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

Liu Weidong was actually willing to pay five yuan per load to buy soil from the mountain. This is not just wasteful, it's insane. No matter how rich you are, you can't afford to spend like this!

The decaying leaves on the mountain are practically free; they can be transported down the mountain with just a little effort. Who would spend money on that? So many people think Liu Weidong is joking and wouldn't spend so much money to buy soil that's readily available on the mountain.

However, no matter what most people think, there's always someone who's the first to try something new. After finishing their work in the fields, two energetic young men decided to take a chance and carried two loads of soil up the mountain to Liu Weidong's private plot.

Hao Jianjun was getting bored while waiting, and the arrival of soil finally cheered him up. After confirming that the soil was up to standard, he immediately gave the two men ten yuan.

The two young men were immediately excited. Without looking back, they turned and went up the mountain, each carrying two more loads of soil down before dark. And Liu Weidong didn't disappoint them; each of them earned another ten yuan!

The two young men were overjoyed to have earned fifteen yuan in just a short time, and they went home beaming with happiness.

This kind of thing couldn't be kept secret forever, and soon most of the villagers knew about it.

Liu Weidong actually kept his word and was willing to pay five yuan for a load of soil, shocking everyone. This kid is too extravagant; he really spent a lot of money on soil. He'll ruin his family sooner or later!

Although everyone was secretly laughing at Liu Weidong, even more villagers went up the mountain to dig soil after work the next day. The money was just too easy to earn; no one wanted to miss such a good opportunity.

So, just two days later, Hao Jianjun told Liu Weidong that the sixty loads of soil he wanted had arrived.

Liu Weidong hadn't expected everyone to be so enthusiastic about moving the soil. He quickly went outside to check and, sure enough, saw a large pile of soil in his private plot.

Liu Weidong grabbed a handful of soil and examined it. It was indeed genuine leaf mold. He smiled and said to Hao Jianjun, "Well done. Here's your pay. Whether you give it to your dad or not is up to you!"

"Haha, give him half, I'll keep half for myself." Hao Jianjun happily took the money, then lowered his voice and told Liu Weidong, "Brother Weidong, there are quite a few older people in the village who have a problem with you about carrying soil, so you'd better be careful."

These words puzzled Liu Weidong. He spent a lot of money to hire people to carry soil. What did it have to do with the elderly people in the village? Why were they dissatisfied?

Liu Weidong's doubts were quickly answered. As soon as he got home, Aunt Zhao from next door stopped him and asked, "Weidong, did you really pay five yuan a load for soil?"

Seeing Liu Weidong nod in agreement, Aunt Zhao frowned and said, "Weidong, it's not that I'm criticizing you, but this is a bit unfair! Only young people can do the job of carrying soil up the mountain. It's such a pity that we older folks can only watch such a good opportunity slip away!"

Now Liu Weidong understood why the elderly woman was dissatisfied, so he said cheerfully, "Aunt Zhao, don't worry. There will be jobs suitable for the elderly in a while. I'll ask you to come and help out first. What do you think?"

Aunt Zhao then became happy and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Okay, then I'll wait for your good news!"

After saying that, Aunt Zhao was about to go home, but then she slapped her forehead and said, "Look at my memory! There's a letter for you from the village committee. I brought it back to you."

After thanking Aunt Zhao, Liu Weidong, holding the envelope, was quite moved. Decades later, hardly anyone writes letters anymore; communication is mostly by phone and WeChat, and sending an email is considered very formal.

This letter also reminded Liu Weidong that he had truly returned to the early 1980s, a time when even landline telephones were extremely rare.

However, while marveling at the situation, Liu Weidong was also curious about who would write to him. So he quickly opened the envelope and saw the first line of the letter: Dear Liu Weidong.

Liu Weidong immediately guessed who had written to him. Apart from that Frenchman Pierre, no one would use such a cheesy opening in a letter these days.

So Liu Weidong quickly read the letter and found that the final signature was indeed "Your most loyal friend Jean-Pierre".

"Ugh, this Frenchman's handwriting is really ugly!" Liu Weidong couldn't help but complain about Pierre's handwriting, but the contents of the letter still made him very happy.

Pierre told Liu Weidong that he had sent samples of matsutake and truffles to his French counterparts, who were very satisfied with the quality and price of the two types of mushrooms and expressed their willingness to buy them.

Meanwhile, Pierre has already completed the export procedures, and now he is just waiting for Liu Weidong to supply these two ingredients, as much as he can get, the more the better!

The French also made a request: from now on, only dried matsutake mushrooms will be accepted. Fresh matsutake mushrooms spoil easily during transport, resulting in significant losses. However, Pierre stated that he wouldn't let Liu Weidong suffer losses and would raise the price of dried matsutake mushrooms to 200 yuan per kilogram.

Matsutake mushrooms don't contain much moisture; it takes about four pounds of fresh mushrooms to dry into one pound of dried mushrooms.

So Liu Weidong was quite satisfied with the price. He smiled and put away the letter, muttering to himself, "It's been a while since I've been to Gonggeng Village. I'll go there tomorrow and tell Village Chief Ma that I only want dried matsutake mushrooms from now on."

The next morning, after feeding Wangcai, Liu Weidong rode his bicycle to Gonggeng Village. There, he found a large crowd gathered in front of the village committee, where a heated argument was taking place.

Gonggeng Village is a major source of matsutake mushrooms and truffles, so if something goes wrong here, it will have a significant impact on Liu Weidong. Therefore, he quickly parked his bicycle and rushed to the edge of the crowd to see what was causing their argument.

To Liu Weidong's surprise, the person arguing was Ma Yongxian. This kind-hearted man was always thinking of the village and had secured many benefits for the villagers after meeting Liu Weidong. It was quite strange to Liu Weidong that someone would argue with him.

The man arguing with Ma Yongxian was a middle-aged man with shifty eyes and a cunning look on his face. Liu Weidong had seen this guy a few times before; he was also a villager from Gonggeng Village, and his name seemed to be Huang Dafu.

At this moment, Huang Dafu was in high spirits, his voice even louder than Ma Yongxian's, and he pressed him relentlessly, showing no respect for the village chief.

This made Liu Weidong frown secretly. Ma Yongxian was, after all, the village chief. For a mere villager to dare to press him so relentlessly was simply too much. Since this guy dared to break ties with the village chief, he must have something big on his mind. It seemed he wouldn't give up until a winner was decided!

With this in mind, Liu Weidong listened to the two arguing for a few more minutes, and then he was surprised to find that the reason Ma Yongxian and Huang Dafu were arguing was actually himself!