Back to my 1980s

Zhao Hua put the money away and patiently said, "I caught some fish myself to sell, and this is what I earned myself."

The old man became interested, looked Zhao Hua up and down a few times, and asked, "You catch fish yourself to sell? Where do you sell them? At the market?"

Zhao Hua nodded and said, "Yes, it's in the market."

The old man raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile, "Did you go to the market this morning?"

Zhao Hua was a little confused about what the old man was suddenly up to. He thought for a moment and said, "We're here. What's up?"

The old man looked Zhao Hua up and down before finally asking, "Do you know Xu Qian?"

Zhao Hua felt like he was struck by lightning. No wonder this old man was so fussy. Judging from his reaction, Xu Qian had told him about this when she got home. It was probably an elder in Xu Qian's family.

He took two steps back, shook his head, and said, "I don't know him."

The old man raised an eyebrow, raised his voice slightly, and said, "Don't you recognize me?"

He paused, then asked, "Have you seen Xu Qian?"

Zhao Hua was in a great hurry. If he fell behind even a step, his bicycle might fly away. He didn't have time to play games with him. He knew all too well what kind of people these old men were. Every young man who got close to his granddaughter was like a wolf cub.

He thought for a moment, his face serious, and said, "But this morning I rescued two girls from thugs at the market. If they had been taken away, the consequences would have been unimaginable. I'm so grateful for their lives. One of them seems to be named Xu Qian. What? You know her?" Pretending to be profound? Anyone can do that.

The old man choked for a moment, then remained silent.

Zhao Hua noticed that the man's fingers, which were resting on the counter, twitched twice. He then changed the subject, saying, "Actually, it wasn't really a life-saving favor. Even without me, with so many people in the market, those thugs probably wouldn't have dared to cause trouble!"

The old man put his hands behind his back and said irritably, "Go in through the alleyway at the front, and you'll see the house with the big red iron gate. I don't know if it's sold or not, go and see for yourself."

Zhao Hua smiled and nodded, casually thanked him, turned around and went out to greet the people waiting outside, then walked in along the path.

Old Xu strolled to the door and stared at Zhao Hua's departing figure for a moment.

Zhao Hua walked along the alley. The township government was located at the very edge of the town. After passing the township government, he entered the county road, which was used by all the buses going to the county seat.

This path branches off from the road junction and leads directly to the township government. Zhao Hua had walked this path before. Later, when those people who sold health products rented the township government auditorium to give lectures, Zhao Hua even went there a few times to collect eggs.

Back then, the houses on both sides of the road were dilapidated, but now, the brick and tile houses along the road are clean and tidy, much more impressive than other places.

After Zhao Hua led the group for a few minutes, a large red iron gate facing the path gradually came into view.

He stopped and looked back at the crowd. When they saw him stop, they all stopped and looked at him. He paused for a moment and said, "You guys wait here for a bit. That's the house up ahead. Let's go together so we don't scare anyone."

The crowd behind him burst into laughter, then nodded and waved, signaling Zhao Hua to go ahead on his own while they waited where they were.

Zhao Hua straightened his clothes under his raincoat, turned around and walked towards the gate. In later generations, gates made of sheet metal were very common, but now large sheet metal gates were extremely rare. The cost was secondary; the materials were hard to come by. Without connections, it would cost two or three hundred to build such a gate.

He stepped forward and knocked on the door. Immediately, he heard barking from the yard. He took two steps back and waited for a moment. There was only barking from the dog; he couldn't hear any footsteps coming to open the door.

He frowned, stepped forward and pounded hard on the metal door. The barking intensified, but still no one came to open the door.

Zhao Hua's heart sank. Had he come all this way for nothing? Just as this thought flashed through his mind, the door next door suddenly opened.

The two people, one inside and one outside the door, met eyes and exclaimed in unison, "It's you?"

Zhao Hua paused for a moment, then pointed to the house behind Jiang Yue and chuckled, "You live here?"

Jiang Yue nodded slightly and asked with a puzzled smile, "How come you're here?" After saying that, her expression changed, her smile disappeared, and she narrowed her eyes to examine Zhao Hua.

Zhao Hua looked at her slightly changed expression and twitched his lips. What was this girl suspecting? He glanced around. It was indeed very remote, with houses in front and behind. Outsiders wouldn't usually come here unless they had a reason.

He turned to look at Jiang Yue and smiled, "I heard this family is selling bicycles, and I wanted to buy them, but no one answered the door when I knocked."

Jiang Yue leaned out and glanced at the next room. Her fair neck made Zhao Hua dizzy, and he quickly lowered his head to look away.

"Maybe no one's home; they've probably all gone to the hospital."

Zhao Hua hurriedly asked, "The hospital next door?"

"Hmm, did you bring all those people?" Jiang Yue glanced at the group of people waiting by the roadside, then retreated back into the house. They were staring intently at the two of them.

Zhao Hua glanced over and said, "Yeah, they're all from my village, just came to see what was going on. Do you know if they've sold their car yet?"

"I don't know, I haven't heard of it. Didn't you bring them here because you were worried about running into that group from this morning?"

Zhao Hua gave a forced, nasal laugh and said, "What are their family members' names? I'll go to the hospital and see."

Jiang Yue asked in surprise, "Are you planning to ask everyone in the hospital one by one?"

Zhao Hua certainly didn't intend to ask them one by one; who would he ask if he only had their names?

He laughed and said, "Yeah, his son just got into a fight. So many of us have been waiting at the door. The police should be here soon."

Jiang Yue blinked at Zhao Hua, then suddenly leaned against the door frame, covered her mouth, and chuckled.

He looked at Jiang Yue, who was trembling with laughter, and asked in confusion, "What are you laughing at?"

"Uh-huh, no, it's nothing!"

Zhao Hua nodded, but before he could speak, Jiang Yue continued, "I just found the image of you being handcuffed so funny, haha."

"..."

Jiang Yue stopped laughing, her face slightly flushed, and said, "If you just go and ask like that, no one will pay attention to you. They don't know you, and what if they think you're a bad guy causing trouble?"

She lowered her head and shook the fine hairs on her forehead, saying, "I'll take you there. Wait for me a moment, I'll go get the umbrella."

Seeing Jiang Yue turn and go back into the house, Zhao Hua breathed a sigh of relief and walked towards his group of childhood friends. As soon as he reached the edge of the group, they surrounded him and asked who the girl was and when they had met.

Zhao Hua gave a few perfunctory replies, saying, "You guys should wait by the front auditorium first. Gathering here is too conspicuous. His son just got into a fight, and if people misunderstand and think we're here for revenge, it'll be troublesome if they call the police."

Everyone nodded, and then asked Zhao Hua to explain in detail when he met such a beautiful girl.

Zhao Hua was surrounded by a group of people and couldn't get away. Just then, with a creak, Jiang Yue came out of the house holding an umbrella.