Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 713 The Biggest Backer
In less than an hour, the house was completely transformed, even cleaner than when he left a month ago.

The water was heated up, and the four of them took turns bathing and changing clothes. Even the two little monkeys and two raccoon dogs followed suit and got thoroughly cleaned.

After Chen Fan finished washing up and got dressed, he checked the time and it was not yet 4 p.m.

He turned and walked into the master bedroom, where three girls were sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) chatting around the kang table.

Chen Fan didn't go over either. Standing at the door, he said, "You guys take a rest. I'm going to check on the school. I'll buy some groceries on my way back and cook dinner at home tonight."

The three nodded and waved, but no one spoke.

Chen Fan smiled, turned around and went out, closing the door behind him.

The six women did a great job, even cleaning the car inside and out. Chen Fan didn't treat them badly; giving them money wasn't appropriate, so he gave each of them a box of chocolates. They were overjoyed and practically skipped away when they left.

Zhou Yali sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) and watched Chen Fan's car drive away through the window. She asked curiously, "It's so late, what is Xiao Fan doing at school?"

Jiang Lili smiled and said, "Xiao Fan's school is very close to here, much closer than his workplace."

He then pointed to the small hill across the lake outside the window, "Look, that's the school where he's doing his postgraduate studies now, Jiangnan University. It's the best school in Jiangnan Province and ranks among the top in the country, on par with prestigious universities like Peking University, Tsinghua University, Nankai University, and Fudan University."

Zhou Yali nodded slowly, her gaze fixed on the small hill not far away. "So it's that close?"

Jiang Tiantian picked up her teacup, took a sip of water, and said with a smile, "I heard from Xiao Fan that this used to be a wasteland..."

She recounted the origins of the community like a story, and then laughed, "Just by chance, this place developed into a community, and many supporting public service units opened their stores here."

After listening to her words, Zhou Yali rested her chin on her hands, squinting thoughtfully. Real estate development was one of the Zhou family's main businesses, so she was naturally familiar with it. Recalling Chen Fan's actions, this was a typical case of commercial real estate development.

Choose a target group as the market, and then customize real estate products for this target group. The project includes comfortable housing, amenities to attract residents, medical institutions, educational institutions, commercial centers, etc., and then use these as selling points to sell off-plan properties to other groups.

As long as there is housing demand in the market, this model can be repeated and replicated again and again until the market is saturated.

The challenge lies in ensuring the availability of the first batch of supporting commercial facilities.

This is also the core of this model. Chen Fan managed to leverage the connections of several veteran comrades to complete the first step. Subsequently, as the number of residents increased, the relevant units would simultaneously increase the number of storefronts at certain milestones.

If this were in the US, it would probably require using financial resources. My dad's trading company can provide a certain amount of commercial support for the community, including a small community supermarket, so the main issues to address are medical institutions and school resources.

When Zhou Yali stretched her face until it was red, she had already formed a real estate development outline in her mind.

Real estate development in the United States has mainly gone through three stages. The first stage was at the end of the 19th century, which can be considered the nascent stage, mainly involving building houses for sale. The second stage was from the beginning of the 20th century to before World War II, during which some of the prototypes of modern real estate had already emerged.

The third and most important stage was from the end of World War II to the end of the 20th century. Almost all modern real estate development models took shape during this period, which was also the time of the most significant and rapid changes.

It may be hard for many to believe, but shortly after the end of World War II, the most common type of housing built in the United States was temporary housing communities for veterans.

Built with the cheapest materials and at the lowest cost, these houses resembled detachable prefabricated houses. They were only one story with an attic, square like boxes, with no toilets, the kitchen inside the rooms, the faucet at the door, and the open space outside the door used as a place to dry clothes... They were practically like refugee camps.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yali suddenly thought of the famous "Levitton Community".

After World War II, the United States experienced an unprecedented baby boom, with 340 million babies born in 1946 alone.

As families grow, the cost of living rises, making it increasingly difficult for people to afford the high rents and prices in urban areas, forcing them to move to the suburbs.

The Villettes saw this opportunity and bought a 7-square-mile (18-square-kilometer) farm on Long Island, New York. They then used their company to replan and redevelop the farm, naming it Levitton.

