Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 349 Tea Party

Upon hearing the word "safety," Chen Fan was speechless.

Judging from his expression just now, it looked like he was about to go bankrupt. I didn't expect it to be such a small matter. What a waste of his expression.

However, sales are indeed very important. These sideline products are not part of the planned materials or on the purchase order, so the supply and marketing cooperative and the food station will not buy them. The production team has to find its own way to handle them.

This is also the norm for sideline businesses in rural areas. Just like those who get a letter of introduction from the production team, hatch chicks themselves, and then sell them at the market, it can be considered a kind of "market economy" activity.

However, selling things is allowed, but the prices must comply with the State Planning Commission's pricing; otherwise, it would be considered market disruption, and even if it's a collective activity, people would be held responsible, and even Secretary Yang and his group would have to take the blame.

So the production team had to sell the goods, but they couldn't sell them indiscriminately, which presented them with a major problem.

This is why, among so many production teams across the country, very few engaged in sideline businesses. Even those teams that did mainly sold their skills or focused on agriculture.

Ultimately, it's because business is tough!

Chen Fan sighed inwardly and was about to speak when Ye Shubao asked Master Ma, "Master Ma, does your construction company need to buy chickens, ducks, and geese?"

Master Ma immediately realized that they had their eyes on the construction company, so he smiled and said, "Go ahead and buy it. Our company has its own canteen. Construction workers do heavy physical labor, and their daily consumption is not a small amount. They can eat dozens of kilograms of meat and more than a dozen chickens."

There's also a large residential area for family members. Although not every household eats meat every day, even if only a small number of people buy meat each day, it still consumes a considerable amount of chicken and duck.

He paused for a moment, then said with some regret, "But I'm not very familiar with the logistics director, and your place is quite far from the county town. We can't just deliver goods to the county town every day for a few chickens."

Upon hearing this, Ye Shubao couldn't help but feel a hint of disappointment in his eyes.

Regardless of whether Master Ma was making excuses or not, there was some truth to what he said.

The more than 13000 ducks and 6000 geese in Lujiawan have reached the point where they must be sold, otherwise it would be a waste of feed.

Even if a construction company needs 50 a day, it's still a drop in the bucket.

At this moment, Chen Fan smiled and said, "Master Ma is a veteran in the construction company. He has trained countless apprentices. Not to mention a logistics director, even the company's secretary and general manager would give Master Ma some face!"

Upon hearing this, Master Ma was overjoyed and quickly waved his hand, saying, "You flatter me, you flatter me."

Chen Fan continued, "I'm telling the truth. You're a senior engineer, so what's there to be ashamed of? Besides, we're not going through any back channels or doing anything underhanded. Captain Ye just wants you to introduce him to the logistics director. Whether or not they can reach an agreement is their business, but in any case, we have to owe you a favor."

Ye Shubao nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, that's exactly what I meant."

Master Ma considered it for a moment. He thought that he still needed Chen Fan to help the construction company gain fame, and since it was just an introduction and there was no guarantee that it would work out, it wasn't a big deal. So he nodded and smiled, "If you ever go to the county, you can come find me. I'll take your people to meet the logistics director. But whether or not you can reach an agreement is up to you. I really can't help you in the slightest."

Ye Shubao was overjoyed and grabbed Master Ma's right hand with both hands, shaking it vigorously. "Thank you, thank you! This is already very good."

Anquan's face lit up with a happy smile, but then a worried look returned as he thought about how there was only one construction company and he didn't know if it would work out.

Chen Fan smiled slightly and asked Ye Shubao, "Before we started the breeding farm, I said that we could ask the commune to issue an official letter to the county's Bureau of Commerce and ask them to help us find a way to open a stall in the vegetable market so that we could sell our chickens, ducks and geese there. However, there is an even better way now."

The ownership of farmers' markets is not uniform; it depends on the organizing body. It could be the neighborhood committee, the commerce bureau, or even the supply and marketing cooperative.

In some places, in order to save expenses, the industry and commerce departments were even abolished, and the supply and marketing cooperatives took over some of the work of industry and commerce supervision. At the same time, the vegetable markets were also incorporated into the supply and marketing system for the purpose of convenient unified management.

