Reborn in 1977

In the following two days, the Zhou family did not immediately go looking for someone, but stayed in Beijing, accompanied by Chen Fan to tour the city.

They arrived on May 21st and were scheduled to leave on June 5th according to the itinerary.

Although the time didn't have to be so strict, there were still a lot of affairs on the American side, and it wouldn't be good to delay for too long, so it was best to return as scheduled.

In this way, it was impossible to go looking for someone themselves, firstly because it would waste too much time, and secondly because they couldn't bear the hardship of traveling.

Zhou Zhengdong provided a sum of funds and entrusted the task of finding someone to the accompanying cadres, and at the same time asked them to book return tickets for June 5th.

Since the last place to look for someone was in Shanghai, the flight booked was from Shanghai Airport to Tokyo. After arriving in Tokyo, they would fly back to the United States.

As for these two days of searching for someone, they would stay in Beijing to rest and take in the beautiful scenery of the capital.

Having arrived in Beijing, the must-see attractions were naturally Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City now was not like it would be decades later, where everything was locked up and a sign saying "No Entry for Tourists" was hung up, and you couldn't go anywhere.

Nowadays, except for Xiyuan, there was no place you couldn't go, and the ticket price was only 5 cents, so there were many tourists.

(Foreigners visited the Forbidden City a lot in 1972)

They arrived in Beijing on the morning of June 1st. After a short rest, Chen Fan took them to visit the Forbidden City, stroll around the square, and visit the memorial hall in the afternoon.

Chen Fan had specially taken a camera from the Chen family's old house. Zhou Zhengdong and the others also brought one. He and Zhou Yali took the cameras and snapped several rolls of film without thinking about the cost.

Of course, they didn't take pictures of places where photography was not allowed, but they took pictures of the outside.

After resting for a night in the house by Houhai Lake, they went to Badaling the next day.

(The parking lot at the foot of the Badaling Great Wall in 1972)

When he arrived at Badaling, Chen Fan realized what a popular attraction meant.

This was the 1970s, when cars were a rare sight, but Badaling actually had traffic jams?!

Large and small buses, Liberation trucks, jeeps, and sedans were all kinds, it was like opening an auto expo. Almost all the cars available in China this year were gathered, making it lively.

Another day of tossing and turning.

On the 3rd, Chen Fan was ready and went downstairs and said, "Having arrived in Beijing, you must visit the Hutongs. The most well-preserved Hutong is Nanluoguxiang,…"

Before he could finish speaking, even the most active Zhou Yali refused to move, lying on the table groaning, "Rest for a while, rest for a while."

Zhou Zhengdong and Zhao Wanru also sat upright, holding their teacups motionless, shaking their heads in unison.

These days, it was either cars or planes. The most comfortable time was in Luwan. Now they really didn't want to go out.

Rather than going out to suffer, it was better to study the teacup in their hands.

The cup was as thin as paper, and when boiling water was poured into it, they couldn't feel the heat when holding it in their hands, which was very magical.

Chen Fan walked over and sat down, looked at the few people, and smiled, "Nanluoguxiang is just across from Shichahai, don't you want to visit since it's so close?"

Zhou Yali grabbed him and said weakly, "Let's do it next time. When I come next time, you can take me to visit."

Chen Fan remained noncommittal, grabbed her wrist, pondered for two seconds, and said, "It's okay, you're just a little tired. I'll give you a few acupuncture needles and you'll be fine."

Zhou Yali's eyes widened instantly, "Acupuncture?"

Chen Fan took out the needle case from his bag and smiled, "Don't worry, I have an intermediate physician qualification certificate, and I'm very skilled at acupuncture. I guarantee that the needle will cure the disease."

Then he pointed, "Leg."

Zhou Yali was also a bold person. Without saying a word, she moved her butt back, took off her shoes, and put her legs on the stool.

In summer, she wore sandals, so she didn't even have to take off her socks.

Chen Fan didn't say much and directly inserted the needles.

After inserting a few needles into her feet and calves, Zhou Yali looked up with a face full of surprise, "Hey, hey, it seems to be much better."

Zhou Zhengdong and Zhao Wanru looked at each other. Was it really effective?

After a while, when Chen Fan removed the needles, Zhou Yali immediately stood up and jumped a few times, "Hey, it's much better."

Chen Fan smiled and turned to Zhou Zhengdong and Zhao Wanru and smiled, "Want a few needles too?"

The two naturally had no objections and prepared themselves.

They had also seen Chinese medicine in Chinatown in Manhattan, but they had never seen such a miracle of curing diseases with needles. They didn't expect to experience it today.

It didn't take much time to give both of them acupuncture.

Chen Fan took the alcohol and disinfected the used silver needles, and said at the same time, "You are indeed a little overworked, so let's not go out."

At this time, there were no pedicabs. It was not until 1981 that the Beijing Transportation Bureau issued regulations to restore the operation of pedicabs. Only then did pedicab Hutong tours become available.

