Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 696 is now available.
The heavy snow fell on and off for two or three days. The roads were slippery, and since Chen Fan had been to Shanghai many times before, there wasn't much to see this time. So, apart from taking his two sisters to and from school, he simply stayed at home and didn't go out.

He didn't go out, and Zhou Yali stayed at home, not asking to go out to play. She didn't even go to see the house that had already been renovated. She stayed by the fireplace every day, eating when she was hungry and sleeping when she was tired.

Their lives are no different from those of two little monkeys. The two raccoon dogs, Half-Pound and Eight-Ounces, have to stick to their posts, accompanying their mistress to school and protecting her.

Only the gyrfalcon is fearless of wind and snow, spending most of its time roaming the sky, only returning when it sleeps. It doesn't even need to be fed, and no one knows where it goes to hunt.

Two days passed, and it was December 25th, Christmas Day.

At that time, the general public in China naturally didn't have the concept of celebrating Christmas. It was only after the 90s that this custom gradually spread from universities, especially among student couples exchanging gifts, or suitors spending a lot of money to buy gifts for their partners on this day, which often helped them win over their crushes.

This is ridiculous. I don't understand why a religious sect's birthday would become Valentine's Day.
It was this trend of buying gifts that led businesses to start Christmas promotions, and with the influence of Western culture, it eventually evolved into an annual commercial festival for the whole society.

But that's for later.

If we have to say who still celebrates Christmas these days, it's Christians and a very small number of Westerners who stay in the country to work and live.

Then there are people like Zhou Yali who come back from Western countries to visit relatives.

She wasn't sitting by the fireplace at this moment. Instead, she was wrapped in Chen Fan's fox fur coat, her hands tucked into her sleeves, pacing back and forth in the living room, occasionally running to the door to open it and look out, "Why aren't they back yet?"

Meanwhile, Chen Fan, whom she was waiting for, was still driving around aimlessly in the streets like a headless fly.

After leaving the department store, he tossed a large bag full of things onto the passenger seat, then went to the driver's side, opened the door, got in, turned on the air conditioning, and waited for the heat to come on before exhaling a puff of white breath. He couldn't help but shake his head, "What kind of conditions do you have? You still want to celebrate Christmas? Where am I supposed to find you a Christmas tree?"

He started the car and slowly drove onto the road. He looked around with wide eyes. At this time, the slippery roads due to the snow were actually a good thing. Everyone was driving slowly, which would not delay his search for his target, and he did not have to worry about being rear-ended.

But where can you buy trees on the street? They have to be Christmas trees like cedar or pine?
After driving a short distance, he suddenly saw steam rising from a restaurant. He immediately rolled down the window and sniffed.

Mmm, smells delicious.

Upon closer inspection, hey, it turns out to be a Hunan restaurant. The aroma seems to be that of rice noodles.
It's so cold, why don't we go have a bowl of noodles first?

Actually, Shanghai's catering industry was quite diverse at that time. In the book "Shanghai Guide" published by Shanghai Science and Technology Press in 1980, there was a table of "List of Famous Local Restaurants in Shanghai".

Among them, a number of representative local restaurants were selected, including Cantonese cuisine, Shanghai cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Sichuan-Yangzhou cuisine, Sichuan-Yangzhou cuisine, Yangzhou cuisine, Beijing cuisine, Suzhou cuisine, Wuxi cuisine, halal cuisine, vegetarian cuisine, Hunan cuisine, Hangzhou cuisine, Fujian cuisine, Ningbo cuisine, Chaozhou cuisine, Anhui cuisine, Henan cuisine, Western restaurants, etc., totaling more than 100 restaurants in dozens of categories.

Of course, compared to the whole of Shanghai, these restaurants are not enough.

It wasn't until after 84 that the catering industry began to develop, and then in 92, when prices for food and alcohol were liberalized throughout the city, the catering industry entered a period of rapid growth.

At that time, there were only 6565 restaurants and eateries in the city, employing 65117 people.

Unlike later generations, when a certain online platform had more than 20 restaurants, including coffee shops, tea restaurants, milk tea shops and other light beverage shops, the difference in numbers was still quite large.

The small restaurant in front of Chen Fan is clearly a collective unit of the street-level food company. Its disadvantages are its small size and limited variety of food, but it also has advantages: the people are easy to get along with and flexible in their approach to things, without the many rules and regulations of a large restaurant.

After parking his car away from the entrance, Chen Fan walked over to the small shop.

The house has three rooms, with one side partitioned off as a kitchen and the rest of the space occupied by tables and chairs.

The layout is almost identical to that of a roadside wonton stall, except that it has an extra room to provide shelter from the wind and rain.

Although it wasn't noon yet, there were already quite a few customers dining inside. Chen Fan looked around at the entrance and silently gave it a "not too dirty, but it won't make you sick" assessment before going to the ticket counter to buy a meal ticket.

