Back to my 1980s

The afternoon sun was a bit too bright, and the temperature was gradually rising.

Zhao Hua stretched slightly and laughed, "It's a bit cool here. After raining for so long, I almost forgot it was summer."

Meng Qinghe smiled but didn't reply. Since she didn't respond, Zhao Hua couldn't pry her mouth open to make her speak. The two sat there quietly, and the atmosphere was a little awkward.

Time ticked by, and Zhao Hua felt extremely uncomfortable, as if ants were crawling all over him. It was so embarrassing, but he really didn't have much experience communicating with girls.

In the past, when people went on blind dates, they would get married after just one glance. Once married, she was his wife. So, whether she could speak well or not wasn't that important. It was fine not to speak at all; you could just offend him directly.

After he got a wife and kids, someone else took care of his money. He was penniless, with only enough for cigarettes. He would occasionally go out for a meal with friends. In the 1990s, he was not only middle-aged but also broke. What young girl would be so blind as to talk to him?

Women his age did talk to him, but in the countryside, with so much farm work, women age quickly. By their thirties, they were already dark-skinned and wrinkled, so they couldn't really chat about anything. At most, they would greet each other if they met on the street.

When he spoke, Meng Qinghe didn't respond. In fact, he was at a loss for words and had no idea what else to say. But just sitting there like that was really making his scalp tingle.

He twisted his back and glanced at Meng Qinghe, who was able to sit so calmly the whole time.

He looked away, glanced left and right, and saw the pile of bricks behind him. He chuckled and said, "I bought these bricks for two cents each."

Meng Qinghe turned to look at him and chuckled softly, "Is that so? Is two cents too expensive or too cheap?"

Zhao Hua shook his head and laughed, "That's not important. The main thing is that there are now negotiated bricks. Have you noticed? You can actually buy a lot of things even without ration coupons."

Meng Qinghe thought for a moment, then shook her head and said, "I don't know either. I haven't bought anything. All my money has been handed over. Everything in our house was provided by my father..."

"..." Zhao Hua almost lost his composure again. He exhaled, ignored Meng Qinghe's words, smiled, and said, "What I mean is that there are now many items being negotiated at lower prices. You know, there are quite a few people in the market who are actually secretly opening shops, have you noticed?"

"I think so. Zhao Ru told me that there's a private supply and marketing cooperative on the road we came back from."

Zhao Hua breathed a sigh of relief; at least the atmosphere wasn't so awkward anymore. He pointed to the road beside him and said, "Look, your house is right by the road, and all the villagers around you have to use this road. Why don't you open a small shop?"

"A convenience store?" She was a little confused.

"Well, I just sell small things, like oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and the like. I've been going to the county town a lot lately. The county supply and marketing cooperative already has a wholesale department that specifically supplies goods to individual businesses. No invoices are needed, just money."

He actually had some selfish motives. There was a small shop next door, so he could just go out to buy cigarettes without having to go through the trouble of walking. Besides, Shuanghuai Village was close to the dock and was quite large. Even if the two shops next door opened, they wouldn't be unable to make money.

"A supply and marketing cooperative? That must require a lot of money." She smiled sheepishly, then hesitated, "Besides, there's already a supply and marketing cooperative in the village. If our family opens one, wouldn't we be taking away business from the government?"

Zhao Hua waved his hand dismissively and said, "The village store doesn't care about any of that. They open and close on time. If you really can't, just wait until they open for business before you open. Besides, all you need is a business license. They sell during the day, you sell at night. They can't say anything if you steal their business."

Zhao Hua thought it was perfect. These days, if you need something, it's a long way to the village supply and marketing cooperative. And the fact that they close on time is really inconvenient. If you get busy and forget to buy cigarettes, no one will open the door for you when you're smoking straw at night.

It would be great if a small shop opened next door with no time restrictions, so people could buy things whenever they wanted. Anyway, the village's supply and marketing cooperative would be replaced sooner or later, so having one more or one less shop in the village wouldn't make much difference. It would not only make things more convenient for him, but also improve his family's life.

It's not that Zhao Hua couldn't open his own shop, but his location wasn't as good as Meng Qinghe's. Of course, location was secondary; the main problem was that he wouldn't make much money. Besides, people were constantly coming and going at his house, and once the shop opened, it basically became a gathering place for the villagers. He didn't have the time to entertain the villagers.

To everyone's surprise, Meng Qinghe shook her head and said, "No, it's better not to. It would be very difficult for our family to get the certificate. My father..."

Zhao Hua knew what she was worried about. Before she could finish speaking, Zhao Hua waved his hand and said, "A business license? It's actually very easy to get. You just need to get a certificate from the town's industrial and commercial administration office. It's very easy. I've met the director of the administration office a few times and I know where it is. I can take your dad there, or you can take him there yourself."

Zhao Hua originally just wanted to find a topic to break the awkwardness, but the more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

Meng Qinghe was speechless after Zhao Hua's words, so she could only listen quietly. After Zhao Hua finished speaking, she brushed her hair back a little embarrassedly and said, "Then... getting the certificates and buying the goods must cost a lot of money, right? Our family..."

Zhao Hua curled his lip. Opening a small shop in the village wouldn't require renovations or rent. The signboard could be made on any piece of wood. Surely the educated youth couldn't be illiterate, and given their accounting skills, they wouldn't be completely incapable of doing basic math.

The cost of purchasing goods is minimal, but it's not much. Since they're just sitting around doing nothing, Zhao Hua decided to do some calculations with Meng Qinghe, saying, "Let's calculate how much capital we need."

As he spoke, he picked up a small twig from the side and started drawing on the ground, saying, "First, let's talk about the shop. You can use your own house for the shop. There's no need to rush for the counter. Just find a few wooden boards to set up and put the goods on the boards." After saying that, he looked up at Meng Qinghe.

Meng Qinghe nodded. Actually, she was also quite bored, and besides, it didn't cost her anything to just listen, so she was willing to chat with him for a while.

Seeing this, Zhao Hua continued, "As for the signboard, that's also very simple. Just find a piece of wood, write the words on it, and put it on the ground. If you're worried that people won't see it because it's on the ground, you can just buy a nail and hang it on the wall."

Meng Qinghe nodded again, and Zhao Hua continued, "Then there's the business license. That's easy to get. Hmm, I don't know why your dad was demoted from the city, but it shouldn't affect you, right? After all, you were so young back then."