Reborn in 1977

Chapter 676: Borrowed, No Need to Return

Chen Fan and Zhou Zhengdong smoked, drank tea, and chatted leisurely, while Zhou Yali chattered incessantly beside them.

However, after talking so much, they only discussed the reason for their return to China this time.

The matters involving the industry had not yet been mentioned.

Chen Fan was initially curious as to why Zhou Yali, who usually couldn't keep a secret, was being so patient.

When he saw Zhou Yali hesitating several times, eager to speak but holding back with great discomfort, he blinked and finally understood what she was worried about.

She was concerned that the room might be bugged.

As for the fact that Chen Fan was the author of the novel "Dragon Knight Legend," it might be possible to hide it from ordinary people, but for the high-level officials of the two countries, it was almost an open secret. As long as they were willing to investigate, it was impossible to hide it. Since it couldn't be prevented, they might as well chat freely.

At this moment, Chen Fan suddenly understood something.

Zhou Zhengdong's smooth entry into the Trade Office might not be as simple as he said.

Or rather, it wasn't that the trade representative needed him to do anything, but wanted to express a friendly attitude to our side through his uncle.

Similarly, the fact that he could become the vice chairman of the branch association at the young age of 18, with the tacit approval of the higher-level general association, was probably due to the same consideration from the higher-ups.

Realizing this, Chen Fan couldn't help but take out another cigarette and light it.

It turned out that the entire "big picture" was composed of countless "small details."

Carter's immediate agreement to our request to send exchange students was like this, and the smooth rise of Chen Fan and Zhou Zhengdong was also like this.

Who Chen Fan and Zhou Zhengdong were was not important. What was important was that they happened to have connections and entered the eyes of the high-level officials of both sides.

When both sides were working hard to move towards each other, any small action would cause the other side to repeatedly ponder it. Therefore, these two people became tools for both sides to express their attitudes.

Both sides were adhering to principles, repeatedly testing the bottom line. Yet, they were also expressing goodwill through many insignificant small issues, hoping to bridge differences as soon as possible and reach an agreement at an early date.

He and Old Zhou were simply blessed by heaven!

Chen Fan scratched his head and slowly exhaled a puff of smoke.

As expected, intelligence doesn't increase for nothing. I've become smarter!

Understanding this, Chen Fan couldn't help but chuckle.

Who cares about being a tool or not, the fact that he benefited was real.

However, this kind of good thing was probably only this once, and there wouldn't be another time in the future.

Zhou Yali was holding back her words, annoyed by not being able to say what she wanted. Seeing him suddenly laugh, she couldn't help but ask, "What are you laughing at?"

Chen Fan chuckled twice more, looking around the room, "I was thinking, this place should be relatively clean, right?"

Zhou Yali wasn't stupid. She was stunned at first, but the next second she thought of what her father had told her, and immediately understood what he meant. Then she turned to look at her father.

Zhou Zhengdong showed a thoughtful expression in his eyes, and slowly nodded, "Yes, it's possible."

Then he showed a wry smile, "But the team leader made a request, and we can only execute it."

After saying that, he looked at Zhou Yali again, "We can talk about personal matters."

Since they wanted to express goodwill, they would definitely not do something like planting hidden bugs in the room at this critical moment, which would hurt feelings.

Moreover, there were also people in the negotiation team who were good at finding things. In fact, this room had also been checked by them. Being cautious was just in case.

Zhou Yali's eyes darted around, and she was about to speak when the phone in the room rang.

She could only shut her mouth, got up, and went over to answer it.

When she put down the phone, Chen Fan raised his eyebrows slightly and said to Zhou Zhengdong, "Since you have to gather, I can only come again when I'm free."

The phone call was to tell Zhou Zhengdong and Zhou Yali to gather in the meeting room. Since they had official business, he could only leave first.

Zhou Yali pouted and walked over, "Another meeting."

Then she looked at Chen Fan, "Why don't you just rent a room here and stay?"

Chen Fan looked at her and said helplessly, "What would I do staying here? I'd be bored to death."

Saying that, he turned to look at Zhou Zhengdong, "Official business is important. Anyway, I'll be staying in Beijing for a short time, and I'll come over when I have time."

Zhou Zhengdong nodded, smiled, and said, "Since it's called a meeting, it means there's progress. Hopefully, it's good news."

