Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 850 Abnormal Enterprises

After cleaning and worshipping the Kitchen God, we had a sweet but not very formal lunch. The main dishes were various high-calorie snacks such as rice candy, sesame candy, peanut candy, cat's ear candy, snow dates, crispy candy, and walnut crisps, as well as fried small fish, fried lotus root sandwiches, fried sweet potato chips, fried crispy pork, and steamed pearl meatballs, tofu meatballs, radish meatballs, and cabbage meatballs.

It's not just Chen Fan's family that's like this; it's the case for every family in the entire Yunhu area.

Although the Little New Year is still part of the New Year celebrations, it is more often regarded by ordinary people as a preparation and rehearsal for the main New Year.

So on this day, every household has endless things to do.

Slaughtering pigs and preparing New Year's goods are the most common activities. Anyone who has done these jobs knows that you make a big pot of meatballs and fry several batches of fried food. Each batch is cooked, and you taste it yourself, let the children taste it, and let the elderly taste it. Once everything is done, the whole family can basically eat their fill.

So over time, few families would cook a proper meal on the day of the Lunar New Year; they would just eat whatever was available to fill their stomachs.

After we finish eating, there are still many things to do.

For example, Spring Festival couplets are usually pasted up on the day before the Lunar New Year. ... Some people put them up on New Year's Eve, but generally they will not be pasted up later than noon on New Year's Eve.

There are also customs like getting a haircut for the New Year, taking a bath to welcome the new year, and so on. These are roughly the kinds of customs.

Life has been good in Lujiawan these past two years. Every household started preparing for the New Year well in advance, so much so that by the Little New Year, they were almost all ready, just waiting for the big New Year a few days later.

In addition, under normal circumstances, even the closest friends will not easily visit each other on the two days of the Lunar New Year's Eve and the Little New Year.

Well, except for relatives and those with special relationships.

This special relationship refers to a group of girls. Not to mention the Lunar New Year's Eve, even if they visit each other on New Year's Eve, outsiders won't say a word of gossip. On the contrary, if they don't go, people will think they don't know the rules.

So now Chen Fan can only stand with his hands behind his back, sometimes looking around inside the house, sometimes wandering outside. Even when he's bored, he doesn't go out to bother anyone.

Then he didn't have to do any housework. He could only sit with his hands in his pockets, squatting on the wooden bench in the covered walkway, watching the three pandas clinging to the railing and making faces at them.

Two golden monkeys sat obediently beside him, huddled together, glancing at him and then at the panda whose expression shifted from mournful to blank. Their eyes darted around, and it was unclear what they were thinking.

At this moment, Zhou Zhengdong came out with a cigarette in one hand and a cup of tea in the other, and plopped down on the other side of him.

She first looked inside the house, then leaned closer to Chen Fan and whispered, "Um, Tian Tian came over to escort the bride yesterday, when are you planning to send her back?"

Chen Fan snapped out of his reverie, looked up and thought for a moment, "Are Factory Director Yang and Secretary Li still at Captain Yang's house?"

Before Zhou Zhengdong could speak, he turned around and called out, "Yang Ju, Yang Ju."

"Coming."

Yang Ju, who was chatting with everyone, heard the shout and immediately ran out, "Teacher Chen, what's up?"

Chen Fan looked at her and asked, "Did Director Yang and Secretary Li stay at your house last night? Did they say when they would be leaving?"

Yang Ju immediately opened her eyes and said, "They left a long time ago. They went back to Yunhu with the delivery boat just as dawn was breaking."

Chen Fan blinked and asked, "They left? Why didn't they say anything? Tian Tian is still here."

Yang Ju looked at him, then turned to look inside the house, pouted, and said, "Then let's stay for the New Year. It's not like we haven't spent it here before."

When they heard that Teacher Chen was coming back to get married this year, they got together to analyze the situation. After a detailed discussion, all seven of them agreed that Jiang Lili must have had a mastermind behind her to help her win.

