Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 567 Cause and Effect
The provincial capital, the Yangtze River Hotel.

Unlike later international hotel standards, where guesthouses were classified as lower than hotels, in mainland China before the reform and opening up, most inns were named either guesthouses or inns; larger ones were called guesthouses, and smaller ones were called inns.

Only a very few coastal areas or old shops that have existed since the Republic of China era use "hotel" or "restaurant" as a suffix. So, at that time, "hotel" did not mean that the hotel was of low quality; it was just a different naming convention.

As the best hotel in the province, it was naturally designated as a hotel for receiving foreign guests.

However, in Chen Fan's view, it was really just so-so. The hardware facilities in the room were not as good as those in the Cultural Palace Guesthouse. It was just that the space was larger, the environment was better, and the service was better. All the staff there were in accordance with the "foreign-related service standards" required by the ministries.

For example, you should greet guests, clean the rooms every day, not touch guests' belongings left in the rooms, and promptly address guests' reasonable requests...

In fact, it's not even comparable to a random star-rated hotel in later generations.

Such is the way things are in this era, and there's no need to force it. We are all masters of society, so a little pride is understandable.

So now that Chen Fan's cup is empty, he has to pour it himself.

This is a medium-sized conference room in the hotel, with a layout similar to a government office's reception room. The floor is covered with a thick carpet, and there is no conference table, only a circle of single sofas around it, with a coffee table between every two sofas, and two cups of tea on the coffee table.

It's like a bilateral leaders' meeting.

Sitting at the head of the table was a high-ranking official from the province in charge of the United Front Work Department. Beside him sat leaders from the Propaganda Department, the United Front Work Department, and the Culture Department, followed by He Qingsheng and Chen Fan.

He Qingsheng was only able to get in because of Chen Fan; otherwise, he wouldn't even have been qualified to squeeze in here.

Although Chen Fan is the main character today, he can only sit at the back for the time being.

There's no way around it. I heard that the higher authorities are paying more attention to united front work. Even ordinary overseas Chinese returning to China have someone to accompany them. If it's a foreign guest with a certain social status, like Hideo Takahashi, then an official needs to step in. Last time, it was Section Chief Zhao who accompanied Takahashi to find his relatives.

After the emphasis was placed on united front work, when Chen Fan's "uncle" came to him, this senior New York lawyer, who was said to hold an important position in the New York Bar Association, naturally became the most important united front target of the province and even the United Front Work Department.

Chen Fan felt a little guilty about this.

Lawyers, it's one of the professions I love most and am best at finding evidence. I hope they won't ask me to reinvestigate my background.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but turn his gaze to his "uncle" who was "having a pleasant conversation" with the big boss.

He was around 50 years old, 1.7 meters tall, and wearing a beige polo shirt, which was Ralph Lauren's shirt that beat Lacoste a few years ago to become the world's number one polo shirt brand.

The brand logo is the one of someone riding a horse and wielding a polo mallet.

This is one of the most popular brands among America's elite, and it's quite expensive.

However, the H-belt around his waist was more eye-catching.

Perhaps none of them, from the bigwigs to He Qingsheng, knew what it meant, but Chen Fan did.

Without making a sound, he smacked his lips and looked down to see a pair of trousers with wide-legged cuffs, resembling bell-bottoms.

This is also the most popular fashion style in the United States this year. If he wears a suit, the suit should have high shoulder pads, be very loose in the upper part, narrow at the waist, and then widen again at the hem, like a blooming flower.

This combination creates a very fashionable suit.

(This kind)
Needless to say, he was wearing a pair of shiny black leather shoes.

With that outfit, he's definitely an elite individual.

This time, he didn't come alone; he brought his family with him.

The middle-aged woman next to him, who seemed to still have a bit of a vintage feel, was wearing a suit with few other accessories, except for an exquisite ladies' watch on her wrist. This was his aunt.

My aunt is not a lawyer, but a "media person" who works for WETM-TV, the New York Broadcasting Station, which is the New York radio station that was formerly part of NBC (National Broadcasting Company) and later transformed into a television station. She is now a member of NBC's New York television station team.

Because of U.S. broadcasting and communications legislation, there is no single national television station in the United States. Instead, there are broadcast television networks composed of multiple local television stations. Therefore, WETM-TV can be considered equivalent to NBC.

Judging from her attire and demeanor, she shouldn't be a lower-level employee; she's at least a mid-level manager, though I wonder which department she's in charge of.

In addition, she is a contributing writer for The New York Times.

In any case, the attitude of another white foreigner towards the couple speaks volumes.

Next came a girl who looked to be under 20, wearing a shirt, jeans, and sneakers. She sat quietly next to her mother, but her eyes kept glancing at Chen Fan.

Their eyes met, and they exchanged a smile.