During World War II, American factories focused on manufacturing wartime necessities such as airplanes and artillery. However, by the 50s, they refocused on manufacturing consumer goods, employing new methods they had used in the war, such as assembly lines. As a result, factories were able to produce a wide variety of materials for home use at unprecedented speeds.

The Villettes used this method: they hired a large number of workers with no construction experience, taught each of them a specific house-building skill, and then put them together to create a kind of house assembly line.

It's basically a prefabricated house, and the raw materials are mostly wood.

This novel method of house construction standardized and streamlined the construction process, greatly improving construction efficiency. At its peak, an average of one house was completed every 16 minutes.

These houses are naturally very affordable, with a log cabin costing only $7000, not much more expensive than a regular family car, and veterans can choose to pay with zero down payment.

As a result, homebuyers naturally flocked to the market.

This place was later recognized as the first modern suburban community in the United States.

(Levitton Community)

However, despite the construction of seven shopping centers in the community, other supporting facilities were still lacking. It wasn't until later, as the population grew, that companies began to recognize the opportunities and gradually established medical, educational, and other institutions.

In the end, the Levitton community is somewhat similar to this place, but they attract people with low prices, while this place has amenities built at the same time as the houses, which is obviously more advantageous if it is to be developed as a commercial project.

There is another similar example.

As early as 1952, Paris, France built the world's first commercial complex, "La Défense," which included five core functions: retail, business offices, hotels and restaurants, apartments and residences, and comprehensive entertainment, becoming a modern urban area that integrates office, business, shopping, living and leisure.

However, their investment costs are also exceptionally high.

In contrast, the real estate development model that Chen Fan had borrowed from later generations gave Zhou Yali considerable inspiration.

It doesn't have the high investment of a large-scale commercial complex, nor is it as simple as the Levitton community, yet it is more attractive than the Levitton community.

Several key components of the real estate industry—residential real estate developers, the residential market, corporate management, and related financial services—are still in a relatively developing stage. Sometimes, a small inspiration can lead to a completely new model.

Zhou Yali has now grasped this new model.

First, acquire a cheap piece of land that no one wants, then develop real estate at low or even zero cost, and carry out sustainable and orderly development. Perhaps, a single project can be operated for decades.

If Zhou Yali's major in university hadn't been something other than real estate management, she would have wanted to write a professional thesis.

Now, she just wants to write down this idea and see if she can find a place to conduct an experiment after returning to the United States.

……

Zhou Yali shook her head, thinking that she could have a good talk with her father after returning to the United States; he would probably be interested. Lost in thought, Jiang Tiantian waited a while, seeing Zhou Yali holding her face and not speaking, seemingly lost in thought, so she tilted her head and looked at her softly, "Yali, Yali?"

Zhou Yali snapped out of her daze and turned her head sharply. "Huh? What's wrong?"

Jiang Tiantian, "What are you thinking about?"

Zhou Yali rubbed her face and laughed, "It's nothing. I was just thinking, I didn't realize Xiao Fan lived so close to the school."

She then looked at Jiang Da, a hint of doubt flashing in her eyes, "But is it really necessary for him to go to school as soon as he gets back? Does he also have to take final exams? But didn't he say that he wouldn't have to take exams anymore?"

"no."

Jiang Lili laughed from the side, "It's mainly because Xiao Fan published a very important paper, and he probably wants to go back to school to express his gratitude to his teacher."

"paper?"

Zhou Yali's curiosity was piqued again. "What paper?"

Speaking of Chen Fan's thesis, Jiang Lili couldn't sit still any longer. She got off the kang (a heated brick bed) and said, "I'll go get it for you to see."

……

Chen Fan had no idea that the two sisters were trying to make him famous, but the fact that their target was his cousin made it seem a little strange.

He drove out, made a slight turn, and entered the Jiangda campus.

The campus was already on winter break, and there weren't many people left. It was deserted everywhere. He didn't go to the teaching building, but instead went to the oldest teachers' apartment.

This is a two-story red brick building, originally built in the 20s, with a history of more than fifty years.

Professor Xu has lived here since he entered Jiangnan University, for about thirty or forty years.

