Reborn in 78, I made my fortune by working in the mountains, supporting three families on my own.

Zhao Lei pulled Wang Zongbao closer and said, "Zongbao, I'm giving you a task. Whether we can catch the ship thieves depends entirely on you!"

Wang Zongbao immediately became serious.

"Brother Lei, just tell me what you want me to do. As long as we can catch the thieves who stole the boat and recover our losses, I'll do anything."

"Alright, Zongbao, you can go wander around Qingshui Ditch in a bit and chat with those idle old ladies and gossipy women."

Wang Zongbao looked puzzled: "Huh? What's there to talk about with them?"

"Listen to me, then go and brag to them that you've been catching hundreds of kilograms of fish every day these past few days, supplying them to the canteen of Jinxiu Textile Factory, and earning several hundred yuan."

Hearing this, Qin Changlin, who was standing next to him, became a little anxious.

"Lei Zi, what are you up to? They say you shouldn't flaunt your wealth, aren't you just asking for trouble?"

Qin Bowen's eyes darted around, and he stepped forward to advise, "Brother-in-law, the people in Qingshuigou already have a problem with us fishing here. If you let Zongbao show off, won't that just make them hate us even more?"

Zhao Lei revealed a confident smile: "Hahaha, this is the effect I wanted. Zongbao, remember, you must spread the news throughout Qingshuigou. Only if this is done well can we possibly catch the boat thief."

The group was completely baffled, having no idea what Zhao Lei was up to.

"Brother-in-law, stop keeping me in suspense. Why are you letting Zongbao show off?"

"Yeah, Lei Zi, give us a heads-up so we can feel a little more at ease."

Faced with everyone's persistent questioning, Zhao Lei simply shared his thoughts with them...

After listening, the three of them were all deeply shocked, and their eyes were full of admiration as they looked at Zhao Lei.

Even Qin Changlin, as an elder, secretly gave Zhao Lei a thumbs up at this moment.

It turns out that Zhao Lei analyzed the whole incident and concluded that the thieves who stole the boat didn't want anything; they just wanted to mess with them.

He sent Wang Zongbao out to show off, mainly to expose the fact that Jinxiu Textile Factory was buying fish.

Zhao Lei firmly believed that with such a huge profit in front of them, wouldn't the ship thieves be tempted?

With fishing boats, nets, tools, and manpower, and with the Qingshui River located within the Qingshui Ditch, they only need to follow the example of Zhao Lei and his group to directly replace their fishing livelihood.

That's over a hundred yuan a day, which is no small amount.

It's only because Zhao Lei and his group have recently figured out the tricks of hunting and fishing that they have such high incomes.

Looking across the entire Tuanjie Township, it's simply a pipe dream for other hunters or young people to earn more than a hundred yuan in a short period of time.

Zhao Lei said, "I bet they won't be able to resist. Aren't they envious of so much money?"

Qin Bowen and the others nodded in agreement, agreeing with Zhao Lei's assessment that few could withstand such a test.

Those are real banknotes!

These days, you can't earn much money with work points anyway. If you have money to be made, wouldn't you be a complete idiot?

The shrewd and experienced Qin Changlin greatly admired Zhao Lei's idea, but he still had some concerns: "Lei Zi, your analysis is so detailed, do you already have someone you suspect in mind?"

Zhao Lei didn't hide anything and bluntly expressed his thoughts: "I suspect that Zhao Chenghu was behind this!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Bowen flew into a rage: "Damn it! It's that bastard again!"

Wang Zongbao was also indignant: "I knew it, Zhao Chenghu is petty and would definitely try to do something bad."

Qin Changlin pondered for a while. He had also heard that Zhao Chenghu had used animal traps without permission, harming many innocent people. He even wanted to pin the blame on Zhao Lei, but Zhao Lei managed to get away with it.

Meanwhile, the story of Zhao Chenghu asking matchmaker Qin Sufeng to poach Zhao Lei's wife had already spread throughout the entire Heping Brigade.

Upon hearing Zhao Lei's analysis, he thought to himself: Lei Zi's analysis makes a lot of sense.

Qingshuigou is Zhao Chenghu's territory, and he was also the former militia captain. Only he has the motive and ability to do such a thing.

Qin Changlin suddenly remembered something and turned to Zhao Lei, asking, "Lei Zi, you suspect Zhao Chenghu, and he is indeed the most suspicious. However, he wouldn't be foolish enough to expose himself, would he? After all, he only wants revenge on you; this amount of money isn't that tempting for him, is it?"

Zhao Lei nodded: "That's right, Uncle Changlin. Zhao Chenghu might not care about a hundred or so yuan, but who's to say his men won't be tempted?"

……

For the rest of the afternoon, Wang Zongbao, just as Zhao Lei had predicted, started showing off in Qingshui Ditch.

He and Qin Changlin bear undeniable responsibility for the loss of the fishing boat.

In order to recover the losses and to save face, Wang Zongbao worked exceptionally hard.

In addition, this young man was naturally eloquent and glib, and he chatted with the aunties and grandmas of Qingshuigou for a while.

Even several elderly women have taken a liking to Wang Zongbao, this young man.

He was good at making money, eloquent, and handsome, and he even had a bicycle to show off his status.

In those days, owning a 28-inch motorcycle and chatting with the aunties at the village intelligence station was no less impressive than showing off in a Range Rover at the village entrance in the 21st century.

As they chatted, the women even started telling Wang Zongbao about their daughters and granddaughters.

And so, Wang Zongbao stayed in Qingshuigou until dark.

After he left, wisps of smoke rose from every household in Qingshuigou.

People talked about Wang Zongbao from the Heping Brigade fishing in Qingshui Ditch during their leisure time.

The news quickly spread throughout the entire Qingshuigou area.

Upon hearing the news, the villagers reacted in various ways, but the vast majority criticized Wang Zongbao and his group.

"Damn, these people from the Peace Brigade are so shameless. They come to our brigade to fish, and they're showing off like this."

"That's right. Last time I caught them taking a fish, they even gave me a dirty look. This fish originally came from our Qingshui Ditch."

"Sigh, if Zhao Chenglong hadn't vouched for them, would they be able to fish here?"

"That's true, but if you're so good at it, why don't you go fish in the Clear Water Ditch? If you can catch anything, that's your skill."

"Do you think I don't want to? But I don't know where the Peace Brigade got these fishing nets and boats. With these things, I can catch just as many fish as they do."

The villagers of Qingshuigou had different attitudes toward this, but most of them just treated it as a topic of conversation over tea, and only cursed a few words at the Heping Brigade.

However, a few people took it to heart...

One night in Qingshuigou, a few strong young men secretly met under a large locust tree...