Rebirth: The Tumultuous Year of 1979

After finishing their meal, Zhong Wei and Wang Er left first.

Zhao Qingqing, Chu Yuan, and Hu Yitong stayed behind to continue repairing the radio.

On the way, Wang Er couldn't resist his curiosity and came closer.

"Third Brother, do you have feelings for Zhao Qingqing?"

Zhong Wei's lips curled into a sly smile.

"you guess."

"this……"

Wang Er scratched the back of his head, looking completely bewildered.

Meanwhile, in the family dormitory building.

Zhong Jianguo, a deputy third-rank official in charge of planning at the department, returned home after a week-long business trip.

He put down his luggage and walked to the bookshelf.

Suddenly, his gaze sharpened.

Next to "How the Steel Was Tempered" was a stack of letters with writing on them.

"This is……"

Zhong Jianguo frowned. He remembered that before he left on his business trip, the place was spotless and there were none of these things there.

"snort."

He snorted coldly, reached out and grabbed the letter, about to throw it into the trash can.

But just as he raised his hand, a glance at the paper caught his eye, and he abruptly stopped in his tracks.

It said on it—

The first railway speed increase plan

He casually flipped it open.

He recognized the handwriting all too well—it was his own son, Zhong Wei.

"A railway speed-up plan?" Zhong Jianguo scoffed. "That's just childish wishful thinking. Do you really think speed-up is just empty slogans?"

He sat on the sofa with a hint of disdain, casually flipping through the letter.

But after reading only a few lines, the casual look on Zhong Jianguo's face vanished instantly.

"hiss--!"

He gasped sharply, his pupils contracted abruptly, and he froze.

"This is……"

The content on the paper was just random scribbles and doodles.

The opening quotes, data, and current situation analysis are all based on solid material and are precise in every word.

Zhong Jianguo held his breath and continued reading.

"hiss--!!"

With each page he read, his shock grew.

The letter contained not only detailed data and existing bottlenecks, but also economic logic, future scale, and implementation path.

The breadth of vision and the depth of foresight are astonishing.

Zhong Jianguo is certain that even if all the experts and leaders were gathered together and discussed behind closed doors for months, they might not be able to write such a complete, clear, and feasible plan.

"Gulp..."

His Adam's apple bobbed violently as he swallowed hard.

Holding the letter in my hands, it felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, and I couldn't help but tremble slightly.

"In the future... will China's railways really reach this level?"

Speeds of hundreds of kilometers per hour, or even hundreds of kilometers per hour?

It should be noted that even the fastest trains in China today only travel at speeds of a few dozen kilometers per hour, resulting in weak transport capacity and low efficiency.

If he hadn't seen the plan with his own eyes, even if Chung Chien-kuo were beaten to death, he wouldn't have believed such a possibility.

The paper is reliable, with detailed data, sufficient case studies, and clear steps.

If it weren't for the fact that it was confirmed to be his son Zhong Wei's handwriting, Zhong Jianguo would almost have thought that it was a top international expert who had secluded himself for months to write a top-secret plan.

He stared blankly at the letter, his mind churning, unable to calm down for a long time.

This child...

How exactly did you write all this?

Is this still his own son?

Zhong Jianguo was completely stunned. The letter in his hand felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, and the trembling in his fingertips had not yet subsided.

"The first speed-up plan..." he murmured, the contents of the letter echoing in his mind. The detailed plans and forward-looking predictions filled him with an unprecedented expectation for the future of China's railways—a magnificent vision that was hard to imagine.

Is this just the first time?

"So, there's going to be a second time, a third time..." Zhong Jianguo suddenly came to his senses, his eyes flashing with disbelief, his tone full of astonishment.

But the next second, he shook his head, his tone tinged with a self-comforting hesitation: "This kid must have copied it from somewhere. How could he possibly write something like this?"

When he gets back, I'll definitely ask him what happened!

Zhong Jianguo narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze filled with a hint of inquiry and scrutiny, his fingertips unconsciously tracing the edge of the letter.

"Snap—!"

The crisp sound of the door opening suddenly broke the silence inside the house.

Zhong Jianguo suddenly turned his head, his gaze instantly locking onto the door—Zhong Wei was walking in from outside. Sunlight streamed through the crack in the door onto him, as if gilding him with a radiant halo. The youthful naiveté between his brows had faded, replaced by an indescribable air of composure.

At that moment, Zhong Jianguo suddenly felt that his son was completely different from the naive boy he remembered.

As Zhong Jianguo watched Zhong Wei walk in, a feeling of déjà vu washed over him. It was as if in the blink of an eye, his son had completely grown up and was no longer the child he needed to worry about in every way. His eyes were filled with barely concealed excitement, and even his breathing became slightly rapid.

"dad!"

Zhong Wei spotted Zhong Jianguo sitting on the sofa at a glance, quickly walked over, and called out softly. His gaze swept over Zhong Jianguo, and when he saw the familiar stack of letters in Zhong Jianguo's hand, his heart skipped a beat, but his face remained calm—he had been prepared for all of this.

