Back to my 1980s

The Zhao Family Courtyard.

Zhao Hua and Zhao Ru sat in the main room looking out over the courtyard.

Rainwater fell to the ground and formed several small puddles.

I've been back for a month and a half and have saved up over 700 yuan, which is enough to buy a set of three turns and one sound system.

This kind of thing is a beautiful fairy tale for the villagers now, a legend brought back by people who went to visit relatives in the county town.

This trend started in rural areas as early as the 1970s, and now the household contract responsibility system has just begun. No one can afford to buy a house, but this does not prevent the "three turns and one sound" (turning a watch, turning a brick wall, turning a radio, turning a dial) from becoming the standard for marriage in rural areas. It is very disconnected.

However, despite the standards, in reality, most people in rural areas still get married with just a few new quilts and a new set of clothes. Families with better conditions are considered quite respectable if they have one or two of these items.

Small county towns are the ultimate battleground for implementing these standards. If a family doesn't have the "three turns and one sound" (a set of three essential items for housing, electricity, gas, and air conditioning), they're considered to have lost face and aren't considered "city people." Therefore, the strictness of these standards in small county towns sometimes even exceeds that of big cities.

However, none of this mattered to Zhao Hua. When he got married, a set of wooden furniture and a few new quilts were all he needed. In rural areas, most weddings are about being down-to-earth and hardworking.

He patted his bottom and got up to stretch. Zhao's mother was cooking in the kitchen. Zhao Ru had just returned home from selling fish at the market that day, and Zhao's mother, understanding her situation, didn't ask her to help start the fire.

The two stared at each other for a while before Zhao's father entered the yard on time before dinner.

At the dinner table, Zhao's father picked up a steamed whitebait, took a few bites, swallowed it, and looked at Zhao Hua, asking, "Are you going to catch fish again this afternoon?"

Zhao Hua thought for a moment before saying, "Go ahead, there are more fish on rainy days than usual. Anyway, the dock will always be collecting fish. If it rains heavily and we can't go out, we can just leave them at the dock. I can't just leave my boat unchecked forever."

Father Zhao nodded and said, "You need to be careful with your boat. Those people who cast their nets yesterday sold them in the village this morning, and they're all asking me how much your fish sold for."

Zhao Ru asked curiously, "They can sell it in the village too? Then why doesn't your brother ever sell it in the village?"

Zhao's father said, "They don't have many fish. They're all from the same village. They just buy a few to try and sell them all. The price is a bit lower than at the market, so it's practically a giveaway."

Zhao Hua nodded and said, "It's not like others don't know I'm catching fish. If they really want fish, they can leave me a message or come looking for me when I get back. Collecting a bunch of money right under their noses, who knows what they'll say behind my back?"

Zhao Ru nodded slightly and ate her meal quietly without saying another word.

Actually, Zhao Hua wanted to visit Hongguang Village Brigade, but he hadn't been back long and hadn't come up with a new excuse to go there yet.

After finishing their meal, Zhao Hua asked his father to help him retrieve the new fishing net that he had paid for earlier. After saying goodbye to his parents, he led Zhao Ru, who was wearing a raincoat and carrying fishing gear, towards the river.

When the two arrived at the riverbank, it was just past lunchtime, and there were already several people casting nets along the riverbank.

Zhao Ru looked at the group who had cast their nets and said, "Brother, there are so many people by the river today, what should we do?"

He glanced at the riverbank and guessed that those people must have tasted success yesterday and were probably coming back to fish after they sold out. It was uncertain whether they had even gone home for lunch.

He said slowly, "There aren't that many people yet. Once these mermaids are sold and money is made, there will be even more."

Zhao Ru nodded and said, "Yes, catching fish is such a quick way to make money, much more than working for others. I'm sure a lot of people will want to come and catch fish."

"Okay, let's go boating. Let's not fight them for the riverbank by the village." He walked towards the place where the small boat was moored.

Zhao Ru followed behind, thought for a moment, and said anxiously, "If they all come to catch fish, won't it be harder to sell them at the market? They'll have to go to the market to sell their fish too, won't they?"

Without stopping, he pursed his lips and said, "That's for sure. Not only are they hard to sell at the market, but people from the surrounding villages have to go there every day too."

"Then what should we do?" Zhao Ru ran up to him.

"Maybe if there are more fish, the dock's purchasing points will raise the price a bit. It'll be better to buy more so we can fill a truck and sell it directly. They've been buying fish for so long, they should have some connections."

"I was so scared! I thought we wouldn't be able to sell our fish anymore!" Zhao Ru patted her chest.

"No matter how high the price is at the dock, it can't be higher than at the market. The villagers don't have boats, so most of them still fish on the shore. They have to go further afield to catch the fish. I think they will still sell them at the market after all that hard work."

Zhao Ru's heart was in turmoil again after hearing what he said. Zhao Hua just smiled slightly and quickly went to his small boat to scoop out the water from the cabin.

After Zhao Ru boarded the boat, Zhao Hua rowed the small boat towards the center of the river.

As he rowed, he scanned the riverbank and saw a ditch filled with rainwater that was flowing into the river. He slowly steered the boat toward it.

Seeing that he had slowed down his rowing and was still moving closer to the shore, Zhao Ru found it strange and asked, "What's wrong, brother? Aren't we going to the place where we used to put the fish traps?"

Zhao Hua didn't stop what he was doing and laughed, "Why go there when it's raining?"

She was a little confused. She originally thought they would fish near Shuanghuai Village in the afternoon, but when they got to the riverbank, there were too many people, and Zhao Hua went to row a boat. She then thought they were going to Huangzhou.

But they stopped not far from Shuanghuai Village. She looked at the riverbank and asked, puzzled, "Brother, you're not planning to fish in that ditch, are you? There are probably more fish there than in the river."

Zhao Hua smiled. The boat had already reached the shore. There was no time to explain. He stopped the boat in front of the confluence of the ditch and the Qinghe River and called Zhao Ru over to steady the small boat.

After Zhao Ru stabilized the small boat, he tidied the fishing net and threw it into the deeper part of the confluence of the two streams.

After waiting for a dozen seconds without delay, I flicked my wrist and quickly pulled back the net rope once the entire net was in the water.

Zhao Ru kept her small boat in the same direction, watching closely. Suddenly, her eyes widened, her gaze fixed on the net that Zhao Hua had pulled up!

A whole net full of fish! The net was bulging with white fish, there were so many they were impossible to count!

Forget about rowing the boat any longer, she rushed forward to help Zhao Hua pull the net of fish up. It felt incredibly heavy, and she couldn't help but exclaim excitedly, "Brother! This net is so heavy! It must weigh dozens of pounds!"

Zhao Hua was pulling with some difficulty. He was experienced and knew that fishing nets were heavy in the water. Hearing Zhao Ru's words, he laughed and said, "Not that much, but this net should weigh about twenty or thirty pounds."

After saying that, he didn't say anything more. No matter how many fish there were, as long as he could pull them up, that was what mattered. He secretly exerted a strong pull and lifted the fish, along with Zhao Ru's hand holding the net, up in one go.

Zhao Ru suddenly felt a lightness in her hand as the net entered the cabin. She was even pulled forward a couple of steps by the force of the net entering the cabin. Except for the initial effort she put in, she spent the rest of the time paddling...