Back to my 1980s

Zhao Hua watched the group of people singing in unison, chuckled, and couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions.

On the surface, however, Zhao Hua was all smiles. He knew that Jiang Yue must have used this method to persuade Xu Qian. He looked at the group and said with a smile, "I wonder how you leaders would like to understand this?"

Song Wenshu stood aside without saying a word. Jiang Yue glanced at Xu Qian, who smiled slightly, took two steps forward, and said seriously, "Comrade Zhao Hua, well, it's like this, our restaurant undertakes a lot of official receptions, and the demand for specialty ingredients is large, so we want to find some reliable farmers to supply us on a long-term basis."

She paused, glanced at the village secretary, and then looked at Zhao Hua: "We saw your boat when we entered the village. On the way, we asked the village secretary about it and heard that it was your boat used specifically for fishing."

Then, with a half-smile, she said, "Wild fish are also among our acquisition targets, so we came here specifically to conduct an on-site inspection of your fishing scale, supply capacity, and the quantity, type, and specifications of wild fish you can consistently supply to restaurants. Comrade Zhao Hua, would it be convenient for you to take us to the site to see the fishing situation?"

What else could Zhao Hua say? Ever since Xu Qian finished speaking, the village secretary had been nagging him about it. Even if it was just to ease the pain in his kidneys, he had to agree. Besides, she had come all this way and already had a reason. He nodded and smiled, "Okay, I'm going fishing right now."

He picked up the fishing net, looked at the group, and smiled, "What do you gentlemen think?"

Seeing that Zhao Hua had agreed, Xu Qian's eyes instantly curved into crescents. After all, she was just an eighteen or nineteen-year-old girl, and she couldn't hide her emotions. She giggled and said, "Weren't you going to row a boat to the river to fish? We'll go with you!"

Zhao Hua looked up and saw that it was still cloudy. The sun hadn't come out, so there was no need to worry about sunburn. He then glanced at the two men's clothing: plain, thick collared shirts and dark, thin suit jackets. They had clearly come prepared.

He sighed inwardly, "No wonder he's the leader's son. In the time it takes to eat a meal, he's made a direct trip to the Shuanghuai Village branch and managed to come up with such a righteous facade."

Zhao Hua led the group toward the river. Xu Qian followed first, followed by Jiang Yue and Song Wenshu. A group of village officials followed obediently behind them as a backdrop.

Walking down the street, Xu Qian and Jiang Yue clearly didn't take Song Wenshu seriously, let alone the village officials, who were sitting at the same table with the children.

Zhao Hua had gained a lot of knowledge online in his previous life, and he secretly began to ponder it in his mind.

Obviously, such outings for fun couldn't be arranged by family members; they had to make the arrangements themselves. The clerk was the head steward of the village, similar to a secretary in later times, and was a powerful figure, yet he was behind them. Jiang Yue and Xu Qian's own rank was definitely not high enough.

That can only mean that the elders behind the two are quite powerful. But if they are so powerful, why did Director Zhang decide to smooth things over when they were harassed by thugs at the market? Considering that at the end of the year, there was that grain and oil shop next to the grain station without a sign, which was rumored to be owned by someone's brother, and thinking about it further, since someone could do such a thing...

It's not impossible that those people are involved. They managed to evade the crackdown a few months later and managed to keep Director Zhang from offending either side. All these scenarios combined sent a jolt through Zhao Hua's mind.

Those people who were successful before the 90s, but then suddenly their leader ran into trouble in the 90s, and the rest disappeared without a trace. What does that mean? Hmm…

Zhao Hua coughed twice, pulling himself out of his thoughts. Anyway, these things had nothing to do with him, and there was no point in thinking about them. He should just focus on living his own life...

Zhao Ru followed silently, carrying a bucket. When they reached the shore, Zhao Hua untied the rope and held it in his hand. He looked at the group and smiled, "My boat can only carry a maximum of 800 jin (400 catties). Any more than that and you'd have to learn to swim to get on board. I also need to load fish, so it can't carry many people."

Hearing this, Xu Qian and Jiang Yue, who were gazing at the river, turned around, glanced at Zhao Ru carrying a bucket, and smiled. Then Jiang Yue turned to Zhao Ru and said, "Uncle Song, let's go take a look. We don't know how long it will take to get back, so there's no need to wait for us here."

Xu Qian was even more worried that someone else would want to come on board, which would make things pointless and make her feel awkward even talking. She nodded in agreement as she stood by.

As soon as the two spoke, the village officials objected. The village secretary looked troubled and said, "We can't guarantee safety like this. I'm not saying there will definitely be danger, but the water is different from the land."

Someone chimed in, frowning, "Yes, the river's conditions are unpredictable. It just rained not long ago, and while the surface looks calm, there might be undercurrents. If someone were to trip and fall, we couldn't bear the responsibility."

