Back to my 1980s

Meng Qinghe usually wears clothes with patches on them.

Today she changed into a brand new navy blue shirt, which made her already fair neck look even more delicate and white.

The trouser legs were no longer wrinkled as before; the new black trousers hung straight down, finally revealing her graceful figure.

Zhao Hua clicked his tongue inwardly and said, "They've all changed into new clothes, why haven't they brought out the merchandise yet?"

As she spoke, she glanced at Meng's father again. Meng's father's clothes were still the same as in the morning and in the afternoon.

Just as Meng's father hesitated for a moment and was about to speak, Meng Qinghe pulled Zhao Hua and Zhao Ru aside and whispered, "Father doesn't dare to bring it up, and neither do I."

Zhao Hua laughed and said, "It's alright, don't panic. You have licenses, what are you afraid of?"

"No, it's just that I'm panicking. I'm not sure if anyone will come to buy anything, and I don't know what to say if someone does. I'm so nervous!"

Zhao Hua asked, puzzled, "I understand your anxiety about not having run a shop before, but haven't you sold fish with Zhao Ru many times? This should be a piece of cake for you, right?"

Meng Qinghe said in a low, trembling voice, "Oh! I just feel embarrassed. We're all from the same village, and I'm selling things to them. Besides, I went with Zhao Ru, and Zhao Ru was the one selling the fish. I was just helping out."

Zhao Ru chuckled and patted Meng Qinghe's chest, saying, "It's okay, it's okay. I was actually quite nervous when I first went to the market, but my brother was watching me from behind, so I wasn't so flustered. You'll get used to it."

Meng Qinghe nodded and said, "Then you can't leave this afternoon. Let me adjust a bit before you leave, okay? Please!"

To be honest, Zhao Hua had countless affairs in his past life, all through the internet, of course...

But I've never seen a young girl speak to me so closely, in such a soft and sweet tone.

His heart skipped a beat, but he quickly regained his composure and smiled, "Alright, I don't have anything else to do this afternoon. Even if I do, I can leave Zhao Ru here."

Zhao Ru glanced at Zhao Hua with a puzzled look, pursed her lips, and ultimately agreed without saying a word.

A moment later, everything was ready. Zhao Hua glanced at the goods laid out on the bed and, to be honest, he felt a chill run down his spine and even considered making an excuse to pee.

Small matches and soap were placed on the huge bed board.

There were really too few varieties, only five in total. To make the goods look more plentiful, they weren't stacked up, but laid flat on the bed board.

The key issue is that it wasn't fully furnished; you could still see the bed frame through the gaps, which showed how rudimentary it was.

Zhao Hua stood blankly behind them, using her strong willpower to maintain her excuse of not needing to pee to leave.

After they hung up the firecrackers, Zhao Hua still couldn't bear to look. He shrank his neck and pulled up his collar to cover half of his face.

"Brother! What are you doing?"

"Huh? Are you calling me?"

Zhao Ru nodded and said, "That's right, who else would we be calling if not you? What are you doing?"

Zhao Hua forced a smile and said, "I'm watching you guys do your preparations. It's great, you're so diligent."

"Stop looking, let's have some firecrackers. Sister Qinghe said you can light them."

Zhao Hua laughed. He would light the fire. Once the sound was loud, everyone would come running out. Even the kids would be watching from a distance. After lighting the fire, their excuse of urinating would be useless.

He stood still, unwilling to move.

Zhao Ru and Meng Qinghe thought he was just being polite, so they came over and each grabbed one of his sleeves, pulling him out of the shed. Meng's father also said with a smile, "You should order, you should order. This shop was able to open thanks to you, so you should order."

Zhao Hua was filled with extreme regret at this moment!

I should have known he would have made a quick escape to pee earlier!

Now that they've all been pulled out, Zhao Hua breathed a sigh of relief and laughed, "You guys step back a bit, so the impact doesn't hit your clothes."

Upon hearing this, the two women quickly hid in the courtyard, and even Meng's father slipped into the yard.

Seeing that they had all gone far away, Zhao Hua calmly lit a cigarette, and then lit Zhao Ru's string of one hundred-shot whips.

After lighting it, Zhao Hua turned his back to avoid it, took two more puffs of smoke, and after the hundred-shot cigarette finished, he lit his own five-hundred-shot cigarette.

He then turned his back and took another drag of his cigarette, a few firecrackers bouncing off his back amidst the explosions.

Finally, Meng Qinghe twisted the two strings of gunpowder he had prepared together, lit them, and then retreated to a distance, watching the firecrackers explode one after another in the blue smoke.

After all the firecrackers were set off, the children who had been waiting nearby rushed forward and lay down on the scraps of paper left by the explosions, searching for any that hadn't yet exploded.

Zhao Hua chuckled. These kids are looking for firecrackers now, but when they play with firecrackers later, won't they have to go home to get matches?

It looks like business will be coming soon.

The three men, including Meng's father, slowly walked over. Zhao Hua recalled a scene he had seen in a TV series, clasped his hands in a fist and bowed, saying, "Wishing you prosperity, wishing you prosperity."

Caught off guard, Meng Qinghe didn't know how to respond, and her face flushed red. Meng's father, however, was more experienced and also clasped his hands in a gesture of respect, saying, "Congratulations to you too."

Meng Qinghe immediately realized what her father meant and mimicked his gesture, saying "Congratulations!"

However, she even learned the hand gestures, following her father's example by placing her left hand on her right fist.

Zhao Hua pursed his lips, stepped forward and took her hand with a hint of annoyance, making her left hand into a fist and covering it with his right hand.

Seeing this, Meng's father did not stop him, but only reminded him: "Men should use the left hand and women the right hand. When men perform the auspicious bow, the left hand covers the right hand, and when women perform the auspicious bow, the right hand covers the left hand."

He then said to Zhao Hua, "Don't mind it, little Zhao. The child is just being immature. I'll teach him properly later."

Zhao Hua waved his hand and laughed, "It's alright, I understand the sentiment. It's not customary to do this now, so it's normal not to understand." In later generations, it was common for men to place their right hand over their left hand to congratulate others, so he was used to it.

Soon after, the villagers living nearby heard the commotion and began to peek out.

Seeing the wooden bed covered with matches, candles, and soap, and combined with the sound of firecrackers earlier, they immediately realized that a new shop had opened. Even if they didn't understand something, they would understand after listening to someone explain it to them.

Seeing that someone was approaching, Zhao Hua quickly pulled out a dollar from his pocket and said urgently, "I'm here to be the first customer! How much is the toilet paper?"

Meng Qinghe was still laughing and joking with Zhao Ru, imitating Zhao Hua's actions from earlier. The two were quietly congratulating each other when they heard this and turned to look at each other.

The air seemed to freeze for a few seconds before Meng Qinghe murmured softly, "We...we haven't had time to set a price yet..."

Zhao Hua was stunned. He turned to look at Meng's father, who was even more bewildered than him. He said, "Didn't you two agree on this before? Didn't I hear Qinghe say that matches sell for three mao?"

Zhao Hua's eyes widened, and he didn't know what to say for a moment. Finally, he stuffed a dollar into Meng Qinghe's hand and said, "Then let's calculate it according to the price of the village's general store, two cents a dollar, I'll take five dollars."