Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 933 Holding a House
After eating and drinking to fill her stomach, Zhou Yali remembered to answer her younger brother's question.

“My dad said he’ll come over during the Canton Fair in the fall, and that’s when he’ll take care of things with the telecommunications company.”

She drank half a glass of wine, her cheeks were flushed, and a fine sweat appeared on her forehead, followed by large beads of sweat running down her face.

It's finally July now, and the Dragon Boat Festival has long passed in the lunar calendar. The heat of later years is gone, but it is still summer. As soon as the sun comes out, the temperature rises rapidly.

When Jiang Lili saw her condition, she quickly went inside, brought out the electric fan covered with a cloth cover, and plugged it in. Immediately, a cool breeze swept through the room.

Zhou Yali gave Jiang Lili a big smile and said, "Thank you, Lili. Lili is so kind."

Chen Fan rolled his eyes in annoyance. "You're all talk and no action."

Zhou Yali shook her head at him, "There are also benefits. I've already promised Lili and Tiantian that once the telecommunications company here is finalized and the base station is built, I'll immediately send them two mobile phones."

Jiang Lili placed a few pieces of fish into Chen Fan's bowl and said softly with a smile, "She said that with her mobile phone, she can contact you anytime, and you can find us anytime too."

However, my sister and I both felt that it was inconvenient to use such a thing at school. But when we weren't in school, we were either at home or at the publishing house, and we had phones on both sides, so it seemed like we didn't need it.

Chen Fan chuckled and said, "If she gives it to you, just accept it. This thing isn't cheap. With the current level of technology, the cost alone is several thousand yuan. When it goes on sale, the price will probably be comparable to a small villa."

"Huh? It's so expensive?"

Jiang Lili was stunned and stared at him blankly. After several seconds, she suddenly turned to Zhou Yali and said, "Cousin, we can't accept this."

Zhou Yali glared at Chen Fan, then turned to Jiang Lili with a beaming smile, "Don't listen to his nonsense, it's not that expensive. The cost price is only one or two thousand US dollars, and the final price in the United States is probably around three or four thousand US dollars."

Based on this price and the current exchange rate, I estimate it would cost around seven or eight thousand yuan in China.

Chen Fan recalled the price of Motorola's first-generation mobile phone, then nodded slightly, "About the same."

When Motorola launched the DynaTAC 8000X phone in 1983, it was priced at $3995. In 1987, when the first mobile phone was sold in Guangzhou, it was priced at 12000 yuan per unit, plus an initial installation fee of 6000 yuan and a monthly rental fee of 150 yuan, totaling nearly 20,000 yuan.

At the time, it could almost be exchanged for a small courtyard house in Beijing.

So there's a reason why people were so envious of those who had mobile phones in the 80s. After all, in big cities where the average living space per person was only three or four square meters, someone who owned a large house was the envy of everyone.

Jiang Lili took a deep breath, widened her eyes, and said, "8000 yuan is very expensive. Now, building a two-story villa wouldn't cost that much."

She wanted to say something more, but Chen Fan waved his hand and said, "It's okay, just accept what she gives you. We've already taken that garden villa in Shanghai, so this little bit won't make a difference."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Lili's face immediately broke into a bitter smile.

When she got married at the beginning of the year, her uncle gave her a small box. She didn't open it at the time, but later she found that in addition to a set of exquisite gold jewelry, the most valuable thing inside was actually the 18-acre garden villa in Shanghai.

She knew how much that estate was worth; it cost hundreds of thousands just to buy it, not to mention the large sum of US dollars she spent on renovations later.

Upon seeing the property deed, she was so frightened that she immediately shoved it into Chen Fan's hands.

Chen Fan then showed her the property deed, saying, "See? The property owner is in your name. All the paperwork is done, so you can keep it without worry."

He was also wondering to himself, even if it was his uncle giving a gift, was it necessary to give something so expensive?
But thinking about how he and Zhou Yali started the company together, and how he also gave a lot of advice on the Zhou family's traditional business, which helped him make a lot of money.

Thinking about all this, he assumed that Zhou Zhengdong was giving him a bonus by taking advantage of his marriage, so he told Jiang Lili to accept it without worry.

Unexpectedly, it was Zhou Zhengdong who saw Jiang Lili's honest and unassuming appearance and didn't want to say anything, so he specially made it up to her.

Why else would you write her name instead of Chen Fan's?
It's just that Zhou Zhengdong didn't mention this, so they didn't know it.

Hearing Chen Fan say this, Jiang Lili could only smile wryly and remain silent.

Seeing that she was no longer resisting, Zhou Yali turned to Chen Fan and said, "My dad said that he has obtained Motorola's agency rights in Asia. The agency fee is not expensive, only one million US dollars, and the term is ten years, but there are additional conditions."

