Back to 1979: Sending the Educated Youth’s Wife Back to the City

Chapter 132: Instructions
Fang Mingche rode in on a bicycle, wondering why his brother-in-law came here when he was just married.

He parked his car in the small room and first went to deliver the hand-knitted scarf that Zhu Wenjuan asked him to bring to Gu Zhiguang.

Gu Zhiguang said, "Thank you!" He turned around and handed a bag of milk powder to Fang Mingche, "Please, bring it to Xiao Zhu."

Fang Mingche nodded, "I've become a bluebird. When you two have a banquet later, you must offer me a glass of good wine."

Gu Zhiguang smiled and said, "How about your favorite military-supplied Maotai?"

"Okay." He has never drunk it before.

Fang Mingche took the milk powder back and put it in his bicycle basket. He would not forget it when he left tomorrow. Then he came over and said, "Lin Yi is here, alone?"

Lin Yi, who was eating peanut candy with Yan Yan, called him "brother-in-law". Ever since Fang Mingche helped him deal with his two brothers-in-law, he has been more convinced of this brother-in-law. This man is really good at both literature and martial arts, better than him in everything!

Lin Yan said, "Han Mei, come and get the eggs. She's not back yet after going to the hospital with Xiao Xie to sell eggs. How about you two go over and order some food first, and we'll wait for her. She should be back soon!"

"Oh, okay!" Fang Mingche took Yanyan's hand and walked towards Cui's restaurant.

Cui's restaurant has been open for nine months and business is very good. Almost since the father and daughter came here to rent a house, Cui's restaurant has been opened secretly.

Fang Mingche estimated that they should have made at least 4,000 yuan. Not to mention that Sister Cui also brought things to the black market for people around her, and took a bite of the price difference. So it is estimated that they made 5,000 yuan.

Fang Mingche was thinking about taking the 5,000 yuan from Boss Cui. It was just a loan with high interest! The travel agency was really, really short of money.

Fang Mingche put out 3000 yuan as equity. He also had yuan on hand, which was considered a reserve fund.

He had 8 at the end of August, and from September to November he earned more than 3000 from the scrap business and vegetable business.

The three of them were too lazy to count and spent as much as they could on food and clothing. I guess they spent two or three hundred yuan!
Now the phone doesn't cost much, and I get an operator, but I can't save money on car rental.

A good commercial vehicle costs more than 40,000 yuan. Taking into account wear and tear, the rental fee is at least 10,000 yuan a year. This money is estimated to be paid in one lump sum for several months.

As for the drivers, Wang Dexian said that he would recommend two retired car soldiers. They are guaranteed to have good skills and will obey orders!
The placement of retired soldiers is also a problem nowadays as there are not so many jobs in enterprises and institutions.

After ordering four dishes and a soup, Fang Mingche saw that Boss Cui, who had a few apprentices helping him with the work, was not too busy, so he waved and called him over.

Boss Cui took the Zhonghua cigarette he handed over and said, "Oh, you're smoking this. What's the matter?"

"How much is the annual interest for Mr. Cui's money deposited in the bank?"

"Four points? It's not like you don't have money deposited in the bank." Boss Cui brought the cigarette closer and lit it on the match that Fang Mingche had struck.

He blew out a smoke ring and said, "I heard that you are going to make a big move again and hired Lingzi from the entrance of the alley. Why, do you want to borrow money from me?"

The capital required to run a catering business is not too much. In particular, he does not need a storefront, he does it at home. The main costs are food costs and labor costs. The main labor is still the couple and a few apprentices. Therefore, nearly 70% of the money collected every day is net income.

Fang Mingche said, "Well, I plan to open a travel agency targeting foreign tourists, providing them with a full range of services including food, accommodation and transportation. You know I am an English major, and I have had a lot of dealings with foreign tourists when I set up a tea stall before. Do you think this business is feasible?"

Boss Cui said, "I'm still not confident enough to run this restaurant right now. Aren't you afraid that something bad might happen if you do something too aggressive?"

It's OK that the scrapyard is far away. If you run this travel agency again, you will have more people to hire.

