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

Li Ju'an didn't tolerate them. In the past, he would have been afraid of the old man and would have kept a low profile and remained silent. But having lived half a lifetime in two lifetimes, he was not going to wrong himself.

He called Li Xiao over, and together they cleared the dishes from the kang table, saying, "The elderly folks have come all this way, they must have already eaten. How are we going to entertain our guests with these leftover cold dishes? Li Xiao, go pour three kettles of hot water and chat with the elderly folks."

Li Changqing was just about to excitedly pick up his chopsticks from the braised venison when the plate was taken away. His anticipation was dashed, and he felt incredibly frustrated. "Hey, don't take it away! I haven't even touched it yet. Leftovers are still meat. Who wants some hot water?"

The elderly couple looked very unhappy. They tapped their good-for-nothing son with their chopsticks and gave him meaningful glances.

They had indeed eaten before coming, and the old lady even brought Song Lanhua some old clothes she no longer wanted. Yet Song Lanhua still ate Song Lanhua's leftovers? That doesn't sound right.

The old woman could only awkwardly smile and try to save face: "Yes, yes, we've already eaten. Song Lanhua, you can take it back and eat it with the children later."

At this moment, Second Uncle and Second Aunt also entered the door, carrying baskets filled with homemade pickled vegetables and pickled cabbage.

The Li family had three brothers, listed from eldest to youngest as: "eldest uncle, second uncle, and Li's father".

In Li Ju'an's memory, his uncle was the most capable of his brothers. He could manage his younger siblings well; with him around, no problem seemed insurmountable. With him there, the family was united. However, his uncle's weakness was that he was easily influenced and always listened to his wife. He and his father had the same temper; both were quick to anger.

Therefore, after Li's father became bedridden, his mother was bullied by her sister-in-law, and the two had a conflict. As a result, the old man stopped going back to the old house to visit.

At this time, the production responsibility system was assigned to each household. The old man called his second uncle to come to the old house to find his sister-in-law, Song Lanhua, and hold a meeting with the Li family. At the meeting, two points were raised: "The brigade of the village has implemented the responsibility field distribution to each household. We must unite and work together to cultivate the land well. We cannot let outsiders laugh at us or bully us."

"Secondly: Since there is no decent farmer in the family, we must buy two donkeys and a cow so that we can cultivate the land properly."

In the village, if a family has fewer brothers or the brothers are not united, they are easily bullied by outsiders. For example, the Lu family and the Sun family started fighting this year, and the Lu family, with its many brothers, has never suffered a loss.

Second Uncle suggested buying two donkeys and one cow, saying, "I saw that other villages have hand-held tractors, which work faster. Why don't the three of us each chip in 200 yuan to buy a hand-held tractor? If we buy a used harvester, that would be a sensation!"

With the advent of hand tractors and harvesters, there's no need to drive donkeys back and forth to compact the wheat during the wheat harvest season. Plowing and planting crops are much easier, and hauling soybeans during the autumn harvest is also more efficient.

As soon as Second Master entered the door, he saw three kettles of hot water on the empty kang table. He suggested that each family contribute 200 yuan. Second Aunt glanced at him first, her expression saying: Do you think Song Lanhua can afford 200 yuan?

Orphans and widows have no money, and it's not good to be bullied like this. Second Master blinked, meaning he knew, but wasn't he just saying it out loud? Who knows if Li Ju'an will go south or not? If Li Ju'an really goes south to do business as he said before the New Year, then Third Brother's family has no able men, and Li Xiao is a girl who will marry out of the family in the future. When the land is distributed to individual households, won't it be them who get to share it?

The mother, Song Lanhua, was indeed in a difficult position, wringing her hands. 200 yuan was a huge amount at the time, and most people simply couldn't afford it.

The second uncle changed the subject and said, "Sister-in-law, don't worry. You don't need to pay for this part of the money. We'll think of something else later."

Looking at his two respectable-looking uncles, Li Ju'an found it all laughable. In his previous life, after he went south, his two uncles took advantage of his absence to bully his mother and sister, dividing up all the contracted land and leaving his mother only a small vegetable garden, not even enough to grow enough grain for their own consumption. Now, his second uncle's words about "thinking of another way" were just a pretext to use his inability to afford a tractor when he went south to work, hoping to persuade his mother to relent.

