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

Li Ju'an guaranteed that he would never lend Da Hu to anyone, not even the Emperor himself.

Da Hu, the Qingchuan dog, was lying by the kang table, his chin resting on his front paws, pretending to doze off. Suddenly, his ears twitched twice, and he slowly opened his dog eyes.

Big Tiger listened to that too.

Li Xiao, the younger sister, rubbed Da Hu's fluffy head and said with a smile, "Our Da Hu is the most well-behaved. He would never run off with outsiders."

Big Tiger blinked its ears twice, took another deep breath, rested its chin steadily on its forelegs, and closed its eyes to pretend to sleep.

The next day is the Beginning of Winter.

In the 80s, not stockpiling vegetables meant starving to death—literally starving to death. Then the police and forensic doctors would come and observe, and the conclusion would be, "There was no serious criminal case; this family starved to death."

So in the 80s, the villagers in the family settlement stockpiled vegetables, not just a few hundred kilograms of cabbage, but three thousand kilograms. They had to stockpile a large quantity of 1.5 tons to get through the winter.

We have enough of the main staple, Chinese cabbage, and a few hundred kilograms of potatoes and radishes, and a few hundred kilograms of apples and pears. After December, there are basically no vegetables left to buy in the market. Most of them are frozen products like frozen tofu and frozen pears.

Back when a forestry worker's salary was only 38 yuan, greenhouse cucumbers in the market cost about seven or eight yuan per kilogram. Who would be willing to spend a month's income to buy ten kilograms of cucumbers? They could only start stockpiling vegetables at home.

In the village, a common ailment before winter is angular cheilitis (cracked corners of the mouth). It affects both adults and children, mainly because the diet is too monotonous and lacks certain vitamins.

Aunt Zhang slapped her thigh suddenly and exclaimed, "Oh no! We have to chop the cabbage right away!"

There's an old saying in the Xing'an Mountains: "If you don't harvest vegetables by the time winter begins, you'll surely suffer a loss." This means that Chinese cabbage must be brought home by the time winter begins at the latest, otherwise it will freeze and you won't have any to eat during the winter.

Aunt Zhang hurriedly left the vegetables and eggs in her basket for Song Lanhua and rushed home to chop cabbage, calling several of her nephews to help. Her daughter had married out of the village, and only at the end of the year would her married daughters in the countryside return to their parents' home two months before the Lunar New Year.

Sometimes her eldest and second nephews would come back for a free meal. When her eldest nephew came to his aunt's house, he would immediately sit on the kang (a heated brick bed) and reach out to grab the food he liked. So Aunt Zhang had a very good relationship with her two nephews, and she would always ask them to do any chores.

Upon hearing this, Song Lanhua, the mother, went to the cellar to collect some vegetables for the winter: potatoes, carrots, and Chinese cabbage. Before spring, the vegetables were relatively fresh in the cellar. But after spring arrived, the potatoes sprouted, the carrots grew leaves, and the Chinese cabbage became limp and soggy, with a very unpalatable texture.

The mother called Li Xiao to go and scoop out the pickled cabbage from the vat, but before Li Xiao could answer, Li Ju'an took over the task.

"Mom, I'll go get it. Sister, you eat your food."

Li Xiao eats slowly, dawdling for quite a while, and hasn't finished a single bowl. Li Ju'an, feeling sorry for his younger sister, went to get some sauerkraut.

Getting pickled cabbage in winter is a real "enjoyment." The large vat is almost freezing cold, with ice crystals floating on the surface, and then you fish out two heads of pickled cabbage...

Ugh, that sour and tangy taste was indescribable.

The day of Lidong (the Beginning of Winter) has arrived.

Lijiatun is bustling with activity. Winter fishing, winter swimming, dumplings, sauerkraut stew with vermicelli, and candied hawthorns are all served. Children's laughter fills the air, and villagers gather happily to celebrate the annual Beginning of Winter.

The Lin family had many relatives, making it a lively occasion. Many of the Zhang family's relatives also came, and they gathered together in a cheerful atmosphere. The Sun and Lu families had just had a fight, but that didn't dampen their spirits for celebrating the Winter Solstice and having a family reunion dinner.

Li Ju'an, leading Da Hu, busied himself in the yard, carrying firewood and simmering pickled vegetables as instructed by his mother. His younger sister, Li Xiao, cheerfully brought over a stool so her brother could sit more comfortably.

Although the Li family is small and relatives don't visit often, he feels very warm and content. The fact that the whole family can gather together healthily for the holidays and enjoy each day brings him an indescribable sense of peace.