"This is about earning foreign exchange for the country, so it can be handled on a special basis."

Boss Cui thought about it. It was well known that banks were short of foreign exchange and preferred people with overseas connections. Not to mention, if you could earn foreign exchange, you would most likely be given a break.

He had no other investment channels, and it was not cost-effective to just put the money in the bank. If he could get a high interest rate, then it would be fine. Moreover, he really thought that Fang Mingche's business could make money.

Seeing that he was interested, Fang Mingche struck while the iron was hot and said, "I'll give you twice the bank interest and lend me 5,000."

"No." Boss Cui shook his head decisively. But he said no, not that he would not lend it to me.

High-interest loans have been around for a long time, but double the interest is a little less.

"four thousand?"

Boss Cui made a 'three' gesture and said, "That's all, and I want three times the interest."

"Two and a half times."

Boss Cui said, "If you bring foreign tourists to my restaurant, you can earn twice as much. You have been eating my dishes for more than half a year. They are delicious and hygienic. I also want to earn some foreign exchange for the country and make a contribution."

This might really be a talisman!
Fang Mingche looked at the small courtyard and said, "You clean it up and put up the name of Cui's Private Restaurant. But if people specifically want to eat roast duck or other century-old restaurants, I can't do anything about it. Anyway, if they don't specify, I will take them to your place."

"I heard that you doubled the price of the products in the handicraft cooperative. Can I do the same?"

Fang Mingche smiled, "I have no objection. However, we should know when to stop and say one and a half times." Opening a restaurant is different from selling handicrafts.

They say they earn foreign exchange, but in fact, foreign exchange usually does not reach them. Foreign tourists come and directly exchange foreign currency for RMB at the Bank of China. But generally speaking, they do bring in foreign exchange.

The two of them discussed and Mr. Cui agreed to lend 12 yuan to the travel agency starting from December 1st, with an annual interest rate of 3000%. However, the interest had to be paid monthly, which was 10 yuan a month!
This way, the travel agency would have 8000 in its account, and Fang Mingche felt a little more at ease. At that time, Lin Yan would be in charge of the money and Teacher Gao would be in charge of the accounts.

He wanted to ask the Wang family for more capital, but he would have to pay more accordingly. Moreover, the Wang family should only pay a small amount for such an investment, and it would be impossible for them to pay more.

Mr. Wang wouldn't have a lot of spare money. Wang Dexian said that his courtyard house has not been paid off yet. The 2000 yuan was probably taken from the back pay of the past ten years.

Han Mei was a little excited while eating dinner. She just saw Xiao Xie sell more than 20 eggs. That was a net income of more than 20 cents in just one hour.

She has to be proactive and greet potential customers with a smile on her face. For the money, she can do it.

If they could earn more than one yuan a day, it would be no less than Lin Yi's salary. That way, they could finally save some money.

Lin Yi looked at her and said nothing. His sister just told him that Xiao Xie also had to take care of her sick mother-in-law and cook, and could earn 40 yuan a month. Han Mei didn't have to take care of the patient or cook, so earning 60 yuan a month shouldn't be a problem.

The Yue family wants 10 yuan a month, and they will definitely ask for more in the future. He can't let Han Mei be fooled by her parents and give all the money to her parents. Let Han Mei pay the 10 yuan for food herself.

Then they opened a savings account and deposited money into it monthly. Otherwise, if they needed money in the future, would they have to ask their parents for money?
They are not even willing to pay for the bride price, and they want living expenses. It is obviously impossible to give. We still have to raise children in the future!
I never thought that selling eggs in front of the hospital could make so much money. Fortunately, the supply was controlled by her sister, so Han Mei had to be careful.

Lin Yi said: "Sister, brother-in-law, you guys are really living a carefree life. I've never heard of anyone not cooking at home and eating out for three meals a day."

Well, it’s better to have money, you can spend it however you want. Would you dare to go to a restaurant without money?

