Take Arada back to the past

Chapter 854, Relaxation

Just as he had expected, Haikou was full of outsiders.

Many people simply sleep outside.

Actually, the roads in Haikou are in pretty good condition now, at least the main roads are.

The cleanliness is acceptable.

The roadside was lined with those coconut trees.

Fortunately, the largest hotel room here is not full yet.

This is the most upscale hotel in Haikou, built in 84.

The commercial hall has two floors, and the upper eight floors have more than 8 guest rooms.

Qu Ying's destination this time is Sanya, but she needs to attend the unveiling ceremony a few days later and attend several days of meetings in the provincial capital.

After all, she was an outsider.

Of course, she wasn't the only outsider.

Hello! Do you have a room available?

"May I ask who you are? Are you a foreign businessman or a person from mainland China?"

"If you are from mainland China, our rooms are already full. If you are a foreign businessman, we have a few suites available."

The greeter was very polite, but her words were unpleasant.

Yang Xiaole smiled upon hearing this: "What's wrong? Can't ordinary Chinese people live here?"

He has a Hong Kong Island identity card, but it doesn't sound right.

"I'm sorry! It's not that it's impossible, but now that Hainan Island has been designated as a special economic zone, many foreign businesses will come. As you've seen, many people from the mainland have come here. If we let them all stay, we can't expect foreign businesses to live on the streets!"

The other party was also explaining there.

Seeing this, Qu Ying said, "There's nothing we can do about it. As an economic port, we're bound to have foreign investment coming in. If we don't have places to stay, it will be a disgrace to our country."

Upon hearing this, Yang Xiaole shrugged.

That seems to make some sense. There's nothing we can do; we're too poor to even afford a decent hotel.

Moreover, businessmen make up a significant proportion of the people who come to Hainan Island, and if they are allowed to stay anywhere, these people really don't care about money.

He shook his head and took out an ID card: "Give me a suite."

"It will cost HK$120 per day if you need to stay for a few days."

Let's stay for ten days!
The price isn't too cheap, but it's not too expensive either.

That's about 100 RMB.

But think about it, nowadays, apart from a few special economic zones, the national average salary is over one hundred.

Now things have changed, and the prices of private hotels in many places are also rising steadily.

The two carried their things upstairs.

The suite had air conditioning, and after turning it on, Qu Ying took off her clothes.

I took a shower in the bathroom and changed into summer clothes.

"it's too hot."

The two boarded the plane bound for Beijing, where the temperature was still quite low, and they were dressed in thick clothes.

Yang Xiaole looked at Qu Ying and smiled, "See? If you're going to be in charge of the economy in the future, isn't this the key to economic breakthrough?"

Qu Ying dried her hair with a towel and said, "If you can think of it, others can too! Everyone's doing it, do we really need that many?"

"That depends on the situation!"

After lighting his cigarette, Yang Xiaole said, "Hainan Island has no winter all year round. With economic development, it will become a good place for northerners to spend the winter. Tourism is also a major feature of the island. The potential of the tourism industry in the future is not low."

Sanya, where Qu Ying is located, is actually more suitable for tourism, although the port is not bad either.

However, due to the issue of water depth, there are not many places in Sanya suitable for building a deep-water port.

Qu Ying nodded slightly upon hearing this, then smiled and said, "Why do you keep talking to me about the planning here? The municipal government will have its own plans for the planning! It's not like I can make the decision!"

Yang Xiaole shrugged.

Isn't it because I'm afraid you'll fall into a trap?
"It's nothing, I was just worried you didn't have any work experience, so we wanted to discuss it together!"

Qu Ying rolled her eyes upon hearing this.

"Are you going to take a shower or not? Go outside and see what's going on!"

"Okay! I'll go wash up!"

Yang Xiaole smiled, took a quick shower, changed into some light, refreshing clothes, and left the hotel.

The temperature here is between 18 and 25 degrees Celsius, which is the most comfortable temperature.

People who are sensitive to the cold will wear a light jacket, while those who are warm-blooded will wear short sleeves. So, the clothes worn by pedestrians on the street are all kinds of things.

It's currently the hottest time of day, around noon, with temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius.

"Let's go get something to eat! This place has lots of seafood."

Looking at the bustling street, Yang Xiaole asked with a smile.

