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

Liu Weidong had a very good impression of this good policeman, and greeted him from a distance: "Brother, it's been a long time!"

Zhao Zheng also saw Liu Weidong and nodded with a smile, saying, "It's Weidong. Is there something you need in the county town?"

"I'm responding to the call to revitalize the market economy and enrich the food baskets of urban residents while increasing farmers' income!" Liu Weidong said without hesitation, leaving Zhao Zheng stunned.

Liu Weidong didn't go into details about his own affairs, but instead smiled and said to Zhao Zheng, "It's almost lunchtime, why don't we go have a quick meal together and chat for a while?"

Zhao Zheng shook his head with difficulty and said, "No, the crackdown is at a critical moment. All the police officers in the station are so busy that they don't have time to sit down and have a proper meal. Right now, I'm going to visit and investigate from house to house. I don't even know when I'll be able to have dinner tonight!"

Liu Weidong sighed, "It must be tiring. Well then, I won't take up any more of your time. Go ahead and get busy. We can talk again later when you have time!"

"Alright, I'll treat you and your junior sister to a get-together then." Zhao Zheng nodded readily and quickly went back to work.

Liu Weidong watched Zhao Zheng's retreating figure thoughtfully, his brows furrowing unconsciously. In his memories from his previous life, Zhao Zheng had died in the line of duty around the same time.

Liu Weidong had a very good impression of his senior brother and good policeman, and he really didn't want him to sacrifice himself in the prime of his life. He always wanted to change Zhao Zheng's fate.

However, too much time had passed, and Liu Weidong could no longer recall the specifics of what had happened. Even if he wanted to save Zhao Zheng, he didn't know where to begin, which truly troubled him.

Liu Weidong was staring at a man's back for so long that Hao Jianjun next to him asked, puzzled, "Brother Weidong, what are you looking at?"

"Oh, it's nothing!" Liu Weidong shook his head, then smiled at Hao Jianjun and said, "Our egg business is officially over today. Didn't you say you haven't eaten at a state-run restaurant? Come on, I'll treat you to a meal!"

But Hao Jianjun hesitated and said, "This...no need, I heard a meal costs several yuan, that's too expensive!"

"Stop talking nonsense. I told you to go, so go. Why are you being so polite with me?" Liu Weidong glared at Hao Jianjun and walked into the state-run restaurant first.

Since he was treating his best childhood friend to dinner, Liu Weidong certainly wouldn't be stingy. He immediately ordered two main dishes: braised pork hock and old hen soup. Hearing that there were fresh yellow croakers available today, Liu Weidong didn't hesitate to order a sweet and sour yellow croaker.

These are all wild yellow croakers these days. In a few decades, they might even sell for tens of thousands of yuan apiece, but now they're only 6.5 yuan in restaurants. It would be such a shame to miss out! If restaurants didn't not offer takeout these days, Liu Weidong would definitely buy two for Wang Shujuan to try.

But this didn't stump Liu Weidong; he was now quite a celebrity in the state-run restaurant. He asked Old Song, a waiter, for help and decided to buy a large, raw yellow croaker to take home and cook himself.

Besides these, Liu Weidong also ordered a few vegetarian dishes and two bowls of rice. The total cost was only 26.7 yuan and half a jin of grain coupons, which was really cheap.

However, in Hao Jianjun's eyes, spending more than twenty yuan on a meal was simply wasteful. He turned pale with fright when he heard the price quoted by the waiter and kept asking Liu Weidong to cancel the order.

In the end, Liu Weidong forced Hao Jianjun to finish the meal. The kid drank every last drop of the chicken soup, saying that he couldn't afford to waste such an expensive meal.

Seeing Hao Jianjun, who was stuffed, rubbing his belly and rolling his eyes, Liu Weidong didn't know what to say to the kid. He shook his head helplessly and said, "Look at you, so unsophisticated. How can I take you to see big scenes in the future?"

"Uh..." Hao Jianjun burped and said, "Eating at a state-run restaurant is a big deal, is it? Could it be any bigger?"

"..." Liu Weidong didn't even want to talk to this guy anymore. Helplessly, he handed him a stack of ten-yuan bills: "This is your wages. Same as always. Tell Uncle Qiang it's five yuan a day. This is two hundred and fifteen yuan in total. I'll give you an extra one hundred as a bonus. Hide it well. I won't be responsible if Uncle Qiang finds it!"

Hao Jianjun frowned and said, "Brother Weidong, you're giving me too much. I've just been helping you deal with eggs these past few days; it's an easy job. Besides, I don't even go out every day, so how can I ask for so much money from you!"

Liu Weidong stuffed the money into Hao Jianjun's hand and said, "The more you earn, the more you'll get. If you lose money later and have to work for free, don't complain. Just take it and don't be coy!"

Hao Jianjun then accepted the money, his face full of gratitude.

Liu Weidong patted him on the shoulder, picked up the raw yellow croaker, and prepared to go home. He planned to go home early today and personally make a sweet and sour yellow croaker so that Wang Shujuan could also taste his cooking.

However, Liu Weidong had just reached the restaurant entrance when he was attracted by a large yellow dog.

The dog was huge and looked very fierce. But now it was hanging from a roadside utility pole with a rope, its neck tightly constricted, its tongue lolling out. A man nearby was holding a shovel, about to smash it over the dog's head.

This scene was not uncommon in those days; everyone knew it meant killing a dog for meat.

Nowadays, even regular workers in the city only receive half a pound of meat coupons per month, which is simply not enough to eat. Therefore, many people go to great lengths to obtain meat, and dog meat is one of the easiest and most popular types to get their hands on.

However, this large dog was somewhat unusual. Liu Weidong immediately recognized it as a well-known hunting dog breed in the area. It also didn't look very old, at most around a year old. Dogs like this are usually used for hunting; people certainly wouldn't kill them for meat.

Hao Jianjun noticed it too and whispered to Liu Weidong, "Brother Weidong, this dog wasn't stolen, was it?"

The man who was about to kill the dog had very sharp ears and actually heard Hao Jianjun's words. He immediately glared at him and said, "Don't talk nonsense! All the neighbors can testify that I raised this dog from a puppy and originally intended to use it for hunting!"

"Old Li is right."

"I bought this dog with Lao Li at the market."

"Old Li is not a dishonest person."

Several onlookers said they could testify that the man was indeed the dog owner.

Liu Weidong couldn't help but ask, "Since you know it's a hunting dog, how could you bear to kill it and eat it?"

Old Li sighed and said, "I didn't want to kill it either, but this stupid dog doesn't chase prey at all when it goes up the mountain. Instead, it just digs up mushrooms everywhere. It made me run around the mountain for nothing. This kind of useless dog can only be killed for meat!"

Liu Weidong immediately became interested and shouted, "I'll buy this dog! Quickly, take it off!"