Chapter 1526: Fishing and Making Toys

Nanluoguxiang

Cao Weiguo carried a bucket in one hand and fishing gear in the other, humming "Returning from Target Practice" in a pleasant mood.

Passing by the Red Star Sihe Academy, he saw Yan Jiedi, Lu Fei, Xiaodang, and Huaihua, a few children who didn't mind the heat, noisily kicking a shuttlecock in the alley. Cao Weiguo, in a good mood, gave each of them a White Rabbit creamy candy, causing the children to cheer.

Cao Weiguo wasn't afraid of the neighbors saying he was "showing off." Who let him be in such a good mood today?

Today was the day Sun Chao and Li Jiannan were settling their accounts. The two of them were doing bigger and bigger business, and were gradually shifting from Jingcheng to other places. Compared to the capital of a country, other places were relatively loose in their management, and the poorer the remote area, the easier it was to do business. The further south and northeast they went, the higher the profit.

Last month, Sun Chao earned more than 30,000 yuan just in Shijiazhuang. One must know that this was the 1960s, and the monthly salary of an ordinary worker was only between 30 and 50 yuan. Yet Sun Chao brought back more than 10,000 yuan in pure profit for him in just one month, and these pure profits were all exchanged for small gold bars on the black market, making his gold reserves grow quite a bit.

Although Sun Chao wasn't as daring and aggressive as Liu Shan, he had a flexible mind, was smooth in his dealings, and was shrewd in handling affairs. He was a good hand at doing business. Because of his strong ability to make money, he had been entrusted with heavy responsibilities by Cao Weiguo and had fully taken over the business. As for Liu Shan, he had already run away to Xiangjiang and, under Cao Weiguo's arrangement, was assisting Lou Xiaoe in doing business in Xiangjiang.

Speaking of which, Liu Shan was also unlucky. During his time in Baoding, he had a conflict with a local bully and accidentally beat the bully into a fool. The bully's father had a lot of weight in the local official circles, and he chased Liu Shan until he had no other way, forcing him to run away to Tianjin overnight, then take a train to the south, and sneak into Xiangjiang in a disheveled state, becoming a refugee who abandoned his family and business to flee to Xiangjiang.

However, he recently wrote a letter back saying that he was doing quite well in Xiangjiang, saying that Xiangjiang was full of gold everywhere. Under Lou Xiaoe's care, he had earned a lot of money, bought a house, opened a restaurant, and married an eighteen-year-old beauty as his wife.

Learning that Liu Shan had found his footing in Xiangjiang, Sun Chao felt relieved and focused on making a living. Although they envied the Xiangjiang described in Liu Shan's letter, a golden nest or a silver nest was not as good as one's own dog kennel. Moreover, their parents were all in Jingcheng, and it was impossible to abandon their parents to go to the distant Xiangjiang to struggle. Even Liu Shan, who was enjoying life in Xiangjiang, had run away as a last resort, leaving his old mother to their care. If he could, he probably wouldn't have gone to the unfamiliar Xiangjiang.

Besides Sun Chao's group, Li Jiannan's business was no less impressive. He took his business to Chengde and sold things to the Northeast through Chengde. Nowadays, the Northeast was the "industrial cradle" of the new China, with a high level of industrialization, perfect infrastructure, good treatment for workers, a high standard of living, and consumer demand that was even more prosperous than in Jingcheng. Workers didn't lack money to buy things, and the private transactions there were quite loose compared to Jingcheng. As long as the goods were transported there, there was no worry about selling them.

With these two groups of people helping him accumulate original capital, and seeing his gold reserves in his pocket growing more and more, Cao Weiguo's mood was naturally exceptionally good. Just waiting for the right time, he could set sail and travel around the world.

Returning home happily, Cao Weiguo poured the fish into a laundry basin.

Because today was Sunday, Song Yulan was also at home accompanying the children, while Song Yujuan was sweeping the courtyard. Seeing Cao Weiguo bring back so many fish, the two women were overjoyed, and Cao Ping'an was even happier, reaching his hand into the laundry basin to catch the fish.

In the Red Star Sihe Academy, a group of uncles and aunts were cooling off under the trees, chatting while doing their work. Some were smoking pipes, some were picking vegetables, some were pasting paper boxes, and some were sewing shoe soles... Not many people were idle.

An aunt returned from outside and teased Yan Fugui, "Old Yan, you say you go fishing every few days, you can be considered a master, but I haven't seen you bring back any big fish. Look at Cao Weiguo, who is young, every time he goes fishing he returns fully loaded. Just now I took a glance, and there were at least six or seven fish in his bucket, each one excellent, fat and big, making people drool just looking at them. Why don't you buy a few bottles of wine and ask Cao Weiguo to teach you a few tricks, so you don't have to get up early every day and waste your effort."

