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

It was already past eight o'clock at night at the Chen family ancestral home in Lianzhai. After dinner, everyone sat in the main hall drinking tea and chatting. Chen Dong looked at the Chen family, who were still using kerosene lamps, and tentatively asked, "Uncle, does our village still not have electricity?"

"I've heard from the village committee that electricity will be available in the next few years, but people from the neighboring town say that even if electricity is available, it will be cut off every now and then," Chen Xiangui replied while making tea.

When Chen Dong was about to come to China in the 21st century, he also learned about China's infrastructure and other conditions online. Although media outlets such as America reported on the situation in China in a one-sided way, Chen Dong's environment allowed him to easily understand the situation in China at that time.

It is no exaggeration to say that China's infrastructure level at that time was far superior to America's, which is one of the reasons why America dared not report on it directly.

But this was in 1980, and China's economy was still in the recovery phase. China was simply too big to take care of every single household in every aspect. However, China worked tirelessly toward this goal, to benefit everyone who lived on this land.

"How is the village's income? What are the main sources of income?"

"Income? What income? It's still the village collective now. I've heard they're going to implement something called the household responsibility system, and some people in the village think it's a good idea, but we don't know exactly when it will be implemented."

Upon hearing this, Chen Dong asked again, "So, what kind of local specialties does our Lianzhai village have?"

After thinking for a moment, Uncle Chen Xiangui said, "Sweet potatoes, rice, and the peaches on the back hill, that's about it."

"Hmm, what kinds of sweet potatoes and peaches do you have?" Chen Dong asked tentatively.

Huang Lanzhi thought Chen Dong wanted to take some food with him, so she immediately got up and went to the kitchen. She took out a palm-sized red sweet potato and handed it to Chen Dong, saying, "This has a high yield. The village has a good harvest, and every household has received a lot. I'll have your aunt pack a bag for you to take with you later."

Chen Dong quickly waved his hand, "No need, Auntie, I just want to take a look."

Chen Dong took the red sweet potato, broke it open, and looked inside. The flesh was red, with a few drops of milky white juice seeping out. He then asked his uncle, Chen Xiangui, "Are these the varieties that are grown in the village?"

"Yes," Chen Xiangui nodded. "Dongzi, you may not have farmed before. You don't know that sweet potatoes are actually very easy to grow. You can just go to someone's sweet potato field, pick some sweet potato vines, bury them in the soil, and they will grow. The whole village basically grows this kind of red-fleshed sweet potato."

Seeing Chen Dong staring at the red sweet potato in a daze, Chen Zailong asked, "Dongzi, why are you suddenly asking about this?"

After glancing at Zhang Yi, Chen Dong smiled and said to everyone present, "Grandpa's biggest business in America is opening a chain of supermarkets all over America."

Chen Xiangui and the others nodded, waiting for Chen Dong to continue. "I see that the conditions in our Lianzhai are really... how should I put it, a bit tough, and everyone's income is low. So I was thinking, could I use my supermarket in America to open a fruit processing plant in our Lianzhai?"

Chen Zaiguang became excited after hearing this. He leaned forward and asked Chen Dong earnestly, "Dongzi, do you mean that our sweet potatoes can be sold directly to America, to your supermarket?"

Even Zhao Zhigang, who had accompanied them but hadn't said much, was starting to get interested. Investing in and building a factory was no small matter.

"No, no, no," Chen Dong hurriedly corrected Chen Zaiguang, "The customs in America have a lot of trouble importing these fruits. If you just transport these raw sweet potatoes from our Lianzhai, firstly, they won't be used to them, and secondly, you'll need all sorts of quarantine documents."

"What I mean is, we'll process these sweet potatoes, make them into dried sweet potatoes, package them, and then my company in America will handle the procurement, customs clearance, and import them into America, where they'll be sold!"

"Dongzi, do you really think Americans would eat these dried sweet potatoes from our rural China?"

When asked by his uncle Chen Xiangui, Chen Dong replied with a smile, "Whether we eat or not is mainly a matter of propaganda. In China, we are currently facing a shortage of daily necessities. Our primary concern is solving the problem of food and clothing, so we don't pay much attention to nutrition."

"But America, the obesity rate among the poor is very high. They are so poor that they can only afford to eat processed meat, so their demand for healthy food is enormous!"

The Chen family was bewildered by what Chen Dong said. What did he mean by being so poor that they could only afford to eat meat? In our truly poor place, we were so poor that we could only pick sweet potato vines from the ground to eat.

So America does the opposite of China, with meat being cheap and vegetables being expensive. If that's the case, I can accept this kind of poverty.

Chen Dong didn't explain to them what America's technology and ruthless skills were. He would vomit at the sight of those white people's food, let alone let them eat it.

"As long as the promotion is effective, the price is reasonable, the focus is on health, and supermarkets place these products in prominent positions with new product promotions and discounts, there will be no problem with sales."

"Hey Dongzi, this stuff yields over 2,000 jin per mu here. You don't have to worry about running out of supply if you open this factory. Besides, the surrounding villages also have it. If you don't have enough, just buy from them," Chen Zailong said excitedly, rubbing his hands together, eager to try it out.

Chen Dong gestured for them to calm down. The people present seemed ready to roll up their sleeves and get to work, but Chen Dong had to pour cold water on their enthusiasm. "First, opening this processing plant requires purchasing equipment, which is easy to solve. But the real problem is that the equipment needs electricity!"

Upon hearing Chen Dong's words, everyone immediately deflated. Electricity was indeed a troublesome matter; it couldn't simply be conjured up out of thin air.

"Secondly, we need to be able to get the goods out. Not only do we need to be able to get them out, but we also need to be efficient," Chen Dong said, spreading his hands. "The roads connecting our village to the outside world are all dirt roads. They're okay for oxcarts and bicycles, but if there are too many large trucks, the constant rolling over them will quickly turn the roads into potholes. If it rains, it's practically impossible to travel on them!"

"Furthermore, there's the issue of supply. We have to sign contracts with the surrounding villages to ensure that they uniformly cultivate this type of red-fleshed sweet potato. We don't buy other varieties, unless they can supply large quantities of other varieties, in which case that's a different story."

Chen Dong counted on his fingers and told them, "As long as we solve the problems of electricity, roads, and supply, I can start production at this processing plant immediately."

Chen Xiangui scratched his head. "Dongzi, we can't solve these problems either. Without the county's financial assistance, let alone electricity, we don't even have the money to start road construction!"

You may not have money, but I do!

Chen Dong's 4.3 billion US dollars are still liquid and can be freely disposed of. Not to mention China now, even in America, he would be treated like a king wherever he goes.