Reborn in 1977

Leaving the school and buying some vegetables at the small market next to Wenyi New Village, Chen Fan drove home.

At home, just like when he left, the front door was tightly closed, and the three girls were sitting on the heated brick bed, drinking tea and chatting.

No, there was a change.

Chen Fan entered the house, put down the vegetables he bought, and just as Jiang Lili and the others opened the door to come out, he immediately saw a black rotary dial telephone on the table.

He glanced at the three of them, and Chen Fan quickly waved his hand, "Don't come out without wearing your coats, go back inside."

The three of them readily obeyed and immediately turned around and went back inside.

Chen Fan already knew about this, having discussed it with He Qingsheng when he called him a few days ago. He didn't expect that someone would come to install it as soon as he got home. This reaction speed was not representative of the era at all.

After his sister finished speaking, Jiang Tiantian added, "I took a few packs of cigarettes from you and gave them two packs each."

Chen Fan gave her a thumbs up and nodded with a smile, "Well done."

Zhou Yali now had some understanding of the mainland, especially in the area of communications, knowing that families who could install telephones were not simple. She couldn't help but say at this time, "Your unit's benefits are very good. I heard Section Chief Wan say that telephones have been installed in the homes of cadres. That's really generous."

Chen Fan said with a smile, "What's so generous about this? Installing ten thousand-line program-controlled switches is the real big deal."

Then he waved his hand, "Go sit on the heated brick bed."

The three of them immediately turned around and climbed onto the heated brick bed. Feeling the warmth of the heated brick bed, Zhou Yali even shivered slightly and chuckled, "This kind of heated brick bed is really comfortable. You don't even need to wear a coat in winter."

Chen Fan sat on the edge of the heated brick bed. Just as Jiang Lili poured him a cup of tea, he picked it up and took a sip.

Before he could put it down, Jiang Tiantian said again, "Not long after the telephone was installed, there was a call. It was Chairman He from your unit. He said that Vice Chairman Tan and Secretary-General Xu would come over later after work…"

Speaking of this, not knowing what she thought of, she actually covered her mouth and snickered, and then said, "Chairman He said to have you cook a meal and prepare the Yangtze River fish you ate during the last meeting."

Chen Fan's old face darkened, and he put down the teacup, saying unhappily, "These old comrades don't know how to take care of new comrades at all. I finally went on a business trip for a month. Instead of inviting me to dinner when I came back, they want to come and eat mine. The most excessive thing is that they even ordered the dish. It's really outrageous."

Jiang Lili blinked and looked at him, asking softly, "Then, should I do it?"

Chen Fan waved his hand, "Forget it, I'll do it."

After a pause, he looked at the three of them again and said with a smile, "I just bought some vegetables back. There aren't many things. I originally wanted to go fishing, but they happened to run into it."

After speaking, he took another sip of water, put down the teacup, and got up to leave.

The three of them also got off the heated brick bed, but Jiang Lili said, "My sister and I will go prepare the dishes."

Zhou Yali, on the other hand, was saying, "Little brother, I want to go fishing."

Truly the older female cousin.

Since they weren't going out, the two sisters were only wearing mink vests, which were both warm and didn't hinder their work.

Zhou Yali, on the other hand, wrapped herself in a bearskin coat, and Chen Fan even put a furry fur hat on her head, making her look fluffy. She also didn't forget to bring a small satchel containing a camera, following behind her little brother, who was carrying a fishing rod, and swaying as she went out the door.

Reaching the lakeside, Chen Fan untied the cable, first got on the boat himself, then helped Zhou Yali onto the boat. After she was seated securely in the cabin, he stepped on the gunwale and walked to the stern, set up the oars, and rowed towards the center of the lake.

The lake surface was rippling with blue waves, and flocks of waterfowl were everywhere. One of them was taking pictures at the bow of the boat, having a great time, while the other was fishing at the stern, not disturbing each other.

Half an hour later, seeing that the time was almost up, Chen Fan rowed the boat back.

At home, the two sisters had already prepared the vegetables that Chen Fan had bought, and Jiang Lili had also done a lot of preparatory work, waiting for Chen Fan to be the main chef.

Chen Fan was busy in the kitchen, and when the neighborhood became noticeably lively, the two pots were also ready.

One pot was sent to the heated brick bed table, which was prepared for Zhou Yali and the others.

It was naturally inconvenient for He Qingsheng and the others to sit at the same table, and both sides were unfamiliar with each other, so eating together would be a bit restrictive.

The other table, for entertaining guests, was set up in the main room.

Moving the Eight Immortals table out of the kitchen, placing four chairs, and adding a steaming stove, everything was just ready when there was a movement outside.

First, a car stopped outside the courtyard door, and then several footsteps sounded.

