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

On a street in Nanshan County, a worker was hurrying home with a lunchbox in his hand when a man wearing a red vest and a red hat handed him a piece of paper with colorful pictures printed on it. "Comrade, take a look!"

The worker, whose path was blocked, first glanced at the man before asking, "What's this?"

"Hello comrade, I'm an employee of Huaxingsheng Supermarket. This flyer you're holding is from our supermarket to celebrate our opening," the man explained with a smile. "On opening day, if you bring this flyer, you can get a free candy gift box at our supermarket!"

"With this piece of paper, I can get a free candy at your supermarket?" the worker asked incredulously. "Are you kidding me?"

"No, comrades, we are the first large-scale self-service warehouse supermarket in the entire Nanshan County. We are trustworthy and reliable, and we would never deceive our customers!"

"Anyone can get it by taking this form?"

"Yes, but only the first 100 people each day, while supplies last," the man replied with a smile. "You can look at the back here; these are some of the items we're offering as part of our supermarket's opening promotion. If you need anything, you can pick up the candy and then go in to buy it."

"You can buy any rice, flour, or cooking oil in our supermarket without needing a receipt!"

"Really? Your supermarket really doesn't require food and oil coupons to buy things?" The worker felt that what the man in front of him, who claimed to be a supermarket employee, was saying was somewhat unrealistic.

"Yes, our supermarket doesn't need any receipts. You can tell other people who need them that tomorrow is our supermarket's first day of business, and the first fifty customers who come in can get five eggs with their receipt!"

"That's a great deal!"

After listening, the worker couldn't help but look at the flyer in his hand again. He saw that the prices of rice, flour, cooking oil, and other items were one or two cents cheaper than at the supply and marketing cooperative. Moreover, the man said that no coupons were needed, which was the biggest discount!

"Could you give me a few more? I want to show some to my neighbors and promote your supermarket," the worker said, his eyes darting around. He asked the man for four more flyers, but the man was afraid he would just throw them away, so he refused to give him any more.

The worker, clutching five flyers, walked all the way home. As soon as he entered, he saw several more flyers on the table. His wife, who was cooking, came out upon hearing the noise. Seeing the flyers in her husband's hand, she laughed and asked, "Why are you carrying these flyers too?"

"Someone gave it to me on the way. I heard him say that I could get candy with this slip, so I asked him for a few more, haha," the worker put down his lunchbox, pulled up a chair and sat down.

His wife brought the cooked food from the kitchen to the dining table, placed the flyers on the coffee table, and then said, "Today, the streets of the entire county were full of people wearing red vests handing out these flyers, saying that the biggest supermarket in the county is opening tomorrow."

"I think the things inside are quite cheap, and you don't need tickets to buy them. Tomorrow's Sunday, so why don't we go shopping as a family?"

"Okay, let's go take a look. Each of the kids can grab one and bring back some candy," he said. Just then, two children came running in, clutching several flyers and shouting, "Dad, can you take us to the new supermarket on Huanghe North Road tomorrow? I'll use these flyers to exchange for candy!"

"Yeah, Dad, look, my brother and I got so many bills from that guy! One bill for one serving of candy, enough to last us until New Year's, hee hee!"

"Okay, I'll take you tomorrow. Let's eat first!"

This scene is repeated in many families in Nanshan County. Whether it is an adult or a child, the employees of Huaxingsheng Supermarket will hand them the flyers and tell them that they can get candy with the flyer.

The reason for doing this was actually Chen Dong's suggestion. The main concern was that people who took the flyers would just throw them away after reading them. On the opening day of Huaxingsheng Supermarket, what they needed was popularity and support. A mere hundred candy gift boxes were just a drop in the ocean.

In later generations, when supermarkets opened, some even paid people to crowd into the store in order to attract customers and create the impression that the supermarket was very popular.

In Tuocheng in the early 1980s, there was no need to hire any shills. You just had to tell the person taking orders that the first 100 people would get candy. You could see people, especially children, waiting at the supermarket entrance early in the morning, waiting for it to open.

Even if the husband doesn't go, the wife at home will still be tempted to come to the supermarket to shop when she sees the flyers that the children or husband bring back, or sees the discounts for the supermarket's opening promotion.

In 1981, although China was already carrying out economic reforms, many things on the market still followed the planned economy's ration coupon system. Without coupons, even if you had money, you couldn't buy any goods you wanted at the supply and marketing cooperative or department store.

The reason why Huaxingsheng Supermarket dared to propose that any goods in the supermarket could be purchased without a receipt was mainly because Chen Dong had negotiated with the municipal party committee and government. After all, Tuocheng is a special economic zone, and there are still some special policies available.

For some scarce commodities, Chen Dong directly purchased them from the WTO system. However, Tuocheng did not lack rice, flour, or cooking oil. The main problem was that some leading cadres were still following the principles of the planned economy. Chen Dong went to the municipal party committee compound and met directly with Zhou Haimin, the municipal party secretary, to discuss the forefront of economic reform. As a special economic zone, Tuocheng needed to take the first step in reform, which was to gradually abolish the ration coupon system!

After listening to Chen Dong's advice and concluding the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Municipal People's Congress, Zhou Haimin decided to take the first bold step in reform, allowing Huaxingsheng Supermarket to abolish the invoice system and conduct free trading!

At the same time, Chen Dong promised to increase investment in Tuocheng and to make further investments in Jinbu Township, Mianyang Commune, Zhaoyang County. After listening to Chen Dong's plan for the automobile industrial park, Zhou Haimin immediately made a decision and asked the Zhaoyang County Land and Resources Bureau to go to Jinbu Township after the New Year to conduct land surveys and prepare for the further land acquisition for the automobile industrial park.

Zhou Haimin's agreement with Chen Dong's suggestion was largely due to Chen Dong's proposal of an automotive industrial park. As the second largest special economic zone in Guangdong Province after Shenzhen, Tuocheng needs to take significant steps in its reform and development.

We cannot be complacent or overly ambitious. With the investment of Chen Dong, a patriotic overseas Chinese from America, Tuocheng, whose economic development is already comparable to Shenzhen, is poised to become the leading economic powerhouse in Guangdong Province in the near future!