Rebirth in 1960, My Industrial Age

Chapter 380 Night Talk and Guidance
The Zhou family gathering was purely for eating and drinking, and Zhou Weitian brought a bunch of fresh ingredients from the restaurant.

He, a well-known restaurant owner in the city, was the main chef today. Master Yang had a day off and went home early today.

Now their family has no worries about food, and Zhou Weitian brought only precious ingredients, including abalone and shrimp.

Although their family can afford many expensive ingredients, it is better to keep the news confidential so that everyone can feel at ease as long as they are a family.

There is no big talker in their family. Even Zhou Xianzhe and Zhou Xianrui, who like to show off the most, only brag to their friends.

When Zhou Fengnian came back, almost all his family members were there. In the hall on the first floor alone, the younger generation gathered together to chat.

Some talked about business, some talked about school, but Zhou Xianyang and his wife were obviously the main focus of the conversation as they have become very famous recently.

One of them showed up at the Canton Fair again, the other was filming a TV series, and with Zhou Fengnian's help and care, there will be another movie to shoot in the future.

The income is definitely not high, ranging from a few dozen to a few hundred yuan, but after the TV series and movies are broadcast, he will definitely become a household name.

After Zhou Fengnian pushed the door open, the younger generations chatting in the lobby on the first floor saw him coming in and all greeted him with a smile.
"Dad, you're late again."

"Uncle San, you're back."

"Hello, Third Uncle."

Zhou Fengnian also responded and greeted them one by one. Those present were either his nephews and nieces or his nephews and nieces.

However, although there are many married people, only Zhou Xianyang and Bai Qing'an have children; Zhou Weitian and Zhou Jia'an really want to have grandchildren, but after urging them more than once, the wives of Zhou Xianzhe and Zhou Xianrui just haven't gotten pregnant.

"Old Three is back? Come to the kitchen and help me. Let's compete again today."

Zhou Weitian came out of the kitchen and said, when he saw Zhou Fengnian, he pulled him to the kitchen: "Your sister-in-law and I have prepared the dishes and are just waiting to put them in the pot. Let's compete again today."

Although Zhou Weitian learned cooking skills from Zhou Fengnian, after he finished his apprenticeship he liked to compete with Zhou Fengnian in cooking skills, and he really wanted to beat Zhou Fengnian once.

In Zhou Weitian’s words, if he doesn’t defeat Zhou Fengnian once, he will always feel like he has not succeeded.

In addition to being a bit busy with the opening of the Imperial Kitchen recently, Zhou Weitian would also cook from time to time to practice his cooking skills. Compared with his third brother, he is considered diligent.

His third brother hasn't cooked for at least five or six years, so his skills must be rusty.

After being dragged away, Zhou Fengnian quickly said, "Brother, there's no need to compete. I admit that my cooking skills are not as good as yours."

"No, let's compete first. Don't let me lose to you on purpose, Third Brother, or I'll come to you every day."

Zhou Weitian refused to agree at all and dragged Zhou Fengnian towards the kitchen. He was determined to compete with his third brother again today.

In the 1960s, the two brothers were the ones who cooked at their family's New Year dinners, but this happened less frequently after the reform and opening up.

Now that Zhou's father brought it up again, they must cook for themselves. They are not too old to move.

Zhou Fengnian had no choice but to follow his elder brother into the kitchen. This villa had belonged to the Lou family before, and the Lou family often entertained guests at home. Each time they entertained, three chefs of different cuisines would prepare the food, so the kitchen was relatively large.

Now Zhou Fengnian can enjoy it, but the property rights of the villa do not belong to him. If Zhou Fengnian wants to live there, he can live there until his death, but it cannot be inherited by his descendants.

Arriving at the kitchen, Zhou Fengnian rolled up his sleeves and prepared to get started. He looked at the ingredients and didn't plan to make too much, so he agreed with his elder brother to only prepare three dishes and the rest could be left to his own devices.

After they agreed, they started to work.

Zhou Fengnian's cooking skills are locked in and will only improve, not deteriorate. Even if he doesn't enter the kitchen for ten years, his cooking skills will still be the same as they were ten years ago when he returns.

Moreover, Zhou Fengnian would read miscellaneous books and boxing manuals and recipes in his spare time, and Gu Wenjie and others had seen him doing so more than once.

Soon the kitchen was filled with smoke, the aroma of food, and the sound of spatulas.

The people in the living room in front soon smelled the fragrance of the food. Zhou Xianyang said after sniffing it, "We are in for a treat today. The cooking skills of my uncle and my dad are better than that of Master Yang. Brother Xianzhe, who do you think will win, my uncle or my dad?"

"That must be my dad. It's been a long time since Third Uncle cooked."

