Reborn in 1977

Chapter 666 Room Allocation

Chen Fan drove the car and, after a few turns, arrived at the riverside.

Before reaching the destination, Lin Liwen stretched her neck, looking around. Suddenly, she asked in a low voice, "Xiao Fan, where are you taking us?"

Chen Fan smiled and said, looking back, "Don't worry, I won't sell you off."

Then, he pointed ahead, "We'll be there soon. There's a restaurant ahead with good food. We'll eat there today."

Not far ahead?

Xia Yuping couldn't help but widen her eyes, "You're not going to take us to a wild game restaurant, are you?"

Chen Fan chuckled, "You know about it?"

They were just saying they didn't know anything? Is that it?

The two hadn't realized they'd let the cat out of the bag. Lin Liwen grabbed the front seat and happily laughed, "Is it really a wild game restaurant? We went there once. Their wild game noodle soup is especially delicious, but it requires special noodle coupons."

Xia Yuping also nodded repeatedly, "We went with a classmate. She only managed to scrape together a few coupons, just enough for everyone in our dorm to have a meal. We never ate there again afterwards."

Then, she lowered her voice, her expression like she was meeting a secret contact, extremely cautious, "Where did you get the noodle coupons? Was it difficult?"

"I don't have any coupons."

Chen Fan looked back at them, smiled, and said, "Actually, you can eat even without coupons."

The two exchanged a glance, then turned to look at him together, "How can you eat without coupons?"

While they were talking, the car had already arrived at the entrance of the wild game restaurant.

He drove into a parking space, pulled the handbrake, and got out of the car.

After the two of them got out, Chen Fan pointed inside, "Follow me and you'll find out."

It was almost lunchtime, and the hall on the first floor was already about half full. Since eating noodles was quick, they could probably sell over a thousand bowls during the four-hour dinner period.

If he could lease this restaurant after the Reform and Opening Up, this single store could create several millionaires within a year.

This was a small gold mine!

However, it wouldn't last for many years, because later there would be wildlife protection laws. Where would the wild game restaurants come from then?!

Lin Liwen and Xia Yuping followed Chen Fan inside and were about to find a seat when they turned around and saw Chen Fan heading straight for the stairs.

Chen Fan didn't hear the footsteps behind him, stopped, looked back, and smiled, "Why aren't you coming?"

The two exchanged a glance, didn't think too much, and quickly followed, "Coming."

Upstairs on the second floor, it was still the same manager.

The second floor was different from the first. The first floor was "self-service" where you bought tickets at the cashier and picked up your food at the window. The second floor had dedicated service.

In the early years, there was a special term for this profession, "waiter."

A waiter not only welcomed guests, poured tea, and served dishes, but also had to remember the guests. Some people had good memories and could remember even if a guest had only come once, as long as the time wasn't too long ago.

During the Republic of China era, many black-hearted bosses used this as an assessment standard. If a guest had come once but the waiter couldn't remember them, they wouldn't be given a regular position and would only receive meager apprentice wages.

But if one could become a qualified "waiter", welcoming and sending off guests without any mistakes, then one could be considered for promotion to a prospective shopkeeper.

To be in charge of receiving foreign guests on the second floor of a wild game restaurant like this, this manager was no ordinary person, almost as good as a senior waiter in the old days.

Moreover, Chen Fan had come three or four times in a year, ordering a large table of dishes each time, and he had an outstanding appearance, making it impossible for the manager not to remember him.

So, as soon as the three of them went up to the second floor, the manager in his Zhongshan suit quickly stepped forward, greeted them with a smile, "Mr. Chen, welcome. Your usual private room happens to be vacant. Would you like the old location, or would you like to change to a larger one?"

The implication was whether he had anyone else coming.

Chen Fan smiled, "The old location, please. Thank you."

"You're welcome, it's my pleasure."

The manager gestured, "This way, please."

After leading them to the private room, Chen Fan naturally sat in the host's seat. After asking if the two had any dietary restrictions, he ordered ten dishes as usual.

