Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 1006 Worth Millions, Private Jet to Hong Kong (Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets: 3K Chapters)

"Don't be so polite, as long as you're healthy," Fang Yan said to Secretary Yang.

Director Liao chimed in, saying:

"Of course, it's better for you to stay healthy and work for a few more years than anything else."

Secretary Yang smiled and said:
"Alright, alright, then I'll take your kind words with me."

……

Next up is tonight's dinner.

This time, Fang Yan didn't arrive on time; instead, she followed the group to the banquet hall ahead of schedule.

Unlike the hospitality in Shanghai, there were no more guests in the evening; it was still the same people from lunchtime.

We ate some light and sweet seafood for dinner.

We didn't drink any more alcohol, but halfway through the meal, the top leader here came over.

I greeted everyone briefly, and then had a private chat with Director Liao for a while.

After dinner, Director Liao returned.

Tell everyone:

"The chartered flight will depart at 5:45 AM tomorrow and fly directly to Hong Kong."

"We have to get up around 3:30, have breakfast at 4:00, and then head to the airport at 4:30. It's a bit early, so everyone should get some rest tonight."

Upon hearing this news, someone said:

"Wow, getting up at 3:30 in the morning? That's half an hour earlier than the forced marches of yesteryear?"

An old man put his chopsticks down on the table, his voice carrying a hearty, soldierly accent:

"Sigh, back in the day when we were fighting as guerrillas in the Guangdong-Jiangxi Soviet Area, we had to carry our guns and cross the mountains before dawn. Every time we set off, we would eat fried rice in the dark. Now we have hot meals to eat and airplanes to fly in. We should be content!"

Another elderly man wearing reading glasses adjusted his glasses and smiled as he continued the conversation:

"Old Zhou, you should be content. Before, you relied entirely on your own two feet, but now you have cars and planes. It's so convenient now! This arrangement is quite good!"

“That’s right,” another old man tapped the rim of his bowl with his chopsticks.
"Back then, when I was on night shift at the field hospital, I had to get up at two in the morning to change the dressings for the wounded. I could even doze off while listening to the gunfire outside."

"Now, let's just take a nap and check out the stars in Guangzhou!"

Everyone laughed.

Director Liao said happily:
"You're so romantic, looking at the stars."

After dinner, it was probably a little past seven o'clock, and I couldn't fall asleep anywhere.

One by one, the old men said they wanted to go out for a stroll.

The main problem is that they went to the military region during the day and haven't yet gone to explore downtown Guangzhou.

Upon hearing this, Secretary Yang agreed.

Let's go out for a stroll together.

Since the dialect was part of the medical insurance, I had no choice but to travel with them.

Compared to later years, there were indeed fewer places to visit in Guangzhou in early May 1978.

Fang Yan and his group drove out of the guesthouse and took everyone for a tour of the city.

Unlike Shanghai, many places here are closed.

The convoy only stopped at Xinhua Bookstore, the park, and Huirulou, a pastry shop.

Finally, we stopped by the Pearl River, and everyone got off the bus to enjoy the night view.

The river shimmered faintly in the night, and the steel outline of the Haizhu Bridge was faintly visible in the distance.

A tugboat sailed across the river, its whistle sounding long and drawn out.

Secretary Yang called someone to bring out a camera and had everyone take a group photo on the banks of the Pearl River.

After taking several photos, the evening's activities came to an end.

Looking at his watch, it was already past eight o'clock, so Director Liao urged everyone to get on the bus:
"I have to catch a flight tomorrow morning, so I'll save the stars for Hong Kong!"

Everyone laughed and returned to their cars.

The car started, and we headed home.

After returning to the hotel and washing up, it was almost nine o'clock.

Fangyan also needs to go to sleep quickly.

I still have to get up at 4 AM tomorrow to see Guangzhou...

Because she was always thinking about getting up at 3:30, Fang Yan slept very lightly that night.

I woke up several times in a row and checked the time on my watch.

The last time I woke up, it was already past 3:10.

After standing for a while and washing up, someone knocked on the door.

When Fang Yan opened the door, she found it was a hotel staff member who had brought breakfast to her door with a food cart.

I didn't get to experience this in Shanghai, but I got to experience it here in Guangzhou today.

Breakfast was eaten in the room, and of course it wasn't as lavish as in Shanghai, but it must have been freshly cooked, with the steaming heat carrying a rich aroma of rice.

Fang Yan opened the bamboo food box, revealing four exquisite Cantonese breakfast items: char siu bao, shrimp dumplings, chicken biscuits, and congee with preserved egg and lean pork.

Then, the staff handed over some side dishes.

Then they said "enjoy your meal" and went to deliver the food to other rooms.

Fang Yan didn't close the door and sat down in the room to eat. You could still hear people talking in the hallway and other rooms.

After taking a couple of bites, Secretary Zhou came over and, seeing Fang Yan eating, said:

“I’m eating!”

"Want some, Brother Zhou?" Fang Yan asked him.

Secretary Zhou smiled and said:
"No need, Director Liao asked me to come and see if everyone has eaten yet."

As he spoke, he went to look at the other rooms.

Fang Yan had just finished eating when someone was already carrying a package downstairs in the hallway.

Fang Yan checked the time and, confirming that there was still a while before they could leave, went out to take a look at Director Liao's room.

He didn't close the door and was putting a bunch of documents into a file bag, while Secretary Zhou was helping Director Liao organize the things in the box.

"They're here!" Director Liao greeted Fang Yan.

Fang Yan nodded: "Yes, I've packed everything and am just waiting for you to set off."

As Director Liao tidied up the documents, he said:
"Soon. Pack these things well. After the wedding, we'll cross the border from Hong Kong and check on the progress of some projects over there."

"Your warehouse is the biggest project, so it will be the first one we inspect."

