Reborn in 1977

Hearing Quan's words, Chen Fan was speechless.

Looking at his expression just now, it was as if he was about to go bankrupt. Who knew it was just this little thing? What a waste of my emotions.

However, sales are indeed very important. These sideline products are not included in the planned materials, nor are they on the purchase order. Neither the supply and marketing cooperative nor the food station will wholesale them, so the production team needs to find its own way to deal with them.

This is also the norm for rural sideline businesses, just like those who get letters of introduction from the production team and then hatch chicks themselves to sell at the market. It can also be regarded as a kind of "market economy" activity to a certain extent.

It's just that while selling things is allowed, prices must comply with the State Planning Commission's pricing, otherwise it will be considered disrupting the market. Even collective activities will be criticized, and even Secretary Yang and the others will have to take the blame.

So, being able to sell it and not being able to sell it randomly poses a big problem for the production team.

Because of this, there are so many production teams across the country, but not many engage in sideline businesses. Even those that have sideline teams mainly sell their skills or focus on agriculture.

In the end, it's still because business is difficult!

Chen Fan sighed secretly. Just as he was about to speak, Ye Shubao asked Master Ma, "Master Ma, does your construction company need to buy chickens, ducks, and geese?"

Master Ma immediately reacted, realizing that they had set their sights on the construction company, and said with a smile, "Yes, our company has its own cafeteria. Construction workers do heavy physical labor, and the daily consumption is not a small number. Dozens of pounds of meat and a dozen chickens are still needed.

In addition, there is a large family area. Although not every household eats meat every day, even if only a small portion of people buy it one day, it can still consume a lot of chicken and duck meat."

After a pause, he said regretfully, "But I'm not very familiar with the logistics director, and you are far from the county seat. We can't send goods to the county seat every day just for a few chickens."

Hearing this, Ye Shubao couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

Whether Master Ma was prevaricating or not, what he said made some sense.

The more than 13,000 ducks and 6,000 geese in Lujiawan have reached the time when they must be sold, otherwise, the feed will be wasted.

Even if a construction company needs 50 a day, it's just a drop in the bucket.

At this time, Chen Fan smiled and said, "Master Ma is an experienced veteran in the construction company and has trained countless apprentices. Let alone a logistics director, even the company's secretary and general manager will give Master Ma some face?!"

Master Ma was so happy that he couldn't close his mouth when he heard this, and quickly waved his hand and said, "I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it."

Chen Fan continued, "I'm telling the truth. You are an experienced veteran, so what's there to be undeserving of? Besides, we are not going through the back door or engaging in crooked ways. Captain Ye's intention is to ask you to introduce us to the logistics director. As for whether we can reach an agreement, that's their business, but no matter what, we have to owe you a favor."

Ye Shubao nodded repeatedly on the side, "Yes, yes, yes, that's what I mean."

Master Ma weighed it in his mind. Thinking that he still needed Chen Fan to help the construction company make a name for itself, and that it was just an introduction and didn't necessarily have to be successful, it wasn't a big deal. He nodded and smiled, "If you go to the county, you can come to me. I will take your people to meet the logistics director. However, whether you can reach an agreement is up to you. I really can't help at all."

Ye Shubao was overjoyed and stretched out his hands to shake Master Ma's right hand, "Thank you, thank you! This is already very good."

Quan's face also showed a happy smile, but when he thought that there was only one construction company, and he didn't know if it would work, a look of worry appeared on his face again.

Chen Fan smiled slightly and asked Ye Shubao, "Before starting the breeding farm, I said that we could ask the commune to issue an official letter to the county's Commercial Bureau, asking them to help find a way to open a stall in the vegetable market and sell our chickens, ducks, and geese. However, there is now a better way."

The ownership of the vegetable market is not uniform and depends on which unit is sponsoring it. It may be the street office, the Commercial Bureau, or even the supply and marketing cooperative.

Because in some places, in order to save expenses, the industrial and commercial departments have been cut off, and then the supply and marketing cooperative has taken on part of the work of industrial and commercial supervision. It has also included the vegetable market into the supply and marketing system in order to facilitate unified management.