And this person is absolutely none other than Jiang Tiantian.

Although Jiang Tiantian looks nine-tenths like Jiang Lili, her strength lies in the remaining one-tenth.

This point wasn't based on appearance, but rather on temperament and certain behavioral details.

For example, she always held her head high, not out of arrogance, but out of unyielding spirit, like a snowstorm pressing down on her. She also kept herself impeccably clean, never showing any sign of embarrassment even while working. ...There were other small details that easily distinguished her from Jiang Lili.

These small details gave them a very special feeling: this girl is not simple.

Then look at Jiang Lili. This girl is gentle and weak. She keeps her head down all day long, never argues or quarrels, and does whatever she is asked to do.

Could a girl like that win Teacher Chen's heart? They didn't think so.

Therefore, Yang Ju and the others didn't like Jiang Tiantian very much. This morning, when Captain Yang and Secretary Li returned to the city, she clearly knew that Jiang Tiantian was at Teacher Chen's house, but she deliberately didn't mention it and pretended not to know.

Chen Fan blinked, keenly catching a hint of displeasure in her words and eyes. He couldn't help but wonder, Jiang Tiantian didn't seem to have any dealings with them before, did she? What was wrong with her?
However, since the other party didn't say anything and didn't do anything excessive, he couldn't directly confront them.

He immediately waved his hand and said, "That's fine then. I'll take her home myself later."

Upon hearing this, Yang Ju felt a pang of jealousy.

If I had known that Teacher Chen was going to see them off in person, I should have mentioned it when Director Yang and Secretary Li left.

Now look what's happened; the "enemy" has taken advantage of us instead. It's heartbreaking.

Chen Fan glanced at Yang Ju's dejected figure and became even more puzzled.

What's wrong? This is so strange.

He then said to Zhou Zhengdong, "It's alright, I'll take her home later, it won't delay anything."

Zhou Zhengdong took a drag of his cigarette, lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, then suddenly said, "How about we take her to Yunhu tomorrow?"

He looked at Chen Fan with a half-smile, "Anyway, you're going to accompany Lili back to her parents' home tomorrow, so it'll be easier if you go together."

Chen Fan's heart skipped a beat, and he looked at him suspiciously.

What does this mean?
He didn’t believe that Zhou Zhengdong, who grew up in Chinatown in the United States, wouldn’t know such basic rules.
After pausing for two seconds, he decided to face it with a fearless attitude: "Who brings their sister-in-law back to their parents' home? Those who know clearly know that she was delayed in returning to the city, but those who don't know might think something else."

He then laughed and said, "Anyway, the speedboat is fast, and I'll take her back to the city later, it won't be much trouble."

Zhou Zhengdong subtly pursed his lips, not mentioning the matter again, and then asked, "How are the arrangements for the ancestral worship going?"

Chen Fan gestured, "Don't worry, everything is arranged."

He patted the little monkey's head beside him and said, "Go and get me the pipe on the table."

The little monkey was only one year old, still a cute little princess, and less than half the size of an adult golden monkey.

(One-year-old Princess Rui Rui)
This adorable little creature was ordered around to run errands by someone, which is simply outrageous.

At least for now, Zhou Zhengdong couldn't stand it anymore. "This little guy is so small, and you're actually making him do chores?"

There was no way around it; ever since the birth of his youngest son, Attorney Zhou, who was originally known for his calmness and rationality, had suddenly become somewhat overflowing with affection.

He even established a small community stray cat and dog rescue center in New York and donated a batch of milk powder and stationery to an orphanage, showing a tendency to move closer to becoming a philanthropist.

Zhou Zhengdong, being the kind of person he is, naturally cannot stand to see someone mistreating small animals.

Especially such a cute little monkey, even if it's my nephew, I won't accept it!

The little monkey moved quickly, darting around on the ground a few times before running back with a pipe in its hand. Meanwhile, the other little prince, having just snapped out of his staring contest with the rolling monkey, turned to look at the pipe in his sister's hand, his mind filled with confusion. When did she take it?

