Reborn in 1981, starting by smashing my iron rice bowl.

In just a short while, the old lady arrived at the stall, frowning and complaining, "Young man, why haven't you set up your stall these past few days? I've made several wasted trips!"

Liu Weidong was still unsure what the old woman meant, so he cautiously replied, "I've been quite busy these past few days, going to the countryside to collect raw melon seeds. Is there something you need that you were looking for me in such a hurry?"

"Hey, what else could I possibly want from you? Of course, it's to buy sunflower seeds!" the old lady exclaimed. "My little grandson loves your creamy sunflower seeds! He ate them all in just one day after I bought them. He's been nagging me about wanting more delicious sunflower seeds these past few days, I'm so annoyed with him!"

It turned out to be a false alarm, and Liu Weidong secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He then smiled and said, "I'm really sorry to have made you come all this way for nothing. How much are you planning to buy this time?"

"Two jin of cream-flavored seeds and one jin of five-spice-flavored seeds!" The old lady ordered three jin of sunflower seeds right away, and Liu Weidong earned four yuan and fifty cents from his first sale of the day.

"Okay, please wait a moment!" Liu Weidong replied, quickly weighing out the melon seeds and wrapping them in newspaper.

As usual, he grabbed an extra handful and handed it to the old lady, saying with a smile, "But I still have to remind you, although sunflower seeds are delicious, you can't let children eat too many at once, or they might upset their stomachs!"

The old lady said in surprise, "You young man, you're selling melon seeds but you're reminding children not to eat too many. You're such a kind person!"

Liu Weidong smiled and said, "Customers are our bread and butter, so of course we should think more about them. It's what I should do."

The old lady nodded repeatedly in appreciation and left with the melon seeds, satisfied.

After the first sale brought in by the old lady, Liu Weidong quickly became busy. More and more customers came to inquire about the sunflower seeds. Although they all felt the price was a bit expensive, most people would buy some to take away after tasting them.

After all, for people in this era, various flavors of melon seeds are still a novelty. Even if the price is a bit high, it's acceptable; everyone wants to buy some to take home for family and friends to try.

People always have a herd mentality, so more and more customers gathered in front of Liu Weidong's stall, surrounding him in layers, all clamoring to buy melon seeds.

Liu Weidong had to weigh, inspect, and collect money all by himself, working up a sweat even in the dead of winter, without even having time to catch his breath.

In just half a morning, over 100 jin (50 kg) of sunflower seeds were sold out. Some latecomers, having missed out, stared at Liu Weidong, asking when he would be back at his stall.

Liu Weidong said he would be setting up his stall more often recently to satisfy customers who hadn't managed to buy any melon seeds. He then hurried back to his rented courtyard, eager to tally up his earnings for the day.

Apart from a few large bills of five or ten yuan, Liu Weidong received mostly small change. It took him quite a while to sort through all the money, and he missed the era of electronic payments in his previous life.

Fortunately, the money was all his own, so Liu Weidong didn't find it troublesome to count it. He was also very satisfied with the final result; the more than 100 jin of sunflower seeds brought him 236.7 yuan!

His daily income is almost equivalent to half a year's wages for an average worker, making him a definitely high-income earner these days. With that much money, who needs a secure job?

However, today's experience also served as a reminder to Liu Weidong that it was time to find a helper. Otherwise, he would be too busy to manage both roasting melon seeds and running the stall by himself.

He definitely needed to find someone trustworthy to help him, and Wang Shujuan was probably the person Liu Weidong trusted most. However, this girl was too timid and too honest, and in the current climate, it would be quite difficult to ask her to help with the business.

So after much thought, Liu Weidong decided to ask his childhood friend Hao Jianjun for help.

This kid's friendship with Liu Weidong goes without saying; he even took a knife for him in a past life, so he's completely trustworthy. Besides, he's not cunning or greedy like some people, and he's not stupid either—the best choice for a helper.

After deciding to ask Hao Jianjun for help, Liu Weidong didn't delay and went straight back to the village to find him.

As soon as Liu Weidong arrived outside Hao Jianjun's house, he heard his father, Hao Qiang, scolding his son: "How many times have I told you, stay away from that brat. He's a spendthrift who would sell his secure job. What future can you expect from following him?!"

Hao Jianjun retorted, unconvinced, "Dad, that's all outdated thinking! Brother Weidong said that a secure job is useless now. He sold this spot to raise some kind of start-up capital. Right, seed money. He's going to do something big in the future!"

"Pah! What career could be better than a secure job?" Hao Qiang didn't believe his son at all. He smoked his water pipe and said, "You young people just love to brag. You want to do something big? You're lucky if you can even support yourselves!"

Liu Weidong didn't take Hao Qiang's comments to heart. After all, judging from his past performance, selling his secure job was indeed a wasteful act, and it was normal for others to say such things.

Liu Weidong pretended not to hear anything and knocked on Hao Jianjun's door: "Is Jianjun home? I need to talk to him!"

"Hey, it's Brother Weidong!" Hao Jianjun cheered and immediately went to open the door.

"Hello, Uncle Qiang!" Liu Weidong greeted the elder first, and then got straight to the point: "Actually, I came to ask Jianjun to go to the county town to do odd jobs, just for the month before the Spring Festival. I wanted to ask him if he would be willing to go."

Hao Jianjun knew that Liu Weidong wouldn't cheat him, so he immediately nodded and said, "Yes, of course I'm willing!"

Hao Qiang thought about it more carefully. After taking a few puffs of his hookah, he said, "Anyway, there's not much work to do in the fields right now. It's not bad to do odd jobs and earn some pocket money. It's just... I wonder how much the employer will pay?"

Liu Weidong held up one palm and said, "This number!"

"Five yuan a month?" Hao Qiang put down his water pipe and pondered, "Although it's not much money, but..."

Before Hao Qiang could finish speaking, Liu Weidong smiled and said to him, "Uncle Qiang, it's not five yuan a month, it's five yuan a day!"

"What?!" Hao Qiang stood up in surprise, not even noticing the water pipe he knocked over on the table. He stared at Liu Weidong and asked, "Five yuan a day? That's... 355 yuan a month, 150 yuan! Weidong, you're not kidding, are you?"

These days, even a regular worker in a state-owned factory only earns a little over forty yuan a month. Earning more than three times that of a regular worker in a month of odd jobs is no wonder Hao Qiang doesn't believe it.

Liu Weidong laughed and said, "Uncle Qiang, I guarantee I can get that much, and it's definitely not illegal!"

Hao Qiang had watched Liu Weidong grow up and knew that although he often acted recklessly, he had never cheated anyone. Since he dared to make such a guarantee, there definitely wouldn't be any problems.

Hao Qiang picked up his water pipe, took a few puffs, and said earnestly to Liu Weidong, "Weidong, thank you so much for remembering Jianjun when something like this happens. But... I know my own son best, so I can't let him go!"