Fang Mingche said, "If the labor cost of cooking is higher than eating out, then eating out is more cost-effective. Nowadays, no one is allowed to hire a nanny. This is the style of the bourgeoisie and landlords. But your sister and I are busy with school, business, and taking care of Yanyan. After weighing it, it is more cost-effective to eat out. So we just use this place as a canteen."

Nowadays, only high-ranking officials have staff at home, but they are not called nannies. They have a regular job!
Ordinary people will be criticized if they hire a nanny nowadays. So, if you can spend money to eat out, then spend money to eat out.

The food here is homely and not too oily or saucey. Even a pregnant woman like Yan can eat it. Lao Cui is very careful about the amount of food he cooks for his family.

The food court culture in Singapore has not even started yet. Otherwise, I could give them an example.

Han Mei said, "Sister Xie just earned more than 20 cents in an hour. What she earned was not as much as what she spent on eating out. So she hurried back to make dinner. There are also housewives who don't have jobs. If they don't work, their time is not valuable. For college students like my sister who also runs her own business, her time is indeed more valuable."

She also wanted to live like this!
After dinner, Lin Yi and Han Mei did not see them pay the bill.

Lin Yan said: "We will just record it and pay it at the end of the month."

"Oh." After returning, Han Mei said, "Sister, Sister Xie told me that it would be much easier to just sell eggs. I'll start with selling eggs."

To sell eggs, one only needs to go to the hospital entrance and count the eggs. To sell vegetables guerrilla warfare is also heavy, the unit price is not uniform, and it is much more troublesome. She started with the simple things.

"Okay, then you can just use your bicycle to carry it."

Han Mei said, "I want to buy 100 on credit, a basket." Isn't there a yuan credit limit? Then take all the yuan!

"Okay, count them yourselves."

Yanyan took the initiative to help and pulled out a basket for them, which was filled with straw.

"Thank you Yanyan!"

"You're welcome, aunt."

After the couple left, Lin Yan put her feet on the stool and said, "Yanyan, come here and massage your mother's feet."

"coming."

Lin Yan had taught Yan Yan that being pregnant was very painful, very painful. Now it was time for her to give back.

Outside the yard, Han Mei jumped into the back seat of the car and said, "Slow down! Don't break the eggs."

"Isn't there a lot of straw?"

"If it collides with someone, it will still break. This is on credit!"

Lin Yi said: "Meizi, let's open a passbook to save the money we made. Otherwise, it won't do to have no surplus at all. If we need money, we have to tell each other."

Han Mei asked, "What do you mean?"

"We have to have our own money. Having money from our parents is not as good as having it from ourselves. If we had money, we wouldn't have so many twists and turns in getting married. My parents have also raised me, and my job was taken over by my mom. I haven't even mentioned giving them money on a monthly basis. The living expenses we pay for them go into our pockets. From now on, we are a family, and we have to think more about our own small family. Maybe soon, our small family will welcome a new member."

Han Mei was silent for a while, then nodded, "Yeah."

Money is indeed best kept in one's own hands. From childhood to adulthood, it was not easy for her to ask her family for a few cents to buy stationery. Every time she signed up, she would be scolded for spending money on studying.

The results of the university midterm exam came out in just two days. Fang Mingche had improved from the bottom of the class to more than ten places. He was quite satisfied with this result.

After class that day, he asked Xu Mengfei to help him take the books back, and then went to find the three relatively familiar international students.

The three international students agreed to gather at the statue of Chairman Mao in Tiananmen Square on Sunday. They would also call three more people they knew. What were they going to do? They were going to work and study to shoot commercials. Anyway, they were just going to do it for show and then they would be paid. Why not?
Although my family gave me money for studying abroad, it would be nice if I could earn some money on my own.

Fang Mingche also agreed to call a black taxi and a military jeep to pick them up at the school gate and send them back after the business was done.

After finishing this task, he went to the boiler room.

"Teacher Qiu, your sick leave note."

Although Mr. Qiu is now 50 years old and can retire early, he still has a bad reputation. If he retires now, he will definitely not be able to enjoy early retirement benefits. That means he will not have any money at all.

Moreover, after the policy is implemented, it is hard to say how the early retirees will be arranged. Therefore, it is best to leave the school in the name of sick leave.

