Reborn as a capitalist's young master in the 1970s, he starts his life by being blocked at the

Hard!

Chen Jianming's fist hardened!

Nine out and thirteen back—that was the old method of calculating usury.

One out, thirteen back—that's the bandit's method!

A surge of anger rose from Chen Jianming's chest. He abruptly raised his head, staring at Liu Neng's greasy, fat face, his eyes practically spitting fire.

"You're glaring at me?" Liu Neng was startled by the look in his eyes and subconsciously took half a step back, then became angry and embarrassed.

"You dare glare at me, you son of a bitch? You bastard from one of the 'Five Black Categories,' believe me or not, I'll give the production team leader a piece of my mind at the denunciation meeting in a couple of days!"

"We'll just say you're plotting something, trying to overturn the verdict! We'll drag you into a room to reflect on your actions, and let you finally loosen up your filthy nature!"

A bucket of cold water was poured over his head.

The flame in Chen Jianming's eyes flickered violently, then gradually subsided.

Given his current status as one of the "Five Black Categories," he's guilty of anything, not even talking back, let alone fighting back.

If no one reports him during a public denunciation meeting, it will be over and done with. But if someone criticizes him during the meeting, it won't just be a matter of receiving a few words of criticism and education.

In any case, as long as he had a conflict with Liu Neng, regardless of who was right or wrong, he would always be the one to be criticized and denounced.

"What exactly do you want?" Chen Jianming squeezed out four words through gritted teeth.

Seeing that he had given in, Liu Neng snorted and his courage returned.

He walked with a pigeon-toed gait to the pile of scattered cornmeal, lifted his foot, which was clad in a liberation shoe, and forcefully rubbed the flour a few times with the sole of the shoe.

The sand and cornmeal clumped together, turning into a grayish-black mud.

"Well then, I'm not an unreasonable person, Mr. Liu." Liu Neng lifted his foot and rubbed the sole of his shoe in the paste on the ground.

"As long as you hand over forty... no! fifty catties of grain next month, our debt will be wiped clean."

He paused, a sinister smile creeping across his greasy face: "I'm warning you, a big shot will be watching the denunciation meeting in a couple of days. If you don't agree, we'll settle all our scores, old and new!"

"We'll skin you alive, hang a sign around your neck, and parade you through the streets so the whole commune can see what a capitalist's son looks like!"

After saying that, he seemed to remember something, leaned closer and lowered his voice, "Don't blame me for being ruthless, Mr. Liu. If you can find anything your parents left behind..."

"Gold bracelets, silver bracelets, jade pendants and the like... I'm not against using them as collateral."

Jade?

Chen Jianming's heart clenched.

"Think it over carefully yourself." Seeing that he didn't react, Liu Neng assumed he was scared out of his wits and turned to leave.

As he passed the water vat by the door, he casually picked up a stone from the ground and smashed it against the vat with a loud thud.

The water tank cracked open with a loud thud, and murky water gushed out, splashing all over Liu Neng's trouser leg.

"Damn it."

Liu Neng cursed, tossed the stone aside, and walked away without looking back.

The room fell silent.

Chen Jianming sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), staring at the pile of cornmeal that had been crushed into mud on the ground, without moving for a long time.

Fifty catties.

As a member of the "Five Black Categories," where was he supposed to get fifty catties of grain rations?

Liu Neng is pushing him to the brink of death!

He subconsciously reached for the ancestral jade pendant on his chest; it might be his last trump card.

As his fingers traced the surface, he found nothing—nothing at all!

Chen Jianming's heart skipped a beat. He abruptly pulled open his collar and looked down. Apart from a red mark on his chest, the jade pendant was gone!

"How could this be..." He panicked, cold sweat beading on his forehead. He turned over and searched the kang (a heated brick bed), lifting the tattered quilt, turning it over and over but finding nothing.

However, while turning over, I noticed a gurgling sound coming from inside my stomach.

What's going on?

Could yesterday's dream have been real?

In his previous life, Chen Jianming had read many time-travel novels, and the protagonists of those novels all had their own cheat codes after time-traveling.

Could it be that even God couldn't stand by and watch?

"If there really is a cheat code, it should be that jade pendant, right?" He looked at the only abnormal spot on his chest.

He swore that the red mark was definitely not Tian Jiangyue's doing.

Chen Jianming tried to use his consciousness to touch the red mark, and in a flash, he reappeared in that space, just like in his dream yesterday.

It really wasn't a dream!

Chen Jianming's eyes were burning with desire as he looked around. Suddenly, he tripped over something and fell face-first into the mud with a thud.

"Huh, what's this?"

He got up and saw a piece of wood, about the thickness of his thigh, dark and covered in dirt.

Could it be a treasure as well?

Chen Jianming thought it was very likely; everything here couldn't be explained by common sense, and it might have miraculous effects, just like the spring water.

Perhaps this piece of wood was too inconspicuous, which is why he didn't notice it yesterday?

Then, he hugged the wood and started gnawing on it, even licking off some of the dirt.

If someone saw this, they would most likely think he was starving.

"Pah, pah, pah! I thought it was some kind of treasure, but it's just a piece of ordinary rotten wood."

Chen Jianming threw the wood aside and spat in disgust. What was on it wasn't soil at all; the sour smell clearly indicated it was farmyard manure.

"However, with such a large open space, perhaps we could try planting something here, or use it as a warehouse."

Chen Jianming looked at the black soil, stroked his chin, and then shook his head.

These ideas are all a bit unrealistic. His family doesn't even have a single grain of food right now, so where would he get seeds?

As for his meager possessions—a broken table and a few broken stools—no one would even want them if he threw them in the trash, so there was absolutely no need to store them.

He had planned to drink some more spring water, but he had drunk too much last night and was still feeling bloated.

"Never mind, I'll just go back to sleep."

Chen Jianming studied it for a long time but couldn't figure it out, so he simply exited the space, changed to a more comfortable position, and quickly fell asleep again.

In broad daylight, he couldn't possibly go to someone's field to borrow seeds; if he were caught, he would inevitably face another round of criticism and denunciation.

As for the work of shoveling pig manure for fertilizer, let whoever wants to do it do it!

Chen Jianming slept until noon before waking up again, by which time most of the water in his stomach had been digested.

"It's time to go out and find something to eat..." Chen Jianming picked up a broken bamboo basket and went out the door. He went to the foot of the mountain behind the house and dug up some wild vegetables such as purslane and lamb's quarters.

The original owner barely survived on these things, which was also due to constant malnutrition.

"This is fucking bitter!" When he got home, Chen Jianming boiled the wild vegetables he had dug up with spiritual spring water, took a bite, and grimaced from the bitterness.

In those days, there was a shortage of food and clothing, no oil or salt, and boiled wild vegetables were bitter and astringent, terribly unpalatable, but they were better than nothing.

Chen Jianming began to miss the days when he was with those rich women, going to high-end restaurants and indulging in lavish meals.

"Well, it's better than starving to death." Chen Jianming took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and ate a whole bowl of cooked wild vegetables in one go.

Although it tasted bitter, my stomach felt much better after eating it.

"No, we still need to find a way to get some food." Chen Jianming pondered. He had spent the whole afternoon digging for wild vegetables and was exhausted, but he only managed to eat half a meal.

The taste of this wild vegetable is really hard to swallow, and it doesn't have much nutritional value either.

Just then, the door creaked open, and a figure sneaked in under the cover of darkness.

"Mingzi, your sister brought you some cakes, eat them quickly. We need to work hard tonight, we have to hurry, or we'll miss the deadline."