"A large bowl of rice noodles, with beef."

The clerk worked quickly, tearing off a ticket and handing it to him. "In this awful weather, a bowl of beef noodles is the only thing that can make you feel comfortable. A big bowl costs 3 liang of grain coupons, 28 cents; without grain coupons, it's 40 cents."

Chen Fan paid the money and the food coupons, then suddenly changed his accent and asked with a smile, "Master, are you from Changsha?"

The saleswoman's eyes lit up. "Oh my, you're one of those kids from Fulan? I've never seen you before. You look like a college student, studying in Shanghai? I came here when I was a kid, and my accent is still so strong, you recognized me!"

He then called out to the chef next to him, "Old He, this is a fellow villager, make sure to order a lot!"

The chef immediately raised his hand, "We're from the same hometown, no problem."

As he spoke, he got up, grabbed a large bowl, poured the rice noodles into the boiling water, and then grabbed a handful from a bucket and threw them into the pot. This was a large amount added, at least half a pound in total.

See, this is where the benefits of knowing someone from your hometown come in.

What? He's from Jiangnan, not Hunan?
What does it matter? When you're out in the world, you define your own identity. If you can speak fluent Changsha dialect, then you're a true Changsha native.

The sales clerk looked at Chen Fan and smiled, "There aren't many people holding onto the railing here. It's quite a coincidence to meet someone from my hometown."

Chen Fan stood aside and chuckled, "Didn't they say at the meeting the day before yesterday that they wanted to open up? I reckon there will definitely be more and more exchanges between different places in the future, and you might even run into fellow townsmen every day."

"I hope that day will come."

The sales clerk pursed her lips and then lowered her voice, "Whether I'll run into fellow villagers every day, I don't know. But as for how this 'opening up' will be implemented, the company hasn't given any notice yet, but the people coming to eat are already 'opening up' first."

Seeing that Chen Fan didn't understand, he gestured to the side with his chin.

Chen Fan looked in the direction he indicated and saw several young men in their early twenties sitting around a table. Each of them had a bowl of vegetarian rice noodles without meat in front of them, and each of them had a cup that they had brought themselves. They would occasionally clink cups together, take a small sip, and then eat a strand of rice noodles.

But you know what? Although they looked a bit strapped for cash, their demeanor was anything but ordinary. Some sat sideways on stools, others crossed their legs, and one even squatted on a bench like a big monkey, waving his paws and playing a drinking game.

Chen Fan had noticed this group of people earlier, but they were just doing their own thing and didn't bother anyone else. In comparison, the barbecue stalls in later generations were much more lively.

Seeing Chen Fan look at those people, the salesperson's face was full of disdain. She curled her lip and said, "If this were before, if they dared to make a scene in public, play drinking games, I would have beaten them to death!"
But they said they'd open up, but we don't know how that will be. What if it really turns out like 20 years ago, where as long as you don't break the law, you're fine? Then we can't really say anything to them, since they haven't harmed anyone.

He sighed as he spoke, "This is awful."

Chen Fan turned around and looked at him, quite surprised.

I never would have guessed that this comrade is so reasonable.

Someone with a short temper might have slapped him a few times. So what if things are open? Even if new rules come in the future, until they're implemented, the old rules apply. However, there's another possibility: the strongest storm a few years ago scared many people, especially here, which was one of the eye of the storm. So now that the situation is clear and the wind has shifted, some people are inevitably hesitant and afraid to act rashly, fearing another storm might come and sweep them away.

At this moment, the chef placed a bowl of rice noodles piled high with beef on the serving counter and called out, "Fellow villager, your noodles are ready."

Chen Fan quickly went over and said, "Thank you."

He picked up his rice noodles, smiled at the two of them, then turned around, found an empty table, and sat down. While slurping his noodles, he watched the young men playing drinking games and engaging in lively conversation.

Although their discussions were somewhat whimsical and far-fetched, they all revolved around the theme of openness.

There's a saying that goes something like this: Humanity's imagination of the future comes from its own understanding of the world.

This is roughly what these people think: opening up means life returning to how it was 20 years ago, or even earlier, where people can sing, dance, drink, and play drinking games, and where private individuals can do business...

Even the big monkey was still shouting, fueled by alcohol, "When I make my fortune in the future, I'll definitely not forget you guys!"

Then came another round of clinking glasses.

Chen Fan ate the spicy beef, grinning and chuckling to himself.

In the early days of reform and opening up, it's fair to say that in most parts of the country, people were busy singing, dancing, drinking, and playing drinking games. As for private businesses, those that were actually active were mostly concentrated in the area from Zhejiang and Fujian to Guangdong.

