Reborn in 1977

Chapter 388: What Gift to Give?

The next day at noon, a small restaurant in the north of the city.

Not the one near Jiang Tiantian's workplace, but another one a bit further away.

This area was full of factories and businesses, with countless banquets and worker gatherings every day. The food company had more restaurants here than anywhere else, offering more choices.

As a result, there was no need to always eat at the same place. If she was seen by acquaintances, Jiang Tiantian would have another headache.

Chen Fan took a bite of food and said indignantly, "I went to the food company early this morning. They were easy to talk to and readily agreed when they saw the lease contracts we signed with those hospitals and bus stations. They said they would issue the approval as long as the Commercial Bureau agreed.

Then I went to the Commercial Bureau, and guess what they said?"

Jiang Tiantian looked at him with a smile, "What?"

Chen Fan had already revealed the answer to her in advance, knowing that the Lu's Family Bay would soon open a store in the prefectural committee, and it would be 10 stores at once. All the procedures had been completed, and they would open as soon as the decoration was finished.

Otherwise, she should have been anxious too.

Now, of course, she didn't need to be and could just listen to the story quietly.

At this time, Chen Fan transformed into a storyteller, his expression so vivid that he was almost dancing, "When I went there, they were very polite. A deputy director of the Commercial Bureau personally received me and praised me a lot.

But when it came to business, he started to have difficulties. First, he said there was no precedent. Although our opening a store complied with the policy, the number of stores was too large and too far away. He had never seen such a situation.

Later, he said it was not in accordance with the rules. Other production teams only opened stores in the county seat at most, and no one had ever opened one in the prefectural committee. In short, it was two words: no!"

Jiang Tiantian looked at him curiously, "Then how did they agree later?"

Chen Fan's face suddenly became strange, as if he was both annoyed and amused, "I originally wanted to say something nice, but he took the initiative to propose a solution, and the problem was solved."

Jiang Tiantian widened her eyes, "What solution?"

She herself was part of the supply and marketing system, and she could understand what the deputy director of the Commercial Bureau said.

Production teams could engage in agricultural product-related side businesses, which was indeed correct, but there were regional and quantity restrictions. Some places had clear regulations on this, while others did not specify due to various reasons.

For example, if a production team's products could be sold to other places for profit, or even be directly favored by foreign trade companies and exported to earn foreign exchange, the local government would not make clear regulations in order to produce more similar production teams and achieve results, so as to deal with situations flexibly.

Lu's Family Bay opening a store in the prefectural committee, and opening 10 stores at once, was within the scope of "flexible handling" in all respects.

The reason was simple: if you didn't restrict the scope and scale of side businesses, would you sell them to the moon and ask Chang'e to eat spicy rabbit heads?

This kind of thing would be completely fine in the future as long as you had the strength, but it was definitely not possible now.

So it was normal for them not to approve it.

What made Jiang Tiantian curious was, what method could break this explicit or implicit rule?

Chen Fan chuckled twice, looked around, but inadvertently noticed that several young people were always secretly looking here.

Both men and women?

But when they met Chen Fan's gaze, they quickly turned their heads to avoid it.

Faced with this situation, Chen Fan was already used to it. Just because he was good-looking didn't mean he could stop others from looking.

He cleared his throat and lowered his voice, "The deputy director said that he could restrict the opening of stores, but he couldn't restrict the sale of goods. He called the leaders of the food company and asked us to sign a special contract with the food company."

Jiang Tiantian stared at him intently, "A special contract?"

Chen Fan nodded and gestured, "Luwan Delicatessen Store is incorporated into the food company for management. The main rights and responsibilities of both parties are that we are responsible for supplying goods to the food company, but we must assist in sales. We are responsible for solving the sales location, and we are also responsible for the salesperson. All wages, benefits, and other expenses are borne by us.

As for the price, they review it, which is actually just a formality, but it is stipulated that the retail price should be increased by 2% on the basis of the supply price. This money must be handed over to the food company as profit and management fee.

Except for reconciling accounts once a month, the food company will only conduct regular safety inspections of the goods, and they don't care about anything else."

Jiang Tiantian immediately reacted, "Isn't that using 2% of the sales to exchange for the qualification to open a store in Yunhu?"

Chen Fan nodded and said with a smile, "That's essentially what it means. However, this money is not spent in vain. In the future, Yunhu's Luwan Delicatessen Store will also be a unit of the food company system. If there is any official matter, such as providing proof, they will assist in solving it to a certain extent.

So after I called the brigade department at that time, the leaders of the brigade department immediately agreed, and the matter was resolved."

Using 2% of the turnover to exchange for the name of a subsidiary unit of the food company, Secretary Yang and the others were probably laughing in their sleep.

Did they really think people were greedy for this little money? There were countless restaurants of all sizes in the Yunhu urban area, all under the management of the food company system. The daily turnover was unknown, how could they care about this?

Besides, they had to do things after taking the money.

But the meaning to Lu's Family Bay was different. They had embraced a thigh and opened up the relationship network of the prefectural committee.

