Sweet 80s

It was the bed that was shaking, but it was Zhou Zheng's frightened little heart that was trembling.

Seeing Wu Aimin humming, turning over and continuing to sleep soundly, his heart settled down a little.

Zhou Zheng took out a flashlight from the bedside, took the passbook and hid in the bathroom.

With a click, the light of the flashlight shone onto the rose-red cover of the passbook.

He wanted to know how much money was in the account first, and then decide how much to withdraw to help He Na out of her predicament.

But just as the light moved little by little to the numbers on the access interface, as Zhou Zheng's gaze fell, his brain stopped working with a buzzing sound.

"This...this...only 97 yuan is left?"

There was a snap.

Zhou Zheng turned on the light in the room.

Then he pulled Wu Aimin's pajamas in an attempt to wake her up.

Unfortunately, Wu Aimin was sleeping soundly, and Zhou Zheng tried very hard but failed to achieve his goal.

So he leaned over and yelled in the man's ear: "Fire, fire, run!"

Wu Aimin, who was now very careful about his life, suddenly opened his eyes and shook his huge body, trying to sit down from the bed.

He twisted his body for three to five seconds, and finally managed to sit up by supporting himself on the bed with his hands.

Zhou Zheng shouted so loudly that he not only woke up Wu Aimin, but also woke up the children in the next room.

The eldest daughter, with messy hair, rushed into their room with her younger brother and sister, looking terrified.

"Dad, Mom, run! I heard someone shouting, 'There's a fire!'"

Zhou Zheng waved his hand and said to the children calmly, "It's okay, go to sleep."

The eldest daughter looked confused and didn't understand what was going on. The second daughter and the youngest son were rubbing their sleepy eyes.

The three of them looked at Wu Aimin, then looked at each other and turned back to the room.

Wu Aimin was almost sober at this time. She stood up and took a look into the dark living room.

He turned around, leaned on the windowsill and looked downstairs, and said to Zhou Zheng with eyes wide open.

"What's going on? Where is the fire? Why can't I see it?"

Zhou Zheng ignored her, took the passbook from the table next to him and threw it at Wu Aimin.

"Tell me, what's going on!"

Zhou Zheng's face gradually darkened, his brows were furrowed, and his tone was very stiff.

"What's going on?"

Wu Aimin was unable to react for a moment. She took the passbook, opened it and looked at it carefully, then she understood why the other party suddenly got angry.

After looking at the numbers, Wu Aimin felt guilty and wanted to change the subject.

"Why are you taking the passbook so late at night? Are you trying to secretly withdraw money to lend to your sixth uncle?"

Obviously, Wu Aimin's questioning had no effect on Zhou Zheng at this time.

Compared to spending money, the savings that you have worked hard to accumulate for so many years are gone without your knowledge.

The latter is obviously more important.

"Don't interrupt me. I've taken out all the money here. Where did it go? Why didn't you tell me once?"

Wu Aimin's eyes were wandering and she didn't dare to look directly at the other person, which made Zhou Zheng even more suspicious.

The hesitant and ambiguous attitude was like deliberately pricking his nerves, making him feel itchy.

"Tell me, where did all the money go..."

Suddenly, an idea flashed through Zhou Zheng's mind.

"Wait, you're not really keeping a lover outside..."

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, Wu Aimin slapped Zhou Zheng on the thigh.

He grimaced in pain and cried out "ouch".

In an instant, five finger marks appeared on the tender thigh.

The white skin became red, swollen and bulging, and densely packed red bumps soon grew on the surface.

It was painful and itchy, making him scratch uncontrollably.

"Fuck your motherfucker!"

Wu Aimin yelled something vicious and continued.

"My money was blown by the wind. Spending it on other men is something only a fool would do!"

In order to prove my innocence, it seems I have no choice but to speak out.

He hesitated for a moment.

Wu Aimin tells the story.

The savings in this passbook are the wages of both her and Zhou Zheng since they got married.

Apart from basic living necessities, they agreed to save 80% of their salary.

Originally, only 20% was left, which was not enough to cover the expenses of food, clothing, housing and transportation, not to mention raising three children.