Chen Fan walked over and opened the door, just in time to see He Qingsheng and the other two appearing at the door.

Seeing the door open without knocking, He Qingsheng couldn't help but be startled. When he saw that it was Chen Fan, he first breathed a sigh of relief, and then the first thing he said was to complain, "You kid went out and had a comfortable time, but we old guys almost broke our old bones."

As he spoke, he walked inside.

Tan Yong followed closely behind, "Hehe, I'm just here to freeload a meal."

The last one to enter was Xu Qizhen, "Vice Chairman Chen, it's been a month, and you're still as charming as ever."

Chen Fan didn't listen to what they were saying at all, he just stared at the things in their hands, sniffed, and then nodded in satisfaction, "Wild Flavor Restaurant's braised beef, roast pigeon, plus four bottles of Moutai, not bad, not bad."

The three of them put the things on the table, and He Qingsheng consciously sat down in the host's seat, looking at him and saying, "So we've been talking for so long, and you only care about eating?"

Chen Fan, "Otherwise, what else?"

At this time, Zhou Yali and the other two came out of the room. Chen Fan quickly introduced them, "This is Chairman He of the Writers Association of Jiangnan Province, this is Vice Chairman Tan, and this is Secretary-General Xu. This is my older female cousin who came back from the United States, her name is Zhou Yali, this is my fiancée, Jiang Lili, and this is Lili's older sister, Jiang Tiantian."

It wasn't official business, just visiting to meet the family, so of course it wasn't so formal.

The two sides greeted each other, and Zhou Yali excused herself and was about to go back into the room.

He Qingsheng looked at Xu Qizhen, and Xu Qizhen quickly said, "You all come and eat together too."

The family members were all girls, so He Qingsheng and Tan Yong were not convenient to come forward at this time, so Xu Qizhen naturally interacted with them.

Seeing that Xu Qizhen was so polite, Zhou Yali's well-bred demeanor instantly came online, and she immediately said with a smile, "You're too polite. Xiao Fan often mentions you at home, which means you're not outsiders.

However, today, several leaders have come together, so there should be important matters to discuss. If we were also there, it would be somewhat inconvenient. Anyway, Xiao Fan has set up a separate table for us inside, which won't affect anything. It's just that we can't accompany you, which is a bit impolite."

Xu Qizhen was completely capable of handling this kind of situation. After Zhou Yali finished speaking, she said with a smile, "You just said that you're not outsiders, so naturally there's no question of being impolite."

The two sides exchanged pleasantries for a few rounds, just as a formality, and the three of them then returned to the room.

Chen Fan sat in the host's seat without hesitation, first letting out a long breath, lamenting that this kind of politeness was really tiring.

However, it never hurts to be polite, especially when meeting for the first time. This kind of politeness is really indispensable.

He picked up the Maotai that He Qingsheng had brought, opened it, and filled all four glasses.

While he was still pouring the wine, He Qingsheng eagerly leaned in and whispered, "Your uncle didn't come?"

Chen Fan looked at him and smiled, "My uncle set up an office in Shanghai a few days ago and negotiated with the local telephone bureau to install two 10,000-line program-controlled exchanges. Today, we're returning to the provincial capital, and he's flying to Beijing to do the same thing: establish an office and finalize the previous purchase intention."

After pouring the wine, he put down the bottle, looked around at the three people listening intently, and smiled, "If nothing unexpected happens, Beijing should also get two units."

After he finished speaking, He Qingsheng frowned, gasped, and said with a worried look, "That's four units right there. At a minimum of $4.2 million each, that's $16.8 million! Can your uncle's company afford to pay that much upfront?"

The unspoken implication was: don't give all the program-controlled exchanges to Beijing and Shanghai, leaving Jiangnan Province with nothing.

Chen Fan shook his head and smiled, "I'm not too sure about that. I don't understand business matters. However, before coming here, my uncle told my cousin that as long as there are no problems on our end, we confirm that we want the program-controlled exchanges, and the government provides a guarantee to ensure timely payment, then there won't be any issues."

In the financial model, they wouldn't have to pay that much upfront as He Qingsheng said. A few hundred thousand dollars would be enough to start, but a portion of the profits would be used to pay interest.

Hearing his words, He Qingsheng finally breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, "If that's the case, then there's no problem."

He was worried that Beijing and Shanghai would want too many units, and if that squeezed out the provincial capital's share, it wouldn't be good.

Chen Fan smiled and said, "My cousin will go to the provincial telephone bureau tomorrow to officially finalize the matter, so there definitely won't be any problems."

He picked up his glass, clinked it with the three of them, took a small sip of wine, put down the glass, picked up a piece of fish, and savored it.

Old Uncle played this move very smoothly!

The original quoted price for a unit was between $3 million and $5 million. Only after obtaining the agency rights did he realize how much profit there was.

