Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 878 Turning Light into Darkness
Chen Fan took a drag on his cigarette, pondered for two seconds, and said, "In that case, I would say you might as well let go now."

Anquan turned to look at him, "How do we put it?"

Chen Fan pointed upwards and said, "Since it's a work-study alliance, let's leave it to the school to handle."

He paused for a moment, then continued, “You are the founder of this alliance. In name, you are just like everyone else, receiving a subsidy of a few dozen yuan a month. But no one is stupid. Even if they can’t see it, they can figure it out if they do it behind closed doors.”

They might not be able to calculate that you could save hundreds of thousands of dollars, but looking at the house you bought and the car you drive…

At this moment, Anquan suddenly interrupted him, "The house is mine, that's true, but the car isn't. The car belongs to the government, and I'm just using it."

Chen Fan nodded. "Okay, it's considered public property, but this house must have cost a lot of money. And you've had it for over a year now, so who wouldn't guess you've made a fortune?"

It's just that you are the founder of the alliance, and thousands of people are able to make a living because of you, so everyone turns a blind eye.

But the situation is different now.

Chen Fan tossed away his cigarette butt, took out two of his own cigarettes, offered one to the student, and said, "Starting this year, the university student subsidy will be fully implemented. In other words, the necessity of work-study programs will be greatly reduced."

On the other hand, the higher-ups are repeatedly emphasizing reform and revitalizing the economy. Your operation is thriving; aren't any of you envious?

Anquan frowned slightly, lit a cigarette, took a puff, and said, "How could there not be? It's just that the scope is too wide, involving thousands of college students, including their families, as well as many educated youth returning to the city."

It's currently just talk in private, and mostly among those who want to join but can't get in.

After pausing for two seconds, he slowly shook his head. "According to you, it might be exposed one day. And as you just said, the subsidies for college students will be fully covered, which will indeed greatly reduce the necessity of work-study programs."

He turned to look at Chen Fan and said seriously, "So, this alliance won't last long?"

Chen Fan clicked his tongue and laughed, "I only made this inference based on what you said and the adjustment of the college student subsidy program, so it may not be correct."

Then, changing the subject, he said, "However, every cloud has a silver lining. The alliance is in danger of disbanding, which may not be a bad thing for you."

Anquan's eyes immediately lit up. "Explain in detail."

Chen Fan looked around and said in a low voice, "Look, this work-study alliance has almost monopolized the sale of defective products from light industrial factories. Although several thousand people make a living from this, there are many more people outside who are envious."

Most importantly, your original intention in forming this alliance was not to make a profit, but to solve the survival problems of some impoverished college students.

After the college student subsidy is fully implemented, some people will definitely use this as an excuse to demand a reduction in the amount of defective products allocated to the alliance.

"Leaving aside other organizations, secondhand shops and similar establishments will definitely bring it up, right?"

Anquan nodded slowly, then looked at him and said, "Just tell me what to do."

Chen Fan smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "It's simple. Take the initiative to relinquish power, then turn the power from the overt to the covert, and break it down into smaller parts."

Anquan frowned, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes. "I understand voluntarily relinquishing power. But what about turning the overt into covert operations and breaking the whole into parts?"

Chen Fan looked at him and asked, "You've been working on this for over a year now, don't tell me you haven't built up any connections at all?"

"That can't be."

Anquan immediately shook his head, then said seriously, "You always remind me to plan for the future, and the most important thing is to build my own network of connections. I'm not stupid. I've worked in grassroots units for six or seven years, how could I not know anything?"

He suddenly looked around and whispered, "To be honest, I've set up a ledger for all the units that are related to the alliance. From the clerks and staff who are specifically responsible for implementation to the heads of their departments, I've recorded their contact information."

In addition, based on my understanding of them, I made detailed records of which units had easy-to-reach people, which units had principled people, which units had flexible people, what products they produced, what their advantages were, what their disadvantages were, what products sold well, what products were not popular, and so on.

In short, if one day, like in the Republic of China era, individuals were allowed to do business, I could immediately open a trading company and never have to worry about not having business.

Chen Fan gave a thumbs up and smiled, "Since that's the case, then there's no problem. You do it this way..."

He lowered his voice and said, “Go back to the school and take the initiative to hand over the management rights of this alliance. At the same time, you should also make it clear to the school that the purpose of establishing this work-study alliance was to help college students in need. Now that college student subsidies are fully covered, the necessity of work-study is not so strong. Does this alliance need to be reformed?”

