Two days later, opposite the state-run department store in Liuhe County, the Meng Hui Radio Liuhe County branch opened.
With the groundwork laid by the fertilizer plant's stall-selling endeavors, the opening day business immediately boomed.
Over thirty units were sold in a single day. Zhang Weiyang, without pausing, transported the second-hand radios collected from Liuhe County to Qinghe City. The units that had been repaired in the past few days were all sold out at once, and the supply was tight.
Fortunately, not many people took cars back then, and for a few yuan, the attendant and driver turned a blind eye, allowing him to bring the goods aboard.
There was no other way; they couldn't get a car yet, nor could they afford one, so this was the only option.
By the end of July, the fish-buying business was also nearing its end. Now, only about a thousand catties were collected daily. Chen Yang had completely handed the operation over to his father-in-law.
Unexpectedly, his father-in-law was quite enthusiastic about it. He bought fish in the morning and, with his free time in the afternoon, used the money earned from selling fish to dabble in grain for winemaking.
Chen Yang was very encouraging about this. The next few decades would be a peak period for the development of Chinese white liquor. His father-in-law's venture into winemaking might even lead to something remarkable.
After all, with his family's heritage, his father-in-law had a passion and dedication for winemaking. Even if it wasn't for profit, making him happy was worth the expense.
"Daddy, Grandpa Tu caught little rabbits."
Chen Yang was planting fruit trees in the yard. It should have been done in early spring, but Chen Yang hadn't been reborn then.
Now that the house was built and the yard wasn't paved with concrete like in later generations but was still dirt, he decided to follow Elder Tu into the mountains to dig up some wild date tree saplings and pomegranate trees to plant. In a few years, there would be fruit to eat.
"What, Yanyan wants to raise a little rabbit?"
While digging for the saplings, they stumbled upon a nest of rabbits. Elder Tu had blocked three holes and captured the entire rabbit family. The Elder was returning with Chen Yang, carrying the saplings, and was seen by the two little ones.
Indeed, although they weren't the white pet rabbits of later generations, their gray fur was quite smooth and they looked rather cute.
Chen Yang thought his precious little "cotton jacket" wanted to raise a rabbit.
"Daddy, brother says rabbits are yummy."
The little girl tilted her head and looked at her dad. She hadn't eaten rabbit before. Rabbits were cuter than chicks, and roasted chicken was so delicious.
Since rabbits were so cute, they must be delicious too, right?
"Dad, I want to eat roasted rabbit."
Chen Hao was much more straightforward; he just wanted to eat rabbit meat.
Looking at the expectant eyes of the two children, Chen Yang was taken aback.
Didn't children usually find bunnies cute and then cry to their parents not to kill them, begging to raise them?
Why did the situation seem a bit off with his children?
"Haha, Yang kid, the children like to eat it. This big one is for you. We'll roast it later for the kids to try."
"I'll take the smaller ones back to raise. These animals grow fast and can give birth to a litter in a few months. If you want to eat them later, just come to my place and catch some."
Elder Tu looked at the expectant faces of the two children and couldn't bear to refuse. He quickly gave the fattest rabbit to Chen Yang.
And so, after finishing planting the fruit trees, Chen Yang set up a fire to roast the rabbit.
He brushed on some honey water given by Elder Tu and sprinkled some chili powder ground by his mother-in-law. It must be said, the roasted rabbit meat was truly fragrant.
Each of the two children got a rabbit leg, their mouths greasy. Even the father-in-law tore off a small piece of meat and had a bowl of wine.
"Daddy, the rabbit is so delicious."
"Dad, I think I can eat another rabbit leg!"
The little girl and Chen Hao were still not satisfied. If it weren't for fear of indigestion, Chen Yang wouldn't have dared to let the two children eat more. Otherwise, the two of them might have eaten the entire rabbit.
"Wife, why are our two children such little foodies?"
Facing the two children whose faces clearly showed "I'm not full" and "I want more," Chen Yang was both amused and exasperated.
"Mmm."
"This rabbit meat is indeed quite delicious. It's no wonder the children like it."
