I Became Rich by Eating Melons in the Era of Literature (1970s)

　　After working in the countryside for a long time, Zhao Yonglan also learned the local swear words.

　　Zhou Zhenfeng didn't expect Zhao Yonglan to scold him. He was completely dumbfounded: "Comrade Zhao Yonglan, how can you be so vulgar?"

　　During this period, Zhao Yonglan was really disgusted by Zhou Zhenfeng. The work was really exhausting, who wanted to listen to his bullshit autumn wind blowing away the fallen leaves, like your footsteps passing through my heart.

　　What the hell is the connection between the two? And two days ago, everyone was exhausted, and he picked a few wilted wild flowers from the road, added two spikes of foxtail grass, and said it was a gift for her. Is it romantic? The flowers had fallen and only a few petals were left.

　　"What's vulgar? Who is vulgar? I'm so tired from work every day that I wish I could just lie on the ground and sleep until I die. Who has the time to accompany you? Of course, if you died today, no matter how tired I am, I can get up and play a few songs on your grave." Zhao Yonglan was so annoyed. She had never seen a person like Zhou Zhenfeng. He was like a slug that you couldn't get rid of once you got involved.

　　Zhou Zhenfeng's face turned pale: "Comrade Zhao Yonglan, you have to know that my love for you is not a reason for you to trample on my sincerity. You are going too far!"

　　Zhou Zhenfeng didn't wait for Zhao Yonglan to explain, he returned to his room, threw the book in his hand onto the bed, and looked through the window at the three female educated youth squatting outside, his eyes were deep and vicious. Zhao Rongguang happened to see it and frowned.

　　Li Yunying and Wang Shanxi cooked dinner together. The chicken stewed with mushrooms made by Li Yunying was delicious. The meat was cut into slices and boiled, then stir-fried with potatoes and peppers.

　　This meal had meat and was rich in fat, so everyone enjoyed it very much.

　　After the autumn harvest, the villagers could not rest yet. They went up the mountain to collect firewood, looked for wild fruits and harvested things from their own private plots to store food for the winter. The educated youth slept soundly for two days.

　　It wasn't until the third day that I finally had a real rest.

　　On the morning of the fourth day, Jiang Youtao decided to go to the county town, but Gu Nianwei did not plan to go. But after what happened with Lin Jianzhong, Gu Nianwei had decided not to resell the supplies for the time being, and to wait at least another two years.

　　Now that Lin Jianzhong has lost his public office, he will definitely keep a close eye on her. If she acts rashly, she will be handing the evidence to Lin Jianzhong.

　　Jiang Youtao was relieved that Gu Nianwei was not going. She cared about her friend Gu Nianwei very much, but even the best of friends needed some space to be alone together, right? They were inseparable every day, so she couldn't do anything tricky.

　　After the autumn harvest, more and more educated youth went to the communes and the county town. Jiang Youtao politely went to the educated youth dormitory to ask, and found out that Zhang Huihui, Zhao Yonglan and Li Yunying didn't want to go out. After the autumn harvest, they felt sore all over and didn't want to go out at all.

　　This was exactly what Jiang Youtao wanted. She went to the commune by herself and took the bus. When she entered the commune, at the bridge, Jiang Youtao saw Wang Yuan, who had worked in the countryside in Liushugou but married the wrong person.

　　Last time she came with three children, this time she only brought one. In front of her were some of her own products, this time it was a pumpkin, which was not of good quality, thin and small, with many worm holes.

　　Jiang Youtao remembered what Li Yunying said and walked over.

　　Wang Yuan had been keeping her head down. When she saw someone coming, she looked up. She was stunned to see it was Jiang Youtao. Then she looked behind her and saw that she was the only one there. A trace of disappointment flashed in her eyes: "I remember you. You were also an educated youth who went to work in Liushugou, right?"

　　Wang Yuan's voice is very pleasant, thin and soft. Looking at her face, even though she has lost weight and has spots on her face now, her facial features still show the beauty she had when she was young.

　　Perhaps it is not right to say so, even now, she is still young. It is just because she has a bad life that she looks like she is 40 years old when she is less than 30 years old.

　　Jiang Youtao didn't expect Wang Yuan to remember her, so she nodded and said, "Yes, I just came to Liushugou to join the team this year. Are you selling pumpkins again? How much?"

　　Jiang Youtao reached into her pocket to take out some money, but Wang Yuan shook her head and said, "This pumpkin doesn't look good. It's not soft or sweet. It won't taste good if you buy it back. So I won't sell it to you. I'll be back in a minute."

