In 1982, I Used My Modern Mindset to Buy Chickens

In the spring of 1982, Zhou Shoucheng opened his eyes after a car accident and found himself back in the drafty earthen house he had lived in at twenty-three. His son had a high fever, the family couldn't scrape together five yuan, and his mother-in-law was sitting by the kang, urging Xu Xiaoman to divorce and remarry. He remembered that year, and remembered how he had walked out through this very door, leaving for thirty years, only to collapse in tears at his son's funeral. This time, he barred the door, borrowed money for medicine, then went to the county committee housing compound to collect eggs. People laughed and called him crazy. He talked about "planning" and "traffic," so the villagers thought he was either a fortune-teller or a lunatic. But the money came quickly, and Qian Youde from the supply and marketing cooperative set his sights on him. Branding Zhou a profiteer, he tried to seize his chicken farm. While reassuring his still-hesitant wife, Zhou spread the account books on the commune table and forced Qian to admit in public that he had falsified the purchase prices. The farm was saved, and only then did Zhou understand for the first time: money alone could not protect a family. He had to win people's hearts, too.

This novel and its characters are purely fictional. Any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.