My 1978 Hotel

Zhang Susu was filled with gratitude, but she had already made up her mind. Such a good job was probably a transfer fee, and it would cost at least one or two years' salary. Even at the median price, it would still be 540 yuan.

But Brother Li didn't mention money. Zhang Susu understood that Brother Li was taking pity on her. But as a person, one should at least know how to be grateful and know when to advance and retreat. She had no relation to him, yet he took such good care of her when she came here.

Now that she'd found such a good job, Zhang Susu was filled with gratitude, but she also had a slight unease. She was too embarrassed to say anything, afraid that she might overthink it. Zhang Susu secretly resolved that she must give the transfer fee to Brother Li; she couldn't just take his job for free.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Why are you daydreaming, girl?" Li Feng said with a smile. "Make a note of this. Come back to the county town with us in the next couple of days and get this done as soon as possible."

"Ah."

Zhang Susu nodded vigorously.

"Okay, don't tell anyone about this yet."

Li Feng thought for a moment and then explained, "As you know, this job is quite difficult. If word gets out, I'm afraid many people in the team will gossip about it behind my back."

"I know."

She knew perfectly well how rare a permanent job was, and she certainly wouldn't tell anyone. As an outsider, the fact that Brother Li was taking such good care of her would likely cause gossip within the team, not to mention what if someone else came looking to replace her.

At that time, it must have been quite difficult for Brother Li; she certainly wouldn't have said anything.

"It's good that you know."

Li Feng stood up and clapped his hands. "You pack up, I have to go to the team." Professor Wu and the other two hadn't returned for a while, Li Feng had to go check on them, lest they cause any trouble.

"Brother, let me help you. I'll take care of it."

Zhang Susu hurriedly said.

"Then I'll wait to eat."

Li Feng wiped his hands, left the courtyard, and headed all the way to the brigade, searching for Wu Xun and the other two without finding them. "Well, where did they go? I didn't see them at the furniture factory; only Chengcheng was with Daya, while Erya was polishing furniture."

"Dong Qing, Wu Yu is missing?"

Chengcheng slapped her forehead; these two were always making a ruckus.

"Father."

"I saw my two uncles and Mingliang go to the reservoir," Da Ya whispered.

"Who, Bright?"

How did Dong Qing and Wu Yu get involved with Mingliang after they just arrived? Goodness, they even went to the reservoir! Those two kids are really something, only been here for two days. "No, I have to go check on them. By the way, Chengcheng, have you seen Uncle Wu and the others?"

"I saw it. It was just wandering around the village. But I heard from Cheng Xue that they found some kind of pillbox or something."

"blockhouse?"

"What the hell is this?" Li Feng muttered. "Well, it's only been a short while, and they're all already causing me trouble." "Which direction is the pillbox in?"

"Brother Feng, the pillbox is on the hillside behind the team. It's a very desolate place, covered with bushes. There's hardly a spot where even rabbits wouldn't poop."

They really dared to go! Li Feng sighed, worried that if they encountered snakes or foxes, a bite would be quite painful. Now, one went to the reservoir to cause trouble, while the other three ran off to the desolate mountains and wilderness to cause trouble.

I've really become a babysitter. I originally thought that everyone who came this time was cultured, but I didn't expect that cultured people would be so prone to causing trouble.

"Second brother, go to the reservoir and check. Dong Qing and the other two have probably gone into the water to catch fish."

Li Feng said, "I'll go check the back mountain, just in case something's wrong."

"Okay, I'll go right away."

Gao stood up and said.

Without delay, the two quickly left, one on the left and one on the right. Li Feng followed the path all the way to the small hill behind the production team. "This place is really desolate. Luckily, we were prepared." Li Feng swung his machete, cutting away the thorny branches blocking the way.

"Uncle Wu."

Li Feng shouted several times before finally hearing Wu Xun's voice.

"Here."

Well, that's impressive, they've even climbed to the top of the hill. Li Feng was speechless. After some effort, he finally cleared a path that was passable. "Professor Wu, what's going on here?"

"Look here quickly!"

"This is probably some kind of pillbox."

Wu Xun pointed excitedly at the messy ruins on the hilltop. "Except for the central area, which was renovated later, the style of the rest is completely different. We took a look around, and this style should be from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties."

"Late Ming and early Qing?"

Li Feng muttered to himself, "Building a house here? They must be out of their minds."

“We suspect it might be some kind of anti-Qing stronghold. It’s easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it’s not too far from a water source,” Wu Xun said, pointing to the river below the hillside not far away.

"Really."

That sounds reasonable, but why are you getting so worked up, you're a designer, not an archaeologist? "Professor Wu, there must be quite a few places like this, right?"

"It's quite a lot."

Li Feng was speechless. "Then why are you so excited? You even climbed up here. Look, your clothes are all torn."

"Professor Wu, now that you've finished looking at it, shouldn't we go downstairs?"

