The poor girl from the 1970s was forced to kiss by the damp educated youth.

Chen Mu ran to open the door, and there were also noises coming from other rooms, so it seemed that no one was asleep.

But no one came to find me or pick me up.

No, that's not right either. Xi Lang went there.

Thinking of Xi Lang warmed Chen Zhi's heart. She dared not hope for family ties, but she should cherish her friendship with Xi Lang.

"Where are the fish?" Chen Mu asked as soon as he opened the door.

There was no moon tonight, and it was pitch black. Chen Mu could only see Chen Zhi's blurry figure.

"Here it is. Reach out your hand," Chen Zhi said to him.

Chen Mu held out his hand. "Don't lie to me."

Chen Zhi added, "Two hands."

"What a big fish! You need two hands to catch it." Chen Mu said impatiently, extending another hand.

"Here you go, it's heavy." Chen Zhi smiled mischievously as she took the large catfish off her shoulder and placed it in Chen Mu's hands.

boom!

Ow—

The giant catfish landed on Chen Mu's foot, causing him to scream and spin around in circles while clutching his foot.

"What happened?"

"What happened?"

"Is Xiaomu injured? Is it serious?"

......

Now the whole family is up.

Grandma lit the kerosene lamp, and everyone saw the huge thing on the ground. They all stared wide-eyed, stunned.

"Is this a fish?" Chen Fu's eyes nearly popped out of his head; he had never seen such a big fish before.

"It's a fish, a catfish." The uncle was knowledgeable. "These things are ferocious and can grow very big, but I've only ever heard of ones this big."

"It's not sentient, is it? Is it edible?" Chen Mu covered his feet; his feet must have turned black. Chen Zhi must have done it on purpose!

"Of course we can eat fish," Chen Fu said, swallowing hard. "Right, Dad?"

The uncle nodded, "It's edible."

"These fish are hard to catch. How did Zhizhi catch them? Where did you catch them?" Chen Da was very curious. He turned his head and looked around, but couldn't find Chen Zhi.

Chen Zhi went to take a shower. After she finished showering, she wanted to go to sleep, but was stopped by Chen Da, Chen Gui, Chen Mu, and Chen Fu.

"Zhizhi, where did you catch the fish?" Chen Da asked.

Chen Zhi dried her hair, wearing clothes that her mother had hastily altered for her, and looked up at the four people in front of her. "You want to go and catch them too?"

"Isn't that obvious!" Chen Gui said impatiently.

"In the north, that cave you guys always mention, I accidentally fell into the underground river and almost couldn't get back up." Chen Zhi rolled up her sleeves, revealing the wound from the fish bite, and then showed them her two fists. "It was pitch black down there, I almost died. Are you sure you want to go?"

The four people looked at each other in bewilderment upon hearing this.

After a while, Chen Da said, "The four of us will go, with ropes. If we encounter any danger, we can climb up using the ropes."

Chen Zhi: "Then you need to find the entrance and exit of the underground river first. I climbed up in the dark to look for the entrance again, hoping to make a mark so it would be easier to find next time. But after searching for a long time, I couldn't find it."

"Really?" Chen Mu looked at Chen Zhi with a skeptical gaze.

Chen Zhi pretended to be angry, "Why would I lie to you? If you catch fish, I can eat them too. I wish you would catch more fish."

When she climbed out of the underground river, she blocked the exit with stones to prevent anyone from going down into the river and being eaten by the fish. However, she only blocked one exit; she didn't know if there was a second one.

Chen Gui: "It's probably because it's dark that you can't find it. Brother, let's go check tomorrow."

Chen Da thought so too, "Yeah, I'll go take a look tomorrow."

Chen Mu then looked at Chen Zhi, "Are you still going or not?"

"No, I'm injured and need to rest," Chen Zhi refused decisively.

Grandpa and my uncle were cleaning a fish, weighing over 100 pounds. They chopped it into pieces and filled two large pots.

Grandma and Aunt were chopping sauerkraut and chili peppers, preparing to make a sauerkraut fish dish. Meanwhile, Mrs. Chen was tending the fire, while the children watched.

It's rare to see the Chen family cooking dinner past 10 p.m., because kerosene is expensive and they usually avoid using it, especially when they're not working in the fields. They usually eat dinner before dark.

Chen Zhi's stomach was still full, but she also wanted to try the taste of this big catfish.

This big catfish is very fat. Since we don't use oil at home, it can fry up more than half a bowl of oil on its own. We stir-fried it with pickled cabbage and chili peppers, and a strong aroma wafted out. Then we poured in boiling water.

The water in the pot was bubbling away, and the people next to them were swallowing hard.

"Grandma, is it ready to eat?" Chen Fu asked.

"Eat up, then go to sleep. Bring me your bowls, I'll divide the meat among you," Ding Fangfang said, holding a spoon.

Chen Fu was the first to rush forward. Ding Fangfang scooped a bowl of fish for him, followed by Chen Da and his two children, Chen Gui, Chen Mu, his grandfather, his uncle, his aunt, Chen's mother and Chen Ye, and finally Chen Zhi.

When it was Chen Zhi's turn, there were only a few pieces of meat left in the pot. Ding Fangfang gave Chen Zhi three pieces and kept four pieces for herself.

"Grandma, there's not enough fish, not enough to eat," Chen Fu complained.

Upon hearing this, Ding Fangfang picked up a spoon and tried to take two pieces of meat out of Chen Zhi's bowl.

Chen Zhi sneered, "If you dare to take it out, I won't bring the meat back next time; I'll just grill it outside and eat it myself."

