Reborn in the 1980s: Nine Stunning Beauties Get Pregnant Before Marriage

Even after leaving the village, those few things were still on Chen Yongqiang's mind.

"The system has assigned us a task regarding the evil god stealing incense offerings. This is a serious matter and needs to be dealt with as soon as possible."

"But what's more urgent right now is praying for rain. Tomorrow is Xiaoman (Grain Buds), and the rain-praying ceremony is just around the corner."

With two things happening at the same time, he simply couldn't handle it all by himself.

"The matter of the evil god stealing incense offerings can only be dealt with after the rain is prayed for."

He muttered something to himself and stepped on the gas.

Praying for rain is related to the entire village's harvest, whether they can pay their grain tax at the end of the year, and whether their families can have enough to eat.

"The matter of the evil god is important, but dealing with it a day later shouldn't be a big problem."

Chen Yongqiang drove his tractor through the town without slowing down, heading towards the county seat.

He glanced in the direction of Wang Guixiang's shop; the door was closed, and it hadn't opened yet.

To get to the neighboring province, you have to go to the county seat first, and then travel more than 100 kilometers east along a mountain road to reach the river.

The round trip is over 300 kilometers, and the tractor can only travel at a maximum speed of 30 kilometers per hour. It takes a whole day, and we have to make sure nothing unexpected happens.

Upon arriving in the county town, Chen Yongqiang still parked the tractor next to the gas station.

It's called a gas station, but it's actually just a diesel sales point of a supply and marketing cooperative. There's a large oil tank buried underground with a hand-cranked pump on top, and several oil drums piled up next to it.

This time it's a long-distance trip, much farther than my usual transport trips to town.

Others can skip a meal, but a tractor can't go without fuel.

Chen Yongqiang jumped out of the car and walked towards the sales point.

The gatekeeper was an old man who recognized him. Seeing him arrive, the old man greeted him with a smile, "Yongqiang, buying diesel again?"

Chen Yongqiang nodded: "Give me three buckets of medicine!"

The 25-liter square can was the most mainstream size at the time.

The buckets are square, making them easy to stack in the carriage without taking up much space. Each bucket weighs about 50 pounds, which is about enough for one person to lift.

It takes about 40 liters of diesel to travel 300 kilometers. Fearing something might happen, Chen Yongqiang bought three barrels, since he would need them anyway.

"You want so much?" The old man carried the oil drum to the oil tank.

"I've been busy building a house lately and haven't been able to come to the county town often, so I'm buying more," Chen Yongqiang casually offered as an excuse.

While the old man was buying oil, Chen Yongqiang went to the nearby supply and marketing cooperative and bought a pack of cigarettes, as he relied on cigarettes to stay alert on long-distance trips.

When Chen Yongqiang returned after buying cigarettes, the old man had already filled the oil bottle.

"One barrel of diesel is 8 yuan, three barrels are 24 yuan!" the old man announced the price, stretching out his hand to collect the money.

Chen Yongqiang looked at the old man: "Has the price of your gas gone up? I remember it was only seven and a half yuan a barrel last time."

The old man chuckled dryly, "There's nothing I can do. The price was set by the higher-ups. Everything's going up in price these days, how could diesel not?"

Chen Yongqiang glanced at him, said nothing more, counted out 24 yuan and handed it over.

The old man took the money and added with a smile, "You drive a truck every day, you must use a lot of fuel, right? Why don't you come more often next time, and I'll save the best fuel for you."

"If you happen to be passing by, come and buy here!" Chen Yongqiang carried the oil drums onto the truck bed.

After leaving the gas station, he drove east along the mountain road.

The price of diesel has gone up, which has increased the cost of this trip, but there's no other way; I still have to keep going.

"These days, if you can resell oil, it's a very profitable business."

This thought suddenly popped into Chen Yongqiang's mind.

Oil prices rose suddenly, from 7.5 yuan to 8 yuan, an increase of 0.5 yuan per barrel.