The vegetable market in Gufeng County is under the jurisdiction of the Commerce Bureau. To open a stall in the market, you must obtain permission from the Commerce Bureau before the vegetable market management company will be responsible for opening it.

The Commerce Bureau was the management unit, while the vegetable market management company was the implementing unit. At that time, the implementing unit did not have much authority and could only manage within the scope of the rules. As a result, even opening a stall required the permission of the Commerce Bureau.

Upon hearing Chen Fan's words, Ye Shubao immediately asked, "What method?"

Chen Fan laughed and said, "The Commerce Bureau will continue to search, but instead of going through the commune to get a letter of introduction or going through the official channels, they will go through the private channels."

Whether in the past or in the future, my country is a society based on personal connections. Using private connections is more efficient than using public connections, and this will continue to be the case, not to mention now.

Ye Shubao looked on with curiosity, "You know someone in the county's Bureau of Commerce?"

Even Master Ma was surprised. Even a county construction company has to obey the supervision of the Commerce Bureau. If Chen Fan really had such connections, why didn't it work when he invited them a few days ago?
Or do you still think this matter is too trivial to warrant using personal connections?
Chen Fan glanced at the three people staring at him, shook his head and said with a smile, "I've never even been to the county, how could I possibly know anyone from the county's Bureau of Commerce?"

Seeing Ye Shubao's face fall, Chen Fan smiled and said, "I don't know him, but Brother Sanhu and his friends can find someone to introduce them."

Before Ye Shubao could react, Anquan slapped his thigh and exclaimed excitedly, "How could I forget about Zhang Juemin and Zhang Wenliang!"

Ye Shubao turned his head and stared at him blankly. What did that mean?
If you forget, you're a pig-brain. I still haven't figured it out, so am I even less than a pig-brain?
Without offering any explanation, Anquan turned and left, saying, "They're all at the brigade headquarters, let's go find them."

Ye Shubao quickly followed up, "No, explain yourself clearly, how do they know people from the county's Bureau of Commerce?"

The security guard continued walking and said to him, "Think about it, didn't they frequently go to the county in the past two months?"

Hearing this, Ye Shubao finally realized, "Ah, I understand. They went to the county to give speeches and give demonstrations, and got to know leaders of many large organizations. We'll have them visit those leaders later and ask them to introduce them to the leaders of the Commerce Bureau. That way, it'll all make sense!"

Anquan nodded repeatedly, "That's right. We'll go with them. They'll lead the way, and we'll handle the negotiations."

Ye Shubao naturally nodded in agreement, "Okay, but shouldn't we prepare some gifts?"

"For safety, gifts are a must. Let's get some new rice, and catch a few chickens, ducks, and geese. They'll be both local specialties and samples..."

Watching them walk away and their voices grow fainter, Chen Fan finally let out a long sigh of relief and turned to ask, "Master Ma, shall we continue?"

Master Ma asked curiously, "Does your production team raise a lot of chickens, ducks, and geese?"

Chen Fan simply closed the notebook and explained with a smile, "We have raised quite a lot. This is also a side business for our production team. In total, there are probably more than 30,000."

Master Ma was immediately taken aback. "Wow, that's quite a lot!"

Then he started calculating the accounts for the production team, "Not to mention the market price, just based on the purchase price, a live chicken is 90 cents a pound, and a goose is about the same price, also 80 or 90 cents. Only ducks are a little cheaper, 40 or 50 cents a pound. A chicken weighs two or three pounds, a goose weighs at least eight pounds, and a duck is basically three pounds or more. You must have tens of thousands of yuan here, no wonder you were able to build a small water tower!"

(Receipt from the food company for purchasing white ducks, 4 ducks weighing 11 jin, the Muscovy ducks are slightly larger, the purchase price is 4 mao per jin, the retail price is a little over 5 mao, which is more than half the price of chickens and geese)
Chen Fan hadn't realized it before, but after hearing Master Ma say that, he finally understood.

