Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 628 Chapter 627 Lend a helping hand
"Robbery!" The duck-like voice surprised Tang Zhitong. Tang Zhitong looked at the person in front of him and was stunned for a moment.

Tang Zhitong spent money to take the fishing boat, but the fishermen still could not get enough to eat.

The fishing boat first went downstream and then upstream. Anyone who has rowed a boat before knows that going upstream is too tiring. In the end, the fishermen were too tired and stopped the boat a little further downstream from the Yangtze River Bridge.

Tang Zhitong's bicycle was next to the Yangtze River Bridge, so he had to walk this section of the way.

The man who was robbing Tang Zhitong was a young man, or to be more precise, a child. Judging from his appearance, he was no more than fourteen or fifteen years old.

"Don't just stand there, give it to me!" The boy's heart was excited, his hands were trembling, and the sickle in his hand was shaking constantly. It was not known whether it was because he was nervous or hungry.

The boy's eyes were fixed on the fish in Tang Zhitong's hand.

"Little brother, have you encountered any difficulties at home?" Tang Zhitong held the fish in one hand and the fishing rod in the other, but did not move, intending to stabilize the boy first.

As we all know, those who dare to use brutal force in a fight are definitely not cattle and horses with families, but children of thirteen or fourteen years old like us.

Teenagers around fourteen are in a critical period of ideological formation. Their thoughts are immature and some will do foolish things, while others do things purely for evil.

Decades later, young people all know that there is a "law" to protect them, and the demons are even more aware of it and specifically exploit this loophole.

Some people exploit loopholes for money, while others do evil just for fun.

"Home... is it your business? Stop talking nonsense! Give me the fish!" The young man looked fierce but was actually weak. He glared at Tang Zhitong fiercely and stretched out his empty hand towards him.

Tang Zhitong found it a little funny. He was tall and strong, so he probably thought the little guy was also scared.

"If you have something to say, please talk nicely. Can I just sit there and watch you get into trouble?" Tang Zhitong held the bamboo pole across his body and took two steps back. While trying to persuade him kindly, he looked around, fearing that he would be seen cheating if he had to.

"There is no food at home. We have been hungry for nine meals in three days. No one has anything to eat. I tell you, how can you still give me food?" The young man didn't believe what Tang Zhitong said at all. Nowadays, everyone can only take care of themselves. Who would give food to others for no reason?
The young man saw Tang Zhitong retreating, so he pressed forward and took another step forward.

After making sure that there was no one within a radius of 60 meters, Tang Zhitong stopped tolerating him and raised the bamboo pole to hit the boy's wrist hard!
This stick was both fast and accurate. When the bamboo pole passed through the wind, there was a "whooshing" sound, and when it hit the flesh, there was a crisp "pop" sound.

The boy staggered after being hit by the bamboo stick, his wrist hurt and the sickle fell to the ground.

Tang Zhitong took a quick step forward, stepped on the sickle, and used the bamboo pole in his hand to hit the boy's buttocks twice, saying angrily: "You are so young and don't learn well. Even begging is better than robbery! Have you ever thought about your family when you do this? Do you really want to go to jail?"

"My father is sick, my mother is blind, and I have a younger sister at home. The food I beg for a day is not enough for me, and I can't afford a fishing rod! What can I do?! What do you think I can do?!" The young man had no weapon in his hands, and he curled up on the ground, holding his head with his hands, his movements very skillful.

The quality of the fishing rod was surprisingly good and it didn't break. The boy was also tough and endured it without dodging or begging for mercy.

"Are you serious?" Tang Zhitong transferred the bamboo pole to the side where he held the fish, freed his hand, bent down and picked up the sickle.

Tang Zhitong heard grievance and helplessness in the boy's tone. He wanted to fight back but was powerless. In short, it was very complicated.

"If you lied to me, God will punish you with lightning and you will die a miserable death!" The young man saw that Tang Zhitong had stopped, and his hands loosened a little around his head. He dared to raise his head, but there was not a single tear on his face.

The boy lay on the ground, his cotton coat was full of patches, but some black cotton wool still peeped out, and the clothes were obviously one size too small, with the sleeves, waist and trouser legs all being shorter.

Tang Zhitong saw that the boy's exposed skin had many bruises, blue and purple, and it seemed that he was often beaten.

"How old are you?" Tang Zhitong asked while standing.

"Fourteen." The young man sat up and slid back a little.

