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

"Wait, I haven't gotten on the bus yet!"

The two of them, carrying their bags, chased after the bus. Perhaps the bus driver saw the two unlucky souls chasing after the bus, which is why he stopped the bus.

Chen Zaixing and Li Renfa boarded the bus, panting. Leaning against the handrail, before they could catch their breath, the ticket seller came over with a ticket holder. After asking where they were getting off, she collected one cent from each of them for their tickets.

Li Renfa reluctantly pulled out a dime and said to Chen Zaixing in the Tuocheng dialect, "Zaixing, why are the buses in Shanghai so much more expensive than the buses in our Tuocheng?"

"It takes ten stops to get there. Luckily, it's not out of town, otherwise it would cost a dime just to get there," Chen Zaixing said. He often takes the bus and knows more about fares than his childhood friend Li Renfa.

There were no seats available for the two of them, so they held onto the handrails and watched the street scenes rushing past the train window as they chatted. Li Renfa remarked, "Everyone says Shanghai is a big city. After looking around for so long, it truly lives up to its name. It's much more prosperous than our Tuocheng. Look at these buildings, they're so stylish."

"cut!"

Chen Zaixing scoffed dismissively, "What's so special about that? You haven't seen the street scenes of America's New York. Let me tell you, those buildings are forty or fifty stories high, all with glass facades, the streets are full of cars, and the streets are full of well-dressed people, tsk tsk!"

As Li Renfa listened to Chen Zaixing's description of the scene, he was lost in thought. Chen Zaixing patted his childhood friend Li Renfa on the shoulder and said, "You'd better work hard for me. Don't worry, one day I'll take you to America and let you see the world!"

The two chatted on and off the bus for ten stops before finally getting off with the crowd at the conductor's call.

Holding their bags, Chen Zaixing and Li Renfa stood at the entrance of the guesthouse. The place was quite old, with much of the paint peeling off the walls. Chen Zaixing led Li Renfa inside first. When they reached the counter, Chen Zaixing said to the female attendant, "Comrade, we'd like to check into your guesthouse. Could you please process our check-in?"

"letter of introduction!"

Chen Dong took out the two people's introduction letters from his inner pocket and handed them to the waitress. The waitress, seeing they were from Guangdong Province, expressionlessly extended her hand to Chen Zaixing again and said, "Temporary residence permit!"

Chen Zaixing took Li Renfa's two documents and handed them over together. After registering them in the notebook, the waitress asked without looking up, "How many rooms do you need? We only have double rooms left; there are no single rooms available."

Chen Zaixing wanted to make a sarcastic remark to the waitress, "Since there are no private rooms left, why are you asking me how many rooms I want?" But then he thought that since he was new here, he decided to avoid trouble and replied, "Then one double room will be fine."

"Three yuan a day, how many days do you want to stay?" the waitress asked, looking up at Chen Zaixing and his companion.

Chen Zaixing, realizing he was there to discuss purchasing television sets from a state-owned factory, and that he might need to stay for seven or eight days if things went smoothly, and at least ten days if things slowed down, said to the female attendant, "Let's stay for five days first. If I need to stay longer, I can pay later, okay?"

"Hmm," the waitress simply nodded without saying anything.

I tore off the receipt along with the key and tossed it on the counter. The saleswoman sat back down and said, "Take the key, go upstairs, turn left, it's the third one from the back."

Chen Zaixing was used to this kind of service these days. After taking the keys, he had to reluctantly say, "Thanks, lady!"

The two went upstairs, found the room, and a musty smell hit them as soon as they opened it. Li Renfa coughed a few times because of it. "How long has this room been uncleaned? Damn it, did they give us this room on purpose?"

Chen Zaixing didn't complain at all. Instead, he advised his childhood friend, "Alright, Fa Zi, what kind of nice conditions do you expect at the guesthouse? Just make do with it."

The two quickly tidied up the bed. Feeling hungry, Chen Zaixing picked up the thermos, intending to make some instant noodles, but found it empty. He simply took the noodles and the thermos with him and went downstairs. Reaching the counter, he asked the female clerk, "Excuse me, where can I get hot water?"

The waitress noticed that Chen Zaixing was holding two strange bowls wrapped in plastic film with "Longxing Instant Noodles" written on them. Curious, she asked, "Comrade, what kind of noodles are these? I've never seen them before."

"Oh, you mean this?" Chen Zaixing put down the thermos he was holding and handed one of the bottles to the waitress, saying, "This is Longxing instant noodles, which are produced by our company. There are many flavors. The one you're holding is braised pork flavor, and there's also a seafood flavor."

"Longxing Instant Noodles" is a new instant noodle product launched by Guangdong Company. It is exported to America and also sold locally in Tuocheng and Nanshan County. It comes in two types: bowl and bag. The bowl version costs 3 cents, while the American version costs 3 US dollars.

The bagged ones are cheaper, at 1 cents a bag, but in America they cost $2 a bag.

After all, America earns a lot of money, so she has to eat well!

Besides instant noodles, Guangdong Company also has a new carbonated soft drink called "Joyful". Chen Dong thought the name was too corny, but Chen Zaiguang felt that being corny made it more humane.

In 1981, Coca-Cola had already signed an agreement with China to re-enter the Chinese market for sale. At that time, the Chinese beverage market was still in its infancy, and Coca-Cola's current price was considered high in China. In addition, due to limited distribution channels, it was difficult for ordinary people to purchase it.

Chen Dong wanted to take advantage of the fact that Coca-Cola was still somewhat "unaccustomed" to the Chinese market, adopt a low-end sales model, and quickly distribute the product. Since Coca-Cola cans still had to be transported from Hong Kong to China by train, he would directly build a canning production line in Nanshan County to compete with Coca-Cola!

If your bottled cola costs four cents a bottle, then I'll go for volume and sell it for two cents a can. As for the taste, Chen Dong buys the recipe directly from the system. The system's production guarantees that the taste won't be much worse than your cola.

The waitress examined the bowl of noodles from left to right, clicking her tongue in amazement. "Comrade, you said this was produced by your company. Which company are you?"

"Guangdong Company in Tuocheng, Guangdong, all the products we produce are sold directly to America to earn US dollars!"

Upon hearing that it was for export to America, the waitress's eyes lit up, and she said to Chen Dong, "Comrade, could you sell me this bowl of noodles?"

Chen Zaixing and Li Renfa had quite a few bowls of food in their bags, which they had originally planned to eat on the train. There were still six bowls left. When the waitress asked for them, Chen Zaixing smiled and said, "Okay, if you want them, I'll sell them to you."

"How much?"

"5 cents!"