Chen Fan smiled and hummed in agreement, looking at her as he said, "You're in charge of mobile phone promotion in Asia? And if I'm not mistaken, there should be a user count requirement?"

That's why I say you're smart.

Zhou Yali chuckled and said, "There are indeed the conditions for this, but my dad had someone calculate it carefully. Asia has developed regions like Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. These places have many wealthy people and thriving businesses, so there should be a large enough demand for mobile phones. It won't be difficult to complete the task."

If we are willing to increase investment, we might be able to complete the task in three to five years.

According to the agreement, once the task is completed, we will automatically obtain subsequent agency rights,..."

Chen Fan suddenly interrupted her, "There's no problem with that. But how's it going with the matter I asked you to arrange for the establishment of our own mobile communication technology department when I called you before?"

"That's what I was about to say."

Zhou Yali took the towel Jiang Lili handed her and wiped her sweat. She said to Chen Fan, "How could I dare not do what you asked? As you said, we've bought all the pagers and mobile phones we needed, and for those we couldn't buy, we've acquired the relevant basic technologies and are currently developing them."

Are you worried about a conflict between Motorola's dealerships and our proprietary technology equipment?

My dad has also considered this, and it's actually not a big problem. The key is whether we can guarantee that we can meet Motorola's established requirements. If we can, it won't affect us much.

After all, the market is so large that it's impossible for any one company to monopolize it. Just like the current telecommunications giants, there's both competition and cooperation among them. Each situation needs to be analyzed individually.

Zhou Yali took a sip of her wine and shook her slightly dizzy head. "My dad was thinking that once our telecommunications equipment factory in the mainland is officially in operation, we might be able to cooperate with Motorola to produce base station equipment and mobile phones for them. We should keep the profits in the family."

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan couldn't help but wipe a bead of sweat from his brow. "Your dad's dreaming is really too good to be true."

Zhou Yali raised her head and chuckled foolishly, "Right? That's what I think too."

Before she could finish speaking, her head suddenly went limp, and she slammed it against the table.

Upon seeing this, Chen Fan quickly reached out and supported her chin. "That was close, you almost dropped the pot."

Then he pinched her, looked at her and called out, "Ariel? Ariel?"

Jiang Lili had already gotten off the daybed. She went over and hugged her, gently rocking her. "Cousin? Cousin?"

Chen Fan shook his head speechlessly, "If you can't drink, why are you trying to drink early in the morning?"

He then waved his hand dismissively, saying, "Help her inside to lie down."

Jiang Lili suppressed a laugh, slowly picked up Zhou Yali and helped her into the room, then placed her on the kang (a heated brick bed).

I filled a basin with hot water and gave her a quick wipe down before returning to the living room.

Chen Fan was sitting on the daybed smoking when he saw her coming over. He asked, "Are you all done?" Jiang Lili nodded, sat down next to him, and smiled, "My cousin is quite cute when she's drunk. No matter what I do, she won't move and just sleeps."

Chen Fan smiled and said, "Not bad, the wine is alright."

Jiang Lili glanced at the pot and said, "Have you finished eating? If not, I'll get you some more food."

Chen Fan's expression turned serious, and he said, "I've had enough fish, and I don't want to eat any vegetables. I just want to eat meat."

Jiang Lili turned around and went downstairs, saying, "Then I'll go cut the meat."

She hadn't taken more than two steps when she was picked up and startled. She quickly realized what was happening and said, blushing, "No, I'm sweating so much."

Chen Fan carried her to the bathroom and laughed, "It's okay, she'll be clean after a wash."

Jiang Lili, "..."

……

When Zhou Yali woke up, it was already noon.

She shook her head, looked at the clock on the shelf, and after a while, suddenly opened her eyes wide. "How come it's already twelve o'clock?"

She quickly sat up, put on her slippers, and ran outside.

The main room had been cleaned up, and Chen Fan was sitting on the daybed, drinking tea by the bedside table.

Outside in the courtyard, Jiang Lili was hanging clothes to dry. When she saw her coming out of the room, she smiled and said loudly, "Cousin, you're awake!"

Zhou Yali rubbed her face, gently patted her cheeks, walked over to look at the large enamel basin at her feet, and couldn't help but click her tongue, "So many clothes washed, and bed sheets too?"

Jiang Lili blushed slightly and said casually, "I've prepared the bed in the guest room. Xiao Fan can sleep over there. Don't you like sleeping on the kang (heated brick bed)? I've left this side for you."

Just as Zhou Yali was about to speak, Chen Fan called out from inside the room, "Come over and continue our chat if you're awake."

