Reborn in 1985, starting from a machine factory

My aunt's face darkened. She borrowed the money and went upstairs without looking back.

The eldest uncle rarely showed a smile: "Xiao Mo, come upstairs and sit."

"This antenna is a good thing; you'll have to teach your uncle how to install it!"

Chen Mo tilted his head, offered another round of cigarettes, and waited for the middle-aged man to leave before speaking: "Uncle, you should just pretend it yourself, it's not difficult at all!"

"Give!"

He turned to the side and pulled ten ten-yuan bills from his pocket: "Uncle, if you want everyone to get together, you'd better hide your secret stash of money well!"

The eldest uncle hurriedly waved his hand: "Xiao Mo, what are you doing?"

"Hurry, hurry! Your aunt will confiscate it if she sees it!"

Without saying a word, Chen Mo stuffed the money into his uncle's pocket.

"My aunt is actually not a bad person. You two should discuss things together."

"Sneaking around like that is bound to cause problems!" Chen Mo said.

The eldest uncle did not answer.

Chen Mo handed the antenna to his uncle, then got on his bicycle.

"I'm leaving, Uncle!"

Come visit sometime!

The eldest uncle nodded and then went back upstairs.

My aunt was sitting by the window. When she saw my uncle come up, she immediately stood up and said, "Oh my, it seems your nephew is going to be successful!"

"He's always been good!" the uncle said softly. "Such a young child, carrying the whole family on his own!"

"Hmph!" Auntie looked to the side, then looked back after a while.

"Go install the antenna!"

"The money's on the table. Look at it yourself. You can give it back to Chen Mo, or you can keep it for the dinner party!"

"I think you still have to pay Chen Mo back. An uncle taking money from his nephew—aren't you afraid of being laughed at?"

My uncle, who was unpacking the package, suddenly looked up at my aunt.

"Why are you looking at me?"

"We've been married for twenty years, and we've argued for twenty years, but when have we ever lacked a single penny from you when it comes to doing serious business?"

"You paid for your brother's barbershop."

"The money you gave for your sister's son's wedding."

"I don't know?" Auntie turned to look out the window.

"I dare not say about the large sum of money; I'm afraid if I do, our family will fall apart!"

"I dare say you're just being petty, but you really dare to embarrass me!"

My aunt's voice was halting.

The eldest uncle lowered his head and forcefully ripped open the cardboard box: "Stop talking!"

"I'll install the antenna!"

My aunt picked up a tissue from the table.

...

The bicycle felt light and easy, and Chen Mo was in a great mood.

These past few days, whenever I pass by my uncle's house, he's been deliberately slowing down.

This afternoon, Li Ting was hanging clothes to dry in the yard when she saw Chen Mo, and she angrily turned her head away.

Chen Mo deliberately lingered at the door for a while.

Neighbors who recognized Chen Mo greeted him from afar, "Hey Chen kid, where are you going?"

"Go deliver an antenna to my uncle, a Red Star antenna!" Chen Mo deliberately raised his voice.

"You've really made something of yourself, Chen boy!"

After making sure Li Ting could see and hear clearly, Chen Mo chuckled and stomped on the pedal.

People in their fifties and sixties need to think more!

At twenty years old, and still suspended from work, well, I guess I'll just have to do whatever makes me happy!

As the spring breeze blew, Chen Mo tossed his hair.

I've already dropped off my eldest uncle, eldest aunt, and youngest aunt, and now I have two more on my bicycle.

One is for my uncle, and the other is for Daxue.

As for Liu Yue, it will be later, when she takes Li Guihua to the hospital on the weekend.

After visiting my uncle's place, I found out he wasn't home, and I was delayed waiting for my aunt.

By the time we got back, it was already getting dark!

Chen Mo was not having a good time on the road.

By the time we arrived at the market, it was completely dark!

Chen Mo rode his bicycle directly into the market. Only a handful of shops in the entire market had their lights on.

One of them was Erpang's cooked food stall.