Chen Fan smiled with pursed lips, secretly thinking to himself, "As expected, most of the people living there are very outgoing."

As for the last two white men, I introduced them when we met earlier. One was the deputy liaison officer at the U.S. Liaison Office in Beijing, and the one who was very welcoming to my uncle and his wife. The other was my uncle's assistant, who is also a lawyer.

The meeting lasted a little over half an hour, neither too short nor too long. Our leader spoke first, outlining my country's current policies and expressing particular welcome to overseas Chinese to come back and visit more often, communicate more with their relatives in China, and send more money.

Well, sending money isn't quite that direct. It's more like saying that China has abundant and high-quality products that can alleviate homesickness, so you might as well buy more... something like that.

Attorney-at-Law James Chow (originally meaning Mr. or Gentleman, but in the US it's a title reserved for lawyers regardless of gender) first expressed his gratitude for the warm reception from China, welcomed and appreciated the changes in relevant policies, and stated his willingness to bring back the true situation in China and share it with the vast number of overseas Chinese, while also hoping for more exchanges with China.

Chen Fan summarized it roughly: a lot of nice words, but not a single practical benefit.

As expected of a lawyer, he speaks flawlessly, but there's not a single solid point in his words.

However, the atmosphere was very harmonious, fully demonstrating the mature political qualities of both sides.

After the meeting, the provincial leaders didn't linger and shook hands with Zhou Zhengdong to say goodbye.

The others followed him and left.

He Qingsheng patted Chen Fan's arm and whispered, "Relax, just say what's on your mind."

Chen Fan smiled and saw him out of the conference room. Only after they had gone far away did he turn around and go back inside.

The two foreigners greeted Zhou Zhengdong, then smiled at Chen Fan and followed him out.

In the end, only their "family" remained.

Only after the door closed did Zhou Zhengdong let out a long breath, staring at Chen Fan as he walked straight over. His first words were, "I heard you changed your birth date to the first day of the twelfth lunar month?"

Chen Fan blinked, hesitated for two seconds, and then said, "Ah, right."

Despite his efforts to suppress his emotions, Zhou Zhengdong's eyes were already a little red. He nodded with emotion, "Good boy, good boy."

Chen Fan pursed his lips, unsure of what expression to give.

When Zhu, the police officer, went to see Chen Fan with his file, he told him that the first day of the twelfth lunar month was Chen Fan's mother's birthday, and according to the file, his own birthday should be the 14th day of the first lunar month.

But his own birthday was indeed the first day of the twelfth lunar month, so he insisted on not changing it. He never expected that his uncle, who had come to his door, would break his composure. Zhou Zhengdong composed himself, raised his head, and continued, "When you were born, your mother and I corresponded frequently. She talked a lot about you, but..."

My emotions, which I had just managed to adjust, are starting to feel disjointed again.

Zhou Yali immediately came over and took his arm. "Daddy, let's sit down and talk."

Zhou Zhengdong nodded, turned around, and sat down in his usual spot.

This time it was Chen Fan's turn to be "awesome." He plopped down in the spot where the big shot had just been sitting, and even brought over his own teacup.

He didn't know what to talk about.

If the conversation is about anything else, whether it's astronomy, geography, music, chess, calligraphy, painting, medicine, divination, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, etc., he can always chime in and never let the conversation falter.

The only thing I'm not familiar with is family ties; I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with them before and after wearing this outfit.

He could only cough dryly and pick up the kettle behind the coffee table to pour water.

Seeing Chen Fan like this, Zhou Zhengdong smiled and nodded with satisfaction. He then glanced at his daughter, his lips slightly pursed, as if he were somewhat disgusted.

Zhou Yali pouted. She didn't have to do any housework at home, and she had never actually done anything like pouring tea.

Chen Fan poured the water, put the kettle aside, and when he saw the three people still staring at him, he grinned.

Zhou Zhengdong looked at him with a hint of sadness in his eyes. After he sat down, he sighed and said, "You look a lot like your mother, only she is more gentle."

He then leaned back in his chair, staring unfocused ahead, and slowly recounted what had happened back then.

Chen Fan listened attentively, but his expression remained tense, making him appear somewhat serious.

To put it simply, the Zhou family's ancestral home was in Liaoning in Northeast China, while their business base was in Tianjin. Back then, they were considered high-class landlords and wealthy merchants in Northeast China. Relying on the resources of Northeast China, they operated "Northern goods" in major ports like Tianjin and Shanghai, making a fortune and accumulating considerable wealth.

Later, when the Northeast fell to the Japanese, the Zhou family lost its foundation. After struggling to survive for a year, they discovered that Xiao Liuzi and Lao Chang had no intention of recovering the lost territory, which greatly disappointed the Zhou family patriarch.

