Reborn in 80: Starting with hunting in the mountains to get rich

Chapter 181 Extracting Sun Hao's Chapter from the Workers' Auditorium

Lu Zhiqiang was in a great mood and wanted to tell Li Ju'an the good news about getting the Ugly Type 35 revolver, so that Li Ju'an would know that his gun was now quite formidable, capable of firing six rounds in a row. He also needed to ask Li Ju'an if he had managed to get any information about Xiong Bicang from Sun Weimin.

Just as he was about to leave, he heard his mother's snoring on the kang (a heated brick bed) stop. His mother turned over and looked at him from the end of the kang, saying, "Is your father hiding some money? What are you keeping from him?"

Lu Zhiqiang was startled, thinking to himself, "Mom is really something else. She saw through Dad's little schemes a long time ago but just didn't expose them."

He imitated the old man and his father in playing Tai Chi, showing that they were truly family. He said, "Mom, Dad bought you face cream, saying he wanted to pamper you. He'll show it to you in a bit."

Lu's mother turned over and turned her face to the end of the kang (a heated brick bed), saying, "I don't want it. We don't need any more face cream. Your father just likes to use this trick to get away with things."

Lu Zhiqiang grinned and quickly ran off, saying, "Hey, I'm going out to have some fun first."

He went to the Li family's old house but couldn't find Li Ju'an. He asked Li Xiao and learned that Li Ju'an had left early in the morning without even taking his hunting dogs.

Today was the day Li Ju'an and Lin Mei had arranged to go to the county town's workers' auditorium to watch a movie. Lin Mei's younger brother, who was an apprentice projectionist at the auditorium, had brought them two tickets for adjacent seats.

The two had been looking forward to this day for a long time and agreed to take the forest farm's small train to the county town together.

Li Ju'an pushed his bicycle, spent 2 cents on a ticket, and boarded the mini-train. Lin Mei sat far away next to him. It wasn't that the two deliberately kept their distance; they were just a little embarrassed.

In the 80s, young people were not as open about dating as they are in later years. Their hearts were close, but their bodies were still very restrained, for fear of being discovered.

There are two places to watch movies in the county town, which is quite a lot compared to other county towns. One is the "Cinema" next to Song Desheng's courtyard, and the other is near the commercial city, called the "Workers' Auditorium".

The two entered the county town. Li Ju'an pushed the cart and walked beside Lin Mei, chatting about topics related to the auditorium.

The Workers' Auditorium wasn't large in scale or floor area; in fact, it could be described as somewhat small. However, it served a vital purpose, hence the name "Auditorium." The county held various large meetings and cultural events, including a place for citizens to listen to crosstalk performances, all within the auditorium.

Outside the auditorium, there were still children trying to sneak in without paying, having arranged to watch the movie together. In the 1980s, a movie ticket cost only 40 cents, but that was a considerable sum for school children. A steamed bun cost five cents, and a fried dough stick cost three cents. 50 cents could buy several days' worth of breakfast for the whole family.

Li Ju'an and Lin Mei exchanged a glance. Lin Mei lowered her head shyly and went into the workers' auditorium first.

He naturally understood what she meant. He waited at the door for a while before reluctantly going in. The young lady was shy, afraid of being noticed.

He waited a while and saw a red movie ticket being handed out through the crack in the auditorium door.

He looked around and recognized the chubby boy sneaking out of the ticket booth as none other than Sun Hao from the Sun family. He roared, "What are you doing, you little brat?"

Sun Hao was so frightened that he trembled and repeatedly gestured for him not to expose him.

It turned out that the village kids had also learned this trick from the city kids. Kids without money who wanted to see a movie would get a ticket and sneak in. One kid would go into the auditorium courtyard first, and after the ticket check, they'd slip the ticket through the door. The second kid would then easily enter the auditorium. This process would be repeated, allowing several kids to sneak in just as the movie started.

The kids were so scared they begged for mercy. Sun Hao gestured with his hands and said seriously, "Brother Li, from now on, you're my brother. As long as you don't tell anyone about this today, I'll do anything for you later."