The vegetable market in Gufeng County is under the management of the Commercial Bureau. To open a stall in the market, you must obtain permission from the Commercial Bureau, and then the vegetable market management company will be responsible for opening it.

Among them, the Commercial Bureau is the management unit, and the vegetable market management company is the executive unit. At that time, the executive unit did not have much authority and could only manage within the scope of the rules. As a result, even opening a stall required the permission of the Commercial Bureau.

Hearing Chen Fan's words, Ye Shubao immediately asked, "What way?"

Chen Fan smiled and said, "Continue to look for the Commercial Bureau, but don't go through the commune to issue a letter of introduction or take the official route, but take the private route."

Whether in the past or in the future, China is a society of connections. Using the private route is more efficient than the official route. This is true in the future, let alone now.

Ye Shubao looked curious, "Do you know someone in the county's Commercial Bureau?"

Even Master Ma was surprised. Even the county construction company had to obey the supervision of the Commercial Bureau. If Chen Fan really had such connections, why didn't he use them when he invited them a few days ago?

Or did he think this matter was too small and not worth using connections?

Chen Fan looked at the three people staring at him, shook his head and smiled, "I haven't even been to the county, how could I know someone from the county's Commercial Bureau."

Seeing Ye Shubao's face collapse, Chen Fan smiled again, "I don't know them, but Third Brother and the others can find someone to know."

Before Ye Shubao could react, Quan slammed his thigh and said with excitement, "How could my pig brain forget about Zhang Juemin and Zhang Wenliang!"

Ye Shubao turned his face and looked at him blankly. What did he mean?

If you forgot, you have a pig's brain. I still haven't figured it out, wouldn't that be even worse than a pig's brain?

Quan didn't give him an explanation and turned to leave, "They are all at the brigade headquarters, let's go find them."

Ye Shubao quickly followed, "No, you explain to me clearly, how can they know someone from the county's Commercial Bureau?"

Quan didn't stop and said to him, "Think about it, weren't they often running to the county in the past two months?"

Hearing this, Ye Shubao finally reacted, "Ah, I understand. They went to the county to give speeches and demonstrations and got to know many leaders of large units. They can go back and visit those leaders and ask those leaders to introduce them to the leaders of the Commercial Bureau. This way, they can make it happen!"

Quan nodded repeatedly, "That's right. We'll go with them then. They'll be responsible for leading the way, and we'll be responsible for the negotiations."

Ye Shubao naturally nodded along, "Okay, but should we prepare some gifts?"

Quan, "Of course, we have to prepare gifts. Let's get some new rice and grab a few chickens, ducks, and geese. They are both specialties and samples…"

Watching them gradually walk away and their voices getting smaller and smaller, Chen Fan smiled and let out a long breath, turned his head and said, "Master Ma, shall we continue?"

Master Ma asked curiously, "Does your production team raise a lot of chickens, ducks, and geese?"

Chen Fan simply closed the notebook and explained with a smile, "We do raise a lot. This is also our production team's sideline business. Added together, there are almost 30,000 of them."

Master Ma was immediately surprised, "Oh, that's quite a lot!"

Then he began to help the production team calculate, "Not to mention the market price, just calculate it according to the purchase price. A live chicken is 90 cents a pound, and the price of a goose is similar, also 80 or 90 cents. Only ducks are cheaper, 40 or 50 cents a pound. A chicken weighs two or three pounds, a goose weighs at least 8 pounds, and a duck basically weighs 3 pounds or more. You must have tens of thousands of yuan, no wonder you can build a small water tower!"

(Receipt from the food company for purchasing white ducks, 4 ducks weighing 11 pounds, musk ducks are slightly larger, the purchase price is 40 cents a pound, and the retail price is a little more than 50 cents, which is more than half cheaper than chickens and geese)

Chen Fan hadn't realized it before, but when he heard Master Ma say this, he reacted in his heart.

Oh, right, now the production team has more than 17,000 chickens, more than 13,000 ducks, and 6,000 geese. According to the purchase price, chickens average 2.5 pounds, ducks weigh 3 pounds, and geese weigh 8 pounds. Then chickens alone can be sold for 38,250 yuan, ducks can be sold for 15,600 yuan, and geese can be sold for 43,200 yuan. Added together, that's 97,050 yuan?

