Back to my 1980s

"Oh, right! Remember not to tell your parents how much money you're given, or they won't leave you any."

As they approached the Zhao family's courtyard, Zhao Hua paused and looked at Zhao Ru.

"Yes, I know. Mom asked me how much money I had saved, and I forgot to give her a number."

"She's quite smart."

"That's right!" Zhao Ru chuckled.

"Let's go inside."

Zhao Hua put the carrying pole behind the door and the water bucket into the kitchen.

"You're back?" Zhao's mother came out from the inner room to greet him when she saw him return.

"Yes, is dinner ready yet? It's so hot, I get hungry really fast." He asked as he walked towards the main room.

Zhao Ru followed behind, shouting, "Yeah, yeah, I'm starving!" Since she hadn't received the money yet, she didn't need to carefully lower her profile.

"It's all ready. We've been waiting for you to come back for dinner." Seeing the two siblings walk towards the main room, Zhao's mother didn't follow them but turned around and went to the kitchen to get the food.

"Come on, come inside with me." He tugged at Zhao Ru's sleeve and led her directly into his east wing room.

Zhao Ru was pulled off a tumble by him, but she wasn't annoyed at all. She followed him in with a smile. As soon as she entered, she saw him taking money out of his pocket and onto the bed. Her eyes lit up, and she locked the door from the inside. She then leaned forward and knelt down beside the bed.

"Brother, hehe, so much money."

"Tsk! Look at your pathetic self, drool away. I promised you four yuan on the way, here you go!" He pulled out three one-yuan bills, glanced at the female tractor driver on them, and then counted out some change and handed it to Zhao Ru, giving her whole bills in case she was reluctant to tear them up.

Even now, Zhao Ru still couldn't quite believe that her brother would really give her so much money. She held the four yuan in both hands, stunned, and then gripped it tightly. After Zhao Hua counted the money for her, he was still taking money out of his pocket.

Staring at the ever-growing pile of money on the bed, Zhao Ru couldn't help but exclaim to Zhao Hua, "Brother, this money is just too easy to make!"

He glanced at Zhao Ru, who was still marveling at the situation, and said indifferently, "If nothing unexpected happens, you'll be able to earn this much regularly in the future."

He roughly counted the money piled on the bed, sorted it out, and put it in the drawer. He raised the corner of his mouth slightly and said, "And this is nothing. Those who do business secretly make a lot more. They can make tens or hundreds of dollars just by changing hands."

"Oh? No way, we can't do that, brother, you can't go either, you'll be in big trouble if you get caught!" Zhao Ru's voice was tinged with panic at the end.

"..." Zhao Hua's lips twitched. This unlucky sister probably thought that he had seen others earning a lot of money and had the idea of ​​doing speculation or petty theft.

"Don't talk nonsense. I'm not with you all the time. When have you ever seen me associate with shady people?" It's not the right time yet.

Looking at her brother's expression, she realized she had been overthinking things. She scratched her head and muttered, "You went out a few days ago, who knows what you were up to?"

"Alright, don't worry, I'm making a good living catching fish these days. Let's go out for dinner."

Zhao Ru nodded, hid the money in her pocket, patted it hard, and followed Zhao Hua out.

The food was already laid out on the table, and Zhao's parents were sitting around it waiting for them. When Zhao's mother saw him come out of the house, she pouted and said, "You actually went out? You were yelling about being hungry as soon as you got back. What's wrong? You were talking inside for so long. I thought you didn't want to eat."

Zhao Hua ignored his mother's nagging, sat down, picked up his chopsticks, and started eating. Zhao Ru, carrying money, didn't dare to act rashly and didn't dare to run to the house to hide right now, so she obediently sat down to eat as well.

"How was your morning outing? Not a single fish left in the bucket, they're all sold out?" Zhao's mother asked Zhao Hua halfway through the meal.

"Yeah, what can't I handle? Things that don't require tickets sell really well." He chewed on his cornbread and smiled nonchalantly.

Zhao Ru buried her head in her rice, not daring to utter a sound, and secretly rolled her eyes.

"How much did you get for it?" Zhao's father couldn't help but ask.

"Thirty or forty, isn't that impressive?" Zhao Hua deliberately spoke in a flippant tone, not wanting them to worry.

"Hmm." Zhao's father ate quietly without making a sound. Zhao Hua felt that he might feel that his position as the head of the family was unstable, but he also felt a little proud that his son could earn money. With mixed feelings, he simply hummed in response.

Zhao's mother didn't have so many complicated thoughts. She clicked her tongue and said, "Goodness! Making so much money? There can't be any danger, can there?"

"What danger could there be? My grandpa has put in a good word for me at the market. As long as I don't cause trouble, no one will bother me. What danger could there be in catching fish? I can swim, what am I afraid of?" Zhao Hua quickly finished his meal and put down his chopsticks.

Sitting on the stool, he looked at Zhao Ru and thought for a moment, then said, "Xiao Ru, why don't we go fishing again this afternoon? We're just killing time anyway, and we have to collect the fish traps soon, so we might as well go and catch more."

Zhao Ru stopped eating and asked doubtfully, "Go in the afternoon? Where will we sell the fish we catch? It's not market day tomorrow, are we going to sell them at the dock?"

"Tomorrow isn't market day, but I think the township government is right there in the market area, so there should be a lot of people coming and going. We can't catch many in the afternoon, just enough to sell tomorrow. We can set aside a whole day to catch them during the big market day."

Zhao Ru nodded casually and said, "Whatever you say, it's up to you. If you want to go, then I'll go."

Seeing that she agreed readily, Zhao Hua didn't waste any more words. He got up, tidied up the fishing net, and looked up at the bright sun outside. The cicadas were chirping loudly in the afternoon.

After hesitating for a moment, I took two straw hats from the house and put them on. The wind was strong by the river, so it wasn't too hot, but the sun could still easily tan a person. I still need to find a wife!

Zhao Ru quickly finished her meal, went inside to hide the money, and then went out with Zhao Hua. Zhao's mother peeked out from the doorway for a while.

After watching the two walk away, he returned to the inner room and couldn't help but sigh to Zhao's father, "Xiao Hua used to play all day and I thought he was useless and wouldn't grow up. Now that I see him working so hard, I feel really bad. In this hot weather, he used to not like to go out even when it was a little hot."

Zhao's father tapped his pipe on the ground and muttered, "I've been harvesting taro and weeding in this sweltering heat and you've never been so nagging." But he didn't say anything more; he was also feeling a little sorry for Zhao.

"Brother, a lot of people have been watching us on our journey." Zhao Ru untied the rope tied to a tree on the shore and threw it onto the boat. After climbing aboard, she smiled at Zhao Hua.

"Yeah, there aren't many people as silly as us on such a hot day, running out into the sun instead of staying home to cool off. Put on your straw hat, don't get a tan." Zhao Hua rowed the boat away from the shore, the river surface shimmering with golden light.

Zhao Ru looked up at the sun and laughed, "It is a bit hot, but it's okay. I've worked outside in times that were hotter than this before."

The river surface shimmered with golden light. After the boat sailed forward for a while, Zhao Hua pondered for a moment and said to Zhao Ru, "How about we go to that desolate island from last time? There are many willow trees there, and the shade under the trees should be full of fish hiding in those dead branches and leaves. I just don't know if casting a net will get snagged. I should have brought a fishing hook to try fishing."