Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 600 Opening a Cafeteria

When passing by the fields of Team 6, Chen Fan greeted Captain Yang and invited him to come over for dinner later. Of course, the storekeeper Huang and accountant Liu would also be there.

Soon after they returned home, Yang Mei immediately came over to lead the horse to the stable in the back.

The oriole then ran over and asked, "Should we sit inside or outside?"

Chen Fan turned to look at Xiao Liewen, clearly indicating that he should make the decision.

Xiao Liewen gestured, "It's too hot inside. You have some shade here, so let's sit outside."

Huang Li and Liu Lu immediately moved a table out of the restaurant and then busied themselves getting a teapot.

When the tea was served, Chen Fan gestured to Liu Lu, "Bring me the pipe."

Xiao Liewen sat down at the table, looked through the railing at the pandas in the enclosure, and asked seriously, "How do you think we should resolve this?"

Chen Fan sat down on the other side and exhaled a long breath. "Simple, we'll talk about it together once Secretary Yang and the others are all here."

Seeing his confidence, Xiao Liewen breathed a sigh of relief.

If possible, he naturally didn't want the cooperation with Qingshan Commune to fall through.

Building a hydroelectric power station is one aspect; on the other hand, these days, anyone who cares about their reputation believes in keeping their word and tries not to go back on their promises.

Of course, if there's really no other way, he won't pretend to be something he's not and insist on taking the blame, exchanging the benefits of Lujiawan for someone else.

That's not about saving face, that's about being stupid. He used to fight with allied forces for spoils of war, he wouldn't do something so pointless.

Liu Lu went up and down the stairs and quickly brought over the long-unused dry tobacco pipe, and carefully filled the pipe with more than half a bag of tobacco.

Chen Fan opened his pipe, pinched out a wad of tobacco and stuffed it into the bowl, lit a match, took a couple of puffs, and started chatting with Xiao Liewen about everyday things.

Nearly an hour later, Secretary Yang and his team finally arrived one after another.

Secretary Yang pushed his bicycle uphill, first stopping it by the woods, then wiped the sweat from his face as he walked this way. "I'm exhausted. I came all the way from Team 12. I went back to the brigade to drop off some things first, and I didn't even have a sip of water before rushing here."

Chen Fan immediately handed him a bowl of cold tea, saying, "Please have some first."

Secretary Yang didn't stand on ceremony, took the tea and gulped it down in a few mouthfuls. Then he picked up the teapot to pour himself some water, and looked at the two of them at the same time, asking, "What's going on?"

Just as Chen Fan was about to speak, Captain Zhang and Captain Ye pushed the cart up, followed by Zhang Wenliang.

There was a wooden plank behind Zhang Wenliang's car, and a half-grown wild boar was placed on it.

Upon seeing Chen Fan, he laughed and called out, "My patrol team has been patrolling for more than half a month, only hunting rabbits and badgers. Today, as soon as you come back, we hunted a few wild boars. They came especially to bring you food."

Chen Fan grinned and walked over with the cigarettes in hand. He first offered one to Secretary Yang, Captain Zhang, and Captain Ye, then walked up to him and handed him most of the pack.

He then untied the ropes binding him, picked up the wild boar with one hand, and said, "Hmm, a boar weighing over 90 pounds, the meat is not bad."

Turning to the oriole, he waved and said, "Find a board and move it to the back. Today I'll teach you how to cut meat."

Huang Li and Yang Mei immediately brought out a wooden plank. Chen Fan put the pig on it, and the two girls pressed the plank down a bit before lifting it further with renewed vigor.

After downing two bowls of cold tea, Secretary Yang caught his breath and looked at the two girls struggling to lift the pig. He couldn't help but laugh and said, "Not bad, they can lift something that weighs over a hundred pounds. How old are they?"

Chen Fan watched their backs as they walked away. "These three are all about the same age, around 15 or 6 this year."

Captain Zhang drank a bowl of tea, lit a cigarette and took a couple of puffs, then continued, "Sixteen is just the beginning of a girl's life. If it were a boy, he could carry it all by himself without any problem, but for a girl to have this much strength is quite impressive."

Chen Fan smiled and said, "Huang Li is learning cooking, and Yang Mei is learning winemaking. If they don't have the strength, they won't be able to hold an iron pot or move a wine jar in the future."

Once Zhang Wenliang and the others had caught their breath, Chen Fan gestured, "Should we go check the back, or sit and rest here?"

Secretary Yang hummed twice, "Let's go, we can't sit still anyway, we might as well hear what's going on."

As he spoke, he walked towards the back of the house.

