Returning wealthy individuals develop their hometowns and become rich in the 1980s

"Secretary Ding, I'll be leaving now," Chen Dong said as he stood up to say goodbye to Ding Zhuo. Ding Zhuo then turned to his secretary who had come in and said, "Please see Mr. Chen off for me."

"Okay, Secretary," the secretary smiled politely at Chen Dong, then turned and led Chen Dong out of Ding Zhuo's office.

Once downstairs, Chen Dong got into his car and waved goodbye to his secretary who had seen him off. As the car window rolled up, Chen Zaisheng leaned back in his seat and said helplessly to Chen Dong, "Zaidong, the ministries probably won't agree to the conditions you proposed!"

"Whether they agree or not is their business. They're the ones in a hurry, not me," Chen Dong said, taking two bottles of mineral water from the car refrigerator and handing one to Chen Zaisheng.

"By the way, Second Brother, how's that supermarket you four started going? It's been running for almost half a year now, hasn't it?" Chen Dong deliberately changed the subject and started talking about the supermarket that Chen Zaixing was leading.

"It'll be soon," Chen Zaisheng said with a smile when he saw that Chen Dong didn't intend to talk about equipment procurement and deliberately brought up the supermarket. "For the past six months, it's been the fourth and fifth brothers who have been running the connections. I heard from my eldest brother that the supermarket is all set up now, and I reckon it will be open for business soon."

"Really? That's pretty fast. A while ago, Fifth Brother wanted me to buy appliances from Japan. He wanted to sell all imported appliances in the supermarket. I felt that it wasn't good to have all imported goods, so I asked him to talk to a few TV manufacturers in Shanghai about the possibility of buying TVs."

"I knew it. The other day, that fifth brother borrowed my brother's car, saying he wanted to drive straight to Shanghai. He got a good scolding from my brother and told him to take the train instead," Chen Zaisheng said with a smile and a shake of his head. He felt a headache coming on when he talked about his fifth brother, Chen Zaixing.

The fifth brother, Chen Zaixing, is a whimperer. When Chen Dong told him to go to Shanghai to talk to several state-owned television factories about supply and procurement, the kid immediately thought about how impressive it would be to drive a Mercedes-Benz 450 directly to Shanghai.

It's important to understand that Shanghai at this time was the "cash cow" of the entire Chinese economy. Shanghai had the largest industrial base in China and was the mainstay of China's fiscal revenue.

Its industrial output accounts for one-eighth of China's total, and its fiscal revenue accounts for one-sixth. It can be said that for every ten dollars spent in China, one dollar comes from Shanghai.

It is precisely because of Shanghai's large economic scale that many of China's reform measures are often piloted in Shanghai first. The Northeast is the "eldest son" of heavy industry, and Shanghai is the "eldest son" of economy.

At Shanghai Railway Station, Chen Zaixing, carrying a suitcase he bought from America, greeted Li Renfa, who had come with him, and walked out of the station gate with composure and confidence.

Looking at the diverse crowd walking across the square, Li Renfa, standing next to Chen Zaixing and carrying a military green cloth bag, was dumbfounded, like a country bumpkin visiting the Grand View Garden.

He tugged at Chen Zaixing, who was still looking down at him with his head held high, and asked, "Zaixing, have we arrived in Shanghai already?"

"Hey, didn't you see those big characters on the train station?" Chen Zaixing pointed to the conspicuous red characters above his head. "Afa, don't make a fuss, or people will immediately recognize you as a country bumpkin in the city. I heard from my second brother that city people are very good at picking people to step on. Stand up straight, like me."

Li Renfa couldn't help but laugh when he saw Chen Zaixing puffing out his chest like a fighting rooster. "Zaixing, you're being too much. Who puffs their chest out like that? Besides, it's not easy to walk like that. Your butt is sticking up."

"Then walk with your butt sticking out," Chen Zaixing said, then picked up his bag, puffed out his chest and stuck out his butt, and walked into the crowd.

Li Renfa had no choice but to follow behind Chen Zaixing. He dared not make a fool of himself like Chen Zaixing. When people around saw Chen Zaixing walking like this, they all automatically made way for him.

"Keep your distance, this guy's got some serious issues!"

Chen Zaixing noticed that the people around him automatically made way for him, their gazes filled with strangeness, and some even covering their mouths and snickering. The thick-skinned Chen Zaixing completely ignored their mocking expressions and just walked on by himself.

I'm a guy with money in my pocket, so I'm the boss!

I'm someone who's seen the big scenes in America, sleeping in multi-million dollar villas and driving luxury cars worth hundreds of thousands of dollars at will. Now I've invested 600,000 dollars to open a supermarket!

Everything he has seen and possesses is a height that those who look at him with mocking expressions can never reach in their entire lives. Money has given the eloquent Chen Zaixing an even thicker skin.

Despite his pretense, Chen Zaixing knew his limits. He wouldn't dare wear a suit and a big gold watch on the train, but the fact that he could take a long-distance train and sleep in a soft sleeper already made the other passengers in the same carriage look at him with more respect.

The two arrived at the police checkpoint in front of the train station square. Chen Zaixing casually walked in with a pack of cigarettes in hand and asked the police officers inside, "Comrades, hello, we're from Tuocheng in Guangdong Province. We'd like to ask where the nearest guesthouse is?"

One of the policemen, seeing that Chen Zaixing had pulled out only banknotes, smiled and took them, then asked, "What brings you two comrades to Shanghai?"

"I'm here to do business," Chen Zaixing said, reaching into his pocket and taking out a crocodile-skin wallet from the inner pocket. He unzipped it, pulled out a temporary residence permit from a pile of banknotes, and handed it to the policeman in front of him.

Doing business!

These days, it's rare to see someone who can go out and do business. The other police officers couldn't help but take a few more glances at Chen Zaixing and Li Renfa.

After looking at the two men's temporary residence permits, the policeman handed them back to Chen Zaixing. "The nearest guesthouse is more than ten kilometers away. You have to take a bus to get there."

"Okay, then which bus should we take?"

"This is the West Station. You need to take bus number 95," the police officer said, explaining to Chen Zaixing how to take the bus and which stop to get off at.

When Chen Zaixing first arrived in Shanghai, he was unfamiliar with all the place names mentioned by the police. He had to ask the police to write them down on paper, and gratefully gave them a cigarette before leaving.

"Zai Xing, the bus! Run over there before it leaves!" The two had only walked a short distance from the train station when they saw a tan bus speeding past them. Li Renfa shouted immediately.

"What's the rush? We don't even know where this train is going next. We might get on the wrong train," Chen Zaixing said calmly. When traveling, one shouldn't be hasty.

If you get on the wrong bus and they take you to some godforsaken place, you'll have to walk to find a guesthouse.

Chen Zaixing wasn't in a hurry, but the bus was. When it arrived at the stop, the passengers boarded the bus in a flurry, and the bus sped off.

Chen Zaixing was dumbfounded!