Reborn in 1977

Chapter 375: A Suggestion

Although Fourth Master Lu had told him to leave, Chen Fan didn't immediately go.

It was time to work at the small water tower, so he first cleaned the large wooden basin used for chopping pig feed, poured all the peppers in to wash them, then plucked off the pepper stems. He placed a cutting board underneath and, wielding two knives, unleashed a flurry of chops, quickly turning the peppers into a paste.

He mixed in salt, packed it into jars, and refilled the water tank. With everything done, he energetically slung his backpack over his shoulder and left.

There was no helping it; that wine was too potent. He probably wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

Should he just practice his skills all night?

…

Back at the brigade headquarters, it was just in time for the afternoon broadcast.

Chen Fan went to the broadcasting station to take a look, and found Zhang Cuie was learning English.

She was holding an English book, muttering to herself, not even noticing Chen Fan's arrival.

Chen Fan listened for a few sentences, then couldn't help but frown and gently knock on the table.

Zhang Cuie startled awake, turned her head, and seeing it was him, immediately stood up, her face full of smiles. "Teacher."

Chen Fan nodded, smiled first, then pointed to the English textbook and read it aloud with a standard Received Pronunciation accent.

English doesn't have a standard universal accent because they advocate democracy. If you were to mandate the London accent as the standard, people from Liverpool, Wales, and Ireland would be unhappy. If they're unhappy, don't blame them for scolding you and refusing to cooperate.

So, since they couldn't promote it, they simply didn't specify a standard accent.

However, as a constitutional monarchy, it's only natural that the Queen's speech became the most "noble" accent, and people from all regions took pride in speaking like her. Thus, this accent became the default standard.

And Received Pronunciation is what they call the "Queen's English," which is actually the accent of the Oxford area, where the Buckingham Hotel is located.

For a long time in the future, English education in our country, both grammar and accent, will teach this Oxford English.

It wasn't until the new century that some schools switched to teaching General American, which is American English.

Like Britain, the United States also doesn't have a standard accent. Their common accents include Southern, Boston, Californian, and New York, with all other miscellaneous accents considered dialects.

Among them, the General American accent is the most widely used standard accent in American films, television, radio, advertising, and other media, and this GA accent is mainly developed from the Californian accent.

There's no helping it; Hollywood is in Los Angeles, and Los Angeles is in California, so this accent has been promoted.

What Zhang Cuie read out just now was undoubtedly Chinese-accented English, which many students had read before, such as '阴沟里洗' (yin gou li xi, 'in the gutter wash'), '来死狗' (lai si gou, 'lie, die dog'), '卖糕的' (mai gao de, 'my god'), '扛木昂' (kang mu ang, 'come on'), '伐木累' (fa mu lei, 'family'), '好阿油' (hao a you, 'how are you'), '古德摸您' (gu de mo nin, 'good morning')...

She's just starting to learn English, and it's the easiest time to correct her pronunciation, so Chen Fan naturally had to correct her.

Hearing Chen Fan demonstrate for her, Zhang Cuie's face flushed red, but without saying a word, she immediately followed along, reading softly.

Chen Fan read a section, and she followed along, reading the same section.

Being alone and enveloped in the halo of teaching, Zhang Cuie felt as if she had been sublimated. She felt incredibly clear-headed, and after learning from the teacher once, she remembered about 70-80% of it. After the teacher taught it a second time, she could recite the entire text, and the words it contained were naturally firmly grasped with the correct pronunciation.

After she finished reading, Chen Fan said, "You should memorize this text today, repeatedly recite it, and be able to write it out from memory. In the future, I will teach you to read a short article every day, and you must memorize it.

Learning English is like learning Chinese; you must learn the words and the pronunciation, and the pronunciation must be standard. Do you understand?"

Zhang Cuie nodded, her face red. "I remember."

Chen Fan smiled. "Okay, continue studying."

Then he walked out.

…

Arriving in the front yard, Chen Fan found that Secretary Yang and Team Leader Zhang had returned, so he immediately went in and asked, "Did you go to the repair shop just now? How was it? What did Master Wang say?"

Secretary Yang took a sip of water, grinning as he said, "We went, and we dragged Master Wang along. He said the wood on that boat is well-preserved. If it's dismantled and rebuilt, there's a good chance we can build a large wooden boat that's 22 to 25 meters long.

Also, the two propeller engines have been brought back and are stored in the warehouse, ready to be used at any time."

"Okay, I'll go get them later to modify them."

Chen Fan's face lit up with a happy smile. He reached out and took the cigarette Team Leader Zhang tossed him, laughing. "How much do they want to sell that wooden boat for?"

Team Leader Zhang gestured to the side, and Chen Fan was slightly stunned. "2000? That's so expensive?"

Secretary Yang shook his head, smiling wryly. "It's not expensive. The wood alone is worth at least 1200 yuan. That's the price for old wood. If calculated according to the current price of 36 yuan per cubic meter for high-quality timber, the wood alone would cost more than 2000 yuan.