Chen Fan held his pipe, pinched a wad of tobacco from his pouch and stuffed it into the bowl, slowly struck a match to light it, took a puff, and then said calmly, "The Chen family doesn't keep idle people, nor do we keep idle monkeys."

He pointed to the gyrfalcons and hobbies circling in the sky and occasionally swooping down, "From the very first hobbie, they have carried forward the spirit of self-reliance. Every day, in addition to solving their own food needs, they also have to hand over meat to contribute to the development of the family."

Then, pointing behind, he said, "Even the most useless little pony will perform at the market every two weeks to earn money for food and occasionally give the two little lambs some snacks."

As for the two sheep…

Chen Fan chuckled as he smoked, "Their wool can fetch a good price every year, and they can find their own food, so raising them isn't a bad deal."

Then, the article introduces a cat security guard who only needs a bowl of dried fish a year, a cat bodyguard who is very food-consuming but loyal in protecting his female owner, and a big flower snake that is self-reliant and willing to protect its owner.

Oh, it's winter now, and the big flower is hibernating.

Although its burrow had taken over a nest of rats, and the rats had already gone to its belly, the hilltop was still Chen's property, and it couldn't be said that it hadn't been paid. Therefore, Chen Fan always felt justified in taking this guard.

Besides, he was the one who saved the snake's life from Captain Yang back then, so isn't it only right to repay him in kind?

What? Captain Yang also saved Chen Fan? But Chen Fan has already repaid him. Think about how much he has done for this group. Da Hua thinks he can compare to Boss Chen just because he ate a few rats? Isn't that a bit too wishful thinking?
As Zhou Zhengdong listened to his eldest nephew introduce the animals in the family, he learned that there were skilled hunters such as the Eurasian Hobbit and the Gyrfalcon, two dogs that could guard the house and herd sheep, two horses that could perform for money, sheep with long wool, a panda that could grind grain, and a little monkey that could run errands...

After finally waiting for Chen Fan to finish speaking, he shook his head and sighed, "I thought that running this zoo would require a lot of expenses every year, but I didn't expect that you could actually make animals work for you and make money. It seems that I am not as good as you when it comes to exploiting surplus value!"

Chen Fan sighed softly, "I didn't want to either, it's just that there are a few big eaters in my family."

He pointed to the panda enclosure and said, "Look, these three guys, each of them eats more than ten kilograms of bamboo and more than ten kilograms of vegetables every day. Most people really can't afford to raise them. If it weren't for the support from Lujiawan, I would have sent them to the zoo long ago."

Rolling on the railing, it wiggled its bottom to loosen its stiff body. Hearing Chen Fan's words, it couldn't help but cradle its head forward, wanting to hear what they were saying.

It did hear, but why was it speaking human language? Why didn't it speak something that pandas could understand?
Chen Fan launched into a tirade, seemingly belittling every animal, but the underlying sense of boasting was so palpable that even the little golden monkey beside him could sense it.

He concluded by saying, "It's hard to support a family, but it's even harder to support a bunch of useless animals like this. They all lack the ability to live independently. Otherwise, I would definitely release them all out to fend for themselves, and at most give them some start-up capital."

He grinned and said, "If even one or two of them succeed, I can spend the rest of my life lying at home counting money."

Zhou Zhengdong thoughtfully tossed away his cigarette butt, frowned as he thought for a moment, and then suddenly said, "Last time you talked to me about the Zhou family's industrial reform, you gave a lot of opinions and suggestions. I remember one of them was to support employees with ideas and abilities to start their own businesses."

I was taking notes so much at the time, and afterwards I was busy organizing plans and streamlining the company's business lines, so I didn't think much about it.

As he spoke, he turned to look at Chen Fan and said, "Your approach to these animals is quite similar to this suggestion?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan burst out laughing. "Don't overthink it. I was just joking. How can animals really compare to humans? Let alone start a business."