Coupled with the chaotic domestic situation at the time, the Zhou family, having lost its foundation, was unwilling to be at the mercy of others any longer. So, Old Master Zhou made a tough decision, sold off all his assets, and through the connections of several foreign clients, took his family and old servants across the ocean to the United States.

What was the situation in the United States at that time?

You all know about the Great Depression of 1929, right? The one where milk was dumped into the river, it's even in textbooks.

The Great Depression lasted for 33 years before it ended. The Zhou family arrived 32 years later, but even then, more than 200 million Americans were still homeless, including farmers who went bankrupt due to three years of drought, once well-dressed middle-class people, and even some small business owners, bankers, etc. In short, it was quite tragic.

This is not the worst.

In search of work, some people waited outside Detroit job agencies all night; one Arkansas man walked 1500 kilometers in search of work; Manhattan advertised 300 jobs but attracted 5000 applicants; and a guy in Washington state set fire to the woods to get hired as a firefighter.

It's all for a bite to eat.

Surprisingly, these statistics do not include 1100 million rural households.

Most importantly, this economic depression, which originated in the United States, quickly spread to Europe, ... and then made an art student.

It was under these circumstances that the entire Zhou family eventually made their way to the United States.

But in the eyes of the old man Zhou, the devastation was a gold mine!
Cheap land everywhere, and laborers who work for free with just a bite to eat—were the Western powers really in such dire straits?!

This immediately revealed the Zhou family's anxiety about being far from home.

Then the old man began to show off his skills.

Unlike many Chinese who set their sights on San Francisco, their first stop in the United States, he took the advice of his American friends and traveled across the country to New York, then the most prosperous city in the country.

Then they started buying land, hiring people, and going all out.

In this process, he did not choose to keep it all to himself. Instead, he understood the principle that even a powerful dragon cannot suppress a local snake. In addition, with the friendly advice of his American clients and old friends, he began to make friends widely.

From police officers and sheriffs to city councilors, everyone was a target for his connections.

After the Great Depression subsided, the Zhou family had established a firm foothold in New York. As for the "new friends" they had made, given that the Zhou family's actions had been a lifeline, they did not turn their backs on them after their resurgence. Instead, they cooperated with the Zhou family within the bounds of their power, achieving a "win-win" situation.

Later, the Zhou family established themselves in the business world, and as their children grew up, they sent their youngest son, Zhou Zhengdong, to New York University to study law.

Because being a lawyer is a profession that easily transcends social classes, studying law and becoming a lawyer not only makes it easier to build connections with people from all walks of life, but also makes it easier for the Zhou family to seek transformation in the future and become a truly influential family.

Unfortunately, just as her youngest son, Zhou Zhengdong, finally obtained his law license and joined the best law firm in New York, her eldest daughter, Zhou Ruolin, left a letter and tried every means to return to China.

After that, he lived in constant fear, first with the war in the north, and then with famine.

They had limited access to information while abroad and could only read Chinese newspapers, but the newspapers were almost entirely filled with bad news. Even though their daughter would write back several letters every year to let them know she was safe, they still couldn't stop worrying.

Later, they lost contact.

A few years later, the family elders passed away, leaving Zhou Zhengdong and a few loyal servants to support the Zhou family.

Fortunately, Mr. Zhou left behind a lot of connections, and Zhou Zhengdong was not an incompetent person.

Just a few years ago, thanks to the Zhou family's vast assets and various exchanges of interests, coupled with his wife's family being a prominent Chinese family in San Francisco, Zhou Zhengdong finally became a partner at a major law firm and joined the New York Bar Association, where he was elected as a board member.

He and Mo Hu, the first Chinese to become a senior prosecutor, were considered equals in New York.

Despite his smooth-sailing career, the only thing Zhou Zhengdong couldn't let go of was his sister who had risked her life to return to China years ago.

So in March, someone finally found him and told him about his sister's family situation, which made him both sad and heartbroken.

However, his experiences from childhood had instilled in him a cautious personality, so he did not set off immediately. Instead, he arranged his family and official affairs while having someone inquire about the veracity of the information.

Fortunately, after the 70s, China and the United States established liaison offices in each other's countries, which made many things much easier.

In addition, Chen Fan was a celebrity, so his information was easy to find. So, not long after, information about him was sent over directly.

After seeing Chen Fan's photo, Zhou Zhengdong noticed that he looked remarkably similar to his elder sister. This dispelled his doubts, and he quickly completed the formalities and brought his whole family to meet Chen Fan.

After Zhou Zhengdong finished speaking, Chen Fan adjusted his position and found a more comfortable posture.

This is truly a moving story.

If it were written into a novel and then adapted into a TV series, it would probably be considered a period drama, right?
(End of this chapter)