　　Wang Yuan deftly packed the pumpkins into a bag and placed them in the basket, so quickly that Jiang Youtao didn't even have time to react.

　　The child on her back met Jiang Youtao's eyes. It was a very thin child, with no flesh on her face and eyes so big that they seemed to take up half of her face. She chewed her fingers on Wang Yuan's back, looking at Jiang Youtao with clear and ignorant eyes.

　　Jiang Youtao seemed to see herself as a child. She had a photo of herself when she had just entered kindergarten, and she was also so thin at that time.

　　She took out a handful of candies from the space and put them in Wang Yuan's basket. She peeled one of them and stuffed it into the child's hand. Seeing Wang Yuan looking at her, Jiang Youtao said, "Take it back and give it to the child."

　　Wang Yuan shook the child on her back to her left hand, turned her head to look at the child's happy eyes when she was eating candy, and a deep sadness revealed in her eyes.

　　After a moment, she blinked and said thank you to Jiang Youtao. Jiang Youtao was not familiar with her, so she nodded and said, "I have to go to the county town. I'm afraid I won't be able to catch the bus soon. I'll leave first."

　　Wang Yuan politely said to her, "Slow down." After Jiang Youtao took a few steps, Wang Yuan called her back.

　　Jiang Youtao turned around and saw Wang Yuan and said, "Can you ask Yunying to come to my house tomorrow? I have something urgent to talk to her about, but I have something to do at home and can't leave for the time being. I just happened to meet you, so please help me pass on a message."

　　This was not a big deal, Jiang Youtao agreed. Wang Yuan waved at her, picked up the child and left.

　　For some unknown reason, Jiang Youtao looked at her back for a long time.

　　When she got on the bus to the county town, she still felt something was wrong, but she didn't think too much about it.

　　Arriving at the county town, Jiang Youtao opened the system map, found an empty alley, put out all the things she had bought from the system, and then carried the bags to the post office.

　　The post office in the county town was much larger than the commune's post office, and there were many more people inside. Jiang Youtao asked the staff for a mailing form and filled in her name and home address. The staff packed the things she wanted to send in a bag, weighed them, and then calculated the money.

　　These things weighed nearly twenty kilograms, but the postage was very cheap and she only paid two or three yuan.

　　After coming out of the post office, Jiang Youtao breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that the heavy burden on her heart had been lightened a little.

　　She went to the grain station and exchanged all the grain coupons that Ying Caiyun had given her when she went to the countryside. When she got to a deserted place, she mixed the flour and rice rewarded by the system into the grain she had exchanged today.

　　After putting it in the space, Jiang Youtao's eyes fell on the melon seeds that occupied a separate compartment in the backpack.

　　Since she started the mission, in addition to the original melon seeds, she has accumulated two varieties: cream melon seeds and salt and pepper melon seeds, which add up to ten kilograms. Even if they consume some of them now, there will still be a considerable amount left.

　　And according to the convention of the melon-eating system, Jiang Youtao is sure that she will have endless melon seeds to eat in the future.

　　"Come on, come on, we have to hurry. My eldest sister said that the cinema will be showing Twinkle Little Red Star today. We didn't watch it last time, so we must watch it this time. Otherwise, we won't know what Zhang Xiaoran and the others are talking about when they talk about this movie." A group of children around ten years old walked past Jiang Youtao.

　　"I know, I know. I've asked my grandma for money. We'll buy tickets and go in later. We have to see it today, otherwise we'll definitely be considered late on trends."

　　When the children heard that they were going to fall behind, they all started running, and Jiang Youtao's eyes suddenly lit up.

　　Movie theaters have been the best place to sell snacks since ancient times. If she sells melon seeds there, business will definitely be good.

　　Jiang Youtao did what she said. She searched through the system and bought a small army green crossbody bag and a glass teacup weighing one or two taels. She also bought a set of cosmetics to darken her face. She put the melon seeds in her pocket, grabbed one and tasted it. Hmm, it was made of cream.

　　She walked towards the state-owned store where she and Gu Nianwei had been last time. The cinema was also built there.

　　No matter what time it is, movie theaters are the most attractive places for young people. Before Jiang Youtao got close, she saw many young people in bright and beautiful clothes coming in and out of the movie theater.

　　Jiang Youtao found a place where everyone had to pass by but which was not too attractive and stood there.

