Mixed in 1980

Chapter 326 The Unexpected Child

"Dad, don't you understand either?"

Faced with his daughter's question, Chen Fan, who was always competitive, suddenly felt like he had been hit on the head. Should he say he didn't understand? Or should he pretend to understand?

Seeing her husband's conflicted expression, Xu Jinqiu, who was reading a book, chuckled: "Yanxi, your dad doesn't understand these things either."

As she spoke, she stood up, picked up the vase, and said, "Only Second Grandmother knows. Let's ask Second Grandmother."

Teacher Xu walked away with her daughter.

Zeng Ali also wanted to leave, but Chen Fan reacted quickly and grabbed her, saying, "Comrade Ali, after watching the joke, you think you can just leave like this?"

"Look at what you're saying. Our daughter doesn't understand. As parents, we should answer her questions and clear up her doubts. I didn't expect you to be so clueless," Zeng Ali said with a forced smile.

After thinking for a moment, he teased, "You've been collecting antiques for over a decade, you should know something by now, but who knew that after all these years you'd still be a complete idiot."

Enraged, Chen Fan picked up his eldest daughter-in-law and placed her on the bed, giving her a few slaps on her shapely buttocks: "If I don't teach you a lesson, you won't even know the difference between a king and a queen."

As he spoke, he was about to get started.

Zeng Ali blushed and quickly begged for mercy: "Chen Fan, stop it. It's broad daylight, the children will be coming soon."

Chen Fan then gave up.

Zeng Ali rubbed her bottom, sat up, and straightened her bangs: "Let's get down to business. Yan Xi seems quite interested in calligraphy, paintings, and antiques. What should we do about this?"

"That's not good."

“What’s so good about it? Our family has such a big business, the children will definitely go into business in the future, how can we let them study antiques and calligraphy?” Zeng Ali said irritably.

Chen Fan pinched her nose and teased, "Who says that if we go into business, all our children have to go into business? If we become officials, all our children have to become officials?"

Zeng Ali chuckled, unconvinced, and said, "Isn't that right? In any existing field, everyone has their own comfort zone. Who would want to go outside of that zone and suffer?"

“Look at Brother Sun’s family, three generations have been in politics, and he will be just as good as Liu Jin in the future; look at the wealthy families in Hong Kong, they have all been in business for generations.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan shook his head slightly: "Not entirely. Chen Lu, you know him too. His father and father-in-law are figures in New Year paintings. In terms of family background, they can be ranked in the top ten. They are different in business."

"And then there's Stanley Ho's daughter, the one in the entertainment industry, who even makes some large-scale videos. Isn't she also pursuing her own life?"

"I don't care what other families do, and I can't control what they do, but as long as our children have the right values, they can do whatever they want in the future."

"No one says they have to be in business."

"I make money so that they can live a good life, not so that they can live a life they don't like. Otherwise, what's the point of making money?"

"..." Zeng Ali was stunned for a moment.

After a long pause, he sighed and said, "Alright, let our daughter choose for herself. We'll observe her for a while longer. If she really likes calligraphy, paintings, and antiques, we'll find her a good teacher."

After kissing his wife, Chen Fan said, "If Yanxi really likes it, let's collect some more nice items so that our daughter will have something presentable to share with others in the future."

"You just keep spoiling me!" Zeng Ali said irritably.

Chen Fan smiled slightly, pondering how to acquire some antiques. He had really messed with this circle these days.

Many great collectors from past lives will probably disappear.

Great collectors are great collectors not because they have exceptional eyesight, but because they acquired antiques at bargain prices in an era when no one paid attention to them.

Once prices are made public, they will still have an advantage—they can make a living by their expertise—but it will no longer be possible to acquire antiques on a large scale.

Funding is the biggest problem.

Just as I was pondering this, Xie Xiaofang came over and knocked on the door: "Brother Chen, your Senior Brother Sun is here, and he brought a few people with him. They're in the living room in the middle courtyard."

"I'll go right away!"

After tidying his clothes, Chen Fan went to the Intermediate People's Court with Sun Shaojie, two middle-aged men, and Liu Jinban.

As soon as Liu Jinban saw Chen Fan, he asked, "Uncle Chen, where is Yan Xi?"

Chen Fan's face darkened. Resisting the urge to kick him to death, he said irritably, "Yan Xi is in the next yard. Go find her yourself."

Goodbye, Uncle Chen!

After saying that, he ran away in a flash. Sun Shaojie suppressed a laugh and said, "Junior brother, let me introduce you. This is Wang Jun and Zhang Ming."

After shaking hands and exchanging a few pleasantries, Sun Shaojie got down to business: "These two are both from COFCO and will be in charge of Tianhe Agriculture Company from now on."

Tianhe is an agricultural company jointly established by Chen Fan and the government to develop land purchased by Russia and Ukraine, with Chen Fan holding 60% of the shares.

Since they were cooperating with the government, Chen Fan had no intention of getting involved in management. He would give up two rotating president positions, and Spark Investment would appoint a third rotating president.

Although Tianhe Agriculture Company has just been established, its strength should not be underestimated. It has already exceeded 100 million hectares of cultivated land in Russia and 50 hectares in Ukraine.

In addition, there are 350 million hectares of forest land in Siberia.