As the village officials began to speak, Jiang Yue glanced at Zhao Hua out of the corner of her eye. Seeing his nonchalant and indifferent expression, she felt relieved and said with a smile, "We can't be afraid of difficulties, troubles, or dangers when we do our work. How can we do our job if we're not even willing to take this little risk?"

The village officials immediately clicked their tongues, their hearts sinking in shock. If that's what they said, who would take responsibility?

However, they really couldn't refute this. They all forced a smile and no one dared to say anything more. Song Wenshu just didn't want to refuse. He came over privately to do a favor and support the event. He didn't want to get involved in the private affairs of the leaders' children, nor did he want to stay and take the risk. He smiled at Jiang Yue and said, "Then leave a few village cadres to guard the area. I still have official business to attend to in the township. I'll go back first and come back to pick you up later."

Then he turned to the village officials and gave them a few instructions before leaving. The village officials, seeing that he had official business to attend to, did not stop him. After delivering the documents, they quickly ran back.

By this time, Zhao Hua and Zhao Ru had already boarded the boat. Since they had said everything they needed to say, the village officials dared not say anything about Jiang Yue and Xu Qian when they returned. They turned to Zhao Hua and said, "Zhao Hua! You better watch yourself, kid. Stay on the shore and don't go far!"

He then turned to Jiang Yue and Xu Qian with a fawning smile, bowing and scraping. Zhao Hua pursed his lips and ignored them. There were no big waves on the river. He had only heard of people intentionally dying, but he had never heard of anyone getting into trouble while fishing in the river. The Tanka people had lived on the water for generations without any problems.

Zhao Hua had already boarded the boat, and the villagers who had come with him had also left. Xu Qian couldn't hold back any longer. She ignored what those old folks were babbling about, ran a few steps and boarded the boat. She even deliberately made the small boat rock back and forth by alternating her feet in the cabin.

The small boat rocked violently. Zhao Ru was caught off guard and didn't expect this person to be so crazy. She quickly grabbed the gunwale and looked at Xu Qian's back as if she were a lunatic.

Jiang Yue, who was on the shore, was exasperated by what she saw, but she was already used to Xu Qian's personality. She took a few steps forward to the bow of the boat and stopped Xu Qian. After the small boat gradually came to a stop, she let Xu Qian pull her up and then waved to the people standing on the shore.

With everyone present, Zhao Hua, who was sitting at the stern steering the boat, glanced at the people on the shore, reminded them to squat down, and then, with a sway of the oar, the boat slowly drifted away from the shore.

Finally, with no outsiders around, Jiang Yue and Xu Qian no longer needed to keep up appearances. They gripped the gunwale and looked at Zhao Hua. Xu Qian chuckled and said, "Didn't expect that, did you? Hahaha!"

Jiang Yue gave her a reproachful look, then smiled at Zhao Hua and said, "She kept telling me how fun it is to ride a boat, and I just couldn't resist. Plus, I was a little curious, so I came along to see for myself."

The boat was some distance from the shore, and the faces of the village officials could only be vaguely seen. Zhao Hua heard the two speak, looked away, smiled, and said, "Water is the source of life. Humans are naturally close to water and like the sound of flowing water. The water surface can also separate us from the constraints of the land. Sitting in a boat and rocking back and forth gives us a feeling of emptiness and freedom. It seems that Comrade Xu Qian still yearns for freedom deep down."

Yearning for freedom isn't exactly a compliment these days, but it's not a bad thing either. Neither of them paid it any mind. Xu Qian looked at Zhao Hua with surprise, raising an eyebrow and saying, "You know about this?"

Zhao Hua paused, focusing on rowing without speaking. Seeing that Zhao Hua was ignoring her again, Xu Qian suddenly smiled, leaned over the gunwale, and stretched out a hand to splash the river water. No one noticed that her teeth were slowly clenching, and the veins on her other hand, which was gripping the gunwale, were bulging due to the increasing force.

None of them mentioned anything about an investigation or not. Those were two different worlds with two different rules of operation, and bringing it up would only create more distance between them.

Zhao Ru, sitting in the corner, was dumbfounded. She had been dumbfounded ever since Zhao Hua called out Xu Qian's name. She really couldn't understand how Zhao Hua knew two such beautiful women, who were also leaders in the township. But she didn't dare to ask or say anything, and timidly shrank into the corner to listen to their conversation.

After the boat had sailed some distance, Zhao Hua thought for a moment and decided to take them back to the ditch they had been in before. Although the rain had stopped, the flowing water in the ditch should still be flowing into the river, and the fish should still be gathering there.