He threw away his cigarette butt, stood up, and smiled, "Okay, you go back first, and I'll call you if anything comes up."

There was no phone at home, so if he wanted to call, he could only call the nearby store. This was the most common public phone at that time. Answering a call cost 5 cents each time, and making a call cost 10 cents every three minutes. This price was set in the 1950s and has been used ever since. It was a bit expensive.

Paying for answering a call wasn't a phone bill, but a "calling fee" for the person who looked after the phone. Someone ran to your house to let you answer the phone, shouldn't you give them some labor fee?

Calling was the same. Ten cents every three minutes was the phone bill, and another three cents had to be added, which was also for the caretaker.

Thinking that it was so troublesome to call his nephew, Zhou Zhengdong suddenly had a whimsical idea. When the negotiations were successful, could he ask the other party's staff to help install a phone in his nephew's house? Anyway, it wasn't like he wouldn't pay, it should be possible, right?

However, he wasn't in a hurry to tell his nephew about this. It wouldn't be too late to tell him after it was done.

Chen Fan tidied up his clothes and was about to leave.

At this time, Zhou Yali suddenly ran into the room, took out a box of cigarettes from inside, "Take this back with you."

Chen Fan shuddered, "No, I can't carry it. I'll take it away next time I drive over."

Zhou Zhengdong put on his coat and couldn't help but be a little curious, "Did you buy a car? Are you allowed to buy cars now?"

Chen Fan quickly waved his hand and explained with a smile, "It's not a private car, it's the car of the Yunhu Automobile Factory's Beijing Office. I borrowed it from them."

"Oh."

Zhou Zhengdong nodded in realization, with a hint of regret in his eyes, "So that's how it is. I was thinking if individuals were allowed to buy cars, I would give you a few cars."

Chen Fan smiled and said, "It's okay. When the negotiations are over, you can set up an office in Beijing, and you can buy a car in the name of the office. Just leave one for me to use then."

Zhou Zhengdong nodded with a smile, "Okay, it's settled then."

Zhou Yali took the cigarettes back, and took a few packs separately and stuffed them into her younger brother's pocket, and then grabbed the cotton coat in the closet at the door, and followed him out the door.

Next, one elevator went up and one elevator went down, parting ways.

...

Walking out of the Beijing Hotel, Chen Fan looked back, feeling uneasy.

If he remembered correctly, it seemed that the two sides had agreed on a time, on December 16th, one in the morning and one in the evening, to release the announcement at the same time.

He just didn't expect that Zhou Zhengdong would also join in this time, becoming an insignificant small figure in it.

In fact, this qualification was not useful in the United States.

Because even this negotiation was conducted privately by Old Carter bypassing Congress.

Then, Leonard Woodcock, the director of the Beijing Office, coordinated back and forth until the final agreement was reached. Later, he became the first ambassador. Two years later, he left this position and returned to the United States. He did not get involved in politics again, but chose to become a university professor.

Speaking of which, his second marriage was also held in Beijing, in April of this year. Many leaders on the diplomatic front also sent gifts. After his death, China also sent condolences. He could be regarded as an "old friend."

Chen Fan guessed that the reason why Zhou Zhengdong was suddenly called to a meeting was likely because Zhang Shifu's old political commissar had agreed to meet with Woodcock tomorrow.

This meeting was to discuss the final details.

Well, the result is about to come out, so it won't be too long.

...

Chen Fan turned around, with a smile on his face, walked to the taxi stand, called a taxi, got in the car and went straight to the Beijing Office of the Yunqi Factory.

When the First Ministry of Machinery Industry was first established, it worked at No. 16 Fuxingmenwai Street. Later, it moved to No. 10 Courtyard. Therefore, when Deputy Factory Director Li was looking for the address of the office, he found a courtyard nearby, bought it and renovated it, and it became the current office.

Coming here again, it was still the same as before, with the wide courtyard door open, inside was a courtyard with an area of more than 100 square meters, and there were several cars parked in the courtyard.

There were houses around the courtyard on three sides, regardless of the main room or the wing room, they were the same as the old-fashioned office, all standard rooms of about 20 square meters.

In addition, there was another courtyard in the back.

The front yard was for office work, and the back yard was for accommodation. Basically, this was the layout.

Chen Fan entered the courtyard. Before he could speak, two figures walked out of the main house directly opposite, one after the other. The one in front was Deputy Factory Director Li, and the one behind was Director Shen of the Beijing Office.