When the grand memorial service is held next year, the reputation and due treatment of those implicated will be gradually restored. He will then file for early retirement.

Teacher Qiu, who was adding charcoal to the boiler, took it and asked, "How did you get it? It was prescribed by the doctor at Union Medical College."

"A favor. I asked someone for help, and they asked someone else for help."

It was Grandpa Gu who helped. He was an old man from the city, so he must know some people.

"Okay, with this, I can go to the department head and ask for a long vacation. He hasn't made things difficult for me over the years, and has always tried his best to protect me within his ability. He shouldn't make things difficult for me now!"

If he took a long vacation, he would definitely not get his basic salary. He had been working the boiler here for many years and had always been paid the basic salary, which was only enough to make ends meet.

But Xiao Fang was certain that the result would be known in the first half of next year, so he would wait patiently. He had waited for so many years anyway. He would wait for the time when he could get early retirement benefits. He would go out with Xiao Fang to earn some extra money in the next few months.

In the past few years, the family was really penniless. They sold everything they could. He hadn't eaten meat for several months! Even if he had some money, he had to take care of the old and the young at home. In the past few years, they really suffered with him.

I didn't expect that being able to speak English would be so popular. Back then, being able to speak Russian was popular.

Fang Mingche came back from school on Saturday and went to Tiananmen Square. He made an appointment with the photographer to hire him for half a day tomorrow.

The photographer was the one who had asked for the right to use the photo of his family of three. Now the photo of his family of three is still used as a model here.

Taking photos doesn't require a presence, so this guy has been here all the time. He hangs a camera around his neck and solicits business. He takes photos for people and mails them to the addresses he wrote down.

The photographer's surname was He. He also took Fang Mingche's cigarette, took two puffs and said, "Are they all foreigners?"

"Yes, they are international students from our school. But you can't print too many photos. These people all have their backgrounds. If I want to hold you accountable later, I can't stop you."

"I can take dozens of pictures in the morning."

Fang Mingche said, "Do you think I don't know your price? I've counted it. Okay, I'll take a new roll of film and give you fifty dollars, and you don't have to mail the photos. You just follow me for a while and develop the photos for me in time. Take good photos, so that I can show them to my international friends. If the photos are good, I will use you again in the future when I need them."

Master He nodded, "Okay!"

When this guy surnamed Fang was setting up a stall in the square, he was famous for his quick thinking. Later, he was admitted to a prestigious university like Beijing Normal University. I guess he is going to make some big moves again. If he can really get an extra long-term customer, that would be great.

Fang Mingche not only hired Master He for half a day, he also hired Lao He's car in the alley for half a day. The cost of hiring the car was several percent higher than Lao He's income for half a day.

"Okay, just assume that you will hire my car and my people."

Fang Mingche meant that he would ask Lao He to pick up the three foreign students and Teacher Qiu at the gate of Beijing Normal University early tomorrow morning. After that, everyone would meet at Tiananmen Square and go to the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, the Great Wall and other places to take pictures.

Teacher Gao came over to keep accounts, "You spend money like water. This is still in the preparation stage, and 150 yuan is gone in half a day."

The photo shoot cost 50 yuan, the car rental cost 16 yuan, and the salary of the six international students cost 84 yuan. The gas cost is not included! Without these three international students, we could not afford to hire them. They are well-known figures in their own countries.

"These are investments that cannot be saved. If you start renting a car in December, that's when you'll spend money like water."

Even if the car is not used every day, more than 20 yuan is gone. But it is better than having to squeeze out more than 40,000 yuan to buy a car.

Wang Dexian said that the bus was 95% new. It was a must for foreign tourists to ride in. And the bus had no air conditioning, so they would have to find another way in the summer.

Lin Yan also felt that the money was being spent too quickly. She handed the note to Fang Mingche and said, "You're right, renting a car is the most expensive. What if it doesn't go as expected..."

The money from renting the car can eat up half of all the profits from the scrap business and the vegetable business.

"This is a necessary investment. We can't afford to attract foreign tourists and not have a good car."

(End of this chapter)