Reborn in 80: Starting with hunting in the mountains to get rich

Chapter 118 Jiang Man, the pretty girl from the supply and marketing cooperative, and the truck driv

Sables do not hibernate and remain active even in winter, but their numbers are so small that they have become increasingly rare in later generations, leading to a continuous increase in the price of sable fur.

Li Ju'an remembers that in 1989, before his rebirth, he spent over 10,000 yuan in the south to buy six sable pelts and make a leather-lined jacket. Keep in mind that in 1989, the salary plus subsidies for state-owned enterprise employees was only a little over 100 yuan; the salary in 1989 was more than double that of 1980. Sable pelts were definitely not something the average person could afford.

Li Ju'an whistled and called for Tou Xiang to lead the way, continuing their search for the sable's burrow. He began setting traps along the path the sable had taken.

When Lu Zhiqiang saw the sable footprints, he was so excited that he couldn't wait to follow the hunting dog's tracks. He said excitedly, "Last year, Lao Qian came to our house and bragged to the old man that he took a sable pelt to sell before the New Year and got a thousand yuan for one pelt at a big store."

"How many?!"

Song Desheng's voice rose eight octaves. It wasn't that he didn't believe what Lu Zhiqiang said, but the price shocked him too much.

Lu Zhiqiang sighed, his eyes full of envy: "Even a damaged leather pistol can sell for 600 yuan. Old Qian found the right person and the right way. The leather pistol he has is in good condition. He can sell it for 1000 yuan. That's enough for me to buy a Type 54 pistol."

Song Desheng thought of his brother-in-law, who was an apprentice at the forest farm's canteen. His brother-in-law's head chef, who worked as a cook at the canteen, earned a meager monthly salary plus allowances and overtime pay, totaling only 50 yuan and 5 mao. He had initially envied the head chef and wanted to work in the canteen himself, but now, seeing the prospect of easily earning a thousand yuan by hunting in the mountains, his envy vanished.

"Set the trap! Hurry up and follow Brother Li to set the trap!"

It's said that people die for money and birds die for food. Li Ju'an looked at the two men's ambitious expressions and found it amusing. He teased them, saying, "If you were asked to go south to do business and earn a few thousand dollars, or stay in a state-owned enterprise and have a secure job, which would you choose?"

Song Desheng seriously tilted his head and thought for a moment before asking, "If I stay at the forest farm, can I become the head chef in the canteen?"

"Sure, as long as you have the ability to do it."

"Then I'll be the head chef in the cafeteria!"

Song Desheng grinned broadly. Going south to do business was too far-fetched for him, but his secure job within the government was a real security measure. Even the forestry farm leaders respected him as the head chef of the canteen.

“I originally thought about going to the forest farm to work as a lumberjack, to gather the timber together, or to pull the lumber. But my family didn’t agree, saying that it was all hard physical labor. But I saw that the forest farm gave long holidays for these jobs, from the 28th of the twelfth lunar month until after the Lantern Festival. Wasn’t that great? In the end, my family forced me to work in the textile factory doing administrative and logistical work.”

Forestry workers have long holidays; those who do manual labor can take annual leave indefinitely and only return to work after the Lunar New Year.

The administrative and logistical staff had to work from the Lantern Festival to the second day of the second lunar month. But the canteen cooks couldn't stop working; as long as there were people working at the forest farm, the canteen had to stay open. That's why Song Desheng's brother-in-law had less annual leave and envied him. Song Desheng worked in administration at the textile factory and always felt bored listening to a bunch of old women gossiping and nagging about family matters. So, during work hours, his mind would wander to the mountains, and he'd want to go hunting—it was all because of his hunting addiction.

Lu Zhiqiang thought for a moment and said, "Can you really earn a thousand or a hundred yuan a month doing business in the south?"

Li Ju'an tempted him, saying, "That's not all. Sometimes you can earn a thousand or a hundred yuan a day."

Lu Zhiqiang was initially tempted, but then he calmed down, glanced at him, and laughed and scolded, "You're so cunning! If there's such a good thing, why don't you go south to do business? Why are you still stuck in this mountain valley playing with guns? You would have gone to get the good stuff long ago, why would you need to call me?"

