Reborn in 1981: My Life as a Fisherman

During the period of liberation, the coastal Tanka people were scattered widely.

They were already homeless, and given the circumstances at the time, they mostly headed south.

It's quite common to get separated when encountering strong winds and waves at sea.

Shi Hailong had heard his father say that in the early days after liberation, there was still fighting in this area, and later there was the suppression of bandits, so things were a bit chaotic.

The Tanka people's livelihood is based on the great rivers and the sea; they don't have a single tile on land.

We eat, drink, relieve ourselves, and sleep on the boat.

Another reason is that the country was too poor back then, and the sea was too chaotic, so many people fled south from Shanghai.

It traveled through Zhejiang Province and then to Fujian Province.

Then they continued south.

The Shi and He families were dragged into this without knowing what was going on, and they just followed along.

Then they dispersed at sea.

The two parents were blown by the wind and waves to Lantau Village, and then settled in this bay. Eventually, the government arranged for them to go ashore and settle down...

Shi Hailong was also very surprised. He did not expect that his uncle would write a letter and publish it in the Fujian Provincial newspaper at this time.

They had no idea about it in their previous life; it was only when their cousins ​​from later generations came looking for them.

Nobody has mentioned this before.

I guess he only logged in this once. It's really amazing that he saw it by such a coincidence.

He asked Liu Zhenyuan for the newspaper because he genuinely wanted to see the current policies in various aspects.

He knew the general direction as a reborn person, but he wasn't clear about many details.

One more thing, the brigade headquarters should also have this newspaper, right?

Did no one see it?

However, it's still possible; who would pay attention to such a small box?

And it's not just one missing person notice; there are many.

With the reform and opening up, many people want to return to find their relatives, including those from across the Taiwan Strait.

The newspapers were taken by their parents, and the three siblings didn't go over because their parents were crying their eyes out.

Shi Hailan, her eyes also brimming with tears, said with a smile, "Now that's alright, my parents have finally found their family."

Shi Haifeng smiled, his eyes red, "Second brother, I heard that there's a family on the commune street whose relatives from Hong Kong came back and gave them a lot of money."

She even took one of her sons to Hong Kong…

Shi Hailong looked at his elder brother and was surprised that this honest man had thought of this so quickly.

He laughed and said, "Once we get in touch, when your uncle and the others come, you can go to Hong Kong with them. I've heard that Hong Kong is full of cars, skyscrapers, and dazzling lights."

Shi Haifeng shook his head. "I'm the eldest in the family, so I have to take care of my parents."

You're smarter and more outstanding than me, so you should go there...

Upon hearing this, Shi Hailong laughed heartily, reached out and put his arm around his older brother's shoulder, giving him a tight hug.

"I'm not going either. There are too many smart people in Hong Kong. Someone as clever as me would just be doing manual labor."

Suddenly, Shi Hailong thought to himself that perhaps he shouldn't change his elder brother's life trajectory.

Let him remain single for the rest of his life, just like in his previous life, so he can take good care of his parents.

If he changes this, and marries an unreasonable sister-in-law, then he'll have a lot of headaches later on.

My older brother can no longer stay with our parents forever like he did in our previous life, living a simple, ordinary, yet happy life.

Even in old age, they are still recipients of the "Five Guarantees" (a government-provided social welfare program for the elderly, disabled, and orphans), supported by the state, and live longer than him if they are healthy and free from illness or disaster.

Thinking about all this, Shi Hailong felt very complicated and conflicted.

Then, in his mind, he began to sort through his memories, thinking about which good girls lived in the nearby villages.

By the way, wasn't Chen Dabiao's wife a very good person in his past life?

Shi Hailong's eyes lit up, and he began to ponder...

After dinner, Shi Guangqian and He Caizhi calmed down and kept smiling.

After the dishes were cleared away, the family sat down in the main room to discuss the matter.

Ultimately, it was decided that Shi Hailong should reply to the letter at the address left in the missing person notice.

After establishing the correspondence, we will then decide based on the circumstances.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Shi really wanted to go directly, but they knew they couldn't rush it.

Without an accurate address, Huidong is so big it's hard to find.

Going to Hong Kong would be even more troublesome.