Otherwise, he could have called two pedicabs so they could tour the Hutongs without walking.

Since they decided not to go out, Chen Fan put down the things he had prepared and ran to the attic to get a few books to read.

He sent 380,000 to Master Zhang, and Master Zhang not only decorated the open space in the north for him.

At this time, the small garden in the south was also completely done. Ginkgo, sweet-scented osmanthus, Podocarpus, persimmon trees, pomegranate trees, jujube trees, parasol trees, peach trees, plum blossoms, and crabapples, ten auspicious trees were all gathered and planted in the garden.

The original exposed soil was also covered with grass and flowers. The Shichahai lake water connected through underground pipes filled the canals. A small waterwheel squeaked and turned, sending the water in the canals to a rockery, filling the "Heavenly Pool" and then forming a waterfall that fell down, circulating in this way.

Trees, grass, flowers, and water were integrated, echoing the nearby sea.

Sitting in the gazebo on the small slope in the center of the garden, holding a book and enjoying a cup of good tea was much more comfortable than going to tourist attractions.

Most of the bookshelves in the attic were also filled with books. Anyway, there were not many leisure books this year, so Zhang Xuansong went to the Xinhua Bookstore and asked them to send thousands of new books of various kinds. The remaining bookshelves were reserved for Taoist scriptures. When religious activities were officially restored, they would be filled with Taoist scriptures and various secret scriptures of Quanzhen Sect. He would also get a complete collection of Siku Quanshu to ensure a mix of everything.

In the gazebo, the four people sat on each side, reading for a while and chatting for a while, which was very pleasant.

But not long after, the doorbell rang.

Chen Fan immediately stood up and said, "Master Zhang and the others have the key. It should be Section Chief Ma who is here."

When Zhou Zhengdong heard this, they each carried their teacups and books and walked to the front room.

Chen Fan walked to the door and opened it. Outside was indeed Section Chief Ma, the accompanying cadre assigned by the city, and two comrades from other units.

After inviting them in and sitting down at the tea table in the living room, Zhou Zhengdong and the others were already waiting there.

After a few polite words, Chen Fan served them tea, and Section Chief Ma began to talk about the business, "Mr. Zhou, we have news about the families you entrusted us to find."

Zhou Zhengdong didn't seem particularly excited. His main purpose in returning to China this time was to find his nephew. Now that everything was going smoothly, he didn't particularly care about other things.

Besides, these "acquaintances" were related to his father, and he had never even met them.

If his father hadn't mentioned this before his death, asking him to investigate the situation back then if he had the opportunity to return to China, he wouldn't have even mentioned it.

Section Chief Ma didn't know this. He only knew that this was an important task entrusted by overseas Chinese, and they had paid for it, so of course they had to do their best to complete it, so he continued, "Of the 5 families you entrusted us to find, 3 are in Tianjin and 2 are in Shanghai.

Do not offer discounts

After two days of searching, we have basically confirmed that four families emigrated abroad in the 1950s and 60s, and only one family is still in Shanghai.”

Zhou Zhengdong was slightly stunned when he heard this, and asked curiously, “Was it possible to go abroad back then?”

Director Ma smiled and said to him, “You have been abroad for a long time and are not very familiar with our policies. In fact, in the 1950s, we had an open attitude towards people with overseas connections.

(Missing paragraph)

Therefore, as long as they could provide proof of overseas connections, and they and their families had no special circumstances, they could apply to their work unit, and with the approval of the work unit, the public security department would issue a passport and allow them to leave the country.

This policy was disrupted in 1965, and there were almost no more cases of private departures. But before that, it was not difficult for people with overseas connections to go abroad.”

After explaining, his expression was a little strange, and he said with a smile, “According to the feedback, two of the four families that went abroad used letters to and from your Zhou family as proof.”

Zhou Zhengdong blinked, his face a little dull.

Could it be like this?

(Hong Kong and Macau passes in the 1960s were common among overseas Chinese at the time, because they could only transit through Hong Kong to go to Western countries)

Chen Fan was also very surprised. He thought this period was particularly closed, but it turned out that it was possible to go abroad smoothly through normal procedures?

Director Ma looked at Zhou Zhengdong and said, "In general, it's still good news. At least they were safe and sound before they went abroad. It's just that the situation after they went abroad is beyond our scope of handling, and we really can't find out. I'm sorry."

Zhou Zhengdong quickly waved his hand, “No, no, I’m the one who troubled you. Being able to find the whereabouts of these people is enough to comfort my father’s soul in heaven.”

Director Ma nodded and said, “In that case, then there should be no need to go to Tianjin, right?”

Zhou Zhengdong thought for a while, and finally sighed, looked up and looked east, and said, "When my father left, he sold all his property. There is no point in looking at the house where we used to live, so let's not go."

Then he looked at Director Ma and smiled, “Then please arrange for us to go to Shanghai tomorrow, visit that family, and then set off to leave.”

