My 1978 Hotel

Chapter 74: A Sack of Letters, Leader of the National Educated Youth League
"Where's the fish?"

No, where are my fish? Li Feng was ready to pack up and go back tonight, but when he saw the wooden basin, he was dumbfounded. There were only a few of his fish and loaches left.

"boss."

Gao quietly reminded him that they had been eating from the small fish pot for more than a week, and there was not much fish left.

"Eat them all?" Damn, Li Feng really wanted to slap himself a few times for the melon seeds. Why was he so greedy? These were all money.

"Yes."

Gao Juxin said, "I reminded you at that time, and you said it was okay, and it wouldn't matter if there were just a few small fish and shrimp."

"Then what's the point of replying?"

Li Feng was a little depressed. Why didn't anyone remind him? "Da Ya, Er Ya, go find Ming Liang and tell him I have candy for him."

"Oh."

Not long after, Han Mingliang arrived with Han Mingcong, Han Mingfan, and Uncle Fuqiang's youngest son, Han Anjiang, and Han Minghai. "Mingliang, come here quickly." Li Feng grabbed all the candy.

"One piece of candy per person."

Seeing the candies, the kids' eyes lit up. Li Feng smiled and pulled Han Mingliang to tell him how to catch ditch crawlers and knife loaches.

"There's no water in the creek anymore, and there are no fish."

"Not in the river either?"

"Think of a solution, and I'll bring you some White Rabbit candy later."

Sure enough, when he heard the word "Big White Rabbit", Han Mingcong's eyes rolled around and he pulled Han Mingliang over and whispered something.

"Uncle, wait for me, I'll go catch fish for you now." Han Mingliang had an idea. Li Feng told him not to catch any four-legged fish because it was not tasty.

"got it."

"Mingcong, you guys go pick up walnut leaves quickly, pick more. Uncle Anjiang, come with me to get the cage."

There were no fish in the creek, but there must be some in the river. However, although the water level in the river had dropped a bit, it was still difficult to catch fish and shrimp. A few children planned to use walnut leaves as medicine for fish. Soon, the little kids carried bamboo baskets and axes and went in to chop trees and pick leaves.

Han Mingliang, Han Anjiang and others carried bamboo baskets and started to lower the baskets. Later, they would use stone pestles to pound the walnut leaves into juice and put it into basins. It didn't need to be too much, as one wooden basin would basically dry up the river.

"Mingliang, if Dad finds out about our Yaohe, will he beat us?"

"Uncle Anjiang, you are too timid. It's okay."

Han Mingcong waved his hand and said, "Go ahead and beat me. I can eat White Rabbit after a beating, so it's worth it."

"Don't tell anyone. If anyone says anything, I'll hit him."

Han Mingliang warned the group of kids following him, especially Uncle An Jiang, who was the most timid.

"I won't tell you."

As for Li Feng, he didn't care about the river being poisoned. He just wanted the fish, the ditch crawlers, his knife loaches, and nothing else. "Really? The water in the creek outside our door is getting less and less. It's enough for building a house, and if it doesn't rain, the project won't be delayed."

He was afraid that if the weather continued like this, the autumn harvest would be a failure. He was not afraid at all. Even if there was no harvest, he could just buy food. He just shouted that the poor families like his sister-in-law would suffer.

"we'll see."

Maybe it will rain in a few days. Li Feng felt that he was worrying too much.

I'm still in a mess, so why would I bother with other people's business? I should first find out what the province thinks of me.

The Provincial Propaganda Department is extremely busy right now, with calls coming in from several neighboring provinces and cities, and even from the capital and Shanghai.

Now it was impossible to hide it. For some reason, the article "Scars" spread to many places in the capital and Shanghai.

What frightened Deng Jun and others the most was that some newspaper or magazine in Shanghai had secretly printed thousands of copies. This caused a big uproar, and many families of educated youth began to contact the government. The educated youth in "Scars" were from Shanghai, which made the parents in Shanghai extremely worried.

More and more educated youth from all over the country accepted the mailed copy of "Scars," which had a huge impact. Deng Jun was then harshly criticized by his superiors. "We must keep Li Feng under control now and don't let him get involved. Otherwise, if this gets out of hand, both you and I will be in trouble."

"Minister, is Li Feng still handling it?"

Deng Jun now hates this educated youth writer named Li Feng. He is a bastard who dares to write anything.

"Deal with it, how should I deal with it? You still think the trouble is small."

In fact, the deputy minister hated Li Feng so much that he wanted to strangle him to death, but that was not possible now. He was not an ordinary citizen and his article was going to be published in People's Literature. How could he deal with it? It might even get him into trouble.

All literary organizations have reached a consensus on banning this person's "Scars" and will not publish it.

But whether it is published or not at this time actually has little impact. The article has already been circulated. I am afraid that many editors in various magazines and newspapers support it. Otherwise, how could the manuscript be leaked and thousands of copies printed.

