Back to my 1980s

"Come on, come on, let's go inside first. What are you talking about here?"

Song Zhiqiang interrupted Zhao Hua and Song's mother's polite conversation.

Zhao Hua could only smile and nod at Song's mother, then followed Song Zhiqiang into the house.

Hearing the commotion, Song Xueping came out from the inner room and saw Zhao Hua being led into the house by Song Zhiqiang. She looked on with understanding. No wonder he had been squatting outside for so long. He really was her brother's friend. She glanced at him and went back into the house.

"Brother, what are you doing? Sit down!" Zhao Hua was overjoyed to see his future wife again and didn't notice what Song Zhiqiang had just said.

Once he snapped out of it, any unusual behavior he showed would get him kicked out...

"No, no!" Zhao Hua quickly found a stool and sat down.

Following Zhao Hua's gaze, Song Zhiqiang suddenly realized, "That's my sister. She's the one who told me there was someone squatting outside. Don't pay any attention to her. She's a little brat with a terrible temper. She's always cooped up in her room and doesn't like seeing strangers."

Zhao Hua smiled and said, "That's good. I also have a younger sister at home, she's just fifteen, and she's incredibly mischievous, always causing me headaches."

He glanced around, secretly taking in the room.

The whitewash on the adobe walls is peeling and mottled, the mud floor is compacted and level, and there is an old eight-immortal table and benches inside the house.

A faded old New Year picture was pasted on the wall. The corner of the room was rather dark. Inside, there was a bed, and at the foot of the bed stood a wooden cabinet with peeling paint, separating it from the dining table. This was probably the living quarters of Mr. and Mrs. Song.

A small partition was simply made of wooden boards next to it, and there was a bed inside with a few clothes casually thrown on it, which looked like Song Zhiqiang's.

There was a curtain hanging at the door of the west wing, and Song Xueping had just peeked out from there.

Zhao Hua looked away, muttering to himself. Every time he went back to his wife's parents' home with her, he saw the renovated house; he had never actually seen where she used to live.

Song Zhiqiang took out a cup, filled it with warm water, and placed it in front of Zhao Hua, asking, "Brother, your home isn't close to here, so how come you have friends in our village?"

Zhao Hua perked up slightly: "He's my elementary school classmate. We used to be really close when we were in school. I heard he was in this village, so I came to look for him."

"My elementary school classmate? What's your education level?"

Zhao Hua choked for a moment, then mumbled, "Elementary school? And you?"

Song Zhiqiang handed over a cigarette, lit it himself first, and exhaled a puff of smoke before speaking:

"Me too. If I can't keep studying, I'll just quit. Knowing a few words is enough. In this world, being able to make money is more valuable than any diploma."

He glanced at Zhao Hua and casually asked, "What do you usually do at home? Do you work in the fields or go out to find some work?"

Zhao Hua lit a cigarette in his hand: "There's a big river near my home. We make our living off the water. I built a small boat and catch fish and shrimp to sell every day."

Song Zhiqiang raised an eyebrow and leaned forward, saying, "That's great! It's comfortable being near the river! You can easily make enough to eat! So how much do you earn in a day?"

This brother-in-law is so direct…

Zhao Hua thought to himself but replied aloud, "So-so, maybe a dozen yuan a day."

Song Zhiqiang froze on the spot, his eyes wide, his voice rising a mile: "More than ten yuan?! That much?! What kind of fish did you catch??"

Zhao Hua exhaled a puff of smoke casually: "There aren't many boats where we live, but there are plenty of fish. What's the point of working all day if we don't make some extra money?" These hoodlums are so ignorant.

"My goodness! Ten-odd yuan! That's equivalent to half a month's work in the team!"

He swallowed hard. "Is it that easy to make money? Is nobody stopping you from doing it?"

"These are all wild rivers and streams, nobody cares about them. People in our area who don't have boats all use fish traps to catch fish and shrimp, it's impossible to manage them all. Besides, these people are all related to the brigade secretary in some roundabout way, who would really take it seriously?"

Song Zhiqiang said with envy, "Tsk, it's better for you to live by the water. You can earn more than ten yuan a day, which is much better than farming. Here we only have a few small ditches, and people scoop them up every now and then. There's nowhere to catch them even if you want to."

Zhao Hua didn't want to talk about this anymore, so he changed the subject, saying, "Brother Song, your village looks pretty big. Is it usually lively there?"

Song Zhiqiang didn't think much of it and continued the conversation:

"What's so lively about it? Everyone's out working in the fields during the day, leaving only the elderly and children at home. They only chat at the village entrance in the evening after work, or get together to play cards. There's nothing fun about it."

He scratched his head: "This is your first time in our village. How about after lunch this afternoon, I'll take you for a walk around the village. Maybe someone will recognize your classmate?"

"Let's talk about it after we finish eating. There's no rush." ​​Zhao Hua was in no mood to look for that classmate anymore; he wished he could stay here forever...

As they were chatting, Song's mother called for dinner from the kitchen. Zhao Hua got up and cleaned up the cigarette butts on the floor and the remaining tea on the table.

Hearing the commotion, Song Xueping crawled out of the inner room and ran to the kitchen to help serve the dishes.

Zhao Hua stood to the side, her body tense, but her heart was filled with sweetness, as if she had been filled with honey.

Watching his future wife bustling around the house, every move she made seemed both delightful and pleasing to him.

Song's mother called out to Song Zhiqiang again, asking him to call Song's father home for dinner.

As soon as Song Zhiqiang left the house, and there was no one else inside, Zhao Hua's gaze was fixed on Song Xueping and he couldn't look away.

The little girl felt uncomfortable under his gaze, and her walking became somewhat unnatural. She turned around and glared at him several times.

Zhao Hua hurriedly averted his gaze, obediently sat back in his original spot, his back ramrod straight, his eyes only daring to stare at the scrambled eggs, pickled radish, cucumber salad, and cornbread in front of him, but his peripheral vision still couldn't help but drift towards Song Xueping.

"Hey, why are you staring at me like that?"

Hearing his wife's clear, melodious voice, Zhao Hua's heart softened. He hadn't heard it in decades, and he almost burst into tears again: "No, I didn't do anything. Are you tired?"

Song Xueping glanced at Zhao Hua with utter bewilderment.

This person has been acting strange from the moment I met him. He looks at me with a very odd gaze, and now he's speaking in a way that makes me feel awkward.

Song Xueping smiled and shook her head. She had a gentle personality but was also a cheerful one. Seeing that he didn't say anything, she didn't press him further and turned to go to the kitchen to talk with her mother.

Zhao Hua sat on the bench, feeling both flustered and sweet, her fingers unconsciously fidgeting with the hem of her clothes.

A short while later, Song Zhiqiang and his father returned, and Song's mother also came out carrying the last bowl of vegetable soup.

Smiling, she waved to him: "Little Zhao, we don't have anything fancy at home, just ordinary food, so please don't be shy."

Zhao Hua quickly stood up and replied with a smile, "Oh, thank you so much, Auntie! This dish smells delicious, so I won't stand on ceremony!"

Zhao Hua knew it was just talk. If he took it seriously and actually went to someone else's house to eat as much as he wanted, who knew what kind of gossip would spread about him behind his back.