Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 772 Cannot Be Filmed

Seriously, when the Shekou Industrial Zone was first established, it didn't even have a planning exhibition hall.

It's not that they lacked planning schemes or plans, but rather that they failed to integrate planning with promotion.

For example, the most common model room display in the real estate market in later generations was built by Vanke in 1989, when the first model room in China was built on the construction site.

It's not that there weren't model rooms before; there were. In fact, Hong Kong had model rooms as early as the 70s. In 81, China Overseas Land & Investment brought this model to Shenzhen and created the first community with model rooms.

However, what they built was just a model room, not a "promotional model room".

The difference between the two is that a show flat is a pre-decorated unit selected from a building that is about to be sold and displayed to customers, while a promotional show flat is a separate unit built before the foundation of the building is even dug, for customers to visit and choose from.

Chen Fan is now reminding President Yuan that while the Shekou Industrial Zone is still a wasteland, they should first create a "model house".

Chen Fan opened the folder again and pointed to the simple map of the reception area, saying, "For example, on the wall of the entrance hall, make a large-scale planning diagram, marking out where the dock is, where the industrial area is, where the dormitory area is, and where the living area is with different colors, so that people can see it at a glance."

Compared to Shekou, which is still a wasteland and mudflats, do you think it's better to let guests see the soil or the planning map for a more intuitive experience?

Mr. Yuan suddenly realized and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Your suggestion is excellent. We wouldn't have thought of that."

He looked up at Chen Fan excitedly and said with a smile, "I knew it! Coming to ask for your opinion wouldn't be a wasted trip."

Chen Fan waved his hand and said, “It’s different. You guys do the practical work, thinking about how to do things well and better. I’m the writer, thinking about how to make an ordinary thing sound wonderful and a great thing sound earth-shattering. That’s the role of publicity.”

Mr. Yuan, what you are doing now is actually a groundbreaking thing. Although there are many voices that are not optimistic, there are also people who support your cause, such as the cadres who are willing to be transferred here to do management and the workers who participate in the construction site. They are all fellow travelers.

If it's inconvenient for you to promote Shekou on a large scale, then you might as well focus your publicity efforts inside the industrial park...

He pointed to the folder and laughed, “A reception area can be your propaganda platform. You can put your development philosophy, planning outline, and even your slogans into it so that more people can see your spirit and role.”

Mr. Yuan nodded repeatedly as he listened. After Chen Fan finished speaking, he couldn't help but sigh, "Everyone says I'm bold, but I think you're more than ten times bolder than me, and you're even more confident than me."

Chen Fan smiled without saying a word. The total assets of the Shekou Industrial Zone in the future will reach more than 800 billion yuan, and the annual turnover will reach more than 100 billion yuan. Since the 1980s, it has been a representative of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. Until the late 1990s, many migrant workers from the mainland went to Shenzhen to work, and their final destination was Shekou. Only when they could not find a job in Shekou would they try their luck in other places.

Moreover, starting in the early 80s, almost all top leaders would personally visit Shekou.

Whether in terms of economic or political status, it can be said to be unique.

He certainly had confidence in such a place.

After pausing for two seconds, Chen Fan wanted to make another suggestion, but he swallowed the words back.

There's nothing else to it. The main reason is that he's not very familiar with President Yuan, so giving a few suggestions is enough. Saying too much would make them seem incompetent.

If it were in Lujiawan, Chen Fan wouldn't care about all that, and Secretary Yang and the others wouldn't mind either. They would just wish they could hollow out Teacher Chen's brain and leave it all for Lujiawan, without any complaints whatsoever.

Seeing his expression, Mr. Yuan immediately picked up the teapot and poured him tea himself, while smiling and saying, "Writer Chen, you are a skilled writer and one of the most outstanding young writers in our country. You are quick-witted and extraordinary. Please give me your advice if you have any good suggestions."

I, Lao Yuan, am not an ungrateful person. If the Shekou Industrial Zone truly succeeds one day, I will certainly not forget your contributions.

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan quickly waved his hand, "You're too kind, you're too kind."

He paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "I do have another idea, but this thing is quite common in the United States and Hong Kong, and it has never been used in mainland China. I just don't know if you would dare to use it."

Although we have now opened up and reformed, the concept of liberating our minds has been discussed for many years.

The question of whether something is capitalist or socialist cannot be resolved in a single meeting.

However, this has now become an excuse for Chen Fan to cover up his actions.

He hadn't intended to say it, but since President Yuan had already brought it up, he decided not to hide it any longer.

