Struggle Life in the 1970s

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If that’s the case, Boss Han is still doing very well now!

The old man saw what the two were thinking and spat at them viciously, "He is so glorious! He doesn't care about his own son's life or death. I'm afraid he has already had ten or eight more children in that damn America! He even forgot what the brat looks like!"

After saying that, he started to make “Pooh” sounds again, scolding himself for talking nonsense.

"So the brat you are talking about is Boss Han's son... Little Boss Han?" Chu Ye guessed after sorting out the old man's words.

"Haha, he's not really a boss," the old man saw that Chu Ye really wanted to buy the two fish ponds, and he didn't mind saying a few more words, "When his father left, the brat had just come of age, and he didn't want to go to the United States with him. His father had no choice but to leave a sum of money and leave."

"Now, no one can control him. He goes to Hong Kong every day to gamble on horse racing. I'm afraid he will forget about this place too." After saying that, the old man started coughing violently. His chest was like a broken balloon. His face turned red and he made an uncontrollable cough sound from his mouth, which made people feel tight.

Chu Ye hurriedly helped him to calm down. After a long while, the old man finally calmed down, but his breathing made a hissing sound in his throat, which was unpleasant to hear.

After a while, the old man's complexion gradually improved, and his breathing became steady. He looked at the water for a long time, and after a moment, his old and hoarse voice sounded, "Calculating the time, he should come back to see me. Where do you two usually live? I'll have someone look for you when he comes back."

Chu Ye quickly told the old man that they both worked at the Wucai Flower Factory. Before leaving, Chu Ye took out five yuan and stuffed it into the old man's hand.

"Hey! What are you doing, little girl? I don't want your money!" The old man hurriedly returned the money. Chu Ye had already dragged Pan'er away. She turned back and shouted, "Uncle! Please accept this money. Consider it a gift to you."

The two figures quickly disappeared, and the old man stood there holding the money. After a while, he put the money into his pocket and slowly walked away dragging the woven bag.

In the next two months, Chu Ye would go to the fish pond whenever he had time, and he would run into the old man eighteen times out of ten. He was dragging a woven bag, and his daily activities were around the fish pond.

As time went by, the relationship between the two became more and more familiar, and Chu Ye gradually learned that this old man's surname was Li, and he worked for Boss Han when he was young. Later, when Boss Han became rich, he became his exclusive driver. Later, when Boss Han went to the United States, he stayed here to look after the place.

"Xiao Chu, the work in the fish pond is not easy. Can a young girl like you endure the hardship?" The old man completed today's scavenging task and was sitting under the eaves, asking with concern.

Chu Ye also sat aside and replied calmly, "Let's give it a try! I'm not afraid of suffering. Why not suffer in life?"

Upon hearing this, Uncle Li burst into laughter. After a few seconds, he started coughing again. Chu Ye quickly came over to help him calm down.

Feeling the hunched and thin spine in his palm, after everyone calmed down, Chu Ye hesitated and said, "Uncle Li, I see that you have lost a lot of weight in the past two months. How about I take you to the hospital some other day?"

After saying that, Uncle Li waved his hand and said, "It's nothing serious. It's hot this summer and I didn't eat much. It's okay."

After that, he quickly changed the subject, "Tell me what information you have learned about the fish pond during this period?"

After spending some time together, he also knew that Chu Ye really wanted to buy the fish pond. For this matter, he even often went to the vegetable market and seafood market, squatting for half a day to see how others ran their business and how they advertised.

"Well, I have some clues," she said, "This place is close to the sea, and fish is a must-eat for everyone, so renting a fish pond is a good idea. But I see that most of the sellers here wait for the fishing boats to come back in the morning, buy the goods from there, and then transport them to their stalls."

Uncle Li nodded in agreement.

Chu Ye continued, "But the fish caught by the fishing boats are all from the deep sea. When they come ashore, they are half dead and half alive. By the time the sellers get the stalls, they are no longer fresh. If I can build a fish pond, I can sell fresh fish every day, which will give me an advantage over others."

"But this also has disadvantages. Others can purchase different types of seafood through the port, but your stall can only sell one or two types of fish." Uncle Li pointed to the two fish ponds and asked, "You know that you can't raise multiple types of fish in one fish pond, right?"

"I know, so I also asked about the common species in the market and decided what to raise." Chu Ye shook his head, "Now all that's left is to rent the fish pond."

"As for the problem of not having many fish species on the stall, I have also considered it," Chu Ye said with a rather embarrassed look, "mainly because I am working alone here, and I don't have any helpers around me. For now, I can just take good care of these two fish ponds and slowly make back my money by selling fish."

"Not bad! Little girl, you are quite ambitious." After Uncle Li finished praising, his eyes looked a little disappointed, "Calculating age, you are younger than that brat. If he was one tenth as good as you, I wouldn't be thinking about him every day."

Chu Ye listened and did not respond.

"By the way, are you dating someone now?"

"……without."

"Oh, what a good girl, if that bastard can..." Perhaps seeing Chu Ye's embarrassment, Uncle Li stopped talking in time, slapped his thigh and praised, "Not bad, if your business is successful, I will be the first to take care of your business!"

"... Cough... Cough!" Uncle Li started coughing again when he got excited. Chu Ye quickly calmed him down. When he felt better, Chu Ye smiled and said, "If you don't mind, I'll hire you as my second-in-command after I take over the business and give you a salary! Then you won't have to pick up rags anymore."

