Back to 1984: Earning Money, Raising Kids, and Keeping the Household Busy

Chapter 24 Taking a View of the Desert Island
At this moment, Lin Qingxiang also came out of the house. Lin Zhi immediately turned his anger towards him, saying, "Lin Qingxiang, that land belongs to our family. If anyone is going to farm it, it's our family. You should give the land back to me right now!"

Lin Qingxiang took out the document and looked at him with a half-smile. "Sure! I have a written agreement with Lin Yi. That land belongs to me for the whole year. I have no objection to renting it to you. Just pay me."

"Give me money? You're crazy for money!" Li Lian shouted from behind Lin Zhi.

Lin Qingxiang wasn't going to tolerate them. He turned to the captain and said, "Either you handle it, or I'll call the police. This is a new era of reform and opening up, it's a good time to catch a few typical thugs and bullies!"

The captain sized up Lin Zhi and his wife, looking as if he was about to get serious, which scared the couple away.

Lin Qingxiang sneered, "What a coward! You think you can fight me?"

The brigade leader shook his head helplessly, "They're just two rotten apples in the village, and they're unreasonable. Why bother arguing with them!"

Lin Qingxiang pursed his lips, not listening at all.

Li Lian, who had already walked away, was furious. She poked Lin Zhi hard in the lower back, "How could you be so useless! Those fields clearly belong to your parents. The old couple only have these two grandsons. How could they possibly let outsiders have the land! Your older brother is a scoundrel. Your parents will never rest in peace!"

"Just talk about my older brother, why drag my parents into this? If you hadn't stopped me from just putting on an act, my older brother wouldn't have let Lin Qingxiang farm the land behind our backs!" Lin Zhi was also furious.

Li Lian got even angrier, "Now you're blaming me? What kind of life are we living? Our two sons are about to get married, and we can't even scrape together the money to build a house. If you had any ability, why would I be so stingy!"

The couple blamed each other and cursed each other all the way home.

At this time, Lin Qin and Chen Wenjun had already carried Lin Yi to the edge of Nanxi.

Nanxi River, being the largest river in the area, is the main source of drinking water for the city and the surrounding counties. In the 1980s, many Tanka people still lived on the river, making a living mainly by transporting passengers and goods, with fishing being only a supplementary activity.

Going downstream from Nanxi, all the way to Nangang, is a large passenger and cargo terminal. In the 1980s, when the economy was just starting to rise, most of the seafood, timber, tea, and smuggled goods were transported by water.

There's also the old-fashioned rafting, where boatmen risk their lives navigating turbulent rapids. They could usually earn a few dozen yuan per trip, but if nothing went wrong, they'd be fine. However, if an accident happened, nine times out of ten they'd lose their lives in the water.

In his early years, Chen Wenjun, like other Tanka people, ventured out into the world. At that time, Chen Ping'an had not yet been born, and life was full of hope.

Since Chen Ping'an was born, this family has been shrouded in gloom. Before the child was even a year old, Chen Wenjun's ex-wife ran away, and even his father-in-law's family disappeared without a trace.

He worried that if something happened to him, his child would really have no way to survive, so he dared not take any more risks.

In addition, shipping goods by boat cannot be delayed. As a child, Chen Ping'an was often sick, so he could not transport goods for others for fear of being unable to afford the compensation for delays. He could only make a living by fishing.

Chen Wenjun carefully explained his situation to Lin Yi along the way.

Lin Yi sighed as he looked at Chen Wenjun's five-awning boat.

Chen Wenjun first put the person down, then quickly jumped onto the boat and opened the door.

Chen Ping'an, who was in the cabin, did not excitedly call out "Dad" as usual. It was not until he heard Liu Yaya call out "Brother Ping'an" in a clear voice that his eyes lit up.

He excitedly climbed out and saw Liu Yaya standing on the shore. He smiled with a pure and shy expression.

His eyes met Lin Qin's loving gaze, and he shyly looked away, whispering to Liu Yaya, "Yaya, come here, the little turtle is here." "Okay!" Liu Yaya couldn't wait to go over.

Chen Wenjun set up the ladder for boarding the boat, then helped Liu Yaya up, and then came down to help Lin Qin lift her up.

Lin Yi was full of curiosity about everything on the ship, and he found it incredible that a large family could live in the rear cabin.

It was still daytime, not time for bed. Chen Wenjun settled Lin Yi in and opened the bamboo awning for him to look at the scenery on the Nanxi River.

He said with a smile, "Uncle, you can stay on the boat from now on. I'll start setting traps to catch fish today. I've been having good luck fishing lately and have saved up some money. Give me a year or two, and I'll definitely save up enough to buy a piece of land and build a house."

Lin Yi nodded in satisfaction. Regardless of whether Chen Wenjun could actually do it, at least he dared to make such a guarantee, which made Lin Yi feel at ease.

Seeing Lin Yi's perfunctory attitude, Chen Wenjun knew he didn't believe him, so he immediately said, "Come on! I'll row you to see a place."

"Where to? The sun is almost setting." Lin Qin sat cross-legged on the ground and asked curiously, glancing occasionally at the two children beside her who were engrossed in playing with their little turtles. She felt surprisingly at ease.

Chen Wenjun didn't keep him in suspense. Pointing to a small island not far away, he said in a low voice, "Have you forgotten that someone bought one of these deserted islands to raise geese? I want to buy that island and build a house on it."

Lin Qin craned her neck in shock, her hand practically reaching out of the boat, "You mean that one?"

“That’s right!” Chen Wenjun waved, signaling Lin Qin to come outside with him to talk.

Lin Qin told Lin Yi to stay with the two children, while she went out with Chen Wenjun.

Once outside, the view opened up, and Lin Qin could roughly make out the shape of the deserted island.

There are many such deserted islands on Nanxi, almost one every few miles, of varying sizes. The deserted island in front of us is about two hundred acres in size, surrounded by water on all sides and is a hilly landform of crystal cave granite, with an elevation of about one hundred meters. You can see the end of it at a glance.

Lin Qin was exasperated. "This island doesn't even have a place to land. Why would you buy it?"

"Don't rush! I'll take you there and you'll see." Chen Wenjun was quite excited and went to row the boat without saying another word.

Lin Qin simply sat down cross-legged on the spot, enjoying the river breeze and savoring this moment of tranquility.

The five-canopied boat was quite fast. While Lin Qin was in a daze, they had already approached the deserted island and were circling it until a gap appeared in front of Lin Qin. She immediately stood up excitedly.

At this moment, Chen Wenjun also came to her side, pointing triumphantly to the gap in front of her that was hidden by the banyan tree.

“I’ve already gone inside and checked it out. Don’t be fooled by the fact that this deserted island is surrounded by small hills. There’s actually quite a lot of open space in the middle, with about several dozen acres that can be cleared. It’s just that there are a lot of weeds, and there might be snakes and poisonous ants that bite. It’ll be a bit of a hassle to clean it up, but those are minor issues.”

The main reason I chose this place is that it's the only place on the island where you can land. Boats can't get close to other places because they'll run aground, and even if they do, they can't get ashore.

"Once we buy it and get to the island, we'll prune this big banyan tree, seal the gap with stones from the mountain, and make a door. That way, we'll have better security."

(End of this chapter)