Chapter 54: Borrow and Return
Who could have any questions?
Certainly not Chen Fan!
Everything was recorded in the production team's ledgers, had proper issue procedures, and was signed and verified by Captain Yang and the others – what was there to worry about?
Getting so many things without making any mistakes – only a fool would turn them down.
After signing his name in the ledger and settling the account for the white rice he'd borrowed earlier, Chen Fan cheerfully saw Captain Yang and the others to the gate. He latched the door securely, then turned back to his room and grinned at all the items inside.
It hadn't been easy – when he arrived, he had nothing at all and couldn't even afford a meal. Now, just a few days later, he had so many belongings. So they really weren't kidding when they said knowledge is wealth.
Jiang Lili stood at the door, looking genuinely happy for him. She asked softly, "Chen Fan, do you need help?"
Chen Fan turned to look at her and smiled. "I'd love some – I really don't know where to start on my own."
Mostly he wasn't familiar with some of the items and needed someone to show him how things worked.
Jiang Lili walked in and picked up the hurricane lamp. "Let's light this first – it's much brighter than a kerosene lamp, so we can see better. It uses a bit more oil, but not that much."
Chen Fan nodded repeatedly. "Okay."
By now, only a faint glow of daylight remained outside – it would be completely dark in five minutes, so it was time to light the lamps anyway.
But how did you work this hurricane lamp?
He held it up, looking it over from all sides, but couldn't find where to open the glass cover.
Jiang Lili watched him curiously as he fiddled with it. "You've never used one before?"
Chen Fan looked back at her and laughed awkwardly. "Nope."
He'd used kerosene lamps before, but this was his first time with a hurricane lamp – he'd only even seen a few of them when he was a kid.
Jiang Lili pointed to the cap on the base. "You pour kerosene in here first."
She unscrewed the cap, poured some kerosene from the bottle into it, then twisted a wire ring – a flat white cotton wick slowly emerged from the lamp base.
Jiang Lili then pointed to a small metal tab. "Hold this down."
Chen Fan pressed the tab and gently pushed it down – hey, the lamp cover actually lifted up!
How fascinating!
Jiang Lili had already picked up a box of matches from the table. She struck one and reached under the raised cover to light the wick.
When she pulled her hand back, Chen Fan released the tab and the cover settled back down, enclosing the flame securely inside.
He looked at the hurricane lamp in wonder. "That's pretty clever."
Jiang Lili suddenly let out a soft giggle, then quickly covered her mouth.
Chen Fan turned to look at her and smiled. "Does it look funny that I've never seen one before?"
Jiang Lili's cheeks flushed bright red as she waved her hands frantically. "No, no!"
Chen Fan straightened up and chuckled. "It's fine – 'To know what you know and know what you don't know is true wisdom.' There's no shame in not knowing how to use something."
Pausing for a moment, he smiled and asked, "Let me ask you something too – do you know who invented the hurricane lamp and how it came about?"
Jiang Lili looked blank. "Huh?"
She shook her head slightly, then looked at him with curious eyes. "I don't know – how did it come about?"
Chen Fan smiled. "No one knows for sure who invented the hurricane lamp. While oil lamps have been around in China for a very long time, the hurricane lamp was actually introduced from America."
"Really? Is that true?"
Jiang Lili's eyes widened in disbelief. "I always thought it was something we'd had since ancient times."
Chen Fan sat down on a nearby chair and gestured for her to sit too, then continued. "Think about it – the hurricane lamp has a glass cover, and modern industrial flat glass wasn't developed until the late 19th century. Practical glass products only started appearing at the beginning of this century. The defining feature of a hurricane lamp is its glass cover – only with inexpensive industrially produced glass could it become accessible to ordinary families. So how could it have existed in ancient times?"
Jiang Lili looked amazed. "So that's how it is."
Then she asked curiously, "But who did invent it?"
Chen Fan shook his head. "There's no record of who invented the hurricane lamp. However, it got its name because it was originally hung on the roof of horse-drawn carriages or on horseback to provide light – the first people to use them this way were American cowboys in the Wild West.
"Later, American merchants brought hurricane lamps to Shanghai. At first, only fishermen in the surrounding areas bought them. They found that these lamps could be hung on boats without being affected by rain or wind, and were much brighter than paper lanterns – perfect for night fishing. That's how they became popular. Some people from other places didn't know their real name and just called them 'boat lamps' or 'mast lamps' since they saw them on fishing boats."
Jiang Lili looked from him to the hurricane lamp in wonder. "Who knew such a small lamp had so many stories behind it?"
Chen Fan stood up with a smile. "There are plenty more interesting stories – if you want to hear them, I'll tell you whenever we have time. But right now, I still need your help organizing all this stuff."
Jiang Lili's cheeks were still flushed as she quickly stood up to get to work. As she sorted the items into different piles, she said,
"Some educated youth really like hurricane lamps and don't care for kerosene lamps. They're brighter, and they don't produce all that black smoke – the smoke gets trapped under the cover, so there's not much kerosene smell either. Too bad they're much more expensive than kerosene lamps and you need coupons to buy one – they're really hard to get."
Chen Fan looked at her in surprise. "Didn't they give you hurricane lamps when you arrived?"
Jiang Lili shook her head gently. "No – we only got one kerosene lamp per room, and we had to buy our own kerosene."
Chen Fan raised his eyebrows and glanced at the items laid out on the empty bed. Earlier, when Storekeeper Huang had said the supplies followed the educated youth standard, he'd thought all educated youth received these things.
So he asked, "What supplies did the educated youth get then?"
Jiang Lili looked at the items and listed them one by one as she picked them up. "One single-person mosquito net, one bedsheet, one quilt cover set, two cotton quilts, two towels, one toothbrush and one tube of toothpaste, one enamel cup, one aluminum lunch box, one spoon, two enamel basins, one thermos flask, one bar of soap, one pin tumbler lock – that's all."
Then she turned to look at him. "We also got one kerosene lamp per room, not per person – no extras."
Chen Fan looked at the remaining items: 9 chi of blue cotton cloth, two sets of single-layer clothing, two pairs of shorts, two pairs of rubber-soled shoes, one kettle, one flashlight, three size 1 batteries, one hurricane lamp, and one jin of kerosene.
Plus extra sets of towels, toothbrushes, and toothpaste.
So he'd been given the deluxe version.
Well, whatever – as long as everything was above board, there was nothing to worry about.
Chen Fan didn't even move while Jiang Lili efficiently organized everything for him. As she worked, she said,
"You can put the toothbrushes, toothpaste, and towels away for now – save them for later."
Chen Fan quickly said, "Wait – take two towels, one toothbrush, and one tube of toothpaste. I need to return these to you."
Looking at the slightly embarrassed Jiang Lili, he smiled. "Borrow and return, then you can borrow again. If I run out someday, I'll need to borrow from you again."
Jiang Lili still looked a bit hesitant. "But what I lent you was tooth powder – toothpaste is much more expensive than tooth powder."
Chen Fan laughed heartily. "Just consider it a deposit I'm leaving with you. When I use mine up and have nothing left, I'll come borrow from you."
Only then did Jiang Lili nod gently. "Okay."
She looked so shy, as if she were the one who owed him something instead of the other way around.
(End of Chapter)
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