Back to my 1980s

"elder brother!"

Zhao Hua turned his head and looked over; Zhao Ru poked her head out of Meng Qinghe's house.

"What are you doing here?" After the group helped unload the lime, Zhao Hua, seeing that there was nothing for him to do, simply walked over to Zhao Ru.

"I was feeling bored at home, so I came over to check it out."

"Is the door closed?" Zhao Hua walked to Zhao Ru's side, turned his head and glanced at her. Sure enough, Meng Qinghe was there too. He smiled and nodded.

Their house didn't even have a proper courtyard wall; they just used some branches and fences stuck into the ground to make a simple enclosure. Naturally, this kind of wall didn't provide any shade, so they could only sit in the main room and wait for the wind to blow in...

"It's closed. Did you just go to buy lime?" Zhao Ru peeked into the tractor's trailer.

"Yeah, since you're not sleeping, you can stay here and watch over things. Call me if you need anything. I'm going home to get some more sleep. I should have just given the money to Master Zhao and let him go with the tractor."

After saying that, he thought about it and found it more and more feasible. At least the prices of building materials were about the same, and he might be able to find a better deal than him, since the other party was a professional in this industry.

Thinking of this, he counted out fifty yuan from his pocket, turned around and walked over to Master Zhao, who was directing the workers to add lime.

When Master Zhao saw him approaching with money, he looked surprised, but not knowing what Zhao Hua was going to do, he didn't rush to speak.

Zhao Hua handed over the money in his hand and said with a smile, "Master Zhao, if you need any small trinkets here in the future, just buy them yourself. If you need anything big, just come to me."

He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately accepted the money. To be honest, it was the first time he had ever seen Zhao Hua do things this way.

Not only did he not allow his family to help with the work, but he also had to make his own decisions about what to buy. In the past, he would tell the homeowner what he needed and have them buy it before starting work.

Logically, it would be much easier for him if the homeowner prepared the materials himself before starting the work, because there are only so many building materials available now, and their prices are basically transparent. If he helps to buy them, he not only doesn't get any extra money, but it also takes a lot of effort and time.

But when he saw the money in Zhao Hua's hand, he couldn't resist taking it. He suddenly felt a sense of pride in being trusted and a feeling of having great power.

"Okay, I'll just buy whatever I need myself. I'll give you a receipt later, and here's the total."

Zhao Hua didn't object to him wanting to write a bill, and said with a smile, "Fifty, just let me know when you're done."

Seeing that Master Zhao had put the money into his inner pocket, Zhao Hua didn't linger any longer. He casually gave Master Zhao a few instructions and then went home to sleep.

Around 10 p.m.

Zhao Hua put the fish from the bucket into the water tank. Although the weather was getting hotter, it was still relatively cool at night, and by 10 p.m., most of the heat had dissipated.

While bricks are important and need to be watched, catching fish is equally important, at least for now, the source of our income depends on catching fish.

So after Zhao Hua finished eating, he told his parents to go to the educated youth settlement and keep an eye on things. There were plenty of small wooden beds woven from nylon rope and bed boards woven from bamboo strips, so the two of them each carried one there.

Most of them are used for cooling off in the summer. In the summer evenings, you can see that every household sets up two long benches in front of their doors, lays a simple wooden board on them, and sleeps there until late at night before returning to their rooms.

Nobody lives inside the house; it's too stuffy. And nobody lives in the yard either; the yard has walls blocking out the wind, and in the summer, if the wind stops, you'll sweat buckets.

As for the idea that a calm mind naturally cools you down, that doesn't exist at all. In fact, people's physical condition isn't very good at this time. Their bodies are quite weak, a consequence of not having enough to eat a couple of years ago. The weaker they are, the more afraid they are of heat.

After taking care of the fish, Zhao Hua looked at Zhao Ru and said, "It's getting a bit chilly now. I'm going to bring my parents back. We can't let them sleep outside all night. Remember to open the door later."

"Oh, do you want me to come with you?" Zhao Ru had been enjoying the breeze on the river all night and hadn't felt the heat at all; she was still full of energy.

"No need, it's not far. They'll be back in a bit. Just stay home and don't wander off. Remember to open the door for them when they come back." Zhao Hua waved his hand and went straight out the door.

Zhao Hua slowly strolled towards the educated youth settlement with a flashlight in hand, but the moon was hanging quite high, so there was no need to turn on the flashlight.

"Mother, you should go back. I'll take care of things." Zhao Hua shook his sleeping mother awake.

"Huh? You're back?"

"Yes, you're back." Zhao Hua shone his flashlight around. There were three half-burnt cattails on the ground. Further away, the Meng family had also moved a bed outside to sleep. Well, these days, sleeping indoors at night requires more than just courage.

"Okay, then you can keep an eye on things for the rest of the night. Did you bring a blanket? It'll be cold at night without a blanket when the dew comes out," Zhao's mother asked as she got up and shook Zhao's father awake.

"It's nothing, it's so hot, why would we need that? Are there a lot of mosquitoes here? Do you have any more cattails?" Zhao Hua turned on his flashlight and looked down to search.

Cattails are a type of plant found along riverbanks, in ponds, and in ditches. However, they don't grow in the rivers here. The river floods every year, and sometimes it even floods, washing away everything along the riverbanks. But there are plenty of them in the ponds and ditches.

Back then, mosquito coils weren't a rare commodity in the countryside. Every household would find cattail stalks to burn to repel mosquitoes. It's only because there are now more irrigation canals that these things are really in short supply.

"No, I'll go home and get you two. I only brought three, and your dad used them all."

"Oh, never mind then, it'll be dawn soon anyway, let's not bother. Do you want a flashlight?" Zhao Hua handed over the flashlight in his hand.

"No, it's so bright, the road is already lit up, what do you need a flashlight for? You take it, your father and I are going back first." Zhao's mother waved her hand and then pulled Zhao's father, who was sitting up and waking up.

The pull brought Zhao's father back to his senses. He exchanged a few words with Zhao Hua and then got up to go home with Zhao's mother.

Zhao Hua sat down on the drying rope bed, which was quite bouncy. After watching the elderly couple walk away, he glanced around. It was quiet; even the cicadas had stopped chirping.

The father and daughter next door each had their own bed and looked to be fast asleep.

He lay down on the boat, propped his hands behind his head, and looked at the stars in the sky. The leaves of a few small trees rustled in the wind, and the night breeze was cool, creeping up from the gaps in the rope beneath him.

"Brother!" came a furtive voice.

"Huh? What brings you here?" Zhao Hua turned his head and looked over.

"My mother asked me to bring you bed sheets and cattail stalks."

"Didn't you say you didn't need it?" Zhao Hua reached out and tugged at the bed sheet, but couldn't budge it. He asked in confusion, "What's wrong? Give it to me. You've already brought it. Go back to sleep. You have to get up early tomorrow."

"Wait a minute, you tore mine. I'm not going back. I'll sleep here too. It's so stuffy in here. Mom said there are two beds here." Zhao Ru put the cattail stick she was holding on the ground and handed a bed sheet to Zhao Hua.