Back to my 1980s

"They're still behind; I came back first."

Song Xueping was already sweating after running only a short distance, and replied breathlessly.

Without pausing her work, Song's mother nodded to Song Xueping and said, "Then you can help start the fire. Where's the meat? Have you bought it yet?"

Song Xueping walked into the kitchen and sat on a stool by the stove. While looking at the fire under the stove, she replied, "I bought it, but the price has gone up. They only have lean meat left. All the fatty meat is sold out. When Zhao Hua and I went over, he was still standing there. Later, Zhao Hua said he liked to eat lean meat, so I bought it."

Song's mother laughed and said, "What's so good about being skinny? Everyone else likes to eat fatty meat, but he prefers to eat lean meat. He went too late. I bet there won't be any good meat left. I should have asked your brother to go buy some earlier."

Song Xueping just smiled and didn't say anything. As for what Zhao Hua said on the way, she didn't gossip about it with her mother. They hadn't met that many times, and she was afraid that if she told her mother now, her mother would ask all sorts of questions and make things even more awkward.

So he nodded and said, "I guess he's afraid of making things difficult for me. He even said he was worried that if it's all lean meat, you'll scold him when you get back."

Mother Song laughed and said, "What can we do if we're late?"

As the mother and daughter were talking, Zhao Hua and Song Zhiqiang walked in. Song Zhiqiang put the meat on the cutting board and didn't return the change to his mother.

He only told Song's mother that the meat had been bought, and then pulled Zhao Hua towards the main room.

Zhao Hua vaguely heard Song's mother asking a question, but Song Zhiqiang didn't turn around, so she had no choice but to follow.

Song Zhiqiang sat down in the main room, took out a cigarette and handed it to Zhao Hua, smiling at him, "Brother, you've come all this way, haven't you?"

Zhao Hua raised an eyebrow slightly, stretched out his legs, rolled up his trouser legs, pulled over a stool, plopped down, and chuckled, "Yeah, I just came out for a stroll. Catching fish at home every day is exhausting, and I'm tired of walking around the same area. I wanted to get away and clear my head, so I thought of you and came to visit."

After listening to Zhao Hua finish speaking, Song Zhiqiang put the cigarette in his mouth into his hand and said with envy, "You have it so easy. You earn so much money just by going to the river. You can work whenever you want, or wander around whenever you don't want to work. Nobody cares about you, and you don't lack money."

Zhao Hua waved his hand and smiled, lit the cigarette in his mouth, and exhaled a puff of smoke before saying, "It's alright. Before, no matter how much I slacked off, I wouldn't starve. But now it's different. The land has been distributed, and I don't want to farm anymore, so I have to think of some other ways."

The room was instantly filled with smoke. Song Zhiqiang exhaled a puff of smoke, smacked his lips, and said, "You must be so comfortable. I don't want to farm either. I want to do something else, but I don't know what to do. I wish I could live by your river too. Sigh!" He shook his head, looking very melancholy.

A smile appeared on Zhao Hua's lips. He thought to himself, "You're pretty much like me now. Everyone else is going out to work, but you're still going to your sister's house every few days to freeload."

Although he harbored resentment in his heart, Zhao Hua didn't have any ill intentions towards him. While being lazy and gluttonous wasn't a good quality, and Zhao Hua hadn't looked up to him in his past life, he hadn't looked up to him either.

He never advised his sister to divorce him, nor did he speak ill of him to his face. Song Xueping even cried bitterly when she passed away.

So he sighed and comforted him, "We're still doing alright now. At least we have our own land to cultivate, enough to eat, and we can raise some chickens and ducks. By the end of the year, we can buy a piece or two of new cloth. It's better than before when we didn't have enough to eat." Halfway through his sentence, seeing the unusually healthy rosy complexion on Song Zhiqiang's face, Zhao Hua couldn't continue comforting him.

Upon hearing this, Song Zhiqiang realized that compared to others, his own life didn't seem so bad after all.

At least there's food and drink, and every now and then you can go out hunting with friends.

Thinking about this made me feel a bit better, and I sighed and smiled, "Yeah, at least it's much better than before."

Zhao Hua didn't want to continue the topic, so after thinking for a moment, he changed the subject, saying, "On my way here, I saw quite a few wild chickens around here?"

Song Zhiqiang perked up; this was his forte. He chuckled and asked Zhao Hua, "What's up? Interested? Pheasants aren't as easy to catch at night now. I have a friend who has flashlights. At night, I'd go with them to catch pheasants. Once we saw one, we'd shine the flashlight over its eyes, and it'd be perfectly docile. We could catch it in no time. But that doesn't work now."

Zhao Hua nodded, patted his thigh lightly, and said regretfully, "What a pity. We have pheasants where we live too, but there don't seem to be as many as here. On the way here, I saw a whole flock of them taking flight. I'll buy a flashlight later, and you can take me to catch some."

Upon hearing this, Song Zhiqiang became envious again. Flashlights are expensive items, and every time he went to his friend's house, he had to say nice things to his friend's family and his friend had to carry them himself. Zhao Hua bought them without hesitation.

Zhao Hua almost slapped himself, already thinking about making an excuse for coming back next time.

I forgot that my brother-in-law's eyes were almost red. We're not that close anymore, so I don't want him to cause any more trouble.

Fortunately, Song Xueping came out at this moment, glanced at the two of them, and then called out to Song Zhiqiang, "Brother! Mom wants you to tidy up the table, we'll be getting ready to eat soon!" After calling out, she didn't go into the house, but went back into the kitchen.

"Oh! I understand!" After hearing his sister's words, Song Zhiqiang threw the cigarette butt on the ground, stomped it out, got up, wiped the table with a rag, put the chairs back in their place, and then interrupted Zhao Hua's help, smiling and saying, "You can just sit here. I'll ask when the food will be ready. I'll go call my dad when it's almost done, and we'll have a drink together later."

Zhao Hua quickly stood up and asked, "What about the wheat? Shouldn't we keep an eye on it?"

Song Zhiqiang waved his hand and said, "It's alright. There are people coming and going during the day, so it's okay to watch for a little while. It's just that the birds are a bit annoying, but my mother can take care of them in a bit!"

As she spoke, she ran to the kitchen door and called inside, "Mom, how much longer until it's done? Can I go call Dad now?"

Upon hearing this, Song's mother came out of the kitchen with a rice paddle, sneezed twice, and said, "It's almost ready. Go and call your father back. I'll come over after I finish eating."

Upon hearing this, Song Zhiqiang nodded, waved to Zhao Hua, and ran outside.

It's probably because he thought the kitchen was too hot that he didn't replace Song Xueping and went to call her himself.

Seeing that he had left and was left alone there, Zhao Hua headed towards the kitchen. There was no one in the main room, and it wasn't good for him to stay there alone. What if something had gone missing from their house?

Although it might seem a bit petty, it's best to avoid trouble if possible.

When Song's mother saw him enter the kitchen, she quickly smiled and said, "Oh! What are you doing in here? Just sit and wait. Qiangzi will be back soon. It's stuffy and suffocating in here."

Zhao Hua smiled and nodded, saying, "I understand, Auntie. I'll just stand at the door for a while. You can go about your business and don't worry about me."

After speaking, his gaze fell on Song Xueping.