Land acquisition has now stopped, and land development is about to begin. Chen Fan is not involved in management or expressing his opinion, after all, he is an outsider.

He only cares about the results.

Give them two or three years, then see how the company is doing. If it's not working, replace them directly.

After finishing their business, they saw the two off, but Sun Shaojie stayed behind. Having brought his son, he figured he'd definitely stay for a meal. Inevitably, the conversation drifted to England: "We really squeezed a fortune out of the British this time, haven't we planned to invest anything?"

"Can you stop staring at my pockets?"

He took out a cigarette from under the coffee table and tossed one over: "Didn't the higher-ups urge us before? The CBDs in Beijing, Shenzhen, and Shanghai are going to be launched, and they're planning to invest in this."

Sun Shaojie took the cigarette and lit it: "Starting up in three locations simultaneously? That's quite a challenge."

Chen Fan lit a cigarette and said sarcastically, "What pressure could I possibly have? The money was squeezed from the British. It's China Construction that's under pressure."

"They do the work, and they pay 40% of the money."

Sun Shaojie shook his head. There's only one person in the whole world who can do business as leisurely as Chen Fan. Who else could you trust?

That's exactly why businesses can grow big.

If Chen Fan were to concern himself with everything, any one of these areas would exhaust his energy, making it impossible for him to succeed in multiple areas simultaneously.

However, in recent years, Chen Fan has clearly begun to reduce his investments, focusing only on existing industries and not expanding into new areas.

The only one, namely an agricultural company.

Sun Shaojie couldn't understand this. Why couldn't he earn more money doing something else than agriculture? With the resources Chen Fan had, there was no need for him to enter the agricultural sector.

After asking the question, Chen Fan took a drag of his cigarette and replied, "Land prices are low, and there's no harm in acquiring it. Even if it doesn't make money, land is still an asset."

"Don't underestimate agricultural companies. They can make money just as well once they scale up. In a few years, you'll see that Tianhe Agriculture will be all over Asia and South America."

Upon hearing this, Sun Shaojie put on an expression that said, "You're trying to fool me, but unfortunately I have no proof."

It is almost impossible for agricultural companies to expand across Asia and South America, as it is difficult to acquire large amounts of land based on their profits.

Unless a huge amount of money is invested.

Chen Fan didn't explain. Prices vary depending on the time period. For example, buying land in the former Soviet Union didn't cost much.

Given the rate of depreciation of the ruble, it will definitely fall below 3000 in two years. At that time, with the loan refinanced, they can buy land for only a few US dollars per acre.

As for woodland, prices will fall to below $1 per hectare.

It's under $1!

Banker Potanin bought a forest in Siberia equivalent to the land of "Hanscat" for $0.8 per hectare after the currency crash.

If the right opportunity is found, the same tactics used against the Soviets can be applied to other countries, and large amounts of assets can be acquired at low prices.

The two brothers chatted idly, while Yan Xi and Liu Jinban returned from the neighboring courtyard, laughing and joking, which left Chen Fan speechless.

Sun Shaojie chuckled as he smoked, "What a fine kid."

"Why aren't you going back yet?" Chen Fan snorted.

Sun Shaojie rolled his eyes. What's the point of going back? He'll be his son's wingman. The eldest daughter of the Chen family will definitely be the Sun family's daughter-in-law in the future.

It wasn't until after dinner that Sun Shaojie took his reluctant son home.

Yan Xi waved to Liu Jinban, then turned and pulled his father, "Dad, I like antiques. Can I learn about them?"

Chen Fan picked up his daughter and asked, "Do you prefer calligraphy and paintings, or antiques?"

"like it all!"

"Then let's learn. Dad will find you a teacher later." Chen Fan was thinking about where to find a good teacher for his daughter, and also to get her some antiques.

There's a saying in the antique trade: "The more genuine items you've handled, the more you can tell a fake is fake the moment you touch it."

You need a reference point to learn this field.

Zeng Ali picked up her daughter and said, "Let's go back to Peking University another day. There are a group of old professors in the archaeology department. They are all from within the system, so it's more systematic and reliable."

Chen Fan agreed.

As they walked in, they heard the sound of a car outside again. Looking back, they saw Zhou Xu and Guan Xiaoyu, a couple, each holding a child.

Chen Fan was surprised. Why was there one more?
Guan Xiaoyu had a baby last year and gave birth to a boy, but there's no news of her having a second child.

"Chen Fan, my daughter, isn't she beautiful?"

Guan Xiaoyu walked over quickly and handed the girl in her arms to Chen Fan. She looked about one year old, with delicate features and big, bright eyes.

Chen Fan picked up the child and teased him, saying, "Whose is this? He's quite cute."

“My daughter!” Guan Xiaoyu emphasized.

Chen Fan rolled his eyes at her, picked up the child and walked inside. "Give it back to you? You've never heard of surrogacy technology these days, it's unheard of for it to suddenly appear."

It must belong to one of their relatives.

Given Guan Xiaoyu's personality, it wasn't the first or second time she had borrowed other people's children to play with. Of her own children, all except the youngest, Yan Che, had been borrowed by her to play with.

Guan Xiaoyu caught up: "It really is my daughter, why don't you believe me? Let me tell you, this is your own niece, you can't skimp on the gift."

PS: The first update is here~
(End of this chapter)