"Uncle Er Ga, the same place tomorrow. Please arrange for the villagers to wait for me here again."
Looking at the lively river fish in the bucket, Chen Yang felt incredibly pleased. This was all money.
"Comrade Chen Yang, don't worry. The villagers will definitely be here before you. We've also been watching these fish in the river, making sure they're all lively and kicking."
When Chen Yang was collecting the fish, the village Party secretary, Liu Er Ga, even helped him weigh and transfer the fish into the buckets. Their relationship quickly grew closer.
Chen Yang's address had changed from Secretary Liu to Uncle Er Ga!
Liu Er Ga had no choice. He was tired of poverty. In those days, even he, as the village secretary, could barely afford to eat his fill. As for the other villagers, they ate one meal and went hungry for another.
With Chen Yang coming to buy fish, some villagers could catch dozens of pounds a day, while others caught seven or eight pounds, or ten or so. Basically, everyone earned one or two yuan a day.
This was equivalent to their work points earned over half a month. How could he not try to curry favor with Chen Yang?
Fortunately, this young man was also amenable. Helping him transfer fish only took a bit of effort, and with a few cigarettes passed around, Liu Er Ga was overjoyed.
Although he was a village secretary, he rarely smoked cigarettes throughout the year. A pack cost a few cents, and who could bear to waste money on that? It was enough to buy over half a pound of meat.
Chen Yang bid farewell to Liu Er Ga. The old donkey brayed and pulled the cart laden with many large buckets of fish towards the county town.
Among the several brigades, Liujiawan was the farthest from the county town, while Shenjia Brigade was the closest. Therefore, Chen Yang had also arranged with Shen Guangfu and the others to gather at Shenjiaba after collecting the fish.
Once Chen Yang arrived, they would all go to the aquatic products station in the county town together.
"Brother Yang, it's too much, too much. The money you gave us isn't enough. We'll have to issue IOUs for the rest."
When Chen Yang returned home, Zheng Weiguo and Liu Maosheng practically rushed to meet him, holding a piece of paper with accounts written on it.
"How much did you collect?"
Zheng Weiguo and Liu Maosheng went to the same brigades as the Shenjia Brigade, and the villages within the brigade were all near the Liu River. Therefore, Chen Yang had given them nine hundred yuan.
This was the purchase price for over four thousand catties of large fish!
"Four thousand catties of large fish, and almost five hundred catties of small fish!"
Zheng Weiguo and Liu Maosheng were grinning from ear to ear. Having collected so many fish, they had not let Chen Yang down.
"Large fish at 0.22 yuan per catty, so four thousand is 880 yuan. Small fish at 0.12 yuan per catty, so five hundred is 60 yuan. That's 40 yuan short, which we'll make up tomorrow."
To increase their competitiveness in buying fish, Chen Yang had directly passed on the two-cent bonus from Wang Jianguo to the villagers who sold the fish.
In addition, Liu Fuchun had urgently contacted these village Party secretaries, and Zheng Weiguo and Liu Maosheng had also smoothly collected fish in the Zhenfang Brigade.
"Yangzi, it's about the same on our end. A total of 4,200 catties. We have enough money."
Shen Guangfu and Shen Laifu, the older generation, were not as impetuous as Zheng Weiguo and Liu Maosheng; they were more steady. However, the proud expressions on their faces also reflected their inner excitement.
As farmers, they had never dreamed in their lives of collecting thousands of catties of fish and personally handing out eight or nine hundred yuan.
Didn't you see how the men from Gangshang Brigade were flattering them as they sold their fish?
In the past, during busy farming seasons, they had often fought with those old fellows over water. Now, with everyone receiving money from them, Shen Guangfu and Shen Laifu felt incredibly pleased.
"Xue Yatou and I collected five thousand catties."
Just then, Shen Futang tapped his pipe and casually said.
Zheng Weiguo and Liu Maosheng, the younger generation, couldn't compare. Seeing how proud their brothers and Shen Laifu were, Shen Futang also felt the urge to compete.
If others worked so hard for their son-in-law, he, as the father-in-law, absolutely could not be outdone.
"Wife, you and Dad are amazing. I've been collecting for so many days, and the most I've got is just over four thousand catties. You two broke through five thousand catties at once. You're truly my lucky star."
Chen Yang hugged Shen Xue, who was standing proudly beside him without speaking, and kissed her. Shen Xue's face instantly turned red.
This rascal, with so many people watching, how dare he!
Oh my, how would she be able to face people after this? Her father and second uncle were both watching.
This stinking man was definitely doing it on purpose.
Shen Xue was stunned, while Zheng Weiguo and Liu Maosheng, the two young men, also blushed instantly.
They were still unmarried and had been single for over twenty years. They had never witnessed such a scene.
Is this, is this something they could watch for free?
Seeing his father-in-law's eyes practically spitting fire, Chen Yang finally realized he was in trouble.
He was too accustomed to the openness of later generations, where kissing and showing legs were common on the streets.
He was just too excited and couldn't help but want to kiss Shen Xue, but he had forgotten that it was still the seventies.
Even between husband and wife, things might be conservative, let alone with so many people watching.
"Couldn't help myself, couldn't help myself."
Chen Yang smiled awkwardly. At this moment, being stared at by his father-in-law's murderous gaze, he felt utterly humiliated.
Seeing his embarrassed look, Shen Xue actually started to enjoy it. This rascal, he actually had moments of shyness. Let's see if he dared to misbehave again in the future!
"We must send the fish to the aquatic products station quickly. When the sun gets stronger later, the fish will definitely turn belly up."
Chen Yang quickly found an excuse and then dashed onto his donkey cart.
If he didn't run now, he was afraid his father-in-law would hit him on the head with his pipe.
"Puff."
Seeing his hasty retreat, Shen Xue finally couldn't help but laugh. This rascal actually had his day!
"What are you laughing at? Drive the donkey cart."
"From now on, you'll follow me when I sell fish. Keep this money safe for this little brat. Men, they turn bad as soon as they have money."
"Back then, if your grandmother hadn't been fierce and strict, your grandfather would have had I don't know how many concubines. You must keep this little brat in check, or you'll end up crying."
Shen Futang looked at the affectionate young couple with a hint of bitterness.
The old father felt upset. The cabbage he had raised for over twenty years had not only been eaten by a pig.
And this pig was also detestable, constantly bringing his cabbage to him to gnaw on. Who could stand this?
He decided to not see and not be bothered. He would quickly build a house for this brat, so he couldn't live in his house anymore.
Chen Yang naturally didn't know these thoughts. Their group, driving several donkey carts laden with goods, headed straight for the aquatic products station.
"Station Chief Wang, we have a delivery, a big delivery!"
Before Chen Yang even entered the gate of the aquatic products station, his cousin Zhao Wukang, seeing the grand display, was so surprised that he forgot to open the door for him and ran to Wang Jianguo's office.
It wasn't his fault. Even Master Zhang, who had been weighing fish for years, was dumbfounded. So many fish, many people had never seen so many in their lives.
Yesterday, after hearing Liu Fuchun's words, Wang Jianguo had managed to find that copy of the Guangming Daily in the factory's newspaper reading room and was studying it carefully.
Hearing Zhao Wukang's words, he hurried out.
Seeing the fish splashing water from the tails of five or six donkey carts, Wang Jianguo was also speechless with shock.