Back to my 1980s

On the desolate island

The snake's head was smashed into the ground, and its body only twisted a few times before becoming still.

Zhao Hua held the branch he had picked up after throwing the stone, just in case he dropped it.

After standing there for a while, he patted Zhao Ru on the back and said, "It's alright, it's alright. You were so scared."

Zhao Ru pursed her lips and glared at Zhao Hua with a hint of annoyance, but she didn't dare to leave just like that. She just stood there with Zhao Hua and watched.

After a while, seeing that there was no movement at all, Zhao Hua went forward and poked at it with the branch in his hand, but there was still no movement, which made him feel a little relieved.

He kicked a hole in the ground next to him, then kicked away a stone and buried the snake in it, intending to use a branch to carry it into the river to feed the fish and shrimp.

But then I think about all the fish traps around here. What if it floats into one? I'd be scared again...

It's okay for me, but I've been so naughty since I was little, I don't know how many of these little creatures I've harmed with my friends.

But it wouldn't be good to scare my sister, so after burying it, I turned around and walked to Zhao Ru's side: "Let's go, there's nothing to see. We can just dry the fish traps on the beach from now on, anyway, nobody comes here usually."

Zhao Ru nodded, pursed her lips, and followed Zhao Hua. She was still somewhat shaken and didn't really want to talk.

Zhao Hua led his sister back to the boat. Seeing that Zhao Ru's face was still slightly pale, he thought for a moment and said, "How about I tell you a joke?"

Zhao Ru glanced at Zhao Hua and said quietly, "I think you're hilarious right now..."

Zhao Hua touched his nose, not taking it to heart, his good intentions were wasted.

Seeing that his younger sister's face was gradually regaining some color, Zhao Hua said, "Let's go, let's go. When we get back, I'll ask Mother to boil an egg for you and make some rock sugar water to calm your nerves."

Zhao Ru nodded and said, "I understand, I'm fine, let's go."

Zhao Hua glanced at Zhao Ru in surprise, thinking that his younger sister was very sensible at a young age, much earlier than himself.

This was not the time for much talk. Zhao Hua rowed his famous boat to the spot where he had cast his net that morning and stopped, letting the boat drift freely with the current.

Seeing the boat stop, Zhao Ru asked, "Are we casting the net here?"

Zhao Hua, who had already started tidying up the fishing nets, turned around and said, "You just stay in the hold. We'll throw any valuable fish into the live hold later."

The movable cabin is a sealed wooden cabin at the bow of a wooden boat, with a movable plank on top. The plank can be removed to put water and fish in to keep them alive, preventing the fish from rotting before the boat docks.

Zhao Ru nodded without replying, clearly frightened.

Zhao Hua straightened the hand-thrown net and began casting it. He was busy all afternoon, while Zhao Ru was quiet all afternoon, only showing a slight smile when she caught a large carp weighing about five pounds.

After collecting the fish traps in the evening and putting them back into the water, Zhao Hua rowed his famous boat back to Shuanghuai Village.

"Brother, there are quite a few fish in the fish trap, and shrimp too!"

Seeing that Zhao Ru had finally spoken, Zhao Hua dared not delay. After all, he was the one who was going to take her to the desolate continent, and seeing her so frightened, he felt a pang of guilt.

"Yeah, shrimp are quite valuable too."

"Really? Did you ask? How much is it per pound now?"

"I didn't ask." In later generations, river shrimp sold for over a hundred yuan a pound, they were quite valuable! Zhao Hua secretly added to himself.

How did you know if I didn't ask?

"I'm just guessing. A bunch of river shrimp are only as much as one fish."

Zhao Ru chuckled to herself, feeling that her brother had been acting strangely ever since he got the boat; he even started joking with her...

Is that a fair calculation? A bunch of bitterlings are equivalent to one whole fish, yet they're all being used to feed chickens and ducks...

Zhao Hua rowed the boat, looking ahead. As they approached Shuanghuai Village, he spotted a figure standing on the bank and whispered to Zhao Ru, "Hey, look ahead, there's someone. Guess who it is?"