That's right. The production team currently has over 17000 chickens, over 13000 ducks, and 6000 geese. At the purchase price, chickens average 2.5 jin (1.25 catties), ducks 3 jin (1.5 catties), and geese 8 jin (4 catties). So, chickens alone could sell for 38250 yuan, ducks for 15600 yuan, and geese for 43200 yuan, totaling 97050 yuan.

Nearly 10?
When Chen Fan calculated this number, he was stunned.

In comparison, the 6th team earned less than 18000 yuan from growing grain this year, not even after deducting the levies. If the situation of other teams is similar, the main income of the entire production brigade is about 20 yuan.

Chickens, ducks, and geese alone can generate half the income from grain—this side business is incredibly profitable! And this is only for half a year; the total income for the whole year must be even higher.

Furthermore, rabbits haven't been included in this calculation yet.

Once rabbits become more widespread, like chickens, ducks, and geese, not only will the brigade raise them, but every household will follow suit. At that time, in the words of Accountant Liu, it would be no problem for a family to earn a thousand yuan a year from a side business.

Thinking about this, Chen Fan couldn't help but secretly admire the foresight of the security team.

If it weren't for his suggestion to link feed distribution with work points, thus blocking the members' free development of animal husbandry from the outset, how many people would still be willing to farm if they could earn one or two thousand a year?
His mind raced, but he remained outwardly calm. Chen Fan gave Master Ma a wry smile and said, "It looks like you're making a lot of money, but the pressure is also immense. You must know the saying, 'A fortune of ten thousand doesn't count if it involves livestock.' Running a livestock farming business means you're constantly on edge, afraid that an epidemic might break out at any time, and the losses would be huge."

Moreover, raising so many chickens, ducks, and geese puts a lot of pressure on feed production. Because of this, our commune members work day and night, getting up early and working late, just to gather more fodder. Last month, during the double harvest season, there were several heavy rainstorms on and off. It was inconvenient to work in the fields at that time, but everyone still went out wearing straw hats and raincoats, just to gather more grass to feed the pigs and chickens.

Raising chickens would have been enough, but because ducks and geese can be herded onto the water to eat aquatic plants and insects, saving a lot on feed, we started raising them as well. You can imagine how tiring that is!

Upon hearing this, Master Ma nodded repeatedly and said with emotion, "Farmers work so hard."

He also came from the countryside. He learned the craft of bricklaying and later followed his master to build houses for others. Later, he was fortunate enough to be recruited by the county's construction company and became a construction worker. However, his family and relatives were still in the countryside. In the past, he would often go back to help during the double harvest season, but in the last two years, he has gotten older and is no longer able to do so.

That's why he had a deep understanding of Chen Fan's words.

Chen Fan continued, "And don't be fooled by the number of chickens, ducks, and geese. They don't belong to any one member. They are raised by our brigade and each team together with the members. It's a cooperative, a cooperative, it's about sticking together for warmth."

Master Ma could only nod in agreement.

Chen Fan kept talking, “After these things are sold, the brigade will take a portion, the team will take a portion, and in the end, each household will probably only get about 100 yuan. After working hard for half a year, you only earn 100 yuan. Do you still think that's too much?”

Master Ma immediately shook his head, "Not much, not much."

He was actually a little embarrassed at this point, because his salary was 99 yuan, plus a lot of extra income, which was more than half a year's salary for others. How could he say that it was too much?

Before Chen Fan could say anything more, Master Ma suddenly reached out and patted him on the shoulder, saying seriously, "This morning I heard from the workers in your team that you were the one who led everyone to set up this farm?"

Hearing this, Chen Fan was taken aback for a moment, then nodded and smiled, "I can't say that I brought them. I just used it as an excuse, because..."

"A veterinarian, you know."

Master Ma interrupted him and said with emotion, "I also talked to some people in your team today and learned a lot about you. First, it was because you led 12 people to learn veterinary medicine that the production team had the idea of ​​raising livestock. Even the planning and implementation of the livestock farm were guided by you. You even gave up the opportunity to work at the health department for Lujiawan. That's incredible, truly incredible."

There are many capable people, and many who are willing to settle down in the countryside, but Chen Fan is the first living person he has ever met who is capable, willing to settle down in the countryside, and wholeheartedly cares for the production team and its members, in real life, apart from the role models in the newspapers.