The cheapest Fujitsu brand's procurement price dropped from $3 million to $2.6 million, even while ensuring the manufacturer's profit margin. That was the purchase price that Wan Muchun Company could obtain.

And when supplying to the domestic market, if the full amount was paid upfront, the quoted price was $3 million, meaning that, including operating costs, the profit per unit was about 15%.

But if a buyer's credit model was used, the price would jump to $4.2 million.

Was it high?

It was indeed very high, $1.2 million more than the original price, with a profit margin exceeding 60%. It looked unusually high no matter how you looked at it.

But upon closer inspection, it was reasonable.

First of all, it was zero down payment. You could get the product for use without spending a penny. Secondly, according to the financing plan, it would take six years to pay off the loan, and the total interest for six years was only 40%.

Think about the various loan interest rates in later generations. The lowest commercial loan interest rate is above 5% per year, and more than 10% is not uncommon. Do you still think it's high now?

Moreover, this six-year period also includes equipment maintenance, so the price can be said to be very reasonable.

There are also financiers in the mainland. The Bank of China institutions in Hong Kong undertake the task of connecting our country with the international banking industry. If you don’t understand financial methods, how can you connect with the outside world?

What's more, the superiors are not fools. They can calculate whether a business is worthwhile.

Chen Fan didn't realize it at first. After knowing the price, he thought that his uncle was being a little ruthless.

After calculating the bill clearly, he could only sigh. No wonder He Qingsheng's son, who worked at the provincial telephone bureau, Zhang Bin in Shanghai, and the Beijing telephone bureau, were all so enthusiastic when they heard the news.

Because there were benefits!

And the benefits were not small.

Otherwise, they wouldn't be rushing to sell goods like this. At least they would have to haggle for a few rounds, spending half a year or a year to discuss the price.

He Qingsheng drank half a glass of wine in one gulp, turned to look at Chen Fan, "My son's unit is a bit anxious. Can you talk to your cousin and ask them to come over tonight to negotiate, so they can sign the contract directly tomorrow?"

Chen Fan's mouth twitched slightly. He picked up the wine bottle and filled his glass, saying, "Uncle He, half a day doesn't make a difference. Your family, my older brother, has free time and isn't tired, but my cousin is tired. She sat on a plane for half the day in the morning, and then cleaned the house after arriving home, and then went fishing with me to make dinner for you. If she wasn't hungry and hadn't eaten, she would probably be asleep already. How could she have the energy to talk about work?"

Hearing this, He Qingsheng and the other two were a little embarrassed.

They wouldn't be polite to Chen Fan, but when it came to other people, they were embarrassed.

Tan Yong quickly drank wine to cover up the embarrassment, "Why did you let your cousin go fishing?"

Xu Qizhen also quickly said, "Like this, like this, don't cook at your house tomorrow, just come to my house to eat."

He Qingsheng also nodded, "It's Sunday tomorrow, …"

Just as he started to say something, he turned to look at Xu Qizhen, "That's not right, your cousin is going to the telephone bureau tomorrow, so the telephone bureau will definitely take care of the meal, or else where will they put their old faces?"

Xu Qizhen was about to speak when Chen Fan waved his hand and smiled, "We can't go anywhere tomorrow."

He turned to look at He Qingsheng, "You forgot, tomorrow is the Spring Festival Gala of the Literary Federation, and you signed me up for a performance."

He Qingsheng patted his head, "I really forgot about that. Then we'll have to reschedule."

He put down his hand, turned to look at Chen Fan, "What song are you singing tomorrow?"

Chen Fan said without thinking, "'Young Friends, Let's Meet'."

He thought to himself that he wasn't a singer or a musician. One song on stage was enough. Did they want him to make several more and wait to release an album?

He planned to rely on this one song for the rest of his life!

Hearing Chen Fan say that it was this program, He Qingsheng nodded in satisfaction, "That song is enough."

Sometimes, while chatting, the topic would be diverted, or rather, the matter of purchasing program-controlled exchanges was almost settled. He Qingsheng had built a stage for his son, and the communication conditions in the provincial capital would be greatly improved in the future, which could be considered a win-win situation.

So this problem was considered resolved and was put aside.

After eating and drinking for a while, they chatted randomly and unconsciously talked about the Writers Association.

He Qingsheng wiped his face, dried the fine sweat on his face, and looked at Chen Fan and said, "Didn't Mr. Ba tell you before that the General Association was going to have an exchange meeting with the Japanese and reserved a spot for you, but you didn't go?

If you don't go, someone will naturally scramble to go. Just last week, the first delegation to exchange with the Japanese went there and stayed there for three or four days. I heard it went well.

Then, the day before yesterday, they returned in triumph. It was very lively.