Early the next morning, before breakfast,
Jerry dragged his parents straight to the village broadcasting room.
Normally, this loudspeaker was used for village announcements—
births, deaths, cow lost, cow found, that sort of thing.
But today, Jerry had his own special announcement to make.
Just as he picked up the mic,
his mom grabbed his arm, looking heartbroken.
"Jerry, are you really gonna waste money buying rotten weeds?
Why don't we just pick them ourselves?
Think how much money we could save!"
Jerry couldn't help but laugh.
"Mom, those aren't 'rotten weeds.' They're wild greens!
Besides, how much can the three of us pick in a day?
I've only got three days off before I have to get back to school—
we don't have time to mess around."
"And sure, paying the villagers costs a bit more,
but with enough people picking, we save time and gather way more.
More greens = more money. Win-win, right?"
After calming his mom down,
Jerry cleared his throat and leaned into the mic.
"Good morning, residents of Kao Shan Village!
Here's some great news:
Starting today, anyone who brings wild greens to the pond at Dawan will get paid—
10 cents per jin! First come, first served!"
He repeated the announcement three times for good measure.
Meanwhile, his parents just stood there, looking helpless.
What could they do now?
They'd already handed him the money.
Still, they couldn't help wondering...
Is this really your big money-making plan?
Spending all our savings... buying weeds that even pigs won't touch?
Even the biggest spendthrift couldn't think of a dumber idea.
Jerry hung up the mic and glanced at his parents' worried faces.
He understood their doubts—
but he couldn't exactly tell them he was a reborn future-man with insider knowledge, right?
The truth behind his plan was simple.
Starting around 2005, Blue Star Nation's economy took off like a rocket.
City folk got richer, fatter... and pickier about their food.
Suddenly, everyone went crazy for "natural, organic" wild greens from the mountains.
At that time, the internet was still a baby,
and very few people knew there was a market for this stuff.
Merchants were desperate for supply.
All you had to do was haul a truckload of wild greens to the farmer's markets,
and boom—instant profit.
That's why Jerry had rushed back.
If he waited too long,
everybody and their grandma would realize wild greens were gold,
and it'd be too late.
Broadcast done,
Jerry took his mom's hand and headed home.
"Cheer up, Mom.
Since you handed me the money,
trust that I'll make it rain!
After today, you'll be busy counting cash!"
Hearing his confidence,
his mom chuckled, half-scolding:
"You little rascal—always such a sweet talker."
Then she squinted at him.
"By the way...
Did you get taller?
Or is it just that fancy new haircut making you look handsome?"
Jerry laughed.
"Of course!
Getting rich naturally makes a man better looking!"
"Pfft!
Bragging before you even make a cent!"
Mom rolled her eyes.
The family bantered all the way home,
while Jerry's dad just smiled behind his pipe, trailing along peacefully.
Simple, quiet happiness.
Meanwhile, chaos was brewing across the village.
"Ten cents for wild weeds?
Am I hearing that right?!"
"Whose kid has money to burn like that?"
"Isn't it Old Jerry's boy?
The one who just got back from college?"
"Let's go check it out!
If it's true, we're basically picking up free cash!"
The villagers couldn't believe their ears.
Here in Kao Shan Village,
wild greens were so worthless even pigs turned their noses up at them.
You could grab a few hundred jin in a single afternoon without trying.
And now someone was actually paying cash for them?
Compared to their usual daily earnings of less than twenty yuan,
suddenly making sixty or seventy yuan a day felt like winning the lottery.
No wonder the villagers were losing their minds.
By the time Jerry got home,
the courtyard was already packed—
villagers crowding the entrance, spilling onto the dirt road.
Hundreds of people, buzzing like flies.
"Was it you on the loudspeaker earlier?
Ten cents a jin for weeds?"
"I brought a basket already! You buying?"
"You're a university student from a famous school, right?
You wouldn't scam your own folks, would you?"
Everyone was shouting at once,
and a few smart ones even tried to box Jerry in verbally—
forcing him to keep his promise publicly.
Looking at the mob of greedy, impatient villagers,
Jerry sneered inwardly.
Small minds, small dreams.
No wonder you'll stay poor forever.
Still smiling on the outside, Jerry said:
"We're all neighbors here.
No need to doubt me.
Ten cents a jin—guaranteed."
He pointed at one of the villagers carrying a basket of greens.
"Uncle Hezi, come up first.
Let's weigh your basket and pay you."
Uncle Hezi blinked, stunned at Jerry's straightforwardness,
but quickly beamed and lugged his basket over.
"College kids sure talk different.
This one's gonna go far!"
(Though whether he actually believed that was another matter.)
The rest of the villagers stared intently,
waiting to see if Jerry would really pay up.
Jerry checked the scale.
"12.5 jin.
That's 2.5 yuan."
Turning to his mom, he said:
"Mom, pay Uncle Hezi."
His mother's hands trembled slightly as she handed over the cash.
Watching good money turn into worthless weeds—
it hurt, it hurt bad.
Uncle Hezi stared at the money in his hand, dumbfounded.
Holy crap... it's real?!
The villagers didn't need further proof.
Within seconds, they scattered like startled chickens,
racing toward the mountains to pick greens.
No way were they letting someone else snatch up their free cash.
Fueled by greed, the villagers picked like madmen.
By noon, they'd delivered over 20,000 jin of wild greens.
Just as the last basket was dropped off,
Jerry's rented transport truck rumbled into the courtyard.
He glanced at his mom, who was sweating bullets from weighing and paying.
Feeling a little guilty, Jerry said:
"Mom, sorry to leave you with the madness.
Dad and I will haul this batch to the city market and sell it."
His mom didn't even lift her head, just waved him off:
"Go, go!
Just be careful on the road.
Leave the buying to me!"
Jerry smiled and nodded.
No point wasting time.
He and his dad loaded up the truck and hit the road.
Because technically,
Jerry didn't have a driver's license yet (thank you, rebirth timeline),
he had to rely on his dad to drive.
Luckily, his dad used to drive big rigs for the commune—
handling a little transport truck was no problem.
They bumped along rough roads for two hours before reaching their destination:
The East Side Agricultural Market of the Provincial Capital.
Jerry had chosen this place for a reason—
it was a trading hub where city merchants sourced goods to resell elsewhere.
Tons of big buyers prowled the place daily.
Two truckloads of wild greens?
No problem.
He'd sell out in no time.