"You're still so young and don't learn your lessons!" Tang Zhitong glared at the stubborn boy. Fourteen, what was I doing at fourteen in my previous life?
"Workers should think for the country." It seemed that my father had just been forced to lose his job. I was still ignorant at that time and was at the age when I was craving for meat. I was thinking of ways to get more pocket money from my parents to buy a meat bun.

I feel ashamed when I think about it. There is a huge difference between me and the young man in front of me.

At that time, there were many bad kids who bullied the weak outside of school and asked for money from weak classmates, but few of them robbed money to support their families, but to go to the game hall.

Tang Zhitong sighed. Life was difficult in that era. Although food coupons were no longer required to buy food, many working-class families had no money to buy food at all!
Where did the money go? You have to ask people like Qu Wanting's mother, or the capitalists.

Tang Zhitong had experienced this personally. One year, his family couldn’t even afford the tuition, so his father took him to beg for the unpaid wages at night. Yes, he had to beg for the wages...

Tang Zhitong later found out that his family was not the hardest hit. The hardest hit included those who sold their flesh and blood, those who robbed for a bag of rice and flour, those who pooled money to buy two taels of meat and mixed it with rat meat to make dumplings, and those who bought diesel.

At that time, gas stations were allowed to sell gas in bulk, and there were no regulations prohibiting retail sales. Many families with tractors bought gas in large buckets, such as the large iron buckets that were powered by natural solar energy in Tang Zhitong's yard.

After buying them, you can pile them up in your own yard and use them whenever you want. No one cares or checks. You just have to pay.

Some people took advantage of this and went to the gas station to buy two kilograms of diesel in small quantities.

Don’t ask what I buy it for. The answer is that I buy it to light a fire to keep warm.

This method of heating is unsafe, so a certain region took the lead in the country to ban retail sales to individuals.

The reason why we buy diesel is not because it is better than gasoline, but because it is cheaper than gasoline...

The young man lowered his head, looking resigned to his fate, and let Tang Zhitong decide for him.

"Hey, is your home far away? Take me to see it." Tough people always make people feel good about them. Tang Zhitong admitted that he was soft-hearted. He saw the epitome of countless people in the young man.

If the boy's family situation is indeed as he said, then give him a hand.

"Can I not go? I'm afraid of angering my mother. Or you can beat me up again." After the boy said this, he curled up skillfully, holding his head in his hands.

"Hey! Aren't you a hard-boiled man? You still remember to respect your mother? Why don't you think before robbing? Hurry up and lead the way." Tang Zhitong was amused. He raised his foot and gently kicked the young man, urging him.

The boy looked up at Tang Zhitong, and after confirming that Tang Zhitong would not change his mind, he reluctantly got up, rubbed the place where he was beaten, and took Tang Zhitong to his home.

Along the way, the boy looked back from time to time, hoping that Tang Zhitong would change his mind.

But how could Tang Zhitong change? He had seen many evil people before, and he really wanted to help the boy, but he was afraid that the boy would deceive him.

The boy’s home was not far away, it was in the urban-rural fringe of Wuchang, and was a household in a production team.

It's not quite accurate to say one family, because his family doesn't have their own yard. The yard looks like it belonged to a wealthy family in the past, and several families lived there.

The neighbor saw the boy walking in front and Tang Zhitong following behind, holding the boy's sickle in his hand. He sneered on his skinny face: "Hey, is this another victim?"

The young man had a sullen face and ignored him, leading Tang Zhitong into a room next door.

Tang Zhitong stood at the door and looked around the house. Fire and cooking were all done in this room. The walls were smoky and there were some small dead branches and straw scattered on the ground.

Although there was firewood, there was no fire in the stove, so the room was not warm.

A man was lying on the earthen kang. His face was pale and a little swollen. He kept coughing and was covered with a thin quilt.

A little girl with a runny nose was sitting at the other end of the kang. Her legs were stretched in the man's quilt. I don't know if it was because she was not wearing cotton pants.

A gray-haired woman was sitting beside the earthen kang. Tang Zhitong could tell at a glance that she was blind because her eyeballs were gray.

The blind man has poor eyesight but keen hearing. The woman heard the conversation outside from inside the house, fumbled to pick up the broom, stood beside the earthen kang, and called her son over.

The boy knew what his mother wanted to do, but he did not disobey her and stood obediently beside her.

The woman grabbed her son's ear and hit him several times on the face.

This time the boy didn't even hold his head, he just stood there, still not saying a word.

"Aunt, stop hitting me. I heard from my little brother that his family is in financial difficulty, so I came to see him." Tang Zhitong sighed, feeling a little uncomfortable. The boy must be a repeat offender, but what can he do with a family like this? Who knows, the person who comes to the door might even leave two dollars before leaving.

