Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 637 Risk Prevention
It wasn't far from Jiaotong University; Chen Fan arrived at the university gate in less than ten minutes by car.

Jiaotong University's main gate bridge is very famous. It used to be a small bridge, and beyond the bridge was a memorial archway. Later, the archway was demolished and replaced with a government-style building.

The gate was wide open, just like the entrance to a government office.

It is quite unique among all university gates in the country.

(The main gate of Jiaotong University back then)

With his work ID in hand, Chen Fan drove straight in without any problems. After asking a few people and driving around half of the campus, he found the teaching building of the School of Management.

He was in class at the time, and after waiting downstairs for a short while, the bell rang, and groups of students hurried out and went to other places.

A short while later, I spotted Anquan's figure in the crowd, talking to several classmates.

But judging from their serious expressions, they must be discussing serious business.

Chen Fan chuckled twice and waved in his direction, "Old An."

The volume wasn't loud, but it was very penetrating. I instinctively turned my head to look, and my eyes lit up instantly.

He waved to his classmates, "You guys go ahead."

Then he ran towards Chen Fan.

He opened the door and got in the car, sitting in the passenger seat. His first words were, "I got a letter of introduction from the school to buy a Yunhu minivan, but they're out of stock. It'll be three months before they have one, which means it'll be next year. Do you have any way to cut in line?"

Chen Fan turned to look at him, "You've made it big? You're actually buying a car?"

Anquan chuckled and said, "What's the point of giving out bonuses? If anyone's going to give out bonuses, it'll be the company."

He then explained, "Our work-study program has earned a lot of money, but only a small portion of it is handed over to the school as management fees. In other words, that amount isn't even enough to cover the venue and support provided by the school."

The remaining money will all go towards our project's development funds. We will use this money to expand our workforce, increase the supply of raw materials, and purchase necessary supplies.

But the more we develop, the more money we make, and there's still money in the company accounts..."

He suddenly patted his forehead. "Classes are about to start, and I forgot to ask a classmate for leave. Can you take me to the teaching building over there? I'll ask the teacher for leave first."

Chen Fan started the car and drove in the direction he pointed, saying, "This won't do. You don't have any free time at all, and you still have to ask the teacher for leave."

"Can't you learn from me? Just finish all the courses in one semester, and you're done. Look at me now, I can go wherever I want without having to attend classes."

Anquan said with a dark face, "You're just an animal. Who can compare to you? Besides, only Wuhan University and Jiangnan University in the whole country have implemented a credit system. Our school hasn't even started yet."

In the time it took to say a few words, the car drove through the crowd and arrived in front of the small building.

Without getting out of the car, Anquan rolled down the window and waved outside, shouting, "Old Zhang, help me ask my teacher for leave. Just say it's official business."

A voice came from the other end, "Okay."

Many people were still looking this way, whispering among themselves at the van, speculating whether the famous "Director An" had a new project.
Chen Fan looked at An Quan and chuckled, "Not bad, Lao An. With this kind of performance, you should be considered a celebrity at school. Does the whole school know you're in business?"

Anquan shook his clothes with feigned smugness, "That's right, now there are more than 200 students in the whole school following me. There are only a little over a thousand new students this year. This whole street is full of my people."

In addition to the school, I also found more than a dozen people outside the school. They were all educated youth who had returned to the city. They each found their own helpers, and I supplied them with goods. They sold their goods in their own designated areas outside the school.

From the Shiliupu Wharf in the east to Hongqiao Airport in the west, I have people selling goods everywhere. Isn't that amazing?!

Chen Fan wasn't about to let him get cocky, and immediately poured cold water on his enthusiasm, "Ha, is he one of your people? He's just a collaborator at best, getting goods from you..."

She paused here, deliberately glancing at him, and said, half-jokingly, "Comrade Marx said that having more than seven people makes you a hired hand, a capitalist. Don't make a mistake."

Hearing this, An Quan was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at him, "Really?"

Chen Fan: "Would I lie to you?"

He then explained with a smile, “In Volume 23 of the Collected Works of Marx and Engels, there is a passage that reads: ‘According to our assumption, he must use two workers in order to live the life of a worker by relying on the surplus value he possesses each day, that is, to satisfy their necessary needs.’”

In this situation, his purpose in life is merely to make a living, not to increase his wealth; whereas under capitalist production, increasing wealth is a prerequisite.

