Struggle Life in the 1970s

After the kiss, looking at Mu Jiajun's eyes that were still the same as before, Chu Ye couldn't help but throw herself into his arms, and Mu Jiajun caught her in time.

Chu Ye broke down and cried, like a lost child who finally found someone to lean on. She sobbed and poured out everything that had happened to her after they broke up - being called to school by the Chu family, being fired, the hard work at the factory, the sadness when she first started selling fish, the joy after making money, and now... the devastation of the fish dying.

"They all bully me! Wuuwuwu... They are all bullying me..."

"What should I do? All the fish have been frozen to death. All my efforts have been in vain!" Chu Ye cried loudly. Soon a large area of ​​Mu Jiajun's chest was wet. The liquid seeped into his skin through his clothes and felt cold.

He wrapped his arms around Chu Ye, holding her tightly in his arms, feeling her changing emotions, and patting her back gently with his palms.

After a long time, the crying in her arms subsided. Mu Jiajun lowered his head and knocked his chin on the top of her black head. Just now, when he heard that the Chu family ran to the school to make trouble, he was so angry that his teeth itched. His thoughts instantly went back to the time when Chu Ye was tricked by her family to go home for a blind date. At that time, he was so angry that he beat up Chu Guangyao. Speaking of which, that was the first time he hit someone in his life.

When he heard that Chu Ye had been sleeping in a dormitory with a dozen girls in the factory for half a year, he felt extremely distressed.

Later, he resigned and rented a fish pond. He learned how to raise and sell fish step by step, and started to make money bit by bit by dealing with people.

His girl is always so outstanding. Although fate has dealt her with many injustices, she never complains and always looks for new ways out.

He thought back to the time when they were teenagers. Chu Ye would run to the educated youth compound to study after dinner every day. He would often study until late at night, when everything was quiet, and he would then use a flashlight to send Chu Ye home.

The dirt road in the countryside was not smooth, but the moon in the sky was always bright and shone into people's hearts. He would secretly observe the girl beside him with his peripheral vision, and became increasingly curious about why she was always so passionate and energetic in studying.

Chu Ye's answer was also very simple. She said that she wanted to get rid of the fate of getting married and having children early, and rely on her own efforts to study and get out of the mountains. This brought him a great spiritual shock. You know, the reason why he came to this remote mountainous area despite his family's opposition was actually because he was confused and couldn't find the direction of his life at that time. He wanted to come here, get in touch with the ways of the world and see his heart clearly.

And that night, when he heard Chu Ye’s dream speech, he felt that his heart was also inspired, and some places that were obscured by the white fog gradually became clear.

His girl, such a strong girl who never complains about the hard work, only he knows how much she has paid to get into the teachers' college, how many pen refills she has used up and how many pieces of white paper she has written, how difficult it has been for her to stay at the top of the grade in school for three years, and how many questions she asked him during her teaching internship in order to better teach her students.

But she never complained about the hard work. She always smiled, accepted the kindness of others and actively gave back. And now, the person who had always been strong and walked from the small mountain village to the coastal city of Shenzhen, broke down and cried in his arms, like a crystal doll that was smashed into pieces.

He felt equally bitter in his heart. When Chu Ye had finally cried enough and vented all the grievances in her heart, he gently held Chu Ye's shoulders and moved her face away from his chest.

Sure enough, her face turned red from crying again.

Mu Jiajun wiped the tears from her face with concern, but his throat was dry and he couldn't utter a word of comfort. After a while, when Chu Ye's emotions had almost calmed down, he took Chu Ye's hand, and the two walked to the plastic sheet, one in front and the other behind. Mu Jiajun squatted down and lifted a corner. The white fish belly inside was shocking.

He closed it silently again, turned around and asked Chu Ye if she felt better after crying.

Chu Ye nodded imperceptibly, and then spoke in a hoarse voice, "It's a little better, but..."

But what about the fish?
How could Mu Jiajun not understand her unfinished meaning? He took Chu Ye to the door of the small house, and after learning that the house was hers, he pulled her into the house.

He first asked the question that concerned him the most, "You said you wanted to break up, so I agreed. But why didn't you tell me when you left school? I clearly gave you my study address before I boarded the plane."

Chu Ye's suppressed emotions had mostly disappeared after she cried. Now, hearing these words out of the blue, she felt a little guilty. She unconsciously held her thumb with her index finger, "I'm not like that. I was upset about being fired and accidentally forgot about you."

"Heh!" Mu Jiajun sneered, pinching Chu Ye's cheek. "I think you didn't do it carelessly, but deliberately didn't want to contact me. I wrote to you as soon as I arrived at school, but after waiting for a long time, the envelope was returned to me untouched, and they said there was no such person."

Chu Ye lowered her head guiltily. This happened at the time when she was dismissed from the school and went directly south. She was not sure what would happen in Shenzhen at the beginning, so even Mingzhu didn't know where she was going.

"...I'm sorry." After a while, Chu Ye said in a muffled voice.

"Sigh..." Mu Jiajun sighed softly. How could he really bear to blame her? Not to mention that she had her own difficulties. Even if she really didn't contact him on purpose, he would still search for her all over the world.

What else can I do? I only love this one person in my life, so I just spoil her.