Qu Ying nodded slightly, then said, "I'm going to stay at the municipal guesthouse the day after tomorrow, so you'd better behave yourself then!"

Yang Xiaole protested, feeling wronged: "What did I do wrong?"

He wasn't surprised that they went to the guesthouse.

Given her level, she would only be able to stay in single rooms. It's understandable that she can't stay in hotels, as the period after she's listed is the busiest time.

As for making him behave, that's naturally because there are many beautiful women here.

There's also a dance hall here, and the women who come and go don't seem respectable, at least that's how people of their time see it.

In a few years, when the real estate market opens up here, this area will be home to 15% of the nation's construction companies.

How rich were the builders back then?
In mainland China, "ten-thousand-yuan households" is still a general term for wealthy people.

Watching a night out at a dance hall here, spending tens of thousands of yuan is really nothing to them.

There's no way around it, it's just too profitable.

Anyone who doesn't get trapped at the end will become a real estate tycoon in the future.

Qu Ying rolled her eyes at him, said nothing, and the two went to a nearby roadside restaurant together.

Most of the food here is seafood.

Yang Xiaole wasn't really interested in any of this. The food here wasn't much different from that in Hong Kong, and even the language was mostly Cantonese.

There were many people eating here; it felt like a late-stage street food stall.

It should be privately owned.

How are we supposed to eat this?

After Qu Ying arrived, she looked at the many seafood items displayed on the stall and asked a question.

"You choose the ingredients, and they'll cook them in a bit."

Yang Xiaole looked at it and said.

Then we started ordering food.

"Hmm, this is abalone, I recognize it. And this is grouper, right? What's this?"

Qu Ying looked at the fish and asked with a smile.

Yang Xiaole smiled and nodded: "Yes, it's a grouper. I don't recognize this one either. It should be a Spanish mackerel!"

There were just too many kinds, and he couldn't remember them all.

Besides fish, there are also shrimp, crabs, and various kinds of sea snails.

Qu Ying looked at the dishes and nodded slightly before ordering.

We didn't order too much.

I just ordered what I had already eaten.

Steamed grouper, braised ribbonfish, mantis shrimp, fish ball soup, and a stir-fried vegetable dish were all served. Then I waited there.

"It tastes almost the same as the seafood you brought back! And it's not as good as your cooking!"

After they finished eating and left the restaurant, Qu Ying muttered to herself.

Yang Xiaole chuckled.

Nonsense, everything he brought back was top-notch, and he cooked it to her liking, so how could it be bad?

Then he chuckled and said, "Okay! I'll cook for you here then!"

"Sure, don't find it annoying!"

"How could that be! Right, let's buy a car, it's inconvenient without one!"

Yang Xiaole looked at the cars driving on the road and said something. Qu Ying looked at her and agreed.

"Okay, but don't buy anything too expensive!"

"Okay, I see."

The two went to customs together.

This place was previously an open port for imports and exports, and many cars would dock here and then be sold to the mainland at a higher price through intermediaries.

Imported cars are rare nowadays. A car that costs 23 yuan would cost around 30 yuan in mainland China.

The shipping cost alone is around 7000 yuan.

This is also why Haima Automobile later moved to the mainland.

……

There were no 4S stores back then; you had to find scalpers here to buy imported cars directly.

Of course, it was all just for show.

Some of the company's imported vehicles also enter the mainland through this location.

He left Qu Ying behind and went to find the people here alone.

After he identified himself, someone quickly came to greet him.

About ten minutes later, Yang Xiaole drove out in a very ordinary-looking car.

As for the other formalities, those will naturally be handled by the people here.

He doesn't need to worry about it.

Qu Ying was waiting nearby when she saw the car stop and Yang Xiaole's face appear. Only then did she get in the car.

After getting into the car, Qu Ying touched it and asked, "How much does this car cost?"

"Oh, it's not expensive, only thirty or forty thousand."

That's bullshit, thirty or forty thousand.

This is a custom Audi model. It looks very ordinary, but the configuration is incredibly high-end.

Air conditioning is a necessity, all the leather is genuine, and even the glass is bulletproof and very durable.

These days, islands aren't very safe.

It's normal for things to get smashed and stolen if you leave them there; this isn't just happening here, it's the same in mainland China.

There's nothing we can do; these days, people who drive are all too rich.

And nowadays people are used to keeping cash in their cars.

You can get rich by making just one big profit.

