Reborn in '77, I have a job panel!

For the next few days, Qian Cheng was busy every day.

We used three vats in rotation. After collecting the first vat, we disinfected it, soaked the beans, and then put them into the vat.

The second batch was collected, sterilized, the beans were soaked, and then put back into the batch.

The third batch was collected, sterilized, and the beans were soaked and put back into the container.

Water the plants every morning and evening, check the temperature daily, and record the time daily.

The bean sprouts kept coming in batches, growing better and better.

He would go to town to sell his wares on the 3rd, 6th, and 9th of each month when the market was open.

He could sell for four or five yuan a day. When it wasn't market day, he would carry a basket and wander around the mining area to sell some in small quantities.

In about ten days, he saved up more than thirty yuan.

Hou Yufen carefully folded the money into individual bills, put them in the cabinet, and locked it.

"Chengzi, once we've saved up a hundred, we'll go and return it to your master."

Qian Cheng nodded: "It will be soon, in just over a month."

Hou Yufen looked at him, her eyes filled with relief.

This child has really grown up.

At night, Qian Cheng lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

He calculated the days and realized that the college entrance examination was not far away. He needed to hurry up and review, and his bean sprout business could not interfere with his studies.

But we can't just not do it.

Qian Cheng came up with a plan. The Lantern Festival was just around the corner, and there were still some days left before spring arrived. The ground was still covered in snow, so planting was impossible. His mother, Hou Yufen, was also idle, so she made shoe soles and did needlework every day to earn money.

Qian Cheng simply handed over the whole process to his mother, letting her watch over things for him, while he carried two large baskets to sell them every day. It only took him an hour or so to finish selling them, so he had time to study, and the rest of the time he could go to the Zhang family to learn carpentry.

Qian Cheng had a full day planned out.

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

Early in the morning, Qian Cheng harvested a vat of bean sprouts.

These days he's figured out the pattern: he rotates the three cylinders, and there's a good batch every day.

Today is the fifteenth, and there are many people at the market, so he specially packed a lot. The two baskets were full, weighing at least thirty pounds.

When we arrived at the market, we found our usual spot and squatted down.

As soon as it was set up, someone came over.

"Hey, Little Qian's here? How are the bean sprouts today?"

The man in the blue cotton-padded jacket who struck up a conversation was surnamed Zhou and worked at the town's supply and marketing cooperative.

These days, Qian Cheng comes to buy it every time he goes to the market, buying two or three catties each time, saying that his mother at home loves to eat it.

"Brother Zhou, take a look." Qian Cheng pushed the basket forward. "They're very tender, just harvested this morning."

Brother Zhou squatted down, picked up a piece, looked at it, broke it in half, tasted it, and nodded: "Okay, give me three jin."

Qian Cheng weighed out three jin (approximately 1.5 kg), tied it with straw rope, and handed it over.

Brother Zhou took out three cents, put the bean sprouts away, and left.

A few more people came over; they were all familiar faces.

"Xiao Qian, give me two jin."

"I want two jin too."

"Today is the fifteenth, we have guests coming to our house, give me a lot, five catties."

Qian Cheng busied himself with tasks, weighing items, collecting money, and bundling bean sprouts.

An old man selling cabbages nearby saw this and even called out, "Come and see! These bean sprouts are so tender, only a dime a pound!"

Grandpa Qian Chengchong smiled.

People from the three northeastern provinces are like that; they're naturally outgoing and friendly.

Whether you know each other or not, you can start chatting after sitting together and selling things a few times.

Sometimes they'd help each other shout out a few words, sometimes they'd exchange food; there was a lot of human warmth in it.

In less than an hour, both baskets of bean sprouts were sold out.

Qian Cheng counted the money: three yuan and sixty cents.

He carefully put the money away, greeted the old man next to him, and walked back with the empty basket.

On the way, he calculated that he had gone to the market five times in the past few days, and with the money he made selling things in the mining area, he had saved a total of forty-two yuan.