Li Ju'an said, "Sell it. If there are good used tractors and harvesters available, we'll definitely buy them. Our family has a lot of people and a lot of land, so machine harvesting is very convenient."

Now it was Second Master's turn to be confused. He glanced around the Li family's old house and, apart from a few more dogs, couldn't see any changes. He inhaled the aroma of meat in the air, then his eyes fell on the sewing machine covered by a cloth on the bedside table. He said, "You're using a sewing machine now? Where did you get the money, sister-in-law?"

The old man left nothing but this old house before he died; his third brother, who was bedridden for years, left nothing but a mountain of medical expenses. Song Lanhua's ability to use a sewing machine was something they couldn't understand.

Mother Song Lanhua could only recount to Second Uncle and Second Aunt the story of Li Ju'an learning hunting from Old Tao. Sure enough, their expressions changed, and they spoke much more cautiously. Second Aunt looked at the two jars of deer penis wine and deer bone wine against the north wall of the west room and tentatively asked, "This wine is really good."

Normally, Song Lanhua would have greeted them with a smile and given them a jar to take back. But this time, Song Lanhua looked at Li Ju'an and said with a smile, "Ju'an is capable, but it's too heartbreaking. He went back and forth in the snow, risking his life to get this wine."

Second Aunt wanted to ask for more wine, but after Song Lanhua said that, she didn't know what to say, and her face turned rather unpleasant.

It's said that even relatives can't see into each other's hearts; they laugh at your poverty but fear your wealth.

Originally, both the eldest and second uncles secretly disliked Li Ju'an, considering his reputation so bad that even rats would run away at the mere mention of his name. Now, seeing that Li Ju'an was capable enough to make a living by hunting, and that they might even get some meat from him if they were lucky, and that if they maintained a regular relationship with him, they'd never lack meat at every meal, the eldest and second uncles beamed with pride, showering Li Ju'an with exaggerated praise.

“We’ve watched Ju’an grow up since he was a child, and he’s definitely going to amount to something.”

“Ju’an was so capable when he was a child. Now that he’s grown up, he knows how to help his family and can set a good example for our relatives. When we talk about him with others, we will feel proud.”

The two families of relatives sat around the kang table, laughing and chatting, while Song Lanhua could only force a smile. Li Ju'an found it amusing. These snobbish relatives, opportunists. He'd lived half his life; couldn't he even see through this?

He simply smiled and nodded. Sometimes, you have to protect your reputation. Even if it means neglecting yourself, you have to consider your future wife and children. A good reputation among relatives will bring honor to your future children.

Second Aunt suddenly became a little hesitant and said to Song Lanhua, "Sister-in-law, actually our family isn't exactly well-off lately, and we probably can't come up with 200 yuan. How about this, if your family is in good financial shape, lend us 50 yuan to cover it, and we'll pay you back next month when our son gets his salary from the factory."

Song Lanhua, the mother, was surprised that her sister-in-law was asking for money. Besides, the secondhand tractor wasn't urgent, and the land allocation hadn't been finalized yet. Why was her sister-in-law borrowing money so early? She knew perfectly well that she was on Li Ju'an's side, and said, "We don't have any cash on hand, we can't come up with it."

Second Aunt exclaimed, "Ju'an is such a good hunter, he's even soaked deer penis and bones, can't you lend him 50 yuan?"

Li Ju'an sighed, walked to the cabinet, picked up the entire pelt of the mountain weasel, shook it, and said, "These mountain products don't necessarily have to be sold. We can use them ourselves if needed."

A single, beautiful, intact tarantula pelt, large enough to be worn as a fur coat. The old lady, always keeping up with the times, had her eye on a tarantula pelt in the city that cost over 2500 yuan. When the salesperson came over and chatted with her enthusiastically, she kept her head down and walked away, not daring to look again. It was simply too expensive; how could an ordinary family afford it? She was afraid the salesperson would look at her even for fear of disapproving her: "Why are you looking if you're not going to buy?"

Now, the wildcat pelt she had been longing for had appeared at Song Lanhua's house, and it was from a poor relative she had always looked down upon. Her emotions were extremely complicated, and she couldn't utter a single word because of the turmoil in her heart.