"Father, Mother, we have news now. We've also made contact with my eldest uncle."

You two don't need to rush, meeting is just a matter of time.

I'll write back to see if I can get my uncle and the others to come back. It's possible to come back from Hong Kong now.

It's much more convenient than going to Hong Kong.

Mr. Shi nodded, and Mrs. Shi looked at Shi Hailong and asked, "Do you think your uncles will come back?"

Shi Hailong was speechless. He thought to himself, how could he possibly know? But he certainly couldn't say that.

He immediately laughed and said, "That's for sure, otherwise my uncle would go to all that trouble to publish it in the newspaper."

I bet your grandparents miss you, Mom.

Maybe Grandpa and Grandma will come along too!

Upon hearing her son's words, Shi's mother immediately beamed with joy and anticipation.

There is also longing for parents and siblings.

So he immediately asked Shi Haihua to bring paper and pen so that Shi Hailong could write a letter.

Shi Haihua brought it over quickly, and then Shi Hailong stared blankly at the pencil and the grid notebook.

"Mom, I'll write it tomorrow. I'll go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy letter paper and fountain pen ink."

Using this pencil and notebook doesn't seem quite right...

Mr. Shi spoke up, "Hmm, this looks too perfunctory. It would be better to be more formal."

Shi Mu thought about it and agreed, then told everyone to rest early, as they would have to collect the fish traps early the next morning.

At night, after his older brother started snoring, Shi Hailong got out of bed and got dressed.

Without turning on the lights, I gently opened the door and went out.

As I left the house, I glanced back at my parents' room, because, unusually, the lights were still on.

It seems my parents will have a hard time sleeping tonight.

He first went to the banyan tree, lifted up the bluestone, and took out the money underneath.

The money wasn't wet, just slightly damp and soft.

He put the money in his pocket, grabbed a shovel, and headed towards the woods at the foot of the mountain.

This time he planned to take out five hundred silver dollars, and he also decided in his heart that this would be the last time he made such a move.

The remaining silver dollars have been buried all these years.

He was afraid that if he continued like this, he wouldn't be able to stop and might attract unwanted attention.

Anyway, these silver dollars won't depreciate in value in the future, so there's no need to sell them all.

Keeping it provides a sense of security and a safety net.

He also has no intention of getting his hands on the treasure hidden in the mountain cave for the time being.

We'll decide how to handle it later based on the situation.

As for pretending to discover something and then reporting it, he wouldn't be that foolish.

Seeking empty fame will only cause trouble and bring no benefit whatsoever.

Even if he pretends not to know, he won't do anything foolish that would cause trouble for himself and benefit others.

It allows others to use this to get promoted and make money.

He wasn't using the shovel to dig; because the burial had been too shallow, Shi Hailong planned to move it to a different spot and bury it deeper.

It will also be wrapped in a thin film and may not move for several years...

The next day, at the crack of dawn, the brothers Shi Haifeng and Shi Hailong got up and went out.

My parents had already prepared breakfast, but I don't know if they slept last night.

Today, the two brothers went to collect fish traps. They quickly ate breakfast and then headed to the dock with baskets of all sizes.

However, there were others who had arrived even earlier than the brothers; some had already retrieved their fishing nets and returned from the coast.

After the two brothers boarded the boat, they could still hear people cursing in the distance, apparently because the fishing net was missing.

Shi Hailong and Shi Haifeng simply exchanged a smile in response.

Then they rowed their famous boat out to sea.

Shi Hailong never intended to set up sea cages near the beach from the beginning.

One reason is the fear of being seen by others who are envious and then cause damage at night. Another reason is that the beach area is likely to be the point of conflict.

Just wait!

The arguments and fights are yet to come!

The damage to the fish traps would erupt for a while, requiring someone to keep watch overnight, and only gradually subside when the catch was not much.

This is human nature when faced with self-interest; it's very realistic and true!

What kind of simplicity and honesty is that? It doesn't exist. The old saying is right: when the granaries are full, people know etiquette; when they are well-fed and clothed, they know honor and shame.

People at that time were terrified of poverty; they would be envious of even a few dollars a day, let alone tens or hundreds of dollars.

These days, there's no such thing as getting rich through hard work; it will take several more years for that to come.