"If you ask me, I'd also go to a state-owned enterprise and work as a purchasing agent in a factory. Wouldn't that be great? Purchasing agents get to receive gifts during holidays, get more attention from female colleagues, receive red envelopes, and even get assigned wives. It's wonderful."

Purchasing is a highly coveted position, especially for purchasing managers in major factories, where the pay is substantial and the gifts they receive can be higher than their salaries.

Li Ju'an was not surprised to hear this and joked, "State-owned enterprises are really making money now. In twenty years, they'll all be laid off."

The two laughed at him, saying he was shameless and sour, and that he was just spouting nonsense about being laid off because he couldn't get into a state-owned enterprise.

Can a secure job be lost so easily? Absolutely not.

Li Ju'an rambled on for a bit, then shone the light near the sable footprints again, discovering a large red pine tree and several burrow entrances. They say a cunning rabbit has three burrows, and a sable might not only have one route.

After the hunting dogs returned, he looked ahead but found nothing. So, he erected two large wooden stakes where the sable had left its last footprints. Then, he used charred wire and thin hemp rope to attach a trap that could catch small animals.

After digging the snow pit, he covered it with branches and leaves. The large leather wallet was then placed down.

He set eight traps near the sable footprints.

Song Desheng looked on in amazement and exclaimed, "If we can still snag eight big pieces of leather, we'll be rich!" He put his hands together and began to pray to the mountain god, not for the leather, but for his thousand yuan.

Li Ju'an shook his head and said, "If we can get one out of the eight traps, then we'll consider it a success."

The group continued towards the fifth ridge. Along the way, Li Ju'an ordered Da Hu and the three wolfhound pups to shout "Iron Hammer."

Suddenly, Song Desheng opened up, leaning closer mysteriously and whispering, "Brother Li has something to tell you, but don't be upset. Do you remember Jiang Man from the supply and marketing cooperative?"

Li Ju'an was familiar with the name Jiang Man.

The pretty saleswoman at the supply and marketing cooperative—I used to see her every few days when he delivered leather to the county town. She had long, shiny black hair, styled in a single ponytail, and often joked around with the accountant lady at the hardware section.

"What happened to Jiang Man?"

"I heard she went on a blind date with a truck driver, and they got together."

After Song Desheng finished speaking, he glanced at him cautiously, while Lu Zhiqiang looked at him with pitiful concern.

In the 80s, truck drivers were highly sought-after and rare skilled workers. One person's salary could feed the whole family, so everyone wanted to do the job.

Before his rebirth, when Lin Mei's mother was trying to matchmake Lin Mei with the car driver Zhang Xiangqian, she said, "Zhang has a good job. Let me tell you, in the mountains, he can turn the steering wheel and he wouldn't trade it for a county magistrate position!"

At that time, Li Ju'an went south to do business and left the village. He didn't express his feelings to Lin Mei. Lin Mei couldn't go against her mother's wishes, so she had to go on a blind date with Zhang Xiangqian. She was beautiful and gentle. Zhang Xiangqian pursued her relentlessly for three months and finally entered the Lin family home with a fruit basket.

When Li Ju'an thought of Zhang Xiangqian, the drunk driver who beat Lin Mei, his face immediately darkened, and his expression became terrifyingly grim.

That bastard! If he saw Zhang Xiangqian again in this life, he'd beat him up without saying a word. Some things, even rebirth, couldn't make him let go of; on the contrary, the more he thought about them, the angrier he became.

Lu Zhiqiang, lacking tact and speaking without restraint, said, "It's great to have a driver. Just step on the gas, and the car roars to life. Isn't that much more comfortable than sitting in an office drinking tea?"

Drivers in mountainous areas were highly sought after, a sentiment shared by most at the time. In an era of poor logistics, cargo owners would practically beg drivers to haul goods, and drivers would only pick up a few loads depending on their mood, earning extra income. Moreover, drivers were stylishly dressed, had high salaries, and cargo owners would offer them cigarettes, water, and treat them to the best of everything. Being a driver's family member in those days was incredibly fortunate.

Li Ju'an walked forward on his own, sneering, "So what if it's a success? Jiang Man and the driver got together on a blind date. It's a trivial matter, what does it have to do with me?"

Song Desheng and Lu Zhiqiang exchanged a knowing glance and smiled. Li Ju'an really did have something going on with Jiang Man from the supply and marketing cooperative; Jiang Man married a truck driver, and he was furious.