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

The item displayed in the shop window was, in fact, a refrigerator!

Although this single-door refrigerator may seem somewhat rudimentary from a modern perspective, it has all the basic functions a refrigerator should have!

Just a few days ago, Liu Weidong was thinking of installing an air conditioner. Since he can't buy an air conditioner right now, he might as well get a refrigerator instead, which can at least alleviate some of the summer heat.

Seeing Liu Weidong staring at the refrigerator in the shop window, the scalper immediately introduced it to him: "Brother Weidong, this is a new product from the Friendship Store. Although it looks like a box, it's actually..."

Before the guy could finish speaking, Liu Weidong casually asked, "Young man, how much does this refrigerator cost? Do you have any in stock?"

"Cough cough..." Mao Tou almost choked on his own, coughing for a while before asking, "Brother Wei Dong, do you know what this is?"

Liu Weidong nodded indifferently: "Although this refrigerator is a bit small, it's better than nothing. I plan to buy one for home."

"Tsk tsk, that's impressive!" The scalper gave Liu Weidong a thumbs up and said, "This thing isn't cheap; it costs over a thousand foreign exchange certificates. Not many people are willing to buy it, so we have some in stock!"

"That's good!" Liu Weidong nodded in satisfaction. "I need to keep some foreign exchange certificates to buy a refrigerator. Let's round it up to 40,000! Can you handle that?"

Seeing another big deal coming his way, Mao Tou beamed and said, "Yes, absolutely! Same as always, I'll go get the money now, just wait for me!"

After a while, Liu Weidong had more than 56,000 yuan in his pocket. After depositing the cash into the bank, he took the remaining foreign exchange certificates into the Friendship Store.

After buying a large amount of food and household goods as usual, Liu Weidong went to the appliance counter and said to the salesperson, "Hello, I want to buy a refrigerator."

The sales clerk remembered the customer who had bought several electric fans and didn't think Liu Weidong was joking. She quickly said to him, "Hello sir, the price of the refrigerator is 1,600 foreign exchange certificates."

"I'll take it!" Liu Weidong didn't waste any words and directly counted out sixteen foreign exchange certificates with a face value of one hundred and placed them on the counter.

Soon after, two sales clerks enthusiastically helped Liu Weidong carry the refrigerator to the entrance of the Friendship Store.

The scalpers who had been waiting outside rushed up to Liu Weidong and said with envy, "Hey, Brother Weidong, you actually bought some! You're going to have a great summer, with unlimited chilled beer!"

Liu Weidong said with some worry, "I was a bit impulsive when I bought it. I live in the suburbs, and how to transport such a big thing back home is a problem."

"Hey, you can come to me about this!" Mao Tou immediately patted his chest and said, "I'll help you find someone. As long as you're willing to pay, I'll take you anywhere, even the suburbs or Shanghai!"

Although Liu Weidong can't be said to be extremely wealthy now, he has quite a bit of money in his hands, and immediately decided to have a scalper help him arrange transportation.

This guy truly lived up to his reputation as a local bully. He went to the public phone booth across the alley and made two calls. Not long after, a Dongfeng truck arrived.

Liu Weidong said with some surprise, "Young man, you're amazing, you can even call a truck."

Mao Tou chuckled and said to Liu Weidong, "Old Li is the factory driver. He's always free anyway, so he comes out to earn some extra money. Just give him twenty or thirty yuan, and I guarantee I'll deliver the refrigerator to your door safely!"

For Liu Weidong now, a freight fee of twenty or thirty yuan is perfectly affordable. He quickly agreed on a price with the driver, loaded the refrigerator and other items he had bought onto the truck, and then sat in the driver's seat and headed back to the village.

These days, apart from hand tractors, almost no motor vehicles go into the village. So when the truck slowly drove into the village, it immediately attracted the attention of many people.

After inquiring, everyone learned that the truck was delivering something to Liu Weidong's house, which surprised them even more. What good things had Liu Weidong bought that required a truck to deliver them? They had to go and see!

So more and more villagers followed the truck along the way, and when they arrived at Liu Weidong's house, the road was packed with people; half the village had come.

With so many onlookers, Liu Weidong didn't even have to lift a finger; everyone helped him carry the refrigerator into the house.

Things that need to be transported by truck are definitely not ordinary items, so the young men moving the refrigerators were extremely careful. They were handling them like precious porcelain, afraid of damaging or breaking them—they certainly couldn't afford to pay for it themselves!

Liu Weidong paid the freight to driver Lao Li, directed him to drive the truck onto the main road leading out of the village, and then went home to prepare to unpack the goods.

The villagers who had been watching the spectacle were getting impatient, and Hao Jianjun couldn't help but urge Liu Weidong, "Brother Weidong, what's in such a big box? Hurry up and open it so everyone can see!"

Without wasting any words, Liu Weidong opened the cardboard box in front of everyone. When everyone saw the refrigerator painted with light green paint, they all looked puzzled.

Wang Shujuan also carefully examined the new furniture, her charming eyes sparkling with curiosity; she looked incredibly adorable.

Hao Jianjun circled the refrigerator, looking at it for a while without any clue. He couldn't help but ask loudly, "Brother Weidong, why did you buy a metal cabinet? Why are there electrical wires in the back? Does this cabinet need electricity to work?"

Liu Weidong replied helplessly, "This isn't a cabinet, it's a refrigerator!"

"Refrigerator?" Hao Jianjun still looked puzzled, opening the refrigerator door and looking inside again. "There's no ice in here, so why is it called that?"

"It needs to be plugged in to get cold. Don't just look at it, come and help me!" Liu Weidong instructed his childhood friend to move the refrigerator to the corner with him, plug it in, and turn it on. The refrigerator immediately started humming.

"Hey, it's reacting!" Hao Jianjun nodded, but quickly asked Liu Weidong, "Brother Weidong, why is the refrigerator still not cold?"

Liu Weidong frowned and said, "What's the rush? Even a refrigerator needs time to cool down. Come to my house tonight, and I'll treat you to an ice-cold beer!"

"Haha, then I won't be polite!" Hao Jianjun happily agreed, but he didn't rush to leave, still squatting in front of the refrigerator waiting. It seemed that this kid wouldn't leave until the refrigerator stopped cooling.

In fact, many villagers, like Hao Jianjun, were waiting to see if the refrigerator would actually keep cold. Refrigerators are indeed a rarity these days, so it's no wonder everyone was so curious.

A large group of people waited at Liu Weidong's house for over an hour. Hao Jianjun finally lost his patience and opened the refrigerator door to touch it. He immediately exclaimed with a joyful expression, "It's cold! It's really cold! Haha, this refrigerator is amazing! It truly lives up to its name!"