Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 375 I have a suggestion
Although Master Lu chased him away, Chen Fan did not leave immediately.

Just then, it was time for Xiaoshui Tower to work. He first cleaned the large wooden basin used for chopping pig feed, poured all the chilies in and cleaned them, then pulled off the chili heads with a push and a pull. He placed a cutting board underneath, then held two knives and used a swift, rapid chopping motion to chop the chilies into chili paste in no time.

After mixing the salt and filling the jars, and then filling the water tank with water, he left with his backpack, feeling refreshed.

There's nothing I can do, that alcohol was too strong; I probably won't be able to sleep tonight.

Why not practice all night?
……

Back at the brigade headquarters, the afternoon broadcast was just beginning.

Chen Fan went to the radio station and saw Zhang Cuie studying English.

She was holding an English book and muttering to herself, so she didn't even notice Chen Fan coming over.

After listening for a few minutes, Chen Fan couldn't help but frown and gently tap the table.

Zhang Cuie suddenly woke up, turned her head and saw him. She immediately stood up with a smile on her face, "Teacher."

Chen Fan nodded, smiled, and then pointed to the English textbook, reading it aloud in standard Received Pronunciation.

There is no standard universal accent for English, because people advocate democracy. If you stipulate that the London accent should be used for Mandarin, people in Liverpool, Wales, and Ireland will be unhappy. If they are unhappy, don't blame them for criticizing you and not cooperating.

So, since it couldn't be promoted, they simply didn't set a standard for Mandarin.

However, as a constitutional monarchy, it is only natural that the Queen's accent became the most "noble" accent, and people from all regions took pride in speaking the same language as the Queen. Thus, this accent became the default standard Mandarin.

Received Pronunciation, or "Queen's Pronunciation," is actually the accent of the Oxford area where Buckingham Hotel is located.

For a long time to come, English education in Chinese schools, whether it's grammar or accent, will be based on Oxford English.

It was probably after the turn of the century that some schools switched to teaching General American English.

Like the UK, the US does not have a standard Mandarin. Their common accents include the Southern accent, Boston accent, California accent, and New York accent. Other miscellaneous accents are considered dialects.

The General American accent is the most widely used standard accent in American films, television, radio, advertising, and other media, and this GA accent was developed primarily from the California accent.

There's no way around it; Hollywood is in Los Angeles, and Los Angeles is in California, so this accent has become so prevalent.

What Zhang Cuie just read out was undoubtedly Chinese-accented English. Many of my classmates read it back then, such as "washing in the ditch," "come dead dog," "selling cakes," "carrying wood," "fighting wood," "good oil," "good touch you"... and so on.

She's just starting to learn English, which is the easiest time to correct her mistakes, so Chen Fan naturally wants to correct her.

Hearing Chen Fan demonstrate for her, Zhang Cuie's face immediately turned red, but without saying a word, she immediately followed along and read aloud in a low voice.

Chen Fan would read a passage aloud, and she would read it along with him.

Surrounded by the halo of teaching, Zhang Cuie felt as if she had been elevated, her whole being becoming incredibly clear-headed. She could remember most of what she learned after just one lesson, and when the teacher taught it a second time, she could recite the entire text from memory, naturally mastering the correct pronunciation of the words.

After she finished reading, Chen Fan said, "Today, you should memorize this text, memorize it repeatedly, and be able to write it from memory. From now on, I will teach you to read a short article every day, and you must memorize it."

Learning English is like learning Chinese; you need to learn both the characters and the pronunciation, and the pronunciation must be standard. Do you understand?

Zhang Cuie nodded, blushing. "I've got it."

Chen Fan smiled and said, "Okay, you can continue learning."

He then went outside.

……

Upon reaching the front yard, Chen Fan found that Secretary Yang and Captain Zhang had returned. He immediately went inside and asked, "You went to the repair shop just now, right? How did it go? What did Master Wang say?"

Secretary Yang took a sip of water and grinned, "We went, and I took Master Wang with me. He said the wood on that boat is well preserved, and if it is dismantled and rebuilt, there is a great chance that a large wooden boat of 22 to 25 meters can be built."

The other two outboard motors have also been brought back and are stored in the warehouse; we can get them anytime we want.

"Okay, I'll go get it and modify it in a bit."

Chen Fan smiled happily, took the cigarette that Captain Zhang threw to him, and asked with a smile, "How much do they want for that wooden boat?"

Captain Zhang gestured something, and Chen Fan was slightly taken aback. "2000? That's expensive?"

Secretary Yang shook his head and said with a wry smile, "It's not expensive. The wood alone costs at least 1200 yuan, and that's the price of old wood. If we calculate based on the current price of 36 yuan per cubic meter for high-quality timber, the cost of the wood alone would be more than 2000 yuan."