Anquan looked thoughtful and said, "Is this taking the initiative?"

Chen Fan smiled and said, "Yes and no. Whether from a fair perspective or to seek personal gain, the leaders of the school and relevant units will definitely agree with your suggestion."

If you then raise the issue that the college student subsidy can only guarantee their own livelihood, but a very small number of students, as well as some educated youth returning to the city, still need to find a way to make a living, could you allow them to register as self-employed individuals and do some small business through their original channels?

Regardless of whether the relevant authorities agree or not, go back and find a group of people who are bold, adventurous, and willing to take risks. Talk to them privately and get them to register as sole proprietorships.

There are now quite a few self-employed individuals in Beijing, so there's no reason for Shanghai to keep refusing to approve them.

Anquan immediately shook his head, "No, there are quite a few self-employed individuals in Shanghai now, and they've even made it into the newspapers."

When it comes to doing business, Shanghai is never inferior to others, as long as the policies allow.

Chen Fan nodded and then said, "The rest is simple. Find a few trusted helpers to connect these individual business owners. Then, you can leverage the factory and unit network on one hand and the individual business owners who can help you sell your goods on the other. I don't need to tell you the rest, right?"

Anquan nodded slowly, and after a few seconds, turned to look at him and smiled, "Whether the alliance still exists or not, as long as I hand over the management rights, I will go from being in the open to being in the shadows."

The original work-study alliance was a whole. By allowing some hardworking and ambitious individuals to register as individual business owners and break away from the alliance, it was essentially breaking the whole into smaller parts.

Your method isn't complicated; it's just that I've been reluctant to relinquish my power, which is why I haven't thought of this approach. As long as you're willing to relinquish control of the alliance, you can shed your burdens and run your own business. Regardless of how much you earn, at least you won't have to live in constant fear like you do now.

He patted Chen Fan's arm and laughed, "Thanks for reminding me, thanks."

Chen Fan laughed and said, "You yourself said that you're just blinded by a leaf. It's only a matter of time before you figure it out. Why bother with thanks?"

Anquan smiled and didn't say anything more. Then he said, "Hey, your movie was pretty good. Tickets were sold out everywhere. I had to ask someone to help me queue for several days before I could get one."

Chen Fan: "Right? I didn't expect everyone to like it so much, but what can I do? I'm a genius, any shot I take becomes a hit."

Anquan couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Still so narcissistic, I can't stand it."

The two chatted and laughed for a while, and finally Yu Keying's voice came from inside, "Have you smoked enough? Time to eat."

The two turned around together, "Coming, coming." Inside the house, the large round table in the dining room was full of dishes. Jiang Tiantian and Jiang Lili were also helping to set out the bowls and chopsticks. On the dining chair next to them, Xiao Guai was already sitting steadily, waiting for her mother to feed her.

Yu Keying came out of the kitchen carrying a steaming hot casserole dish. "Boiling water, boiling water."

Anquan quickly grabbed a rag to take it, saying, "Wait a minute, let me do it."

Yu Keying didn't even look at him, and said irritably, "Stay away, don't bother me."

Then it was placed steadily on the small charcoal stove in the middle of the table.

Looking at the huge table of dishes, Chen Fan couldn't help but say, "Didn't you say you were only adding one dish? Don't tell me you usually have this many dishes?"

Jiang Tiantian and Jiang Lili nodded in agreement, "That's too much."

Yu Keying, holding a rag, straightened up and took a breath. She smiled at the three of them and said, "My cooking isn't as good as yours. Since the quality isn't good enough, I can only make up for it with quantity."

Chen Fan immediately said seriously, "Then you're wrong."

Yu Keying looked at him, puzzled, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Chen Fan pulled out a chair and sat down, smiling as he said, "The tastier the food, the more we need to make, because we're afraid it won't be enough..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Anquan said irritably, "Oh, if it doesn't taste good, you can make less to avoid waste, right?"

He then said to Yu Keying, "Don't entertain this person anymore, it's just a waste anyway."

Yu Keying nodded in agreement, "I think it's better to eat at his house in the future. We can eat more and there's less waste."

