Chapter 3: Unlocking the Skill Panel

What other choice did Lai San have? In his situation, if he reported to the public security authorities, he would inevitably end up locked up for several days or even months. Eventually, he would still have to pay compensation, but he simply didn’t have that much money. More importantly, having a criminal record in this era was a significant matter. Although he was just a thug with no reputation, having a record was completely different from not having one.

In the end, he compromised, and Su Yu happily received ten yuan as compensation.

“Let’s go home.”

Su Yu scooped up his little sister, called out to Huzi, and the three of them strolled leisurely back to the village.

“Brother Yu, why did you agree to let that scoundrel Lai San off? He should have been punished by law and sent to prison for a few years.”

In the previous life, Su Yu remembered that he had fought back fiercely. Both sides were injured, and the matter ended unresolved. He hadn’t gained anything then, but now, getting compensation was already quite good.

“Forget it. Our village is too close to Majiawan. We can see each other’s fields from our own. We live so close that we can’t avoid each other. Besides, many women in our village married into the Majiawan families. If things get too tense, the village party secretary would have a hard time managing.”

Of course, Su Yu said this deliberately. He was no longer the impulsive youth he once was. Whether he beat up the other party or reported them to the police, he wouldn’t gain anything. It was better to take the money, give the village chief some face, and there would be plenty of chances to deal with them later.

“Ah... Brother Yu, you’re too kind-hearted. If it were me, I would have dealt with him illegally.”

The three joked and laughed as they returned to the village. After bidding farewell to Huzi, Su Yu took his little sister inside.

“Little sister, where’s Mom? She’s not home?”

“Uh... Mom and Fourth Brother went to the fields to pick wild vegetables. Big Brother went to work in the fields, so it’s just the two of us at home.”

That explained it. Even though Su Yu’s head was throbbing from the fight, he hadn’t seen Liu Yuzhi anywhere because she had taken Fourth Brother to forage.

“Play by yourself. Third Brother is going to wash up. With all this blood on me, it feels sticky if I don’t clean up.”

He entered the house. The Su family’s four-room adobe house had a kitchen in the west room and a storage room for farm tools and firewood in the east. The four northern rooms were for the family: one for the parents, one for Big Brother, one for Little Sister, and one shared by Su Yu and Fourth Brother.

Big Brother had his own room because he was of marriageable age, and Little Sister had hers because she used to share a room with the eldest sister before she got married. Logically, Fourth Brother and Little Sister should share a room since they were both children — the little sister was eight, and Fourth Brother was fourteen — while Su Yu, at nineteen, could have a room to himself. However, Su Yu found moving around troublesome, so the arrangement was postponed indefinitely.

Upon entering the room, an air of simplicity and antiquity greeted him. A square table stood inside, flanked by two grand chairs. Behind each chair was a stack of bricks topped with a horizontal wooden beam resembling an altar. On the altar sat a mirror showing a sitting reflection, and beside it, an old-fashioned alarm clock.

To the left of the door was a washbasin stand holding an enamel basin, decorated with a large, red double happiness character. Even the thermos was woven, giving the whole scene the feel of a live film set from Hengdian Studios.

He hadn’t expected it — he was truly reborn, back in the 1970s. His family wasn’t poor because his father had been injured and discharged from the military and worked at the commune’s brick factory, drawing a regular paycheck.

Big Brother wanted to go to college, but the national college entrance exam had only been reinstated in 1977, seven years away. That was too far off, and Big Brother was already twenty-three — by the time exams resumed, he would be well into his thirties, likely with several children, and might not even want to go.

“Sigh... Why worry so much? It’s pointless.”

He poured some warm water, washed his hair, changed clothes, dried his hair, and searched his father’s room for medical alcohol. After putting some on his wounds, he dismissed the idea of seeing a doctor. The bleeding had stopped, and it wasn’t worth spending the extra money.

“San Guo...”

Just as he finished tidying up, he saw the little girl timidly peeking through the door crack.

“What is it, little one?”

“San Guo, I’m hungry.”

Hearing that, Su Yu’s own stomach growled.

“Ahem... I’ll go find some food for you.”

Back then, most people didn’t have enough to eat. Although his father worked at the brick factory, his wage was a meager eighteen yuan, and they often couldn’t pay on time. After all, few people in the countryside built houses with bricks; the bricks were mainly for the city, pig farms, or other places.

If the bricks didn’t sell, there was no money to pay wages. But his father was reluctant to lose the job. After all, wage arrears had limits — at least they paid one month’s wages every few months.

Su Yu searched everywhere but couldn’t find a single pancake or even cornmeal. The house was bare, which explained why their mother, Liu Yuzhi, had gone out to gather wild vegetables. Sigh...

After searching for a while, the only thing he found was less than half a pound of bran. Su Yu wondered if pigs even ate that stuff.

He knew well that in this era, wild vegetables and bran, made into a thin porridge, was how people barely got by.

If there hadn’t been a shortage, his mother wouldn’t have gone to forage. She would have gone to the fields with Big Brother to earn work points. Without work points, there was no grain ration.

In theory, his family shouldn’t have been so desperate since his father had a steady job. But their family situation was complicated—they also had grandparents, an eldest uncle, and a third uncle, with his father being the second son.

Grandmother favored Big Brother, which was common in rural areas because the eldest son was the family’s mainstay. For example, the brick factory job was almost given to the eldest uncle, but grandmother insisted otherwise. When mother couldn’t stand it, she knelt at the old family gate with the newborn little sister, causing a village-wide stir. The village chief had to intervene, and grandfather, embarrassed, stepped in to preserve the job.

After all, the job was arranged by the government for his father’s retirement from the military. Unless he gave it up or passed it to a family member after starting work, no one else could take it.

The family’s hardships stemmed from the old lady’s antics. His second uncle quit early, citing health reasons, and where he went was obvious.

“Ahem... Little sister, there’s no food at home. I’ll go find something for you. Stay here and be good.”

Su Yu ran out, sprinting toward a small river ditch on the west side of the village. There were fish there in the flowing water. But with his head injury, he couldn’t dive and hold his breath to catch fish, so he had to use a wooden stick to spear them.

He found a branch, took off his shoes and socks, and waded slowly into the water.

Su Yu had fished since childhood and was quite experienced. Perhaps he was lucky, because soon after entering the water, a half-pound fish swam toward him.

His face brightened. He gripped the branch tightly, took a deep breath, and thrust the stick hard. In an instant, the branch pierced the fish’s belly.

“Ding dong... Experience +1.”

Huh? What was that?

As he stood there stunned, a panel popped up.

Host: Su Yu
Age: 19 years
Strength: 8 (Adult standard: 10)
Speed: 8 (Adult standard: 10)
Skill Points: 1
Skills: Fishing Lv. 2+

“This is... a proficiency panel? Or a skill point system?”