Moreover, this price includes the cost of modification. The repair shop will need at least 10 workers and nearly a month to modify the boat. Almost a third of the original boat has been dismantled, making the new size unsuitable. The entire boat will need to be dismantled, redesigned, modified, and reassembled before it can be used. On the way back, Lao Wang said, "With 2000 yuan, the repair shop won't make a single penny; they might even lose money."

Of course, it's not a real loss; it's just that it's not profitable on paper.

By making appropriate adjustments to the timber supply and balancing the accounts, a profit can be achieved.

Otherwise, even if Secretary Tian personally took action and made a losing deal, he wouldn't be able to explain it to his superiors.

However, in doing so, the shipping company did make a significant concession.

Chen Fan nodded to indicate that he understood, twirling a cigarette between his fingers. He looked up and smiled, "The repair shop is really experienced. They can complete the entire modification of a ship in a month. So, by the end of September, we can have our first ship launched, and then by the end of October, the new ship built by Master Wang and his team can also be launched."

Secretary Yang was all smiles now, his previous frown completely gone. He laughed and said, "These are two big ships. They can transport any number of live poultry. Moreover, they can deliver goods wherever there is a waterway. They'll sell even better in the future."

Before he finished speaking, Chen Fan looked towards the door.

Ye Shubao, Anquan, and Yang Xingxiu walked in one after another.

Before he even entered the house, Ye Shubao laughed loudly, "What's making you so happy? I could hear you laughing while I was still in the yard."

Secretary Yang immediately explained the situation, and Ye Shubao was instantly excited. "So, we don't need to wait two months to have a large ship available?!"

Captain Zhang grinned and nodded repeatedly, "That's right, two big ships are definitely enough."

Seeing everyone laughing, Chen Fan sat on the side, smiling silently.

Two boats are enough?

If Lujiawan's sideline business can really develop as he envisions, it would be possible unless a fleet of more than 10 ships is formed!

After the laughter subsided, Anquan tossed Chen Fan a cigarette and handed him a piece of paper, saying, "This is a preliminary list of workers. Take a look and see if they're all suitable."

Chen Fan took it and looked at it, and found that it was not just a list, but also included personal profiles, such as age, which team they were in, family situation, and the essential captain's evaluation, etc.

This feature was definitely added for safety, otherwise Ye Shubao wouldn't have thought of it so much.

They were all from the same production team, and he knew many of them. He probably never imagined he would have to write about these things.

Chen Fan glanced at the paper and immediately understood. He handed it back and said with a smile, "Okay, let's do it this way. I have no objections."

Anquan took the list and put it aside, then said seriously, "There are 18 people on the list. 12 of them will work in the cooked food workshop. Each team will send one person. They are all quick and agile and are very capable in the kitchen. They will definitely not let us down."

However, Lao Ye and I also had all the team leaders inform these people in advance that if anyone didn't follow the rules or didn't meet the cooking requirements, they would receive a warning the first time, and be sent back the second time, with someone else taking their place. There would be no exceptions.

Chen Fan nodded slowly, agreeing with his opinion.

After a pause, Anquan added, "As for the other six people, we won't divide them into teams. We'll mainly look at their appearance. Those who are good-looking and can write and calculate will be given priority."

After he finished speaking, he looked at Chen Fan and asked, "Since you have no objections, let's move on to the next step: training them. When do you plan to start?"

At this moment, Yang Xingxiu suddenly said, "Xiao Chen, I have a suggestion, but I don't know if it's appropriate."

Chen Fan looked at her. "What suggestion?"

Yang Xingxiu smiled and said, "When you are training, can you find more people to participate? For example, if there are 12 cooks, find 18 people, or even 20. That way, if someone is not suitable, someone can be replaced immediately. Also, if the workshop needs to expand, someone can step in immediately."

The same applies to sales staff; for the six full-time staff, we'll hire four more as backups, so we won't be short-staffed.

Chen Fan immediately nodded and smiled, "Great idea, that's excellent. No wonder you're Xingxiu."

Actually, he was just about to bring this up, but since Yang Xingxiu had already mentioned it, he wouldn't bring it up again.

Didn't you see that Yang Xingxiu was quite excited at this moment?

Being able to offer advice to Teacher Chen is rare, not just in Lujiawan, but in the entire Nanhu Company. I guess I'm a smart person!

The security guard beside him had already picked up a pen and was writing down all the key points in detail. As he wrote, he read aloud, "First, let's talk about live poultry. For the next few days, we'll continue to use handcarts for transportation, and then we'll hurry up and modify a few small boats."

He turned to look at Chen Fan and said, "You still need to provide technical guidance for this. After all, we need to start delivering goods to the prefectural committee on the 1st of next month. It's not easy to deliver them by horse-drawn carriage. It's more convenient to use a boat."

Chen Fan nodded without hesitation, "No problem, it can definitely be done before the 1st."

(End of this chapter)