When Mr. Yuan heard his words, he showed no fear and laughed, "The US dollar is the most common currency in the United States, and we treat it like a treasure, don't we? As long as it's a good thing, I dare to use it."

Chen Fan immediately laughed and said, "You know what a war sand table is, right? But have you ever seen a real estate planning sand table?"

Upon hearing this, General Manager Yuan suddenly realized, "You mean, we'll use a sand table to create a model of the Shekou Industrial Zone?"

Architectural sand table models didn't first appear in Shenzhen until 1988, but in Hong Kong, as early as the beginning of the 20th century, Ho Tung, then Hong Kong's richest man, had already used them in real estate projects on Hong Kong Island.

Upon hearing Chen Fan mention this, President Yuan immediately remembered it.

He clapped his hands vigorously and laughed, "This is a great suggestion. Using a sand table model for construction is much more intuitive than a blueprint."

As for who can build architectural models, there's no need to ask; Hong Kong has them.

However, a building model is not cheap. Mr. Yuan began to secretly consider how to apply for special funds from above.
……

It was already past 9 p.m. when we saw Mr. Yuan and his group off.

Chen Fan then held a short meeting with Wang Jianguo and the others, instructing them on what to do and how to do it during this period, and how to contact him or directly seek help from the site manager if they encountered any problems.

This is one of the reasons why Chen Fan frequently tried to curry favor with President Yuan and offered them suggestions.

To maintain a semblance of goodwill, the people from the investment promotion bureau had to give Wang Jianguo and his group some face and provide appropriate assistance, so that Chen Fan could leave with peace of mind.

After agreeing with Liao Guangzhi to meet at 8 a.m. the next morning, have breakfast, and then return to Guangzhou, Chen Fan went back to her room with the two sisters.

Since he had to get up early the next morning, Chen Fan didn't stay up late. He just worked hard until midnight and then went to sleep.

As for the two sisters?
Although they were very sensitive to heat and had sweated profusely, they were so exhausted that they fell into a deep sleep without even taking a shower, going to bed earlier than Chen Fan.

The next morning, the three of them got up early, washed up, changed their clothes, went downstairs to meet Liao Guangzhi, had a Cantonese dim sum breakfast at Xin'an Restaurant, and then left Shenzhen with Wang Jianguo and the others watching them go.

It seemed that the return trip was always shorter than the way there. Around 1 p.m., I arrived at Baiyun Airport and just caught my flight to Shanghai.

After another half-day of hassle, I finally drove the minivan parked at the airport back to my home on Panyu Road in the evening.

Chen Fan parked the car at the gate, took out a black plastic box slightly larger than a matchbox, pressed the red button on it, and the gate to the yard immediately slid open to both sides.

This is the automatic door that Yunhu Machinery Factory specially sent someone to install for him in April. The black remote control was imported from the United States. Currently, infrared remote controls are mainly used in mechanical equipment and are relatively expensive. It wasn't until after 1980, when semiconductor devices that can send and receive infrared rays were developed, that they began to become widespread.

The most widely used application is the TV remote control.

So don't be fooled by its small size; it's packed with high-tech features.

After marveling at the advanced technology of the Americans, Chen Fan drove the car into the yard and pressed the remote control again, and the gate closed automatically.

He got out of the car, glanced back at the two sisters who were still fast asleep, but didn't wake them.

First, I opened the door and went inside with my luggage, threw it on the low cabinet, then went outside and carried both of them in at once, placing them on the sofa.

Only then did the two of them groggily wake up.

Jiang Tiantian opened her eyes, looked at the familiar living room, then at herself, immediately sat up, and said to Chen Fan, "Why didn't you wake me up?"

He rolled up his sleeves and walked toward his luggage, saying, "You rest for a bit, I'll unpack your things."

Jiang Lili yawned as well, got up and walked towards the kitchen, saying, "I'll go cook."

Chen Fan quickly grabbed one of them and pulled them upstairs. "Why bother cooking? You two take a shower and enjoy the air conditioning in your room. I'll go to the Jinjiang Hotel and get some food to go... Their food is the only decent one..."

He chattered on and on, then led the two upstairs to the second floor.

Jiang Tiantian and Jiang Lili smiled helplessly, tidied up their luggage, and plugged in the electric water heater. After the luggage was tidied up and the water was heated, they took their clothes to the bathroom.

Chen Fan went downstairs again, first called Jinjiang Hotel to order food, and then drove out to pick up the food.

Does this count as self-pickup of takeout?

