Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 199 Temporary Cooperative

Chen Fan picked up his teacup, blew on it to cool it, and carefully took a sip. The four women then expertly pulled up chairs and sat down in front of him.

Setting down his teacup, Chen Fan glanced at them and said seriously, "You all heard today's broadcast announcement, right?"

Seeing that everyone nodded, Chen Fan continued, "There's a market day the day after tomorrow. Do you have any ideas?"

The four looked at each other, and Huang Ying spoke first, "I'll listen to Teacher Chen."

Yang Ju and Liu Dan echoed, "We'll listen to Teacher Chen too."

Jiang Lili's eyes darted around, and finally she said weakly, "I'll listen to Teacher Chen too."

Chen Fan glanced at her and couldn't help but twitch his lips slightly. This girl was really wary of outsiders. It had been almost half a month, but she was still completely impeccable in front of the three of them.

That's good, though. If you don't have a brain, you might get sold out without even realizing it.

Turning his gaze away, Chen Fan coughed and said, "Is that so? This market mainly sells agricultural products, such as grains, beans, chickens, ducks, fish, eggs, livestock, bamboo products, and wooden tables and chairs. Our educated youth settlement only has five of us, so we don't have anything good to offer."

Hearing this, Huang Ying, Yang Ju, and Liu Dan all stared at Chen Fan expectantly. If it weren't for the fact that Teacher Chen hadn't finished speaking yet, they would have asked, "Isn't the unique pottery of Lujiawan considered good stuff?"

Besides, look at the dozen or so bags of grain, dozen or so slices of cured meat, and dozen or so cured fish piled up just three meters away from you... aren't all those things considered good stuff?
Jiang Lili had already lowered her head, pursing her lips and trying hard to suppress a laugh.

Based on her understanding of Chen Fan, she guessed that what he was going to sell this time was pottery.

Chen Fan glanced at the four people and said without changing his expression, "After thinking about it, the only thing I can barely offer is a piece of pottery. So, if you don't have any other plans, my idea is that we might as well temporarily form a 'production cooperative,' fire a batch of pottery, and sell it. Then we can split the profits equally among the people."

As soon as he finished speaking, Huang Ying said, "Teacher Chen, I have no objection to joining the production cooperative to make pottery, but I disagree with dividing the profits equally per person. None of us know how to make pottery, only you do. How can we get the same amount as you?"

Yang Ju immediately nodded, "Yes, yes, you are a skilled worker, and we can only be considered as helpers at most. The work point calculation method in the team is different."

Liu Dan quickly agreed, "Just like my uncle, he earned more than 5000 work points a year managing livestock, which is higher than that of cadres. Skilled workers are definitely different."

Jiang Lili pursed her lips, blinked, and nodded, "Yes."

Last time she went to sell turtles with Chen Fan, she didn't take a single penny, but that was because she insisted on not taking any money.

However, Chen Fan shared everything he bought with her. They ate eggs and sugar together, and since they raised the chicks together, she benefited from it.

If you offered her money, she definitely wouldn't accept it.

Same now.

Faced with the women's collective opposition, Chen Fan nodded secretly in satisfaction. Perfect, he hadn't planned to divide it by headcount anyway, otherwise he would have been taken advantage of.

That was just a polite remark.

But not separating them at all is not acceptable.

Then he came up with his second plan: "Since you all disagree, then this is how it is: I'll take 60%, and you can each take 10%."

Before they could object, Chen Fan raised his hand and continued, "If it goes any lower, then we shouldn't have a 'temporary cooperative,' otherwise wouldn't I become a capitalist, exploiting your labor? You're trying to put me in an unjust position. If that's the case, I might as well do it myself. At worst, I can burn less, which is better than taking a risk."

During this period, they helped make pottery blanks, so they were considered "apprentices." It was already a favor that they weren't charged tuition, so naturally, they weren't paid wages. But now it's different. Chen Fan plans to fire several more kilns and take them to the market to sell. Not only will the quantity be larger, but he also needs to make money. Selling for money is different from exchanging goods, so it would indeed be unreasonable not to give them "work points."