　　Seeing a young couple heading to the cinema, Jiang Youtao observed them carefully. Seeing that they were both well-dressed and the woman was taking the lead in the conversation, she approached them and asked in a low voice, "Sister, brother, do you want to buy some melon seeds?"

　　In an era where there is no way to call customers handsome men and beautiful women, there is definitely nothing wrong with calling anyone you meet brother or sister first.

　　This young couple came to the cinema to watch movies almost every week, but no one had ever stopped them to sell anything. The young girl immediately became interested: "What melon seeds?"

　　Jiang Youtao took out a handful of melon seeds from her pocket and stuffed them into the young girl's hand: "They are sweet. They are fried melon seeds grown by our family. There are not many. Sister, please try them."

　　The young girl had eaten a lot of melon seeds, but had never eaten candied melon seeds. She became even more interested. She put the melon seeds in her mouth and cracked them. A sweet and fragrant taste spread in her mouth. The young girl's eyes lit up. After sipping away the sweetness, she cracked the melon seeds. The unknown fragrance had already permeated into the melon seed kernels, making them extremely tasty.

　　The young girl had never tasted such delicious melon seeds before: "How much do you sell these melon seeds for?"

　　"Three cents a cup, five cents for two cups." Jiang Youtao shook the glass in her hand.

　　The young girl didn't say anything, but the young man thought it was expensive: "Other people can buy a cup for a penny, yours is too expensive."

　　Jiang Youtao had already inquired about the market. She said, "Brother, you get what you pay for. The melon seeds you bought for one cent a cup are all original flavor. Ours are different. They are sweet. The cost alone is quite high. If you don't believe me, ask her if they taste good and are worth the price."

　　Jiang Youtao finished the handful of melon seeds in an instant. The young girl felt unsatisfied. Seeing her boyfriend looking at her, she nodded quickly, "It's delicious. It tastes really good. Buy some more. We'll take it back for uncle and aunt to try. Bring some back for my parents too. They've never eaten such delicious melon seeds. If you buy some back, they'll definitely look at you differently."

　　When the young man heard what his girlfriend said, he immediately stopped thinking it was expensive because he wanted to please his future father-in-law and mother-in-law. His salary was not low, and he could afford two cups of melon seeds for five cents. So he said, "How about twe cents?"

　　Two cups for five cents, four cups for ten cents, eight cups for twenty cents, one cup weighs one ounce, and this customer alone bought nearly a pound, so he is a big customer.

　　Don't underestimate these twenty cents. Jiang Youtao worked very hard in the fields all day and earned only a little more than one cent!

　　These twenty cents can be equal to her work points for a day. Besides, these melon seeds are rewards from the system. It is a business with no capital. Even if she sells them for one cent, she will make a profit!

　　Jiang Youtao was happy and quickly served eight cups. The bulging backpack instantly deflated by half.

　　The young man grabbed a handful of melon seeds and tasted them. He changed his mind when he thought they were expensive before. Instead, he felt that they were worth the price. The sweetness alone was enough to make the melon seeds worth the price.

　　"Don't give them to my parents, give them all to your parents. I remember that your younger brother and sister love sweet things the most. When they eat them, they will definitely say good things about me." The young man immediately decided to take all the melon seeds to please his future parents-in-law and their family.

　　Jiang Youtao was happy: "Sister, your boyfriend is really good to you. I have sold a lot of melon seeds, but I have never seen anyone buy melon seeds for his parents to taste. You have found a good man, and your life will definitely be good in the future."

　　Although this was Jiang Youtao's first time setting up a stall to sell melon seeds and the two couples were her first customers, it did not stop her from bragging.

　　After hearing what Jiang Youtao said, the young man puffed out his chest and looked at the young girl with a proud look on his face. The young girl also looked at him, and that affectionate look made the young man's heart melt into a pool of water.

　　Jiang Youtao really didn't want to eat this dog food, so she served them half a cup of melon seeds and said, "I will come here to sell melon seeds every month in the future. If you find them delicious, come and support my business."

　　No one would be unhappy to get a bargain, and the young man was even happier: "Okay, your melon seeds are delicious, we will definitely come when the time comes."

　　"Thank you very much, I'll give you some more next time you come."

　　The young man and woman walked away while cracking melon seeds. Jiang Youtao happily put the money into her pocket and continued to look for the next buyer.

　　From noon to afternoon, Master Jiang was busy for two hours and cleared out most of the stock in the system backpack, leaving only a little for herself.

