Back to my 1980s

"I don't want to, I'm afraid I'll eat it all before it's even sold."

Hearing Zhao Ru say this, Zhao Hua couldn't help but laugh out loud and said, "You do have some self-awareness. Then you should think about what we should do."

After he finished speaking, he covered himself with the sheet. Meng Qinghe was still there. It was fine to talk while sitting, but it felt strange to talk while lying down. Fortunately, the dead of night provided the best cover, and no one lived in the educated youth settlement, so he wasn't afraid of being seen and gossiped about.

"I don't know, no wonder they let Qinghe open a convenience store." She took off her shoes, lay down on the bed, looked at Meng Qinghe and smiled, "I slept for a long time this afternoon, I'm not sleepy now, why don't you talk to me for a while, and then go back later?"

Meng Qinghe, who had been silent until now, nodded slightly, went around to the other side and sat down, whispering to Zhao Ru. Zhao Hua guessed that she was also a little embarrassed, which was why she hadn't said anything before.

The moon hung high in the sky, looking even brighter than before. Zhao Hua turned his head and could even see the shadows of the two of them.

Actually, he wasn't sleepy. He had been sleeping all afternoon, and he had just finished working not long ago. His mind was still a bit excited, so he couldn't fall asleep for a while.

"Brother? Are you asleep?"

"Huh? No, what's wrong?"

Zhao Ru pointed to the pile of bricks and asked, "How long will it take to finish building this house?"

Zhao Hua thought for a moment and said, "It shouldn't take long. The foundation was dug yesterday, and they're starting to build it today. My house is made of red bricks, so the plaster doesn't need to dry. The foundation should be ready by tomorrow at the latest."

"The wall plastering is also quite simple. The bricks are all ready-made, so there's no need to mold them bit by bit like with mud houses. It should be completed in less than half a month."

He thought for a moment, then suddenly looked at Meng Qinghe and asked, "By the way, do you have electricity here yet?"

He didn't seem to have seen the lights on at Meng Qinghe's house, but it seemed the utility poles had already been erected. It would be ridiculous if they deliberately didn't run the power lines this way because they thought there were too few people at the educated youth settlement.

Fortunately, Meng Qinghe nodded and said, "It's connected. The village secretary came to our house and asked if we wanted to get electricity, but we haven't yet."

Zhao Hua was relieved to hear this. It was good that the electricity was back on. As for Meng Qinghe's family not having electricity, he thought it was quite normal. He wouldn't be surprised if her family's conditions were worse. Come to think of it, most of the educated youth sent to the countryside were from the same county.

Most of the educated youth in the village actually came from the county town. They could occasionally ask for leave to go home, and some even had connections in the county town to help them get a job in the countryside as pampered educated youth. They didn't have to work hard to earn work points; someone would take care of them and bring them food.

This is also one of the fundamental reasons why the relationship between the villagers and the educated youth was not good. Everyone was short of food and drink. You came to the countryside and didn't work, but you still had to be given food rations. It's no wonder that the relationship was not good.

Only those sent-down youths from who-knows-where were truly miserable; they did no less work, but received no benefits whatsoever.

Thinking about it, they are actually quite destined. In this day and age, people who originally lived in different cities or even different provinces would theoretically never see each other again in their lifetime, given the current transportation conditions. But in the end, for various reasons, they ended up living together in a small village.

He smiled and said, "Hey! Meng Qinghe, do you still remember where your hometown is?"

Meng Qinghe shook her head and said, "I don't remember, but the village registration form says Shanghai, so I should be from Shanghai." Her voice grew softer and softer.

Zhao Hua thought about it and realized it wasn't surprising that she had been sent to the countryside from Shanghai. She had heard from later generations that Shanghai was one of the cities most severely affected by the Cultural Revolution, and many people sent to other provinces must have come from there.

If she could go back, in another ten or twenty years, she would be a real little rich woman. Even if she did nothing, just waiting for the demolition compensation would be enough for her to live comfortably for the rest of her life.

Why would anyone want to stay in a small village like this, marry a villager, and spend their whole life dealing with the loess soil, getting wrinkled before they even turn thirty, and eventually becoming an old rural woman squatting by the wall in the sun, gossiping, with mud always stuck in her fingernails?

He smiled and said, "Shanghai, huh? I've heard of it. I've heard it's quite interesting."

Zhao Ru turned her head curiously, asking in confusion, "Brother, where did you hear that from? I don't know anything about it."

Zhao Hua pursed his lips and said irritably, "What's it to you? Go to sleep!"

Zhao Ru pursed her lips, muttered something under her breath, and turned her head to pull the blanket over her head.

He turned to look at the sky and laughed, "Shanghai, I heard that there is a very wide river in Shanghai called the Huangpu River. There are many tall buildings along the river, and when the lights are on at night, the river is full of reflections, which is very beautiful."

Meng Qinghe turned her head and looked over, saying softly, "I've also heard Father mention it. He also said that he took me to see the Huangpu River."

Zhao Hua smiled and said, "Have you ever thought about going back for a visit?"

"I don't want to. Actually, I don't remember clearly. It's just that Dad... he often tells me these things. He really wants to go back and visit. I've seen him many times sitting in the yard in the middle of the night, silently looking at the sky. Sometimes he even cries. He really wants to go back and visit, but I heard that he can leave, but I can't..."

Zhao Hua was speechless for a moment.

He knew that in this era, the youth and fate of countless educated youth were tied to this land, and countless educated youth from big cities paid a heavy price to return to the city.

Some people never got to go back in their entire lives, but he didn't want the atmosphere to be too heavy.

He then smiled casually and said, "Now that things have changed and opened up, the policies will become more and more relaxed. Maybe in a few years, you will have the opportunity to go back and visit. Yes, you will definitely have the opportunity to go back and visit. The train tickets are not that expensive, and the requirements for the letter of introduction for going out are not so strict now."

Meng Qinghe did not respond immediately, but simply gave a soft "hmm".

Zhao Hua smiled and casually said, "Go to sleep. Once you've made money from your convenience store, you shouldn't have any problem going wherever you want."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Hua realized something was wrong. But since he had already said it, he simply turned over, pretended nothing had happened, and closed his eyes to fall asleep.

There was a brief silence next door, but soon rustling sounds came again. Zhao Hua guessed that the two girls were whispering to each other again.

The next morning, Zhao Hua first took Zhao Ru and Meng Qinghe to the market. With someone at the house, he didn't need to keep an eye on things anymore.

He thought for a moment at the intersection, turned his bike around, and rode all the way to Grandpa Xu Qian's convenience store. He bought two cans of food, and casually tore off a piece of red paper to wrap ten yuan in it.

Last time I asked Jiang Yue to issue a note, I had to show my appreciation, since it saved me a lot of money.