Volume 1, Chapter 9: Thirty Cents a Day—I’m Rich!

Inside the house, Grandfather continued his work of weaving bamboo baskets. Grandmother brought out the snacks she had tucked away and pushed them all toward her beloved grandson to eat. Fortunately, Uncle and Aunt were not home; otherwise, Grandmother would have had to give them to him in secret.

"Are Brother and Sister-in-law out in the fields?" Tang Xionghua asked, sitting down beside Grandfather.

"Yes, they are in the fields. It isn't even time for the double-cropping harvest yet, but he is just a man who cannot sit still..." Grandfather replied.

With Uncle and Aunt absent, Tang Xionghua had the perfect opportunity to bring up his business. He didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "Dad, I need to talk to you about something."

"What is it?" Grandfather asked, looking up at Tang Xionghua with a puzzled expression, his hands still busy with the bamboo. He felt that his son was acting a bit unusual today—there was a hint of nervousness, yet he also seemed quite excited.

"Oh, it’s like this," Tang Xionghua began. "I have a friend in the county town, a classmate from my technical school days, who works at the county feed mill. He asked me to help him source some dried small fish and shrimp in the countryside as premium raw material for feed. He’s offering me one yuan and twenty cents per catty."

"I’ve been thinking about this, and I believe there’s real potential here. Our Tianshui Town is surrounded by rivers, streams, and ponds, and our village is practically encircled by water. We could easily gather plenty of small fish and shrimp just by putting in a little effort. These things are everywhere. In the town market, they sell for a yuan per catty, and with a bit of haggling, you can get them for eighty or ninety cents. Since it’s not yet time for the double-cropping harvest, our family and the villagers can all go out and set traps to catch some."

"I’ll buy them for ninety cents a catty. It’s a way to provide the villagers with a small extra source of income, and after covering transport and labor costs, I can make a bit of profit from the price difference myself. Dad, what do you think?"

Grandfather was surprised and asked, "Is this that classmate of yours, the one with the surname Fang?"

"Yes, that’s him." Tang Xionghua hadn't made up a friend; the person was real. Knowing that his father, Tang Jiaxiang, was a cautious man, he continued, "You’ve met Old Fang, Dad. You know he’s reliable. He told me they need a long-term supply, and the demand is quite high. They need 500 catties for the first batch alone. He trusts me so much that he gave me the full 600 yuan before I’d even delivered a single bit of goods."

This was the narrative Tang Yichen and his father had agreed upon. Taking full payment before the goods arrived was technically a flaw, and an ordinary person might not believe it. But Tang Yichen’s grandfather was a simple, honest farmer who knew nothing of such business nuances. Tang Xionghua just wanted to use this story to win his father over. Otherwise, not only would Grandfather refuse to help, he might even accuse him of not tending to his proper duties. As a respectable town middle school teacher, it would be shameful for him to be seen neglecting his studies during the summer break to dabble in money-making schemes.

But upon hearing that the other party had handed over a massive sum of 600 yuan, Grandfather paused and asked, "They really gave you the money?"

Without a word, Tang Xionghua pulled out the six banknotes he had prepared and tossed them in front of his father. "Would I lie to you? Look, it’s all right here."

Seeing the six large bills, Tang Jiaxiang was immediately swayed. Six hundred yuan might just cover the cost of a single meal in 2024, but in 1991, it was more than some farmers earned in an entire year of hard labor. Moreover, the task itself was incredibly simple—all it required was saying a few words to mobilize the villagers.

Not only that, but his son would make a profit from the spread; it didn't seem like a bad idea at all.

"Uh... is Old Fang in a hurry? Five hundred catties is a lot, and it mainly needs to be dried, which takes time," Grandfather mused for a moment before deciding to agree. One catty of dried fish and shrimp required at least three or four catties of fresh catch. That meant they needed one or two thousand catties in total. However, every household in the village kept some dried stock, and if they mobilized enough families, it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Tang Xionghua replied, "He is in quite a hurry. It would be best to get everything within four or five days, six at the latest." They had already calculated the quantity and the timeframe, so there wouldn't be any issues.