These intellectuals were not afraid of trouble, or some of them really felt sorry for the educated youth. In any case, the influence of this article had already spread, and if they continued to hold Li Feng accountable, it would probably cause an even bigger commotion.

The best thing to do at this moment is for Li Feng to stay out of the way and keep quiet. "Please make the arrangements here. Criticism is still allowed, but in line with the principle of curing illnesses and saving lives, your attitude should be gentle. Oh, and rewards are still due. We should clearly distinguish between rewards and punishments."

Deng Jun was a little confused. Damn, how can this be called mild criticism? Are you kidding me? There are also clear rewards and punishments. You are obviously rewarding the key points, so you should drink three glasses of wine as punishment.

Deng Jun wanted to die. He had offended this guy, and now he had to appease him himself.

Alas, he really had to take the blame. Deng Jun could only nod helplessly to indicate that he would complete the task.

"Ah."

Who is thinking about himself? Li Feng muttered, turned over and continued to sleep.

"Dong dong dong."

"Uncle, are you up?"

"Who?"

Who came here so early in the morning before daybreak? Li Feng opened the door and was dumbfounded. "What are you doing?"

"Uncle, we'll bring you some fish."

Han Mingliang wiped the mud off his hands and said, "Good boy!" Li Feng looked at the dozen or so little kids in front of him. There was not a single clean spot on their bodies, hands, and faces. Of course, these were not the most important things.

"Whose fish pond did you blow up?"

Wow, there were five big wooden basins, full of fish and shrimps, big and small. Li Feng swallowed his saliva, wondering if the team's fish pond had been blown up by these little brats.

No one else has grenades, but Anmin and Anbing have a lot of them.

"Uncle, we made the medicine in the river."

"medicine?"

Li Feng thought he was quite capable after giving her drugs. This was a bit scary. "What kind of drugs?"

"Walnut leaves."

This thing is not so bad. Li Feng looked at the fish and shrimp. There are not many big fish, only a few, basically small fish, river carp, crucian carp, and quite a few ditch crawlers, knife loaches, loaches, and even some eels.

"And there's a turtle."

There are also some turtles that are quite big. Li Feng muttered that they are really capable. They can even do this. "Hey, what is this?"

"Four-legged fish."

That's not right, Li Feng looked at it. These four-legged creatures looked like crocodiles. Impossible! There are such things in the river? If there are any here, they are probably Yangtze alligators. That's right, damn, we can't have this thing.

"Take these four-legged fish home and feed the ducks."

Just kidding, the Yangtze alligator is a protected animal after all. It's really blind to take it home with you. The Chinese giant salamander is not popular now, and there are many breeding them without any problems. But the Yangtze alligator is not only scary to keep, but it is also too sensitive.

"Oh."

They didn't dare take it back to feed the ducks, and at most they threw it back into the river or the stream.

"Go inside first."

The candies were gone, so Li Feng took out two yuan and gave it to Han Mingliang. "Split it up. I'll buy you some candies when I go to the county town." "Thank you, uncle."

"Wait a minute."

Li Feng remembered that he still had half a bag of orange powder and handed it to Han Mingliang. "Orange powder, make some water for yourself. Okay, go play. Wash yourself well before going home, or I'll get you banged up."

"Hehe, uncle, we know."

Two yuan! The kids are so happy! Especially those who go to school, they know how good money is. When school starts, they can go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy delicious food and fun things. "These little brats are really capable."

"Gao Ju, Gao Cheng, get up."

"Boss, where did all these fish come from?"

"Never mind, just clean up first."

"Oh."

After fetching water, cleaning, and sorting, they finally sorted the fish and shrimp and started raising them. "There's still a little bit of ditch crawlers, probably only 7 or 8 kilograms, and even less of knife loaches, 5 or 6 kilograms."

"What a damn weather."

There were quite a few other fish, though. The crucian carp probably weighed over 20 kilograms, and the sashimi weighed nearly 10 to 20 kilograms, but most of them were dead. These creatures died as soon as they left the water. "Let's clean them up first and dry them out in the sun."

Crucian carp, loach, and yellow eel are easy to raise, so I'll keep them for now and bring them back to my B&B. "It's a pity that there's a shortage of ditch crawlers, especially knife loach. They're really good, costing over a thousand yuan per pound."

"boss."

Gao wiped his hands. "The small fish are all ready to be processed and hung out to dry. Look, do you need to clean up anything else?"

"no need."

Li Feng asked Gao to sit down. "Second brother, I have something for you to discuss with me."

"Boss, tell me."

"That's right."

Li Feng didn't elaborate, only saying that the small fish would be more delicious if brought back, and that the knife loach had some aphrodisiac properties. Wouldn't it be a bit of a loss to sell it directly? "Boss, you're right, selling it directly would be a loss."

