Three days passed in the blink of an eye. During this time, Chen Yang, Shen Xue, and the two little ones had explored almost the entire city of Jinling.
In the evenings, he would cook good meals for his parents, much to the enjoyment of his mother, Qin Lifen, who savored the days of not having to cook.
Only Chen Yu sighed, realizing that after experiencing such a life of delicacies, it would be difficult to stomach her mother's cooking again.
It's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury back to frugality!
His elder sister and brother-in-law had already moved into the courtyard by Xuanwu Lake. The unpaved ground in the courtyard had been cleared of weeds and planted with ornamental flowers and young trees.
By next spring, this small courtyard should offer a view of Xuanwu Lake and blooming flowers when one opens the window.
The two little ones had visibly gained some weight. It's said that grandparents can turn even the thinnest child into a chubby one.
The elderly couple doted on their grandchildren dearly, bringing them small snacks and treats every day after work, much to the delight of the two little gourmands.
The children followed their grandparents around like little shadows every day, going for walks and returning with round, full bellies.
Today, Lei Baoguo also had his stitches removed. The wound had healed very well, and he had no problem walking.
Chen Yang went to see him and was surprised to find that the dull fellow seemed to have finally woken up. He and Li Jing had hit it off, and they were now inseparable.
He heard that Li Jing had even taken Lei Baoguo to her home. Although Chen Yang didn't know what had transpired, Lei Baoguo told him one thing when they met: As long as Chen Yang could help him make money, he would go all out, no matter how hard or tiring the work was.
Seeing Lei Baoguo's full of fighting spirit, Chen Yang was naturally happy. As long as Lei Baoguo could protect him and help his business grow, he would do his best to help Lei Baoguo achieve the conditions set by Li Jing's family.
"Dad, Mom, I think we should head back in a couple of days. We've been out for so long, their maternal grandparents must miss them."
After dinner that night, despite his reluctance, Chen Yang discussed their return with his parents.
"You've been back to accompany us for so long, and letting us see the children is enough for us."
"Yangyang, work hard. Xue'er tells me you want to lead your fellow villagers to prosperity. Your mother and I both support you."
"Shenjiaba Village is also like your second hometown. Helping the villagers live better lives would mean you've achieved your purpose for going down to the countryside."
Chen Liming, a typical elder, believed in contributing to the country and the factory after a lifetime of being a worker, and he wanted his son to contribute to society.
"Dad, Mom, you're putting a lot of pressure on me."
"I'll do my best."
"If I can really build a factory in An Province, I can definitely lead the villagers to live no worse than city workers."
Chen Yang chuckled. He had been out for quite some time and it was indeed time to return.
Chen Yang was still technically assigned to An Province, as Zheng Weiguo and Liu Maosheng hadn't returned to the city yet. This trip was made with a letter of introduction under the guise of celebrating his elder sister's wedding.
He had been back for over a week, almost two weeks. August was almost over, and September was fast approaching. It was time to go back.
He wondered how Zhou Jingqiu's experiments with rice-flower fish and wild pond fish fry cultivation were progressing at the commune. His father-in-law's fish procurement activities must have stopped; if not, there wouldn't be many fish left to buy.
What Chen Yang cared about most was Zhang Weiyang. He wasn't sure if the second-hand radio market in Qinghe City had fully expanded yet.
Time waits for no one, and he needed to capture the entire An Province market before the end of the year.
Then Chen Yang planned to establish his own radio factory. Once things got serious, he couldn't just deal in second-hand goods; he had to produce his own products.
At that time, he planned to split into two teams with Zhang Weiyang: one to tackle the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the other to cover Hunan, Jiangxi, Hubei, and Sichuan.
Chen Yang's ideal scenario was to make his debut at the 1980 Canton Fair, launching his own brand of radios, or even televisions.
This was because on January 1, 1980, the Guangzhou Foreign Trade Center announced its establishment, tasked with providing services for the spring and autumn Canton Fairs.
From then on, the Canton Fair shifted from having participating units share expenses to charging exhibitors fees.
In essence, this was a bellwether for China's economic development and opening up to the outside world, encouraging all industries and handicrafts across the country to export and earn foreign exchange, including private enterprises.
Even if goods couldn't be exported, they were encouraged to focus on domestic sales to invigorate the economy.
With this change in nature, private enterprises gained the opportunity to exhibit. In the past, ordinary enterprises wouldn't even qualify to participate in the Canton Fair.
To be able to attend the Canton Fair in this era was itself a symbol of strength. Chen Yang had no intention of competing with state-owned giants who were desperately vying for foreign buyers' favor.
His goal was simple.
It was to use the platform of the Canton Fair to publicize his brand.
The vast domestic market was more than enough for Chen Yang.
After all, starting in 1980, Beijing's Dongfeng TV Factory alone produced 190,000 units, with profits exceeding 8.8 million yuan.
By 1981, this figure grew by over fifty percent, with production reaching a staggering 290,000 units and profits increasing to 12 million.
And this was just one factory, the Dongfeng TV Factory. Not to mention the other three items in the "Four Big Appliances" of the 1980s: refrigerators, washing machines, and tape recorders.
The sheer size of this market was evident in how well Panasonic had done in China back then.
Chen Yang's ambition wasn't grand; he just wanted to capture the domestic market share that Panasonic had once enjoyed.
The Chinese people's money shouldn't be earned by the Japanese. If he succeeded, he would even export his televisions to Japan and earn their money.
Chen Yang felt a sense of urgency. Developing his career in just over a year was no easy feat.
But he couldn't afford to delay; both Panasonic and other major domestic appliance manufacturers had established production lines years ago.
Chen Yang's TV factory and production lines were still only in his mind. If he delayed, the market would be occupied by other brands, making it difficult to snatch a share from them.
However, plans were just plans, and ultimately, their success depended on implementation. Despite his memories of the future, Chen Yang couldn't control every detail perfectly as he envisioned.
The most important things were his wife and children. As for business goals, they were merely a means to earn more money, ensuring that when the era of money arrived, Shen Xue and the two children wouldn't have to suffer any hardships due to material conditions.
And as for making money, no one in this world would ever complain about having too much, and Chen Yang was no exception.