Xiao Liewen walked beside him, looked back at the group, and, finding that they could all hear him, relayed what Chen Fan had said earlier to them.

Finally, he said, "To be honest, I think what Xiao Chen said makes some sense. For example, in our production team, when we didn't have money, we didn't dare to buy this or that either, did we?"

The situation in the city is similar. Although workers have a guaranteed income regardless of drought or flood, their wages are fixed. They can afford to eat meat once or twice a month to improve their meals. It's unlikely they'd be purchasing large quantities of poultry and livestock like machine factories or cotton mills.

Secretary Yang's brows were tightly furrowed. After he finished speaking, he let out a long breath after a while. "I've been thinking about this for the past two days. Even if we put in some effort and reach out to other units, or even go a step further and open up a channel with the food company to become their supply base, we can absorb the increased supply from Qingshan Commune."

What happens after that?

He turned his head and looked around. "Gufeng County has nearly 20 communes. Although there is a reason to build a hydroelectric power station, and we agree to accept the goods from Qingshan Commune, won't the other communes have something to say?"

By this time, everyone had reached the bottom of the slope. Huang Li and the other two were busy making preparations, while Chen Fan pulled out a box from the roof shelf of the livestock shed.

Open the box and take out a set of knives.

He crafted all these knives himself, their blades gleaming coldly. Each knife is sheathed in a leather sheath, giving them a professional look.

Captain Zhang, who was standing next to Secretary Yang, continued, "Won't they have other ideas? Many of those people who came to visit and learn a few days ago were thinking of taking advantage of our opportunities."

Captain Ye nodded slightly, his smile carrying a hint of pride, but also a touch of helplessness. "Raising chickens, ducks, and geese boils down to two things: feed and disease prevention. But as long as you're willing to use your brain, there are always ways to solve these problems. Learning from us how to raise earthworms, or asking the commune's veterinary station for help—these are all solutions."

But there was one problem: how to sell the chickens, ducks, and geese they raised. No one dared to make such a bold claim.

They can't just open a delicatessen like us, but it's not something they can do whenever they want. At the very least, they can't get into places like passenger terminals and long-distance bus stations. Once they leave the terminals, how many chickens can a delicatessen sell?

A stable sales channel is Lujiawan's biggest asset.

Xiao Liewen threw down his cigarette butt, stomped it out, and looked up at Chen Fan. "Xiao Chen, you just said the solution is simple. Now that everyone is here, you can tell me, right?"

At this moment, Chen Fan was explaining the use of various knives to Huang Li. "This long and thin one is a bloodletting knife used to bleed pigs. This is a skinning knife. This largest one is a bone-splitting knife. This small one is a deboning knife. This is a meat-splitting knife. This is a meat-slicing knife. ... This pig has just been killed and the blood hasn't been drained yet. Here, hold the knife and stab it from here."

Huang Li's face was full of tension, and her hand holding the knife was trembling slightly, but she still mustered up her courage to ask, "T-Teacher, I saw them shaving the hair off the pig's throat when they slaughtered it. Do we need to shave the hair off first?"

Chen Fan shook his head. "Shaving off the hair is to clean the cut and avoid getting the pig's blood dirty. This pig's blood is no longer needed; just bleed it out."

When Huang Li mustered her courage, gripped the knife handle with both hands, shouted "Ya!", stabbed the knife in, and then pulled it out sharply, a thick stream of pig's blood slowly flowed out.

Chen Fan said, "Wait a bit, this blood will take a while to drain."

He then turned to Zhang Wenliang and shouted, "I think you all need to learn how to slaughter pigs, so that if you hunt prey and don't know how to bleed it, the meat will taste half as good."

Zhang Wenliang rolled his eyes, too lazy to pay him any attention.

I'm not a professional butcher, why all the fuss? I'm just grateful to have something to eat, why be so picky?!
Chen Fan walked over, lit another pipe, exhaled a puff of smoke to disperse the smoke exhaled by the old smokers in front of him, and then said with a smile, "Originally, I felt that Lujiawan was developing too fast and its foundation was not solid enough, so I wanted to wait a year or two before talking about this matter."

Now that an agreement has been reached with Qingshan Commune to include their five production teams in the cooperation, the only option is to move the plan forward.

Under the expectant gazes of five pairs of eyes, Chen Fan smiled and said, "The solution is simple: open a food factory and turn the meat into canned or vacuum-packed cooked food. This way, we won't have to worry about too much livestock stockpiling, and we can also enrich our product range and facilitate sales."

Secretary Yang and the others exchanged bewildered glances. Everyone knew what canned food was, but vacuum-packed food? What was that?
If you don’t understand, just ask.