Usually, both sides’ parents would give some financial support, especially Zhou Zheng’s family.

There were very few only children in the 1980s, and Zhou Zheng was one of them.

So Zhou's father and mother often gave him some money.

Zhou Zheng and Wu Aimin have extra income every month after deducting the basic salary from their respective units.

So over the years, the couple saved a lot of money.

The money spent on weddings, childbirth, and social interactions among friends and relatives is fixed, and large expenses are impossible.

Unless there are special circumstances.

Wu Aimin encountered a "big money" that she had to spend just a few months ago, and she couldn't tell anyone, including Zhou Zheng.

The person who asked Wu Aimin to pay was her younger brother, Wu Xiaoliang, who was idle and did not work.

"Him? He's hiding from the police, so why would he need the money?" Zhou Zheng asked.

Wu Aimin sighed deeply, his expression full of helplessness.

"Don't mention it, he was betrayed by his bad friends..."

Wu Xiaoliang and his friends started a business together.

From rice, flour, grain and oil to watches, cigarettes, sewing machines and bicycles, in short, they do business in whatever goods are in short supply.

Initially, they purchased from rural areas and then sold in cities to people who had money but no tickets.

Later I found that larger goods were more profitable.

The market price of a bicycle and a sewing machine is about two hundred yuan, and if you sell them well, you can make a net profit of half.

Greed is not enough to swallow an elephant.

When they learned that the profits from color TVs were ridiculously high, these people started to have evil ideas.

They obtained a color television set through illegal means.

But this time things went against our expectations. Not only did things not go smoothly, but we were almost wiped out.

As soon as they got the color TV, their illegal and criminal activities were reported.

The entire gang scattered in an instant.

Wu Xiaoliang took all the goods and hid in a rented house on the outskirts of the city, hoping to wait until the storm had passed before taking any action.

But just recently, a friend in their gang found him after asking around, and claimed that he had contacted the buyers and dozens of color TVs could be sold all at once.

Wu Xiaoliang, who had been hiding for so long, was like a rat in a tunnel, trembling with fear all day long.

Whenever there is any sign of trouble, they either lock the door in advance or prepare to open the window and jump out.

Even going out is only possible in the middle of the night.

He had really had enough of days like this.

At the suggestion of a friend, he had no choice but to reduce the price of the TV by 30% before he could reluctantly sell it.

Without the mountain of goods, Wu Xiaoliang felt a lot more relaxed, but his friend only paid a deposit and was slow to give the remaining money.

The relationship between the two was acceptable, so Wu Xiaoliang didn't think much about it.

However, good fortune never comes alone, and misfortune never comes alone.

This so-called friend introduced him to a new business - the beeping machine.

Hearing this, Zhou Zheng was so angry that his hands were shaking.

He stood up and pointed at Wu Aimin's nose and cursed: "How dare you touch the beeping machine? The price of that thing in the south is now more than 2,000 yuan!"

After being cheated, Wu Aimin naturally realized her mistake and she explained it with a wronged look on her face.

"I am also thinking about making money. Let alone half, even if it is one tenth, I can make 200 yuan for one machine, 2,000 yuan for 10 machines, and 100 machines..."

"Stop, stop, stop. Another hundred units. You really dare to think so!"

“Who knew I would be deceived…”

"and then?"

"Later, Xiaoliang came to me to borrow money, and I thought that instead of lending it to him, it would be better to form a partnership with him. Wouldn't it be better if we could really make money?"

Zhou Zheng rolled his eyes speechlessly, gasping for breath like an angry blind bear, his chest rising and falling.

"Are you cut out for business? Do you have a business mind? And your brother is just a thug. You two are a pair of idiots!"

Zhou Zheng's scolding did not annoy Wu Aimin.

She hung her head and pouted her lips to excuse herself.

"He didn't lie to me on purpose. He was just tricked by someone else."

Zhou Zheng stood up suddenly, and asked with sharp eyes as if he had thought of something.

"Did you call the police?"

When Wu Aimin heard this word, she panicked.

She waved her arms and said, "I dare not call the police. If the police find out, Xiaoliang will never be able to get out again in his life!"

"Then...what about my money?"