Back to my 1980s

"Here, keep it safe, don't lose it."

Mr. Meng stuffed the money into Zhao Hua's pocket, and Zhao Hua didn't refuse. Mr. Meng was right; they would be neighbors from now on. He smiled and said, "Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony with you. I'll treat you to a drink when I move in."

Mr. Meng nodded in satisfaction. His daughter was already getting a good deal by working with Zhao Ru every day, so it was only right for her to help out. It would be inappropriate to ask for money now. He laughed and said, "That's right. Let's drink. I heard you've been making a lot of money lately, so I have to treat you to a good meal. Did you hear that, Qinghe? Your brother Zhao Hua said he'll treat me to drinks when he moves in. You'll be my witness."

Upon hearing this, Meng Qinghe smiled sweetly, then bent down and smashed the clod of dirt at her.

Zhao Hua glanced at it and smiled, "No need for witnesses, it definitely stands."

Meng's father smiled and looked at the bricks, saying, "I didn't have a chance to ask earlier, what are you doing with these bricks? Building a paving stone?"

Zhao Hua glanced at Meng Qinghe. Hadn't she said anything? He then looked back at Meng's father and smiled, "No, I used it for laying the foundation."

Mencius' father paused in his brick-laying, saying, "Laying a foundation? Laying a foundation with bricks? Hmm~ You might as well use yellow mud, compact it, and then cover it with bricks."

Zhao Hua continued working and laughed, "Yes, I'll also use red bricks to build the foundation. We'll bring over new bricks later. These are old bricks I dug up from the pigsty; they'll be used for the foundation."

"Oh my goodness! No wonder everyone's saying you've made a fortune, even I've heard about it. So you're planning to build a red brick house! Should you build one first or...?"

Zhao Hua moved the last few bricks to the ground and said, "Let's build three rooms and a small courtyard. Uncle, could you keep an eye on things for me? I still have a lot of bricks that haven't been delivered yet, so I'll have to go there a few more times."

Meng's father clapped his hands and laughed, "Alright, you go ahead with your work, I'll keep an eye on things here for you. You're a really capable young man, you're already building a red brick house."

Zhao Hua glanced at his face, which still wore a warm smile and showed no signs of jealousy. He seemed to be a genuinely kind person. Zhao Hua smiled and said, "Well, what's there to say about being capable or not? I'll just make a living. Uncle, I'll get back to work now."

"Go on, go on, I'll keep an eye on things here for you." Meng's father waved his hand.

"The cart is back! Come over and load the bricks onto the cart!" As soon as Zhao Hua showed his face, Zhao Ru started ordering the group of children around.

Upon hearing this, a group of little children rushed over, yelling.

"Slow down! Be careful not to pinch your hand!" Zhao Hua reminded them.

"Okay, Uncle!"

"Okay, Uncle!" "You have to call me Uncle!" "Okay, Uncle!"

Zhao Hua smiled as he looked at his nephews, who were playing around like idiots. He walked into the pigsty; it was time to tear down the fence. He kicked at the pile of yellow mud and said, "Mom, you go to the side first, I'll push down the wall."

Zhao's mother put down the brick she was holding, stood up and moved aside, saying, "Slow down, don't break the brick."

Zhao Hua picked up the shovel, glanced back, and said, "I know. You go out first, don't stand here. If the wall collapses and hits you, go out and keep an eye on things, make sure those kids stay away."

"Okay," Zhao's mother replied, taking a few steps out of the pigsty. She called out a few words from outside the gate, then shouted inside, "Alright! No one's outside! Slow down! Push gently!"

"knew!"

Zhao Hua responded. Actually, the wall wasn't that easy to push down. The fence inside the enclosure was easier to handle, as it was relatively low. They could start by lifting the bricks on top.

The wall is quite high, and the bricks at the corners interlock, making it difficult to push them down.

He looked left and right inside, trying to find a foothold to push, but Zhao Ru couldn't wait and shouted, "Push! There's no one outside!"

Zhao Hua ignored her and started by pushing down the bricks in the corner of the wall. Once one wall was knocked down, the rest would be much easier.

Before long, he had pried open a gap in the wall. He used an iron pry bar to brace the opening, and with all his might, he pushed the wall, which began to slowly tilt. From outside came Zhao Ru's voices: "Wow! Wow! The wall is going to fall! The wall is going to fall!" and "You all stay away!"

Zhao Hua smiled slightly and continued to exert force, causing the wall to collapse directly outside the house. The mud wall was so weak that it would sway even with the slightest push once a gap was made; it couldn't withstand Zhao Hua's force.

After the courtyard wall collapsed, Zhao's mother told the children not to go near the wall and went inside with Zhao Ru to clear away the bricks.

