Reborn in 1977

If you were to ask who was happiest about An Quan moving to a new home, Jiang Lili and Jiang Tiantian would definitely be among them.

Because Chen Fan would be staying at least one more day.

Being invited to a housewarming banquet was perfect timing.

The next day was Sunday, a school holiday, and Chen Fan took the two sisters to visit.

These small villas are relatively concentrated in Shanghai, mainly distributed on both sides of Huaihai Road. An Quan's new home is not far from Chen Fan's, located on Julu Road, only 3 kilometers away.

It's a pseudo-three-story English-style building with a yard. The main entrance faces the street and requires going up a flight of stairs. Next to the stairs is the yard gate. Although the yard isn't large, it can accommodate several small cars.

(It's roughly like this)

Although such a small villa cannot be considered grand among the old houses of the Republic of China, it is a world apart from the Shikumen buildings he originally lived in.

At least it has light from all sides and a yard for parking.

Even without a car, the yard is a great activity space.

Although the whole house isn't very new, it's clean and doesn't feel old at all. It's obvious that An Quan and his wife are very satisfied with the house and have put a lot of effort into it.

Hearing the doorbell, Yu Keying waved from the door as a greeting, then asked An Quan to go to the yard and open the gate from the inside so they could drive the car in. She hurried down herself.

When the car drove in and stopped, she was surprised to see that Jiang Tiantian was driving. "When did you become a driver?"

Jiang Tiantian opened the door and got out of the car, smiling. "I just got my license last Sunday and have only practiced for a week, so I'm only slightly better."

She then handed over two thermos bottles. "Sister Ying, congratulations on moving to your new home."

"Thank you."

Yu Keying took the gifts and handed them to An Quan. "Lao An, when are you getting your license?"

An Quan carried a thermos bottle in each hand, his face falling. "I'm still memorizing traffic regulations, and I haven't finished learning the mechanical theory."

In other words, it's still a long way off.

Yu Keying gave him a disgusted look, then took Jiang Lili's hand as she walked over and asked in a low voice, "How long did you guys study?"

Jiang Lili looked at An Quan. "Brother An, can I say?"

An Quan's old face darkened, and he turned around and went into the house, not wanting to say anything.

Jiang Lili giggled softly, "Sister Ying, my sister and I are different. Chen Fan taught us directly. You know how good he is at teaching people.

Besides, we already knew how to drive vans before going to the driving school. Later, we just familiarized ourselves with their test cars and passed the test quickly."

Yu Keying suddenly understood. "So, Chen Fan taught you. No wonder."

She had heard Chen Fan lecturing when they were reviewing at Lujiawan before. He really made things easy to understand, and he was very good at teaching.

However, she didn't mention asking Chen Fan to teach An Quan. They already owed him enough favors, and she didn't want to trouble him with such a small matter.

Even with An Quan's thick skin, he didn't mention it. He just exaggeratedly showed off, "How's my house? I didn't renovate it after buying it. The house itself is well-maintained. I just cleaned it and bought some furniture, and I could move in, which saved me a renovation fee."

Chen Fan looked around and nodded slightly. "Yeah, not bad, bigger than my house."

In terms of building area, this house is indeed larger than his villa. If you include the attic, it should be considered four stories.

It's just that the actual number of floors is only two.

The first floor has a relatively low ceiling, a bit like a garage. It's now used as a kitchen and storage room, with two servant rooms.

This house was built in the 1930s, so having servant rooms is normal.

The living room and dining room are on the second floor, along with a bedroom. The main entrance facing the street also leads directly to the second floor.

The third floor has a layout of three bedrooms and one living room, and the master bedroom is also here.

Above that is the attic. The roof is very thick and has insulation. There are also many windows, so it's perfectly fine to convert it into a bedroom.

It's just a bit hot in the summer.

However, given the current housing conditions in Shanghai, I don't know how many families are crammed into attics. Having a house is the most important thing. Who cares which floor you live on?

Of course, An Quan and his wife don't need it. The attic's final destination will either be a study or a storage room, or it will be used as a children's playground after the child is born.

An Quan showed Chen Fan around, smiling so wide that his mouth couldn't close. "The house is a bit bigger, but the yard is too small. Unlike yours, the yard alone is bigger than my entire plot of land."

Chen Fan nodded in agreement. "That's true. In August, I accompanied my cousin to find a house, and there were indeed few with large yards. In the end, there weren't many available, so we bought the two with the largest yards."

An Quan was quite surprised. "There was such a thing?"

After a pause, he asked, "How big are they?"

