Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 579 Real Estate Investment

The next morning.

As the plane landed at Hongqiao Airport, Zhou Yali smiled at Chen Fan as they walked up the gangway, saying, "Now that we're in Shanghai, there's no place for you here, is there?"

Chen Fan turned to look at her and smiled slightly, "Yes. But if you don't feel comfortable, you can continue to stay in a hotel. The Jinjiang Hotel is nice; I've stayed there before, and the food in the restaurant downstairs is delicious."

"Have?"

Zhou Yali stared at him wide-eyed in surprise. "You also own a house in Shanghai?"

She spread her arms and drew a huge circle. "As big as the capital?"

She didn't even mention staying in a hotel. Staying in a hotel is nothing compared to staying at my brother's house, and besides, hotels in China aren't as comfortable as hotels in the US.

As for the restaurant's food being delicious, is it any better than my brother's cooking?
Chen Fan shook his head and smiled, "No, it's just a small villa, not big, just enough to live in."

Zhou Zhengdong stepped down the gangway, made way for him, and turned around to look at him with a puzzled expression. "You work and study in the provincial capital of Jiangnan, but you bought houses in Beijing and Shanghai. Why don't you buy one in the provincial capital?"

Chen Fan gestured and said as he walked forward, "I bought houses in Beijing and Shanghai by chance. There were houses available for sale, and I liked them, so I bought them. As for the house in the provincial capital, it's still in the planning and design stage. It's a dormitory area for my work unit. If all goes well, I should be able to move in by the end of this year."

He shrugged with a smile, "It's quite convenient to stay in the company's guesthouse now, so I didn't think about buying another one."

He had already given up his dormitory room at school; there was no way to get any peace and quiet because so many people were looking for him.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Wanru couldn't help but chuckle. "You really are suited to go to the United States. You might think that buying so many houses is for convenience or because you like them, but in the United States, there's a term for this: 'real estate investment.'"

Zhou Zhengdong chuckled softly, “Real estate investment is very popular in the United States and is also one of the core businesses of our Zhou family. When we first arrived in the United States, we stockpiled a lot of land while land prices were cheap. Later, we gradually developed some of the land near the city into residential or commercial buildings. Some were rented out and some were sold. Over the years, it has surpassed our original business of trading, and the profits are very substantial.”

The Zhou family now has a wide range of businesses, but their core assets fall into three categories: farms and urban land acquired during the economic crisis when land prices were cheap, and their original business of trading.

The farm continues to operate, and thanks to its proximity to major cities, it has no trouble selling its agricultural products. In the bank's risk assessment, it is considered a top-tier quality asset.

As for other land parcels, with the expansion of the urban area and the Zhou family's ample funds, they naturally entered the real estate industry. Wherever the city's edge expanded, their real estate development followed, and they lived a very comfortable life.

The earliest trading business was surpassed and relegated to the third tier in the family's assets.

However, as the Zhou family integrated into American society, their early simple local shop model in China was transformed into a modern trading company, divided into international and domestic divisions. Although it could not compare with multinational giants, it was still quite powerful.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the Zhou family currently only has about one hundred million US dollars in assets. As long as they don't act recklessly, even if they just maintain the status quo, these assets could be worth tens or even hundreds of billions of US dollars in a few decades.

Before the rise of the internet, being a billionaire was a very prestigious title.

When the conversation turned to topics related to his company's core business, Zhou Zhengdong was naturally interested.

After saying that, he shook his head again, "It's a pity that China has a housing allocation system, so the real estate industry simply can't take off. Otherwise, when the window of opportunity you mentioned comes, I'd like to come in and give it a try."

Chen Fan nodded slightly. In fact, my country's commercial real estate started very early, from the auction of the first commercial land in Shenzhen to the government's encouragement of the construction and sale of commercial housing in the second half of the 80s.

In particular, the first wave of real estate and land speculation on Hainan Island made many people across the country realize the investment value of real estate.

However, the real rise of the real estate market only began after the announcement of the end of the welfare housing allocation policy.

The real estate industry simply cannot develop until the welfare housing allocation system is discontinued.