Just as Chen Fan was about to say a few words of modesty, Master Ma hesitated for two seconds, then patted him on the shoulder and said seriously, "Don't worry, our construction company's general manager joined the company after graduating from vocational school. I was the one who trained him when he went to the front line, so he's practically my apprentice. He'll definitely listen to me. I'll put in a good word for you, at least so your people won't have made a wasted trip."

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan was overjoyed and quickly clasped his hands in a gesture of respect, saying, "Thank you so much."

Who would have thought that playing the victim would yield such a result?!

So the old saying "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" is absolutely true.

……

Chen Fan spent most of the afternoon at the construction site, watching as the main structure of the small water tower was completed. All that was left was to do the waterproofing work inside the water tank before it would be officially finished, and the day's work would be over.

As usual, I had a big drinking session with Master Qiu and Master Ma at the brigade headquarters before walking back.

I didn't ride a horse when I went out today, so I had to walk.

When we returned to the educated youth compound, the stars and moon were already high in the sky.

Jiang Lili and the other three sat in the courtyard, each holding a palm-leaf fan in one hand and a book in the other, reading by the dim light coming from the room.

When Chen Fan walked in and saw this scene, his face darkened, and he said loudly, "Don't you all have eyes anymore?"

The four people, who were engrossed in the book, were immediately awakened and instinctively stood up.

Chen Fan strode over and pointed at them, saying, "How many times have I told you? Read books in your room at night. If it's hot, turn on the fan. The light is too dim and it's bad for your eyes. If you keep reading like this for a few more days, you'll all become nearsighted."

Seeing Teacher Chen get angry for the first time, even the boldest of them, Huang Ying, was so frightened that she didn't know what to do and lowered her head, not daring to speak.

Jiang Lili glanced at the three people beside her, then looked at Chen Fan, and whispered, "We just want to save some electricity."

That electric fan consumes too much electricity. If you only turn on the light, it won't even use two kilowatt-hours a month, which costs just over two cents. But the power of an electric fan is several times that of a light bulb, so the electricity bill will definitely be much higher.

They didn't know before, but now that they've learned physics and how to check the power consumption of electrical appliances, they're afraid to turn on the fan again after realizing how much electricity it consumes.

But the room was stuffy and hot, while a cool breeze was blowing outside, so naturally I ran out to read.

Looking at the timid Jiang Lili, Chen Fan's anger subsided considerably. He took two steps forward and said earnestly, "Saving money isn't done like this. You have to spend what you should spend and save what you can. Even if you don't turn on the electric fan, how much money can you save?"

He turned to look at Yang Ju, "Didn't you only sell a dozen or so sets of tableware yesterday, and just made a few dozen yuan? You can't even afford a few cents for electricity?"

Seeing that Teacher Chen seemed to have calmed down, Huang Ying became bolder again and immediately said, "It's not just a few cents. We checked the wattage of the electric fan; it's several times higher than that of a light bulb..."

Before she could finish speaking, Chen Fan glared at her and said, "I'm talking to you about health and your eyes, and you're still haggling over a few cents?"

The oriole immediately shrank back and fell silent.

Seeing that Chen Fan wasn't yelling at her, Jiang Lili rolled her eyes and spoke again, "We just wanted to read outside because it was cooler. Besides, this light is much brighter than the kerosene lamps we used to use. We read like this back then, so it should be fine, right?"

Chen Fan turned to look at her and said, "Are you trying to save electricity or because it's cool outside?"

Jiang Lili pursed her lips. "Yes."

Chen Fan wiped the sweat from his forehead and pointed at the four girls with a serious expression. "Today I must seriously correct your incorrect lifestyle habits again, which is that you cannot read in low light, otherwise it will seriously damage your eyesight."

Yang Ju suddenly moved the chair behind her to Chen Fan's back, saying, "Teacher Chen, please sit down and talk."

Chen Fan: "Thank you."

Then he plopped down and said, "No reading tonight, let's have a tea party. Hey, Huang Ying and Liu Dan, bring out the table. Xiao Jiang, prepare the tea. Yang Ju, prepare some melon seeds. The meeting is starting."

(End of this chapter)