Yesterday, he brought back some wild boar and roe deer meat, which he had left over. His mother, who is very skillful, has already made the extra meat into cured meat, which they are waiting to use for the New Year.

Song Lanhua heated some salt in a pan, rubbed the meat with the salt, then pierced a hole at one end of the meat, threaded hemp rope through it, and hung the meat to dry for about 3 hours. After that, she took the meat down and marinated it for 12 hours, then hung it in a cool, ventilated place until it was completely dry.

This air-dried cured meat can be eaten after a week. The rich aroma of meat, combined with the fragrance of seasonings, will fill the air with its salty and savory scent if you hang it up for just one day and walk to the window.

Although the Li family's mud house was small, it was very cozy.

While chanting, "If you don't eat dumplings on the day of Lidong, your ears will freeze off and no one will care," Song Lanhua, the mother, led Li Xiao in making dumplings together.

In his previous life, Li Ju'an couldn't cook, and after moving south, he could only eat out. He missed his mother's dumplings terribly. Today, he had the chance, so he quickly went to the kitchen to make dumplings with his mother and sister, and also learned how to make dumplings from his hometown.

The family squeezed into the room with the stove lit, dividing the work among themselves. Li Ju'an, being strong, was in charge of kneading the dough, while his younger sister, Li Xiaoli, being smaller, was responsible for picking and washing the vegetables. Their mother, Song Lanhua, began chopping the vegetables.

The rhythmic chopping sound of vegetables coming from the cutting board was very pleasant to hear, full of the warmth and comfort of everyday life.

Mother chopped and seasoned the meat filling. Li Ju'an rolled out the dough, cut it into pieces, and Li Xiao rolled out the wrappers. Then Mother started the fire and boiled water...

While we were making dumplings, sometimes neighbors would come over and help us.

Aunt Zhang watched Li Ju'an clumsily rolling out the dough, and kept nagging about him.

The neighbors all knew who was better at each step of making dumplings and who was less skilled. So Li Ju'an had a reputation in the village, but it wasn't a compliment, nor was it a mockery; it was just friendly banter.

Li Ju'an laughed heartily and said, "Practice makes perfect. The dumpling wrappers I make myself are more chewy, and the meat filling I chop myself is more fragrant."

In the days when everyone made dumplings by hand, before machines could roll out the wrappers, the wrappers were more chewy than those made by machines in later generations, and the filling was more fragrant than that made by machines.

Besides Aunt Zhang, Old Zhang from the security team of the hunting party and Li Guaizi also came to visit Li Ju'an. These two also lived in the family village.

Old Zhang can't do any work, but he can chat with Li Ju'an.

"Little Li, you have no idea what that beating you got during your exams was like. My good-for-nothing son only got 6 points on his midterm, but he wrote a 6 in front of it and turned it into a 66. I even praised him."

Old Zhang slapped his thigh in anger, getting angrier the more he thought about it: "I only found out later when the homeroom teacher came to my door. Don't you think I deserved to be beaten?"

Li Ju'an nodded as he cut the noodles: "He really deserved to be beaten. We can't let a child grow up crooked."

Old Zhang felt he had met a kindred spirit and couldn't agree more: "Absolutely! He made me so angry my liver hurts, I have to give him a good beating!"

Li Guaizi had no son, but he had an adopted nephew.

By sheer coincidence, his nephew and Old Zhang's son attended the same school in the village and were even classmates.

He laughed out loud and teased Old Zhang: "Don't be so rough. If you hurt the child with your broken hand, you'll have nowhere to cry."

Old Zhang retorted, "Anyone can make sarcastic remarks. If your nephew did this, would you be able to hold your temper?"

Li Guaizi glared and shouted with great force, "I can really hold my temper! We're all reasonable people. If I don't do well on the test, I'll correct it."

Old Zhang snorted coldly: "Our son got second to last place. Don't you even know who got last place?"

Who came in last place?

"It's your nephew, Li Man."

Li Guaizi's eyes widened suddenly, and his face immediately darkened. He stood up and walked out, his sour face looking like he was about to beat someone up, and no one's words could sway him.

Aunt Zhang tried to stop him, and earnestly advised, "Alright, alright, it's just a test for the child. It's all about talent. Let the child do what they want. Like my daughter back then, she took tests every day but never got 200. She would always get 99 points, even if she only got one question wrong. I didn't say anything, did I?"

Li Ju'an grinned, showing his big teeth: "Aunt Zhang, are you stirring things up?"

Li Guaizi was already seething with anger and even more frustrated. He shouted, "Get out of the way, all of you!"