Reborn in 80: Starting with hunting in the mountains to get rich

Chapter 204 Procedures for Retirement from Employment, Office for Educated Youth

In the 80s, if an educated youth wanted to return to the city to reminisce, they had to rely on the educated youth office, which held great power.

When he called Chen Xiangqian, Chen Xiangqian told him that there were also educated youth at Qianjin Ranch, and that the guy who shared a dormitory with him back then was his roommate. That educated youth couldn't register his household registration and became a vagrant. He made a tough decision and transferred his household registration out of Beijing. Then, he could only follow his household registration to Qianjin Ranch in Northeast China, where he worked the land every day. Wang, the brigade leader of Qianjin Ranch, stayed there and tried to persuade the educated youth, but he couldn't change their minds about returning to the city.

Chen Xiangqian said that in his dormitory, some people whose families had connections had their children's return-to-city procedures arranged long ago. "There were even some who were really powerful, they just put on military uniforms, how awesome is that?"

Even the children of ordinary people go to great lengths to find connections and relatives to help them return to the city and obtain urban residency. The network of connections they use is incredibly extensive, with everyone employing their own unique methods.

Li Ju'an asked him, "Can you process the paperwork for retiring due to poverty?"

Chen Xiangqian scratched his head and said into the phone, "This is difficult."

"If it's too difficult, then don't do it."

"Hey Brother Li, it's not that it won't work, it's just that the method has to be a bit strange and unusual."

The strange methods he knew had already been used up; otherwise, how come most people still returned to the city in the end?

“But Brother Li, let me tell you, the procedures for retiring from poverty are easy to handle, but there’s one thing I’m afraid of. The person may return, but the household registration may not. You don’t know how powerful the educated youth office is. I can handle the poverty alleviation procedures, but I really have no connections with the educated youth office.”

Li Ju'an knew that if Chen Xiangqian said that, then there was truly no other way. Everyone knew how powerful the educated youth office was; even if the procedures for leaving the city were completed, when you could return to the city and what kind of job you would be assigned after returning were all decided by the educated youth office. Most importantly, you needed to get a certificate from the educated youth office agreeing to your household registration before the police station could register your household registration after you returned to the city.

When Li Ju'an arrived at the forest farm's official office, dragging his sled and carrying heavy specimens, he overheard someone inside speaking excitedly.

"Leader Chen, I can't find my name on the outer wall of the educated youth office. I went to the office and they said it's because my file hasn't been transferred. What's going on? I feel like they're playing games with me, deliberately messing with me, deliberately not reporting it to me."

Before Forestry Leader Chen could speak, Assistant Chen's voice came from inside. He sounded stern and impatient, shouting, "What's the use of coming here? Transfer the file and look for it on the wall outside the Educated Youth Office."

The man exclaimed with a chill in his heart, "Where do I transfer my file? I don't even know where it is!"

"If you don't even know, how would we know?"

After three rounds of conversation, his words were once again blocked. The man left with a very grim expression. Because of the problem with his file, he couldn't even return to the city.

Li Ju'an noticed that after this person came out, the aunt in the logistics department of the forest farm kindly reminded him: "If you know someone in the military affairs section, go and ask. Maybe your file is still at the regimental headquarters. If they agree, they can reissue it. You don't have to be a vagrant."

The man thanked her profusely and went through great lengths to ask someone to reissue his file.

Li Ju'an saw that many young people were still coming to the forest farm to find the forestry bureau chief. They had gone through all sorts of hardships and connections, hoping to return to the city as soon as possible and change from unregistered migrants to unemployed youths. If they didn't have any connections at home, they would be unwanted and unloved, just like the educated youth in Wangxing Village, sighing every day, looking towards home but unable to return.

When the forestry worker saw Li Ju'an arrive, he excitedly called him in: "Little Li, come in quickly! Why have you been standing outside for so long in this freezing weather? Come in quickly!"

The specimens are very fresh.