Chen Fan thought for a moment. "One is about the same as mine, and the other is slightly larger, less than 20 mu in total."

An Quan's eyes widened instantly. Less than 20 mu?

And you say "less than"?

How big do you want it to be?

In an instant, An Quan didn't want to talk to him and ran to the kitchen to cook.

They had a very hearty dinner at An Quan's house, although the cooking skills weren't great. After a lively time, it was considered a celebration.

The official housewarming banquet was scheduled for next Sunday.

An Quan knew that Chen Fan didn't like too much noise, so he invited him separately, just like when he moved into the Shikumen last time.

After going to An Quan's house and delaying his departure by one day, Chen Fan continued to prepare for his return trip.

… …

The next day, October 9th, Monday.

Jiang Lili looked at Chen Fan reluctantly. "Are you sure you don't want us to see you off?"

Chen Fan threw his luggage bag onto the sofa, lay down on it, and looked at the two of them with a smile. "I'll be over in two or three months at most, so don't bother seeing me off. Hurry up and go to school. When it's time, I'll take a taxi to the airport."

The two sisters looked at each other and could only wave goodbye and leave together.

Outside in the yard, Jiang Lili suddenly said, "Sister, you can use the car. I was just practicing driving these past few days. Now that I'm familiar with the car, it's just a few steps to school for me. I can ride a bicycle."

Jiang Tiantian thought for a moment. "Should I take you to the school gate?"

Jiang Lili took her hand and shook it, smiling. "Really, you don't need to. If you take me there, I still have to walk in. Riding a bike is faster, and it's convenient to come back after school."

Jiang Tiantian thought it was right. Without Chen Fan driving her, a bicycle was indeed more convenient, so she didn't insist. "Okay, then be careful."

After her sister opened the iron gate, she drove away.

Jiang Lili looked back at the house, pushed out her bicycle, and hurried to school as well.

Chen Fan sat on the sofa, holding a book and flipping through it, occasionally looking at the grandfather clock in the corner.

In less than ten minutes, the sound of unlocking came from outside, and a smile appeared on his lips.

Soon, Jiang Lili's figure appeared at the door. She didn't even have time to change her shoes, took them off, and ran barefoot to him, throwing herself into his arms and giggling. "I asked for half a day off to spend more time with you."

Chen Fan threw down the book and scooped her up in his arms. “Then I’ll teach you a brand-new version of martial arts. Do you want to learn the Dragon Grasping Hand or the Silk Reeling Leg?”

Jiang Lili’s face flushed red. “Either is fine.”

The new martial arts were indeed difficult to learn, taking a full three hours of practice to master.

After washing up, it was nearly noon. The two of them walked downstairs hand in hand, and without realizing it, Jiang Lili was pouting again.

Chen Fan slung his backpack over his shoulder, pinched her nose, and smiled. “Study hard. You’ll be wearing a new outfit of your design for the New Year.”

Jiang Lili forced a smile. “Don’t worry, I’m always at the top of my class, or the teacher wouldn’t have so easily approved my leave.”

Chen Fan chuckled and ruffled her hair before turning and walking out.

Jiang Lili silently followed behind him, locked the front door, and pushed her bicycle out… Then she saw that just as Chen Fan opened the small iron gate, a mailman was standing outside, about to drop something into the small mailbox by the door.

Seeing someone come out, the mailman handed over the telegram form in his hand. “Perfect timing, this telegram is for you, sent from America.”

Chen Fan took it, pulled out a cigarette, and offered it to him. “Thank you.”

The mailman took the cigarette, glanced at it, and his expression immediately improved. He tucked the cigarette behind his ear and smiled. “You’re welcome.”

With that, he lifted his heavy bicycle, turned the handlebars, and rode off to the next house.

Jiang Lili parked her bicycle and moved closer to Chen Fan. “Is it from my cousin?”

A telegram from America could only be from her cousin, right?

Except, usually she called, so why was she sending a telegram this time?

Chen Fan had already finished reading the telegram and handed it to her with a smile. “Yali’s telegram, addressed to you. She said she couldn’t get through by phone and asked you to tell me that the Chinese character processing software has been successfully developed. She’s sent a few computers over and wants us to keep an eye out for them.”

Jiang Lili’s face immediately lit up with surprise. “It’s been successfully developed! Does that mean we can type in Chinese on the computer from now on?”

Recently, Chen Fan had been writing his novel in Chinese, which meant he had reverted to the days of battling with a pen. Compared to typing on a computer, it was not only slower but also required frequent refills of ink.

If they had a Chinese character computer, it would be much more convenient for him.

