Back to my 1980s

Master Zhao left happily.

The two agreed on a price: the master chef would pay 2.8 yuan a day, excluding food and drink, while the apprentice would pay 1.5 yuan.

They said they would bring people to start digging in the afternoon, and that they would only pay for half a day's work in the afternoon. Zhao Hua naturally had no objection, as the price was already quite high.

The laborers are mostly women during the off-season for farming. Men rarely do this job because it is looked down upon, as if this kind of work is naturally meant for women.

Unless they are older or want to learn a skill, there will be a few men following them.

Zhao Hua looked at the bricks and decided not to go home. He figured his father would just leave the money from selling the fish on his desk in his room. Even if his father took it all, it wouldn't be a big deal, and he wouldn't care.

He went back for lunch and found the money already on the table. He stuffed it all into the drawer and went back to the educated youth settlement. He didn't need to count it; it was probably about the same as what Zhao Ru had, a little over fifty yuan, around sixty yuan.

When he arrived at the educated youth settlement, Master Zhao had already led people to measure the land and spread lime. The laborers hadn't arrived yet, so he came ahead to measure it so that they could start digging as soon as everyone arrived.

He stepped forward and offered the man a few cigarettes, exchanged a few pleasantries, and Zhao Hua clicked his tongue. People these days are really dedicated; they came over early to prepare.

With someone else around, he didn't need to keep an eye on things anymore. He wandered around for a while, since this was going to be his new home, and it wouldn't hurt to get familiar with the surroundings first.

To the left is Meng Qinghe's house, and past Meng Qinghe's house is the dirt road that splits east and west in the center of the village. To the right, about seven or eight houses away, is another dirt road. The two dirt roads extend forward and, in the distance, they intersect at the village entrance.

He hadn't actually been to the village entrance yet. Their village was just too big. Although they were both Shuanghuai Village, the village entrance and the village exit were like two different worlds. People at the village entrance would walk from the road at the village entrance when visiting relatives or friends or going to the market, while people at the village exit would walk from the village exit.

When he was little, he was small and had short legs, so he rarely went forward. As he grew up, there was even less need for him to go, and there wasn't much to do at the edge of the village anyway, so he and his friends went straight out of the village.

As he walked and pondered, he soon arrived at the village's convenience store. He suddenly remembered that he had just finished distributing cigarettes and seemed to be running low on cigarettes. With that thought, he went straight in and called out, "Old Chen! Old Chen! Come out quickly! It's time to greet customers!"

"Damn it, I knew it was you, kid. Nobody else is as disrespectful as you."

Zhao Hua chuckled but didn't respond, thinking to himself that he was older than Zhao Hua by the sum of his two lifetimes, so what was wrong with calling him an old man? Everyone is an old man.

Old Chen leaned against the counter and asked, "What do you want today?"

Zhao Hua laughed and said, "Any good cigarettes today? Get me some of the best."

Old Chen scratched his head and said, "Daqianmen is the best."

Zhao Hua leaned back and sized him up for a few moments, then said, "Old Chen, have you ever heard of Zhonghua cigarettes?"

Old Chen scratched his arm and said, "No, only Daqianmen."

"Then give me two packs of Daqianmen cigarettes. Do you raise mosquitoes to sell? I see you're scratching here and there all the time."

Old Chen ignored him and tossed him two packs of cigarettes. Zhao Hua reached into his pocket to take out money and suddenly pulled out a note—the note Jiang Yue had given him.

He suddenly remembered that he hadn't asked if any of the village's tractors were available. What if the foundation was dug and the old bricks were laid, but then there was no tractor available to help haul the bricks?

I hurriedly grabbed the cigarettes, paid the bill, and rushed to the village committee. It seemed that I needed to apply for permission to use the tractor, plus there was a queue.

A moment later, the two packs of cigarettes he had just bought were gone, but the tractor was also ordered. He would go to haul bricks first thing tomorrow morning. Zhao Hua thought about it and realized that if he went to haul bricks first thing in the morning, he wouldn't have time to sell fish.

However, we can catch some and give them to Zhao Ru to sell. It hasn't rained for two days, so the fish should have recovered and are no longer crowding the shore to breathe oxygen. It's unlikely we can catch many more.

He bought two more bags and threw one bag at the educated youth settlement. He had gotten used to catching and selling fish every day for the past few days, and suddenly one morning he didn't have to sell fish anymore, so he was still a little unaccustomed to it.

"Uncle Meng, taking a stroll?"

"Hey, I woke up with nothing to do, so I came out to see how other people build houses."

"What's so interesting about that? It's just being built brick by brick."

"If you start digging this afternoon, with five or six people, it won't take long to dig out a foundation. I reckon it'll be done by tomorrow morning. What are you going to do after that? All you'll end up with is a pile of bricks."

"No rush. I'll go get the bricks tomorrow morning. As for the yellow clay, we can get it after they're done with their work. There's yellow clay everywhere in the west and east of the village. We can dig up a pile in no time. Anyway, we'll pay you for the work."

Meng's father smiled and said, "It's good to have money. You can do whatever you want without any trouble, and your family doesn't have to help you."

Zhao Hua waved his hand and said, "There's nothing I can do. My family members all have things to do. Luckily, we grow sweet potatoes, otherwise there would be even more trouble."

"How are your sweet potatoes growing? If not, I'll plant sweet potatoes next year too."

"It's not good. Paying grain to the state is a real hassle. You have to pay it at a discounted price or find someone to exchange it for wheat before paying. Our family only grows sweet potatoes to save trouble, so we can hire someone to help us harvest them."

Meng's father nodded and said, "That's right. Your father is a carpenter. After the wheat harvest, he likes to add furniture to the house. It's better to do the carpentry work first, rather than wasting those days harvesting the wheat ourselves."

I chatted with Meng's father for a while, but I didn't see Meng Qinghe. I wonder what these people usually do.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Zhao Hua went straight home from the educated youth settlement. His mother was squatting in the yard tidying up the fish baskets, while Zhao Ru sat on the doorstep, counting on her fingers. Seeing him enter, his mother looked up and casually asked, "Why are you back? Was someone watching over there?"

"Yeah, they went to measure the land and spread lime a long time ago. Someone was watching me, so I came back." Zhao Hua walked to the water tank, scooped up a ladle of cold water and drank it down, wiped his mouth, and said, "I called a tractor to go pick up new bricks first thing tomorrow morning. I won't go to the county town."

"Oh, so you're not going to the river tonight?"

"Go ahead, why don't you go?"

"Hmm?" Zhao's mother turned her head and looked at her, saying, "Aren't you busy tomorrow morning?"

"Let Zhao Ru sell some at the market. She's used to it anyway, and catching fish doesn't take much effort."

Zhao Ru nodded repeatedly. She couldn't bear to give up her fish-selling business. Besides, she hadn't bought any new clothes yet. If she didn't buy them soon, summer would be over, and it wouldn't be hot for another two months.

Zhao Hua pursed his lips and went straight back into the house. He was always either getting up early or going to bed late. Since he had some free time this afternoon, he decided not to wander around and to get some rest and catch up on his sleep.