Fishing and Hunting 82, Starting with Three Sisters Who Overprotect Their Brothers

"Public security?" Lin Deqiang's eyelids twitched, and he subconsciously refused, "That requires experience and training, it's not something to joke about."

"If you lack experience, just learn!"

Zhang Wenshan yawned and said lazily, "You've been to the battlefield and have a third-class merit citation. You'll likely be a cadre directly appointed when you join the police force. You'll get priority in housing allocation, your children can attend police-affiliated schools, and you'll have free medical care when you're sick..."

He went from being a worker to a cadre.

The salary was guaranteed regardless of drought or flood, and there were various hidden benefits, perfectly avoiding the various upheavals of the mid-to-late 1980s.

It can be said that, apart from the certain risks, the benefits are countless.

"What nonsense are you talking about? The police are here to protect the peace of the area and fight crime. How can you expect to get in just for the benefits? That's not right!" Lin Deqiang frowned, his voice suddenly rising.

"Would you slack off at work if you went? It's better than someone like me going, right?"

"I, you..." Lin Deqiang couldn't find the words to refute for a moment.

He instinctively felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out what the problem was.

"Think about it carefully. Even selfless dedication needs to be sustained, right? What will happen to your kids if the factory doesn't do well in the future? They're always wandering the streets; even if they don't cause trouble, won't trouble still find them?"

As Zhang Wenshan finished speaking, Lin Deqiang fell silent again.

That year, the entire county suffered a disaster.

When he returned, he learned that everything in the house was gone, leaving only his seriously ill mother struggling to survive with her children.

To avoid adding to her burden, my mother would secretly drink her medicine after a meal.

Before leaving, his last words were to take good care of the younger children.

We walked all the way back to the family dormitory.

Zhang Wenshan was taken aback when he saw the woman who opened the door.

The eldest and second eldest sisters looked so alike, they were more like twins than twins. If it weren't for their different clothes, he would have almost mistaken one for the other.

"What are you standing there for? Come in and let me take a good look at you."

Zhang Yaqin grabbed his arm, and her eyes instantly welled up with tears the moment her fingertips touched the blisters and calluses on his hands.

"You've suffered so much, why are you putting yourself through all that trouble for just a few cents?"

She lives in town and knows best how low the prices of agricultural products are.

I'm already quite frugal when it comes to buying things for myself, but compared to those elderly folks, I'm still a far cry.

They can really rip small vendors off until they're almost crying.

How much can a young man like me manage to produce, whether by going up mountains or down rivers? How much money can I earn? It's nothing compared to what I can make in a factory.

"Didn't you say?" Zhang Wenshan peeked past his second sister and looked at his eldest sister, who was busy inside the house.

"What did you say?" Zhang Fengxia asked without looking up as she continued winding the yarn.

"Nothing much, how much are you selling for today?"

"The snails and shrimp/crab sold for 11.2 yuan, and the two pheasants sold for 9.8 yuan. I told them to go home first, and we'll split the money when you get home," Zhang Fengxia replied casually, her hands still busy with her work.

"What!"

Zhang Yaqin suddenly sprang to her feet, rushed to her older sister's side, grabbed her shoulders, and shook her violently: "Say it again, how many did you sell?"

"Stop shaking it, you're tangling the yarn."

"What do you care? How much do you want for it, bro?"

"It's not all for the younger brother. The eleven yuan and twenty cents belong to the entire fishing and hunting group. He can only take half. The pheasants are all his own."

"Wow, you can make more than ten yuan every day?"

"It's not every day. I only sell snakes for fourteen yuan or more at a time. Yesterday I sold snakes and got more than forty yuan. Usually it's just a few yuan."

Zhang Fengxia spoke casually.

After this period of training, she has accumulated more and more accounting records and has seen the hundreds of dollars in revenue generated by state-run restaurants, so she has become immune to it.

Zhang Yaqin, however, is different.

She froze on the spot, her lips trembling several times, trying to say something, but unable to utter a single word.