However, it must be said that since Shanghai completed the installation and line renovation of the 10,000-line program-controlled exchange, it is now much more convenient to make phone calls. In addition, following Shanghai and Guangzhou, Zhou Zhengdong arranged for the capital of Jiangnan Province to be renovated in the third batch. Now the construction in the capital has been completed. In the future, if Chen Fan wants to make a phone call from the capital, he will not have to wait for half a day. Instead, he can make a call at any time, just like in the 1990s.

When he returned with a stack of lunchboxes, Jiang Tiantian and Jiang Lili had already finished showering and were enjoying the air conditioning in their room on the second floor.

On such a hot day, he naturally wouldn't call them down for dinner. Chen Fan carried the lunchbox upstairs and let them eat first, while he went to take a shower.

When he came out of the shower, the two of them sat down to wait for him. Jiang Lili even went downstairs to get him a few bottles of wine.

Seeing him enter, he pointed to the wine on the table and asked with a smile, "Would you like to drink yellow wine, red wine, or white wine today?"

Since Zhou Yali had already left and there were no outsiders at home, Chen Fan, wearing only shorts, swaggered over and sat down, saying to her, "I want to attend the wedding banquet."

Not to be outdone, Jiang Lili immediately blushed and poured two glasses of baijiu, placing one in front of Chen Fan and handing the other to Jiang Tiantian, saying with a grin, "Come on, you two drink."

Jiang Tiantian glared at her, took the wine bottle and poured her a glass as well, saying, "If anyone's going to drink, you should drink first."

Seeing that things were about to escalate again, Chen Fan finally took his cup and clinked it against each other's, saying, "Together, together."

As the saying goes, when people are well-fed and clothed, they think of entertainment. After a good meal and a quick clean-up, the three of them started playing games.

I came back to Shanghai from Guangdong hoping to have a few good days, mainly because whether I went to the provincial capital, Yunhu, or Lujiawan, none of them were as peaceful as this place.

So for several days in a row, the three of them didn't leave the house except for going out to buy groceries once.

Of course, he wasn't always playing games. Chen Fan took some time to finish writing "Small Town People" and then wrote another novel, "Youth in the Flames of War," about the war in Southwest China, waiting to finish it when he returned to Jiangnan.

As for the story to be given to Xiaoben in August, the first part of "Saint Seiya" has already been written.

The reason for such high efficiency is thanks to Zhou Yali's brilliance here, which made it impossible for Chen Fan to do anything but work.

As a result, I could only frantically write, and I ended up writing the fourth, fifth, and sixth parts of "Legend of the Dragon Knight" ahead of schedule.

This time, Zhou Yali took them all with her, and then, following a release schedule of one book every six months, she decided to publish the third book first.

A week passed in the blink of an eye. Chen Fan spent his days discussing poetry, romance, and martial arts with the two sisters, which finally made him feel relaxed and refreshed, and he was willing to go out.

……

On the morning of July 18th, Chen Fan sat in the driver's seat, took the draft handed to him by Jiang Tiantian, and said with a smile, "Don't worry, I've read this article. It's no worse than your book 'Where Flowers Bloom.' Harvest magazine will definitely accept it, and maybe they'll even give you an award next year."

Jiang Tiantian smiled and said, "This is the first novel I wrote myself. I'm very satisfied that it was published. Nothing else matters."

After visiting Shenzhen and witnessing its vibrant energy, as well as the construction and planning of the Shekou Industrial Zone, she was deeply moved. Drawing on some news stories she had read before, she wrote a short story about reform.

At that time, there were not many writers who dared to write this type of novel, mainly because once they did, they would be labeled.

It's important to understand that the Writers' Association is not a monolithic entity. Although there's no problem with the overall direction, there are many doubts about how to proceed, so some people naturally won't easily express their opinions.

Otherwise, there wouldn't have been that brief brief briefing three years later.

Jiang Tiantian's current willingness to write and submit articles to Harvest magazine is influenced by Chen Fan.

She stood wherever Chen Fan stood.

However, she forgot that even Chen Fan, despite openly and secretly expressing his support for the current reform and opening up, had not yet officially published any articles on this topic.

On the contrary, her action forced the label onto Chen Fan.

After all, who doesn't know that she is Chen Fan's loyal supporter, or even possibly his personal student?

Chen Fan was well aware of this, but he simply didn't care.

He is who he is, so there's no harm in labeling him; he'll be labeled sooner or later anyway.

The main issue is that he has a bit of a headache right now.

In Ba Jin's office, he sat opposite Ba Jin, and before he could even hand over the manuscript, he heard some terrible news: "Shanghai Film Studio can't make 'Monk Comes Down the Mountain,' why?"

(End of this chapter)