In order to make his life only twice as good as that of an ordinary worker, and to convert half of the surplus value he produces back into capital, he must increase both the minimum amount of advanced capital and the number of workers to eight times the original amount.

This passage clearly states that employing more than eight workers generates surplus value, thus classifying an individual as a capitalist.

After he finished speaking, Anquan blinked in disbelief, "You can explain it like that?"

Chen Fan smiled meaningfully and said, "Tell me, is there a clear standard for this passage?"

Anquan took a deep breath, his brows furrowing tightly.

Regardless of whether Chen Fan was joking or not, he took it seriously.

After a long pause, he said, “You know what, this project I’m working on has helped many students escape poverty and improve their lives, but there are still a lot of dissenting voices who think that this project has enriched a group of people and is not in line with our social conditions and regulations.”

After he finished speaking, he turned to look at Chen Fan and said, "If we could have a standard, it would actually be a good thing for us."

He stroked his chin, frowning in thought. "I'll have to think of a way to bring this in later, to improve our organization, and to prevent the risks from escalating."

Chen Fan frowned slightly and looked at him, asking, "You didn't actually hire someone, did you?"

Anquan chuckled dryly twice. "You probably wouldn't believe me if I said I didn't hire anyone at all. I have more than twenty 'small business owners' who regularly get their goods from me, and they each have their own people working under them. With such a large operation, how could I not have someone keep an eye on things for me?"

Putting everything else aside, I can't fall behind in my schoolwork, so how much time do I have to spend running around outside? Just this financial issue alone requires me to hire someone to help me with it.

And what about the daily warehousing and outbound processes, as well as the payment and collection of goods? Don't we all need to find someone to handle all of that?
My parents, brother, and sister-in-law all have jobs and don't have time to help me manage things. Keying's family isn't here either. In the end, I had no choice but to hire a few retired accountants and purchasing agents. They all come from families that aren't well-off and are just trying to earn some extra money to supplement their household income. It's a win-win situation for everyone.

Chen Fan snorted twice, "It's not that what you're doing is wrong, but you have to control the risks, especially the accounts. You don't want to invite a rat into the business."

Upon hearing this, An Quan chuckled and said, "No way. I've worked in grassroots finance units for so many years, I'm not some clueless fool. Besides, the first thing I do after school every day is to check on the work."

Chen Fan thought for a moment, "Where did you find this person? Was it recommended by a school teacher?"

Anquan immediately shook his head vigorously, "Finding people from the school? That's stupid! I initiated this project, but it's nominally a school project. Although the school agreed to let me make some money in it, nobody knows how big I'm doing."

If they try to find someone from the school, do you think my little stall can be kept secret? If they find out I made tens of thousands in six months, they'll definitely cause me trouble.

Chen Fan smiled and nodded, "Not bad, not bad, he's not a fool after all."

Safety rolled his eyes and said, "Get lost." Chen Fan started the car and drove away. "Fine, get lost."

Anquan quickly asked, "Where are you going? I only asked for leave for one class."

Chen Fan said, "Let's find a place to sit down. Are we just going to keep talking in the car? Your school doesn't even have a restaurant."

"Safety? Nonsense! Your school has restaurants? Besides, at this hour, some people haven't even finished breakfast yet. Why are you looking for a restaurant? To eat breakfast too?"

Chen Fan thought about it and agreed, so he simply turned the steering wheel and turned back.

After parking the car, he got out, took out a cigarette, handed one to the security guard who had followed him, and put one in his mouth as well. He asked, "Didn't you say you wanted to learn to drive? How's it going?"

Anquan lit a cigarette on his lighter and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke. "I've signed up and have been practicing for a month. I haven't started driving yet; I'm still learning how to repair cars."

She then turned to look at him, "You came here just to ask this?"

Chen Fan shrugged, not answering directly, but instead asked, "Is it your school's practice field, or someone else's?"

Anquan roughly understood what he meant and immediately said, "Of course it's from another unit. I asked a teacher for help and got him to study at the bus company's driver training department. He's been training on large buses."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Do you want Lili or Tiantian to learn to drive? I'll have to ask the head of the training department, but it shouldn't be a big problem."

He chuckled as he spoke, "If they knew it was a favor done by the renowned writer Chen, they would definitely teach me properly."

Chen Fan ignored his joke, pondered for two seconds, took a puff of his cigarette, and said, "Since I still have to ask for favors, then forget it."

