Reborn in 1977

The last time Chen Fan accompanied his uncle's family back to Lujiawan, he heard Zhang Wenliang and the others say that the business in Lujiawan was getting bigger and bigger.

It wasn't that they had opened several more stores, but mainly that they had connected with the machinery factory and cotton mill through Chen Fan's connections.

These two factories were not comparable to the water transport companies, hospitals, and other units they started with last year.

On the one hand, they had a large number of people, both being factories with tens of thousands of workers. On the other hand, as everyone knows, the larger the factory, the better the benefits.

Lujiawan supplied logistics to the two factories, including cooked food and live poultry. It was by opening up these two channels that they were able to smoothly take over the poultry and livestock from the four production teams, including Bailang Lake.

Precisely because of this, the leaders of the brigade readily agreed to the Qingshan Commune's request to get rich together.

Chen Fan looked at Xiao Liewen's smiling face, took out a Yunyan cigarette he had swiped from someone, handed one to him, and then lit one himself.

After exhaling a puff of smoke, he looked at Xiao Liewen with a troubled expression, "Captain, I remember Master Zhu mentioned before that there was a time when pork was sold without coupons and still couldn't be sold. Is that true?"

Xiao Liewen had just picked up the cigarette and brought it to his eyes, noticing that it was a filter-tipped Yunyan. He was about to ask where he got it from.

Hearing Chen Fan's words, he was stunned for a moment, turned to look at him, and thought for a moment before saying, "I remember there was such a thing. I remember I asked my son to buy half a jin of pork from the street when I heard that pork didn't require coupons."

He tilted his head, looking at Chen Fan in confusion, "Why are you suddenly bringing this up?"

Chen Fan smiled and said, "Back then, you only bought half a jin of pork when it didn't require coupons?"

Xiao Liewen couldn't help but laugh when he heard this, "What, are you saying half a jin is too little?"

He chuckled and said, "Why don't you go out and ask around? How many families ate meat every day back then? It was good enough to buy two liang of meat during festivals."

Chen Fan clicked his tongue, "That's too bad. Pork didn't require coupons anymore, why didn't you buy more?"

Xiao Liewen rolled his eyes, "Who doesn't want to eat meat every day? But you need money in your pocket to do that!"

After taking a puff of smoke, he suddenly reacted, turned to look at Chen Fan, "There's something behind your words, isn't there?"

Chen Fan chuckled and said, "Captain, you just said that even if there were two more communes, you could still sell everything. I just want to ask, can you really sell everything?"

Xiao Liewen frowned and stared at him intently, "If you have something to say, just say it."

Chen Fan nodded, "That's what I'm thinking. In the entire Yunhu area, there are only a few units with good benefits: the machinery factory, including the newly established Yunhu Automobile Factory, counts as one, the cotton mill counts as one, and then there's our Lujiawan.

What about the rest? It's not that they're bad. For example, the Daily Chemical Factory, the Water Transport Company, the Passenger Transport Company, the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, etc., any of these units can be considered good welfare.

But."

Chen Fan leaned against the table, smiled at Xiao Liewen, "Just like pork didn't require coupons back then, does that mean that the employees of these units will eat meat every day just because it doesn't require coupons?"

Xiao Liewen frowned and pondered, not saying a word.

Chen Fan took a puff of smoke and continued, "Looking at the present, the Luwan Cooked Food Store occupies the convenience of the wharf and has customers from several large units such as the health system, the cotton mill, and the machinery factory, so the business is indeed booming.

But then what?"

He looked at Xiao Liewen, the smile on his face gradually fading, and said seriously, "There are only a few good units, and more are ordinary units. Jiangnan Province is a Class 6 wage area. Senior workers aside, the salary of an ordinary formal worker is just over 30 yuan. Unless it's a dual-income family, one worker has to support 3 to 5 people.

If there are a few poor relatives who need help here and there, borrowing a little from the east and a little from the west, if they can spend 6 or 7 yuan per person per month on food, that's considered good.

Back then, pork didn't require coupons, but not many people bought pork. Why? Ordinary people couldn't afford it, and those who could afford it didn't dare to splurge.

Is it possible to expect other units to be like the employees of the machinery factory and the cotton mill, eating chicken, duck, and meat every day?"

After the reform and opening up, there were no longer restrictions on raising livestock in rural areas, and indeed, many farmers and planters took the lead in getting rich. The first person in Beijing to buy a private car was a chicken farmer who could produce thousands of eggs every day in his farm. After earning money, he spent more than 10,000 yuan to buy a used Toyota car.

But this was only a very small number after all.

In the countryside, most people still relied on the weather to make a living.