"call!"

Zhong Jianguo took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart, pointed to the sofa next to him, and said in a calm tone, "Sit down."

Zhong Wei sat down as instructed, his posture upright and his expression calm, without the slightest hint of unease.

"Did you write this?" Zhong Jianguo raised the letter in his hand, his gaze fixed on Zhong Wei, his face still showing a hint of disbelief, and his voice slowly rose, with a slight, imperceptible tremor.

"Yes."

Zhong Wei responded without hesitation, his tone crisp and clear, without the slightest hesitation, as if he were answering something perfectly ordinary.

"Forehead!"

Zhong Jianguo was taken aback, clearly not expecting Zhong Wei to answer so decisively. For a moment, he was a little unaccustomed to it—in the past, this child would either stammer or avoid the important points, and had never been so confident.

"Ahem!"

He coughed twice, quickly suppressing his surprise, and then asked, "Why do you think that our country's railway industry has developed so rapidly?"

"Because of population."

Zhong Wei blurted it out, his tone firm and without the slightest hesitation.

"Population..." Upon hearing this, Zhong Jianguo's eyes suddenly lit up, and his gaze towards Zhong Wei was filled with immense pride—this answer had accurately hit the nail on the head, and was even faster than Zhong Jianguo's, who had been involved in planning work for many years.

Zhong Wei met his gaze and continued slowly, "According to the recently concluded census, my country's population has reached over 987 million. If we include the population in some remote mountainous areas that has not yet been counted, it has probably already exceeded one billion. This is an extremely large population base, which corresponds to a huge demand for travel and transportation."

"Railways are the most convenient, have the largest carrying capacity, and require the fewest conditions of all modes of transportation. For the next few decades, or even the next hundred years, they will remain my country's most important and irreplaceable transportation hub."

"Given that the current transportation landscape cannot be fundamentally changed, what we can do is continuously expand the railway network, increase railway operating speeds, and meet the ever-growing transportation demands."

"Moreover, with the development of the times, my country's economy will take off rapidly in the future, and railway transportation will become a powerful booster for economic development. The two complement each other and are indispensable..."

"What?!"

Upon hearing this, Zhong Jianguo could no longer contain himself. He gasped sharply, looking at Zhong Wei in shock, his voice filled with disbelief: "You actually have such high hopes for the development of railways?"

"Yes." Zhong Wei nodded slightly, his expression calm but with an undeniable firmness. "Railway development is unstoppable; it's an inevitable trend and an absolutely correct path."

"The old man is getting old," Zhong Wei said calmly, his tone devoid of any disrespect, only displaying a composure born of a profound understanding of the world.

"Arrogant!"

Upon hearing this, Zhong Jianguo flew into a rage, veins bulging on his face. He slammed his hand on the table with a loud "crack," making the teacups on the table shake slightly. His eyes were wide with anger, and he exuded the unique majesty of a deputy third-rank official. His imposing presence, even without anger, was enough to make ordinary people tremble with fear.

To Zhong Jianguo's surprise, Zhong Wei remained calm and composed, sitting on the sofa with his back straight. He seemed completely unaware of the powerful aura emanating from him, as steady as a mountain and completely at ease.

Seeing that he couldn't intimidate him, Zhong Jianguo's anger subsided slightly. He shook his head and softened his tone: "No matter how old the old man is, he is still the patriarch of the Zhong family, the root of the Zhong family. You have no right to make unwarranted comments about him."

"I'm not making unfounded comments," Zhong Wei met his gaze, his tone calm yet resolute. "The tide of the times is rolling forward, and no one can stop it. Developing railways is the will of the entire nation, and time will prove everything. Those who try to obstruct the progress of the times will ultimately be spurned by the people."

"you……"

He paused, then added, each word hitting the nail on the head: "Moreover, the one who makes the decisions in the Zhong family has never been us, but my eldest uncle."

Upon hearing this, Zhong Jianguo's eyes lit up, but he quickly composed himself and fell into deep thought.

After a moment, a resolute glint flashed in Zhong Jianguo's eyes, and he slowly spoke, his tone firm: "Fine!"

Although his face remained expressionless, the light in his eyes betrayed his excitement and certainty.

"call!"

Seeing Zhong Jianguo's expression, Zhong Wei secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Now, let's see how things develop.

Earning 100,000 a month? An astronomical figure in 1979.

"A monthly income of 100,000?"

Wang Er stared at the account book handed to him by Lu Guoqiang, his eyes wide like copper bells—in 1979, the average monthly salary of formal employees was only thirty yuan, and 100,000 yuan was more than three hundred times that!

"My God!" His voice trembled. "Making money this much?"

"Now all the goods in Yanjing come from us, and people from neighboring cities are also getting their goods from us." Lu Guoqiang's face flushed with excitement. "Third Brother, we've monopolized the supply of goods in Yanjing!"

Zhong Wei smiled slightly and tapped the ledger with his fingertips: "Remember, you must secure your supply channels tightly—from now on, these distributors will all be our own people."