It wasn't that he wanted to order too much to show off, or eat everything and shock them, but to put on a good show. If they couldn't finish it, they could take it back with them.

Lin Liwen and Xia Yuping didn't come from ordinary families, but they weren't from particularly wealthy families either. In Yunhu, with their family backgrounds, they weren't always successful, but at least people in various units would give them some face as long as they didn't violate principles.

But this was the provincial capital. Not to mention their elders, even the leaders of Yunhu might not be able to get by easily.

Not to mention this kind of foreign-related place, where all the staff were carefully selected, and most of the guests they received were foreigners. Ordinary people who came here didn't even dare to speak loudly, for fear of disturbing the foreign guests and affecting the major foreign exchange plan.

But seeing how polite the leader-like person was to Chen Fan just now, both of them were a little surprised and uncertain.

The meal was delicious, of course, but they ate with mixed feelings.

After the meal, more than half of the dishes were left. Chen Fan took out overseas Chinese remittance certificates and banknotes to pay the bill, and skillfully asked the waiter to pack the leftovers, even finding a special carrying box to hold them.

He sent the two back to school, stopping at the entrance of the dormitory building. After getting out of the car, he handed over the food box, "Don't waste it. Take it to the kitchen to heat it up. It'll last for several days. Go back and rest, I should go back to work too. Next time I'll treat you to dinner again."

After saying that, he waved goodbye to the two.

Lin Liwen numbly took the box and waved to Chen Fan.

After she watched the car drive away, quite a while passed before she suddenly noticed a hand waving in front of her eyes?

She suddenly came back to her senses, turned her head to look at Xia Yuping, "What are you doing?"

Xia Yuping looked at her, her face not much better than hers, "What are you thinking about?"

Lin Liwen looked at her, then looked down at the food box in her hand, and finally looked up at the direction where the car had disappeared. After several seconds, she turned back and smiled at her, "I was thinking, can these dishes be saved until tomorrow?"

Hearing this, Xia Yuping couldn't help but be stunned, looking at her deeply, "Are you okay?"

Lin Liwen took a deep breath, the smile just now disappeared, and then she twitched the corners of her mouth, finally forcing out a few reluctant smiles, and said, "What could be wrong? It's just that I've seen it clearly and given up."

Inviting them to such a high-end wild game restaurant for dinner, spending almost two hundred yuan on one meal, what did that mean?

Xia Yuping recalled tonight's dinner, suddenly feeling a little sad. After a while, she suddenly took Lin Liwen's arm and pulled her towards the dormitory building, smiling at the same time, "I also think it's unlikely to last until tomorrow. Let me tell you, the dormitory aunt has a coal stove. Xiao Fang has a good relationship with her, so we can borrow it to heat up the dishes. And Xiao Li is from the north and has a habit of hiding steamed buns. Rongrong is from the northeast, and she has wine... See, isn't that all set!"

Lin Liwen turned her head to look at her, "Then shall we get drunk tonight?"

Xia Yuping tightened her grip on her arm, heh heh smiled, "We must get drunk. We weren't full just now, so we can eat more now."

Lin Liwen, "Are you getting drunk or eating your fill?"

Xia Yuping, "Don't be so rigid. Doesn't the newspaper say we should liberate our minds? We can also eat until we burst!"

...

Chen Fan returned to the guest house and had a good night's sleep.

The next morning, he woke up and first got some meat strips from the cafeteria to feed the birds, then released the three little ones as usual, and headed straight for the Writers Association office not far away.

There were more people than usual in the unit today. Seeing Chen Fan return, those who were high enough in rank came forward to greet him, and those who weren't waved their hands in greeting.

This was the love and respect that Director Chen had earned in the unit with his own abilities.

If anyone could increase the unit's income by four or five hundred thousand a year and build a new dormitory, the majority of employees would love and respect him too!

Chen Fan waved back all the way, receiving a large handful of cigarettes, and was finally stopped by Old Duan.

Old Duan and Chen Fan were in the same department, both in the External Liaison Department, but Chen Fan was in the European and American branch, while Old Duan was in the stable Asian and African branch.