Shen Xue, asked by Chen Yang, almost choked as she chewed the roasted rabbit meat.
Chen Yang quickly helped her catch her breath.
"No one's snatching it from you, what's the hurry?"
Looking at Shen Xue, whose mouth was also glistening, Chen Yang felt like he was starting to understand something.
Under his gaze, Shen Xue blushed deeply, feeling a little embarrassed.
The roasted rabbit was really too fragrant; she wasn't being greedy.
"I saved the legs for you. There's the most meat on the legs."
Of the rabbit's four legs, two were given to the children, one to the father-in-law for drinking, and the mother-in-law didn't eat rabbit meat. Shen Xue tore off meat from the remaining leg and fed it to Chen Yang.
She herself only tore off a little meat from the neck and back. Watching her nibble on the bones, Chen Yang pinched his wife's rosy, pretty face.
This silly woman, who clearly loved rabbit meat so much, still saved the best leg for him.
She was still like before, always scooping the thickest congee for him to eat. Whatever was delicious, she'd save it for him instead of eating it herself.
"I'll just eat the meat from the belly. You eat the rabbit leg."
Chen Yang brought the rabbit leg to Shen Xue's mouth, but she refused to open it.
"It's for you to eat. You've been busy for so long, and the children and I have eaten. You haven't had a bite yourself."
But this rabbit meat was truly fragrant. After saying this, Shen Xue involuntarily swallowed.
"Okay, I'll eat."
"Silly girl, we can eat together, can't we?"
Seeing Shen Xue's persistence, Chen Yang knew that this silly woman always put him and the children before herself.
Chen Yang took a bite and offered it to Shen Xue's mouth. Looking at him, Shen Xue then took a bite with a blush.
"It's so delicious."
...
August 10th, a date many people in the future would remember.
The Qinghe City Administration for Industry and Commerce was officially established. Zou Chenguang, as the director of the Municipal Management Committee, participated in the entire process of its formation and served as its first director.
The first item on the agenda after the establishment of the Administration for Industry and Commerce was to discuss whether to issue business licenses for individual industrial and commercial households.
The members of the Administration for Industry and Commerce, drawn from the Municipal Management Committee, Municipal Finance Bureau, and Municipal Taxation Bureau, all had some idea about this matter.
After all, the Meng Hui Radio store opposite the municipal state-run department store had created such a stir. How could the opening staff of the Administration for Industry and Commerce not pay attention?
For so many days, no one from the Municipal Management Committee had intervened, nor had the Public Security Bureau arrested anyone on charges of speculation and profiteering. No one was foolish; the intention from the higher authorities was already very clear.
Therefore, the meeting smoothly passed this agenda item.
That is, with Meng Hui Radio as the pilot business, private individuals would be allowed to open individual industrial and commercial households and do business throughout Qinghe City.
The meeting affirmed the legality of the private economy in Qinghe City but stipulated that individual industrial and commercial households needed to obtain business licenses issued by the Administration for Industry and Commerce.
They would also have to pay a certain amount of taxes to the state based on their turnover, be supervised by the Administration for Industry and Commerce, and were forbidden from substituting inferior goods for superior ones or defrauding the people's property.
On this day, Chen Yang brought his whole family to Qinghe. He and Zhang Weiyang, wearing sharp polyesters shirts and leather shoes, with large red flowers pinned to their chests.
The first individual industrial and commercial business license in the country was issued on the spot by the Qinghe City Administration for Industry and Commerce to the Meng Hui Radio store.
On this day, the Meng Hui Radio store was packed with customers. The one hundred repaired radios that had been prepared in advance sold out, achieving a single-day sales of over five thousand yuan, and directly paid five hundred yuan in taxes to the Qinghe Municipal Government on the spot.
This was a historic day. The photograph of Chen Yang and Zhang Weiyang jointly holding the individual industrial and commercial business license would later appear in history textbooks.
And the negative of this precious photograph would be displayed at the future headquarters of Meng Xue Group, preserved forever as the beginning of the group!