Zhao Hua glanced at the cart, which was now piled high with bricks. He deeply understood the meaning of "many hands make light work".

He put the shovel aside, told his mother, and pulled the cart back to the educated youth settlement.

When Meng's father saw him coming, he helped unload the bricks. He glanced at them and saw that the demolition was almost complete. The mud walls were easier to push down than the brick walls. The living conditions of the educated youth sent to the countryside were particularly poor, basically only slightly better than the poorest poor households in the village.

Moreover, the soil doesn't need to be hauled away, so it's actually very easy to dismantle; it's just that breaking up the yellow mud requires some water milling skills.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Meng Qinghe walk to a mud wall and hurriedly called out, "Qinghe! Don't move!"

Startled by the shout, Meng Qinghe trembled and turned to look at Zhao Hua blankly. Her father also looked over.

Zhao Hua was a little embarrassed. Actually, he was worried that the earthen wall might suddenly collapse and injure someone. He had shouted out in a moment of panic, and now he felt he had overreacted. He forced himself to shout back, "Don't get so close to the wall! It might collapse and hit you!"

Upon hearing this, Meng Qinghe smiled slightly, nodded, and took a few steps to the side.

Father Meng laughed and said, "I reminded her before, but I guess she was busy and forgot. It's okay, don't worry about her. It's just an earthen wall, so it won't matter if it gets hit."

Zhao Hua chuckled but didn't respond. It was clear he was just being polite. A minor injury wouldn't be a problem, but there was a high chance of broken bones and scraped skin. Meng's father could say it was nothing, but he couldn't. Everyone cares about their own child.

After unloading the last load, Zhao Hua glanced at the pile of bricks in front of him. He had made four loads in total, removing about three thousand bricks.

It's less than a dollar on average. He smiled, looked at Meng's father, and said, "Thank you for your trouble, Uncle Meng."

"Oh! Don't be so polite!"

The mud houses are almost completely demolished. Next, we need to hire people to dig the foundation. He laughed and said, "Okay, you're welcome. I have to go down to the river tonight. I'll treat you to dinner in a couple of days after I'm done with my work. I'll remember this for now and add it to the bill later."

Meng's father laughed and said, "I know you're busy. You go ahead and do your thing. I'll just grab a quick bite at my place. We'll have a proper drink when your house is finished and you move over."

Zhao Hua smiled, said goodbye to Meng's father and Meng Qinghe, and pulled the cart straight home.

In theory, he was supposed to sleep here tonight and keep an eye on these bricks to prevent them from being stolen. However, he could buy a lot of these bricks with just one trip to catch fish, so it wasn't worth wasting his time watching over the bricks.

He ate dinner hastily when he got home, then went inside to get some change and counted it. He was really eager to spend these pennies and coins.

The eldest sister has three children, the second sister has three children, the third sister married far away and has no children here, the eldest brother has four children, and the second brother has two children.

He counted out twelve yuan, a large handful, and then called Zhao Ru to go to the river to catch fish. Halfway there, he asked Zhao Ru to gather them together so he could divide the money among himself.

At the end of the rainy season, fish are even easier to catch than during the rainy season; they seem to be lining up to be picked up.

"Brother? So many fish, what are we going to do?" Zhao Ru looked at the boat full of fish and was a little worried. There were just too many. Her main concern was how to store them. She wasn't worried about selling them, as fish is the cheapest of all meats, and many people choose it as their first choice to improve their meals.

"Arrest them first, then we'll talk. It'll be much harder to arrest so many after this period."

However, after grabbing for a while, Zhao Hua stopped, mainly because the cabin was not big enough to fit everything, and he was now a little worried.

They could be piled up on the boat and then sold directly to the seafood station at dawn, where they have the facilities to freeze them.

The price was just too cheap, and it wasn't raining, so there was no running water to soak it if I wanted to hang it in the yard.

"Let's go home first, that's enough." Zhao Hua didn't try to take any more; he only grabbed three or four hundred jin.

When I got home, I picked out the small, miscellaneous fish and dried them. I estimated that it would be dawn in about three or four hours. In summer, it gets light earlier, around five o'clock.

He had heard about an early morning market in the county town these past few days, but he was fishing during the day because of the rain and couldn't get up in time to go to the market. After thinking about it, he simply pushed his bicycle out.

Zhao Ru was startled when she saw him push out his bicycle and asked, "Brother? What are you doing pushing your bike? Where are you going?"

Zhao Hua threw the fish into the fish baskets, which were almost full. He estimated that he had hauled about 200 jin (100 kg) this time.

"I can't keep all these fish at home, so I have to take them to the county town to catch the early market tonight. They'll rot if they're all piled up together. I'll go fetch two buckets of water in a bit. You can keep the rest of the fish at home for yourself."