Tang Zhitong looked at the two shads in his hand. Why the hell should he eat shads? He just put the fish on the ground.

"Come here." Tang Zhitong put the fishing rod and sickle in his hands on the ground, then waved to the young man.

After the boy came over, Tang Zhitong pulled him out the door.

Arriving at the gate of the compound and walking a few steps outside, Tang Zhitong saw that there was no one around, so he took out twenty yuan from his pocket, sighed, and stuffed it into the boy's pocket: "Take it."

"Why are you still helping me?" The young man looked at the money in his hand in disbelief and asked puzzledly.

"We are all from the same class. If the poor don't help the poor, how can you expect the bourgeoisie to give you food?" Tang Zhitong patted the boy's shoulder and looked to the west. The sun was about to set and the temperature was about to drop.

"Brother, please leave me your address. I will pay you back later with interest." Tang Zhitong's bamboo pole did not make the boy cry, and his mother's broom did not make him cry, but at this moment, the boy was in tears.

"We are all gentlemen, why are you crying?" Tang Zhitong did not mind the boy's dirty face. He wiped his tears and said earnestly:

"I think you are a tough and filial person, but if you are short of that, I won't help you.

But you have to use your brain to do things, not brute force.

If you rob people on the road and meet someone with a hard heart, you will end up in jail sooner or later. What will happen to your family then? Will they wait to die?"

"Okay, I remember." Tang Zhitong's wiping did not stop the boy from crying. The boy raised his arm and wiped it again from left to right with his sleeve.

"Okay, it's getting late, let's go back. For now, just rely on fishing to get by. When the weather gets warmer, wild vegetables will come out, and life will be a little better then." Tang Zhitong patted the boy's shoulder again and turned to leave.

Tang Zhitong didn't plan to take the fishing rod anymore. He would set off for Sijiu City tomorrow. He would not need the two sets of fishing gear when he returned, so he might as well leave them to the boy as a tool to support his family.

"Brother! What's the address?" Tang Zhitong took a step forward, and the boy chased after him, insisting that Tang Zhitong leave his contact information.

"Why leave your address? Just live your life well." Tang Zhitong waved his hand, unwilling to keep it.

"I will return your money and fish to you in the future." The boy's eyes were no longer fierce. He looked at Tang Zhitong clearly and said sincerely.

"No need. When you have money in the future, help someone in need, and that will be considered as repaying me. Don't see me off, I'm leaving." Tang Zhitong patted the boy's shoulder again and said.

The young man wiped his tears, knelt down swiftly, and kowtowed to Tang Zhitong.

"Get up! The people have stood up for more than ten years. Let's stand up straight and live!" Tang Zhitong bent down and pulled the boy up. After thinking for a while, he gave another instruction: "Check the weather in the spring and estimate the harvest. If you feel that the harvest is still not good, go southwest to Honghu Lake."

After saying that, Tang Zhitong ignored the young man and walked westward towards the setting sun with big strides.

The young man stood there, staring blankly at Tang Zhitong going away, watching his figure being stretched out by the setting sun until he finally disappeared at the entrance of the village, leaving only the afterglow of the setting sun filling the sky...

Honghu Lake is only 50 kilometers away from Wuhan in a straight line. It takes one day by boat, and even if you walk, it will take less than three days.

Tang Zhitong did let the young man go to Honghu on a whim, but it was definitely not his intention to trick him.

The boy may not know it yet, but Tang Zhitong knows.

During the three years, almost everyone in China was starving, but there were a few places where people not only did not starve but were able to eat their fill. Honghu was one of them.

When it comes down to it, Li Jinyu’s contribution is indispensable.

Because Mr. Li was from Ye County, Shandong Province, local people affectionately called him "Ye County Li". Decades later, they spontaneously erected monuments and statues for him, and there were more than one.

Tang Zhitong felt that people like Senior Li were true parents of the people, who brought benefits to the people during their tenure.

Even if there is no monument or statue, he will always live in the hearts of the local people!

It was also because of Li's governance in Ye County that the Honghu area became exceptionally prosperous. It not only fed the local people, but also attracted a lot of labor from other places.

For this, the Hunan Province once complained to him jokingly.

However, this is considered good because they did not intercept the refugees.

In some places, there was no food, but people were not allowed to leave. The people remembered this kind of official as a parent, and then when the wind started, they were greeted with a storm of "greetings" from the people...

(End of this chapter)