Back to my 1980s

"Brother, get up and eat."

When Zhao Hua woke up and opened his eyes again, it was already dark.

"Okay, I understand, I'll go right away."

Outside the room, the sound of Zhao's mother placing dishes on the table and the chopsticks falling to the ground could be heard.

Zhao Hua put on his clothes, got up, and went out. Living in an earthen house does have its advantages; at least it's cool inside during the summer.

Seeing him come out, Zhao Ru handed him a pair of chopsticks. Zhao Hua had slept well; his body, in his early twenties, was very resilient. No matter how tired he was, he would recover after a good night's sleep.

The premise is that you can eat well and be full every day.

Fortunately, the family's meals have improved a lot these days. After selling the fish, he would occasionally bring back some pork or chicken from the county town.

He recalled that after the millennium, his family would often buy chicken frames to eat, which were the kind of chickens where all the valuable meat had been removed, leaving only the skeleton.

It's very cheap, less than a quarter of the price of a whole chicken. There are also some with chicken breast, which are more expensive.

Zhao Hua searched many times but couldn't find it. It wasn't that he couldn't afford a whole chicken; he just missed the taste.

His wife can stew radishes with chicken carcasses, stew winter melon with chicken carcasses, stew potatoes with chicken carcasses, and stew vermicelli with chicken carcasses.

Later, he went out to work and had some spare money, enough to afford a whole chicken, but...

After finishing his meal, he chatted with Zhao's mother for a few minutes. Zhao's father hadn't eaten at home for the past few days because those families were waiting to use the boat and practically wanted him to build it overnight. Now, Zhao's father was eating much better outside than at home.

"Let's go, little sister, let's go catch fish." After chatting casually with Zhao's mother for a few minutes, Zhao Hua stood up and looked at Zhao Ru.

"Oh, let's go, let's go!" Zhao Ru had been waiting for a long time. She had been worried the whole time, but now that she had received confirmation, she immediately smiled.

As expected, there weren't many fish tonight, but there were still fifty or sixty pounds, enough for Zhao Ru to handle.

The next morning, as usual, he took Zhao Ru and Meng Qinghe to the crossroads and then let them follow the villagers to the market. Although many days had passed, he still did not rush to go with his sister, thinking it better to be safe than sorry.

He thought things would get much better in another two weeks. After watching the others walk away, he got on his bicycle and rode back to the village. Once there, he first put the bicycle away at home, then got some money before going to find the tractor driver.

Although the collective has been dissolved and the tractors have been contracted out to individuals, most of the village cadres are elderly and conservative, so the tractors are still nominally registered under the collective.

"Hey kid, you're doing well. I heard you're going to build a red brick house? How many bricks are you planning to buy?" As soon as Zhao Hua showed his face, the tractor driver came up to him.

Zhao Hua stepped forward, offered him a cigarette, and said with a smile, "My plan is to start with ten thousand yuan."

Jiang Yue gave him a note with 10,000 yuan written on it. He couldn't order more, as 10,000 yuan wasn't really enough because he also wanted to build a wall. However, he was too embarrassed to bother her a second time with such a small matter.

If that's not enough, we'll have to buy 'unplanned' bricks.

"So many? Three rooms? What price did you order? My eldest son is about to get married, I want to see what price it is. If it's cheap, I'll build him a brick house so it'll be easier to find a wife later." The two talked as they walked towards the tractor.

Zhao Hua thought for a moment. He certainly couldn't say that he bought the planned, affordable bricks, and besides, the price wasn't written on the receipt. He shook his head and said, "I don't know either. I haven't been to the brick factory yet. My mother said they were a little over three cents?"

"You went to haul bricks without even checking them out?" He frowned, his hand holding the crank handle pausing.

Seeing this, Zhao Hua smiled inwardly. He was probably worried about whether or not to buy bricks when he got there. The two yuan per trip was fixed, and if he was delayed any longer, he might earn less money per trip. He also had to pay the village for the tractor contract, so how much he could earn depended entirely on how many jobs he could do in a day.

He chuckled and said, "What's there to see? What's so interesting about it? I've already started digging the foundation. I'd buy it if it sold for two cents, or four cents. What's there to see? Let's go."

"Tsk tsk! You made some money! You bought it without caring about the price. Alright, hold on tight." The driver smiled, pulled out the crank handle, inserted it into the starter shaft socket on the tractor head, and cranked it a few times. The tractor immediately sputtered and emitted a string of blue smoke.

It had been a long time since I'd ridden a tractor, so this was a really fun experience. The swaying and rocking was quite noisy.

The village brick factory is not far from Shuanghuai Village; it only takes about ten minutes to get there.

After the driver stopped the tractor, Zhao Hua jumped out of the trailer. He asked the driver to wait for him at the gate for a while, and then went straight to the guardhouse.

As he approached the guardhouse, he took out his cigarettes. He couldn't go anywhere without them, and Zhao Hua had gotten used to carrying a couple of packs of cigarettes with him.

He offered the old gatekeeper a cigarette and said with a smile, "Hello, sir, I'm from Shuanghuai Village. I'd like to buy some bricks. Who should I look for?"

The old man glanced at him but didn't say anything. These days, it's rare to see someone come to buy bricks without knowing who to ask.

Seeing this, Zhao Hua handed the note Jiang Yue had given him to the old man for a second. The old man took the note, took out a pair of reading glasses, put them on, and carefully read it twice.

After reading it, he finally reacted, saying, "You should have just taken it out earlier. I was wondering which rascal was trying to trick this old man."

Zhao Hua laughed and pointed to the tractor behind him, saying, "Master, I've already called a tractor. Why would I call a tractor if I were just trying to fool you?"

The old man waved his hand, spread the slip on the table in the room, then took out a small notebook, copied down the information on the slip, returned the slip to Zhao Hua, pointed to a row of small buildings in the factory, and said, "Just go to the finance department to get an invoice and pay the money. There's someone inside who will tell you how to do it."

Zhao Hua glanced back and saw the tractor driver smoking and watching them from a distance. He pointed towards the factory, indicating that he wanted to go in first, and then went directly into the factory building.

Following the direction the old man pointed, he soon found a small room with a sign that read "Finance Office." The door was open, and he went straight in.

The accountant was a girl, who looked about the same age as Xu Qian. She took the note, glanced at it, and then looked up and carefully examined Zhao Hua several times.

Zhao Hua has lived for several decades, so how could he be afraid of a little girl? He looked back at her on the spot, and the girl became a little embarrassed by his gaze. She quickly wrote him a payment slip and said, "Go to the bank to pay first, and come back to me after you get the receipt. I'll check it and then you can start hauling bricks."

"Can't I just give it to you directly? I brought the money." Zhao Hua took out the money he had on him.

To everyone's surprise, the girl shook her head and said, "No, I don't accept money here. You have to deposit your money in the bank. It's all deposited in the bank."

Zhao Hua walked outside, looked up at the sign that clearly read "Finance Department," and was speechless. What kind of finance department is it if it doesn't collect money?