"Dad! I want to eat pork." He Feng said to his father with a longing look in his eyes.
He Kui looked at the fat meat on the pork stall and swallowed saliva before telling He Feng, "Xiao Feng, I'll buy you a pound of pork for one yuan once I sell these two bundles of firewood."
"Ugh! Others, upon their rebirth, either become the son of a corporate president or a highly talented chemical engineering student. Me? I, on the other hand, have to wait for three days to activate the 'golden finger' I was given when I was reborn."
In the 1990s in Yanhuang Country, natural gas was only available in first-tier cities. In fourth-tier towns like where He Feng lived, firewood was widely used for cooking. Of course, there were a few affluent families that used coal.
His dad's two bundles of firewood weighed a total of two hundred pounds and sold for two yuan.
Because the whole town and county mostly used firewood, places with mountains in the town or Ning County were practically devoid of trees and even grass. The mountains were bare.
These two bundles of firewood were stealthily chopped by his father sixty kilometers away in Lin County, under cover of darkness. If the villagers discovered this, his father would surely get a beating. Just the day before yesterday, some men named Second Dog and Third Dog from the village were caught stealing firewood and had their legs brutally broken by the villagers.
The firewood, having just been put down, was purchased by the owner of a small restaurant for two yuan.
"Let's go! Son, I'm going to take you to buy some pork," said He Kui happily.
"The fat meat is 1.2 yuan per pound, lean meat is 1 yuan per pound. Brother, which do you want?" the butcher smiled.
"Dad! Buy the fatty one! We can make a bowl of rice mixed with pork fat for mom, grandpa, and grandma," He Feng said excitedly.
In those days, having a bowl of rice mixed with pork was extremely luxurious.
Finally, He Kui bought a pound of fat meat and took He Feng home, happy and excited.
He Feng's home was only sixty square meters, but it housed eight people. His three elder brothers were all high school students, and their annual tuition was a huge expenditure.
His grandparents were eighty years old this year and could only do a bit of light work. But the problem was, in this era, only heavy labor could support the family. His mother was a farmer as well as a 50-year old logistics manager who looked as old as a 70-year-old.
When Mom saw Dad carrying a piece of fat meat, she disdainfully glanced at him at first, then took the meat and warned him not to do this again.
There were only two dishes for lunch, radish stir-fried with cabbage, and cabbage stir-fried with radish. What they ate was not white rice but sweet potato mixed rice.
White rice was something they simply couldn't afford in He Feng's family. With a coin of three cents for a pound of rice and their daily income only two cents, it was beyond their reach.
Grandfather and grandmother were robust even in their eighties. Had it not been for the famine that occurred three years later, they would not have starved to death to save food for He Feng and his brothers.
"Now that I'm reborn and have a breeding system, I'm not afraid of famine," boasted He Feng inwardly.
"He Kui, you need to cut back on doing things like this. I may have six sons, but I don't want any of them to be hurt." Grandfather said sternly to Dad.
"Dad! I understand, let's eat!" He Kui replied with a smile.
This bowl of lard mixed rice was the best meal He Feng had had since his rebirth three days ago.
"I'm full, I'm going out to play." He Feng said and quickly ran out of the house.
At night, Mom, Jiang Yan, made an announcement that Uncle He Leng, his fifth uncle, had to pay a dowry of two hundred yuan and 200 kg of rice to marry his wife.
They took out fifty of the sixty pounds of rice at home to make up the shortfall, and gave all their savings of thirty yuan to his fifth brother. So, starting tomorrow, they need to eat porridge for a month.
Of He Feng's five uncles, only the youngest one, Uncle Five, hadn't married yet. At the age of fifty-three, he was still a bachelor, which worried their grandfather so much that he couldn't sleep well. The saving grace was that Dad and the five uncles were united, willing to go all out to help if any of them were in trouble.
Over the next two days, He Feng was so hungry that his stomach was sticking to his spine. He had thought to have a good meal at his fifth uncle's wedding, but his future father-in-law decided that the wedding would be on the 10th of next month, which was a good day, leaving him speechless.
Since he was hungry, he decided not to do sports and just lay in bed. Suddenly, a familiar voice spoke, "Host, I really apologize.”
He Feng's cheat system was a super breeding system, simply put, it was a system that raised animals and plants for sale. As long as the breeding level was high, even tigers and blue whales could be bred.
"Host, please accept the newbie package," the system reminded.
"Accepted," He Feng answered.
"Newbie package received. You have acquired an improved couple of black-bone chicks and a parasitic grass plant.”
"Seriously, system? That's the newbie gift? A couple of black-bone chicks and a parasitic grass plant?" He Feng looked unimpressed.
"Apologies, host, but at present, you can only afford to rear a pair of black-bone chickens. The parasitic grass emits a temperature that can attract insects within a square kilometer, providing food for the chickens."
A minute later, two eggs roughly the size of a man's fist, and a ping-pong sized yellow "seed," appeared on He Feng's bed.
"Crack Crack Crack!"
After another minute, the black-bone eggs developed numerous small cracks, and two pure white baby chicks emerged. Their first act upon hatching was to eat their shells.
At this, data about the black-bone chicks appeared in He Feng's mind:
Name: Black-bone Chick Raising Level: One
Poultry
Ready For Sale: Ten days
Can lay ten eggs per day after maturity
Mature Weight: Six kilos Temperament: Ruthless, combative.
After reviewing the chicks' data, the system reminded He Feng that selling a hundred eggs would earn one point of raising value. Ten points of raising value could unlock the Raising Mall, where he can purchase more animals and plants for rearing. As the host, He Feng could communicate with the animals and plants for more efficient rearing.
Name: Parasitic Grass Raising Level: One
Plant
Maturation Period: Ten days Height: Ten meters, fruit edible Personality: Mild.
Suddenly, He Feng heard the black-bone chicks calling him, "Master, Master, hurry up and plant the Parasitic Grass. Our eggshells can only satisfy our hunger for a day, and we can only survive without food for three days."
Upon hearing this, He Feng immediately grabbed the seed of the parasitic grass and went outdoors. Looking at the yellow soil all around, he had no idea how to begin planting.
"Host, you only need to sow the seed of the parasitic grass and water it once," the system instructed.
Out of caution, he planted the seed in the backyard, watering it and covering it with a broken winnowing basket.
The two black-bone chicks hopped onto his shoulders and wouldn't stop cheeping about things like food and planting. They simply didn't understand anything. If He Feng could teach them this knowledge, they would become enlightened.
The next morning, He Feng walked into the backyard and was startled by the sight of the Parasitic Grass.