So Chen Fan himself was clear that people saw that he was holding 10 lease contracts, and behind these contracts stood the health system and the transportation system. Chen Fan's face could be ignored, but the faces of these two systems could not be lost.

That's why there was the scene today of "the person who raised the problem is the one who solved the problem."

In fact, this operation mode would quickly become rampant in a few years and would have a special term called "affiliation."

The specific first affiliated enterprise was no longer testable. It should have appeared around 1980, and after a few years of barbaric growth, the first peak period appeared in 1983, and then in 1985, the first public document mentioning "affiliated" enterprises appeared.

《Opinions of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce on the Implementation of Several Issues》1985

So why did affiliation appear?

This was because after affiliation, the nature, qualifications, etc. of the enterprise were no longer based on its own conditions, but on the unit being affiliated with.

For example, Lu's Family Bay was a collective unit, and Luwan Delicatessen Store was naturally of the same nature, but now that these 10 stores were affiliated with the food company, they were proper state-owned enterprises, even more prestigious than the three stores in the county seat.

In this way, businesses that were not qualified to do also became qualified, and many things could be easily solved.

It was that simple.

In the Yunhu urban area, the business activities of Luwan Delicatessen Store were naturally reasonable and compliant, and no one could find fault.

And looking further back, there were also similar precedents.

For example, the purchasing stations and consignment points in the production team were jointly established by the supply and marketing cooperative and the production team. The supply and marketing cooperative provided the goods, and the production team provided the business premises and salespersons.

So this operation mode was not uncommon.

It was just that Chen Fan didn't expect that the shadow of affiliation would appear at this time.

Then it was easy to understand why affiliated companies suddenly sprung up everywhere after the meeting at the end of next year.

...

After chatting about gossip, Chen Fan looked at Jiang Tiantian and asked with a smile, "How is your study progress now?"

Hearing him ask this, Jiang Tiantian couldn't help but blush slightly, her face slightly embarrassed, and said with her head down, "It's, it's okay."

Chen Fan blinked, "What does okay mean?"

After a pause, he turned his head and glanced, and forced back a few pairs of eyes again, then turned his face, lowered his voice and said, "If what Teacher Guo and the others said is fulfilled, then it's a rare opportunity."

The red on Jiang Tiantian's face deepened a bit, she pursed her lips, raised her head and said, "I have been studying for the past half month since you accompanied me to buy the book, but I haven't picked up the book for too long, and I just found the state a few days ago."

She said with a smile, looked at Chen Fan squarely, "I also want to see the scenery in the university, so I will definitely work hard."

Chen Fan gave her an appreciative look and smiled, "I'm not saying that you must do anything, just giving you a suggestion. Since you have your own ideals, then you might as well give it a try and not give yourself a chance to regret it in the future."

Jiang Tiantian nodded solemnly, "I understand."

After eating a few bites of food, she looked at Chen Fan, who was holding a rice bowl and eating, and asked softly, "How is Lili's study progress?"

Chen Fan turned his head to look at her and smiled, "Didn't she say it in her letter?"

Jiang Tiantian chuckled, "It was written in the letter, but she said that you are her teacher. When I meet the teacher, of course I have to ask."

Chen Fan laughed and said, "If there is an exam now, you will definitely not be able to pass her."

Jiang Tiantian's eyes lit up suddenly, "So, her hope is very high?"

Chen Fan nodded. "She's already at the high school level, and her knowledge is solid. If we're just looking at grades, she should be a shoo-in."

Hearing this, Jiang Tiantian's heart trembled.

If we're just looking at grades?

Will they only look at grades?

She didn't know, but the information Teacher Guo had revealed was that this was Lili's only chance to return to the city. No matter what, she had to go all out and prepare.

What if they only look at grades?!

Holding her bowl, she murmured, "It's been almost four years, and she'll be eighteen soon. I hope she can go home smoothly this time."

Chen Fan looked at her and said softly, "Heaven rewards the diligent. You're both good girls. Life won't let you down."

Jiang Tiantian raised her head and smiled at him. "Thank you."

After a pause, she perked up and said with a smile, "You're actually a year younger than Lili, but I always feel like you're more mature than me. Is that how all outstanding people are?"

Chen Fan raised his eyebrows slightly and smiled. "You can just say you want to compliment me. No need to be so subtle."

Jiang Tiantian almost choked, and helplessly added, "Are all outstanding people so thick-skinned?"

Chen Fan laughed heartily. "That's called confidence."

After a pause, he suddenly looked up and asked, "Can I ask you something?"

Jiang Tiantian immediately swallowed the food in her mouth, turned her face, and looked at him. "What is it?"

Chen Fan put down his bowl and chopsticks, and gestured as he spoke, "When I came to the district committee to open the store this time, two friends from the Health Department helped a lot. Although the production team sent gifts to the Health Department, they used their own connections, so I want to give them each a separate gift."

He looked at Jiang Tiantian and smiled. "You're a girl too, so I wanted to ask you what kind of gift would be better to give them."

