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

Chapter 66 Zheng Aqiang's Wife

"What do we do next?" Lin Qin was reluctant to go into the cabin when she saw the bloodstains, but she couldn't stay away from it forever; they had to completely eliminate this potential hazard.

She remembered that in his past life, Zheng Aqiang was a compulsive gambler. When he was drunk, he would beat and scold his wife and children and talk nonsense. His wife couldn't stand it and ran away with the children. Without his wife to clean up his mess, his life became even more difficult. In the end, he gambled so much that he was beaten up by gangsters and left at home to fend for himself.

No one paid any attention to him, and he wasn't discovered until he died.

It's still several years before he got into trouble!
Chen Wenjun looked towards the port and said, "I'll go and inquire about it in a bit."

He deliberately rowed his boat to the area where Chen Yongding's fishing boats frequently operated.

As soon as they got close, they heard Zhou Shuifang's voice calling out, "Wenjun, didn't you go fishing today?"

Chen Wenjun kept pushing with the bamboo pole, saying, "If we're going to go, let's first go to Linshuipu and see if we can catch something else."

Zhou Shuifang waved to him excitedly, "Come here, your auntie wants to ask you something."

Chen Wenjun feigned curiosity and steered the boat closer. "Auntie, what's up?"

Zhou Shuifang quickly jumped over, greeted Lin Qin, and then moved closer to Chen Wenjun. Her voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for Lin Qin to hear.

"Did you know about Zheng Aqiang's accident?"

Chen Wenjun shook his head frantically, "Lost money and got beaten up again?"

"What?! What kind of thing is this! He's been out doing something, and I heard he went blind in one eye."

Chen Wenjun's hand tightened, and he quickly put on a worried expression. "Auntie, you can't say things like that! How could he suddenly go blind? No, I have to go see him."

Zhou Shuifang immediately stopped her, "What are you looking at? Do you think your life is too easy? Everyone wants to stay far away from that kind of scumbag. What do you mean by getting close to him? I heard that his wife is so worried that she's borrowing money everywhere to pay for his treatment, and she's even sent the children back to her parents' home."

Zheng Aqiang's father-in-law cursed him horribly, saying things like, "Why didn't you just die? You didn't lend me a single penny, but you took the child in and took care of him."

"Let me tell you, building your own house is hard enough as it is. Don't go looking for trouble and get leeches stuck to you—you won't be able to tear them off!"

After Zhou Shuifang finished speaking, she chatted with Lin Qin for a couple more minutes before returning to her fishing boat, completely satisfied.

As soon as she left, Chen Wenjun immediately rowed the fishing boat away.

Lin Qin laughed and said, "Wow, Chen Wenjun! You're getting better and better at manipulating people's hearts. I thought I'd have to personally intervene later, but people have already said everything they should and shouldn't have said."

"Zheng Aqiang is so badly injured, he probably won't dare come aboard our fishing boat again. We can dismantle everything inside, and then make a trip to Shanglin Village this afternoon. We can start work tomorrow."

This morning, while she was cooking, she saw truckloads of steel bars arriving at the site, and casually mentioned to Huang Wenlong that she wanted to buy steel bars.

Huang Wenlong agreed very readily. He said he would be sending several truckloads of materials over tomorrow, and he would also send a few truckloads over to their side.

Chen Wenjun nodded and rowed the fishing boat to Linshuipu.

Linshuipu is downstream of Qingyun Temple. The water surface is wider and not as deep here, so there are more bamboo shoots and snails, but fewer large fish.

Lin Qin was visiting for the first time and didn't want to fish on the boat, so she went down to look for snails. Unexpectedly, she also found several eel nests.

Fishing for eels requires meat, and Lin Yi had moved all the pickled vegetable jars on the fishing boat to Nanyu, so there was no way to catch them.

Fortunately, the water here is clear, and there are plenty of snails. You can grab a handful with one hand, and by scooping them out, you can quickly fill a bucket.

Seeing how enthusiastic she was about catching fish, Chen Wenjun gave her a small fish trap. "You can use this to catch some small fish."

Lin Qin took the trap ashore, intending to dig up two earthworms to put in as bait. After only a few steps, she saw frogs hiding in the rice paddies by the river.

It's hot, and the frogs all huddle under the rice paddies, making a series of rapid, loud whimpering sounds that sound like dogs but aren't quite. It's so annoying to hear it all the time.

Lin Qin squatted down and swept around the rice paddy a few times before spotting several earthworms. She quickly sped up, first digging up the worms and setting up the traps, then running to the fishing boat to get a large bucket.

Once inside the rice paddies, they started catching frogs.

The frog is actually a tiger frog, with a green or brown body covered in black and orange stripes. Its front legs are particularly strong, and its meat is tender and delicious. I'm sure everyone will love the sauerkraut frog dish I make tomorrow.

At that moment, she had only one thought in her mind: to catch lots and lots of frogs.

After walking through one rice paddy after another, by the time she came to her senses, the bucket was already more than half full.

She quickly got the frogs onto the fishing boat and called Chen Wenjun back.

Chen Wenjun was delighted when he saw them. "Where did you find so many? The supply and marketing cooperative sells them for 1.6 yuan a pound, but these can probably sell for more than ten yuan a pound."

Lin Qin nodded excitedly, "Take it to Boss Zheng's place, then go to Shanglin Village. Leave two buckets for me, I'll grab a little more, and we'll have vegetables for the construction site tomorrow."

Following her instructions, Chen Wenjun first rowed the fishing boat back, and then immediately pushed the cart to the city.

No sooner had he left than Zheng Aqiang's wife, Zhou Meili, arrived.

Seeing no one on the fishing boat, he was particularly disappointed and was about to leave when he unexpectedly discovered dried bloodstains beside the boat. His face turned pale, and he returned home with a heavy heart.

As soon as Zheng Aqiang saw her, he eagerly asked, "Did you borrow the money?"

Zhou Meili didn't answer, only saying, "If we save up a little more, we can treat you."

Zheng Aqiang grew anxious, his face turning fierce. "I'm asking you how much money you have on you?"

Zhou Meili still did not respond.

Zheng Aqiang grabbed her by the neck, his expression frantic, "Give me the money! I'm telling you to give me the money, do you hear me?!"

Zhou Meili was choked until she couldn't breathe, her face turned as red as a pig's liver, and she could only take out the five one-yuan bills she had in her pocket.

"So little? Useless stuff!" Zheng Aqiang let go of the money, cursing and complaining, before stuffing it back into his pocket.

Zhou Meili coughed anxiously, "This is for your medical treatment. The doctor said you need eye surgery, otherwise there's no hope for you."

Zheng Aqiang didn't care. He took the money and ran away, saying, "You don't need to worry about my affairs. Get out of my way."

Zhou Meili stomped her feet in anger, slapped her thighs with both hands, and burst into tears.

They simply had no ability to stop it.

As it grew dark, Zheng Aqiang still hadn't returned. Zhou Meili felt uneasy, and thinking about the bloodstains on Chen Wenjun's fishing boat, she couldn't help but go there again.

This time, I happened to run into Lin Qin washing clothes on the deck.

She quickly called out, "Sister-in-law, is Brother Wenjun here?"

Lin Qin looked up and saw that it was Zhou Meili. She then shouted at the top of her lungs, telling Chen Wenjun to move the fishing boat to the side.

After Zhou Meili boarded the ship, she hesitated to speak.

Chen Wenjun asked, "What does your sister-in-law want? Did Qiang get into trouble again?"

"No, no!" Zhou Meili shook her head and waved her hands vigorously, her eyes a little red.

I want to ask, but I don't know how to bring it up.

(End of this chapter)