For this reason, Chen Fan had extorted a lot of cigarettes and alcohol from him.

But now the External Liaison Department hadn't officially started business contacts, and there were no receptions, so where would the cigarettes and alcohol come from?

They were all Old Duan's own benefits, or even dry goods he bought himself.

Therefore, if you were to ask who in the unit suffered the most from Chen Fan, it would definitely be Old Duan.

This time, Director Duan actually took the initiative to intercept Chen Fan, it seemed he was planning something big!

Old Duan pulled him into the office, where there were several other people, namely Director Xiong of the Creative Research Department and Deputy Director Wang Zibo, and Old Zhong of the Liaison Department.

In addition to Chen Fan and Old Duan, these few could be said to be the current "backbone" of the Writers Association. Above them were He Qingsheng, Tan Yong, and Xu Qizhen.

In other words, except for the office and finance departments, the main middle and senior management of the unit were all present.

Of course, there were more than just these few people in the Writers Association, but who knew that the functions were not yet perfect? Currently, they were the ones holding it up. It was estimated that they would be filled in after the meeting next month.

Chen Fan was surrounded by them, feeling a little baffled, "What are you doing?"

Old Duan took out a cigarette and handed it to him, Chen Fan quickly waved his hand, stretched out his left hand, and spread it out, with a handful of cigarettes lying in it, "Come on, whoever sees it gets a share, take whatever you get."

Old Duan immediately took back the cigarette in his hand and took one, "Hey, Peony, not bad."

Old Xiong took a White Gold Dragon, Wang Zibo took a Magnolia, and Old Zhong finally reached out and took a Zhonghua, chuckling non-stop.

Chen Fan put the rest directly into his pocket, then leaned over to the lighter that Old Duan handed over to light it.

After a burst of smoke, Old Duan opened his mouth and said, "Did you receive the news in advance, so you happened to come back today?"

Chen Fan turned to look at him, "What news?"

Wang Zibo was very surprised, "You don't know?"

Chen Fan hummed twice, "I only heard about the meeting from Old Guo, what would I know?"

Director Xiong chuckled, "If you really don't know, then it's too funny. Today is the day that the construction company is handing over the houses to the Writers Association, the Musicians Association, the Artists Association, the Drama Association, and several units of the Cultural Department. Our Literary and Art New Village is finished!"

Old Zhong followed closely, "Speaking of which, the Literary and Art New Village was only made possible by your suggestion. Even the funding for building the houses was earned back by you..."

Before he could finish, Chen Fan quickly waved his hand, "Hold on, I just offered a suggestion. It's too much to say I earned it back. To be accurate, it should be everyone's contribution, a collective achievement."

"Alright, alright, you're singing a high tune."

Old Zhong flicked his cigarette ash and said to him, "Let's talk business. I heard Secretary-General Xu say that from the very beginning, only your house was decided upon. Everyone else has to choose another one…"

As soon as Chen Fan heard this, he raised his hand again to object, "That house of mine was bought with my own money. If you guys are willing to spend money, you can also decide on one in advance."

As soon as these words came out, everyone fell silent.

Although they were all well-off, why buy a house when they could get one for free?

Chen Fan looked at them a few times and chuckled, "You're just looking for me to ask about this? I can tell you frankly that Sister Xu is in charge of the house matter. She hasn't revealed any information to me. If you hadn't told me, I wouldn't even know that we're receiving houses."

Tossing his cigarette butt into the ashtray, Chen Fan patted Old Duan's arm and chuckled, "Instead of asking me, why not go and block Sister Xu together? At least you'll know the procedure sooner, right?"

The group exchanged glances. A few seconds later, they all threw away their cigarette butts. Old Duan took the lead, opened the door, and went out, followed closely by the others, who disappeared in a flash.

Chen Fan walked to the door and looked down the corridor. Seeing that they had all entered Xu Qizhen's office, he couldn't help but grin.

Let you not inform me of anything. See if you have a headache this time!

Leisurely strolling back to his own office, Bian Huifang was sitting at her desk, busy at work.

