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

The group whispered among themselves, "Third Brother, did you hear? Wang Zongbao from the Heping Brigade was showing off in our village this afternoon, saying they make a couple hundred yuan a day fishing!"

The young man, known as Third Brother, squatted on the ground, smoking a pipe without saying a word.

Another companion anxiously chimed in, "Third Brother, why do Wang Zongbao and his gang fish in our Qingshui Ditch and pocket all the profits? What makes us brothers any worse than them?"

"Yes, Third Brother, why don't we take over and earn this money ourselves?"

Old Zhao took a deep drag on his pipe, exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, and sighed, "It won't work."

His companion was getting anxious: "Why not, Third Brother? They're just relying on having fishing boats and nets, aren't they? What makes us worse than them? We have the catch now, we can catch several hundred pounds of fish too."

Another person chimed in, "That's right, Third Brother. And I've found out everything. They sold the fish to the canteen of Jinxiu Textile Factory. Now they can't catch fish anymore, but we can."

The textile factory canteen uses so much fish every day, why don't we make money off it? It doesn't make sense.

Zhao Laosan shook his head again: "No, Zhao Chenghu won't agree to this."

Upon hearing this, the other two accomplices immediately panicked.

"Third brother, are you confused? Zhao Chenghu's family isn't short of money, but we're different. The three of us brothers haven't even gotten married yet, and we're almost unable to pay our grain taxes. Let alone earning two or three hundred a day, if each of us brothers could get thirty or forty yuan, that would be a lot of money."

"That's right, Third Brother, we're working in the fields every day to earn work points. How long will it take? We can't compare to Zhao Chenghu. Besides, Zhao Chenghu always puts himself first when it comes to any benefits. Has he ever thought about us brothers?"

"That's right, Third Brother, it's a fool not to make money when it's available. Let's go fishing now while it's dark, and then secretly transport the fish to the textile factory to sell tomorrow morning. Nobody will know... As long as we're not seen, who will suspect us?"

"Fifth Brother is right, Third Brother. I think this will work. As long as we don't get caught, who will suspect us? Besides, if the textile factory can buy fish from Wang Zongbao and his group, why can't it buy fish from other people? No matter what, they won't suspect us."

Zhao Laosan had actually been tempted for a long time, otherwise he wouldn't have come out to meet with his brothers.

After some persuasion from the fifth and seventh brothers, he finally made up his mind.

After shaking out and stomping out his pipe, he stood up and said, "Alright, let's sneak the boat out tonight and fish in the dead of night. As long as we don't get caught, we can make this money without anyone knowing."

Upon hearing Zhao Laosan's words, Laowu and Laoqi were overjoyed: "That's right, Third Brother, that's how we should do it!"

"And we can't tell Zhao Chenghu. If he finds out, he'll not only want a share of the money, but he'll probably cause us trouble too."

After making up their minds, Zhao Laosan and his companions went home.

The group agreed to go out again in the early hours of the morning to fish under the moonlight, hoping to earn the money without anyone noticing.

However, what they didn't know was that it was all a trap set by Zhao Lei to lure them out.

……

The next day, Zhao Lei led Qin Bowen and the others to Jinxiu Textile Factory early in the morning.

The group went directly to the guesthouse opposite the Jinxiu Textile Factory and ordered some tea.

Qin Bowen had barely sat down when he started to lose his patience.

"Brother-in-law, will your idea even work? If no one comes, won't we just be wasting our time?"

Wang Zongbao's heart was pounding: "Brother Lei, should we just stay here and keep watch? Will those boat thieves come?"

Zhao Lei took a sip of tea and reassured everyone, "What's the panic? Bowen, sit down!"

"Brother-in-law, it must be these three. Let me go and catch them red-handed."

Wang Zongbao also jumped up: "Brother Lei, if we don't catch them now, they'll get away."

Zhao Lei gestured for the two to sit down.

"Brother-in-law, why aren't you worried at all?"

"What's the rush? You barged into someone's factory and grabbed the fishmonger for no reason. Are you out of your mind?"

"But brother-in-law, it's all so obvious."

Qin Changlin calmly advised from the side, "Bowen, Zongbao, sit down first. Leizi is right. They're just here to sell fish. You don't have solid evidence that they stole our boat. Even if you catch them, what then?"

"But Uncle Changlin..."

Zhao Lei snapped impatiently, "Sit down!"

Immediately, Qin Bowen and Wang Zongbao both sullenly shrank back into their seats, each gritting their teeth in secret.

Zhao Lei then gently persuaded them, "Don't be in a hurry, you two. If we want to arrest people, we need evidence. They're just picking out fish to sell. Our ultimate goal is to find the fishing boat."

After Zhao Lei calmed down the two young men...

Not long after, three fishmongers walked out of the textile factory carrying empty baskets.

All three of them wore expressions of undisguised joy.

When Qin Bowen and Wang Zongbao saw this scene, they were even more furious, their teeth practically grinding to powder.

Logically, they should have earned the money today, but these boat thieves pocketed it instead.

Before long, the three men, carrying empty loads, were about to disappear from sight.

Wang Qin Changlin couldn't hold back any longer and looked at Zhao Lei: "Lei Zi, they're leaving."

Zhao Lei slowly stood up, and the other three also stood up when they saw this.

"Did you recognize him?"

Qin Bowen was somewhat surprised: "Recognized what?"

"Didn't you see clearly? All three of them are members of the Qingshuigou militia. We had a conflict with them the night we were hunting wild boars, and these three were among them."

Upon hearing Zhao Lei's words, Wang Zongbao suddenly remembered and slapped his thigh: "That's right, Brother Lei! Although it was a bit dark at the time, it seemed that there were indeed these three people, and a few days ago we also saw Zhao Chenghu with a few of them in the Qingshuigou Brigade Commune compound."

"Brother-in-law, it really was the people from Qingshuigou who did it. What do we do now?"

Zhao Lei thought for a moment, then turned his gaze to Wang Zongbao: "Zongbao, give me the key to your old bicycle."

"Huh? Brother Lei, what are you doing?"

"Zongbao, remember what I'm saying: quietly follow behind them, keep a close eye on these people, and make sure you don't get spotted. Also, don't act impulsively."

Qin Bowen said, "Brother-in-law, let me go."

Zhao Lei waved his hand: "You can't do it! You have a fiery temper. What if you mess things up and they claim they caught the fish themselves and didn't steal the fishing boat?"

"I......"

Qin Bowen was speechless.

Zhao Lei once again instructed Wang Zongbao: "Zongbao, you're a shrewd little devil. This task is assigned to you, so make sure you keep a close eye on them!"

When they go fishing again tonight, find out the location of their fishing boats and come back to report to me.