Ding Fangfang glared at Chen Zhi, then gave up and turned to Chen Fu, saying, "It's getting late. Eating too much before bed isn't good for your health. There are still two bowls of meat at home; I'll cook them for you tomorrow."

"Okay," Chen Fu said reluctantly, "then Grandma, could you ladle some soup and pickled cabbage for me?"

Ding Fangfang took Chen Fu's bowl, scooped in a piece of meat and most of a bowl of pickled cabbage, added a spoonful of soup, and then handed the bowl back to Chen Fu, saying, "Eat slowly, don't burn yourself."

Chen Fu chuckled, "Oh, I know, Grandma."

Chen Zhi, who witnessed the entire process, was speechless.

On the other side, Xi Lang took three large bluefish to Shi Xin, which confused Shi Xin and his gang.

This was the first time they had ever seen such a large bluefish!

"I've heard that this thing can grow to several hundred pounds and has lived for over thirty years. Today I've finally seen it for myself," one of them exclaimed.

"Let's weigh it."

"The biggest one must weigh over 200 pounds."

"Where did you catch this fish?"

Xi Lang sat to the side, shaking his head, "They said it was caught in the mountains, but I don't know."

Then the scales arrived.

Two people carried the fish, while one person watched the scale. The person carrying the fish was holding his breath, and the person watching the scale announced the number, "Two hundred and sixty-five catties."

hiss--

Everyone gasped.

Wow, it's really that heavy!

"Weigh the other two as well."

The other two weighed 182 jin and 153 jin respectively.

"It's exactly six hundred jin," Shi Xin said.

Xi Lang nodded; the number was correct.

"Your fish is dead, so I can only give you 50 cents a pound," Shi Xin said.

Xi Lang frowned. "It's rare to see such a big bluefish. Five cents is too cheap. Six cents is better."

"The weather makes transportation inconvenient, and if we don't sell them in time, they'll go bad. I'm at considerable risk," Shi Xin said, not backing down.

"There are many businesses and factories in the county; we can just sell them to them," Xi Lang insisted.

Shi Xin gritted his teeth, "Then it's fifty-five cents a pound, no more."

Xi Lang: "Deal. Give me another fifty dollars' worth of fabric, either cyan or blue."

A rooster crowed all night, and the Chen family slept soundly amidst the aroma of boiled fish.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, someone shouted, "Someone committed suicide!"

Chen Zhi hadn't gotten up yet when she heard noises coming from several rooms around her, and then someone ran out of the room with a thud.

"You two stay home and don't go out," Chen's mother instructed.

Chen Zhi turned over and went back to sleep.

Chen Ye sat up. "Aren't you curious who committed suicide?"

"I'm tired, I don't want to move," Chen Zhi said, and then fell asleep again.

"What a pig, sleeping so much." Chen Ye muttered.

When Chen Zhi woke up again, it was already bright outside, and the aroma of food wafted from the kitchen.

Chen Zhi sat up and first checked her wound. As she expected, the wound had healed and scabbed over. When she pressed it with her hand, she could no longer feel any pain.

"Get up if you're awake," Chen Ye said irritably. "You ruined Mom's clothes. She only has two sets of clothes to change into. What is she supposed to wear now that you've torn her clothes?"

"It'll be fine after a little sewing," Chen Zhi said nonchalantly. "When autumn comes, the family will weave their own cloth, right? You won't be making new clothes then, so just give the fabric to Mom."

"That won't do!"

Chen Ye panicked, "I made new clothes to go on a blind date."

Chen Ye is twenty years old this year. Many girls her age are already married and have children. If she doesn't get married soon, she will become an "old maid." No wonder Chen Ye is anxious.

Chen Zhi looked at Chen Ye in surprise. Was this the start of a marriage proposal?

Which village are you from?

"have no idea."

Although Chen Ye said this, what she really meant was that she wouldn't marry anyone from any village who was poorer than her family.

Chen Zhi pondered, if Chen Ye gets married next year, will it be her turn the year after?

If she gets married the year after next, she will have to stay in this house for another two years.

Two years isn't that hard to get through.

Breakfast was fish and vegetable porridge. There wasn't much rice, but some fish and vegetables were added, with vegetables making up the majority of the porridge.

One bowl per person.

Chen Zhi was still somewhat unsatisfied after finishing her meal. Seeing Chen Dongqing and Chen Meihua licking their bowls, she wanted to lick them too, but she restrained herself. If she dared to lick the bowls, her mother would definitely chase after her with a whip.

"Widow Yu hanged herself in front of the Liang family's gate last night. Remember to avoid that area when you go out today," the uncle said.

A month ago, the Chen family blocked the Liang family's door with Chen Yao's body. The Liang family was unwilling to pay, so they pushed out Widow Yu. In the end, Widow Yu took out all her savings, a total of 202.6 yuan, and gave the money to the Chen family before they took away Chen Yao's body.

They thought the matter was over, but two days later, Widow Yu was taken away by the Revolutionary Committee. When she was brought back, her head had been shaved, her face was covered in bruises, and something had been splashed on her body that smelled even stronger than the latrine.

From then on, Widow Yu lost all her energy and spirit, and no one ever saw her leave the house again.

"Why did he commit suicide?" This is what puzzles everyone.

"She probably couldn't take it anymore," the aunt said. She had personally examined the body. "She was covered in bruises; there wasn't a single unscathed spot on her body."

"How could this happen?" Chen Ye was shocked.

Aunt: "They were beaten by the Liang family."

After these words were spoken, everyone fell silent.