Reborn in 1981, the first to get rich start with dairy cows.

Early in the morning, the team members got up and started shoveling snow.

It snowed all night, and the whole village was covered in white. The children, who hadn't gone to school yet, were running around happily.

We didn't have a large broom at home, and the small broom wasn't big enough to sweep, so we went to my uncle's house and got a large one.

With each step, the top of my foot was covered in snow, making a crunching sound.

"Xiaomin, hurry up and eat breakfast. I'm going to get some charcoal today; it's really cold at night."

"It's okay, brother, I put two hot water bottles in, they're very warm." Shen Min's face was flushed, and Shen Dong could tell at a glance that she had used cold water to wash up.

"Didn't I tell you to wash them with hot water? Look, your hands have chilblains, they're so itchy!"

Chilblains are something that anyone who has experienced them knows. In winter, when you're in bed with them, it feels like being bitten by a million ants, and the itching is unbearable.

But rural kids these days don't care about such things, and besides, charcoal costs money, so they can't bear to spend it.

"Hey, hurry up and sweep the floor."

Shen Min found Shen Dong too talkative, so she pushed him out.

Shen Dong smiled and turned his head, seeing Shen Min's gloves on the windowsill. The fingers were torn in several places, and it was unclear when they were made.

Shoveling snow is physically demanding, and after being frozen overnight, it was impossible to sweep it.

With no other option, Shen Dong went home and got a shovel to clear the area. He only managed to clear the doorway by the time Li Ying came looking for Shen Min.

After Shen Min left, Shen Dong asked Li Shangen about the progress of the box. He was surprised to learn that it was almost half finished in the past two days.

These days, everyone is afraid of being poor, so when there's a chance to make money, they just want to finish it as soon as possible.

It was impossible to ride a bicycle to the commune. Although the snow had been flattened by donkey carts and pedestrians along the way, it was still full of potholes and very slippery.

Shen Dong pushed his bicycle all the way to the factory. Fortunately, the roads in the commune had been cleared, which saved him some time.

As soon as he arrived at the factory, he called Li Meiyu over and said, "Come on, let's go sign the contract. The contract for the New Year's gift boxes needs to be finalized."

Baotashan Commune had several collective factories. Apart from the dairy factory, the brick and tile factory, cement factory, textile factory, and food factory were scattered in different locations.

They were all pre-ordered from the director, and Shen Dong even brought the factory's yogurt to each factory, delivering several cans to each one.

In return, the textile factory sent some fabric, and the food factory sent some pastries.

In addition to signing the contract, Shen Dong also needs to purchase a batch of pastries from the food factory, which are required for the gift boxes.

Shen Dong let Li Meiyu choose several items, including fried dough twists, crispy candy, and biscuits. They bought a total of 750 jin (375 catties) and spent 225 yuan.

After signing the contract, the two went to the supply and marketing cooperative. These days were not the busy farming season, but everyone had started preparing for the New Year. The supply and marketing cooperative was bustling with activity and extremely busy.

Niu Aijun also went to the counter to greet people and prepare for any emergencies.

He turned around and saw Shen Dong coming over, followed by a middle-aged woman. He immediately greeted him with a smile.

"Director Shen, it's been a while. What would you like to buy this time?"

Although he was rejected last time when he tried to climb up to Wang Yuan through Shen Dong, the subsequent events of Liu Gui's downfall, Shen Dong's rise to power, and the three-year contract all shocked Niu Aijun.

He was just a sales team leader, so he couldn't afford to be disrespectful.

"Director Niu, there are so many people! You must be very busy!"

"No, you shouldn't. Just call me Team Leader Niu."

Shen Dong smiled, pointed behind him, and Niu Aijun led him to the back warehouse.

"Is your team leader Yang here? Our factory needs to purchase some items."

"Oh dear, what bad timing. We're busy right now. Team Leader Yang went down to collect supplies. There's a lot of shortage right now, and he's leading his team to buy things everywhere. He might be back a little late."

Yang Haitao wasn't here last time I came. It's true that the purchasing position is lucrative but also tiring, and you rarely see anyone.

"Okay, I'll write you a form."

Niu Aijun immediately took out a piece of paper, and Shen Dong wrote down what he wanted for the gift box.

"These are the brown sugar and apples needed for the New Year's gift box. We need 600 jin of brown sugar and 1120 jin of apples."

"And then, these are the New Year's goods I wanted. There aren't many, can you take a look?"

Niu Aijun smiled and took it, glancing at it quickly before saying, "Don't worry, Director Shen, we have all of these. When do you need them?"

"Once you've made your purchases, just deliver them directly to our factory. You can settle the bill with our accountant, Ms. Li."

"No problem, leave it to me."

Shen Dong gave the last of the yogurt he had brought with him to Guo Qu: "It's brown sugar flavored. Take it home for the kids and the elderly to try."

"Oh, thank you so much, Director Shen. My kids love it. It's a pity there aren't many supply and marketing cooperatives. We have to buy so many every day. My kids have only tried it once. Now that there's so much, they can really enjoy it."

Both of them laughed at Niu Aijun's deliberate flattery.

Back at the factory, Li Hu had already delivered 80 jin of apples from the team as instructed, purchased at 2 mao per jin.

There aren't many apple trees in the team. We can ask around after the New Year if there are any places planting Red Fuji apples now.

With the expansion of the product line to include milk skin, the number of vehicles entering and leaving the factory every day has increased, and it is clear that Lao Huang can no longer support such long working hours during the day by himself.

"Old Huang, I'm planning to find someone else to help you out. Do you have any recommendations?"

Old Huang was the first person Shen Dong knew besides Tang Yue. Despite his age, he was very hardworking. Last time Chen Dong came to cause trouble, he did his best to protect him.

"You should look for it, factory manager. I don't have it here."

"I'm so busy, I don't have time. I'll leave it to you. The salary is 18 yuan. If you can't find someone else, then you'll have to watch the factory by yourself every day."

Shen Dong left after he finished speaking.

In the afternoon, before anyone from the supply and marketing cooperative had arrived, Li Shangen came over.

This was the first time Li Shangen had come to the commune to see Shen Dong since his rebirth.

"Grandpa, what brings you here? Please come in and sit down." Shen Dong welcomed him in and then explained to Old Huang, "This is my great-grandfather, Li Hu's grandfather. Next time you come, just call me."

When Li Shangen and Shen Dong arrived at the office, they saw Shen Dong about to pour tea and quickly stopped him.

"Dongwa, I came over to ask about the laying hens, how did it go?"

Shen Dong slapped his forehead; he'd forgotten!

He hadn't stopped since morning, so he quickly said, "Oh dear, I almost forgot. I'll go to the livestock station to ask right now. Please have a seat, I'll be right back."

"Dongwa, don't worry. I've done the survey, and there are eight or nine households that want to raise them. You can ask around for them."

"Okay."

Shen Dong rode his bike to the livestock station.

It was only 2 p.m. when Wang Yuan was receiving the laying hens. He greeted Shen Dong when he saw him coming.

"Xiao Shen, the laying hens are here. We saved some for you, do you want some?"

"Yes, I'll take it!" Shen Dong said as he walked over. There were about twenty or thirty chickens in the enclosure, and judging by their size, they had been raised for about eight or nine months.

"How much is one?"

Wang Yuan looked around to make sure no one was watching, then whispered, "You can get them from me, I'll give you the lowest price, 18 each."

"Okay, save me 12, I'll come and pick them up later."