Safety immediately replied, "It's no trouble at all."

Chen Fan waved his hand with a smile and turned to look at him, "I thought your school had some kind of cooperation with other organizations. With your current status in the industry, it would be a piece of cake for you, Comrade An, to arrange for someone to get in."

With her chin slightly raised, she said, "It's not troublesome now."

Chen Fan waved his hand again, "You got in through connections, so it's better to avoid owing too many of these roundabout favors."

Before Anquan could speak, he sighed softly, "It seems I have no choice but to go and talk to the director of the Municipal Transportation Bureau myself, and ask him to help arrange two spots."

Anquan's old face immediately fell. "Damn, you have these connections, and you're still coming to me?"

Chen Fan said with a long face, "Last time at the Writers Association's symposium on my works, that old man was unethical. He demanded a piece of my calligraphy, but that wasn't enough. He even insisted on having a painting. I told him I wasn't good at painting, but he still insisted. I even wondered if Ba Jin had betrayed me."

He took another drag of his cigarette, looking dejected. "If I go to him again, I'll definitely be blackmailed."

Anquan squatted down next to him, not wanting to say anything.

If a bureau chief were to become clingy to me, I would definitely let him cling to me without hesitation.

After finishing his cigarette, Chen Fan stood up and waved his hand, "Alright, since you're useless, then kneel down and leave."

With a dark expression, Anquan said, "That's really realistic."

Chen Fan opened the car door and got in, calling out to him, "Bring Sister Ying to my house for dinner tonight."

For safety, "you have to call her sister-in-law."

Chen Fan's expression was particularly sincere. "Really, I think Yingjie is marrying down for you. Such a beautiful girl, how did she end up choosing you?"

An Quan was not ashamed at all, but rather proud. With his hands on his hips, he laughed and said, "There's nothing I can do. She's nearsighted and can't see clearly from a distance. Only I can see her up close, so she has no choice but to marry me."

Chen Fan was impressed by his shamelessness and could only give him a thumbs up, saying, "You truly deserve to be called the eldest brother. I still have a lot to learn from you."

Then he slammed on the gas, leaving a trail of black smoke that made someone cough so hard they couldn't speak.

……

After leaving the school, Chen Fan drove to the Transportation Bureau and, unsurprisingly, exchanged a calligraphy piece for two driver training slots.

The driving school isn't far from home; I can go there every Sunday for lessons.

Moreover, at Chen Fan's request, they do not need to learn car repair; they only need to learn simple troubleshooting before they can focus on driving.

You can't do without learning car repair at all. There aren't that many repair shops these days. Basically, you can only go to companies with a fleet of vehicles, and the number of vehicles can't be small, so that the company is qualified to run a car repair class.

Therefore, drivers often need to troubleshoot the problems themselves.

Chen Fan already had a plan for this.

Once the two sisters learned to drive, they naturally used the family's minivan. Since he wasn't usually in Shanghai, the car was just sitting idle anyway, so it was better to let them drive it.

Moreover, if a car sits idle for too long, it's bound to attract unwanted attention, and he doesn't want his private car to become a public vehicle.

This was the main reason he arranged for the two sisters to learn to drive.

He then personally taught the two of them a lesson on van parts and maintenance.

Who understands minivans better than him, the designer?!
With his personal instruction, I dare not say anything else, but repairing this van is definitely a piece of cake.

After finishing his business, Chen Fan drove around the streets.

After a long while, he suddenly slapped his forehead, turned the steering wheel, and headed in a certain direction.

……

Subdistrict Housing Management Office.

Upon seeing Chen Fan approach, Officer Wang immediately stood up, quite surprised. "Writer Chen, what brings you here today?"

He then took out a cigarette and said, "Come, come, please sit here. I'll pour you some tea."

Chen Fan accepted the cigarette but refused to sit down, saying with a smile, "I happened to be in Shanghai on business and thought I'd like to see how the house renovation is going."

He refused to sit down, but Wang, the clerk, didn't mind and immediately laughed, "The renovation progress is going well. The courtyard is almost finished. As you requested, it's been restored to its original state. The experienced craftsmen at the construction company said that the house is exactly the same as when it was built."

As he said this, he felt a little strange. When did a small villa with a garden become a "small courtyard"?
However, considering it's another large estate, the small courtyard is indeed aptly named.

(End of this chapter)