Seeing Chen Fan come in, she suddenly stood up, her face full of surprise, "Director, you're back."

As she spoke, she went to get his teacup, wanting to make tea for him.

Chen Fan waved his hand, "I have a cup, just add some water."

He closed the door casually, walked to his seat, took out his travel teacup, and waited for Bian Huifang to pour the tea before looking at her and asking, "Has anything important happened during this time?"

Bian Huifang stood obediently in front of the desk and shook her head, saying, "Nothing major. The Correspondence Center is running smoothly, and the 'Literary Youth' magazine is also published regularly, with a very good reputation and benefits."

People in this era were mostly shy about talking about benefits, and instead listed reputation as the first priority. It was Chen Fan who repeatedly taught her that she must learn to be "self-reliant" and not cause trouble for the organization.

Only then did Bian Huifang begin to pay attention to income. Currently, she has a tendency to lean towards He Qingsheng and others, in short, to be "pragmatic."

Chen Fan nodded, feeling that there shouldn't be any problems. Just as he was about to speak, Bian Huifang suddenly remembered something, tapped her head, and said seriously, "Oh, right, Director, there is one thing, that is, the matter of contacting the American 'International Writing Program'. Later, Chairman He personally handled it, so I haven't followed up on it anymore. I don't know how it's going."

Hearing this, Chen Fan narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment, then raised his head and smiled, "It's okay. Since Chairman He is handling it personally, then we don't need to worry about it. Just wait for the result."

Bian Huifang said with a dry smile, "I'm worried that if we suddenly have to cooperate with the outside world again, I'm afraid I won't be able to handle it and it will delay things."

Chen Fan waved his hand, "It's okay, I have a plan in mind."

After a pause, he smiled again, "At worst, we'll do it like the Correspondence Center again, where we take the lead in overall planning and coordinate the personnel from other departments to complete the task."

Hearing him say this, Bian Huifang stopped talking.

Chen Fan took a sip of tea, looked up at her, and smiled, "I heard that you're going to receive a new house today. Have you applied for it?"

Bian Huifang smiled, "My home is nearby, and it's quite spacious, so I didn't submit a report."

Chen Fan pointed at her, "You, ah, I'm not saying this to you, this kind of method of being divorced from the masses is not acceptable!"

Bian Huifang widened her eyes, "Ah?"

Isn't it okay to promote style?

Chen Fan tapped the table, and said with a serious face, "You say, a young person who has just entered society is at the starting stage of their life and career, when they are penniless…"

Bian Huifang glanced upwards, thinking, I'm not penniless?

Chen Fan continued to speak, "This time, the unit is building dormitories, and there are enough units of various types. You can't fight for a large unit, but there's no problem in fighting for a single dormitory, right?!

If you think your home is spacious enough and don't apply for it, what will those people with housing difficulties think? Will they think you are deliberately putting on airs, or that your family conditions are superior and you look down on the unit's dormitory?"

Hearing this, Bian Huifang was so frightened that her hair stood on end, and she quickly raised her hands and waved them, "I didn't, Director!"

Chen Fan tapped the table, "I'm just saying, what are you nervous about?"

After a two-second pause, he looked at her and asked, "Does anyone know that your family conditions are good?"

Bian Huifang's eyes rolled slightly, "Just, Aunt Xu knows."

Aunt Xu?

Chen Fan looked at her with a strange expression, pondered for two seconds, and then said, "That's okay. Wait a moment, and you will submit the application report and apply for a single room."

Bian Huifang said "Oh" and agreed.

Although she didn't understand why the elders in her family told her not to compete for benefits, but the director asked her to take the initiative to apply, she also knew that her family also asked her to listen to the leader more.

In that case, then listen to the director.

Anyway, the director is so powerful, he will definitely not harm her.

It was also because she had self-knowledge and knew that she was not worthy of someone with ordinary looks and ordinary abilities, otherwise she would have thought that the director was interested in her.

Oh, how shy.

Chen Fan took a few sips of tea, and seeing that her face suddenly turned red, he couldn't help but feel a little baffled.