Director Ma nodded lightly, “Then I’ll book your return tickets for June 5th?”

Zhou Zhengdong had just nodded when he suddenly thought of something and quickly asked, “By the way, Director Ma, I don’t know what the result of what I asked you to do yesterday is?”

Director Ma smiled, raised the cup in front of him, and said, “Regarding your desire to purchase this kind of porcelain, I reported it to the higher authorities at the time, and the leader also notified me of the result today.”

He looked at the four people with expectant faces, and said with a smile, “First of all, I want to state that in principle, this batch of porcelain is not for sale, please understand this.”

Zhou Zhengdong blinked, a little disappointed in his eyes. Does that mean there’s no hope?

But Chen Fan remained calm.

Since it is a principle, then it can be broken.

However, Director Ma was right about one thing: this batch of porcelain was really not for sale.

Two years later, the Jingdezhen Ceramics Factory would rather distribute this batch of porcelain as welfare benefits than put it on the market.

Moreover, according to Chen Fan's understanding, this batch of porcelain was only sold once from the public, and that was at the end of the 1980s, when Beijing held a foreign sales exhibition, and the Ceramics Research Institute took out the remaining 200 pieces of porcelain and sold them to an overseas Chinese.

Yes, they only sell to overseas Chinese or foreign guests, not to domestic sales.

Therefore, Chen Fan never thought of buying this batch of ceramics in his own name. If it was just through personal connections, he could also buy a little from the Ceramics Research Institute or the Jingdezhen Ceramics Factory.

For example, the ones they are using now, but that is only a small number of scattered pieces, and don't think about getting any more.

If you want to buy all the more than two thousand pieces of porcelain that are sealed up, only letting Old Uncle come forward will there be a slight possibility.

Director Ma looked at the four people and continued, “However, considering Mr. Zhou as a patriotic overseas Chinese…”

Speaking of this, he turned his head and glanced at Chen Fan, “Back then, Ms. Zhou also gave up her comfortable life in the United States and was inspired by the motherland to resolutely return to the country and made outstanding contributions to the country's development, so the leader decided to partially agree to Mr. Zhou's request.”

Zhou Zhengdong blinked and asked puzzledly, “Partially agree?”

Director Ma nodded and explained, “We cannot agree to your request to purchase all of these products, because considering that we still need to replenish goods for Xiyuan, we must reserve a portion of the products for backup.”

Zhou Zhengdong understood and immediately nodded and asked, “Then how many can be purchased?”

Director Ma didn't beat around the bush, “The current total inventory of 7501 porcelain is more than 2,200 pieces, basically all stored in the Jingdezhen Ceramics Factory, and a very small number are left in the Ceramics Research Institute. After consideration and discussion, the Ceramics Factory can transfer a total of 1,200 pieces to you.”

Zhou Zhengdong immediately breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, “That’s okay, that’s okay.”

He asked again, “What is the price?”

When asking this, even though he had hundreds of millions of assets, he felt a little trembling in his heart.

This is a rare and exquisite ceramic in a century, and it is specially supplied to Xiyuan. From any aspect, it is of great value.

Don't drain the company's cash flow!

But letting him give up is even more impossible. Even if he is short of money, he has to take out a loan to buy it, there is no other way, it is too worth it!

Then he heard Director Ma hold up two fingers and say, "20,000."

Zhou Zhengdong was still guessing the price in his mind. When he heard this, he instantly widened his eyes, "How much?"

Director Ma was a little embarrassed when he saw his reaction, and explained, “At that time, Jiangxi specifically allocated 35,000 yuan to develop this kind of porcelain, and the Ceramics Research Institute also invested a lot of manpower.

We asked the Ministry of Commerce to do the accounting. After comprehensively considering various costs, we set this price, and…"

He smiled slightly awkwardly, “And this price has been discounted, otherwise, according to the average price of 20 yuan per piece, it would cost 24,000 yuan in total.”

Zhou Zhengdong gasped, paused for two seconds, then waved his hand and said sternly, “Don’t give me a discount, I can’t take advantage of the country, just follow what you said, a price of 20 yuan a piece, 24,000 is 24,000, I’ll pay it.”

Director Ma rubbed his hands and smiled so hard that he couldn't close his mouth, "Mr. Zhou is generous!"

After a pause, he quickly added, “I’m talking about US dollars.”

Zhou Zhengdong was about to speak when Chen Fan suddenly said from the side, “US dollars are no problem, but there is an additional condition.”

Director Ma turned to look at him and blinked lightly, “What condition?”

Chen Fan coughed lightly, “If the remaining spare porcelain is unsealed, we demand the right of first refusal.”

Director Ma hesitated for a moment, then nodded and agreed, “Okay.”

The leader had already told him that if it weren't for the issue of replenishing goods for Xiyuan, it would be okay to sell all the porcelain to Zhou Zhengdong.

So this condition is not a condition at all.

And Zhou Zhengdong and Chen Fan looked at each other and both showed smug smiles.