Reborn in 1977

Dazhalan Hutong was very close, and soon the three masters were brought over.

Zhang Xuansong was the first to get out of the car. He glanced at Chen Fan squatting at the door, then walked towards Zhou Zhengdong, extending his right hand and laughing, "Welcome, welcome."

Zhou Zhengdong quickly stepped forward two steps, tightly grasping the outstretched hand, and said with respect, "Hello, hello, we've troubled you with our Xiaofan."

He had heard Chen Fan introduce them before. These three masters were all veterans who had fought hundreds of battles, teaching him the skills to defeat the enemy. Putting aside everything else, just the identity of a veteran who had fought hundreds of battles made him feel awe-struck.

As for Zhang Xuansong and Lin Yuanxiang's identities as retired division-level cadres, they were not as important.

Lin Yuanxiang and Li Shangde also got out of the car one after another and stepped forward to greet them.

Chen Fan stood aside and introduced, "This is Master Zhang Xuansong, this is Master Lin Yuanxiang, this is Master Li Shangde."

After they shook hands, Zhao Wanru took her daughter over and bowed to greet them.

After some pleasantries, Lin Yuanxiang took out the key and opened the door, while Zhang Xuansong waved to the accompanying personnel sent by the city, "This is a family matter, what's the point of you following us? Go back, go back."

The accompanying personnel smiled wryly and didn't say much. They saluted Zhang Xuansong and the others, and then said to Zhou Zhengdong, "Mr. Zhou, you have my contact information. If you have any needs, you can contact me."

The main purpose of their accompaniment was, first, to solve some daily problems for overseas Chinese and foreign guests, and second, to be responsible for supervision.

But now that Chen Fan was here, they were not that important.

Of course, the most important thing was that comrades from other departments had already come over in advance to make preparations, and the higher-ups had also given them instructions. Otherwise, even if the old comrades spoke, they would not dare to leave their posts without authorization.

After Zhou Zhengdong thanked them, he watched them leave, leaving only his own people here.

Even his assistant, after getting off the plane, followed the deputy liaison officer to the US Liaison Office in China to learn about the relevant situation of the two countries' exchanges in advance, in preparation for future business development.

Lin Yuanxiang opened the iron lock and pushed open the door, and the group filed in.

After Chen Fan came in, he glanced around and was immediately surprised, "Eh? Why are there so many potted plants?"

In the spacious open space, there were now several rows of wooden shelves, and on the wooden shelves were pottery jars, each planted with green plants, which added a bit of interest compared to the original emptiness.

Zhang Xuansong leaned on his cane, walking and saying, "Didn't you say that when you have money in the future, you will fill this place with potted plants, and the potted plants will be supported by wooden shelves. When you need to use them, you can move them away. It looks good and doesn't affect the use of the venue."

Li Shangde took over his words and said with a chuckle, "Last time you sent money over, it scared us old guys. Lao Zhang was worried and went to find someone to help check the source of the money before he dared to use it."

Lin Yuanxiang also glared at Chen Fan, "You didn't even write a letter in advance to say it. This is 380,000 yuan. How many people have 380,000 yuan these days? You're not low-key at all."

Chen Fan felt very innocent, "This matter was handled under the eyes of the cadres in Jiangnan Province, how could I be low-key? So after I got the money, didn't I send it to you as soon as possible?"

Zhang Xuansong pushed open the door in front and turned to Zhou Zhengdong with a smile, "This nephew of yours is like a loach, he doesn't want to suffer any losses. If he didn't send the money to me and let me keep it for him, I don't know how many people would come to take advantage of him. It would be good if he could save a fraction."

Zhou Zhengdong looked up and laughed, "He can hand over the money to you without hesitation, and he didn't specifically explain it, which shows that he trusts you. Once the money is in your hands, you can spend it however you want, and he definitely won't say anything."

Zhang Xuansong hummed twice, "Then I can't move it even more. Since it's in my hands, I have to keep it for him."

At this time, everyone had entered the door and were looking around the house.

Zhou Yali moved to Chen Fan's side, tugging at his arm, her eyes not knowing where to look, "Little brother, is this your home? It's too big!"

Chen Fan curled his lips, "It's okay."

It wasn't that big, the whole house only covered an area of 256 square meters, and the hall in front of him was only more than 150 square meters. The key was that the floor was very high, a full 4.5 meters, especially the beam of light falling from the sky in the middle of the house, which made the hall look extraordinary.

Zhou Yali glared at him angrily, "Is that okay? It's better than our house in America, okay."

The three of Zhang Xuansong led Zhou Zhengdong to the tea table, and said at the same time, "We hired a temporary worker to come and clean twice a week, calculated by the day. It's a big burden for others, but Xiaofan has a lot of money. Just eating the interest is enough for him to be chic. It's just helping to solve the employment of young people returning to the city."

