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

At first, he was worried that he wouldn't be able to get anything good in return for those wild mushrooms.

I feel much more at ease now. With this big basket of cucumbers, I should be able to exchange it for a lot of grain at the market.

Chen Yongqiang was carrying a bamboo basket on the dirt road to town. Just then, a middle-aged man in blue overalls rode past him on a bicycle, leaving behind a series of crisp bell sounds.

Watching that receding figure, Chen Yongqiang unconsciously adjusted the straps on his shoulders.

This five or six-kilometer mountain road would be much easier if you had a bicycle.

He thought to himself: once I make money in the future, I must buy one.

Phoenix brand is too expensive, and Yongjiu brand is hard to find. Maybe we could look for secondhand Flying Pigeon brand...

Before I knew it, I had reached the entrance to the town, and the noisy voices of people could be heard from afar.

Along the cobblestone streets, the white walls and gray tiles of the supply and marketing cooperatives stand out, with crowds of people holding cloth coupons and grain coupons queuing at the entrance.

The newly emerging individual vendors along the roadside seem much more active; some set up simple wooden boards to sell needles and thread, while others squat on the ground to display the vegetables they grow themselves.

"New Dacron shirts arrived! Don't miss out!" A young man in bell-bottoms shouted from the corner of the supply and marketing cooperative, and several girls immediately surrounded him.

Further on, the air was filled with the aroma of fried cakes, and a crowd of onlookers gathered in front of a stall selling rat poison.

Instead of waiting for customers to come to him, Chen Yongqiang took the initiative to wander around the market, searching for seeds of crops that he could potentially plant.

"There's still so much land left. Our top priority today is to exchange for more seeds. With seeds, we can be self-sufficient!"

An old man had a basket full of corn cobs in front of him. Chen Yongqiang squatted down and said, "Uncle, how about I trade you some cucumbers for some corn? Try them, these cucumbers are crisp and sweet."

He handed the old man a cucumber. The old man took a bite with some skepticism, then his eyes lit up: "Wow! This cucumber tastes great! Okay, I'll trade with you!"

The smooth opening boosted Chen Yongqiang's confidence.

He then spotted a woman selling potatoes. "Ma'am, could I exchange some potato seeds for you?"

The woman glanced at the cucumbers in his basket and shook her head: "I have cucumbers at home too, but my child is growing and needs to eat fine grains."

Chen Yongqiang didn't argue much. He took out some change and bought a small bag of plump potatoes suitable for seed.

He then took a liking to a few sweet potatoes; the stall owner was a middle-aged man who kept his head down and smoked.

Upon hearing that he wanted to trade, the man waved his hand immediately: "No trade, I'm only selling for money."

Chen Yongqiang sighed inwardly and took out his money again. He knew that at this stage, they couldn't rely entirely on bartering; they still had to spend the money they needed to spend.

After going around the basket, nearly half of the cucumbers were gone, but in return, they got corn seeds, a small bag of potatoes, a few sweet potatoes, and some scattered bean seeds.

By diversifying the varieties, we can not only ensure our own basic needs are met, but also make it easier to sell different items in the future.

That way, Chen Yongqiang wouldn't arouse suspicion; that was his plan.

Meanwhile, while Chen Yongqiang was browsing the market, village chief Yang Dahai came to Chen Yongqiang's courtyard gate and called out, "Yongqiang? Are you home?"

Hearing the sound, Lin Xiulian quickly came out of the kitchen: "He went to the market and hasn't come back yet."

"Xiuzhen? Didn't you go on a long trip? When did you come back?" Yang Dahai was a little stunned.

Lin Xiulian opened her mouth, but Chen Yongqiang had instructed her not to reveal her identity yet.

Before she could answer, Yang Dahai continued on his own: "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back. Qiangzi has it tough on his own too. Let's live a good life together from now on and stop arguing."

He remembered the important matter: "Hey, when Qiangzi comes back, tell him that everyone needs to come to the village office for a meeting at eight o'clock tomorrow morning. Every household needs to send someone."

"Okay, I'll tell him when he gets back," Lin Xiulian replied.

Yang Dahai waved his hand, turned around and walked away with his hands behind his back.

Lin Xiulian watched the village chief's figure disappear at the end of the dirt road and breathed a sigh of relief: "Luckily, I look like my sister and wasn't recognized."

Chen Yongqiang found an empty spot in a corner of the market and laid out all the things he had brought.

The wild shiitake mushrooms had barely appeared when they attracted the attention of several sharp-eyed housewives.

"These mushrooms look really good; they'll definitely make a delicious soup." An elderly woman in a blue cotton shirt squatted down and examined them closely.

"How much?"

"You can give me whatever you think is appropriate, or we can exchange it for grain," Chen Yongqiang replied with a smile.

The old lady readily bought the mushrooms for 50 cents.

The remaining flowers were also bought by customers who arrived one after another. Chen Yongqiang counted the money, thinking to himself:

"People who live near the mountains rely on the mountains for their livelihood, and wild mountain products are indeed in high demand in town. It seems we need to go into the mountains more often and collect more mountain products."

However, few people were interested in the cucumbers in the bamboo basket.

The cucumbers at the vegetable stall next door were piled up like a small mountain, and the stall owner was shouting at the top of his lungs, "Cucumbers, cucumbers, three cents a pound!"

Chen Yongqiang picked up a cucumber he had grown himself and looked at the ones at the neighboring stall. From the outside, they were indeed almost identical.

Occasionally, a customer would stop in front of his stall, reach out and flip through the cucumbers, ask the price, and then shake their head and walk away.

"They're both three cents, why should I buy from you?" The stall owner next to him, a cigarette dangling from his lips, glanced at him with a hint of smugness.

Chen Yongqiang didn't respond, but silently rearranged the cucumbers neatly.

He knew that the cucumbers produced in these spiritual fields tasted exceptional, but in this market, their ordinary appearance had not yet attracted any discerning customers.

Looking at the flow of people in the market, Chen Yongqiang began to consider other methods.

Just then, a slightly overweight middle-aged man wearing blue overalls strolled into the market.

The cucumber vendor next door's eyes lit up, and he called out from afar, "Chef He! The cucumbers you wanted, I've already picked out the best ones for you!"

As he spoke, he pulled out a net bag from behind him, which indeed contained some carefully selected, high-quality cucumbers with flowers and thorns still attached.

The visitor was He Jun, a fellow villager of Chen Yongqiang, who worked as a cook at a restaurant in town.

He walked over slowly, his gaze landing on Chen Yongqiang beside him: "Hey! Isn't this Qiangzi? What's up, you're selling cucumbers too?"

As He Jun spoke, he swayed over to Chen Yongqiang's basket, bent down to examine it, and casually reached out with one hand towards the cucumbers.

Chen Yongqiang knew that this man always liked to stir up trouble, and the two had argued before about village collective affairs.

He said coldly, "If you're not going to buy it, don't touch it."

He Jun's outstretched hand froze in mid-air; embarrassed, he forced a smile and said:

"Hmph, look at you, so stingy! There are plenty of cucumbers for sale all over the street, who cares about yours?"

He pointed to the neighboring stall, "Old Wang's is pretty good!"

Fearing he would lose a customer, the stall owner surnamed Wang quickly chimed in, "That's right, Chef He, my cucumbers are picked fresh every morning, I guarantee your restaurant will be satisfied!"