Back to my 1980s

Zhao Hua still has a deep impression of the first customer who patronized his business.

Besides, the girl's clothes were different from the monotonous gray colors around her.

When I first met her, she was wearing white sneakers, a pale white shirt with light pink floral print, and dark blue polyester trousers with crisp creases. The sleeves were rolled up to her forearms, revealing her fair wrists. She was carrying a brown glossy faux leather square bag. The girl next to her was dressed similarly and was carrying a pure black glossy handbag.

The two of them clearly came from wealthy families, so Zhao Hua naturally remembered them more clearly.

The two stood at a distance, each holding a small folding umbrella, facing a group of petty thugs who often loitered on the streets.

Zhao Hua had heard of this group of petty thugs. They were said to be thieves who did nothing but steal chickens and dogs, harass women as a matter of course, and bully their neighbors with impunity. He also heard that they worked as thugs in underground casinos and had committed numerous evil deeds. They had extensive connections and networks and managed to evade the crackdowns of that year thanks to their good connections.

One summer in the early 1990s, the body of the leader of this group was found in Qinghe. At the time, rumors spread like wildfire, with people saying that he had gone to the river to bathe because he was hot and had drowned. Zhao Hua, however, did not believe this explanation.

Zhao Hua looked around for a while before turning his gaze away. With so many people around, they couldn't just kidnap someone in broad daylight. Besides, the two girls looked like they came from well-off families and shouldn't be easy to mess with. He didn't want to get involved and cause trouble.

He just didn't want to cause trouble, but the girl who bought the fish last time saw him and quickly pulled the girl who was still confronting the group of thugs over to him. She ran over and hid behind Zhao Hua, tightly gripping his sleeve with both hands.

"..." Zhao Hua turned around in a daze, looking at the girl who had just been confronting him, but now suddenly looked like two quails.

When the thugs saw them turn around and run over, they chased after them closely, all the way to Zhao Hua's stall.

The leader scrutinized Zhao Hua for a few moments, then kicked over the bucket full of fish in front of him, scattering the fish all over the street. He then pulled out a dagger and a chain from his body.

He pointed at Zhao Hua and yelled, "Get out of my way! Don't block my path. Mind your own business, understand?"

Zhao Hua was so angry he laughed. He didn't even say a word before these people overturned his fish bucket and told him to get out of the way.

He looked at the five people in front of him and secretly calculated that with the strength he had honed through daily work, it wouldn't be difficult to take down three of them, even if it wasn't obvious on the surface. However, there were five of them, and they were armed with sharp weapons.

Seeing Zhao Hua staring at them without speaking, the thugs assumed he was terrified and spoke again: "Didn't you hear me tell you to get out of the way? Are you deaf? Shall we fix your ears?"

As he spoke, the leader raised his dagger and walked over. Zhao Hua's heart skipped a beat. When the other man got close, he took a half step forward, grabbed the hand holding the dagger, and pulled him into his arms with a strong tug, pressing the tip of the dagger against his neck.

The man was struggling at first, but when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his neck, he calmed down. The other four men, seeing their leader being held at knifepoint, did not dare to make any rash moves and remained where they were, cursing and shouting.

Another thug glanced at the two girls behind Zhao Hua, quietly circled around to the side, and prepared to grab one of them first. The surrounding vendors had already been attracted by the commotion, but none of them dared to step forward to help.

They still need to sell goods at the market. If they offend these people, they will never have peace again. There are only five thugs in front of them, but they have many more accomplices who haven't come out yet.

Zhao Hua caught a glimpse of the thug sneaking closer out of the corner of his eye. He immediately tightened his grip on the thug's arm, whispered a warning to the two girls behind him, and led them back towards the market management office as they walked.

He had only taken a few steps back when he suddenly saw the thugs who had quietly circled around stop. The men in front of him stopped cursing. He didn't know what had happened, and he didn't dare to relax his vigilance and turn around to look.

He only wanted to hold the leader hostage so they would hesitate to act, and didn't want anyone to die. What if he wasn't careful and the dagger pierced the neck of the person in his arms...?

Since no one else was moving, Zhao Hua naturally stopped as well. His fish was still thrashing about on the ground. If he retreated to the management office now, he might not even find the bucket again, let alone the fish.

He had just stopped when he heard the girl who had been following closely beside him whisper, "Uncle Zhang is here!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Hua felt like a million grass mud horses were galloping through his mind. You know the big leaders of the management office, yet you still run to your own little stall?

How will he ever show his face at the market again? He can't even let anyone see Zhao Ru and her contact him anymore. Maybe when he goes back to the village he'll have to hire a few young men to help watch the stall. But will the people he hires even help watch the stall if the fish are selling so well?

Just as Zhao Hua was lost in a jumble of thoughts, he heard a series of hurried footsteps approaching from afar.

"What are you doing! Put down what you're holding!" Zhao Hua recognized the voice; it was Director Zhang.

The thugs hesitated, seemingly wanting to run away, but their boss was still in Zhao Hua's hands. If they ran away now, they knew their boss would be in big trouble, so they were stuck in their positions.

Before long, they no longer needed to worry, as several people from the management office had already surrounded them, accompanied by two police officers carrying batons.

Zhao Hua held the person in his arms tightly, not daring to let go. What if he let go now and felt he would lose face in public, and then turn around and stab himself in resentment?

Only after Director Zhang and his men approached and seized the dagger did he slowly release the person from his arms and hand him over to Director Zhang.

The two administrators next to Director Zhang were the same people who had given him directions when he went to the management office before. They recognized him now, but didn't speak to him. Director Zhang, with a stern face, asked in a deep voice, "What's going on? Why are you causing trouble?"

Before Zhao Hua could speak, two girls popped out from behind him and said, "Uncle Zhang! It's raining today! Xiaoyue and I wanted to buy groceries for our family! But as soon as we got to the market, these people surrounded us! They said they'd take us to play some fun games! We said we didn't want to go, and then they started touching us inappropriately! They even tried to pull my arm!"

Zhao Hua looked at the indignant girl in front of him, who had stopped after saying all that! She wouldn't say anything more! He had no choice but to take two steps forward.

He was about to speak when a girl named Xiaoyue whispered, "Then Qianqian pulled me behind him." She pointed at Zhao Hua.

Xiaoyue continued, "Those people came over and kicked over his bucket full of fish. They even took out daggers and were about to attack him. Then he subdued the leader of the group, and then you guys came over."