The bear was fresh, and so was the bear bile in the cloth bag. Li Ju'an had already dipped the bear bile in water, watched the outer skin harden, and then hung it on the roof beam with an iron hook. He instructed Leader Chen to process the bear bile and wait at least ten days before reselling it. As for the weasel pelts, they had to be skinned and processed before they could be given away.

In the past, when Leader Chen hired people to prepare specimens, those hunters would deliberately wait until the very last day of the 30-day period to deliver the specimens. How could he not know what those hunters were thinking?

Even if the hunters manage to find the specimens early, they deliberately bury them in the snow to freeze them, thus surviving for thirty days. This is equivalent to getting thirty days of paid leave, receiving wages for nothing, staying at home playing cards, and then showing off in front of him how difficult it was to collect specimens this year.

Leader Chen knew perfectly well what was going on. But everyone in the hunting business was like that; the more experienced the hunter, the more cunning they were. So he turned a blind eye, as long as he could get the goods. But Li Ju'an was different. He was young, skilled at hunting, and honest, which made Chen like him.

Leader Chen had six weasels killed and skinned, and Li Ju'an helped the craftsmen process the weasel pelts.

After removing the oil from the fresh hides, he soaked them in a vat of water, then rubbed them in a diluted alkaline solution. He then prepared a tanning solution with a ratio of 4 parts alum, 3 parts salt, and 100 parts water, and proceeded with the tanning process.

Seeing the novelty, Leader Chen had someone bring him the castor oil and soap he needed. After rinsing the weasel skin, Li Ju'an prepared a solution using 10 parts castor oil, 10 parts soap, and 100 parts water. When the fur was semi-dry, he applied the solution to the surface to allow it to absorb moisture, then wrapped it in plastic film and pressed it flat with stones.

He told Leader Chen, "Making the hide isn't difficult. After the hide has dried in the sun, we'll soften it by scraping it and comb it along the grain. Once the hide is dry, we'll smooth the flesh side with sandpaper and finally comb the hair to finish."

Leader Chen of the forest farm was quite pleased with what he saw. He was already planning to give the hides away as gifts, and giving them away before the Lunar New Year would make them even more effective.

Now that he had both bear bile and weasel pelts, he told Li Ju'an, "Let's go to the canteen for a meal later. They're making glutinous rice balls with sesame filling today."

In the village, the small shop only sells glutinous rice balls before the Lantern Festival, and there's only one kind of filling: red bean paste. They're not sold in bags; they're sold loose by weight. Sometimes, when Li Xiao, the younger sister, wants to eat glutinous rice balls, Li Ju'an can't buy any. So, their mother has to borrow some glutinous rice from Aunt Zhang, grind it into powder, add sugar, and make glutinous rice balls with candied fruit and sugar filling for their own consumption.

Every time my mother made glutinous rice balls for the Lantern Festival, she could make two jin (1 kg). After cooking them at home, the whole house would smell delicious. The family would finish the glutinous rice balls and soup completely, and my mother would give some of the leftover glutinous rice balls to Aunt Zhang as a token of her gratitude.

When Leader Chen mentioned that the forest farm's first canteen was serving glutinous rice balls for the Lantern Festival, Li Ju'an's mouth watered. He laughed and said, "If the leader is treating, then I won't be polite."

Leader Chen had his own agenda, but he didn't mention the price of bear bile. Logically, the cost of specimen collection was minimal, but capturing the bear itself would incur additional charges. Forget the bile, the rawhide coat made from the bear skin alone was incredibly valuable. It would be a respectable garment to wear when going out, or for the women in the family.

He made polite remarks, telling Li Ju'an that if there was anything else he wanted, he shouldn't keep it to himself and should just ask.

He didn't expect Li Ju'an to actually smile and say, "I don't know anyone in the educated youth office, could the leaders help me get a few household registrations to return to the city?"

Forestry Farm leader Chen fell silent.