Zhou Xianzhe said without thinking: "A chef must be diligent. If he is not diligent, he will definitely regress. Although my father has been lazy recently, he has been more diligent than my third uncle for five or six years."

"Okay, then let's bet on a bottle of beer later. Let's not let them say anything and vote to see who cooks the best. I support my dad."

Zhou Xianyang immediately smiled and said that his father Zhou Fengnian and uncle Zhou Weitian would cook the same dish every time they competed, and they could just taste it one by one when the time came.

Zhou Xianzhe also said readily: "Okay, let's bet on one bottle."

Soon, dinner was ready. As the food was slowly served on the table, the two brothers Zhou Xianzhe and Zhou Xianyang also came forward.

After asking about the three dishes they were competing in, Zhou Xianzhe immediately started tasting them.

After tasting a few bites carefully, Zhou Xianzhe quickly pointed to the dish on the side and said, "Xianyang, there's no need to compare. The food here is delicious. I said that Uncle San's cooking skills must have declined after not cooking for a long time."

Before he could finish his words, Zhou Xianzhe was slapped in the face. He turned around and saw his father gritting his teeth and saying, "You are really my son."

Zhou Xianyang laughed out loud, then tasted it, and was extremely sure that what Zhou Xianzhe had just eaten was the cooking of his father.

It was exactly the same as he remembered. He and Bai Qing'an had always wanted to eat it, but they rarely got their father to cook.

As dinner was ready, the family members sat down at the table one after another. However, there were more people in the Zhou family now, and the two dining tables could not accommodate them all. In the end, another table was placed on the coffee table in the living room to accommodate everyone.

There was no official business to talk about during this gathering, only small talk, and most of the talk was about urging marriage. However, it was only Zhou's father who urged marriage and having children. He extremely hoped that the Zhou family would have more children, especially if they could afford it.

After dinner, they rested for a while. Those who lived a little further away went back early, while the others sat in the living room and chatted while watching TV.

A few days ago, someone from Hongjia Village came to tell Zhou's father that the village would hold a dividend distribution meeting at the end of the year and asked him when he would have time to go back.

If he doesn't go back, the accountant of the fertilizer factory can deposit the dividends into Zhou Fugui's bank account when the time comes.

The fertilizer factory has a dividend of more than 60 million this year, and the Zhou family will get more than 6 million, the largest share in the village.

Many people in the village were envious, but the Zhou family contributed the most money at the beginning, and if it weren't for Zhou Fengnian, the fertilizer plant might not have been built.

Now the fertilizer plant in Hongjia Village is very impressive, almost the largest fertilizer plant in North China.

The entire Yanhe Province, half of Henan Province, half of Shandong Province, and half of Liaoning Province all use fertilizers produced by Hongjia Village Fertilizer Factory. Now is the time for agricultural development, and after the household contract responsibility system is implemented, we will work hard.
We will make more money in the future, and the fertilizer factory also plans to build a branch and convert the three-year dividend into a two-year dividend.

Father Zhou is now happily holding his grandson in his arms all day long. In fact, there are not many people in the entire city who are richer than him.

None of the Zhou brothers needed his help, not even his two daughters and sons-in-law, so he had no place to spend his millions. Zhou's father also knew that it was important not to show off his wealth, so he never told anyone about it. In addition, Zhou Xianyang hired a driver and security guard for the old couple, which helped relieve the pressure on the Demobilization Office.

Zhou Xianyang made a huge profit this year. After only contracting for more than a year, he earned wealth that others could not earn in more than ten years.

At the beginning of the year, the Canton Fair won orders worth more than 30 million US dollars. Last month, the Canton Fair directly won orders worth 69 million US dollars.

Enough for Zhou Xianyang and his team to produce until the end of next year!

This does not include the dividend income from the battery factory. By the end of next year, he will have earned nearly 300 million yuan, and this is the net income after paying taxes.

The Sijiucheng Industrial Bureau must be regretting this to death. Originally, it had contracted and reformed a loss-making factory, which was considered a credit to the Industrial Bureau.

However, as Feiyang Electric Appliance Factory developed better and better, the pressure on the Sijiucheng Industrial Bureau became greater and greater.

"How come it is that in your hands it is a losing egg, but in the hands of others, it becomes a goose that lays golden eggs?"

More than one person had ridiculed the Sijiucheng Industrial Bureau in this way, but they had no other choice but to feel aggrieved.

It can only be done according to the contract.

Zhou Xianyang doesn't need to do anything extra now. He just needs to keep a close eye on the factory production and complete all orders step by step. He will have a large amount of income by the end of next year.

But he is a little confused now. He made too much money at once and doesn't know what to do.

He wouldn't need to waste too much time and energy on keeping an eye on Feiyang Electric Appliance Factory. After all, those team leaders and workshop directors were not paid for nothing.

