Mixed in 1980

Chapter 512 Chen Fan Emerges from Seclusion
After finishing his cigarette, Chen Fan's eyes gradually sharpened. His three sons were all outstanding, but they might not be able to reap the greatest benefits in the upcoming crisis.

In the Western world, when faced with a major crisis, it is never a case of everyone working together to overcome the difficulties; instead, it is a case of robbing the poor to enrich the rich, making the rich richer and the poor poorer.

This is the opportunity!
A later report stated that during those three years, the combined wealth of 467 billionaires in the United States increased by at least $7300 billion, a growth rate of 30%.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's wealth surged 63% during the pandemic, bringing his net worth to approximately $1840 billion; Tesla CEO Elon Musk's wealth nearly tripled, with his net worth rising to $700 billion.

Chen Fan also had his eye on this opportunity.

He threw away his cigarette butt, took out his phone, and sent a WeChat message to the children, asking them to come home for dinner. It wasn't until after dinner that Chen Fan got down to business.

"Second brother, has Wu Ermao sold all his land yet?"

“The farms have been divided into smaller plots and all have been sold. The funds have been returned to Tianhe Agriculture Group’s account, and COFCO plans to distribute dividends,” Chen Yanjin explained.

Tianhe Agriculture Group was established through a partnership between Xinghuo Investment and COFCO, with Xinghuo Investment holding 60% of the shares and COFCO holding 40%, a position that has remained unchanged.

Chen Fan wasn't very interested in dividends: "Tell COFCO that this money won't be distributed as dividends; instead, buy gold and distribute the dividends in a few years."

"Buy again?" Chen Yanjin asked in surprise.

The family has a lot of gold reserves, too much to count. Starting in 1999, my father bought large amounts of gold for three consecutive years, and in recent years, I have also invested a huge amount of money in it.

"Just buy it."

Taking the teacup from Xu Jinqiu, Chen Fan took a sip: "Gold still has a lot of room to rise. We'll sell when it's at a high point."

"Keep a close eye on gold futures in the next few years."

"Besides that, there's the medical aspect. We started preparing last year, and it's been almost a year now. How far have we progressed?" Chen Fan squinted his eyes.

Chen Yanjin felt a chill and hurriedly explained, "Don't worry, through a year of acquisitions, we will have captured at least 15% of the global market share for ventilators, masks, and protective suits."

"Too little!" Chen Fan frowned.

Chen Yanjin explained, "Dad, please be reasonable. It's only been less than a year since we started from scratch. We've poured a lot of effort and money into achieving this scale."

Chen Fan complained, "We're still not spending enough. We still have a year left. Spend as much money as you can, stockpile goods, and make sure we have control of the market."

"Okay, you're right." Chen Yanjin smiled wryly.

Chen Fan rolled his eyes at his son: "Stop trying to fool me. If we don't see any results in a year, sir, go ahead and hit him. Don't hold back."

“Okay, Dad!” Chen Yanxi chuckled.

Chen Yanjin shuddered. Her father said he would slap himself, but if her older sister did it, it would be a real slap.

"What about the raw materials?" Chen Fan then asked.

Chen Yanjin hurriedly explained, "Don't worry, we are stockpiling goods all over the world, especially overseas, where we have acquired many raw material manufacturers."

Chen Fan took another sip of tea: "We can't expand our overseas production capacity. All raw materials will be shipped to Hong Kong, and we'll start reducing production capacity in the second half of next year."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yanjin gasped.

The old man doesn't treat Westerners like human beings. Just as he said, he controls Western raw material companies, but he shrinks production capacity during biological warfare. Do Westerners still have a way to survive?
That being said, the old man has always been like that.

In his eyes, foreign countries are all easy targets, and he never hesitates to exploit them. Sometimes, he's even willing to earn less money just to take advantage of them.

After putting down his teacup, Chen Fan continued, "In recent years, we haven't made any new investments in US stocks. It's time to put some more money in."

The last time I traded US stocks was in 2014.

At that time, the US debt crisis broke out, and the US dollar index plummeted. I took the opportunity to short sell and made a profit. Then I bought stocks and just left them there.

In recent years, US stocks have surged, and those stocks have appreciated significantly: "Medical stocks are all worth buying; once the biological warfare begins, they will definitely skyrocket."

"Secondly, there are tech stocks, such as Facebook, Amazon, Tesla, and Nvidia. We already have quite a few of these stocks, so we'll buy some more."

"A technology war is definitely coming."

"Third son, you need to be prepared." Chen Fan turned his gaze to his third son.

Chen Yancheng nodded slightly: "Dad, don't worry. Our family has always developed the entire mobile phone industry chain. The only thing that can be sanctioned is chips."

The mere mention of chips gives Chen Fan a headache.

The investment is too large, but compared with the West, we are still lagging behind and can never catch up: "Let's start stockpiling, because starting next year, we will probably be sanctioned."

"We've already increased our stockpiles and signed large orders with Qualcomm, Intel, and TSMC. Even if we're sanctioned, we can hold out for a few more years," Chen Yancheng nodded solemnly.

My father had mentioned this many times before, and I have made preparations, but I am certain that the next few years will be tough, and we may fall from our position as one of the top three global powers.

But he believes it's only temporary.