Qu Ying, who knew nothing about cars, simply nodded slightly upon hearing this: "What about the paperwork? You just drove off like that?"

"They handle all the paperwork over there, so we don't need to worry about it!"

Then he smiled and asked, "Where do you want to go? I'll take you for a walk, and tonight I'll take you to go beachcombing. The tide goes out here from 7 to 9 pm."

At that time, beachcombing was a way for ordinary people on the island to make a living, unlike in later years when it became a form of entertainment.

Qu Ying laughed upon hearing this, "What's so fun about beachcombing! I'd rather use that time to look up information about this place so I can get started as soon as I take office."

"Hey, you don't understand! I'll take you there once and you'll see. You work so hard every day, it's good to relax once in a while! When your parents and kids come over in the summer, I'll take them out for a trip."

Hearing this, Qu Ying felt helpless.

"Like a child! Fine, you deal with it!"

Seeing this, Yang Xiaole smiled and started the car.

We drove along the main road towards the seaside.

This place is still undeveloped and not as prosperous as it would be in later times.

The house is old and dilapidated, and the road outside the main road is also in bad condition.

As for the seaside, apart from the port in Haikou which has relatively modern buildings, there are small boats everywhere on the sea outside the city.

It was midday, and the temperature wasn't low.

They didn't go too far; they arrived at the beach, parked the car, and went to the sand together.

Coconut groves, sunbathing, and beaches intertwine to create a beautiful scene.

"So lovely!"

Qu Ying stepped onto the beach, feeling the sea breeze, and muttered something softly.

Yang Xiaole hummed in agreement.

He laughed and said, "That's the meaning of travel! Going to unfamiliar places to see scenery you've never seen before, and relaxing your mind. But how should I put it? Travel is actually about going from a place you're familiar with to a place other people are familiar with. The locals are tired of seeing the scenery here."

Qu Ying nodded gently: "Yes, that's what you call aesthetic fatigue! But if you want to travel, you first need to solve the economic problem, and currently, China doesn't have the conditions for that."

"Indeed, but haven't you noticed that there are more and more wealthy people now? Not counting those who run businesses, just those self-employed individuals, their economic strength is actually quite substantial. Tens of thousands of yuan is not a big problem for them."

Now, even selling steamed buns, making ten or twenty thousand a year is quite easy for him.

There's nothing we can do; the service at state-run stores is just too poor, and they don't even update their menus.

Now is the time of reform and opening up, and you can make money in more than 80% of any business you start.

Of course, not all of them will make money.

Various factors prevent some people from making money.

Qu Ying nodded in agreement: "Indeed, the country is getting better and better!"

Yang Xiaole sighed inwardly upon hearing this. You haven't experienced the wave of layoffs ten years from now. That's when things will really get tough!

At that time, Qu Ying, being someone within the system, will also give her a headache.

Unfortunately, the previous system was no longer suitable for a market economy.

Without transformation, there is only one way out: death.

Of course, this also gave many people the opportunity to take advantage of the situation and undermine the government's resources, which is something that cannot be avoided.

The plate was way too big.

It involves hundreds of billions.

To be precise, three years from now, we will begin to focus on clearing up "triangular debt" as a breakthrough point for revitalizing large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises and regulating the economic order.

The wave of layoffs was the last resort.

I remember that more than 200 billion yuan was cleared up in just two years, 1991 and 1992.

Yang Xiaole snapped out of her thoughts.

I've been pondering something, and that's the Wenchang incident center.

Wenchang is the most suitable place in the country to launch satellites, but due to its special location, many launch centers were eventually placed in inland areas.

Perhaps we could develop commercial satellites here.

Of course, he was just thinking about it; it would only work if the mainland was willing to do it!

Bringing his thoughts back, he took Qu Ying for a walk on the beach.

The sun was hot enough that Qu Ying took off her shoes and went into the sea.

Yang Xiaole naturally followed behind.

This was also the first time Qu Ying had ever seen the sea.

Completely devoid of its previous seriousness, it acted like a child, showing great curiosity at the sight of even a beautiful seashell.

"Hey, do you think this looks good?"

Yang Xiaole peeked out and saw a seashell.

Nodding: "Yes, it looks good!"

Qu Ying rolled her eyes at him upon hearing this: "So perfunctory!"

After saying that, he happily went to the next place to look for something.