Zhao Wanru, however, had a different opinion: "As the saying goes, 'It is not easy to live in Chang'an.' Even with housing allocation, economic changes are inevitable when supply and demand are tight."

She turned to look at Chen Fan and smiled, "Your houses in Lujiawan and Yunhu are one thing, but your houses in Beijing and Shanghai should be valuable. And there's still a lot of room for them to appreciate."

Zhou Zhengdong nodded slowly, "That makes sense."

At the same time, he was also thinking about whether he should try out a few small projects. If the scale wasn't too big, he shouldn't lose money.

My assistant is currently collecting information at the U.S. Liaison Office in Beijing. It just so happens that the plane to Benjamin's place departs from Beijing and transits in Shanghai. I'll add this task to the list after he flies over tomorrow and we meet up.

Chen Fan glanced at the two of them, smiled and shook his head, "It's just for personal use, so it doesn't matter whether the house price goes up or down."

Zhou Zhengdong chuckled, "That's true."

He was thinking from a businessman's perspective. If his nephew didn't want to go into the real estate business, he could just live in a house. What did it matter whether house prices went up or down? As long as he felt comfortable, that was enough.

The group chatted and laughed, and soon arrived at the exit. Following the flow of people, Chen Fan glanced around and saw a young clerk holding a sign that read "Mr. Zhou Zhengdong," his gaze constantly sweeping across the faces of the people exiting the station.

Behind him were two men who looked like officials.

Upon asking, it turned out they were indeed accompanying personnel arranged by Shanghai.

After exchanging pleasantries, Zhou Zhengdong said he wanted to stay at his nephew's house, and the accompanying official in charge of the liaison didn't say much and agreed immediately.

This isn't the first time this has happened; we still need to report to and apply to our superiors. It's just a shame about the foreign exchange room fee.

They got into a car and headed straight to Panyu Road, dropping them off at their destination. The accompanying officials then routinely reiterated the travel rules, namely that they were not allowed to wander off without permission, and if they needed to go out, they must be accompanied by one of their people.

Then they left their contact information and arranged to pick them up at 2 p.m. to visit the only remaining old friend of the Zhou family before saying goodbye and leaving.

Chen Fan called the Shanghai Writers Association yesterday and asked them to tell Jiang Lili that she would be back today, so there should be someone at home at this time, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to climb over the wall to get in since he didn't have a key.

Why not just call the textile institute directly?
Because yesterday was Sunday, school was closed. Usually, Jiang Lili stays at home on weekends and isn't at school, so she couldn't answer the phone.

Thinking about this, Chen Fan began to have doubts. He wondered if he could find someone to install a telephone at home.
The first private telephone in Shanghai after the reform and opening up was installed by a former employee of the JA District Housing Company. After resigning, he became a self-employed individual with a shop in Luodian Town, Baoshan District. His main business was to undertake maintenance and installation assistance for home decoration companies and construction companies.

In order to expand his business, he applied to the Luodian Telephone Bureau in May 1983 to install a telephone. The installation fee was 300 yuan, plus a monthly fee of 20 yuan. He could choose the extension number 388, which was considered auspicious.

After the telephone was installed, his business volume indeed increased rapidly. People loved to cooperate with him because his family had a telephone.

Back then, his tax payment alone accounted for one-third of all the individual businesses in Luodian Town, which sparked a wave of individual businesses in Shanghai vying to install telephones, and the telephone company actively cooperated.

Private telephones in Beijing came a little earlier. In the latter half of 1982, a small exchange was put into use in the Nongfengli community, and more than 100 households gradually started using home telephones.

(Beijing Daily, April 20, 1984, page 1)
However, there was still some influence from the organization involved. The first private telephone in the city that was actually installed by an individual is now impossible to verify. But shortly after this report was published, on the afternoon of May 23, 1984, a farmer came to the city telephone bureau's business office, took out a check for 2000 yuan, and applied to have a telephone installed in his home.

On the receipt the salesperson gave him, he wrote down the phone number of the first farmer in Beijing to pay for his own installation: 815059.

This was the first private telephone for a farmer in Beijing, and the installation cost 2000 yuan.