And this price also includes the cost of modification. The repair shop will need to use at least 10 workers and spend nearly a month to carry out the modification. The original boat has been dismantled by nearly a third, and the current size is no longer suitable. The entire boat needs to be completely dismantled, then redesigned, modified, and reassembled before it can be used.

On the way back, Old Wang said that for 2000 yuan, the repair shop wouldn't make a single penny and might even have to subsidize a little."

Of course, it wouldn't really be a subsidy; it would just be unprofitable on paper.

Later, as long as they make appropriate adjustments to the wood materials and balance the books, they can make a profit.

Otherwise, even if Secretary Tian personally intervened and made a loss-making deal, he wouldn't be able to explain it to the higher-ups.

However, in this way, the water transport company has indeed made a big concession.

Chen Fan nodded to show he understood, the cigarette twirling between his fingers. He raised his head and smiled. "The repair shop is still experienced. They can complete the modification of a boat in one month. So, by the end of September, we can have the first boat launched, and then by the end of October, the new boat built by Master Wang and the others can also be launched."

Secretary Yang's face was now full of smiles, and the frown he had just worn was long gone. He laughed loudly. "These are two big boats. We can transport more live poultry, and we can deliver goods wherever there's a waterway, so it will be easier to sell in the future."

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Fan looked towards the door.

Ye Shubao, An Quan, and Yang Xingxiu walked in one after another.

Before even entering, Ye Shubao laughed loudly. "What's making you so happy? I could hear you laughing in the yard."

Secretary Yang immediately explained the situation, and Ye Shubao immediately perked up. "So, we don't have to wait two months; we can use a big boat?!"

Team Leader Zhang grinned non-stop, nodding vigorously. "Isn't that right? In any case, two big boats will definitely be enough."

Watching everyone smile, Chen Fan sat on the side, smiling silently.

Two boats are enough?

If the Lu Family Bay's sideline business can really develop according to his vision, unless they have another fleet of more than 10 ships, it will still be not enough!

When the laughter subsided, An Quan threw Chen Fan another cigarette, then took out a piece of paper and handed it to him. "This is the preliminary list of workers. Take a look and see if they're all suitable."

Chen Fan took it and looked at it, and found that it was not just a list, but also included personal profiles, such as age, which team they were from, family situation, and the indispensable team leader's evaluation, etc.

An Quan must have added this; otherwise, Ye Shubao wouldn't have thought so much.

They were all people from the same production team. He knew many of them, but they probably wouldn't have thought of writing these things.

Chen Fan scanned it, and had an idea. He handed the paper back, smiling. "Okay, let's do it according to this. I have no objections."

An Quan took the list and put it aside, saying seriously, "The list has a total of 18 people. 12 people will work in the cooked food workshop. These people are one person from each team. They are all quick-witted and good at cooking, so they definitely won't mess things up.

However, Old Ye and I also asked all the team leaders to greet these people in advance. After they go over, if anyone doesn't obey the rules or doesn't meet the cooking requirements, they will be warned the first time and sent back the second time, replaced by someone else. There's no room for sentimentality."

Chen Fan nodded slowly, also agreeing with his opinion.

After a pause, An Quan said again, "As for the other 6 people, they won't be divided into teams. We'll mainly look at their appearance. Those who are good-looking and can write and calculate will be given priority."

After saying that, he looked at Chen Fan and asked, "Since you have no objections, then let's move on to the next step: training them. When do you plan to start?"

At this time, Yang Xingxiu suddenly said, "Little Chen, I have a suggestion. I don't know if it's appropriate."

Chen Fan looked at her. "What suggestion?"

Yang Xingxiu smiled. "That is, when you train them, can you find more people to participate? For example, for the 12 cooks, find 18 or even 20 people to come. That way, if there are any unsuitable ones, you can immediately have someone to replace them. Also, if the workshop wants to expand, there will be people who can immediately take over.

The same goes for the sales staff. For the 6 official ones, find 4 more alternates, so you won't have to worry about a shortage of people."

Chen Fan immediately nodded and smiled. "Okay, that's a great suggestion. As expected of Sister Xingxiu."

In fact, he was just about to say this, but since Yang Xingxiu had said it, he wouldn't mention it again.

Didn't he see Yang Xingxiu was a little excited at this time?

Being able to give Teacher Chen a suggestion, not to mention Lu Family Bay, there aren't many in the entire Nanhu Company. I guess I'm a smart person!

An Quan had already picked up a pen and was writing down the key points one by one. As he wrote, he read aloud, "Let's talk about live poultry first. We'll still use carts for transportation these few days, and then hurry up and modify a few small boats,"

He turned to look at Chen Fan. "You still need to provide technical guidance for this, after all, we're going to start delivering goods to the District Committee on the 1st of next month. It's not good to send them by horse-drawn carriage; it's more convenient to use a boat."

Chen Fan nodded without hesitation. "No problem, I can definitely get it done before the 1st."