As soon as I drove the car to the gate of the yard, someone came over and asked, "Where are you from? What brings you here?"

Chen Fan took out a cigarette and handed it over, smiling, "Hello, I'm looking for Professor Xu Zurui. I'm his student, Chen Fan."

The man, who had been keeping a straight face and was about to refuse, showed a hint of surprise when he heard it was Chen Fan. He took the cigarette from him and said, "Please show me your identification."

Chen Fan immediately took out his student ID and handed it over.

You need to have the appropriate permit for the type of place you're going to.

The man took the certificate and looked at it. His expression immediately softened. He returned the certificate and then pointed to the middle of the first floor, "Room 106 is it. Just drive your car in and park it on the side of the road."

Chen Fan thanked him, drove into the courtyard, and then got out of the car with the gifts.

I walked up to number 106 and gently knocked on the door. A woman in her forties opened the door.

This is the nanny that Professor Xu's workplace assigned to her.

After the announcement, the aunt let him in without asking any questions. He assumed that Professor Xu was always so open with his students, so he carried his things inside.

This dormitory has a two-bedroom, one-living room layout. The outermost room is the kitchen and bathroom, the middle room is the living room, and the innermost room has two bedrooms, one on the left and one on the right.

Both doors were open; the left one was the bedroom, and the right one was the study.

At this moment, Professor Xu was writing in his study... not with a pen, but in front of a computer, skillfully using one-finger typing, typing non-stop. Conservatively estimated, he could write 50 words per minute, which is even more impressive than a certain online author in later generations.

Chen Fan placed the gift on the coffee table in the living room, swung his hand, and walked in, clicking his tongue in amazement, "Wow, teacher, your computer typing is really something else."

Professor Xu heard the noise, turned around and looked, and when he saw it was him, he hummed twice and laughed, "Of course, one is never too old to learn. You young people are allowed to use computers, but we old folks can't type?"

Chen Fan pulled up a chair, sat down opposite him, and bent down to look at the computer screen. "What's this?"

Professor Xu didn't shy away from the topic and said, "This is the third paper."

Chen Fan was somewhat surprised, and immediately turned his head with wide eyes, "The third one?"

So fierce?
He took off his reading glasses and put them aside, put on a different pair, and looked at him, saying, "Your paper gave us a lot of ideas. I've only written three, while Professor Liu and Professor Xi have already written their fifth."

Chen Fan opened his eyes, blinked hard a few times, and didn't know what to say.

Seeing his expression, Professor Xu chuckled and said, "Actually, many things are just a matter of a thin layer of paper separating them. Once that layer is revealed, inspiration will flow like a spring."

We old folks have spent our whole lives doing research, and we have a lot of things stored up in our heads, but we just lack a thread to connect them all.

With your paper as a starting point, writing a few articles would be a piece of cake.

Hearing this, Chen Fan had no choice but to admit defeat.

At such an advanced age, to be able to write several papers with ease, even with prior knowledge as a foundation, is actually... quite simple.

He had witnessed this when he was studying with his teacher; Professor Xu's knowledge was astonishing, and he could recall almost anything from ancient times to the present with ease.

Although his main profession is Chinese studies, his knowledge is not limited to Chinese studies.

He knows things like the development and technology of woodworking, the production process of blue and white porcelain, ancient military strategy, and ancient musical scores.

Previously, they simply hadn't connected these things. Now, Chen Fan has given them a new research perspective, and when they look at this knowledge again, they will naturally have many different insights.

After a moment of reflection, Chen Fan raised his head and said seriously, "I must thank you, teacher, for recommending my paper to a prestigious journal, which has made this scoundrel famous..."

Before he could finish speaking, Professor Xu waved his hand with a smile, "Don't worry about these things. You have the ability, so I'm willing to build this bridge for you, and the other party will be happy to accept it. Otherwise, I won't embarrass myself, and the other party won't agree so easily."

Then he looked at him and smiled, "So, if you want to thank someone, thank yourself. You must always remember, 'As heaven maintains vigor through movement, a gentleman should constantly strive for self-improvement.' You are your greatest support."

(End of this chapter)