"Understood, Brother!" Lu Guoqiang nodded vigorously.

Courtyard houses and rosewood chairs: undervalued assets

"Brother, I've bought that courtyard house. Here's the contract." Lu Guoqiang pulled out a crumpled contract.

"Bought it?" Zhong Wei took a look and his pupils contracted slightly—this old courtyard house in a prime location was only a few hundred yuan! In his previous life, a courtyard house of the same size and location would have fetched at least hundreds of millions at auction.

"The homeowner went abroad, so I bought it in your name," Lu Guoqiang said with a smile.

Zhong Wei frowned and pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "In the future, if there are any courtyard houses for sale in this area and the price is right, we will buy them." He had originally planned to hoard houses, and now that things were going more smoothly than he had imagined, he wanted to take advantage of the low prices to buy them at rock-bottom prices—buying a courtyard house for a few hundred dollars could be worth hundreds of thousands of times more in the future, enough to buy an entire street.

"Brother, why buy so many?" Wang Er rolled his eyes. "Who still lives in a courtyard house these days? If we need apartments, we have housing quotas!"

"You don't understand!" Zhong Wei shook his head. In the 1980s, countless people sold their courtyard houses to buy apartments, only to find that while the apartments were worth millions, the courtyard houses were worth hundreds of millions—this wasn't a joke, but a reality that repeatedly played out in Beijing. Now, you can buy dozens of courtyard houses for a few hundred yuan, which could be worth tens of billions in a few decades.

"The money will be taken from your monthly dividends." Zhong Wei looked at Lu Guoqiang. "In addition, if you have any spare money, buy a few sets as well—follow me, and it won't be difficult to have a net worth of nearly a billion in thirty years."

Xiao Hu cleverly thanked him, "Thank you for your guidance, Third Brother!" Wang Er, however, was nonchalant, "What would I do with a house?" Lu Guoqiang immediately made the decision, "Third Brother, I'll buy a few too!" Zhang Qiang also nodded in agreement.

Zhong Wei was about to enter the house when his gaze suddenly fell on the chair in the corner—this chair wasn't there the last time he came.

"Third Brother, this is what I bought a few days ago. It looks sturdy and heavy. I bought it for two yuan," Lu Guoqiang said with a smile, scratching his head.

"Two yuan?" Zhong Wei almost spat out his drink—this was top-grade Hainan Huanghuali! In his previous life, Hainan Huanghuali furniture was worth millions, and now it was being sold as junk. A sudden thought flashed through his mind: countless antiques from the same period in his previous life were treated as scrap—what a waste!

"Guoqiang, find someone who specializes in collecting antique furniture, porcelain, calligraphy and paintings, and bronze and ironware!" Zhong Wei suppressed his elation. "After buying them, find a large courtyard house to store them—these will all become antiques in the future!"

Zhong Wei entered the room and sat down, his gaze sweeping over the empty pile of radios—Lu Guoqiang explained, "We've almost finished collecting the broken radios from Yanjing, and Zhang Guoqing's new electronic products also include radios."

"Hmm." Zhong Wei nodded, then asked about Zhao Qingqing. Lu Guoqiang glanced at him nervously, but Zhong Wei waved his hand, "We'll talk about it later."

"Wang Er," Zhong Wei called out to him, "I'll take you and Xiao Hu to do something."

Wang Er immediately stood up straight: "Third Brother, what are your orders?" Xiao Hu's face turned red with excitement—he never expected Zhong Wei to call his name personally.

Zhong Wei pulled out a few sheets of paper: "This is the model I designed for a grocery store."

Wang Er took a look and was stunned: "KFC? Why does this name sound like a foreign name?" Xiao Hu was also confused.

Zhong Wei's lips curled up—in his previous life, KFC only entered China in 1987, but now he was "pirated" ten years earlier, even replicating the business model. The profits from this fast food were astonishing; franchise fees in county towns later reached millions, and in urban areas, they were in the millions. In the future market worth hundreds of billions, he planned to rely on the model of "buying store properties" to tie fast food to real estate and secure a firm foothold.

"Will this work?" Wang Er pointed at the renovation plans. "Why make it so beautiful? Where else in Yanjing is it decorated like this?"

"Xiao Hu, you work with Wang Er." Zhong Wei looked at Xiao Hu, and Lu Guoqiang immediately encouraged him, "If Third Brother tells you to do something, just go for it!"

Xiao Hu trembled with excitement, his eyes filled with admiration—Lu Guoqiang was now the undisputed leader in Yanjing, all thanks to his third brother; now that his third brother had singled him out, even if he only achieved one-tenth of Lu Guoqiang's success in the future, it would be enough to make him ecstatic.

"Guoqiang, give Wang Er 20,000 yuan," Zhong Wei decided. "I want to see the shop open within two months."

"Twenty thousand?"

Wang Er shuddered, dumbfounded—20,000 yuan in 1979 could build a small house!

Opening a shop for 20,000? Has Third Brother gone mad?