Zhang Wenliang looked at Chen Fan with confusion, "What is vacuum packaging?"

Chen Fan gestured, "It's like putting it in a plastic bag and then using a machine to remove all the air inside, creating an anaerobic environment. Food packaged this way can be preserved for a long time."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Wenliang widened his eyes and said, "Packaging it in plastic bags? That would be so expensive!!"

Our current plastic production is still very low, and it mainly supplies the industrial and agricultural sectors. If it is used for daily consumer goods, the price is very low.

For example, when Zhang Wenliang went to Shanghai to buy seedlings, he brought back a plastic bag for his wife as a souvenir, which cost him 10 yuan.

Things that would be rejected even if given away for free in later generations are now considered luxuries.

It wasn't until around the mid-80s, with the successive implementation and production of several large-scale projects, that these everyday items, which were already common in the West, gradually entered people's daily lives and became commonplace.

Hearing this, Chen Fan smiled and said, "Of course I know that. The plastic bag problem isn't unsolvable..."

He paused for a moment, then suddenly stopped, and changed the subject, "Well, anyway, the development of the breeding industry in Qingshan Commune is not something that can be done in a day or two, and it will take at least half a year for the animals to be ready for market."

"Let's use this time to get the permits for the food processing plant sorted out, and also to investigate the production process. We'll make a decision then."

Actually, solving the plastic bag problem is quite simple. Plastic is a scarce industrial product in China, but it is already a common item abroad.

As long as he makes a phone call to his uncle, he can buy up all the cooked food produced in Lujiawan, not just plastic bags.

Moreover, the general direction had already been determined at that time, and they could be introduced as the first batch of foreign companies, which would serve as a model and perhaps even leave a mark in history books in the future.

On the other hand, besides plastic bags, using aluminum foil packaging is also an option. The production process of aluminum foil is not complicated; with slight modifications, aluminum foil bags suitable for food use can be produced.

Neither of these options will hinder the establishment of a food factory in Lujiawan.

However, Chen Fan didn't want to take care of everything for them.

Let them participate more so that they can better understand the hardships of starting a business, and thus cherish the hard-won achievements even more.

Having received a solution from Chen Fan, Secretary Yang and his team breathed a sigh of relief.

Although they were unsure how to set up a factory or even whether they could set one up, as long as they had a direction, they were able to overcome the difficulties and get to work.

When we first started raising livestock, wasn't this how we gradually got to where we are today?

Next, Chen Fan guided Huang Li to disassemble the wild boar piece by piece while chatting with Secretary Yang and the others.

"If you ask me, Lujiawan has so many ingredients now, and so many people come to visit and learn, why not just open a canteen?"

Secretary Yang immediately became interested upon hearing this, "What do you mean?"

Zhang Wenliang joined in the fun, "It must be a restaurant, right?"

Chen Fan said, “It’s not appropriate to call it a restaurant directly. Restaurants are managed by food companies, and you have to follow their orders. But opening a canteen is different. The village has run canteens before, and opening one again is like restarting it.”

The only difference is that the old canteen served the company members and was internal, while the current canteen is specifically for outside guests.

Moreover, the canteen used to be free, but now it charges a fee. When guests come, we order several set meals for them and then charge according to the set meal price, catering to their budget. This saves them the trouble of going to the commune for meals.

Captain Zhang pondered for two seconds and asked, "Won't the commune's state-run restaurant have any objections?"

Chen Fan chuckled and said, "What's wrong with you? Do you think we're helping them with their troubles?"

He turned to look at Zhang Wenliang, "If you don't believe me, go ask Chef Zhu at the restaurant tomorrow and see if he has any objections. He'd definitely love to!"

These days, from chefs to waiters, restaurant staff all receive fixed salaries; there are no commissions or bonuses whatsoever.

Oh, no, it's not that there were no bonuses at all.

At the end of each year, an extra 10 yuan bonus is given out, which is basically a basic benefit. Even if the restaurant doesn't have many customers all year round, this 10 yuan is still indispensable.

Therefore, the employees of the commune restaurant in Lujiawan were probably the happiest people when the canteen was set up.

Have a problem with that? Absolutely not!
Zhang Wenliang didn't even bother to ask. He wasn't stupid; Chen Fan explained it to him briefly, and he understood the reasoning.

But he also had a problem: "Where's the head chef? We can't exactly bring over Liu Jujiang from your team, can we?"

Chen Fan twirled his pipe and pointed at Huang Li, who was silently skinning and deboning the wild boar, "Why don't we just let her do it?"

The oriole looked up blankly. What was it going to do?
(End of this chapter)