Going downstairs and going out, Xiao Liewen, as usual, was already sitting in the office drinking tea.

Hearing the footsteps, he immediately looked at the door, and when Chen Fan's figure appeared, he immediately shouted, "Xiao Chen." ”

Chen Fan stepped into their office as soon as his footsteps turned, "Captain Xiao, are you looking for me?" ”

Xiao Liewen pointed to the bench against the wall, first threw him a cigarette, then took out his own cigarette stick and lit it, spit out a puff of smoke, and then said, "I heard that when you renovated the toilet, you made a squatting toilet?" And put porcelain tiles on your stove? ”

Chen Fan smiled, "Oh, you said this." ”

He picked up the cigarette, took the match handed by Xiao Liewen, lit a match and lit the cigarette, but he didn't smoke it, and continued, "It's not a porcelain piece, it's a pottery piece that you burned, the kind of quality is similar to that of a bowl, just wipe it with a rag if it gets dirty." There is also the squatting toilet, which I read the newspaper about the building, and then according to the knowledge in the "Building Technology" book, I made it myself, and the toilet and sewer have not been dried thoroughly, and I have not tried to use it well. ”

Xiao Liewen smacked his lips, smoked a cigarette and said, "I'm worried that it's not easy to use, I heard that Lao Yang and they ordered more than a dozen squatting toilets from you, if they don't work well, are they willing to spend this money?" ”

Chen Fan said with a smile, "Don't talk about the money, the key is that it has been raining for the past few days, and I can't burn the kiln, and the pottery blank I made overnight is left there, and it hasn't dried out for two or three days. ”

Xiao Liewen nodded and said, "Anyway, I don't care when you burn the kiln, count me in, in addition to the squatting toilet, the pottery pieces attached to the stove also need it, how much money is needed, and I will count it for you later." ”

Chen Fan naturally didn't have a word, let alone that he gave money, even if he didn't give money, just because he had learned so much kung fu from him, it was natural to give him a set for free.

Having said that, I followed him to learn kung fu, do you want to apprentice?

After talking about the matter, Xiao Liewen smiled with satisfaction, and then asked, "I see you are carrying a bag, where are you going?" ”

Chen Fan pointed in the direction of the guide, "Go to the commune to do something." ”

Xiao Liewen didn't care, just asked casually, "What do you have to do in the commune?" ”

Chen Fan said with a smile, "I wrote an article some time ago, and I want to try to submit it to "Jiangnan Literature and Art", but today I am going to send a letter. ”

When he said this, Chen Fan still had a snack stopper, and he still wanted to make a fortune by writing, but the newspapers and periodicals in these years were simply pitiful, except for the most authoritative "two newspapers and one magazine", that is, the second-rate daily, the People's Liberation Army Daily, and the Red Flag Magazine, these three newspapers and periodicals, basically only the daily newspapers of various regions, and a very small number of magazines remained.

A variety of newspapers and periodicals that were once brilliant more than a decade ago have ceased operation one after another. Even if a few have been republished, most of them have changed their names and are only solicited for specific local units, which is one of the reasons for the limited development of literature in the last decade.

It was probably not until the second half of this year that the "wave of republication" of major newspapers and periodicals began, and then reached a climax in the early 80s, and it was not until the end of the 90s that this "literary style" quietly came to an end.

Now, there are indeed only a few options to choose from, "Jiangnan Literature and Art" only restored this name not long ago, and asked for contributions from the society, Chen Fan saw the news in the newspaper, and wanted to give it a try.

Otherwise, he can only submit articles to Yunhu Daily, and God knows if the Daily of the Prefecture Committee will publish such a type.

Captain Xiao didn't know Chen Fan's feelings, he was almost choked by a puff of cigarette, and looked at Chen Fan blankly, "Write?" ”

Although Chen Fan has written two newsletters, writing and writing newsletters are two different things, one is to write facts, the other is to write fiction, Chen Fan can still write, which he did not expect.

Then he spread out his hand, "What about the manuscript, show it to me." ”

Chen Fan did not hesitate, took out a stack of manuscript paper from the cloth bag and handed it to him.

Captain Xiao spread out the manuscript paper and frowned at first glance, "How do you look like a girl's handwriting." ”

Chen Fan coughed dryly, "Well, because I'm usually busy, I asked Comrade Xiao Jiang to copy it." ”

Captain Xiao glanced at him, did not speak, and then looked at the manuscript carefully.