With two more girls on the boat, he decided not to waste time looking for big fish and to catch more small fish instead. With that thought, he steered the boat slightly and sped off into the distance.

His idea was good, but it caused a lot of trouble for the village officials who stayed on the shore.

A group of people were on the shore, running after the small boats that were being rowed. It wasn't that no one suggested rowing the village's boats to keep up, but since the land had been divided among the villagers, the village's collective fishing team had also been disbanded, and all the small boats had been moved to the shore.

No one maintains or watches over them; they're all old boats that have been used for many years. With this neglect, let alone catching up with Zhao Hua, the few people who get out of the water will probably just fall into the river.

Several village officials ran while cursing under their breath, saying, "We told him a long time ago to stay on the shore and not go far, that little rascal!"

"It might be a request from the cadres of the ship's commune to send him to his usual haunts."

"How would the officials know where he usually fishes? Why don't they just stop on the shore and fish around? It's exhausting."

"Should we tell him to stop?"

"Is this your first time doing this job? Can't you tell that Song Wenshu is being lenient with these two young girls? You dare to yell? Go ahead and yell, I'm not going to."

The group exchanged silent glances and could only curse under their breath as they continued their pursuit.

Zhao Hua, of course, couldn't hear their chatter. He was only focused on rowing his boat. He wasn't that close to Jiang Yue and Xu Qian, but he also felt somewhat familiar with them. So he simply kept quiet and just agreed to whatever they said.

After paddling for a while, Zhao Hua stopped at the confluence point where they had met before. Xu Qian had already put her hand in the river and was playing with the water. Halfway through, she suggested that Jiang Yue join in, so Jiang Yue also joined in.

As for the village officials, once they were blocked by the strange rocks, they could only watch helplessly as the boats sailed away.

"Huh? Why did you stop?" Xu Qian glanced around, splashed around in the river a couple of times, and said with lingering interest, "We're here? You're just casting your net here? We're still on the bank!"

"Yeah, we're here. Don't let this location fool you; these river confluences are where the fish thrive," Zhao Hua said casually. After gesturing for Zhao Ru to take over, he carried the fishing net to the cabin. He glanced at the two people blocking his way and asked, "Do you want to wait on the shore first, or stay in the cabin?"

Xu Qian shook the water off her hands, stood up and glanced at the riverbank. Before the rainy season, the weather was hot and the river had receded a lot of water. The weeds that used to grow on the riverbank had been soaked and rotted by the water. After the water receded, only a bare area remained. Now, the rain and rising water had not covered the original area, revealing large areas of shallow beach covered with only a very thin layer of grass.

She thought for a moment and said, "We'll stay on the boat and watch you fish." Then she pulled Jiang Yue, who had just gotten up, and walked a few steps to the stern, avoiding Zhao Hua.

Zhao Hua glanced back and saw them enter the cabin. He looked at their clothes, thought for a moment, and then opened the wooden planks of the hatch, intending to pile the fish he had caught directly into the hatch to prevent river water from splashing onto their clothes when the fishing nets were thrown into the cabin.

However, when Xu Qian saw that there was still a hatch, her eyes lit up and she leaned closer, craning her neck and bending down to look inside. She asked, "There are mechanisms? What are they for?"

Zhao Hua was standing at the bow of the boat when he caught a glimpse of white out of the corner of his eye. He immediately looked away, straightened the fishing net, and coughed twice, saying, "This is for holding fish. Fill it with water; the fish will live longer in it. Move back a bit; I'm going to cast the net."

He didn't do it on purpose. He was already tall, and the difference between the bow and the cabin made him even taller.

Jiang Yue and Zhao Ru, who were standing behind, kept watching Zhao Hua and Xu Qian. They both noticed the unnatural look on Zhao Hua's face. Zhao Ru was wondering what was going on when she suddenly saw Jiang Yue take a few steps forward and pull Xu Qian up. Jiang Yue then silently placed her other hand in front of her. Zhao Ru suddenly realized what was happening, secretly spat at Zhao Hua, and turned her gaze to the river.

Xu Qian was pulled to the back by Jiang Yue and made to stand upright, bending over and reaching out to support herself on the cabin floor. But as soon as she was ready, Jiang Yue squatted down again and pulled Xu Qian down to squat down as well.

Zhao Hua walked a little further to the bow of the boat, worried that the fishing net would snag them, so he simply tossed it into the river. In this area, there was no need to toss it far; as long as it was cast in a round shape, it would be fine.

With a splash, the fishing net entered the water, drawing Jiang Yue's attention. Forgetting the little incident just now, she and Xu Qian looked over together.

Before long, Zhao Hua lifted the fishing net again. Xu Qian moved to the side of the boat and poked her head out, staring longingly at the fishing net that Zhao Hua had taken in and was slowly emerging from the water.