The hand with distinct finger bones moved from the cheek to the forehead, and tapped it helplessly, feeling very disappointed. "If you hadn't written to Qiao Mingzhu and I happened to be back home, I wouldn't have known that you, a heartless person, had come here."

Chu Ye still didn't look at him, and after a long while he said "hmm" in a depressed tone.

Mu Jiajun stopped, moved a stool and sat in front of the table, and took out a pen and paper from the table after asking Chu Ye. He sat upright, holding a pen, and his aura suddenly changed. In an instant, Chu Ye seemed to have returned to the girl who was "forced" to immerse herself in the English environment.

She stared with her eyes wide open, not understanding what he was going to do, when Mu Jiajun asked, "How many acres of fish ponds do you have now?"

"There are two plots of eight acres here, and another twelve acres not far away, a total of twenty acres." Chu Ye was puzzled, but still answered honestly.

"Okay, how many fish are there in this 20-acre fish pond?" Mu Jiajun took a pen and wrote and drew on the paper, then looked up and asked.

"It should be more than 11,000 kilograms."

"Are all these fish frozen to death?" Mu Jiajun asked again.

"Well," Chu Ye felt heartbroken when she mentioned this topic, but for the sake of rigor, she added, "I was too uncomfortable at the time and didn't go into the water to investigate, but I guess that herring and crabs should be able to survive, as both are relatively cold-resistant."

Mu Jiajun looked up at her, and from what he heard she knew that she had indeed put a lot of effort into raising fish.

Finally, he asked, "Besides you, what are the conditions of other people's fish ponds? Have you asked about them?"

Chu Ye was not completely sure about this question. After thinking it over, she speculated, "There are five or six fish farming companies nearby. I don't have much contact with them, but when I knew the cold wave was coming, I secretly went to several nearby fish ponds to check. Their measures are similar to mine, so I guess the situation is the same."

This was a cold wave that no one had anticipated would be so severe. Everyone only knew that the cold wave was coming and made what they thought were sufficient preparations, but it was all in vain in the end.

Mu Jiajun nodded, then started writing and drawing on the paper. He stopped for a moment and looked at Chu Ye seriously, making Chu Ye revisit the moment when he was staring at him and asking questions when he was studying.

"...Since the incident has already happened, what we need to do is to make up for it as much as possible and minimize the mistake." Mu Jiajun said.

"Yeah!" Chu Ye nodded.

"There are too many fish that have frozen to death. Even if we sell them at a low price, they will not be sold out in a short time. I checked the weather when I came here. The cold wave has not ended yet. It will probably last for about a week." Mu Jiajun gave a brief analysis of the situation. Chu Ye listened carefully. His originally restless heart finally found a backbone and gradually settled down.

"These fish cannot be soaked in water. They need to be fished out and frozen as soon as possible to maintain their current condition and delay decay. We can take advantage of the cold wave to freeze more ice and build a simple cold storage." said Mu Jiajun.

"Cold storage?" Chu Ye could understand what was said before. She could probably guess what this cold storage was just by hearing the name.

"Well, a cold storage is not difficult to build. We just need it to get through this period of time, so it will be even simpler. But we need a lot of cotton and wooden boards. Oh, by the way, I think the plastic sheeting on the fish pond is good, we can use that too." Mu Jiajun continued.

Chu Ye pondered for a moment and understood what he meant. It was like the insulated boxes of popsicle sellers on the roadside in the summer. They were thick and often covered with quilts. The purpose was to insulate and keep warm. Thinking of this, she asked, "Cotton is hard to find. Can a quilt be used?"

"Of course." Mu Jiajun nodded.

Chu Ye also nodded, indicating that he understood. However, another question came up again, "Then catching the fish, freezing the fish, and building a cold storage are all for delaying the fish from rotting. What happens after that? Should we just... sell the fish at a low price?"

"No! This cold wave is very severe. Since everyone's fish have been frozen to death, there is no advantage in selling them at a low price at this time. So we don't sell frozen fish. We process the fish meat into fish balls and sell them to other places!" Mu Jiajun said in a firm tone. After a few thoughts, he figured out how to maximize profits.

An unprecedented idea was born! The advice provided by Mu Jiajun was like a flame burning in the darkness, bringing endless hope. Chu Ye widened his eyes and frantically thought about the feasibility of this suggestion in his mind. Finally, he came to the conclusion that this was the way to go!

"Jiajun, you are awesome!" Chu Ye stood up in surprise, leaned over and kissed him on the side of his face, with sparks in his eyes!
Mu Jiajun smiled, his smile was as bright as the sun in June. He raised his hand and gently rubbed Chu Ye's head, and also gave her a light kiss on the face.

"Since we have decided to do this, we need to prepare the necessary items and have enough manpower as soon as possible. Do you have any ideas?" Mu Jiajun asked after a kiss. He was not familiar with this place and could only provide ideas. It was up to Chu Ye to decide how to do it specifically.

"Leave it to me!" Chu Ye patted her chest and promised. The spirit of the little poplar returned to her, and she looked as proud as a peacock.

When she asked people to build dormitories behind the house, she directly built two rooms. Originally, Pan'er and Xiaoya would have one room each, but they insisted on living together, so there happened to be an empty house.

"I'll go outside to collect the items. You stay at home and look after the fish pond. And also the house and see how to turn it into a cold storage." Chu Ye said in high spirits.

(End of this chapter)