It's much more expensive than in Shanghai.

However, the monthly fee is cheaper, only 4 yuan.

Chen Fan pondered whether he could ask someone later if he could apply in his private name. If not, he would discuss with Mr. Ba about using his work unit's name to establish a connection and then transfer the account later.

There's nothing I can do; he's still not used to writing letters. It's much better to call if something comes up; writing letters is too slow.

However, to make a phone call, one can only go to a small shop nearby that partners with the telephone company. The telephones there also serve as the main means of answering calls. When someone calls, the person in charge must record the information and pass it on to the appropriate resident.

This model has existed since the 50s, originating in Beijing and then quickly spreading to several major cities.

Regardless of how well it was implemented, at least when a good person was involved, it still provided a lot of convenience for the nearby residents.

Of course, no matter how convenient it is, it's not as good as a home phone.

Chen Fan was calculating in his mind, but he didn't hesitate to press the doorbell.

Soon, the sound of light footsteps came from the courtyard. With a creak, the small door was opened, and a pretty face appeared in front of her. It was Jiang Lili, who was all smiles and her eyes were shining.

She grabbed Chen Fan's hand, her eyes wide with a smile, "You're back."

Before she could pull Chen Fan inside, a very pretty girl wearing a strange hat (a fisherman's hat) suddenly appeared next to Chen Fan, her head almost resting on his shoulder. She stared at him intently, her eyes wide open, "Wow, so pretty, bro, is this your girlfriend?"

Chen Fan held Jiang Lili's hand and walked into the courtyard first. He waved to Jiang Tiantian, who had just walked out of the gate, and waited for his uncle's family to come in one after another before clearing his throat and saying, "Let me introduce you."

Then, pointing seriously at Zhou Zhengdong and the others, he said, "This is my uncle, who came back from the United States to visit me a few days ago. This is my aunt, and this is my cousin."

Jiang Lili blushed and quickly bowed to greet them, "Hello, Uncle, Aunt, and Cousin."

As soon as she finished speaking, she was stunned. Had I called him too early? Should I call him uncle and aunt now?
She blushed instantly and unconsciously turned to the side, burying her head and hiding quietly beside Chen Fan.

Chen Fan held her hand and introduced her with a smile, "This is my girlfriend, Jiang Lili, Jiang as in ginger, and Li as in beautiful."

Then she pointed to Jiang Tiantian, who was standing in front of the door looking a little lost, and said, "This is Lili's older sister, Jiang Tiantian, Tian as in sweet."

Jiang Tiantian took a deep breath, quickly adjusted her mindset, nodded gently, thought for a moment, and decided to call out along with her younger sister.

She then bowed slightly and greeted, "Hello, Uncle; Hello, Aunt; Hello, Cousin."

There's no way around it; my sister already calls me that. If she still calls me uncle and aunt, it would seem too distant.

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan coughed lightly and said, "Well, you can just call her 'little sister,' she's younger than you."

Jiang Tiantian blushed slightly and immediately changed her address, "Hello, little sister."

The Zhou family was scrutinizing the two sisters with inquisitive eyes. One was charming and lovely, and the other was poised and elegant. They looked almost identical and were both rare beauties.

The younger sister, needless to say, immediately grabbed her nephew's hand upon meeting him, practically glued to him. The older sister, on the other hand, outwardly kept her distance, but with Zhou Zhengdong's vast experience in judging people, how could he not have noticed something amiss?

However, he didn't care. After all, it wasn't his own nephew who was suffering a loss, so what was there to be afraid of?
After Chen Fan finished his introduction, he nodded slightly and smiled at the two of them, saying, "Hello, Lili, hello, Tiantian."

Zhao Wanru and Zhou Yali also greeted each other.

Zhou Yali was still glaring at Chen Fan, but her face was full of smiles. "Little brother, why didn't you tell me in advance? I could have prepared a gift."

He then took off his backpack and rummaged through it to see what would be a suitable gift.

Jiang Lili gently squeezed Chen Fan's hand, angry that he hadn't told her in advance that her uncle's family was coming, making her look foolish and embarrassed.

Chen Fan grinned and laughed, "Well, I forgot."