Was it that they didn't want to raise more chickens and take them to the market to sell? ... Ordinary people had no connections or channels and could only take them to the market to sell.

But city people didn't eat meat every day either. It was not uncommon for a chicken to be taken in and out for half a month before it was sold.

If demand is not strong, supply will naturally shrink.

Even the famous "Vegetable Basket Project" was only proposed in the late 1980s, after the income of urban residents had increased significantly, based on demand.

Without high income, how can there be high consumption?!

That's the situation now.

In Chen Fan's opinion, it was just right for Lujiawan to get rich together with the other four production teams of Nanhua Commune.

But if the Qingshan Commune next door was added, he would have reservations.

After listening to Chen Fan's words, Xiao Liewen's scalp tingled, and his previous smugness had long been thrown to the winds.

He took two hard puffs of smoke, then suddenly stood up, opened the cabinet behind him, pushed aside a few Type 56 rifles, and took out a walkie-talkie from the innermost part.

A walkie-talkie???

Chen Fan looked at the brick-sized walkie-talkie, not blinking an eye. When did they buy this thing?

Xiao Liewen held the walkie-talkie, first checked if the channel was correct, then held it to his mouth, his face like a general commanding a battle on the battlefield, and shouted in a deep voice, "Hello, hello, this is Xiao Liewen, this is Xiao Liewen, please answer if you hear, please answer if you hear."

Soon, several voices came from the walkie-talkie.

"This is Lao Yang, this is Lao Yang, I'm here, I'm here."

"This is Lao Zhang, this is Lao Zhang, I'm here, I'm here."

"This is Lao Ye, this is Lao Ye, I'm here, I'm here."

"This is Sanhu, this is Sanhu, Master, what's the matter? I'm busy here. A few wild boars just ran over from Yangshan Commune, swimming across the river. I'm busy hunting wild boars."

Chen Fan: Everyone has one? That's generous!

Xiao Liewen said with a dark face, "What time is it, and you're still hunting wild boars? I think you're the pig."

Chen Fan: Suppressing a laugh.

The next second, Captain Zhang's voice came out, "Cough cough, Lao Xiao, it's okay to scold your apprentice, but don't broaden the scope of the attack."

Xiao Liewen rolled his eyes, "Stop talking nonsense. Xiao Chen is back, you all come back quickly."

Secretary Yang, "Xiao Chen is back? That's great. Didn't Sanhuzi hunt a wild boar? Let him show off his skills."

Chen Fan couldn't care less about suppressing his laughter and quickly said, "My apprentice hasn't processed wild boar before. Take it to my house and give it to Huang Li to handle."

Xiao Liewen was also stunned, "That girl knows how to butcher a pig?"

Chen Fan chuckled, "It's a rare opportunity. It's not like she's slaughtering the pig alone. Let Brother Sanhu assist, she'll do the cutting, and I'll be there to guide her. I guarantee there won't be any problems."

Xiao Liewen, with a dark face, picked up the walkie-talkie and said, "Sanhu, take one over to Little Chen's house. We'll be there right away."

After a pause, he continued, "Alright, stop watching, something's happened. There's a problem with the contract from the Qingshan Commune. Little Chen just told me. Hurry over, I mean to Little Chen's house, let's discuss it together."

As soon as he said this, Secretary Yang and the others stopped joking and replied, "Received."

Before Xiao Liewen could put the walkie-talkie away, Chen Fan approached him, "Let me take a look at this."

Xiao Liewen was annoyed at this moment and immediately said, "It's just a walkie-talkie, what's there to see?"

Despite saying that, he still handed it to Chen Fan.

Chen Fan took it and weighed it in his hand, "Goodness, this is quite heavy."

(Chrysanthemum brand walkie-talkie, produced by Jiangnan Electronics Factory, as big as a mobile phone)

He studied it for a moment, then handed the walkie-talkie back to Xiao Liewen, "This isn't cheap, is it?"

Xiao Liewen put the walkie-talkie away, then locked the cabinet, saying at the same time, "The handset isn't expensive, but the radio station is. That radio station can support 20 handsets and cost several thousand yuan."

He put the key in his pocket, tidying up as he said, "We had to buy this thing. Ever since Lujiawan became famous, people often come to visit and learn. Some give us a heads-up in advance, while others don't even bother, but they have letters of introduction, so we can't just ignore them.

Back then, the most troublesome thing was finding people. Once Lao Yang and the others went out, we wouldn't know which team they were in. To facilitate communication, the commune suggested we get a radio station and each carry a walkie-talkie."

