Reborn in the Great Northern Wilderness in 1982, I farmed and hunted to support my whole family.

"I stepped on it, it's just a stupid rabbit, are you going to bite me now?!"

The elegant and beautiful woman was extremely domineering, as if stepping on the rabbit was a great favor to Li Mu.

"How to speak?"

Li Mu also lost his temper.

Just then, the old man selling porcelain next to him spoke up: "Young man, stop arguing, this is a big buyer."

As he spoke, the old man pointed to the elegant and beautiful woman and continued, "Do you know the Lakeside Hotel in the city?"

"What about the Lakeside Hotel? She's not the only one who owns it, is she?"

Li Mu knew very well that most hotels in the 80s were state-owned, and the Lakeside Hotel was no exception.

"My dad is the manager, and I'm here to make purchases."

The elegant and beautiful woman said arrogantly.

"Oh, you go ahead and do your shopping, stay away from my rabbit."

Li Mu was too lazy to listen to the woman's nonsense, so he turned his head to the side and continued shouting.

"Hey kid, are you selling this rabbit?"

The one speaking was the middle-aged man following behind the elegant and beautiful woman.

"Sell? Of course I'll sell! What would I be doing here if I wasn't going to sell?"

Li Mu replied with a sarcastic remark that offered no benefit.

"Tell me the price, and how many fish are left?"

The man seemed very interested in Li Mu's rabbits and fish.

"Rabbits are five yuan each, and fish are three yuan each."

Li Mu added, "These are from the rabbit mountain traps, and the fish were caught by drilling through ice holes. They're all good stuff!"

There weren't many rabbit breeders in 82, but there were still some.

Everyone knows that domesticated rabbits are not as tasty as wild ones, mainly because they have too much of an earthy taste.

"It's a bit expensive, can you make it cheaper?"

The middle-aged man showed no sign of leaving and continued to ask.

"So, try digging an ice hole in the dead of winter?"

Li Mu was confident; there were very few fish in the market this season, let alone one this big.

"Ignore him, it's not like all the fishmongers have died."

A stunningly beautiful woman pulled a middle-aged man away.

"Go if you want, but the price won't be the same when you come back."

Li Mu was confident that they would return.

"Come back? Dream on."

The beautiful woman made a face while talking, which was not elegant at all.

Watching the two walk away, Tian Xiaohu leaned closer to Li Mu and asked, "Brother, why didn't you buy it for her?"

"Don't worry about it, she'll be back soon."

Li Mu was quite confident. In 82, there was no large-scale fish and rabbit farming, so the restaurant could only purchase one or two, and they would definitely come back.

The old man selling porcelain also chimed in, "Young man, don't be so stubborn. Sometimes you have to give in."

"Grandpa, don't worry, you'll see who backs down in a bit."

At this moment, many onlookers also chimed in with their own opinions, trying to persuade Li Mu.

"The Lakeside Hotel is one of the top restaurants in the city. Leaders from the province all go there. You really don't know what's good for you."

"That's right. I heard that the waiters at the Lakeside Hotel earn 56 yuan a month, including room and board."

In the 80s, a worker's wage was generally around 30 yuan, so 56 yuan was considered a high wage.

Li Mu remained unmoved by the discussions of the crowd, trusting his own judgment.

Sure enough, before the crowd dispersed, the elegant woman and the middle-aged man returned to Li Mu's stall.

"I'll take all of these, can you give me a discount?"

The middle-aged man pointed to the fish and the rabbit.

"Rabbit is six yuan, fish is five yuan..."

Before Li Mu could finish speaking, the elegant woman objected, pointing at him and yelling, "You swindler, are you trying to raise prices on the spot?"

"Yes, I just said that the price wouldn't be the same if you came back."

Li Mu's boastful and unscrupulous manner, resembling that of a cunning businessman, drove the elegant beauty to the brink of madness, causing her to point a trembling finger at him.

"You're not going to buy? If you don't buy, the price will go up even more."

This time, the middle-aged man spoke up: "Buy them all."

“I knew you would come back. No fish that small can be made into a squirrel fish.”

The middle-aged man looked at Li Mu, his face full of doubt, and asked, "How did you know?"

"The Lakeside Hotel's specialties are smoked rabbit and squirrel fish, how could I not know that?"

In his previous life, Li Mu had been to the Lakeside Hotel more than once, so he naturally remembered the signboard.

The squirrel, in particular, is the only one of its kind in the entire province. To make this dish well, the fish must be big and fresh, otherwise the presentation will be off.

"You wait, this isn't over yet."

The elegant beauty remained indignant.

Li Mu didn't care about this time. He instructed Tian Xiaohu to tally the numbers and then collect the money.

Li Mu and Tian Xiaohu actually made over 100 yuan from this deal.

This was an enormous sum of money at the time, considering that a worker only earns around 30 a month.

Before leaving, the middle-aged man gave Li Mu his phone number, saying that he would visit him in the city if he had the chance.

It was clear that the middle-aged man had a good impression of Li Mu, and he even told Li Mu that the head chef of his lakeside restaurant was named Jin Dajiang.

Li Mu was very familiar with this name. Later, Jin Dajiang won an award in the National Chef Competition and was even featured in the newspaper.

Li Mu was naturally quite polite to this kind of person, saying that he would definitely come to bother him in the future.

After watching the two drive away, Li Mu called Tian Xiaohu to go to the supply and marketing cooperative.

Li Mu bought some tobacco leaves, liquor, and clam oil, and also went to the pharmacy to buy painkillers.

Finally, I went to the old store and bought a cotton coat, rubber boots, gloves, No. 8 cable, a flashlight, and batteries.

With these things, he could hunt better.

Line 8 is made of thick iron wire. This thing can be used to make traps that can not only snare rabbits but also hunt foxes.

These things were originally common in every household, but they were all used for steelmaking during the special period a few years ago.

These things cost over thirty yuan in total. Tian Xiaohu leaned closer to Li Mu and whispered, "Brother, are you hungry?"

Of course I'm hungry.

Li Mu had been busy all morning, how could he not be hungry?

"Brother, can you take me to a restaurant? I heard their tenderloin is really delicious."

The dish of slippery pork tenderloin is now very common, but in 82, most people couldn't even afford to eat it during the Chinese New Year.

"Let's go eat, let's go to a restaurant."

Li Mu then remembered the old man who had helped him, so the two went back to the market and, seeing that the old man was still there, invited him to go to a restaurant together.

Tian Xiaohu ordered two dishes: one was slippery pork tenderloin and the other was stir-fried green peppers and dried beans.

After buying liquor and pouring a bowl for each person, the old man introduced himself, saying that his name was Xu Jiacai and that he was from this town.

Don't underestimate the bowls and plates he sells; his daily income is better than that of an average worker.

Li Mu believed that in the 80s, it was better to find a job and start a business than to work as a laborer.

As the three ate and drank, Li Mei learned from Feng Jiacai that there was a large market not far from here, held twice a month, on the 1st and 15th.

That market had even more people; people from all around would come.

Li Mei was pondering what kind of wild game she should get next time.

Just then, someone outside shouted, "Stop thief! Stop thief!"

Why does that voice sound so familiar?

Tian Xiaohu and Li Mei got up at the same time and rushed out of the restaurant!