Reborn in 80: Starting with hunting in the mountains to get rich

The village has changed dramatically in recent years.

A main road was built at the village entrance, and the road through the barley fields was widened. Li Ju'an received a large sum of compensation for the demolition of his dry land.

The compensation he received from the demolition was the highest in the village, which made the Sun family very envious.

Sun Weimin married a girl from the next village. He married late and had children late as well. While Li Ju'an and the other women's daughters were almost in junior high school, Sun Weimin's daughter was only in daycare.

Several people laughed at him, saying, "You've had a daughter late in life! She's a real treasure. A true treasure."

Sun Weimin was quite happy.

Ever since hunting was banned, all of the Sun family's guns were confiscated. Only Sun Quande secretly kept a rifle as a memento. This old-fashioned rifle was a coming-of-age gift left to him by his father, the old man of the Sun family, when he was still alive. Sun Quande kept it and secretly shed tears.

Sun Weimin often saw his father, Sun Quande, sitting in the house, gazing towards the mountains, secretly wiping his face, always reminiscing about the days of hunting in the mountains. But now, in the mountains, there's a Class II protected animal every few steps, and after crossing a few more hills, there's a Class I protected animal. Hunting any of these animals would land him in jail for life, so Sun Quande didn't dare to do anything.

Sun Weimin sighed, wanting to tell his father to take it easy. Times are always moving forward, and the tide will sweep through every household.

Sun Quande cursed him, saying, "You're just talking without understanding the situation. You try it and see."

Sun Weimin wasn't having any of it. His father was criticizing him, but he just kept criticizing him. He said, "So what? We're free people who run our own businesses in the mountains. If we don't run our own businesses, we can still do small business with Li Ju'an. If you ask me, the factory workers are the ones who are in the worst situation. Take Lu Jinyang for example. If he hadn't gone out to do business with Li Ju'an's breeding farm, he would have been laid off too."

What layoffs?

"He was fired! Lu Jinyang almost got fired, but his wife has already been fired."

Starting in 1996, a wave of layoffs gradually began.

The first state-owned enterprise to manufacture explosion-proof equipment declared bankruptcy, and large factories such as flax mills and bearing factories laid off tens of thousands of workers, sparking sit-in protests. Approximately 40 employees of state-owned enterprises in Tiexi District were laid off on a massive scale.

Over the past few years, workers in the Xing'an Mountains region lived in constant fear and anxiety, yet they were powerless to stop the wave of layoffs. The more panicked the workers were about the layoffs, the more ferocious and intense the wave of layoffs became. Two years later, the Xing'an Mountains region became a major area affected by the layoffs, with nearly 1900 million fewer employees.

Later, Lu Jinyang was also dismissed.

Qian Dingxiang also used her connections to get her son a job in a state-owned enterprise, but he was also laid off.

Qian Dingxiang found Song Lanhua and, after entering the city, hugged Song Lanhua and cried with tears streaming down her face: "We went through so much trouble to get this good-for-nothing brat in there that year, hoping to hold onto a secure job. Who knew he'd be fired so easily? What are we going to do with this family? Our grandson was just born, and our daughter-in-law is demanding money. How are we going to survive without money?"

Qian Dingxiang has been unable to work for the past few years, and she can no longer operate the sewing machine. The small workshop was sold off long ago, and now the only able-bodied person in the family, her son, has been laid off, plunging the Qian family into hardship.

Song Lanhua was at a loss. She had never worked in a factory or a state-owned enterprise. But she knew that all the women who had done handicrafts in the commune were now in dire straits.

"What should we do?"

"What else can we do? We have to go out and find a way out, otherwise we'll just be waiting to die, and who will help us?"

In the past, young people in the village were leaving, as were young people in the county town and the city. Everyone had the same thought in their minds: to go out, to venture out, to go to new places, and to gain new opportunities.

Over the years, Chen Xiangqian's business has grown bigger and bigger, but Li Ju'an has not expanded into more industries, but has only focused on the original industries.

As his honey farm expanded, Old Wang's son, after being fired from the factory, took over his father's technical skills and came to help at the honey farm. Li Ju'an also hired several experienced workers to take over several branches of the honey farm.

Honey produced in his region can be found in department stores in Shanghai.

Li Changqing's internet cafe was a resounding success.

Li Ju'an didn't have much time to visit his cousin. But every time he came, he noticed changes in Li Changqing. Li Changqing had made money from his internet cafe, bought a car, got married, and had children.

Li Changqing would return to his hometown to visit his parents during holidays. Later, he brought his parents to live with him, and the two families visited each other frequently, becoming very close.

It wasn't that he didn't want to bring his parents out sooner, but his parents said they weren't used to city life and felt constrained. Now that they're not very mobile, they really have to rely on their son.

The old man and woman's attitude towards Li Ju'an also changed drastically. During the more than ten years that Li Changqing was imprisoned, Li Ju'an took care of the old man a lot, treating him like a son.

The old man, now with white hair and a hunched back, walked with small steps, looking every bit like an elderly person. He praised Li Ju'an to everyone he met, and his words came from the bottom of his heart. Neighbors who didn't know him thought he had two sons and praised him for his good fortune. The eldest son read it, then the younger son read it.

The old man sighed and said to Li Ju'an, "Ju'an, I've figured out what I've lived through most of my life. I've lived it all with clarity. It's just that I feel guilty towards the third son and towards your third branch of the family in the past."

Li Ju'an also sighed, forcing a smile as he said, "What are you talking about, sir? Everyone lives the same life, right? As long as you understand it, that's good enough."

He's doing well now. Li Changqing is doing well too.

Li Ju'an had a void in his heart, which was filled, leaving him feeling at peace and without regret. Having lived two lives, he had accomplished this, and he had also helped Li Changqing accomplish it. The two were as if they had overlapped.

When Li Ju'an returned home, he heard his mother, Song Lanhua, calling for Li Xiao to help pick vegetables.

Lin Mei, the daughter-in-law, brought the dishes to the table, wiped her hands on her apron, and called out, "Honey, wash your hands first when you get home. We'll take Nannan to her tutoring class later; she needs to practice the piano."

Li Ju'an beamed with joy and exclaimed, "Okay, wife!"

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