To focus even more narrowly, we're talking about the regions near Hong Kong and Macau. That's right, we're referring to the first batch of special economic zones: Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou, and Xiamen, and their surrounding areas.

There are naturally special reasons for choosing these places to be designated as special economic zones.

Across from Xiamen lies Taiwan Strait. Even during periods of strict management, fishermen from the other side would come to seek shelter from the storms, facilitating cross-strait exchanges. Shantou's inclusion is attributed to the hundreds of thousands of Teochew people in Hong Kong, as well as dozens of wealthy Teochew individuals.

Shenzhen, needless to say, is separated from Hong Kong by only a river, while Zhuhai faces Macau across the sea.

Several years ago, some daring individuals in these areas started family workshops with the help of relatives who had gone to Hong Kong. In some villages, the entire village participated, either running factories or working as laborers. The most common activity was setting up garment factories, starting with just a few sewing machines, thus forming the rudiments of an industrial chain.

Therefore, when the authorities announced the opening up, this industry chain was like a crocodile surfacing little by little. Once it was confirmed to be safe, it leaped up and swallowed a large part of the market.

In the early stages of any market formation, chaos and disorder are inevitable.

So while young people in other parts of the country were busy dancing disco and listening to Teresa Teng, the young people in these places had already caught up with Hong Kong.

Besides the nightclubs, they were also busy recruiting people, "scalping up territory," and doing other plots common in Hong Kong variety shows and novels...

In comparison, the mainland is indeed more than a decade behind in this regard.

Amidst the surrounding noise, Chen Fan finished his rice noodles in no time.

The food was a bit spicy, and he broke out in a light sweat. He opened his shirt, offered a cigarette to the waiter and the chef, said hello, and then went out to get into his car.

I continued driving in search of a Christmas tree, and a moment later, I found myself at the intersection of Huashan Road.

Suddenly, a thought struck him: what if there were green plants in that newly renovated garden villa?

With that in mind, he turned the steering wheel and headed towards the villa.

Soon we arrived at the place, took out the key to unlock the door, pushed open the gate, and saw a beautiful snow scene in the garden.

In the large garden, which covers more than ten acres, there is a thick layer of snow on the open ground, as if it were covered with a white blanket.

Along the edge of the garden, a ring of bare sycamore trees was planted... That's how tree transplantation is; usually, the branches are cut off, which doesn't look very nice.

But some of them are beautiful.

Inside the garden, there are several pine trees, and in the southwest corner next to the main villa, there is a grove of more than a dozen cedar trees.

Chen Fan clapped his hands, and there he had a Christmas tree!
Driving directly over the "blanket" of snow, several tire tracks appeared in the pristine white snow, stretching all the way to the grove of trees.

Without needing any tools, Chen Fan found a good-looking woman, hugged her trunk, and climbed up the tree. When he reached a branch, he raised his right hand and delivered a chop to the branch, which was as thick as the woman's arm. The branch snapped in two and fell down with a spray of snow.

Chen Fan jumped to the ground, dragged the tree branches onto the vehicle, and then drove back.

A dozen minutes later, I finally got home on Panyu Road.

Hearing the noise, Zhou Yali immediately opened the door and ran out, "Brother, where have you been? I've been waiting for ages!"

Chen Fan parked the car and said irritably, "You've been waiting for ages, and I'm exhausted too. Why do you have to celebrate Christmas? It's easy to buy things, I bought everything at the Department Store..."

He then dragged out a cedar branch and shook it vigorously at her, immediately spraying water droplets at her, which startled Zhou Yali so much that she quickly hid inside the house.

Chen Fan rushed over, holding a tree branch, "Didn't you want a Christmas tree? I cut one down from your villa garden, come and get it."

Zhou Yali looked panicked and dodged around, saying, "Don't come any closer! There's so much water; if you spill it, we'll have to wipe it up."

As Chen Fan entered the gate, he slowed his pace, placed the tree branch at the junction of the living room and dining room, and chuckled, "I've figured it out. You're the kind of person who likes to reap the benefits without sowing, but that's not going to happen today. We agreed before that I'd only be responsible for buying the branches, and you'd handle the rest yourself."

Seeing that he had stopped, Zhou Yali also stopped running and held onto the sofa. She said breathlessly, "I can wrap the gifts myself, but you have to help me fix the Christmas tree."

Chen Fan put the branch on the ground and then walked to the back. "You don't need to tell me this, you wouldn't know anyway."

A dozen minutes later, the cedar branches were secured in a large flowerpot. Zhou Yali circled around it, nodded in satisfaction, then turned and walked to the dining table to begin packing the pile of gifts.

To be honest, she doesn't find this kind of meticulous work annoying at all.

By evening, Chen Fan had brought the two sisters back, and the living room had been completely renovated by Zhou Yali.

(End of this chapter)