He gestured to Chen Fan and walked out, chuckling, "But I must say, this thing is really useful. Not only in Lujiawan, but throughout the entire Nanhu Commune, including parts of the Qingshan Commune to the east and the Yangshan Commune to the west, you can hear it.

You just saw, you can just shout into this thing, it's much more convenient than before."

Chen Fan followed beside him, curiously asking, "Are we responsible for the food and lodging of those visiting people, or are they responsible for themselves?"

Xiao Liewen's face stiffened, and he turned to look at him.

I'm talking to you about the walkie-talkie, and you're asking me who's responsible for food and lodging?

That's completely irrelevant!

Chen Fan looked at his expression and couldn't help but chuckle, "Walkie-talkies, I understand this stuff. Every ship in the Water Transportation Company is equipped with a shortwave radio. But this thing is indeed useful, the money wasn't wasted."

The corner of Xiao Liewen's mouth twitched slightly. Could you be any more perfunctory?

He pushed a bicycle out of the courtyard and was about to speak when Chen Fan suddenly whistled.

The next second, a neighing sound rang out, and the sound of the mare's hooves could be heard coming from afar.

Xiao Liewen couldn't help but smile again, "Your horse is incredibly intelligent. It's a pity there's no war now, otherwise, it would definitely be a good warhorse."

Chen Fan nodded first, then shook his head, "It's a good horse, but it's not suitable as a warhorse, mainly because it's too timid, and its speed isn't top-notch either.

Its son, on the other hand, is not bad. When it grows up in a few years, it will definitely be a top-notch warhorse."

Although warhorses generally need to be castrated, it also depends on the situation. With Chen Fan's personal training, the foal will naturally not be as prone to manic behavior as a wild horse. It retains its fierce nature and is still obedient. This is the most superior warhorse.

But as Xiao Liewen said, there is no war now, so even the best horses can only be kept locked up and watched. Forging ahead on the battlefield is out of the question.

When the mare arrived, Chen Fan leaped onto the horse.

Xiao Liewen couldn't help but nod secretly when he saw his posture.

His skills have improved again.

Chen Fan rode the horse, and Xiao Liewen rode the bicycle, heading towards the 6th team again.

Once they left the 5th team, Xiao Liewen continued the previous topic, "In the beginning, when people came to visit and learn, we still treated them to a few meals. As for lodging, we don't have a guesthouse in our team, and staying at the brigade headquarters is even more inappropriate, so naturally, they could only go to the guesthouse in town.

Later on, more and more people came to visit. Sometimes there were four or five groups a day.

At that time, a few of us discussed it and also talked to Secretary Qian of the commune. In the end, we decided to no longer entertain these people who came to visit and learn."

He turned to look at Chen Fan and smiled, "Spending money is a minor issue. The money our team earns in a day is enough to feed these people well for a year. The main thing is that those people, seeing that there's free food and drink, some even stay and refuse to leave, which delays things."

Chen Fan couldn't help but chuckle when he heard this.

You have to say, there are indeed many people like this.

For example, with business trips, some people are particularly unwilling to go on business trips, even if they get a subsidy. Because business trips are tiring. Whether it's a train, car, or ship, they're all slow, and constantly changing vehicles is a hassle.

So, anyone with slightly better conditions is unwilling to go out.

But some people really want to go on business trips.

First of all, there is a subsidy for business trips. Depending on the unit's benefits, it ranges from 50 cents to 1.5 yuan per day. Cadres get even more, some getting 2.5 yuan a day.

The state only stipulates the wage level standards, but it doesn't stipulate the specific amount of welfare subsidies. As long as it's not too outrageous, the competent department won't interfere with how the units below set their welfare.

In fact, the competent department is quite happy for the subordinate units to set their welfare a little higher. After all, this creates room for manipulation.

In addition to the business trip subsidy, there is also a benefit that can be exchanged for national grain coupons.

Besides not being limited to the place of use, the most important thing about national grain coupons is that they have no "expiration date." Local grain coupons have a time limit, generally only valid for the current month, and expire after that.

As a result, many families store national grain coupons like money, in case of need.

So, there are benefits to going on business trips, and some people are particularly willing to run around. If the time is long enough, the subsidy can even be higher than the salary.

In addition, going on business trips to other places allows you to often bring back specialties that cannot be bought locally, which is another benefit.

The people who come to visit Lujiawan are the same.

Since there is good food and drink here, and it's free, of course, people don't want to leave.

Just find an excuse that they haven't learned enough, stay for three to five days, how much grain and money can they save?!

Seeing that Chen Fan understood, Xiao Liewen chuckled, "I must say, ever since we started charging, those learning groups that used to stay for 3 days, or even a week, now mostly leave after only one or two days, which also saves us trouble."