Zhao Ru glanced at it, then looked down and scooped up the fish from the live tank, saying, "Who else could it be but Mom? How could she not be at ease with her precious little one not coming home?"

Zhao Hua smiled and said, "You're quite clever. I was thinking of making a bet with you."

Zhao Hua felt helpless about his mother always treating him like a child. He would complain about his own lack of ambition, but when something happened, she would be the first to worry.

After the boat docked, Zhao's mother grabbed the rope Zhao Ru handed her and tied it to a tree trunk, saying, "Why are you back so late? How was your afternoon with your brother? Are you adjusting well?"

Zhao Ru, carrying a bucket, disembarked first. She took the net Zhao Hua handed her and replied, "I almost didn't make it back!"

Zhao's mother paused, looked at her son and daughter in front of her, breathed a sigh of relief, and patted Zhao Ru on the shoulder with a hint of annoyance, saying, "What are you saying? Everything's fine here."

"We've encountered a snake, a spotted snake."

"Weren't you going to cast your nets? How could you find one of those things in the river? Did it hide in the fish trap? By the way, where's your fish trap?"

When Zhao Hua got off the boat carrying a water bottle and heard his mother asking such a long question, he casually said, "Don't listen to her nonsense. I just went to the desolate island to find a place to dry my fish traps. I found one, put the trap back, and will collect it tomorrow morning. Don't stand here if you don't have to. I haven't taken anything back yet, and I haven't sold the fish."

Upon hearing that they were going to sell fish, Zhao Ru's energy, which had been gone for half a day, returned instantly. She quickly left all the miscellaneous items to her mother and prepared to help Zhao Hua carry the fish baskets to the dock.

Seeing that the two were alright, Zhao's mother didn't ask any more questions. It was very normal to encounter such things in the countryside; it would be strange if you had never seen one before. Just be careful.

The brother and sister carried baskets and buckets to the dock to sort and weigh the river shrimp. When they asked the price, they found that the shrimp were only three cents a pound. Zhao Hua almost wanted to take them home to eat himself. They were actually the same price as small crucian carp!

After some hesitation, I decided against it. I'll save it for myself at home later. Saving money is more important right now, and if I save it at home, I might get accused of being greedy.

That big carp costs 80 cents a pound. In Shuanghuai Village, people like to give two big carp as gifts during festivals, so the price is reasonable.

In the afternoon, they caught one more fish using a fish trap than in the morning, and sold it for a total of 10.56 yuan. They handed 56 cents to Zhao Ru, picked up their buckets and baskets, and headed out.

Zhao Ru was overjoyed, showing no trace of her sickly appearance from the afternoon.

There weren't any big catches today. Zhao Hua remembered watching people throw nets by the bridge once in his later life. One person cast his net and it burst open, and all the fish he pulled up were strung together!

The person who posted the viral video was shouting and yelling on the bridge, which amused Zhao Hua.

He casually joked, "Tsk, can you pull it up? Do you need me to find you a pair of scissors to tide you over? Don't get dragged down!"

Unfortunately, they couldn't find it later, so they could only help pull the fish up with others. That one net brought up more than 100 pounds of fish.

Zhao Hua, clutching the money, went home with Zhao Ru for dinner. At the dinner table, Zhao's father simply asked Zhao Hua about his harvest that day, and learned that he had made more than ten yuan.

Zhao's father paused with his chopsticks, put down the cornbread in his mouth, seemed to want to say something, hesitated for a moment, and then continued eating.

Zhao Hua saw this and vaguely guessed his father's plan; his two older brothers were still doing carpentry work.

Earning a dozen or so yuan a day is much better than doing carpentry work, and carpentry work isn't available every day.

That's how it is when you have many sons; you have to worry about each one a little, because when you get old, you don't know who you'll be able to rely on for food.

However, it hasn't been long since they took over the contract, so they might feel it's a bit risky, or they might feel that their other two sons are doing well.

After finishing his meal, Zhao Hua went back to his room, casually tossed the money into a drawer, and prepared to wash up and go to bed.

No matter how you look at it, it has little to do with him; whether there are two more or fewer people, it makes no difference to him.