"No no no."

Zhou Zhengdong looked at him seriously and said solemnly, "Maybe you are joking, but a person's thoughts will always unconsciously influence their behavior and be reflected in the details."

Therefore, what I say cannot be wrong.

Releasing some of the Zhou family members and businesses, giving them some initial resources, and allowing them to develop freely is a practice that aligns well with the liberal economics prevalent in Western countries.

"Then, I can entrust many unimportant tasks to trustworthy people, letting them develop them on their own. If they fail, they can come back to work for the Zhou family company. But if they succeed, wouldn't they become satellite companies of the Zhou family?"

After he finished speaking, Chen Fan clicked his tongue, thought for a few seconds, and said, "If you want to do it this way, it's not impossible, but you must formulate a reasonable supervision and support plan, and you can't just let it go."

Zhou Zhengdong was taken aback by these words and asked in confusion, "Why?"

The earliest venture capital in the United States began in the 1920s, with wealthy families and individuals providing capital support to startups and sharing shares and dividends after the projects succeeded.

However, that approach is still very primitive. It either ignores everything and only looks at the results, or it directly participates, turning venture capital into operations and ultimately fighting for power and profits with the founders.

The modern venture capital industry did not officially begin until the establishment of the American Research and Development Corporation (ARD) in 1946.

In the same year, Joker Whitney founded Whitney & Co. and coined the term "venture capital".

At the same time, Lawrence Rockefeller led the Rockefeller Brothers Company to promote investment in the technology field. The success of projects such as McDonnell Douglas, Intel, and Apple Computer also led to the extraordinary prosperity of the venture capital industry in the United States in the 80s and indirectly promoted the development of the high-tech industry in the United States.

However, it wasn't until the mid-to-late 80s that the venture capital industry developed a series of project management methods. Furthermore, the modern venture capital incubation standard process only gradually improved after the internet industry overcame its initial winter and grew vigorously in the new century, accumulating a wealth of valuable experience and based on the dual protection of investors and entrepreneurs.

Therefore, Zhou Zhengdong's current idea of ​​"planting seeds and waiting for the harvest" is in line with the thinking of some people in the venture capital industry.

Another group of people thinks, "Leave the seeds, kill the farmer, and it's all mine!"

Since Chen Fan knew this, he certainly wouldn't watch Zhou Zhengdong play the "slash-and-burn" game. So he smiled and explained the harm of permissive management and the advantages of "helping them get on their feet and giving them a push." ​​Finally, he said, "If you hand over the business to them to manage and let them set up their own companies, you are actually investing in them with real assets as capital."

In fact, what you can offer is not just this 'venture capital,' but also the Zhou family's comprehensive financial and legal support system. Through this 'logistical' intervention that doesn't interfere with operations, you can help them grow more steadily and quickly, while also keeping abreast of the project company's situation, preventing the regret of losing all venture capital only after the project fails.

Zhou Zhengdong was an old hand at this, and Chen Fan's words were quite insightful. He immediately nodded and said, "Your suggestion is excellent. I'll come up with a project management plan later."

He took out a cigarette, offered one to Chen Fan, and lit one for himself.

After a few seconds, Zhou Zhengdong turned to look at his eldest nephew and asked curiously, "I suddenly feel that you are also making venture capital investments in Lujiawan, except that you are investing in the idea, while they are the ones providing the venture capital."

If this were in the United States, the situation would be exactly the opposite: you would be the operator of all the industries in Lujiawan, while Lujiawan would be the investor providing logistical support.

But now that you've withdrawn and are no longer in charge of the Lujiawan industry…

At this point, he suddenly slapped his forehead. "In this situation, I don't know how to express it, but what would you do if the company in Lujiawan ran into problems in the future? Would the future of the company in Lujiawan also develop like a venture capital project in the United States?"

