I can travel back and forth in 1986

Chapter 3 Settling Accounts

"Secretary, do you like this lighter?"

"Huh?" Shi Tiezhu, snapping out of his daze, was taken aback. So this thing was called a lighter, not a self-igniting device. "No, no, first time seeing one, just curious... curious..."

People these days are relatively honest and straightforward; they can't really hide their true feelings on their faces. The expression you saw when you turned around just now wouldn't be fake.

Furthermore, in order to establish themselves in this place, they need someone like Shi Tiezhu to resolve their identity here, and they also need his witness to reclaim what rightfully belongs to their family.

Zhang Beichuan lit a lighter, held it out to light Shi Tiezhu's cigarette, then lit one for himself. He glanced at the villagers who were gradually leaving, and casually shoved the lighter into Shi Tiezhu's hand.

"De... Xiaochuan, what is this...?" Shi Tiezhu looked at him with surprise and doubt.

"Secretary, this lighter is for you."

"Give it to me?" Shi Tiezhu opened his mouth wide and pointed to himself.

Zhang Dequan, who was smoking, coughed from the choking sound of his words, while Lan Xiuying, who was standing next to him, was also stunned.

At the supply and marketing cooperative, a box of matches cost 3 cents, while a kerosene lighter cost nearly 20 yuan.

They had never seen a high-end lighter like the one Zhang Beichuan had, which only required pressing to light and didn't need to be replaced with kerosene or flint. It would only cost more than 20 yuan, yet he gave it away so easily.

"Secretary, I didn't dare bring too much money back, and I can't bring you any decent gifts. Later, I'll need your help to get a certificate and an ID card so I can go back to the provincial capital for business. Consider this a small gift."

Hearing his words, Shi Tiezhu was overjoyed. As expected of someone who had seen the world in the provincial capital, his perspective was truly different!

"This...how could I possibly accept this?" He politely handed over the lighter, his eyes filled with reluctance.

"Hey, Party Secretary, don't be so formal, just accept it." Zhang Beichuan pushed the lighter that he was offered back back.

"Alright, then I'll keep it." Shi Tiezhu grinned from ear to ear and said, "As for the certificate, I'll issue one for you in a bit. You can take the certificate and your household registration book to the county to apply for an ID card."

With his biggest identity problem solved in 1986, Zhang Beichuan smiled.

Zhang Dequan, who was dumbfounded, watched as the Party Secretary went to the next office to get the certificate, and then turned around and pulled his younger brother aside.

"Youngest brother, a lighter costs tens of yuan, aren't you being too extravagant?"

Zhang Beichuan looked at the dark-skinned and thin "young old man," who had hardly any flesh on his body, and then looked back at the "little old woman" whose brows were full of exhaustion, his eyes filled with heartache.

"Grandpa... oh? I burned my hand with a cigarette butt." Zhang Beichuan made up a story. "Third Brother, it's just a lighter. When I get back, I'll have as many as I want."

"As many as you want?"

Zhang Beichuan looked at his grandfather's wide eyes, coughed lightly, lowered his voice, and began to speak.

"Third Brother, I won't lie to you. Actually, I specialize in dealing in these lighters from the coast in the provincial capital. I have a dedicated supply chain."

This statement was obviously fabricated by Zhang Beichuan. In 1986, China's disposable lighter industry was still in its infancy, so there were no coastal products available.

The disposable lighter industry officially took root and sprouted in China in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and it truly began to flourish in the 1990s.

Zhang Dequan glanced at the villagers beside him and whispered, "How much money do they make in a year?"

How much money can I earn?

To be honest, Zhang Beichuan hadn't really thought about this matter carefully yet.

He had bought a regular piezoelectric ceramic lighter on a knives website; 50 for 10 yuan, which worked out to 0.2 yuan each.

When I got them in 1986, they were sold for ten or twenty yuan each at the normal price. I estimate I could sell about ten a day in the county town.

But if they were sold at 5 or 8 yuan each, selling a hundred or so a day should be no problem, which would amount to 500-800 yuan a day.