Li Feng said, "This is a desolate mountain area, often frequented by wild boars and venomous snakes. Be careful not to get hurt."

"Oh, a wild boar?"

Mu Yang and Cheng Xue's expressions changed upon hearing this.

"There used to be a lot of wild boars, but we hunted some recently, just in case," Li Feng thought to himself. He was afraid it would be hard to encounter wild boars again, since so many villages hadn't stopped hunting, especially after the autumn harvest when the yield was so low that everyone was trying to make up for it.

"Then let's go down first."

Wu Xun wasn't an archaeologist, so he didn't go into the field. Besides, this wasn't the future; it was 78. Who knew what else might be lurking in the mountains? If something suddenly appeared, they really wouldn't be able to handle it. Back at the brigade, Li Feng finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Uncle Wu, you all go back and rest for a while. I'll go check on Dong Qing and the others."

They're all such a handful, Li Feng thought helplessly; he felt like he was becoming their nanny.

"What happened to Dong Qing and the others?"

Li Feng glanced at Cheng Xue but didn't say anything. Cheng Xue immediately understood, and her face flushed slightly. "Do you need our help?"

"No need, you all just need to rest."

Okay, now Wu Xun and Mu Yang both understood. It turns out they were being told to behave themselves and not run around.

"Then I'll go over there."

Upon arriving at the reservoir, Li Feng was completely bewildered. What was going on? Why was his second brother in the water too? "What's going on, second brother?"

"Old Li...cousin, big fish."

Dong Qing wiped the mud off her face and exclaimed excitedly, "It's so long!" She stretched out her arms to show her length. Li Feng thought to himself, "You're over a meter long? You're not kidding, are you?"

"Is there really a big fish?"

"It's quite big."

When Gao saw Li Feng arrive, he smiled somewhat embarrassedly. "I'm afraid he's over a meter tall."

"So big."

Good heavens, they actually ran into it! Li Feng wondered what kind of fish it was. "Where did it go?"

"We were just here a moment ago."

Seeing this, Li Feng decided to go down and help. Sure enough, he was immediately swung by the fish's tail. Seeing this, Li Feng got really excited and grabbed the fish's tail. He was now more than twice as strong as the average person.

Even though there were more than an acre of fish, Li Feng didn't pay much attention to what kind of fish they were when he suddenly flung them out of the water. He used both arms to swing them forcefully, and the big fish was thrown more than ten meters away, landing on the dry pavement and thrashing about.

"Wow, cousin, you're awesome!"

Dong Qing and Wu Yu were dumbfounded. He pulled the fish, which was over a meter long, out of the water in one go. This was simply superhuman. No, Boss Li really does seem to be a superhuman.

What kind of fish is this?

"He looks rather fierce."

"Mandarin fish".

Li Feng muttered to himself, "This slightly yellowish snakehead fish really is over a meter long." "You guys are really bold. Mingliang, come here here. Do you recognize this fish?"

"Ghost fish".

Han Mingliang nodded. "Good to know. It's so big, you could easily kill someone in a hit-and-run. You guys are really reckless." Li Feng looked at Dong Qing and Wu Yu.

At this moment, not only the two of them, but even Gao Jiu felt a little embarrassed. He had come to call for help, but unexpectedly, he ended up going into the water to help catch fish.

"Don't fool around next time."

Li Feng looked at the jumping mandarin fish, which was a little over a meter long. It wasn't actually that heavy. This thing was even thinner than a grass carp. This one was about 1.3 meters long and weighed about 30 or 40 kilograms. It was probably because there wasn't much food in the reservoir. Otherwise, it would probably weigh around 50 kilograms.

"Let's take this fish back first."

After saying that, he took out 50 cents and gave it to Han Mingliang. "Mingliang, take this fish back with you, this 50 cents is your share."

"Thank you, uncle."

Han Mingliang happily accepted the fifty cents. These ghastly fish were awful; they had a strong fishy smell and were tough. "Uncle, do you want these fish?"

Do you have any loach?

There are several.

Han Mingliang glanced into the wooden bucket. There weren't many loaches, but there were crucian carp and quite a few meat skewers, probably weighing more than ten pounds.

"Okay, two yuan, give me all of these."

"Uh-huh."

Han Mingliang was overjoyed; it was two yuan. But before Li Feng could hand him the money, a hand grabbed Han Mingliang's ear. "I've told you eight hundred times, don't come to the reservoir! You just won't listen."

"Mom, Mom, it hurts, it hurts, it really hurts! Please let go, I promise I won't do it again."

"I won't dare anymore? When will you ever dare to do that?"

"If I don't teach you a lesson today, you'll never know your place."

After saying that, he was about to give Han Mingliang a lesson, but Li Feng saw that it was not good to stop him. After the beating was over, he stepped forward to persuade him, saying, "Li Hong, don't hit him anymore. Look how the child is crying. Besides, the reservoir is not a place to hit a child."