Her family relied entirely on Lin Deqiang's meager salary to make ends meet, and they had to carefully calculate every grain of food, even counting how much each person ate.

She used to think that town was better, but after six months, she felt that the countryside was better.

In the countryside, at least you can borrow grain from the production brigade or exchange it for food. If all else fails, you can always find something in the mountains or rivers. You might not be full, but you won't starve.

But in the town, everything is rationed.

Workers' food rations were distributed according to the intensity of their labor, starting at 30 jin (15 kg) and at most less than 60 jin (30 kg). Family members received only 27 or 28 jin (13.5-14.5 catties), and children received even less.

Those boys in the family are like hungry ghosts reincarnated; they can never get enough to eat.

The only good thing about living in town is that you have a fixed salary and can save some money so you won't be caught off guard when you need it most.

But now, what her younger brother earned in just a few days is almost equivalent to her husband's monthly salary.

"Deqiang, why don't you work with the younger brother?" Zhang Yaqin said, snapping out of her daze.

Lin Deqiang rolled his eyes at her, said nothing, and silently took out a cigarette, offering one to his brother-in-law.

"My brother-in-law has a legitimate government job; it's not something money can buy," Zhang Wenshan said with a smile, shaking his head. "Your housing, your kids' schooling... everything depends on this."

"That's true." Zhang Yaqin's eyes lit up; she had figured things out and stopped worrying. She walked enthusiastically towards the kitchen. "You all sit down first, I'll go prepare the food! And you, why did you bring so much food?"

In the 1980s, indoor kitchens were rare in family apartment buildings.

Most of them just set up a stove in the corridor.

Zhang Wenshan quickly stopped her, saying, "No need to trouble Second Sister. My Eldest Sister and I are going to see Third Sister later to ask her teacher for a favor."

He briefly explained the fishing and hunting permit and recent events.

Zhang Yaqin froze again, and Lin Deqiang also suddenly looked up, his gaze falling on him thoughtfully.

I originally thought my brother-in-law was just lucky, like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse.

Looking back now, it wasn't luck at all; it was clearly a calculated move, a well-thought-out plan, with each step executed steadily, accurately, and ruthlessly.

Lin Deqiang hesitated for a moment before asking, "Did you... leave the factory on purpose?"

"..." Zhang Wenshan remained silent, not realizing that his second brother-in-law was quite good at making up stories without saying a word.

Seeing this, Lin Deqiang became even more certain.

What normal person would give up a perfectly good, secure job and risk losing it?

Thinking back to what was said earlier about the profitability of the agricultural machinery factory, there's definitely something fishy going on here.

"What kind of riddles are you two playing?" Zhang Yaqin looked at one of them, then at the other, her face full of confusion.

"It's nothing." Zhang Wenshan changed the subject. "Brother-in-law, this afternoon you should urge Section Chief Zhou to bring the things back as soon as I finish my business."

"Okay, he's even more anxious than we are now."

"Then I'll be leaving first."

"Wait a minute!"

Zhang Yaqin suddenly called out to him, dashed into the inner room, and came out a moment later, clutching a brand-new ten-yuan note, which she forcefully shoved into his hand.

"No need, sister, I have it."

"What's yours is yours." Zhang Yaqin turned around and glanced at Lin Deqiang.

Lin Deqiang immediately stepped forward and, without saying a word, stuffed the money directly into Zhang Wenshan's pocket.

Zhang Wenshan tried to push again, but Lin Deqiang grabbed his shoulder with his hand, his strength so great that he couldn't break free.

"What kind of strength is that...?"

Even after walking quite a distance from the family dormitory, Zhang Wenshan was still rubbing his wrist.

I never imagined that in my second brother-in-law's hands, I would be like a chick that hadn't grown its feathers yet, with no room for resistance whatsoever.

I still need to practice.

"Um... little brother."

Zhang Fengxia spoke softly from behind.

Zhang Wenshan turned around and saw that she had also taken out ten yuan from her bosom and handed it to him.

"My parents... also gave me ten yuan."

Zhang Wenshan was overwhelmed with emotion and couldn't speak for a long time.