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

Ma Yongxian thought for a moment, then nodded repeatedly in admiration: "That's a great idea! How come I didn't think of that before! Especially what you said... yes, sustainable development, that makes so much sense! I'll tell everyone about it later!"

Since he was already there, Liu Weidong decided to take all the dried matsutake mushrooms that Ma Yongxian had collected back with him. Just as he had said, the production of dried matsutake mushrooms had decreased significantly recently. After so much time had passed, there were only about fifty catties of dried matsutake mushrooms left in total.

The yield of truffles, on the other hand, is relatively stable, remaining at around seven or eight pounds. After all, without a hunting dog like Wangcai, finding truffles depends entirely on luck, and you can't expect to find a lot.

Liu Weidong paid the bill according to the agreed price, then asked Ma Yongxian with a smile, "Village Chief Ma, I heard from our village chief that starting this year, the village doesn't necessarily have to hand over crops; it can be converted into cash instead. Is that true?"

Speaking of this, Ma Yongxian was also a little embarrassed. He frowned and told Liu Weidong, "The town did issue a notice, but as you know, the most famous specialty of our Gonggeng Village is sunflower seeds. These things are probably not as easy to sell as grain, so we will probably still mainly hand over sunflower seeds."

Liu Weidong pondered for a moment and said, "In that case, the village will probably suffer a lot, won't it?"

"There's nothing we can do about it. The village planted so many sunflowers, and now it's too late to switch to rice!" Ma Yongxian shook his head helplessly and said to Liu Weidong with a wry smile, "Fortunately, we can still make some money from dried matsutake mushrooms to supplement everyone's income, otherwise... I, as the village chief, really wouldn't know what to do!"

Seeing that the time was ripe, Liu Weidong said unhurriedly, "Village Chief Ma, actually, cash crops like sunflower seeds are more profitable than grains and vegetables. Would you like to consider selling all the sunflower seeds in the village to me in the fall?"

Ma Yongxian was taken aback and exclaimed, "Sell it all to you? That's tens of thousands of catties!"

“I know, I want them all!” Liu Weidong said unhurriedly. “As for the price, do you remember the price I paid you for sunflower seeds before last Spring Festival? It won’t be lower than that price. What do you think?”

Ma Yongxian immediately became agitated, staring at Liu Weidong and shouting, "Comrade Liu, you're not joking with me, are you?"

“Village Chief Ma, you’re a serious person. How could I joke with you about something important?” Liu Weidong also became serious, casually pulling out a wad of ten-yuan bills from his pocket. “Here’s two thousand yuan. Consider it a deposit for the sunflower seeds. I’ll come back with cash to buy them after the village’s sunflower seeds are harvested. What do you think?”

Ma Yongxian said happily, "That's great! If we can sell the melon seeds at such a good price, everyone's life will be much better!"

Liu Weidong smiled and said, "Then let's call it a deal?"

“It’s a deal!” Ma Yongxian immediately nodded in agreement, thus finalizing the matter.

Liu Weidong bought so many sunflower seeds, of course, to prepare raw materials for Shanghai-style melon seeds. After all, Wei Wanqing had already made the newspapers, and it was foreseeable that the sales volume of melon seeds would definitely surge. Therefore, it was best to prepare the raw materials as soon as possible to avoid being caught off guard.

To Liu Weidong's surprise, Ma Yongxian actually agreed to sell him all the sunflower seeds. In high spirits, he was about to say goodbye and leave when Ma Yongxian grabbed him.

The honest village chief leaned closer to Liu Weidong and whispered, "Comrade Liu, give me a straight answer, are you an employee of the machinery factory or not?"

Unexpectedly, Ma Yongxian was still troubled by this matter. Seeing his expectant eyes, Liu Weidong hesitated for a moment before deciding to tell the truth: "Village Chief Ma, we're old friends, and there are some things I really shouldn't hide from you. I did start out as a worker at the machinery factory, but later... I quit and started my own business!"

Ma Yongxian smiled with relief and said, "I knew it. No matter how good the benefits are at the machinery factory, they can't just give out things like this. Now that you've said it, I finally understand."

Liu Weidong asked with a smile, "Village Chief Ma, you wouldn't refuse to do business with me just because I'm no longer an employee of a state-owned factory, would you?"

"No way, times have changed!" Ma Yongxian exclaimed. "The newspapers are all advocating reform and opening up, and when I went to a meeting in town, the leaders also said they wanted to support the private sector. Our village doing business with you is a response to the call from above, which is a great thing!"

Ma Yongxian's change of heart was somewhat unexpected by Liu Weidong. However, it was a good thing for him, so he didn't dwell on it too much and quickly took the matsutake mushrooms back with him.

The next morning, Liu Weidong went to the county town to find Wei Wanqing, intending to tell her the good news that he had bought sunflower seeds.

It was lunchtime, and the two had just sat down at the state-run restaurant when Liu Weidong noticed that the strong woman looked very happy. So he quickly asked her, "Senior sister, what good thing happened? You're smiling from ear to ear!"

Wei Wanqing said proudly, "Your idea really worked. That report has been effective. In the last two days, I've received more than a dozen calls from people in our city and from several nearby cities and counties. They all want to sell our Shanghai-style melon seeds."

Liu Weidong laughed and said, "Ha, this is really great news, Senior Sister, congratulations!"

"Don't rush to congratulate me. Not only is your share of the income here, but all the credit is yours too!" The strong woman was still very realistic and had no intention of burning bridges after using someone else's help.

Liu Weidong smiled and said, "No, no, the main reason this report was so successful is because my senior sister herself is so outstanding. A beautiful and domineering CEO, a powerful businesswoman, tsk tsk... it sounds exciting, it definitely attracts attention. I just offered some suggestions, it's nothing special!"

Although Wei Wanqing didn't quite understand the meaning of "beautiful domineering CEO" and "comes with its own traffic," she figured they weren't bad things, so she accepted them all with a smile.

However, the strong woman quickly frowned slightly and complained to Liu Weidong in a low voice, "But there are too many stores that want to sell melon seeds, and there are also merchants from other places. It's really troublesome to negotiate with each one of them!"

Liu Weidong could understand Wei Wanqing's predicament. After all, these days, doing business often involves drinking, and heavy drinking at that. Negotiating partnerships with so many retailers is physically and mentally exhausting, even just the meals!

Not to mention that Wei Wanqing is a woman, and even if she took Qi Haixia with her, it would be very inconvenient for two women to travel to another city. The public security situation isn't great these days, and whether safety can be guaranteed is a big question.

Thinking of this, Liu Weidong had a sudden inspiration and said to Wei Wanqing with a smile, "There's no need to go through all that trouble negotiating with each one individually. We can just sell the agency rights directly!"