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

"I will definitely do a good job in receiving you, don't worry, Secretary Zhou!"

"There's no need for any reception. If we go east, our group will just go and take a look. If you hide everything and keep things clean, people will think there's something wrong with you. Just let them see. Messy is messy, busy is busy, and progress is progress."

"Okay, then I'll listen to you, Secretary!"

Chen Dong hung up the phone, a smile playing on his lips, and handed it to Qu Cai, who was standing beside him. Qu Cai asked in a low voice, "President Chen, people from the central government are coming. Should we make some preparations? Like... a welcoming ceremony or something?"

Chen Dong walked into the workshop without stopping, saying without turning his head, "No need, just do it the way you always have. Let them see the real thing."

Chen Dong walked into the engine workshop. Several engineers from Switzerland were debugging a huge machine tool, surrounded by several Chinese engineers in blue overalls, notebooks in hand, taking notes as they went. Amid the roar of the machine, a blond, blue-eyed middle-aged man looked up, saw Chen Dong, gave him a thumbs up, and said in broken Chinese, "Boss, very good, very fast!"

Chen Dong laughed and patted him on the shoulder, asking, "Hans, how's it going? Can you get all the equipment debugged by the end of the month?"

"No problem, boss," Hans replied with a smile and a nod.

Chen Dong patted Hans on the shoulder again, then turned to the Chinese engineers and said, "You guys need to stick close. Mr. Hans is the best engine expert in Switzerland. What you learn from him will be your own valuable asset in the future."

Several young people nodded repeatedly, their eyes shining with excitement. They certainly knew the importance of these foreigners in front of them. From how they adjusted the equipment, input various parameters with ease, and how the parts they cut by hand were exactly the same as the parameters on the drawings, they knew that they could really learn something by following these foreigners!

It's not that advanced equipment means you don't need good engineers. Engineers are just as valuable as equipment!

Originally, Chen Dong only asked Wang Huaimin for ten people, but Wang Huaimin insisted on sending eighteen. Among these eighteen people, Wang Huaimin made it clear to Chen Dong that eight of them would be transferred away after they had completed their training.

As for where he would be transferred, Chen Dong didn't ask, and Wang Huaimin didn't say either. It could be the Nanshan Institute, a military engine production workshop under the Ministry of Industry, or the missile or ship research institute. Chen Dong didn't know any of these things and didn't want to know.

Over the past six months, the Nanshan Institute, headed by Wang Huaimin, has successively transferred thirty to forty intern engineers. The central government has specially approved funding to renovate the Nanshan Institute. The roads leading up the mountain are checked by layers of armed police. If you try to break through the checkpoints without proper documentation, the heavy machine guns at the sentry posts will blow you and your vehicle to pieces.

After leaving the engine workshop, Chen Dong went to the stamping workshop, welding workshop, and painting workshop. Each workshop was under intense construction, with workers bustling about and the roar of machines echoing everywhere. By the time he finished walking around the construction site, the sun was already setting.

When it was time to leave work, the workers went to the canteen for lunch. Chen Dong, the boss, also packed up and took a car back to Lianzhai. When he entered the village, he saw that people were starting to build houses. There were piles of sand, gravel, and cement along the village road. Children were playing and jumping on the sand and gravel, having a great time.

Chen Dong told Wang Xuewen, who was driving, to be careful and slow down as much as possible, paying attention to the children playing around, and to prevent them from suddenly running into the road while playing or chasing each other.

Lianzhai has changed so much since Chen Dong's first visit. All the original stone-paved roads in the village are gone, replaced by cement roads. Many trees have been planted around the village, and the school has been rebuilt. The primary and junior high schools have been merged into one school, so the children of Lianzhai no longer have to walk to the town's junior high school in Jiping Town to go to school.

The car stopped in front of the ancestral home. Before Chen Dong could even get out, he saw his son Chen Hui and Xiao Rongguo running and playing in and out of the ancestral home. When they saw Chen Dong get out of the car, they ran over with smiles on their faces.

"Daddy!"

"Uncle Dong!"

"Hey," Chen Dong bent down and scooped up the two little guys, one in each hand. To be honest, these two rascals together are so big that Chen Dong feels like he can barely carry them anymore.

The three of them entered the ancestral home, laughing and joking. Chen Zaiguang had already returned and was sitting with his uncle Chen Xiangui, drinking tea. When he saw Chen Dong carrying the two mischievous boys in, he laughed and said, "These two need to be sent to school. They're always running wild and we can't catch them."

"I don't want to go to school!" Xiao Rongguo got off the ground and immediately shouted that he didn't want to go to school when he heard his uncle say that he should go to school.

"If you're not going to school, are you planning to become a vagrant? How about herding cattle?"

"Great! Great!" Xiao Rongguo nodded excitedly, and Xiao Chenhui also raised his hand and shouted, "Uncle, I want to herd cattle too!"

Huang Lanzhi brought out the stir-fried dishes, and after hearing what the two children said, she laughed in exasperation. "If you let them herd cattle, then that really suits their wishes. They'll be running around outside all day long, and they'll be so happy."

Chen Dong chuckled and patted the two boys' heads. "We'll talk about herding cattle after you graduate from college. Our family has a ranch in America with over a hundred cows. You two brothers will be in charge of herding them from now on!"

"Ah! Didn't Uncle say that only those who don't go to school can herd cattle? Does that mean only college students can herd cattle?" Little Chen Hui asked, puzzled.

Xiao Rongguo, recalling his days riding horses in America, chuckled and said, "When I grow up, I want to be like Uncle Sandi, riding a horse to herd cattle!"

"Oh, oh, oh! Herding cattle while riding a horse!"

Ignoring the two little rascals jumping around, Chen Dong sat on the sofa and said to Chen Zaiguang, "Brother, Secretary Zhou called me today and said that people from the central ministries have arrived in Tuocheng and want to come to Jinbu Industrial Park for inspection. Do you want to come with me tomorrow?"

"Even if you hadn't told me, I was going to tell you anyway. Secretary Lin called me today and said that people from the Planning Commission and the Economic Commission came down to Tuocheng today and will be visiting our Guangdong Factory in the next couple of days," Chen Zaiguang said, mentioning that he had been thinking of telling Chen Dong about it.

"Oh, I thought it was just people from the Ministry of Industry who came. I didn't expect that people from the State Planning Commission and the State Economic Commission also came along," Chen Dong thought to himself. It seems that the central government is going to pay close attention to the development of Tuocheng.

With Chen Dong's massive investments in Tuocheng, Tuocheng's economy, which was already stronger than Shenzhen and the other two special economic zones, is now booming. Chen Dong had heard Chen Zaiguang say that Feng Yuanshen, the head of the Nanshan District Administration for Industry and Commerce, had been smiling every time he went out lately.

In 1982, Nanshan District's economy grew by 200%. With such an impressive achievement, how could Feng Yuanshen, the director of the Industry and Commerce Bureau, not be happy!