Seeing Chen Fan, Deputy Factory Director Li was pleasantly surprised, "Xiao Fan, when did you come to Beijing?"

As he spoke, he pulled him by the arm and walked inside, "You're not allowed to leave today. Uncle Li will have a good drink with you later, and you can stay here tonight. There are plenty of rooms in the back."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but marvel at the absurdity of it all.

An 18-year-old young man had actually achieved a three-level promotion in a single year. At the beginning of the year, he was still a section chief, but after a trip to the provincial capital, he became a deputy director, on the same level as himself.

By the end of the year, it was even more outrageous. He received the news yesterday that he had actually been promoted to deputy director-general?!

There was simply no logic to it.

However, Deputy Factory Director Li wasn't jealous. Based on the things Chen Fan had done, as long as he was willing, he probably would have been transferred to the Ministry of Health last year, and his rank certainly wouldn't be low.

It was just that he was still a little puzzled. Once you reached the director level or above, each step was like ascending to a new heaven, let alone jumping up two levels in a row like this.

Even if he had accomplished many things in the provincial branch, would the national headquarters just stand by and watch, and agree to his promotion?

Deputy Factory Director Li, judging others by himself, guessed that Chen Fan's masters must have exerted some influence, otherwise it would have been impossible!

Chen Fan was pulled into the room and said with a smile, "It's no problem to freeload a meal from you at noon, but I have to leave after eating."

Following Director Shen's gesture, he sat down on the sofa, accepted a teacup from a young clerk, and continued, "I arrived yesterday evening and haven't visited my three masters yet. If I don't go this afternoon, I'm afraid I'll get a beating."

Hearing this, Deputy Factory Director Li laughed non-stop. While feeling a little envious, the smile on his face became even brighter, "Since you're going to see your masters, then I wouldn't dare to stop you. How about this, stay here for lunch, and when you're done, I'll prepare some things for you to take to your masters, as a small token of our unit's appreciation."

This time, Chen Fan didn't refuse and laughed, "Okay, I'm definitely happy to accept such a good thing."

After the laughter, Director Shen looked at Chen Fan and asked, "Vice Chairman Chen, are you here to use a car this time?"

Chen Fan was drinking water when he heard this and quickly said, "Don't call me Vice Chairman Chen, just call me by my name, or Little Chen or Old Chen, either is fine."

Hearing someone call him Vice Chairman, Chen Fan felt like an old man, which was extremely awkward. Even calling him by his name would sound better.

Director Shen's smile stiffened slightly. After pondering for two seconds, he said, "Then I'll still call you Consultant Chen."

Chen Fan smiled, "That works too."

After all, he was still the health consultant of the machinery factory, so calling him by this title was quite appropriate.

After a pause, he smiled again, "Director Shen guessed right, I really am here to borrow a car."

Then he turned to Deputy Factory Director Li and said, "It's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. Now I can't even move without a car. I have to get a car to drive wherever I go."

Deputy Factory Director Li gave an "Um" and immediately said to Director Shen in a serious tone, "Then arrange a sedan for Consultant Chen. No need to return it, just keep it. If the office doesn't have enough, have the factory transfer two more over."

Only an automobile factory would be so wealthy and generous. If it were another unit, even a local liaison office in Beijing wouldn't be so extravagant.

They wouldn't even be able to get a motorcycle, let alone a car. They would be lucky to have a few bicycles.

Cars? Keep dreaming. You can have anything in your dreams.

Director Shen had just nodded when Chen Fan quickly said, "No need for a sedan, just get a van, keep it low-key!"

As for borrowing it often, he didn't mention it at all.

Anyway, he was a consultant to the machinery factory, so it wasn't normal to use a car?!

Seeing Deputy Factory Director Li nod, Director Shen said with a smile, "Okay, then a van it is."

Without wasting any time, he immediately took out a set of keys from his drawer, turned around, and handed them to Chen Fan, "The keys are all here. You can use the car. If you run out of gas coupons, just come and get them. Plenty to go around!"

Chen Fan didn't stand on ceremony, took them and stuffed them into his pocket, and said, "Thank you."

Then he looked at Deputy Factory Director Li and smiled, "Uncle Li, I heard from Uncle Xue that you're going to be promoted and will be in charge of the small appliance company?"

