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

"Ouch, Brother Weidong, what are you doing? You almost made me hit you!" Hao Jianjun immediately shouted, "It's okay if I get hurt, but if the car is damaged, that would be terrible! This thing is my old man's treasure. If it gets even a little bit damaged when we get back, he'll skin me alive, you believe me?"

Liu Weidong frowned and said, "Why are you talking so much nonsense? If you damage it, I'll buy you a new one!"

"Oh, just kidding, you actually took it seriously!" Hao Jianjun quickly smiled apologetically and asked curiously, "Brother Weidong, why did you suddenly stop?"

Liu Weidong gestured with his chin toward the street: "Look, popcorn, my sister loves it, buy some for her to take back!"

Hao Jianjun was stunned and stared at Liu Weidong without saying a word, as if there were flowers on his face.

Liu Weidong asked, puzzled, "Why are you staring at me like that, like you've seen a ghost!"

"No, Brother Weidong, I feel like something's off about you." Hao Jianjun asked with a puzzled look, "You weren't like this before. You never had a nice word to say about Sister Shujuan, let alone buy her food. Could it be that you've been too tired and sick these past few days, and you're delirious from the fever?"

As Hao Jianjun spoke, he reached out to touch Liu Weidong's forehead to see if he really had a fever.

"Go away!" Liu Weidong slapped Hao Jianjun's hand away and said, "I was young and ignorant before, but now I know I shouldn't have treated my sister like that. I admit my mistake and will correct it, okay?"

“Okay, of course!” Hao Jianjun nodded repeatedly, and after hesitating for a moment, he continued, “Actually… to tell you the truth, everyone thinks you’ve been too harsh on Sister Shujuan. She’s really been good to you, and you shouldn’t have hit her.”

Although Hao Jianjun was pointing out Liu Weidong's faults, he wasn't angry at all. His decades of life experience from his previous life had taught Liu Weidong that only true friends would speak the truth and point out his shortcomings to his face.

So when faced with Hao Jianjun's criticism, Liu Weidong sighed and said, "You're right, that's why I have to be nicer to my sister!"

For people in the early 1980s, sweet popcorn was a treat only available during the Lunar New Year. At that time, people would go out to the streets to make popcorn for others. You would give them rice or corn, pay them a small processing fee of one or two cents, and you could enjoy delicious popcorn.

However, Liu Weidong didn't bring any rice, so he had to buy two jin (1 kg) of rice from the stall owner first. After paying six mao (0.6 yuan) and two jin of grain coupons, with a loud bang, Liu Weidong received a large bag of popcorn.

Liu Weidong gave half to Hao Jianjun, and the two chatted and laughed as they went home.

When Liu Weidong arrived home, Wang Shujuan had already prepared dinner. He immediately checked the food and was pleased to find that there were several slices of meat and a scrambled egg in the dishes.

Although Liu Weidong felt this amount of meat was far from enough, it was already a significant improvement for Wang Shujuan, showing that she still listened to Liu Weidong.

Just as Liu Weidong was nodding to himself, Wang Shujuan hurried into the kitchen, saw him, and said with a big smile, "Weidong, when did you get back?"

"Just got home." Liu Weidong replied with a smile, handing Wang Shujuan some popcorn: "I brought you some of this."

"Wow, popcorn! Weidong, thank you!" Wang Shujuan exclaimed softly after opening the package, her joy overflowing.

Looking at Wang Shujuan's beaming face, Liu Weidong was quite moved. Just a bag of popcorn could make her so happy; this girl was so easy to please!

Thinking of this, Liu Weidong smiled and said, "Alright, let's eat first, and then we'll have popcorn."

The two enjoyed their dinner together. Wang Shujuan then tidied up the table and ate popcorn, her eyes crinkling into crescents with delight.

For people these days, snacks are a luxury. Let alone adults like Wang Shujuan, even children rarely get to eat snacks more than a few times a year. And the fact that Liu Weidong bought the popcorn for her made her even happier!

Seeing Wang Shujuan's happy face, Liu Weidong's mood improved as well, and he said to her with a smile, "Sister, how about we kill a chicken to eat tomorrow?"

"Huh?!" Wang Shujuan was taken aback, forgetting even to eat her popcorn, and said cautiously, "But...but the Spring Festival is still a month or so away, isn't it a bit too early to kill a chicken now?"

In the rural areas of that era, chickens were only slaughtered for food during the Lunar New Year. Although every household raised chickens, they were mainly for laying eggs. Even if an old hen stopped laying eggs, it would be taken to the market to sell for a few coins. Who would slaughter a chicken for food on a regular basis? Only a spendthrift would do that!

Liu Weidong laughed and said, "Sis, now that we're rich, we should eat well. Otherwise, what's the point of making so much money? It's decided then and there. We'll kill a chicken tomorrow and have some good food together!"

Wang Shujuan said with difficulty, "But...but all the chickens at home are laying eggs, it would be such a waste to kill them!"

Liu Weidong said nonchalantly, "Then let's go to the market to buy it. I think a chicken only costs five or six yuan, which our family can easily afford. I can earn it back by selling a few pounds of melon seeds."

Wang Shujuan had a sudden inspiration and said, "Oh right, I heard from Aunt Zhao next door that one of her chickens has stopped laying eggs and she's planning to sell it. Why don't we buy it from her? Maybe we can get a discount."

Liu Weidong said, "Alright, you can make the decisions. Old hen soup, oh my... just thinking about it makes my mouth water!"

Since his rebirth, Liu Weidong has lived a simple life, with the best meal he's ever had being dumplings. No wonder he's been craving meat.

After deciding what to eat tomorrow, Liu Weidong began to tally up his earnings from selling sunflower seeds that day. He sold about two hundred pounds of sunflower seeds, earning a total of three hundred and six hundred and fifty cents!

Earning so much money in just one day made Wang Shujuan feel like she was dreaming! Now she finally believed that Liu Weidong's decision not to go to work at the machinery factory was indeed the right one.

However, what surprised Wang Shujuan was yet to come. Liu Weidong pulled out a whole bunch of tickets and coupons and said to her with a smile, "These were all given to me by my teacher today. Sister, you can keep them for now. You'll need them later."

"Okay, okay!" Wang Shujuan readily agreed, feeling a heavy burden on her shoulders.

These tickets are worth a lot of money. We must find a safe place to hide them and make sure no one steals them!

Wang Shujuan didn't sleep well all night. In the end, she stuffed the tickets and money into a piece of clothing and put the clothing at the bottom of the camphor wood chest before she felt a little relieved.

The next morning, Liu Weidong and Hao Jianjun hurried to the county town. He had an industrial ration coupon in his pocket, intending to buy a bicycle. After all, he would be coming to the county town frequently in the future, and he couldn't keep borrowing his neighbor's bicycle.

The two arrived at the state-run shopping mall in the county town and soon spotted a row of brand-new bicycles in a prominent location.

Hao Jianjun immediately ran over and shouted, "Brother Weidong, which one are you planning to buy?"

Before Liu Weidong could even speak, a saleswoman next to him sneered, "Ha, two country bumpkins want to buy bicycles? How ridiculous!"