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

Chapter 54 Found a Treasure

Chen Wenjun's fishing net contained enough fish to fill several buckets. He couldn't possibly get all the fish ashore by himself, and dragging it in the water would easily cause the net to be torn by underwater rocks, which would be counterproductive.

He knew he couldn't act recklessly in the face of the situation, so he could only brace himself against the bamboo pole and wait for Lin Qin to come over.

The water was up to Chen Wenjun's thighs, and when Lin Qin came over, half of her body was in the water.

As the fishing net is pulled up, the fish inside have less and less room to move, and the impact on the net becomes greater and greater.

Lin Qin scooped up a whole bucketful with one bucket of water, and several fish jumped out, but luckily they fell into the fishing net and didn't escape.

Chen Wenjun shook his head repeatedly, "This won't work. You should pack less and make more trips. If it really doesn't work, I'll do it. How about you help me hold the bamboo pole?"

Lin Qin really didn't have the strength, so she could only take away some of the smaller fish first. After running around five or six times, the fishing net was only half the size.

Lin Qin, panting, said, "Can we drag it away now? I really don't dare to touch those big fish inside. What if they escape if I shake them too hard?"

Chen Wenjun was also worried, so he and Lin Qin carefully carried the fishing net ashore.

When the entire fishing net was brought ashore, everything inside was revealed: five grass carp weighing over three pounds each, a carp mixed in with them weighing at least two pounds, and other smaller fish including crucian carp and grass carp, as well as some silt, weeds, and rocks—a pitch-black mess.

Chen Wenjun first put several large fish into a bucket and then sent them to the boat.

Lin Qin tidied up the fishing nets, rummaging through the foul-smelling mud.

Many river shrimp were jumping around on the dark mud.

These also need to be picked up.

While rummaging through the trash, Lin Qin discovered a little turtle that was pretending to be dead. She was immediately delighted, washed the turtle clean, and threw it into the bucket. She thought she could take this thing home to cheer up her child.

She then continued tidying up.

After discarding two large water plants, a small rectangular box was revealed under the fishing net, resembling an old antique from the feudal society.

The box had been submerged in water for a long time, and the paint on the outside had peeled off, obscuring its beauty. There was also a small brass lock on the box, covered with verdigris and some white and yellowish stuff, which looked like rust or rotten slime.

Lin Qin was a little disgusted, but out of curiosity about what was inside the box, she casually threw the box into the bucket.

Let's get back to work.

After cleaning everything out of the fishing net, she put it in the water to wash it.

When Chen Wenjun arrived, the task fell to him.

She washed the mud off her legs and hands, then took the remaining two buckets of stuff onto the boat.

Her clothes were soaked through, so she had to fetch water, boil a pot of hot water, and take a proper bath.

In this weather, one pot of hot water can be used to wash two people.

When Lin Qin finished washing her hair and taking a shower, she went out onto the deck and, to her surprise, Chen Wenjun was still catching bamboo shoots.

It seemed he was determined to make another trip to the Guoxing Hotel today. Lin Qin ignored him, turned around and washed her dirty clothes, and started examining the strange antique box since she had nothing else to do.

This thing had been soaking in water for too long, and the small brass lock was just for show; it fell off after being hit with a stone a few times.

Lin Qin was overjoyed and quickly opened the box, only to find a gold chain, a gold ring, and a broken pocket watch inside.

Her heart pounded wildly. She glanced around at the fishing boats and discreetly took the items into the cabin, never to leave again.

Chen Wenjun moved to another spot and caught two more nets of bamboo shoot fish. When he felt he had caught enough, he packed up and went back.

As soon as he got on the deck, he put away the planks, used the bamboo pole to move the fishing boat away from the shore, then took two buckets of water to wash his hands and feet clean before shouting at the top of his lungs, "Aqin, where are you?"

Lin Qin furtively opened the cabin door, revealing her dark head. "I'm here. Keep your voice down. Come in, I have something to show you."

Seeing Lin Qin's strange behavior, Chen Wenjun, driven by curiosity, disregarded his own sweaty smell and crawled into the cabin.

Lin Qin glanced outside twice, and seeing that there were no boatmen around, she took out the box, suppressing her excitement, and said excitedly, "See! What did I tell you! Wishes come true!"

Chen Wenjun opened the box and was instantly stunned. "A gold necklace! A gold ring! Really?"

Lin Qin grinned. "I bit it, and it left a mark, so it must be real! Look how thick this gold chain is! It must weigh at least three or four ounces. The ring is also quite heavy. This set looks like something a man would wear. The other party must be a very wealthy person!"

Chen Wenjun grinned like a fool, "Aqin, it seems you really can have your wishes come true!"

“That’s right!” Lin Qin proudly raised her chin and said with great interest, “If we sell this gold, it should be enough for our family to build a house.”

She remembered that the price of gold was around 90 yuan per gram, so this gold could be sold for nearly 20,000 yuan.

Chen Wenjun shook his head, "We're making enough money from fishing right now. Keep the gold safe and don't sell it; it'll be worth even more in the future."

Lin Qin stared wide-eyed, utterly puzzled. "Why? Although gold will be more valuable in the future, building a house is the priority right now. If we sell the gold, we won't have to worry about money anymore."

Chen Wenjun put the items into the box, glanced outside, and lowered his voice, saying, "There are only one or two gold shops in the city now. If we sell so much gold, word will definitely get out, and it will easily attract unnecessary trouble."

And don't forget, Uncle Qingxiang and Shaojun built this house for us. They probably know our family's situation. It's normal for the house to be built slowly. If you build a big and impressive house all at once, what do you think people will think?
We'd rather people misunderstand that we borrowed money to build a house than let them suspect we have a huge sum of money.

This is based on his experience from living two lifetimes.

Lin Qin then remembered why Chen Wenjun had been knocked unconscious in the alley near the Liu family's house, and her face paled slightly. "But... it's not safe to leave this thing on the fishing boat!"

“What’s there to be afraid of! Don’t we still have a large deserted island? After we send Uncle Qingxiang and the others back in the evening, we’ll go up there, find a suitable place to hide the things, mark them, and then we won’t have to worry about them getting lost.” Chen Wenjun looked at Lin Qin with amusement.

Lin Qin had to admit that what he said made sense, so she compromised immediately. "Alright! Let's do it your way. I've boiled some water, you go take a shower. Later, we need to take these fish to Boss Zheng's place, and my snails too. They're so plump, Boss Zheng should buy them, and maybe even raise the price. You decide how to sell them. I won't go with you."

Now that there are valuables on the ship, she decided to stay there and not move.

Chen Wenjun understood his thoughts. After taking a bath and resting for a while, he saw that Lin Qin had washed and hung up his dirty clothes. He immediately pushed the boat to the shore and moved the cart and other things to the shore until the cart was full.

(End of this chapter)