"Hey! You little girl, do you look down on me?" Uncle Li also got excited. He scolded with a smile, "Picking up rags is a glorious career! I'm not short of money. I have a house in town!"

"Ah?" Now it was Chu Ye's turn to be confused, "Is this true?"

"Really? Where do you think I would stay at night?" Li Bo replied as a matter of course.

Chu Ye looked left and right and didn't answer.

"You little girl," Uncle Li pointed his finger into the air, "You don't think I'm a rag-picker sleeping on the street, do you? I've rented out a room in my house, and I can collect rent every month!"

Chu Ye was shocked. As expected, you can’t judge a book by its cover.

"Then I said you should be the second in command, do you agree?" Chu Ye said this sincerely. Li Bo did not agree immediately, "Ha, wait until you deal with that brat first."

"……All right."

Two weeks later, Chu Ye was working in the factory one day when someone came with a message saying that someone was looking for her at the door.

Chu Ye guessed the reason instantly. After asking for leave from the person in charge, he quickly ran to the door and saw Uncle Li waiting there.

"Uncle Li, why did you come here in person? Didn't you ask someone to come over and tell him?" Chu Ye walked forward and supported the man.

I don’t know what’s going on, but from the first time I met Uncle Li until now, this man has become visibly thinner, and his back is becoming more and more hunched. Chu Ye has some bad guesses in his mind, but he is always fooled by Uncle Li’s excuses.

"Oh, it's okay. I know where your factory is anyway. Don't worry, that brat won't be able to run away for a while." Uncle Li smiled. He tried hard to pretend that nothing was wrong, but the sweat on his forehead and the blue veins on his arms betrayed him.

"Uncle Li, please wait a minute. I'll call a car to take us both. You can rest first." After Chu Ye said this, he was about to help the person to the side, but Uncle Li quickly stopped him.

"Oh, no, no, you look down on me for just this short distance." Uncle Li waved his hand and wanted to move forward, but Chu Ye held him back.

Finally, the two waited for a tricycle at the door and took it to the fish pond.

Chu Ye counted the fare and handed it over, then turned to look at Uncle Li, "Okay, now I'm inviting you to ride in the car, and you have to come over and be my second in command!"

The weather was just right at the moment, and a gentle breeze was blowing, making the surrounding grass and trees rustle. What was different from the past was that the door of the small house was open this time, and there seemed to be some surprise or fright in the dark.

Uncle Li walked quickly to the door and said, "You bastard! Come out and meet someone."

There was a rustling sound in the room, and then a tall and burly figure appeared, holding the door frame.

Chu Ye looked over, and saw black casual pants, a bright red printed shirt with three buttons undone, the hem of the shirt tucked into the waistband, a black belt around the waist, and a golden "LV" on the front. Looking up, he saw his hair that was slicked shiny with mousse, and his eyes that were firmly shielded by black clamshell glasses.

Chu Ye:......
Is it so fashionable?

"Damn! Old man! You didn't say it was a woman." The man turned around hurriedly, busying himself with his hands for a while, then turned back and tightened another button on his shirt.

Uncle Li rolled his eyes and said, "What does it matter if it's a boy or a girl? You went to Hong Kong with your head full of rubbish?"

He took two steps forward, pulled the man over, and introduced him enthusiastically, "This is Han Zhao, the brat I often mentioned."

Then, he introduced the other side, "This is Chu Ye, the one who plans to buy the fish pond. This girl is very nice, so be careful with your words."

Han Zhao received a vicious look from Uncle Li. He curled his lips and stretched out his arm to shake hands. The next second, the man seemed to have thought of something. His hand suddenly turned and went around the top of his head, scratching his hair.

"Hello, I'm Han Zhao." The man kept his sunglasses on, revealing a mouthful of big white teeth.

Chu Ye smiled back and introduced his name.

The air was filled with awkwardness.

Uncle Li bowed his waist and tried to smooth things over cheerfully, "Now we know each other, that's great. Go, boy, take out the candy from your table and give some to the little girl."

"Why--" Before he could finish his words, Uncle Li slapped him back with a loud slap.

Han Zhao covered his arm with his hands and grinned, "Hey! Old man, I'm so old and you still hit me! You don't even give me any face in front of outsiders!" Although he said that, he walked into the house honestly.

Uncle Li smiled awkwardly and walked slowly to the back of the house, where there was a small storage room. He moved out three small stools. Seeing this, Chu Ye hurried forward to take them.

The benches are placed beside the fish pond, two next to each other and the other one a little further away. This was where Boss Han used to fish a few years ago. It is very pleasant to sit here and enjoy the scenery.

Han Zhao came out and took out a fruit plate with a reluctant look on his face. It was full of various candies. He handed the fruit plate to Chu Ye, then went around to the back of the house without saying a word and brought out two small folding awnings. He placed one here and another next to a bench a little further away. In this way, the shadow cast by the awning would just cover people.

After finishing everything, he sat down expressionlessly. After giving Chu Ye an encouraging look, Uncle Li slowly walked to a distance.

Chu Ye held the fruit plate, glanced at Han Zhao, and finally sat on the bench next to him.

Han Zhao just sat there, like a small mountain. Even though he was wearing a red shirt with yellow and green flowers printed all over it, he still gave off an inexplicable sense of oppression.

She turned the mirror and looked dimly at Han Zhao's eyes in the shadow. Those were a pair of black eyes without any light in them. There was a sense of oppression when he looked at people, as if he was examining his prey.

"It's you who wants to buy my fish pond?"

(End of this chapter)