Seeing Zhou Yali walk in, he said irritably, "It's just a small matter, yet you've gone from chatting over morning tea to drinking morning wine. Well, you got drunk halfway through the morning wine. Are you planning to drink more later?"

Zhou Yali pouted, walked over and sat down opposite him, poured herself a cup of tea and said, without any sense of justice, "So what if I got drunk? It's not like I get drunk all the time. I was in Shanghai a couple of days ago, and I saw Tian Tian compiling information on the customs and traditions along the Yangtze River. I learned that some places have the custom of drinking early in the morning, so I wanted to try it out."

Chen Fan nodded, "Alright,..."

He was about to speak when he suddenly turned to look at Zhou Yali and asked, "Is Tiantian organizing folk customs data along the Yangtze River?"

Zhou Yali nodded, "Yes."

She took a sip of tea and continued, "I heard that you're going to make a series about the scenery of the Yangtze River and that you've asked a lot of folklorists to collect information. I've also taken some time to organize some of it, just in case you can use it."

Chen Fan hummed twice, shook his head with a smile, and seemed to want to say something, but when the words reached his lips, he didn't know what to say.

She's not a folklore scholar, so what special information could she possibly compile?
But since it was all out of good intentions, it's not good to say anything to her; I should at least praise her properly later.

In the end, he could only laugh it off and stop talking about it, continuing the conversation from where they left off. "The Autumn Canton Fair will probably be held around October, so your dad won't be here for another three months. But that's okay, there's no rush. We can talk about it when he gets here."

Then he looked at Zhou Yali and said, "Honestly, you can't drink like this anymore."

Seeing Chen Fan speaking to her so formally, Zhou Yali felt inexplicably guilty and couldn't help but smile awkwardly, "I've never drunk like this before, and I won't do it again."

As soon as she finished speaking, feeling that she had lost face as the older sister, she immediately raised her chin slightly and changed the subject, "Well, that's how it is with my dad. Let me tell you about my mom."

"I've had a much easier time since she went to Qianfan Company..."

At this point, she suddenly blinked, sensing that something was amiss.

Chen Fan hummed twice, looked at her and laughed, "Now that your aunt is gone, you can slack off, isn't that easy?"

Zhou Yali's expression changed, and she raised her head, saying, "What do you mean by slacking off? Who's slacking off? You're the one who's slacking off! You don't care about anything, you just keep asking for this and that. Who's really slacking off?"

Jiang Lili finished hanging up the clothes and sheets and came in carrying a large enamel basin. She happened to hear this and said with a smile, "Xiao Fan, you can't say your cousin is slacking off. She's been on the phone non-stop these past few days in Shanghai. She's been so busy, so many things are waiting for her to make decisions."

Sister Ye called her many times, urging her to go to Shenzhen; she certainly hasn't been idle.

After she finished speaking, Zhou Yali's expression suddenly changed, and she slapped her forehead, "I almost forgot about something important."

Then he turned to Chen Fan and said, "Brother, when are you free these days? Let's go to Shenzhen together."

Chen Fan raised an eyebrow slightly. "What's wrong with Shenzhen now?"

Zhou Yali looked at him and suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness. She groaned and said, "Brother, have you forgotten something?"

Chen Fan blinked, turned to look at Jiang Lili, and seeing her blank expression, turned back to her and asked, "What is it?"

Zhou Yali sighed helplessly, "I can really understand how my parents feel now, that feeling of wanting to strangle me. I really want to strangle you now too."

Chen Fan blinked, swallowed hard, and shrank back slightly. "No, can you just be direct? I don't remember any big..."

A sudden inspiration struck him, and before he could finish uttering the word "big," he abruptly changed his tone, "A big hotel, right? The hotel design is all done, the foundation is all leveled, we can start construction, right?!"

Zhou Yali looked up, speechless, and said, "Heh, so you still remember."

Chen Fan coughed lightly and said matter-of-factly, "How could I not remember? We were the ones who proposed building this grand hotel together. I even negotiated directly with President Yuan before you went through the formalities. How could I not remember?"

After saying that, he picked up his teacup, took a sip, and silently gave himself a thumbs up.

Luckily I remembered, otherwise this girl's nagging would have driven me crazy.

Why didn't Ye Yufeng mention the progress of the hotel project to me when he was at Yunhu?

Later, Wang Jianguo arranged for someone to take Ma Jiajia to Yunhu, without telling me about it. Plus, I was busy with other things and work, so it's normal that I didn't remember it for a while.

Zhou Yali didn't care whether he forgot or not; she only cared about one thing: "Sister Yufeng has been urging me for days, just waiting for the two of us to come over so she can arrange the groundbreaking ceremony."

"Tell me, when are you going?"

(End of this chapter)