An income of 500 yuan or more per day is not low even in 2026, let alone Zhang Beichuan, who is just an ordinary 9-to-5 office worker with a monthly income of only six or seven thousand yuan.

More importantly, the purchasing power of a daily income of 500 in 1986 is completely different from that of 500 in 2026!

In 1986, being a "ten-thousand-yuan household" was still a very impressive thing.

In other words, if you just buy 2000 lighters worth 500 yuan each from 2026, which are readily available everywhere, you can earn 10,000 yuan a month in 1986!

Zhang Dequan was very curious when he saw his younger brother suddenly laughing like a weasel that had stolen a chicken. What was going on?

"Third Brother, I can't say how much I'll earn. But now that I'm back, I'll definitely remember your kindness in raising me and make sure you live a life of luxury."

The debt of gratitude for raising and nurturing?

Zhang Dequan thought about it and agreed that there was no problem with that.

Just as he was about to ask another question, the Party Secretary came out with a certificate stamped with the village committee's red seal.

"Xiao Chuan, take this."

Zhang Beichuan took the letter of introduction handed to him by Shi Tiezhu and glanced at it.

The notice states that Zhang Dehua, now known as Zhang Beichuan, a resident of Group 2, Shihe Village, Longmen Town, went missing 11 years ago... and is applying for an ID card...

He put away the letter of introduction and looked at Shi Tiezhu with a smile.

"Secretary, there's one more thing..."

Shi Tiezhu knew that he was indebted to those who accepted his gifts, but he really liked the high-end lighter from the provincial capital, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet.

"What's up?"

"Now that I'm back, is my parents' old house still there? I need a place to stay, right?"

Zhang Beichuan gets angry whenever he thinks about how aggrieved his grandparents are every time they bring up this matter, and how no one stands up for them.

Since we're already here, there's no rush to make money; we can't just disappear into thin air in front of these people.

I can only get this done first, and then sneak back to get lighters to make money.

"Uh..." Shi Tiezhu now regretted accepting the lighter. The Zhang family had caused quite a stir over the division of the house, and he had managed to smooth things over. Now...

"Yes, yes, but... why don't you ask your third brother? I won't interfere in your family matters."

Lan Xiuying was furious at the mention of this matter. Now that her brother-in-law was back, and given his relationship with men, was there a chance to get back what was originally hers?

Before Zhang Dequan could even speak, Lan Xiuying spilled the beans, explaining the whole story clearly.

Having heard it countless times, Zhang Beichuan could only patiently continue listening, after all, he had to maintain his persona as the younger brother-in-law.

"What?" Zhang Beichuan's voice rose considerably. "My eldest brother and his family gave my third brother fifty yuan and took the house? If I remember correctly, that house is worth at least 400 yuan now. According to Mom and Dad's original plan, each son would have one room, and whoever takes care of Mom and Dad in their old age would get the remaining room. That should be worth at least 100 yuan, right?"

Shi Tiezhu, standing to the side, felt a little awkward. He glanced at Lan Xiuying, who was eyeing him menacingly, and then wondered if Zhang Beichuan, who had been living a good life in the provincial capital for so many years, had any powerful backers.

With the attitude of "it's better to avoid trouble," he had no choice but to pull Zhang Beichuan aside.

"Xiao Chuan, I know about this. Your eldest brother is a bit stubborn. Our village committee has mediated many times. At first, they were only willing to give twenty, but later they agreed to give fifty. They even said that if you want it, you can take it or not, and no one will chase your third brother and the others away."

Zhang Beichuan sneered. "Nobody's chasing us away?"

On the surface, it seems that the grandparents were not kicked out, but the eldest grandmother turned a blind eye to her sons bullying her mother and her sisters.

The two brothers fought several times over this matter. Isn't this blatantly forcing you to leave?

"Okay, I understand." Zhang Beichuan paused, then looked at Shi Tiezhu. "Secretary, now that I'm back, shouldn't the houses be redistributed?"