But having earned so much money, Zhou Xianyang suddenly didn't know what to do. He couldn't just deposit it in the bank and earn interest.

Zhou Xianyang had no idea what to do, so he waited until everyone else left and when he and Bai Qingan stayed here for one night, he went to talk to Zhou Fengnian about it.

"Dad, what do you think I should do next year? The workers' welfare funds have been allocated. We can't let everyone live in buildings and drive cars all at once.
But if I don’t have a plan for next year, it will be too late the year after.”

It's the end of the year now. If he doesn't have any new plans for next year, he can only stay at Feiyang Electric Factory and slowly develop the electrical appliance export trade business.

The benefits for the workers have been planned in advance and the finances have also been budgeted; after all, there are new and old workers in the factory, as well as those with good and average performance.

We can't just distribute the food equally from the same pot.

Next year, a group of people with good performance will be allowed to live in buildings first, and then those who perform slightly worse will receive other rewards, and the rewards will be reduced step by step.

Zhou Fengnian thought about it for a moment, then said, "The supply and marketing cooperative was reformed into a joint-stock company last year. Did you know about this?"

Zhou Xianyang nodded and said, "I know, but I didn't have money at that time, otherwise I would have bought some. I heard that now the stock price will go up as soon as you buy it, and there is almost no loss."

"No one loses money. Everyone makes money. So where does the money come from?"

Zhou Fengnian waved his hand and continued, "Let's not talk about stocks. What do you think of the new supply and marketing cooperative and department store? It's called this now. What do you think of the department store? Have you been there?"

Zhou Xianyang thought about it for a while and said slowly, "Except for a slightly better attitude, there seems to be no change. Dad, why do you say this?"

"The attitude of state-owned restaurants was also very bad before, so your uncle's restaurant requires good service attitude, and customers are willing to go even if there is a queue. Now that state-owned restaurants have basically gone out of business, there was no choice before, but now that there is a choice, who would be willing to go to a state-owned restaurant?"

Zhou Fengnian paused for a moment, then continued: "It's the same with department stores. Although they have undergone shareholding reforms, their service attitude has improved a bit.
But the poor service has been deeply rooted in people’s minds, and they are the only one in the department store…”

"Dad, do you want me to open a department store?"

After hearing this, Zhou Xianyang immediately felt that this was a solution. Now, apart from going to the department store, the residents of Sijiu City have no choice.

If he opens another department store and improves the service attitude, who will go to Tianqiao Department Store then?

Although after the shareholding reform, a group of new salesmen were recruited and their attitudes became better.

But most people kept it. Zhou Xianyang has been there twice and still felt the shadow of the 1,000 Supply and Marketing Cooperatives.

"But I don't know how to open a department store. Dad, do you have any ideas?"

"Why don't I just feed you the food?"

Zhou Fengnian curled his lips and said, "If you don't know how to do it, then go find a professional. Does your electrical appliance factory develop MP3s in person? If you can't find anyone, then just run the electrical appliance factory honestly."

"Dad, look at you, why are you always undermining your son's self-confidence!"

Zhou Xianyang immediately found the direction to work towards and started joking with Zhou Fengnian.

After the reform and opening up, opportunities are everywhere, but these opportunities need to be explored and studied.

If you are not careful, you might end up in prison.

Although Zhou Fengnian gave his son some guidance, he could only give a general idea. After all, he only knew the general idea and it was impossible for him to know the details of the development of the times.

But in this era of trade business, the two powerful weapons of high technology and low cost are enough to crush any foreign competitors.

Even if the MP3 patent is licensed to others, the products produced may not be more competitive than Feiyang Electric Appliance Factory.

Because their costs are very low, when China joins the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade next year, China's low-cost goods will definitely flood into the world.

"Dad, you should go to bed early. Qing'an and I are going to go shopping at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative tomorrow. No, we're going to go shopping at Tianqiao Department Store.

By the way, Dad, do you still read the Taoist books? A friend told me that a Manchu is selling this stuff recently.

"As long as it's something I haven't seen, I'll watch it. Go buy it first and let me take a look."

Zhou Xianyang asked in surprise: "You really want it, Dad, are you planning to read all the books in the world?"

"What do you know? Go to bed."

Zhou Fengnian waved his hand to drive Zhou Xianyang out of the study, then picked up a book and started reading.

There is nothing entertaining to do, so I read books to level up, and then the proficiency system instills knowledge that I didn’t know before, which is also a kind of pleasure.

Especially those knowledge that are almost equal to the creation stage of the 'demigod' realm. Obtaining these is an indescribable sense of satisfaction.

Before he dies, he must record all the knowledge in his mind!

(End of this chapter)