　　This time, she earned three yuan, which was equivalent to her work points for a month. This money was like picking up something for free. Jiang Youtao took out the flour that she had put in her backpack and walked towards the bus station. She was going back.

　　The car going back from the county town was much more crowded. Fortunately, Jiang Youtao was agile and managed to grab a seat next to the aisle in the second to last row. Several people failed to grab a seat beside her and had to stand in the aisle.

　　Not long after she sat down, the car started moving. Someone stood next to her and kept pushing towards Jiang Youtao. Jiang Youtao kept moving to the side and finally pushed the man who was sleeping with a hat on next to her to the window.

　　Jiang Youtao was annoyed: "What are you doing? What are you doing? Why are you pushing? Can't you just stand aside?"

　　Jiang Youtao's shout attracted the attention of everyone in the car. The man who squeezed Jiang Youtao was a man in his forties, wearing clothes of an indistinguishable color. He was very angry at Jiang Youtao's shout: "Why are you shouting? If the car wasn't so crowded, would I squeeze you?"

　　Jiang Youtao snorted, "Bullshit! Open your dog eyes and look around. Is there anyone on either side of you? I think you just want to be a hooligan! Driver, I want to report him. Please drive the car to the police station."

　　Perverts on the bus are not uncommon in any era. Why did this middle-aged man not squeeze others but her? Wasn't it because she was a woman? Jiang Youtao never indulged him.

　　When they heard that it was a hooligan, the whole car exploded. The middle-aged man's face turned pale and he stood up straight immediately: "I'm telling you, don't spit blood at me. I squeezed you because I didn't stand steadily! I've never seen a girl like you who spread rumors with just your mouth."

　　After saying that, he didn't wait for Jiang Youtao to speak and ran forward quickly. Everyone's eyes were on him. He stood very properly and didn't dare to cross the line at all.

　　That man just wanted to take advantage of her, and she didn't catch him in the act. Even if she took him to the police station, they couldn't find anything. After what she did, the man would definitely not dare to do anything for a while. So let it be.

　　Jiang Youtao sat back down and turned around to find that the man who was sleeping with his hat on had woken up at some point. It was a coincidence that this man was the postman who delivered letters to the village a few days ago, the one named Fu Shaohua.

　　"What a coincidence, Comrade Fu." Jiang Youtao's unhappiness just now disappeared in an instant.

　　As for beauties, looking at them a few more times can always make people happy.

　　Fu Shaohua obviously remembered Jiang Youtao as well. After all, there were many people who thought he was good-looking, but none of them had ever asked him his name directly like Jiang Youtao did. Most of the other female comrades were reserved, and some even dared not even look at him, keeping their heads down as if he were some kind of monster.

　　Fu Shaohua smiled and nodded at Jiang Youtao: "What a coincidence indeed, Comrade Jiang, are you going to the county town too?"

　　"Yes, I came to see you and send some things to my family." Jiang Youtao paused and asked, "Comrade Fu is coming to the county town to work?"

　　Fu Shaohua raised his messenger bag and patted it: "I'm here to pick up the mail. The postman who delivers mail from the county to the countryside is sick, so we have to come and pick it up ourselves. Comrade Jiang, let me change seats with you. I'll sit by the aisle. The scenery outside the window has changed so much that I feel carsick."

　　Jiang Youtao knew that Fu Shaohua's suggestion was entirely due to what had just happened. If he was really carsick, he would never sit in this position.

　　After thinking for two seconds, Jiang Youtao agreed, and the two exchanged positions.

　　With this beginning, the two chatted very happily. After getting off the bus at the commune, Fu Shaohua promised Jiang Youtao: "I will go to the countryside to deliver a letter in a few days, and I will take the package sent to you by your family."

　　Because of the autumn harvest, Jiang Youtao has not yet picked up the package sent by the Ying family.

　　Jiang Youtao didn't refuse Fu Shaohua because of the little thought in her heart. She smiled and thanked him: "Thank you, Comrade Fu, you are such a good person."

　　Suddenly being given a good guy card, Jiang Youtao was smiling so brightly, Fu Shaohua felt like he was scalded, his ears turned red, he quickly said you're welcome, and got out of the bus as if escaping. Jiang Youtao opened the window and waved to him, and he immediately raised his hand as well.

　　Jiang Youtao was immediately delighted.

　　What she mean is that teasing innocent and handsome boys is the most enjoyable thing.