Wu Yu and Dong Qing exchanged a glance. Boss Li is so ruthless. Does he think he hasn't beaten them enough?

"It's all because this child is such a handful; he's driving me crazy."

Wang Lihong was about to drag Han Mingliang home to continue beating him when she spoke. Han Mingliang winked, "This kid really hasn't had enough." Li Feng quickly said, "Lihong, these are the fish that Mingliang caught. I saw they were okay, so I bought them for two yuan."

"how much is it?"

Wang Lihong was stunned. Two yuan? That's so much money! Han Mingliang gestured to Li Feng, as if to say, "Uncle, why did you say that out loud?"

"Two pieces, is that alright with you?"

"Okay, okay."

Wang Lihong snatched the two yuan and glanced at Han Mingliang's bright red ears. "Next time you come to catch fish, call your dad and the others."

"Do you know?"

"got it."

Han Mingliang looked miserable and complained that they could still sell fish themselves. Uncle Feng had really gotten himself into trouble this time. Li Feng pretended not to see Han Mingliang's resentful look. This kid was too bold. You could tell him to do something else and he wouldn't even worry.

The silt in the reservoir is of varying depths; if something goes wrong, it's no laughing matter. Li Feng had already planned to bring this up, and this was a good opportunity to teach the kid a lesson. Han Mingliang was dragged back, and Li Feng glanced at Wu Yu and Dong Qing.

"Let's go back and pack up."

Li Feng sighed helplessly at the sight of them dressed like this. "Did you guys bring any underwear?"

"No."

The two thought to themselves, "Who would have thought we'd bring this thing here?"

"Then we'll have to put it in neutral."

"No, Mr. Li, you must have brought it."

"I didn't bring any new ones."

"what?"

The two men wore pained expressions; their pants were soaked, and they were in a terrible predicament. "You can wash up here first. There won't be much water for you to shower when we get back; you can only be dried off at most."

"These conditions are too harsh."

"That's considered good."

"This is just a preview for you," Gao said. "Next time it won't be so easy."

"Oh, so what are you coming here for next time?"

"Either work in the team, digging and clearing silt, or go to the river to dig river mud."

Li Feng looked at the two of them. "We only work twelve hours a day, and we get two cornbread buns for every meal. Oh, and dried sweet potatoes too. How about it, want to try some?"

"Don't, don't."

Good heavens, this job and the food sound like a nightmare. "Boss Li, no, cousin, we were wrong, we'll listen to you from now on," Dong Qing hurriedly patted his chest and promised.

Upon hearing this, Wu Yu realized that he had angered Boss Li, and quickly made a promise. "Me too, I'll listen to you from now on. If you say go west, I'll definitely not go east; if you say beat the dog, I'll definitely not chase the chicken."

"okay."

Li Feng was speechless. Are all college students like this? That can't be right. "Aren't you from an agricultural university? Why are you here catching fish?"

Li Feng picked up the wooden bucket, while Dong Qing and Wu Yu carried the mandarin fish.

"We originally planned to come here to take a look at the reservoir."

Dong Qing said, “As you know, I studied agricultural water conservancy. I just wanted to see if I could help in any way, but after seeing it, I realized that with this kind of drought, not to mention we don’t have the equipment right now, even if we did, we wouldn’t be able to help much in the short term.”

"At most, I can offer some suggestions on cleaning up the silt in the reservoir."

Dong Qing said, "Another thing is river channel reinforcement and dredging. I know a bit about that and can lend a hand."

"So, you can't escape this river work assignment?"

Li Feng laughed and said, "This can be considered making the best use of resources."

"No, cousin, you're being joked about."

Dong Qing quickly waved her hand. "I was just saying that. If you really want me to go down and do the work, I really can't."

"That's true. You two only said what you wanted to say, and everything else was..."

Li Feng shook his head, leaving Wu Yu and Dong Qing looking constipated.

"You should exercise more."

Okay, never mind. They almost did. Look at Boss Li, he just swung such a big fish out of the water in one go. They were trying to catch it for ages and almost got thrown off by the fish.

"Is it still okay?"

"Row."

The reservoir was quite a distance from Li Feng's courtyard, and the two of them were struggling to carry the forty-plus kilogram mandarin fish covered in mud.

"That's good."

Li Feng didn't intend to get involved; he wanted to teach them a lesson, otherwise, who knows what kind of trouble might arise.

Wow, such a big fish?

Cheng Xue and Mu Yang were surprised to see Dong Qing and the other person carrying a mandarin fish; they hadn't expected that the two of them had actually caught such a big fish.

"Let it go first."

Li Feng called out, "Susu, is the chicken ready?"

"All right."

"Then let's work a little harder and clean the fish and shrimp."

Li Feng said, "I'll handle this big guy."

Wow, such a big fish, how did you get it?

"Caught in the reservoir."

Li Feng said with a smile, "I'll tidy up first; these small fish are yours."

"Yes, brother, don't worry." (End of Chapter)