Seeing Chen Mo arrive, Erpang raised his eyes and said, "Sis, Chen Mo is here to see you!"

He yawned as he spoke.

Hearing the noise, Da Xue, with the yellowish incandescent light shining through her head, came out of the room.

She wore a light gray coat, her two braids hanging over her shoulders, and her big eyes were full of laughter: "Chen Mo, do you have guests? Buying meat so late?"

"No, no, no, I'm just here to freeload."

"Erpang, why aren't you packing up yet?" Chen Mo kicked Erpang.

Erpang swayed, but didn't get up: "Today was too busy!"

"It seems like overnight, every family became rich!"

"What kind of talk is that!" Chen Mo exclaimed.

"Because of a brilliant strategist who hired workers for a hundred dollars, now you have to pull strings to get into any antenna factory!"

Erpang rolled his eyes at Chen Mo.

Da Xue dragged out a chair for Chen Mo: "Chen Mo, sit down!"

"The news spread so fast?" Chen Mo was a little surprised.

"Don't spread the word so fast!" Erpang said through his nose.

"A hundred people crammed into a few rooms, everyone says it's incredibly uncomfortable, but it's incredibly profitable!"

"You can earn enough to buy a cow in a month!"

"Erpang, you can't calculate it like that. If you want to calculate it, it's just one antenna. How much is the processing fee?" Chen Mo sat down.

"A processing fee of one to one and a half yuan per antenna is reasonable!"

"Um!"

Chen Mo frowned: "Did I give you an extra piece?"

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing? Come here and teach me how to make an antenna!" Erpang said.

"Buying meat or not?"

Chen Mo looked embarrassed: "I'm just delivering antennas. Da Xue already said she bought you a TV!"

"Here you go, heavy snow, the Red Star antenna!"

Da Xue took the antenna and sat down on the other side: "Chen Mo, how's the factory doing lately?"

Chen Mo's eyes darted around discreetly: "Not bad!"

Erpang immediately spoke up: "Sis, this kid's trying to fool you!"

"Whenever he has bad intentions, he becomes slow to speak and his eyes dart around!"

"Go!" Da Xue waved her hand.

"Erpang, how much does this meat stall cost per year?" Chen Mo asked.

"See, I told you so!"

"Sis, he's just trying to fool you!"

"I...I...I..." Chen Mo's face was full of embarrassment.

"Don't speak, Chen Mo!"

"Sis, let me guess! It's probably a new factory that's being built, and they're short of someone to manage it!"

"We'd like you to come temporarily. The salary will be around one thousand, plus a share of the factory's profits!"

"Is that right?" Erpang glanced at Chen Mo.

Chen Mo leaned back in his chair: "You actually survived being silenced, Erpang. You really are incredibly lucky!"

"Jokes aside, to be honest, we really are short-staffed."

"We've already found a new factory, it's in the northeast corner of the market. They originally made screws, we'll go talk to them later."

"We're short-staffed?" Erpang scratched his head.

"Your factory already requires connections to get anyone hired, and you're still short-staffed?"

"Who is that? That's a great worker!"

"The workers are in charge of doing the work, but they don't care how they do it!" Chen Mo said.

"You've at least received some education, don't you know that it's easy to find a thousand soldiers, but hard to find a good general?"

"Want to eat pig's ears?" Erpang grabbed the pig's head.

"Next time you have any pig liver, save one for me. I'll show off my skills and make you a salt-baked pig liver!"

"Wow, you can cook?"

"Stop talking nonsense! Find me a long bamboo pole, and I'll install the antenna for you!"

Da Xue looked up: "It's hard to pack at the market, you should take it back; you won't need it!"

"Ah, heavy snow, my heart is filled with sincerity!"

"You siblings abandoned your family to come and install it, and you refused it!"

I'm heartbroken.

"Erpang, next time save me a pig's heart too, I need to replenish myself!"

"Raw or cooked?"

"It's cooked!"

"Here you go, I'll finish it now!" Erpang used a knife and fork to pick up a pig's heart and handed it to Chen Mo.