After being sanctioned, it will only accelerate the pace of self-development. Once it breaks through the chip barrier, it will be free to fly high, and no one will be able to restrain this technological behemoth, Feixing.

"If you need money, ask your second brother," Chen Fan reminded him.

Chen Yancheng smiled and said, "Don't worry, I certainly won't hesitate to speak up when the time comes. However, Feixing has never distributed dividends since its establishment, and there is still a large sum of money lying in the account."

Chen Fan nodded slightly, his gaze fixed on his youngest son: "I don't object to your project, but the Chinatown supermarket must not be allowed to go wrong."

"Don't worry!" Chen Yanche nodded solemnly.

Before the Chinatown Supermarket was handed over to me, I could leave everything alone. But once I took over, it became the core business, something to be passed down through generations. My father started planning in the 1980s, step by step, building the Chinatown Supermarket into one of the top three in the world, making it a giant in the retail industry.

After thinking for a moment, he added, "The new project is also a great complement to the Chinatown supermarket, and it will be able to firmly lock in a group of high-end consumers in the future."

Chen Fan agreed: "Funds... never mind, Tangren Supermarket is not short of money at all. Apart from expansion, they haven't paid out dividends in recent years."

"As long as you don't spend it recklessly, you'll never run out of money."

"Dad, am I a reckless person?" Chen Yanche asked with a resentful and frustrated expression.

Chen Fan chuckled and teased, "You've been the most troublesome person since I was a child. Go take a break. Looking at you, I can only describe you as an eyesore."

As he spoke, he looked at the eldest brother, then at the fourth brother, and sighed dejectedly. These two were also like that; one was a teacher, and the other was lazy. They couldn't be relied on.

Chen Yanxi looked up at the ceiling.

Knowing what her father wanted to say, she didn't want to get involved. She was doing quite well now and didn't like the business world.

Chen Yanyin turned her head away, refusing to look at her father.

Setting up a jade pebble market is already troublesome enough; if I take on other things as well, life will be unbearable.

It would be so much better to just be a useless nobody.

With two older brothers and a younger brother, all of whom are capable, my life is secure, and so is the baby in my belly.

"Alright, that's all for today."

Seeing the way his two daughters looked, Chen Fan got angry. He waved his hand, dismissing the children, took out a cigarette, lit it, and sighed softly.

Seeing him like this, Xu Jinqiu giggled.

Seeing her husband's exasperated expression, she teased, "Who used to say that making money was about letting the children live the life they wanted? Now they're not so happy about it anymore."

Chen Fan opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a word.

After taking a few puffs of his cigarette, he said dejectedly, "Well, I guess I was out of my mind. Forget it, Fourth Brother has something important to do now. He can do whatever he wants in the future, I don't care anymore."

"That's what it is."

Xu Jinqiu poured another cup of tea and handed it over: "Currently, Xiao Wu's project is facing considerable risks, so it's time to come out and support him."

Xiao Wu's project is indeed very risky.

There are no major problems now because the scale is still small and in the experimental stage. Once the scale is large, various problems will arise, and it will be crushed by its competitors.

Food safety is the most vulnerable area to attack.

Moreover, green food involves a large number of farmers and people's livelihood issues. Without a good reputation to support it, it is just a small boat in a storm.

"Then show your face."

Chen Fan flicked his cigarette ash and called Sun Shaojie, asking him to make the arrangements: "Don't make it too formal, just find two hosts and have them chat at home."

"The program is broadcast live on the platform and then edited later."

"Who should we choose as the host?" Sun Shaojie asked.

Chen Fan frowned slightly: "We have to choose carefully. The host's character has to be up to standard. We can't let the host's reputation fall apart after the show airs, that would be disgusting."

"Have the TV station screen them and submit a list, then you can make your own selections," Sun Shaojie suggested, emphasizing that they couldn't afford to be careless.

This is the first time Chen Fan's family has appeared on a TV program in mainland China, so it's no exaggeration to say that we're taking it very seriously. Their contribution is truly significant.

The higher-ups have wanted them to show their faces for a long time.

Chen Fan was unwilling and preferred to live a quiet, unassuming life. There was nothing the higher-ups could do; they couldn't force him to give interviews.

When CCTV received the news, a group of high-ranking officials were extremely excited. They were all people who knew the family, and who wouldn't want to interview them?

It's just that we can't get them.

Now that there's an opportunity, no one wants to miss it and everyone wants to push their own people up there. But all the higher-ups have to say is: select a list of hosts and let them decide.

That's how arrogant and domineering they are.

Helpless, Chen Fan could only recite a list. Holding a document, his brows furrowed. All the names were familiar. Which one should he choose?
"It's better to have a conversation with someone your own age."

Xu Jinqiu found Ni Ping's information from the list: "Just find someone else who can liven up the atmosphere and make the conversation more comfortable."

“An all-rounder, someone who’s quite active, that’s him.” Zeng Ali reached out and picked out another host from the list.

Xiao Sa, a handsome young man.

The combination of men and women, and the combination of middle-aged and young people, is indeed quite suitable, and Chen Fan had no objections: "Let's settle on this, and the location will be in the east courtyard."

"As for the arrangements... forget it, let the central bank send someone over to arrange it. We're not professionals, so let's not mess around and make things inappropriate."

"Then it's settled." Xu Jinqiu nodded.

(End of this chapter)