He forgot something, but he was too embarrassed to say it.

What are we going to talk about?
He claims to be keeping a mistress in his Shanghai apartment, with another girlfriend living there?

That's so embarrassing!

Zhou Yali rummaged around for a while and finally found two small boxes. Without opening them, she walked over and handed one to Jiang Lili, saying with a smile, "I didn't prepare any. This is one I used myself. Don't be disgusted."

Jiang Lili tried to refuse, but Chen Fan took it and placed it in her hand, saying, "We're all family, just take it."

Forced into her hand, Jiang Lili could only blush and say, "Thank you, cousin."

Zhou Yali then walked up to Jiang Tiantian and handed her another box, saying, "It's just a small token, please don't mind."

Jiang Tiantian was even more flustered than before, and instinctively looked at Chen Fan.

Chen Fan looked up and smiled, "Keep it."

Jiang Tiantian paused for two seconds before shyly accepting, "Thank you."

Then, regaining her senses, she quickly ushered them into the house, saying, "Please come in."

The group entered the house one after another, and Chen Fan assigned them rooms, saying, "Your uncle and aunt will stay on the first floor, so they won't have to climb the stairs."

Then he looked at Zhou Yali and said, "You live on the third floor. There's plenty of space, and a big terrace. You can do whatever you want there."

Zhou Yali didn't mind at all, "Sure."

However, the next second he turned his gaze to his parents, exchanged a glance with them, and a smile flickered in his eyes.

The second floor? Of course, it's occupied by those three.

Zhou Yali glanced at her cousin again. Hey, who would have thought that someone with thick eyebrows and big eyes like you could be so good at having fun?!
Chen Fan could tell what they were thinking just by looking at their eyes, but he couldn't explain it.

People in China generally wouldn't think of it that way, but it's different in America. If a girl comes from a traditional Puritan family, she's as conservative as a lady from a noble family in feudal times, but otherwise, she's very free-spirited.

Not to mention that the United States today is a time when open cultures such as hippies, hip-hop, rock and roll, and punk are growing wildly. If you play it well, it's culture; if you play it poorly, it's just indulgence.

But where are there so many cultured people?

Ultimately, it was an era of indulgence. In America, even if they didn't do it themselves, what hadn't they seen or heard of?

It's not surprising that they would think that way.

If it were true, that would be fine, but unfortunately it isn't.

Chen Fan felt wronged, but there was nothing he could do. He could only silently carry the luggage into the room and then show them around.

"This is the living room. This is the tea cabinet, and that's a chaise lounge where you can lie down and look at the small garden outside. Behind that is the kitchen and bathroom, nothing much to see."

Huh? Need help?

No need, no need. Lili is a good cook, and Tiantian is here to help. Let's go upstairs and take a look.

"Doggy, come with me. This is the second floor. Three bedrooms, one for each person. Come on in and take a look, right? Three beds, all different."

I gave a roundabout explanation here, and regardless of whether they believed me or not, I continued browsing the third floor.

"The third floor is a study and a music room, which can also be used as a guest room. There is also an attic above, which is full of books."

Zhou Yali climbed the stairs and looked at the triangular attic filled with bookshelves, and couldn't help but gasp, "There are more books here than you had in Beijing."

Chen Fan watched her come down the stairs and smiled, "I bought these books myself. Apart from a small number of old books, the rest of the books in Beijing were bought from bookstores by Master Zhang. He doesn't know much about them, so he didn't dare to buy too many. I'll add more when I go there next time."

The group walked around the room twice. Zhou Zhengdong went to the piano, opened the lid, played a few notes, and asked curiously, "Are there still Steinway grand pianos for sale in mainland China? How much did you buy them for?"

Chen Fan gestured, "It's not expensive, two hundred and twenty yuan."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhengdong's eyes widened. "How much? So cheap?"

Chen Fan laughed and said, "I bought this at a secondhand store. The pricing rules at secondhand stores, whether it's a big brand or a small brand, are based on the category and condition, which is how I got a bargain."