Hearing his words, Huang Ying and the others exchanged glances before nodding hesitantly, "Alright."

Chen Fan clapped his hands, then grinned and said, "Alright, let's begin the first meeting of our 'Temporary Production Cooperative of Educated Youth Point.' The topic of the meeting is preparing for the market three days from now."

Huang Ying immediately clapped her hands, her eyes shining. "Teacher Chen is so amazing. He speaks like a leader. I just can't think of anything like it."

Yang Ju nodded in deep agreement, "My dad wouldn't say that either."

Liu Dan thought for a moment, then managed to say, "My uncle is too."

Jiang Lili looked up at them, then at Chen Fan. What should I say?
Chen Fan's eye twitched slightly; they were really exaggerating!
He immediately coughed and waved his hand, saying, "Let's not talk about that. Let's get down to business."

The three women quickly sat up straight, and Jiang Lili glanced over before immediately following suit. Chen Fan couldn't help but sigh, feeling truly exhausted.

If it were just me and Xiao Jiang, we wouldn't have so many fancy tricks up our sleeves.

Chen Fan picked up his teacup and took a sip, then continued, "Pottery making is our unique skill, but the commune's supply and marketing cooperative also has ceramics, and their quality is even better. In addition, there is a pottery family in Shengli Brigade who knows how to make pottery. Speaking of which, I learned pottery from them in the first place."

Therefore, when going to the market, we need to seriously consider how to enhance the competitiveness of our products and attract more customers to buy our pottery.

He looked at the group and asked with a smile, "Do you have any good suggestions?"

The four women looked at each other, then at Chen Fan, and shook their heads together.

Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly. "Alright, I'll just get straight to the point."

He then said seriously, "Since none of you have it, then listen to me."

He then took out his pen and notebook and handed them to Jiang Lili, saying, "Xiao Jiang, you're in charge of taking notes."

"oh oh."

Jiang Lili immediately took it and sat down on the other side of the table.

Judging from her practiced manner, it was clear that this wasn't her first time doing this job.

Once she was ready, Chen Fan continued, "First, let's talk about the types of pottery. I plan to fire one kiln of charcoal stoves, tentatively 30 sets, and another kiln of tableware, including bowls, plates, cups, dishes, pots, basins, and bottles, 36 pieces per set, and I plan to fire 30 sets of that. As for loose bowls and plates, I won't mention the quantity; we'll make as many as we can in these three days."

After he finished speaking, he looked at Jiang Lili and asked, "Did you write it down?"

Jiang Lili nodded quickly, "I've written it down."

Huang Ying, standing nearby, asked curiously, "Teacher Chen, will this improve your competitiveness in that area?"

"Of course not."

Chen Fan smiled confidently and said, "If that's all there is to it, then our products don't have much of an advantage compared to others. Even if the set tableware has some selling points, it's not enough to make everyone eager to spend money."

Yang Ju, a good straight man, said, "So what should we do then?"

Chen Fan reached out and took his enamel mug in his hand, looking at her and asking, "What's on this?"

Yang Ju hesitated for a moment, "It has a red star and the words 'Serve the People'."

Chen Fan put down his teacup and pointed to the washbasin stand he had made himself next to the door, "What's in that basin?"

Yang Ju had been bringing him water a lot these past few days, so of course she knew what was in it: "a peony flower."

It wasn't that Chen Fan liked peonies; this pot was a return gift from the brigade headquarters, and it was the only one available, so he had to use it even if he didn't want to.

At this point, Jiang Lili realized what was happening. "You mean, to draw flowers and write words on pottery?"

The other three girls suddenly realized that this was a good idea.

Chen Fan nodded in satisfaction. "Indeed."

Then Huang Ying asked curiously, "Teacher Chen, what words should we write? Should we draw peonies and write 'Serve the People'?"

Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly. "Who writes that on their rice bowl? If that were the case, the supply and marketing cooperative would have plenty of enamel basins and bowls. Why would they need to buy our pottery?"

Yang Ju asked, "Then what should we write?"

Chen Fan smiled slightly, "Of course I'll write auspicious words!"

(End of this chapter)