Chen Fan picked up the Moutai on the table, looked at it, and sighed, saying, "Let's just make do with this. We have to make up for what we ate at my house before, otherwise it'll be a huge loss."

Anquan sat down next to him, picked up a cup and placed it in front of him, saying, "Eating my food and drinking my drinks, and still talking so much, you're lucky to have gotten a wife, you must have accumulated a lot of good karma in your past lives."

Yu Keying then brought over a few bottles of drinks, opened the caps, and filled the glasses in front of Jiang Lili and Jiang Tiantian. At the same time, she asked with a smile, "As the old saying goes, 'Settle down, start a family, and have children.' Let's not talk about starting a family; in this respect, there aren't many people as outstanding as Xiaofan."

Now that you have a home, when do you plan to start having children?

Jiang Lili blushed as she looked at Chen Fan, then turned back and said, "Xiao Fan and I have discussed it. We are both still young, so there's no need to rush. It's not too late to talk about it after I graduate from university."

Anquan, holding his wine glass, frowned and said to Chen Fan, "Graduating from university? That's still two years away. Isn't that unnecessary?"

He glanced at Yu Keying, then said to Chen Fan and Jiang Lili, "Your sister-in-law and I didn't have children before because we didn't have the means. We wanted to wait and see if we could go back to Shanghai. Fortunately, we finally got to have children, which is why we're having them so late."

"You guys are different. Old Chen has such good conditions, living in a big house, and he also has overseas royalties. He could afford to raise ten or eight children, let alone one. Why wait so long?"

"Ten or eight more?"

Chen Fan glared at him. "Do you think I'm raising pigs?"

She picked up her glass and clinked it with his, saying, "Stop talking nonsense. I'm here today to ask for a wedding gift, not to pressure you to have children. Hurry up and drink, and then think carefully about what to give me."

Anquan stared at him speechlessly for several seconds before finally downing the wine in his small cup in one gulp. He put down the cup and said to Yu Keying, "This guy isn't here to ask for gifts; he's here to rob us. Even bandits aren't as good as him."

Yu Keying nodded in agreement, "At least they weren't so self-righteous."

Chen Fan ignored what they said, scooped a piece of chicken from the casserole, put it in a bowl to cool, took a bite, and said to Yu Keying, "Not bad, your cooking is much better than before."

Yu Keying immediately beamed with joy, "Really? I haven't been working much this year. Besides attending classes, I've been practicing my cooking skills at home, and I've finally gained the chef's approval."

He put down his chopsticks and walked towards the bedroom next door.

A moment later, she came out carrying a huge box, placed it between Chen Fan and Jiang Lili, straightened up and smiled, "Here, a gift for you."

Chen Fan looked down at it, then looked up at her again, "What is it?"

Yu Keying turned around and sat back down, picked up her chopsticks and smiled, "I'll watch it later, let's eat now."

Chen Fan and Jiang Lili exchanged a smile, suppressing their curiosity, and said to her with a smile, "Alright, we'll follow your lead. Let's eat first and then take a look."

Anquan picked up the bottle and filled his glass. "Hey, now you know to go along with the host's wishes."

Chen Fan: "That's right, after all, we are people who know etiquette and should follow the rules."

Safety shook his head. "Your shamelessness is unmatched."

After taking a bite of food, he turned to look at Chen Fan and asked, "Hey, Old Chen, you really don't plan to have a baby right away?"

She pointed to her daughter and said, "Look how cute she is! She's so small and soft. If it weren't for the fact that I have to go to class and work to earn money, I would want to hold her all day long."

Chen Fan looked at the little darling being fed by its mother and grinned, "It is indeed quite cute."

Then he turned to look at Jiang Lili and said, "We should have a daughter too, it would be so much fun to watch her."

Jiang Lili blushed deeply, gave him a coquettish glare, but didn't say anything.

Beside her, Jiang Tiantian lowered her head and smiled silently, thinking to herself that if she really had a daughter, she would definitely be very beautiful.

Chen Fan turned to An Quan and said, "She is cute, but Lili and I are still young, and we don't work in the same place, so it wouldn't be convenient if we had a child. So it's too early to talk about this now."

After Lili graduates, we'll see where she's assigned to a company, and then I'll try to find a way to transfer her. It's not too late to consider this then.

Anquan pursed her lips and nodded, "That makes sense."

He then raised his glass and said, "Come on, drink."

(End of this chapter)