a look."
The Jiangnan area has many waterways and has always had more boats than horses. However, in the late stage of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the little devils in the north began to equip themselves with mechanization. A large number of retired warhorses, packhorses, mules, and donkeys were stuffed to the southern troops.
Because there are many waterways here, cars can't drive far without crossing a river, which is not convenient for mechanized troops to carry out operations. On the contrary, mules and horses are more suitable.
After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, these livestock were confiscated. The excellent warhorses and packhorses were naturally taken away by the main force, and the remaining old, weak, sick, and disabled were left in the local area, which was also good for farming and pulling carts.
If they hadn't slaughtered a large number of them for food more than ten years ago, plus the cost of raising horses was too high, they might be able to open a horse farm now.
Although the number of livestock now is far less than in those years, there is no shortage of use. Each small team has several mules, horses, or donkeys. When there is an emergency, they can ride over. Although they can't run fast, it's better than walking.
Ye Shubao nodded. "Okay, then let's wait a little longer."
After a two-second pause, he asked, "Guangwen, this time we're inviting him over to teach us how to make soft-shelled turtle. That's turning waste into treasure, and we're also adding on teaching skills. How do you plan to return the gift?"
(End of Chapter)
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