Back to my 1980s

Zhao Ru returned to her companions.

Zhao Hua felt a slight sense of relief and began to prepare to cast the fishing net.

Halfway through the process, the group of people slowly strolled up to us.

Wang Gang broke away from the crowd, stepped forward, kicked a bucket placed on the bank, peeked inside, and said jokingly, "Not bad, so diligent?"

Seeing the leftover vegetable scraps on his teeth from what he had eaten at noon, Zhao Hua forced himself to nod slightly, lowered his head and focused on the fishing net, ignoring the food.

"So many fish, they must be worth a lot of money, right?" Wang Gang continued his sarcastic questioning.

Seeing that Zhao Hua ignored him, he continued, "I heard you've been leading a group of young girls to sell fish at the market lately?"

After asking the question, Wang Gang turned to the men he had brought and gave them a strange laugh, saying, "Why didn't you take us with you? We're broke too!"

The man he brought immediately chimed in, "What else could it be? She's good-looking, and she doesn't have those things on her body!" The group burst into laughter.

Seeing that Zhao Ru and the others were watching them closely, Zhao Hua didn't want them to worry. She clenched the fishing net, then loosened it, took a deep breath, and said, "Our grudges are our grudges. What's the point of bringing this up with me? Are you asking for trouble?"

Wang Gang feigned panic and took a step back, his shoulder uneven and his leg limping. He exuded a thuggish air and said, "You really don't know what's funny. We're from the same village, what's wrong with a few jokes? You want to lay a hand on someone from the village?"

Before Zhao Hua could reply, he continued shouting, "Look! Look! They catch fish in the river next to our village every day, sell them for a little money, and then look down on us villagers!"

Mr. Zhao had been paying attention to the commotion since they arrived, and when he heard Zhao shouting, he rushed over to check the situation.

The villagers in the distance also stopped throwing their nets and looked at the group of people in confusion.

Zhao's father was also disgusted by Wang Gang. He came over, holding his pipe up to the crowd, his eyebrows raised, and said, "What do you think you're doing? Get out! If you don't leave, I'll call all your parents over and give them a good talking to. What kind of bastards are you!"

When Lucy's group heard Zhao's father speak up, some of the people who were just there to watch the fun began to slowly back away.

Although they were hostile to each other when they were young, they grew up in this kind of atmosphere. Now that they are older and more mature, they still occasionally interact with each other for weddings and funerals. They are just secretly wary of each other, and neither of them wants to provoke trouble.

When Wang Gang saw Zhao's father coming over, he wanted to argue a bit more, but when he saw Zhao Hua staring at him with a cold look in his eyes, his companions all shrank back.

With no one to back him up, his eyes flashed, he spat viciously on the ground, mumbled a few words under his breath, and swaggered back, calling to his friends.

Zhao Hua and his father stared at their departing figures until they had walked a distance before turning their gaze away.

Zhao's father stubbed out the tobacco in his pipe, lit it, took a puff, and as a wisp of smoke rose, he turned to Zhao Hua and asked, "What did they say?"

Zhao Hua coiled the neatly arranged fishing net in one hand, waved his other hand, and walked towards the river, saying, "He didn't say anything, he was just bored and deliberately came to cause trouble."

Mr. Zhao nodded. He still remembered the young man. It was hard to forget that his joyous day had been ruined by bad luck. He didn't think it was Zhao Hua who had caused the trouble.

Seeing Zhao Hua heading towards the river, he glanced at the fish in Zhao Hua's bucket, paused for a moment, then quickly turned around and ran back to his fishing spot.

As Zhao Hua cast his net, he thought about what had just happened. This had never happened in his previous life. It was probably because he had been catching fish to sell lately, and the villagers were itching to do so and had been discussing it.

They must have heard it and felt uncomfortable, which is why they came looking for trouble. Remembering what Wang Gang said before he left, Zhao Hua couldn't help but tighten his grip on the net rope and slowly pull it back.

After casting his net for two hours, he felt a slight chill on his neck as he finished hauling it in. He looked up and saw raindrops falling from the sky.

Looking at the river, a light drizzle falls onto its surface, veiling it in a misty veil. The summer heat in the wind completely dissipates, and the reeds on the desolate islet in the middle of the river sway gently in the rain.

Raindrops fell on the warm mud on the shore, raising a familiar, slightly fishy, ​​and moist scent.

"It's raining! It's raining!" Zhao Ru's clear voice rang out.

Zhao Hua shook the fishing net in his hand, picked up all the fish caught in the net and put them into the bucket, picked up the shoes on the ground, and carried the bucket towards Zhao Ru.

"Brother, are we going home? It's raining." Zhao Ru was a little disappointed when she saw him coming. She was throwing fish ashore one after another, she was really into it.

"Hey, it's raining, why aren't you going home to take shelter? Are you going to stay here?" Zhao Hua put the bucket on the ground, glanced at Zhao Ru's catch, and then went to call Zhao's father home.

When he returned from his rounds, Zhao Ru had just packed up her fishing rod and line. She found a stick and asked Zhao Ting to help carry the bucket. She stood by the bucket waiting for him to go home together.

Zhao Hua followed them into the village, while Zhao's father and the villagers who had also cast their nets lagged far behind, chatting idly.

He looked at the two people who were helping to carry the water buckets, thought for a moment, and smiled, "From now on, you can go with Zhao Ru. I'll give you 50 cents per trip."

The two were stunned for a moment, before they could react, Zhao Ru said anxiously, "Didn't we agree to buy clothes? How did it turn into giving money?"

Zhao Hua turned his head to look at the three people staring intently at him, and smiled slightly. "Buy it, buy the clothes too. I'll give you an extra 5 cents for each trip."

Zhao Ru said "Oh," and asked in confusion, "Why are you suddenly paying me again? Doesn't that make me an employee?"

He paused, glancing at the fine rain streaking across the ground in the wind. He had been thinking about how his father was already out doing odd jobs, and had subconsciously felt indifferent. Only now did he remember that their work was a craft, and therefore unrestrained.

And this is still seen as exploitation by some people. Even though working outside the village is now permitted, the wind has not yet completely blown into this small village.

He sighed and said, "This is just asking for a hand, it has nothing to do with hiring anyone. Giving money is just a small token of my appreciation, it's enough to show my appreciation."

Zhao Ru looked at Zhao Hua suspiciously, and asked doubtfully, word by word, "Intentions?" She then turned to look at the two girls walking beside her. The two girls were embarrassed by Zhao Ru's gaze, their faces turning slightly red and they looked like they were about to get angry. Zhao Ru knew when to stop.

He turned to Zhao Hua and asked, "Whose feelings are you for?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Hua's expression became quite interesting. He almost wanted to put down the bucket he was carrying and instead pick up Zhao Ru to thoroughly expose the idiom in her head.

He cursed, "Nonsense... what nonsense are you talking about? Wasn't it you... didn't you say we couldn't hire people, which is why I changed my mind?"

Seeing his anger, Zhao Ru shrank back, not daring to continue her foolish act, and quickly called her best friend to run home.

The rain had just started and wasn't heavy. Zhao Hua walked slowly behind, actually just following what Wang Gang and his group had said.

He felt that having several girls with him would attract gossip, so he decided to pay them wages to deter many people from having ulterior motives.