"G-Girl?"

Jiang Tiantian looked at him and blinked slowly, unable to help but ask, "They…"

But she only got a few words out before she couldn't continue.

Chen Fan understood what she meant, and immediately smiled. "Don't overthink it. They're just ordinary friends. Didn't I stay in the Health Department for over ten days before? That's when I met them."

Jiang Tiantian said "Oh," then immediately reacted, and two red clouds flew onto her face. She secretly cursed herself in her heart, thinking she was crazy for asking about this for no reason.

She took two deep breaths, tried to calm down, and said nonchalantly, "Actually, I don't really know much about these things."

Chen Fan looked at her curiously. "Has no one ever given you a gift before?"

Jiang Tiantian pursed her lips and shook her head gently, saying, "I've been given gifts before, but I didn't accept them."

She looked at Chen Fan and explained, "They all gave me things like gauze scarves, handkerchiefs, fountain pens, yarn, scarves, and shoes. Those are things that boyfriends and girlfriends give each other. I have no relationship with them, so I couldn't possibly accept them."

She smiled as she spoke. "Later, no one gave me anything anymore. I've never given anyone anything either. Only when colleagues in the unit get married do I give them a book by Mr. Li, or a towel."

She looked at Chen Fan and smiled. "Unless you're lying, those things aren't suitable to give to them either."

Chen Fan immediately shook his head. "The truth, of course it's the truth."

Jiang Tiantian thought again, "Why don't you give them each a collection of 'Self-Study Series in Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry'?"

Chen Fan looked up, his face full of astonishment. "Huh?"

Give them study materials? Is it that cruel?

Jiang Tiantian suppressed a smile and said seriously, "Don't they need to continue studying just because they're college students?"

Chen Fan immediately shook his head. "That's not true. They're both technical secondary school students. They haven't gone to college."

"That's it then."

Jiang Tiantian looked around and, finding no one nearby, whispered, "If Teacher Guo's words come true, giving them study materials would be giving them a chance to continue improving. How great is that?"

Chen Fan blinked, thinking of Lin Liwen's father, the deputy director of the passenger ship company, and then thinking of Xia Yuping's grandfather, the deputy director of the Transportation Department, her father, the director of the passenger station, and her mother, the director of logistics…

He really doubted whether these two young ladies still needed to improve through exams.

Wouldn't it be better to go straight to high school and then be recommended to university, taking a step in place?!

However, although he didn't quite agree with Jiang Tiantian's words, he intended to adopt her suggestion.

He immediately nodded slowly and said, "Yes, what you said makes a lot of sense. I'll go buy the books later and give them as gifts."

Jiang Tiantian was immediately stunned, staring unblinking at Chen Fan. "You, you're really going to give them books?"

Chen Fan chuckled. "Didn't you suggest it? I adopted it."

Jiang Tiantian felt that her brain suddenly couldn't turn around. He adopted it so casually? Really not going to seriously consider it anymore??

Chen Fan suddenly sped up his eating. "I'll take you back later, and then I'll go somewhere else to find the books."

As he spoke, he couldn't help shaking his head. "This set of books is too hard to find. It just so happens to fit the characteristic of 'rarity makes things valuable'. Using this as a gift will definitely be very precious."

Jiang Tiantian was stunned for a long time before she came back to her senses.

Okay, it seemed like giving this wasn't bad either.

She just didn't know what those two girls would think when they saw Chen Fan's gift?

…

Two hours later, Chen Fan, carrying a backpack and holding two long paper packages, entered the office of the Political and Labor Section of the Health Department. "Hello, comrades, I'm here again."

Sister Qin immediately straightened up from a pile of documents. "What's in your hands? Don't tell me it's another gift?"

Sister Zhou heard the sound and walked out of the inner office, asking, "Is the matter settled?"

Chen Fan smiled. "It's all settled. I'll be going back later."

As he spoke, he placed the two bundles of things on Lin Liwen and Xia Yuping's desks respectively, and said with a smile, "This time, thanks to your help, these are gifts that I carefully selected to express my gratitude to you."

Sister Qin and Sister Yu immediately gathered around. "Oh my, there are gifts too?"

The two girls who received the gifts were also full of surprise.

Lin Liwen said, blushing, "It was just a small favor. There's no need to spend money."

Xia Yuping also nodded repeatedly. "There's really no need for this. It's not easy for you to earn money in the production team. Why don't you just take it back."

Sister Zhou walked over and said with a smile, "It's Xiao Chen's good intention after all. How can you say return it so easily? You can just give a return gift."

Then she looked at the two long paper packages. "What are these?"

Chen Fan didn't say a word, picked up the scissors on the table, and unpacked the package. When the outer kraft paper was torn open, everyone in the office was dumbfounded.

What the heck was this?

Such a big pile of books?

Chen Fan unpacked the other package, and then laughed heartily. "First, there's Mr. Li's Complete Works, Volume 5, and another set of the 'Self-Study Series in Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry'. I wish you all good study and progress every day!"