After he finished speaking, he grinned and said, "I'm just curious. After all, I've never encountered this kind of economic system in China before, and it's quite different from what Lao Su has done."

Chen Fan stroked the monkey and said with a smile, "Your question isn't really a question. The reason is very simple: the logic is fundamentally flawed."

Whether it's venture capital or business operations, the ultimate goal is to make a profit. Investors get a return on their capital, and entrepreneurs reap success. And the standard for everything is money.

But that's not the case here.

Zhou Zhengdong's eyes widened. "Not for money? Then why do you run a company to make money?"

Chen Fan smiled and said, "Of course, it's for a better collective life."

He explained, “First of all, you need to understand that the enterprises in Lujiawan do not belong to any one person or any one group, but to all the villagers of Lujiawan. This is the foundation of the collective enterprises, but not the whole of them.”

Because in addition to being responsible to the villagers, we also have to take into account the interests of our superiors, namely the Nanhu Commune, and at the same time, we cannot forget the interests of the country.

This is the logical difference between collective and individual interests. In such situations, some businesses cannot operate solely for profit; they must serve the collective interest.

He gestured and said, “Take the chickens that each household raises, for example. I don’t know if there are better or cheaper chickens from professional farms outside, but the food factory in Lujiawan can’t buy from them. Instead, it has to prioritize buying from the villagers. This is to protect the interests of the villagers. Otherwise, the food factory would lose its purpose.”

How to safeguard the interests of the villagers while simultaneously ensuring the company's profits through management and technology is a question that the operators must consider. However, this premise cannot be compromised; otherwise, the very foundation for the collective enterprise's existence will be lost.

Imagine the future: postal outlets will be found in every remote village, and mobile signal towers will stand in frontier areas with only two households. This is based on considerations of collective interests, rather than solely on profit.

However, Chen Fan cannot bring up these examples yet.

After hearing the explanation, Zhou Zhengdong roughly understood some things. He thought for a while before saying, "Then such a company is not a normal company?"

Chen Fan immediately laughed and said, "It should be said that these are not normal companies that do not conform to the impressions of the United States or capitalists, but they are still very common in China."

That's what he said, but Chen Fan sighed inwardly.

Starting this year, there will be more and more collective enterprises, but how many of them will still exist based on collective interests is a big question mark.

Zhou Zhengdong wasn't bothered by it, and instead asked curiously, "What about the companies in Lujiawan? How are they going to develop in the future? You can't expect to manage them for the rest of your life, can you?"

Chen Fan immediately shook his head, "No, that won't happen."

He then smiled and said, “As heaven maintains vigor through movement, a gentleman should constantly strive for self-improvement; as earth's nature is receptive, a gentleman should cultivate virtue and bear all things with magnanimity. In the end, people have to rely on themselves. At most, I can be a strategist, offering guidance at crucial moments, but whether they are willing to do so and how well they do it ultimately depends on themselves.”

After saying that, he spread his hands and said, "In the end, I'm just a village veterinarian, what else can I do?"

Zhou Zhengdong curled his lip, looked at the monkey in his hand, nodded and said, "Hmm, you're quite a serious veterinarian."

The two chatted and talked, and time passed quickly.

In the afternoon, seeing that it was getting late, Chen Fan called Jiang Tiantian and took her back by boat.

However, at the speed of a speedboat, it can easily make a round trip in two hours.

But when Chen Fan returned, more than three hours had already passed.

His reasons were quite valid. He sat at the Jiang family's house for a while and drank two cups of tea.

Only he and Jiang Tiantian probably know the specifics of the situation.

Yes, Jiang Lili could guess that too.

The next day arrived in the blink of an eye, and it was the day the bride returned to her parents' home.

Chen Fan made another trip to Yunhu and delivered quite a few things there.

During his visit home, he also visited some acquaintances from the prefectural committee, informing them that he would be going to the Northeast to pay respects to his ancestors after the New Year and wouldn't have time to visit other people.

(End of this chapter)