Everyone sat around the tea table, while Chen Fan rolled up his sleeves and went to the kitchen to boil tea.

When the water boiled, he walked over again, opened the tea cabinet next to the tea table, and took out a few cups with a tray.

Zhou Yali also quickly went up to help.

Just as she was about to take the tray, Chen Fan suddenly turned around with the cup in his hand and asked the three masters, "Where did you buy these cups?"

Zhang Xuansong turned around when he heard the words, "Oh, that was an old subordinate of mine who used to work in the Ministry of Light Industry. The Pottery Research Institute over there hoarded a lot of porcelain, so he paid for a batch and sent it to me."

After a pause, he looked at the cup in Chen Fan's hand and said with emotion, "This batch of porcelain was fired with the same batch used by Mr. Li. There won't be any more in the future."

Chen Fan gasped, and then looked at the cup in his hand. A delicate and charming peach blossom jumped on it. It was indeed "Enamel Painted Waterdrop Peach Blossom", 7501 porcelain!

In porcelain collections, there is a special category, which is "Mao Porcelain."

However, there are many kinds of Mao porcelain, most of which are ordinary porcelain and not particularly valuable.

Only 7501 porcelain is unique, and can be called unprecedented and unsurpassed. It is the pinnacle of ceramic technology history in China from ancient times to the present.

Even without considering the historical value, the porcelain itself can be said to be priceless.

Chen Fan never thought about making money by collecting, so he never thought about actively collecting antiques and treasures, but he really wanted this kind of treasure.

Immediately, he raised his head and said to Zhou Zhengdong, "Uncle, tell that cadre tomorrow and ask him to help buy this kind of porcelain."

Zhou Zhengdong stood up when he heard the words, walked over, took the cup in Chen Fan's hand, raised it up to the light to look at it, and also took a deep breath, "Good porcelain!"

Zhao Wanru also walked over at this time and stood aside and said, "I have never seen such beautiful porcelain before."

Zhou Zhengdong didn't turn his head, his eyes fixed on the cup, "The ancients said that white as jade, thin as paper, bright as a mirror, and sound like a chime, are the highest realms of porcelain. However, almost every piece of such porcelain that has been handed down is unique and its value is immeasurable.

And this cup is clearly made in modern times, yet it fully embodies the standards of the highest realm of ancient porcelain praise..."

He immediately turned to look at Zhang Xuansong, walked over quickly, and asked, "Brother Zhang, which kiln produced this? Can it continue to be produced?"

Zhang Xuansong smacked his lips, his face a little embarrassed, "I heard from my old subordinate that this porcelain seems to be gone. As for whether it can continue to be produced, it's uncertain."

Chen Fan walked over with a tray and placed it on the table, saying solemnly, "Old舅, if you want them to continue production so you can purchase it, that's impossible."

He picked up a teacup as he spoke, "I heard that in order to fire this porcelain, the Hunan Liling Ceramics Research Institute and the Jingdezhen Ceramics Research Institute worked closely together. The Pottery Research Institute of the Ministry of Light Industry also transferred more than 40 technical backbones to jointly form a tackling team.

Many famous ceramic artists have participated in this work, including the descendants and successors of the Eight Friends of Zhushan, such as Wang Xiliang, the nephew of Wang Dafan and a master of arts and crafts; Wang Guiying, the daughter of Wang Yeting and a ceramic art master; Liu Ping, the son of Liu Yucen and a ceramic art master; Xu Yafeng, the granddaughter of Xu Zhongnan and a master of arts and crafts; as well as ceramic artist Zhang Jian, masters of arts and crafts Zhang Songmao and Dai Ronghua, ceramic art master Shu Huijuan, and ceramic master Xin Qingshan, etc."

He said to Zhou Zhengdong, "These masters are all national treasure-level artists. Not to mention the lack of suitable top-quality kaolin clay, even if there were, it wouldn't be possible to gather these master craftsmen and artists together again with money."

Zhou Zhengdong couldn't help but feel disappointed upon hearing this, "Is that so?"

Chen Fan smiled, "There's no need to be disappointed. Although it can't be reproduced, as far as I know, the Pottery Research Institute and Jingdezhen still have a lot of 'spares'.

These 'spares' were actually fired in the same batch as those ceramics sent to Xiyuan a few years ago. At that time, there were more than 14,000 pieces fired, with more than 4,200 actual products. From these, more than 2,000 pieces were carefully selected and sent to Xiyuan, and the rest were all sealed up for later use."

Zhou Zhengdong's eyes lit up immediately, "Where are they now?"