Fang Yan's eyes lit up. He had thought he would have to go alone, but it turned out his supervisor had already made arrangements. He nodded and said:
"Great! I was just thinking of going to take a look too."

Director Liao continued, "Now that we've arrived in Hong Kong, the Huo family will arrange security for everyone. But if you go out, it's best not to use your real identity... after all, the bounty on your head overseas is substantial."

Fang Yan looked surprised:

"There's actually a bounty on my head?"

Secretary Zhou chimed in:

"That's not just... several million."

Fang Yan was somewhat taken aback, knowing that China's total foreign exchange reserves in 1977 were only US$9.52 million. "So valuable?" he couldn't help but mutter.

Director Liao smiled and patted him on the shoulder:

"So you'd better watch out, once you get to Hong Kong, you'll be a 'fat sheep'."

Fang Yan nodded. There were many things to do in Hong Kong this time, and he would inevitably have to meet with people frequently. It seemed that he really had to be on his best.

……

At 4:20 a.m., a long line of Hongqi cars stretched along the roadside downstairs from the Yingbin Hotel.

Director Liao led Fang Yan and his group at the front, where they met Secretary Yang, who had come to see them off.

"Old Yang, you've worked so hard! You've really gone to a lot of trouble this time!" Director Liao shook hands with Secretary Yang.

Secretary Yang said with a smile:

"Hey, what's with all this talk about hardship? Get on the bus, come back on Wednesday, I'll be waiting for you here!"

Director Liao nodded:

"it is good!"

Then Secretary Yang addressed the rest of the group:

"Have a safe journey, everyone!"

Everyone said goodbye to him:

Goodbye, Lao Yang!

Goodbye, Secretary Yang!

Then a group of people got into the car. This time, Director Liao pulled Fang Yan into the same car, which was the second one in front of the convoy.

The motorcade slowly drove away from the guesthouse, the streetlights casting a dim yellow glow in the pre-dawn darkness.

Fang Yan looked out the car window; at four in the morning, Guangzhou was still shrouded in mist and darkness.

More than forty minutes later, the convoy drove into Baiyun Airport.

On the tarmac, a silver-gray special plane stood quietly, the red star on its wing gleaming faintly in the morning mist.

Beside the gangway, ground crew in military uniforms stood in formation and saluted, while several staff members hurried over pushing a luggage cart.

Everyone busied themselves on the tarmac, getting staff to help them carry their belongings onto the plane.

Fang Yan could only see clearly at this moment that the special plane on the tarmac was an Ilyushin Il-18 passenger plane, with a silver-gray paint job that gleamed with a metallic sheen, and the red "August 1" logo on the fuselage was particularly eye-catching.

This seemed to be a private aircraft. Fang Yan followed Director Liao onto the plane and discovered that although they were both Il-18s, the interiors were completely different. The cabin was equipped with sofa seats and a small conference room.

The flight attendants placed an enamel mug and a towel pack in front of each seat. A small paper strip folded into a triangle was attached to the towel pack, with the words "Have a pleasant journey" written on it in pen.

As if sensing Fang Yan's confusion, Director Liao said:
"Other aircraft couldn't be allocated, so this is what Lao Yang and his team are using themselves."

Fang Yan suddenly realized.

This is a proper executive jet used by leaders.

Looking out the window, you can see the captain and military personnel patrolling around the plane.

Then the captain boarded the plane, and the flight attendants closed the cabin door.

The cabin was lit up with warm yellow lights.

The flight attendant came over to check everyone's seatbelts and reminded them:

"There may be slight turbulence after takeoff, which is normal, so please don't worry."

Looking out the porthole, Fang Yan saw that the Hongqi convoy on the tarmac had turned around, and the terminal building in the distance was still sparsely lit. The entire airport was shrouded in the tranquility before dawn.

Time passed second by second, until dawn broke on the horizon.

The plane slowly taxied to the runway, moving forward in the faint light of dawn.

Fang Yan felt the vibration under the seat gradually intensify, the roar of the engine resounded throughout the cabin, and the scenery outside the window moved backward.

As the plane aligned with the runway centerline, the engines roared loudly, the fuselage tilted forward sharply, and a feeling of being pushed back into the seat followed.

Fang Yan gently pressed down on the enamel mug on the table to prevent it from slipping.

At this moment, the lights of the runway outside the window form a golden line, and as the speed increases, the outline of the ground becomes more and more blurred.

Finally, the fuselage shuddered slightly, the nose wheel lifted off the ground first, and then the entire aircraft took off proudly.

After a while, Fang Yan looked out the window, and the city of Guangzhou under the wing was still a blurry patch of light.

The Pearl River meanders across the land like a silver ribbon, and the distant Baiyun Mountain is shrouded in morning mist, a scene resembling an ink painting.

As the plane broke through a thin layer of clouds, the morning sun suddenly streamed into the cabin. The flight attendants promptly dimmed the lights and reminded everyone:
"We are now entering level flight, at an altitude of 3000 meters, and the entire flight will take approximately 30 minutes."

This is the shortest flight; Hong Kong will be there in no time.

Director Liao took a document from the file bag and handed it to Fang Yan:

"Take a look, this is a recent public opinion briefing in Hong Kong."

Fang Yan took the document, his gaze sweeping over headlines such as "Huo Family Wedding Preparations" and "Trade Negotiations."

Finally, his gaze fell on the headline: "Hong Kong Tongrentang Launches New Drug, a Great Success!"

PS: I've gained another 400 monthly votes, so I owe you all another 8000 words.

After finishing this chapter, I still owe everyone 97000 words.

That's all for today, please come early tomorrow.

Lao Feng is working hard to write tomorrow's code.

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy Dragon Boat Festival!

(End of this chapter)