Zhao Hua placed the fish basket on the back seat and continued, "Tomorrow morning, ask your mother to go with you to sell them. Go early too. Don't pile the dead ones in the bucket; just spread them out on the burlap sacks and water them thoroughly. Anyway, there aren't many people selling live fish at the market. Have your father take them to the village to sell; he knows where to sell them quickly."

As he spoke, he walked to the corner of the wall, quickly fetched a few buckets of water, gave Zhao Ru a few brief instructions, and then rode his bicycle straight to the county town that night.

Fortunately, the clouds have thinned out these past two days, making it barely possible to see the road. Moreover, he has traveled this route many times, so his speed is not slow.

He even felt it was faster than usual. When he arrived at the county town's morning market, it was still pitch black. He stopped the car and reached out to test the water temperature. It was ice cold, and the fish were still alive. He felt relieved. Fortunately, it wasn't too hot at night.

After waiting for about two more hours, some early risers had already gone out. Zhao Hua quickly spread the burlap sack on the ground and placed some wilted fish on it.

Before long, a few elderly men and women strolling around bought some fish. The sky was just beginning to brighten, and Zhao Hua roughly estimated that it was a little after five in the morning.

Summer days are longer than winter days, people wake up earlier because of the heat, and there is a greater flow of people.

While selling fish, a customer reminded him that the crackdown on speculation and profiteering is not as strict now, saying that since he caught the fish himself, there was no need to rush.

Zhao Hua chuckled. He wasn't worried about being arrested; he was worried that the fish wouldn't sell and would go bad. But now that they were in the county town, he felt much more relaxed, and the wilted fish had already been sold.

It was the morning market, so there were much more people than when he went door-to-door. He sold out over 200 jin (100 kg) in no time, and then gave away the remaining miscellaneous fish.

Looking at the empty fish basket, he hurriedly sold all the fish, and a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction welled up inside him. He had never been so rushed when selling fish before.

He leisurely returned home, and picked up a note from Jiang Yue. His mother and younger sister hadn't come home yet, so they probably hadn't finished selling. He left early today and sold out early; it was the first time he'd gotten home before them.

He went inside, counted his earnings for the day: 246.87 yuan, stuffed the money into a drawer, and thought that his mother and younger sister hadn't returned yet. He figured he might as well go check on the educated youth settlement since he had nothing else to do.

Thinking of this, he got up and went out the door.

Meng's father was still breaking up the clods of earth. Zhao Hua glanced at the pile of bricks and didn't notice anything missing. He had thought that since he hadn't been watching over it at night, a lot of bricks would have been taken away, since many people had seen him carrying bricks to the educated youth settlement later.

He chuckled and went into the mud house, joining in to break up the clods of earth. After all, it was his own business, and he couldn't just stand by and watch, especially since no one had paid him.

"You're here?" Meng's father greeted him with a smile.

Zhao Hua smiled and said, "I'm here. Uncle, did you watch the bricks for me last night? The bricks over there look about the same as yesterday, none of them are missing."

Meng's father laughed and said, "Well, you said last night that you were busy, and I figured you wouldn't have time to come and keep an eye on things, so I just came out to check every now and then. A few old ladies took a few pieces, and I didn't say anything, so I just let them take them."

Meng's father spoke casually, but Zhao Hua knew in his heart that the villagers would not treat him well. He had probably heard a lot of unpleasant things when he came out to stop them. It was really not easy for the old lady to take away only a few pieces.

However, he didn't say it aloud; he just kept it to himself. He smiled and asked, "Hasn't Meng Qinghe and the others returned yet?"

"Hey! That's right! Didn't I hear you went to the county town to sell, and they went to the market to sell? Why are you here? Didn't you go today?" Meng's father looked surprised.

Zhao Hua laughed and said, "I went. I went early. I went to the county town's morning market last night after catching the fish, and I've already sold them all and come back."

Meng's father nodded, and perhaps the words "morning market" stirred up painful memories for him, because he didn't say anything more. He used to live in the city and probably went to the morning market often, though to them it would be called the black market.

Zhao Hua suddenly thought to himself, "Holy crap!" Meng's father reacted so strongly to the morning market that he didn't even say a word. Could it be that the reason for his being sent to the countryside was related to the black market?

Zhao Hua didn't dare to ask further, silently continuing to knock on clods of earth with Meng's father. Fortunately, Meng Qinghe returned shortly afterward, and he breathed a huge sigh of relief. He looked at Meng Qinghe and smiled, "Is Zhao Ru back too?"

"Yes, I'm back. I've already gone home."

"Then I'll go back and take a look first, and come back this afternoon."

He said goodbye to Meng's father and Meng Qinghe, and quickly ran home.