Yan Fugui said unconvinced, "Hey, who are you belittling? How did I waste my effort? When I was fishing, Cao Weiguo was still wearing open-crotch pants. Do I need him to teach me? How do you know I didn't catch big fish? The big fish I caught were all exchanged for rations; that's just you not seeing them. If I had a high salary like Cao Weiguo, I would also bring the fish back, and when the time comes, I'll stew a pot and make you die of envy."

Jia Zhangshi fiercely poked at a shoe sole, "That iron rooster Cao Weiguo, who deserves to be struck by a thousand knives, only cares about his own eating and drinking. With such good conditions, he still goes fishing. He caught so many fish and doesn't know how to share two with the neighbors. He eats alone all day long, and he's not afraid of being choked to death by a fish bone."

Cao Ping'an's mother, Sun Dama, was unhappy and glared at Jia Zhangshi, "Jia Zhangshi, your mouth is too poisonous. Cao Weiguo caught the fish with his own ability, so he can eat it however he wants. What are you talking about here with your yin and yang tone? And cursing people, what kind of human nature do you have?"

What kind of person was Jia Zhangshi?

Could she take this?

She turned her head and sprayed at Sun Dama, "Hey, Chi Sunshi, why are you everywhere? I said a couple of things about Cao Ping'an and you're getting anxious? Why? Your son is a dog for Cao Weiguo, so you're also being a dog together? You're at such an old age and being ordered around by a junior, and you don't even want any face."

Sun Dama was so angry that she hit Jia Zhangshi with the green beans, "You old hag, what kind of dog fart are you releasing?"

Jia Zhangshi: "I just released a fart, I think you're an old shameless person."

Sun Dama: "You wicked old hag, no wonder your grandson went to the juvenile detention center; it's all because you taught him badly."

Jia Zhangshi lunged at Sun Dama: "You stinking woman, I'll tear your mouth apart."

Sun Dama: "Am I afraid of you?"

For a time, the two of them started fighting, pulling hair, scratching faces, and tearing clothes, making a mess of things. The uncles and aunts nearby stepped forward to pull them apart. Yan Fugui, afraid of being scratched, hid to the side, patting his thighs and shouting, "Stop fighting, if you have something to say, say it well, why bother, why bother..."

On the other side, Cao Weiguo didn't know that because of him, the Red Star Sihe Academy was in a state of chaos. He leisurely returned to his room, ate a piece of mung bean cake, washed his hands, took out wood and tools from the storeroom, and started doing carpentry work in the courtyard with a "puchi puchi" sound.

Little Ping'an, who was playing with the fish, saw this and walked over step by step, staring at his father working with expectant eyes, feeling it was very interesting.

Song Yujuan watched Cao Weiguo concentrate on his carpentry work and felt that Cao Weiguo was not only a leader, a cook, but also a carpenter. He was truly excellent, and she secretly envied her cousin for her good fortune in marrying such a capable and considerate husband, unlike herself, who had a bitter life, married to a useless dog who would beat and scold her at every turn.

"Look at you sweating profusely. It's hot, drink some water and rest for a while."

In a short while, Cao Weiguo's feet were already full of sawdust. Song Yulan, with her pregnant belly, brought a glass of boiled water from the room and handed him a towel.

Cao Weiguo took the towel to wipe his sweat, then returned the towel to his wife, took the water glass, and drank it in one gulp, "Comfortable, doing some work on a hot day and sweating is quite good."

Handing the water glass back to his wife, Cao Weiguo continued to work, displaying his increasingly skilled carpentry techniques. Soon, he made a pile of parts, which were then assembled into an exquisite rocking horse.

Seeing the formed rocking horse, Little Ping'an ran over excitedly, "Horse! Horse!"

Song Yujuan looked at the rocking horse and laughed, "This rocking horse is truly beautiful. Brother-in-law, your hands are too skillful."

Cao Weiguo laughed, "My clumsy hands, what I make is barely passable."

Song Yujuan: "Don't be humble, I'm not asking you to make furniture."

Cao Weiguo gave a simple, honest smile and rubbed the head of his son who was reaching out to touch the rocking horse, "Wait a moment, you can play after Dad polishes it."

Little Ping'an nodded obediently, his eyes fixed on the rocking horse without blinking.

Cao Weiguo seriously polished the rocking horse once, checked it carefully several times, and only after confirming there were no burrs did he turn to look at his son, "Son, come and play."

"Dad, you're so good!"

Little Ping'an couldn't wait to pounce on the rocking horse, sat on it with Cao Weiguo's assistance, rocking and rocking, his mouth unable to close from joy. Song Yujuan and Song Yulan accompanied him to play on the side. ===== CHAPTER 1528 =====