"Can he really do anything?"

"Absolutely."

Sun Hao imitated the heroic figures in martial arts movies and made a solemn oath.

"If that bastard Sun Weimin tries to fool me, will you help me deal with him too?"

“It’s no big deal, Brother Li, I’ll take care of him for you.”

Li Ju'an nodded in satisfaction and let Sun Hao in. After the chubby boy went in, he actually passed the movie ticket through the crack in the door again, and another child went in.

He glanced at the screen and saw that the movie was about to start. He took his ticket, went inside, and sat down next to Lin Mei. The movie started, the lights dimmed, and it was dark. Lin Mei's eyes crinkled, and her gaze at him was bright and beautiful. He couldn't help but take Lin Mei's hand; her soft little hand also grasped his warm, large palm.

This stirred something within him, and he couldn't help but turn and kiss her. They barely touched the water before the projector lights came on.

They both recoiled as if electrocuted, quickly sitting up straight and looking at the movie screen with serious expressions. Lin Mei was shy to begin with, and this kiss made her blush deeply, her face turning red all the way to the roots of her neck.

He turned to look at Lin Mei's shyly lowered head, and his heart fluttered. After he returned and married Lin Mei, he would kiss her every day, day and night, he could never get enough of kissing her, he could kiss her wherever he wanted, wherever he wanted to kiss her.

There was only one seat for the kids. Sun Hao led them to scatter throughout the aisle, some standing, some sitting on the floor, and some taking up seats next to others. The kids had only one wish: to be able to watch a movie, no difficulty mattered.

Li Ju'an wasn't focused on the movie. He turned to Lin Mei and whispered, "After the New Year, let's bring some things over to your house. It's been a long time since I've had a drink and a chat with Uncle Lin."

Lin Mei naturally knew what he meant, and nodded with a blush on her face, agreeing.

Li Ju'an was in a great mood. That lousy driver was nothing; having been given a second chance at life, he would never again lose his beloved and let someone else benefit from it.

Just as the movie was reaching its climax, a beam of flashlight suddenly shone from both sides of the aisle onto each row of seats. A commotion erupted, "Tickets are being checked! Everyone, please take out your tickets."

Li Ju'an remained calm, but Sun Hao, who had evaded the fare, and the group of unruly children scrambled for seats. The chubby Sun Hao scrambled under a chair, hiding beneath Li Ju'an's legs.

The chubby boy, Sun Hao, begged for mercy, clasping his hands together and pleading, "Brother Li, you're like my own brother, please do me a favor and help me. I don't want to get caught again and have to sweep the auditorium floor, please."

Children who try to evade fares will be caught by staff members wielding brooms and made to sweep the auditorium floor. The punishment isn't severe, but it's still quite a blow for the children; if their parents ask about it later, they'll likely get a beating.

Li Ju'an laughed at him: "Just like Sun Weimin, he's been beaten by your dad a few times but still hasn't learned his lesson, and he still dares to sneak out of the ticket booth. I can help you, but you have to tell me honestly where that bastard Sun Weimin went to hunt bears. Last time he mentioned that spot with tree bark, and you just laughed. That bastard is definitely up to no good."

Little Fatty Sun Hao was convinced. He could only say that Sun Weimin was going to cooperate with Qin Pao this time because Qin Pao had trained a wolf to be his lead dog. Sun Weimin planned to go in and out of the bear warehouse three times with Qin Pao, for the third time. The bear warehouse that Sun Weimin mentioned last time was empty, meaning that he had already extracted all the bear bile from it, and there were no bears left.

Even an empty position is still a position. If he really made a trip and encountered an empty position, Sun Weimin could have argued that he was later beaten up, so he wasn't lying.

Li Ju'an muttered a curse under his breath. He knew Sun Weimin was untrustworthy and would dare to play him with an empty account.

Just you wait and see, Sun Weimin. You little bastard, it's a good thing you managed to get Sun Hao to tell you something today.