Hearing this, Deputy Factory Director Li was so happy that he couldn't close his mouth, "Yes, yes, yes, that's the plan, but some things haven't been sorted out yet, and there are still procedures to go through. It's estimated that it won't be finalized until after New Year's Day."

Chen Fan said, "That's pretty good too."

After a pause, he asked again, "Then why aren't you staying at the unit to handle the handover? Why did you run to Beijing?"

Deputy Factory Director Li smiled, "The small appliance company was started by me, so what handover is there? As for coming to Beijing, naturally it's because our small appliance company also wants to set up a liaison office here."

He suddenly seemed to remember something and immediately took out a cigarette from his pocket, "I forgot about this."

As he spoke, he was about to offer a cigarette.

Chen Fan's movements weren't slow either. He took out the cigarettes he had just unwrapped in Zhou Zhengdong's room, pushed out two and handed them over, and said with a chuckle, "Try this, American cigarettes."

Deputy Factory Director Li paused, looked at the cigarettes in Chen Fan's hand with a surprised expression, thought for two seconds, and decisively put away his own cigarettes, grabbed one and held it in his hand, "Today I'll also have a taste of foreign luxury and see what American cigarettes taste like."

Chen Fan glanced over. The clerk who had poured the tea earlier was no longer in the office. There were only the three of them in the room, so after taking out one for himself, he threw the rest of the cigarettes on the coffee table.

As the three cigarettes burned, Deputy Factory Director Li smacked his lips, "These American cigarettes are pretty good, but they're not much different from domestic cigarettes."

Director Shen also nodded lightly in agreement.

Chen Fan smiled and didn't say anything.

Deputy Factory Director Li took two puffs and continued from what he had said earlier, "Beijing has the Ministry of Light Industry and many department stores. It's very convenient to get policies and find procurement, making it a must-compete place for manufacturers like us."

Chen Fan understood what he meant. The liaison office established by the small appliance company was more like a sales branch. The most important "running to the ministry" was just an add-on.

There were many department stores all over the country. Although their supervisory units and supply and marketing cooperatives belonged to the National Supply and Marketing Cooperative, they were actually managed by their respective jurisdictions, including procurement, which was also independently responsible. This was somewhat similar to the later levels of state-owned assets supervision and administration commissions.

They were both subordinate and independent, the difference being in the procurement rights.

Among all the department stores in the country, the one with the greatest procurement power was Wangfujing Department Store in Beijing. The completeness of their goods could be described as "supplying one family for the whole country."

In Wangfujing Department Store, you could buy the most complete variety of goods in the country, and factories that could supply Wangfujing Department Store would be looked upon more favorably by other department stores.

Although Yunhu Small Appliance Company was directly under the jurisdiction of the Jiangnan Province Department of Industry, and its product tasks and supply had to be arranged by the Provincial Department of Commerce, it didn't mean that the factory had no autonomy.

Just like how this company was created by Yunhu Machinery Factory itself, as long as you could find enough production materials, the products produced could be arranged independently.

With Factory Director Yang firmly in control of Yunhu Automobile Factory, Deputy Factory Director Li had no hope for the automobile factory. He was now putting all his heart and soul into the small appliance company, hoping to break the routine and push Yunhu Small Appliances to the whole country, even out of the country and to the world, and let people see that Yunhu also had a small appliance company besides automobiles.

Then his series of actions, such as running to establish a liaison office for the small appliance company in Beijing and establishing a relationship with Jiangnan Province Import and Export Company, were easily understood.

Chen Fan naturally wished him good luck.

Deputy Factory Director Li was good at building relationships. This liaison office also had its own kitchen, and with cars and small appliances paving the way, there was no shortage of various materials here, and even many delicacies from the mountains and seas.

This meal was naturally exceptionally rich.

In addition to Deputy Factory Director Li and Director Shen, there were also two other cadres from the liaison office accompanying them. Including Director Shen, the three of them represented the three units that Yunhu Machinery Factory was about to split into: the automobile factory, the small appliance company, and the original retained machinery factory.

Chen Fan thought to himself, when the machinery factory researched the incubator and improved the industrial sewing machine and other related equipment, would they also have to open their own liaison office in Beijing?

Everyone enjoyed the meal, except that the chef's skills still needed to be improved, everything else was good.

Chen Fan intentionally controlled his alcohol intake and didn't drink much. After the meal, he drove away in the van.