Then he put the lid on the teacup, picked it up and got up to leave, "You're busy with your work, I'll go to Sister Xu's place to take a look."

"Oh."

Bian Huifang responded, and suddenly felt something was wrong.

I call her Aunt Xu, but the director calls her Sister Xu, but the director is a year younger than me, isn't that a mess?

…

When Chen Fan came to Xu Qizhen's office with his teacup, not only Old Duan and the others were there, but also He Qingsheng and Tan Yong were there.

The office door was not closed, he walked in directly, glanced around first, and then smiled, "The people are quite complete, are you going to move collectively?"

He Qingsheng was quite surprised to see him, and immediately a cigarette flew over, "When did you come back?"

Tan Yong crossed his legs and smiled, "Also for the housing allocation?"

Before Chen Fan could speak, Xu Qizhen, who was surrounded, said, "His house was decided from the beginning, what else is there to allocate?"

Then she stood up helplessly and said to Old Duan and the others, "There are plenty of houses. You are all cadres. Even if you count all the units, there are not many people higher than you. Tell me, what are you doing here?"

Chen Fan walked to the sofa and sat down, adding fuel to the fire, "They even blocked me just now."

Hearing this, Xu Qizhen was even more speechless and looked at the ceiling.

Old Duan said with confidence, "Although there are many houses, the good floors and orientations are limited, so we have to fight for them?!"

Old Xiong and several others nodded in unison. The next second, they suddenly thought of something and glared at each other.

Chen Fan watched from the side and chuckled. So they are both cooperating and competing?

Xu Qizhen slapped her forehead, decisively picked up her briefcase, and said to Old Duan and the others, "I'm going to the Urban Construction Committee to go through the procedures now. Are you blocking me here, or are you going together?"

Old Duan and several others exchanged glances and decisively made way. After Xu Qizhen walked out, they all followed.

Finally waiting for the office to quiet down, He Qingsheng couldn't help but exhale a long breath, turned his head and said to Chen Fan, "Obviously there are enough houses to ensure that everyone has one, but one by one they are like crazy people, not even paying attention to work, just revolving around the house. Do you think they are sick?!"

Tan Yong was also on the side, pretending to wipe cold sweat, "Originally it was the suffering of not having houses to allocate, but I didn't expect that with houses, there would be so many troubles, suffering."

Chen Fan didn't think so, "What suffering, I think it's all made up. But it's also true, formalism is very important. You go outside and see how other people allocate houses? Although our unit has a lot of houses, the meaning should also be meaningful, otherwise wouldn't it make people envious, jealous, and hateful?"

He Qingsheng was still wondering what he meant? Chen Fan continued, "Let them do whatever they want, anyway, people are like this, after making a thousand choices, the best one must be the one chosen by others.

If you ask me, no matter how you allocate them, anyway, after the allocation is complete, give them a chance to exchange, let them talk about it themselves, and whatever it looks like in the end, it is what it is, why bother so much."

He Qingsheng and Tan Yong exchanged glances, both feeling that they had chosen the wrong person to complain to.

They are all from their own unit, and there is no sense of superiority at all.

But why does it feel so good when talking about other people in the unit?

Shaking his head, He Qingsheng threw this matter to the back of his mind and said to Chen Fan, "Did you see the notice sent to you? In addition to the admission notice, there is also the reply from the association headquarters to us…"

He was about to continue, when he heard Chen Fan say, "Admission notice? I didn't see it."

Turning his head to look, he saw Chen Fan spread his hands, "I still have a dozen bags of letters that haven't been opened. You sent me a letter, I should have received it, but I don't know that it was sent by you."

He Qingsheng was immediately speechless, rubbed his head, glanced at Tan Yong who was grinning and laughing silently, turned his head to look at Chen Fan, and said patiently, "The headquarters' intention is not to retreat because of difficulties. Sooner or later, we will have to take this step.

Although the outside world may have an impact on our comrades, we cannot stop because of this, but should instead contact the outside world.

As long as we prepare in advance, I believe there will be good results."