"Alright then! I’ll go tell the people in our group right now. Ninety cents a catty—ten catties would be nine yuan, which is equivalent to forty catties of rice. With a deal this good, there’s no telling how happy everyone will be." As he spoke, Grandfather put down his bamboo basket and stood up to leave. "You go to the fields and call Jianhua. I’ll go notify the villagers, and I’ll stop by Kunfei’s place, too. Our family can catch some as well to earn money for the kids to buy candy."

Tang Yichen’s uncle was named Tang Jianhua. His aunt’s husband was Liu Kunfei, who lived in the neighboring village.

"Right!" Tang Xionghua agreed, his face beaming. He exchanged a look with Tang Yichen, a look that seemed to say, "Son, your dad’s still got it, didn’t I pull it off?"

Tang Yichen curled his lips in silence. It seemed that the talent for bamboozling one's own father was a hereditary trait!

Tang Xionghua headed out to fetch his brother’s family, while Tang Jiaxiang left to inform the villagers and his daughter’s family. Only Tang Yichen and his grandmother were left at home.

Grandmother watched as the old man and her son hurried off with great enthusiasm, shaking her head in confusion. She had heard what Tang Xionghua said, and while she didn’t fully understand it, she trusted her husband and son. Most importantly, if they could really earn more money to buy candy for her little grandson, then that was a good thing.

"Yichen, come here, Grandma will peel a candy for you." Grandmother smiled and held the unwrapped milk candy to Tang Yichen’s mouth, ready to feed him.

Just as Tang Yichen opened his mouth and was about to bite down, a shadow suddenly darted out, snatched the candy from Grandmother’s hand, and stuffed it into his own mouth.

"I want candy too! Grandma, you’re biased!" Tang Yifan, who had returned from somewhere, snatched the treat and began chewing it with great relish. He was puzzled—he had turned the whole house upside down, so where had Grandma been hiding the candy?

"Give it back! That was for your younger brother. You’re such a big boy, don’t you worry about your teeth falling out from all that sugar?" Grandmother scolded, rushing over to snatch it back, regardless of the fact that Tang Yifan was already chewing it. Tang Yifan didn't care; he turned and ran.

"Fine, Tang Yifan, bullying me because I’m five, are you? Just you wait, I’ll get you back eventually." Tang Yichen silently set a mental goal to give this mischievous cousin a hard time later to add some fun to his life. Mostly, because this brat was truly asking for it.

He was the exact opposite of his cousin, Tang Yixin.

***

Half an hour later, Uncle and Aunt returned from the fields. As soon as they got home, they began looking for their fish traps. In the rural areas of Chu Province, these were essential tools for almost every household. After all, it wasn't easy to get pork in these times, and meat dishes were mostly a matter of self-sufficiency.

After searching, Uncle Tang Jianhua only found three traps, and they were all broken. However, these traps were easy to make using bamboo or string from fertilizer bags. Uncle didn't hesitate and started repairing them immediately. Before lunchtime, he managed to fix the three old traps, planning to make a few more the next day.

The price of ninety cents per catty showed the whole family a chance to earn money easily. In these times, making money was truly difficult. Aside from the rice from their own fields and raising a bit of poultry or livestock, farmers had almost no other source of income. Those with a craft could go out and earn some money, but those without had to rely on physical labor, working as bricklayers during the off-season to earn hard-earned cash just to scrape by.

Uncle Tang Jianhua had calculated that he would earn much more by spending the time he would have used as a day laborer catching fish and shrimp instead. If he was lucky, he could catch ten to twenty catties a day, which would result in at least six or seven catties of dried fish. That was six or seven yuan! Working as a laborer, he was exhausted for a measly three yuan a day, and that was assuming he could even find work. Since his brother Tang Xionghua had presented such an opportunity, he had to take advantage of it immediately and head to the river.

"Yifan! You come here and help me!"

"You like swimming in the river, right? I’ll let you swim all summer, but you have to honestly help me set and collect the traps. If you do a good job, I’ll give you thirty cents a day as pocket money!" Uncle had come up with a good plan and immediately gave the order to his son, Tang Yifan.

When Tang Yifan heard this, he was overjoyed. There was such a good deal? Thirty cents a day—my god! I’m going to be rich!