"You think so too."

Li Feng felt like he'd found a soulmate. "I'm planning a fish banquet featuring the ditch crawlers and razorback loaches we'll take back home. A healthy fish banquet, priced at 2888 or 3888 per table featuring razorback loaches. We'll also have a tasting of Jiangnan seafood, priced at a lower 1288 or 1888, featuring smaller fish."

"I think it's okay."

Gao Jue thought to himself, this is really ruthless. A few candies exchanged for small fish cost thousands of yuan. This is even more ruthless than fighting. However, Gao Jue kept flattering the boss. "Boss, this price is too good. I would not hesitate to double it."

"Alas, you can't say that. We are all honest people. We should be honest in our conduct and actions."

Li Feng waved his hand. "We're not famous yet. We need to expand the market before we can raise prices."

Wow, Gao really admires the boss's great passion and courage. He is never satisfied and is always ready to raise prices. Following such a boss, he would definitely have to eat four meals a day.

"it is good."

Gao Cheng even applauded, saying, "Boss, great job! Just this shameless face is something that they brothers should learn from."

"Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's cook and boil water."

He yelled to his sister-in-law that they would be coming to work soon, and that they should prepare tea and try to build the shed as soon as possible so that they could sleep better at night.

"Don't worry, boss."

As for the bamboo tables and chairs, Gao Cheng is not very good at making them. He can only wait until he goes back to learn from the master and then come back to make them. There is still time.

"Li Feng is busy."

"It's you."

While they were busy tamping the earth that morning, some young people from the brigade came over to play. These young men were the backbone of the brigade, and Li Feng didn't usually interact with them. Among them were An Ying, the leader of the women's militia group, from Uncle Fuqiang's family; An Xin, the second daughter of Uncle Futian; the An Lin sisters; and An Bian, a high school student from the county.

Among them, An Ying is the oldest, seventeen years old, and sisters An Xin and An Lin are sixteen and fifteen respectively. I don’t know why, but these girls don’t seem to like Li Feng very much. Maybe their families have told them that they are not young anymore after all.

Although the bachelor Li Feng has a young face, he is old after all. He is about the same age as the men in their twenties and thirties in the village. No girl would dare to approach such a bachelor, especially since Li Feng has a reputation for being lazy and gluttonous.

But it’s different now. Li Feng published an article in a major magazine in the capital, and he might come to the city one day.

"Come in and sit down."

"No, we just came to see if there's anything we can do to help."

"I'm almost done with it."

Nothing more than reeds, bamboo poles, and some straw. Li Feng planned to go to the team to collect them later. He had already agreed with Uncle Futian, and he just had to pay and come back. "No big deal, just sit down and have some water. You're welcome."

"An Bian, I heard that you did very well in the county's No. 1 Middle School?"

"It is okay."

An Bian has a soft personality and blushes easily when he speaks. This makes him unlike his two younger sisters An Xin and An Lin who speak frankly, and even more unlike his father Uncle Futian who is calculating.

"Come on, Uncle Tomita is counting on you to get into university."

Li Feng patted An Bian's shoulder. "If you have any questions, you can come to me. I went to high school, too, so I remember a little bit."

"Did you go to high school?"

Wow, Li Feng never told this story. No one knew about it. They just knew that Li Feng was an educated youth and must be able to read. After all, he was a writer who could write good articles.

"Yes."

Forget college, as it might arouse suspicion, but high school was fine. Li Feng even spoke a few words in English. "You know English?" An Bian looked surprised.

"know a little."

He was fine for simple conversations, but An Bian didn't expect it. He thought Li Feng could only write articles. His father told him to learn more through exposure, but he didn't expect Li Feng to be so good at English as well.

"What are you talking about?"

Why are you speaking Japanese language, no, American language? Li Feng smiled. "An Bian, you are right."

“I still need to learn more.”

An Bian was surprised that Li Feng's English was really good, much better than his. You know, his English was top-notch in the county's No. 1 Middle School.

"This kid is capable of this?"

When An Bian returned home and told his father, Uncle Futian, Han Futian was actually a little surprised. "This brat must have a complicated background."

"Forget it, it's all in the past."

"Anbian, you should communicate more with Li Feng. Since he said so, I think there's no harm in asking for his advice."

"I know."

For a time, Li Feng's reputation in Hanjiaba became more famous. In addition to being lazy and gluttonous, he also had the identity of a cultured person.

"Tu tu tu tu."

"Public Security Officer Wu."

"Hey, Comrade Xiaoli, you're here too."

"I'm here to deliver a letter to you."

"letter?"

Didn't they all arrive yesterday? What else could there be? Huang Xiaoli actually pulled out a huge bag of mail. "All of this?" This is a joke. I don't remember sending so many manuscripts. You can't just say that when you reject a manuscript, right?

(End of this chapter)