Nearly 100,000?

After calculating this number, Chen Fan himself was stunned.

In comparison, the income of Team 6 from growing grain this year, converted into money, is less than 18,000 yuan. This is even before deducting the retained funds. If the situation in other teams is similar, the main business income of the entire production brigade would be around 200,000 yuan.

The income from chickens, ducks, and geese alone can match half of the grain income. This sideline business is too profitable!

And this is only for half a year. The income for the whole year will definitely be higher.

Moreover, rabbits haven't even been included yet.

Later, when rabbit breeding becomes widespread, like chickens, ducks, and geese, in addition to the brigade headquarters raising them, each household will also raise them. At that time, in Liu Accountant's words, it won't be a problem for a household to earn 1,000 yuan a year from sideline income.

Thinking of this, Chen Fan couldn't help but secretly admire An Quan's foresight.

If it weren't for his suggestion to link feed distribution with work point contributions, completely blocking the villagers' path to freely developing breeding, otherwise, if they could earn one or two thousand yuan a year, how many people would still be willing to farm?!

Thoughts raced through his mind, but on the surface, he remained calm. Chen Fan gave Master Ma a wry smile and said, "It looks like we're earning a lot, but the pressure is also great. You must know the saying, 'Even with a vast fortune, livestock don't count.' Engaging in this breeding sideline business means being worried day and night, fearing an epidemic at any time, which would result in huge losses.

Moreover, raising so many chickens, ducks, and geese puts a lot of pressure on feed. Because of this, our commune members are working tirelessly from dawn till dusk, just to gather more feed grass. Last month, during the double抢 (harvesting and planting season), there were several heavy rainstorms intermittently. It wasn't convenient to work in the fields at that time, but everyone still wore straw hats and raincoats to go out, just to gather a few more handfuls of grass to feed the pigs and chickens.

Raising chickens alone would have been enough, but because ducks and geese can be driven to the water to eat aquatic plants and insects, saving a lot of feed, we raised them together. You can imagine how tiring that must be?!"

Master Ma listened to this and couldn't help but nod repeatedly, saying with emotion, "Farmers are hardworking."

He also came from the countryside. Because he learned the craft of bricklaying and later followed his master to build houses for people, he was fortunate enough to be recruited by the county's construction company and became a construction worker. However, his family and relatives are still in the countryside. He used to go back to help during the double抢 season, but in the past two years, he has become older and somewhat unable to do so.

Because of this, he deeply understood Chen Fan's words.

Chen Fan continued to say, "Moreover, don't think there are so many chickens, ducks, and geese, but they don't belong to any particular commune member. They are raised jointly by our brigade, each team, and the commune members. The cooperative is about sticking together to keep warm."

Master Ma could only continue to nod in agreement.

Chen Fan's mouth didn't stop, "When these things are sold for money, the brigade will take a portion, the team will take a portion, and what's left for the commune members is estimated to be only about 100 yuan per household. After working hard for half a year, they only earn 100 yuan. Do you still think it's a lot?"

Master Ma immediately shook his head, "Not much, not much."

He was even a little embarrassed at this time, because his salary was 99 yuan, and he also had a lot of side income, earning more in a month than others did in half a year. How could he be embarrassed to say it was a lot?

Chen Fan was about to say something, when Master Ma suddenly reached out and patted him on the shoulder, saying seriously, "This morning, I heard the handyman in your team say that you led everyone in setting up this breeding farm?"

Hearing this, Chen Fan was stunned for a moment, then nodded and smiled, "It can't be said that I led them. I'm just a starting point, because…"

"You're a veterinarian."

Master Ma interrupted him, saying with emotion, "Today, I also chatted with some people in your team and learned a lot about you. First, you led 12 people to study veterinary medicine, and the production team had the idea of engaging in breeding. Even the planning and implementation of the breeding farm were guided by you. You even gave up the opportunity to work in the health department for the sake of Lujiawan. Amazing, amazing."

There are many capable people, and there are also many people willing to take root in the countryside, but Chen Fan is the first living person he has seen in real life who is both capable, willing to take root in the countryside, and wholeheartedly thinking about the production team and the commune members, except for the news models in the newspapers.