After a pause, Jiang Lili thought of another question, looked up at Chen Fan, and asked softly, “My cousin said she sent computers, so you…?”

Chen Fan glanced at the telegram and smiled at her. “The telegram was sent the day before yesterday, so the computers were also sent the day before yesterday. They should arrive in four or five days, so I might as well wait until we receive the computers before leaving.”

Hearing this, Jiang Lili instantly beamed with joy. Forgetting that the door wasn’t even closed, she tightly grabbed his arm and giggled without saying a word.

Chen Fan shrugged, ruffled her hair, casually closed the door, and pulled her inside. “Hurry up and make food, I’m starving.”

Jiang Lili held onto his arm and didn’t let go. “Okay!”

…

Jiang Lili was busy in the kitchen, while Chen Fan tried to make a phone call to America in the living room.

Today was quite miraculous; after waiting only half an hour, the call actually went through!

A middle-aged woman’s voice rang in his ear. “Hello, this is the Zhou residence, who are you looking for?”

She was speaking in English, of course.

Chen Fan guessed it was probably the nanny at his uncle’s house and didn’t think much of it. He said, “Hello, I’m Chen Fan, Mr. Zhou’s nephew. Is Zhou Yali there, or can I speak to my uncle?”

Liu Xiulan immediately realized that this was the young master. She promptly said, “Hello, young master, it’s midnight here, the master and young lady are already asleep. Please wait a moment, I’ll go wake the young lady to answer the phone.”

Chen Fan, “Okay, thank you.”

Not long after, Zhou Yali’s voice rang in the receiver. “Little brother, it’s the middle of the night, why are you calling at this hour?”

Chen Fan was very righteous and confident. “It’s noon here, what’s the problem?”

Zhou Yali was speechless.

At this time, Jiang Lili came out of the kitchen carrying food. Seeing Chen Fan on the phone, she immediately turned around, took the food back, covered it with a bowl, and then cheerfully ran out to snuggle against Chen Fan.

Chen Fan was listening to the phone and, seeing her come over, turned the receiver so she could listen too.

Inside the receiver, Zhou Yali was rambling on about recent events. “Little brother, you’re famous, do you know how famous you are! 'The Legend of the Dragon Knight' is almost always the top-selling book every day. We don’t need to do any marketing at all. Readers, bookstores, even television, radio, and newspapers, everyone is discussing this book. … ”

Chen Fan hummed a couple of times. “I only care about how much it’s sold.”

Zhou Yali, “…You money-grubber, don’t you have any sense of honor?”

Chen Fan, “Comrade Yali, do you want honor or US dollars?”

Zhou Yali, “Of course, US dollars. Okay, actually, you can have both. I was very excited when I first found out the sales figures, but now I’m completely numb.

Currently, the sales of your book are 850,000 sets, not because it can only sell 850,000, but because the printing company we’re working with can only print 850,000. This is already the result of our efforts to increase printing partners; otherwise, it would still only be hovering around 400,000 sets.

As for the income, the single-volume price of this book is 4 US dollars, and the two volumes together are 8 US dollars. Your royalty is 20%, so your total income is… ”

The receiver paused for two seconds. “Wait, let me find a calculator.”

Chen Fan calculated silently in his mind, “1.36 million US dollars.”

“Uh, … ”

Zhou Yali didn’t believe him and continued to press a few buttons on the calculator. “Yes, 1.36 million US dollars. Of course, this is the pre-tax figure, and you still need to pay a tax, which my mommy will find someone to help you with. Just wait to receive the money.”

Chen Fan pondered for two seconds. “Wait a minute, don’t rush.”

Zhou Yali was stunned for a moment. “Huh?”

Chen Fan, “Doesn’t the company need money? You use it first, and we’ll talk about it later.”

Zhou Yali’s eyes flickered, and she quickly understood what he meant.

Before, when she was in China, she had heard Jiang Lili and the others say that Chen Fan’s foreign exchange manuscript income was also subject to supervision. After the foreign exchange entered the domestic bank account, it would be directly intercepted and converted into RMB at the official exchange rate before being paid to the recipient.

So, if this money were transferred to her little brother now, it would become a sum of RMB lying in the account.

And in the current domestic environment, there was nowhere to spend the money. Her little brother had another 70,000 or 80,000 in hand, and he had saved 380,000 with Third Master. What would he do with so much money?!

It would be better to leave it in the United States for the development of their joint venture company.

Having figured this out, Zhou Yali smiled and said, “Understood. It just so happens that our company’s successful development of Chinese character input software requires a large amount of capital for promotion, so I’ll intercept it first.”