An article of more than 38,000 words is naturally not so easy to read. He just read two pages, then returned the manuscript paper to Chen Fan, and grinned, "Okay, very good, what you wrote is the story of the squatting cadres." ”

Chen Fan put away the manuscript paper, nodded and smiled, "Yes, I was inspired by the An cadres, and then I talked to Xiao Jiang and Xiao Yang about the advanced deeds of some cadres who went to Lujiawan in the past, and then wrote it out through artistic processing." ”

Xiao Liewen nodded slowly, "Okay, Mr. Li has a saying, by the way, 'Art comes from life, is higher than life, and art serves the people.'" Although your article is a bit exaggerated, it is not divorced from reality, and it can be regarded as the practice of Mr. Li's guidance. ”

Then he shook his hand, "Go, hurry up and send the letter, send it early, and see the newspaper early." ”

Chen Fan was suddenly a little embarrassed, "Not necessarily, if the review is not passed, the magazine will be rejected by the society." ”

Xiao Liewen was stunned, "Oh, will you still reject the manuscript?" ”

However, his confidence seemed to be more than Chen Fan's, and he held his head high and smiled, "It's okay, you have published two articles in the prefectural party committee newspaper, what kind of magazine is this, is it more advanced than the prefectural party committee daily?" If you want me to say, it's definitely fine. ”

Chen Fan smiled awkwardly and didn't explain much.

How to say it, although this "Jiangnan Literature and Art" is not famous, in terms of level, it is really a little higher than the local committee daily. Because this magazine is not from Yunhu, but in the provincial capital, it is under the direct management of the Provincial Writers' Association, and it can even be said to be an internal publication of the Jiangnan Provincial Writers' Association.

That's why he chose to give priority to this magazine.

Even if it is really rejected, take a step back and send it to Yunhu Daily, and the newspaper will not feel that it is a loss of face.

If you can't get it right, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper is one of the editors of "Jiangnan Literature and Art", how can they dislike the manuscript they don't want?

Coming out of the brigade headquarters, Chen Fan rode his horse and headed towards the commune.

After a while, when I arrived at the post and telecommunications office, I bought an envelope and a stamp, wrote the address on the envelope, stuffed the manuscript paper into it, smeared the seal with the common paste on the table, and then dipped a little more on the stamp, and carefully pasted it in the upper right corner of the envelope.

Since it was sent to the provincial capital, it was a long distance and required 8 cents, so he bought two 4-cent stamps and pasted them.

If it is within the region, the price is only 4 cents, and Jiang Lili and Jiang Tiantian usually communicate with only a 4 cent stamp.

Thinking of Jiang Tiantian, Chen Fan's eyes rolled slightly, and he had some thoughts in his heart.

Jiang Tiantian is in the city, there should be more books in the Xinhua bookstore there than in the county seat, when I go back to help Jiang Lili send a letter, I can write a letter by the way and send it to her, and ask her to help see if there are any books she needs.

Well, that's a good idea.

He walked out of the post office, dropped the letter into the mailbox at the door, then untied the reins from the tree, turned over and prepared to leave.

Then the little mare snorted and whispered, "My feet hurt." ”

Sore feet?

Chen Fan was stunned for a moment, then turned over and dismounted, squatted down and asked, "Which foot hurts?" ”

The little mare lifted her left front leg, "This one." ”

Chen Fan held the horse's hooves and checked it, patted his head gently, and muttered in his heart that it was time to load the horseshoe for the pony.

The horses here are basically used as pack horses or pull horses, few riding horses, and most horse breeders do not have the habit of nailing horseshoes to horses, so he ignores this.

I didn't expect to ride a horse every day during this time, but it caused some damage to the horse's hooves.

He forgot that Secretary Yang or Captain Zhang had said that the blacksmith of the repair shop had nailed the horseshoe to the troops' war horses before, and looking for him should solve the problem.

The post and telecommunications office and the repair shop are on the same street, only one is at the east end and the other is on the west side, and you will walk east along the road, and you will arrive at the repair shop in a short time.

Chen Fan stood at the door and said hello with a smile, "Master, can you nail the horseshoe?" ”

The blacksmith got up at once, came out and looked around the little mare, and then lifted the horse's hooves one by one to inspect them.

The little mare was pulled by Chen Fan and looked particularly docile.

After the blacksmith finished inspecting it, he got up and patted the horse's back and said with a smile, "This is a good horse." ”

Then he said to Chen Fan, "You are used for horseback riding." ”

Chen Fan nodded, "Yes, but I haven't ridden for long, and I bought it last time I was in the market." ”

The master blacksmith nodded suddenly, "Come to think of it, you bought someone's pony first, and then the mare you bought, this one?" ”

Chen Fan, "Yes, it's this one." ”

After a pause, he asked, "How is it, can you nail a horseshoe?" ”

The master blacksmith laughed, "Of course. ”

He added, "This horse has been used as a pack horse before, and it has not been nailed to the horse's paw, so there is a lot of damage to the horse's hooves, and if you come a little later, the horse will suffer a great sin." ”

Then he went into the house and picked up the tools and measured the horse's hooves.

After a while, after the measurement, he didn't say much, just picked up a few pieces of iron and threw them into the stove, and said without raising his head, "If you are not in a hurry, just wait for more than half an hour." ”

(End of chapter)