But if one could smuggle oil, getting cheap oil from those with connections and then reselling it to transporters, the price difference...

He shook his head, banishing the thought from his mind.

It's just a thought. I have a lot of things to do at home, how could I have time to deal with smuggled oil?

Besides, you can't do a job without connections.

Those who can get cheap oil either have connections with oil refineries, supply and marketing cooperatives, or are traveling dealers who have connections in both the legitimate and illegal worlds.

If he rashly gets involved, he might end up getting himself into trouble.

"Let's just stick to farming honestly. We won't touch anything that could cost us our lives." Chen Yongqiang held the tractor with one hand and took out a cigarette with the other.

After leaving the county town, Chen Yongqiang continued driving east along the county dirt road.

At first, you can see some villages, but the further you go, the fewer people you see.

After passing through another small town, the road became even worse.

The dirt road was full of potholes, and the tractor bounced violently. Chen Yongqiang gripped the steering wheel, his body swaying up and down with it.

After driving for several dozen more miles, there was no sign of human habitation in the surrounding area.

There are mountains on the left and mountains on the right, and the road is sandwiched between the two mountains, winding its way forward.

Chen Yongqiang stopped the tractor in the middle of the road, not because he couldn't stand it, but because the tractor needed to refuel.

After driving such a long way, the gas tank is almost empty.

This tractor can only hold 12 liters of fuel at a time, and because it's empty, it can travel about 80 or 90 kilometers.

After refueling, he went around to the front of the car, where the water in the radiator was already boiling hot, bubbling away.

"We need to change the water, otherwise the engine won't be able to handle it."

Chen Yongqiang was about to take the oil drum to the stream to fetch water when a thought suddenly popped into his head:

"If we add spiritual spring water, it should last a little longer."

The spiritual spring water in the space always remained cool, unlike the water in the stream outside, which would get hot as soon as it was exposed to the sun.

The water contained spiritual energy, which was beneficial to living things. He didn't know if it would be useful to machines, but it was still better than ordinary water.

"Using spiritual spring water is a bit extravagant..."

He hesitated for a moment, then looked again at the water tank that was still steaming.

"I can't worry about that anymore."

This place is a desolate wilderness, with no village or shop in sight. If the water tank boils over and explodes, he'll have nowhere to turn for help.

Although the spring water is precious, it can be used to water the land after it cools down, so it's not a waste.

Chen Yongqiang made up his mind, and with a thought, he drew spiritual spring water from his spatial storage and filled the water tank.

After adding oil and changing the water, Chen Yongqiang started the tractor and continued driving forward.

The mountain road gets narrower and narrower as you go further in, and the mountains on both sides get higher and higher.

There aren't many cars on this road.

Since setting off, Chen Yongqiang hasn't encountered a single vehicle.

These days, there are very few families that can afford to drive a tractor, and even fewer people are willing to go to these remote mountains.

The road conditions are poor, the fuel consumption is high, and you can't make much money on a trip, so why would anyone bother?

He had to stop every now and then to drag the tree branches blocking the road to the side.

Some of them were broken off by the wind and lay across the road at half their height; tractors couldn't pass them unless they were moved.

He looked at the dilapidated dirt road. In his memories from his previous life, this road would not be paved with cement for another thirty years.

After driving for a while, a figure suddenly jumped out of the woods and blocked the road.

Chen Yongqiang slammed on the brakes, and the car slid several meters on the dirt road before coming to a stop.

Chen Yongqiang stared at the woman in front of him. She was dressed in tattered clothes, her hair was disheveled and hanging down, and her face was dirty, making her look like a beggar.

She stood in the middle of the road, arms outstretched, blocking the cars from moving.

Chen Yongqiang looked around first. There was no village or shop in sight. How could a woman have suddenly appeared?

What are you doing?

The woman's eyes were filled with panic, and her lips trembled as she stammered, "Help...help me..."