Chen Fan was about to say a few words of humility, when Master Ma pondered for two seconds, then patted him on the shoulder again, saying seriously, "Don't worry, the general manager of our construction company entered the company after graduating from technical secondary school. I was the one who trained him when he went to the front line. He can be considered half my apprentice. He will definitely listen to me. I will say a few words for you then, at least so your people won't have made the trip for nothing."

Hearing this, Chen Fan was overjoyed and quickly cupped his hands in thanks, "Thank you very much."

I didn't expect that selling misery would actually have this kind of reward?!

So it is said that a crying child gets milk. The ancients did not deceive me.

…

For most of the afternoon, Chen Fan stayed at the construction site, watching the small water tower complete its main structure. After the waterproofing treatment was done in the water tank, it could be officially completed, and today's work would be declared over.

As usual, he accompanied Master Qiu and Master Ma for a big drinking session at the brigade headquarters before walking back.

He didn't ride a horse when he went out today, so naturally he could only walk.

When he returned to the educated youth compound, the stars and moon were already high in the sky.

Jiang Lili and the other three were sitting in the courtyard, each holding a cattail fan in one hand and a book in the other, reading by the faint light coming from the room.

When Chen Fan walked in and saw this scene, his face sank and he said loudly, "Do you all not want your eyes anymore?"

The four people who were immersed in their books immediately woke up and stood up instinctively.

Chen Fan strode over and pointed at them, saying, "How many times have I told you to read in the room at night? If you're hot, turn on the electric fan. Weak light is bad for your eyes. If you keep reading like this for a few more days, you'll all be nearsighted."

It was the first time they had seen Teacher Chen get angry, and even Huang Ying, who was the boldest, was a little overwhelmed and lowered her head, not daring to speak.

Jiang Lili looked at the three people next to her, then looked at Chen Fan, and said softly, "We just wanted to save some electricity."

That electric fan consumes too much electricity. If only the light is on, it won't cost more than two degrees of electricity a month, only more than two mao (cents), while the power of the electric fan is several times that of the light, and the electricity bill will definitely be higher.

They didn't know before, but now that they have learned physics, they have learned to look at the power of electrical appliances. When they found that the electric fan consumes so much electricity, thinking of the electric fan they had been blowing for a month before, they didn't dare to turn it on again.

But the room was stuffy and hot, and the outside was blowing a cool breeze, so naturally they ran out to read.

Chen Fan looked at the timid Jiang Lili, and most of his anger disappeared immediately. He took two steps forward and said earnestly, "Saving money is not done this way. Spend what should be spent, and save what should be saved. Even if you don't turn on the electric fan, how much money can you save?"

He turned to look at Yang Ju, "Didn't you just sell a dozen sets of tableware yesterday, earning dozens of yuan? You can't even bear to spend a few mao on electricity?"

Seeing that Teacher Chen seemed to have calmed down, Huang Ying became bolder again and immediately said, "It's not just a few mao. We looked at the power of the electric fan, which is several times higher than the light bulb…"

Before she could finish speaking, Chen Fan glared at her, "I'm talking to you about health and eyes. Are you still calculating these few mao and fen (cents)?"

Huang Ying immediately shrank her head and stopped talking.

Seeing that Chen Fan wasn't yelling at her, Jiang Lili's eyes turned slightly, and she opened her mouth again, "We just saw that it was cool outside, so we came outside to read. Moreover, the light is much brighter than the kerosene lamp we used to have. We used to read like this, so it should be okay, right?"

Chen Fan turned to look at her, "Tell me, are you doing it to save electricity or because it's cooler outside?"

Jiang Lili pursed her lips, "Both."

Chen Fan wiped the sweat from his forehead and pointed to the four girls with a serious face, "Today, I must once again seriously correct your incorrect living habits, that is, you can't read in a low-light environment, otherwise it will seriously damage your eyesight."

Yang Ju suddenly moved the chair behind her to Chen Fan, "Teacher Chen, sit down and talk."

Chen Fan, "Thank you."

Then he sat down with a thud, "Don't read tonight, let's have a tea party. Huang Ying and Liu Dan, bring out the table. Xiao Jiang, you prepare the tea. Yang Ju, you prepare the talk, no, prepare some melon seeds, let's have a meeting."