He then introduced the musical instrument rack next to him, "Violins are 80 yuan, Italian brand; accordions are 60 yuan, Soviet brand; guitars are 30 yuan, these are all imported. These are domestic instruments: erhu are only 10 yuan, guqin are 50 yuan, guzheng are 55 yuan, and there are also pipa..."

After finishing the introduction, he turned around and smiled, "Cheap, right? They were all bought at the flea market. If you were to buy new ones, the price would be several times higher."

He pointed to the piano as he spoke, "This one is worth who knows how many times more, possibly dozens or even hundreds of times more. When the salesperson told me they had a Steinway piano and it was only 220 yuan, I bought it without even thinking about it."

To get this huge thing up to the third floor, we had to ask someone to help us find specialized tools, and it took a lot of effort to hoist it up.

Zhou Yali looked at the musical instruments on the shelf, turned to him, and asked, "Brother, you can play all of these instruments?"

Chen Fan laughed and said, "Why would I buy it if I didn't know how?"

Zhou Zhengdong pursed his lips and nodded slightly. "Your talent in music is even stronger than your mother's. She only knows how to play the piano, but you know so much more."

He paused for a moment, then said, "It might also be because of your father. I heard he plays the violin and harmonica and is quite talented. You must have inherited their musical talent."

Chen Fan smiled but didn't say anything.

I didn't inherit anything from anyone; I learned everything from scratch through my own hard work.

After walking around for a while, the group finally went up to the terrace.

Standing on the terrace and looking into the distance, there aren't many tall buildings, just some buildings that are a dozen or so stories high, mostly built during the Republic of China era.

Looking out, buildings, some dense and some sparse, some tall and some short, stretch out into the distance, and the summer breeze and the distant sounds of people make the place seem even more tranquil.

A moment later, Zhou Zhengdong suddenly laughed and said, "I feel that living in a place like this is not bad. It's quiet amidst the hustle and bustle, and it has a real sense of life."

Zhou Yali turned to look at him and said, "Then why don't you move here? Buy a house here too, and be my brother's neighbor."

She turned to Chen Fan and asked, "Brother, are there any houses left to buy here?"

Chen Fan: "Yes."

He looked at Zhou Yali and said, "But I don't know if foreigners can buy ordinary residential houses, I'll have to ask about that."

Many people in later generations say that the first commercial building was built in Beijing in November 1980. According to the "Beijing Real Estate Chronicle", "that year, Beijing allocated two residential buildings in the Tuanjiehu area to sell to individuals, with an average price of 180 yuan per square meter of building area."

However, strictly speaking, that is not the case.

my country's first commercial building was the "Overseas Chinese Apartment," located at 189 Yuqing Road, Shanghai. Construction began in 1956 and was completed in 1958.

This "first apartment building in New China" is eight stories high with a building area of ​​4284 square meters and a total of 35 apartments.

The project had a total investment of 70 yuan and was constructed by Shanghai Zhonghua Enterprise Company. It set numerous records at the time.

The apartment has imported wood flooring, radiators, and two elevators.

These features were unattainable for ordinary residences in Shanghai at the time. After the apartment building was completed, the owner of Shuangqing Building specially inscribed the four characters "Overseas Chinese Apartment" for the building.

This apartment is not for sale to domestic residents; it is exclusively for overseas Chinese.

The real purpose was to sell properties at high prices and raise foreign exchange.

However, overseas Chinese generously donated money, even if they didn't live there themselves, they wanted to buy a unit if they knew about it and had the means. Some overseas Chinese even bought the property and returned to China, and to this day, many descendants of these overseas Chinese still live in this apartment building.

A few years later, in 1962, when Beijing was short of foreign exchange, it followed suit and built the "Garden Village Overseas Chinese Apartments" for sale. In 1966, Guangzhou also built my country's first overseas Chinese residential area, "Overseas Chinese New Village".

Whether it was due to adherence to tradition or someone's directive, it became almost a rule that overseas Chinese could only buy apartments or new villages for overseas Chinese, while ordinary residences were rarely sold to overseas Chinese or foreigners.

Whether it's for real or a joke, it won't be easy for Zhou Zhengdong and his group to buy a house here.

(End of this chapter)