I'm still 58 yuan short of 100 yuan. At this rate, I should be able to pay it back in a little over a month.

However, relying solely on retail sales at the market is too slow.

The market only opens on the 3rd, 6th, and 9th of each month, which is nine times a month.

I sell them for three or four yuan each time, so I only make about thirty yuan a month.

With the retail sales from the mining area, I managed to scrape together about forty yuan.

If you want to get your money back quickly, you need to do it in bulk.

We need to get the road to the mine's canteen cleared as soon as possible.

Back home, Qian Cheng put down the basket, changed into clean clothes, told Hou Yufen, and went out to the Zhang family's house.

When Qian Cheng arrived at the Zhang family's house, Zhang Changtian was squatting in the yard smoking a pipe. Seeing Qian Cheng enter, he raised his eyelids slightly and asked, "You've arrived?"

"Master," Qian Cheng walked over, "I'd like to ask for a day off today."

Zhang Changtian took a drag of his cigarette: "Where are you going?"

"I need to go to the mining area; there's something I need to take care of."

Zhang Changtian glanced at him, didn't ask any further questions, and nodded: "Go ahead."

Qian Cheng was about to go inside to tell Zhang Mingxi when Zhang Mingxi came out of the house.

Hearing Qian Cheng speak, she ran out and asked, "What are you going to the mining area for?"

"Let's talk about something, about selling bean sprouts."

Qian Cheng's bean sprout sales have been common knowledge in the village for days. The village is so small that it's impossible to keep anything a secret, and Qian Cheng never intended to hide it from the beginning.

Zhang Mingxi's eyes lit up: "I'll go with you."

"No way." Qian Cheng shook his head and decisively refused.

"Why not?"

Qian Cheng glanced at her, then at Zhang Changtian, and lowered his voice, saying, "There are a lot of people in the mining area, it's a mess, it's not safe for a young woman like you."

Before Zhang Mingxi could say anything more, Zhang Changtian spoke up from the side: "Listen to him, what are you doing? You're just making things worse."

Zhang Mingxi pouted and stopped talking.

Qian Cheng felt a little soft-hearted looking at her like that, but he didn't give in.

In that mining area, there were hundreds of grown men, some of whom were still single, and they would stare at young girls with wide eyes.

Bringing Zhang Mingxi along would only cause trouble for myself, wouldn't it?

"I'll tell you when I get back. If things go well, I'll ask for your help in the future."

Zhang Mingxi nodded and said, "Then come back soon."

"Um."

After leaving the Zhang family's house, Qian Cheng went straight to his elder brother Qian Lu's house.

Qian Lu has been staying home these past few days. After the Lantern Festival, the mine will urge him to go back to work.

When they arrived at Qian Lu's house, Qian Lu was talking to his sister-in-law inside.

Seeing Qian Cheng enter, Qian Lu asked, "What's wrong?"

Qian Cheng, not one to stand on ceremony, plopped down: "Brother, I have something to tell you. Has the mine been urging you to go back?"

"They've urged me to go back at seventeen and go down the well."

Qian Cheng nodded, looked at him and said, "Brother, you shouldn't do that job in the mine anymore."

Qian Lu was stunned for a moment: "Not doing it? What will we do if we don't do it? Will the whole family starve?"

The eldest sister-in-law watched Qian Cheng from the side, waiting for him to continue.

Qian Cheng said, "Brother, you've seen me selling bean sprouts these past few days. In about ten days, I've earned more than forty yuan."

Qian Lu nodded: "I see, they do make quite a bit of money."

"But I can't handle this business by myself."

I want you to work with me.

Qian Lu frowned: "What should I do? Should I go sell bean sprouts too?"

"I don't just want to sell them; I want to sell bean sprouts to the mine's canteen."

There are hundreds of people working at the mine, and they need to eat every day. If we could take over the canteen, we could easily make a living selling dozens of kilograms of bean sprouts a day.

Qian Lu listened, somewhat tempted, but still had concerns: "Will that work? We're selling things to the mine privately, what if we get caught?"