Chen Fan raised the cup in his hand and smiled, "You don't need to worry about where they are. If you make a request to that cadre, you should have a good chance of buying this batch of spares."

It's still 1978. In two years, that batch of spares will be distributed to the employees of the ceramics factory as welfare benefits and will be everywhere in Jingdezhen, leaving only more than two hundred pieces sent to the Pottery Research Institute in Beijing.

Then, in the 1980s, an overseas Chinese went to Jingdezhen and purchased more than a thousand pieces at a price of ten yuan each, without quantity limits.

And in the 1990s, in 1997, a small porcelain bowl was auctioned off at a high price of 1.7 million yuan in an auction house.

Therefore, now is the best window period to acquire this batch of porcelain. If you miss now, it will be difficult once people have distributed the welfare benefits.

Zhang Xuansong, who was next to him, was a little curious and asked Chen Fan, "How do you know all this?"

Chen Fan turned his head, grinned, and said, "I have readers. One of my readers is from the Jingdezhen Ceramics Factory. He also said that when the unit opens up this batch of porcelain for release, he will send me a few pieces."

Zhang Xuansong's face fell. He hated people who liked to show off the most.

Zhou Zhengdong didn't dare to delay and was about to go find that cadre, but Chen Fan grabbed him, "Don't be so anxious. Just mention it when you see him tomorrow when you go out."

Seeing Chen Fan say this, Zhou Zhengdong no longer insisted, "Alright."

At this moment, the sound of boiling water came from the kitchen. Before Chen Fan could get up, Zhou Yali immediately ran over, "I'll get the water."

Chen Fan still stood up, holding the tray and walking over there, "I still need to wash the cups."

Zhou Zhengdong immediately shouted, "Don't go!"

Chen Fan turned to look at him, raised the tray in his hand, and smiled, "Reluctant?"

Zhou Zhengdong's eyes were full of regret, "This is a precious ceramic! Aren't you afraid of bumping or breaking it?"

Chen Fan laughed and said, "No matter how good the ceramic is, it's meant to be used. If it's not used, it's not a teacup, just an ornament."

After a pause, he smiled again, "Besides, there are more than two thousand such ceramics waiting for you, so don't be afraid of breaking them."

Then he turned and left, leaving Zhou Zhengdong stretching out his hand to grab a few times, looking like he wanted to stop him but was powerless.

Chen Fan went to the kitchen, turned on the faucet to rinse the teacups, scalded them with boiling water, and then went to get tea leaves.

Zhou Yali was studying the equipment in the kitchen, "There's even a gas tank?"

Chen Fan chuckled twice, "It's more than just a gas tank, there's also piped gas. It's just that the main pipeline hasn't been laid here, otherwise there would be no need for this kind of tank."

Zhou Yali crossed her arms and nodded, "I thought the conditions in the mainland were very poor, like that Overseas Chinese Hotel, which they said was the best hotel in the country, but I think it's just so-so. Now it seems that not everything is so backward."

Chen Fan put tea leaves in each cup, smiling, "This isn't backward?"

He pointed to the small building at the end of the garden outside the window and said, "Look over there, there's a boiler room. A heating pipe has been built all the way here. When winter comes, you can burn the boiler for heating. The whole house will be warm and comfortable."

Zhou Yali carried the kettle to pour water, curiously asking, "When I was a child, I heard my grandparents say that they slept on earthen kangs in their hometown. What does an earthen kang look like?"

This time back to her hometown was too rushed, especially since the ancestral grave was destroyed, and her old man was in a super bad mood, so she didn't dare to say anything at all. And the hotels were all beds, so she naturally didn't see an earthen kang.

Chen Fan turned to look at her, "There's one in my house in Lujiawan. The room on the first floor where Huang Li and the others sleep is one."

"Ah?"

Zhou Yali was stunned, "Why didn't you say so earlier? I didn't even go to see it."

Chen Fan snatched the kettle from her hand, glared at her unhappily, "Pouring boiling water, and you're still distracted."

Then he said, "You didn't say you wanted to sleep on an earthen kang."

He pointed to the small building behind, "But there is one there. You can go see it later. You can also go sleep on the earthen kang next time you come in the winter."

The two of them carried the teacups back to the tea table, put one in front of each person, and then started chatting.

Zhang Xuansong, "Brother Zhou, you said you went abroad when you were a few years old, do you still remember the Zhou family's business partners from before?"

Zhou Zhengdong shook his head, "How would I remember? It's almost like looking for relatives, taking the address and name and slowly going to find them."

It's not that he necessarily wanted to find these former partners, but the Zhou family has always prioritized friendship in business. In terms of seniority, they were also old friends of Old Master Zhou, so even if it was to fulfill his father's last wish, he should go and see them.