Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

"Young man, why don't you stay? That family looks wealthy, maybe even officials. The thank-you gift would be much more generous!" The old man felt it was a pity; business people always want a powerful backer, or at least something substantial.

"Do you think I care about that little bit of thank-you money? I just couldn't stand those kidnappers, acting so brazenly in broad daylight. I'd only feel better if I wiped them all out," Zhou Rui said calmly.

"Second Brother is a great hero, he defeated the big bad guy. He always helps those in need." An'an skipped and jumped around beside him, and Zhou Ping couldn't stop her.

Zhou Rui beamed with joy. No amount of praise from others could compare to An'an's single sentence. It seemed buying that Water Margin picture book hadn't been a waste; An'an had even learned the phrase "to help those in need."

"Alas...what a pity!" The old man sighed, unable to understand why such a good opportunity was given up. Wouldn't it have been better to establish a relationship with the officials? If it were him, he would have to stay there, constantly dangling in front of them.

Fortunately, Zhou Rui couldn't hear the old man's inner thoughts, otherwise he would have definitely scoffed. "How could a mere money-grubber like you compare to my level?" Even though Zhou Rui was about to make a deal with this money-grubber.

Zhou Rui followed the old man to the depths of the alley and stopped at a dilapidated gatehouse.

The old man pounded on the door. Zhou Rui looked at the dilapidated door, afraid that if the old man used any more force, he would break it apart. How could someone like that have gold and antiques in their home?

However, Zhou Rui did not immediately question the old man. He knew he was rich and had just witnessed Zhou Rui's skills, so he figured the old man wouldn't dare to lie to him.

After a while, the door opened a crack from the inside, revealing an old face. His hair was completely white, without a single strand of black, his face was like tree bark, and his eyes were only filled with a lifeless numbness.

"Brother Lang, I'm here. Is everything you wanted here?" The old man stepped aside and pointed to the sack Zhou Rui was carrying.

Old Man Lang raised his eyelids and glanced outside, somewhat displeased. "Why are there so many people? Are you afraid you won't die fast enough?"

"It's alright. I've known this young man for a long time, and he's never made a mistake. He'll be fine," the old man explained to the old man in a low voice.

Zhou Rui inwardly cursed, thinking that this old man never told the truth. They had only traded briefly and hadn't even exchanged names, so how could they have known each other for so long?

"Come in." Old Man Lang looked Zhou Rui up and down before finally opening the door.

Zhou Rui, a young man nearing adulthood, was carrying two children, with a baby strapped to his chest. Surely the officials wouldn't send just a few people to deliberately cause trouble for him.

Zhou Rui carried the load and followed Old Man Lang inside. The old man walked at the back, and after everyone had gone inside, he turned around, closed the door, and bolted it.

Passing by the big tree in the yard, Zhou Rui put down his load, gave the small rice cake to Zhou Ping, and told him to take An'an to play in the yard before following him into the house.

After all, it was an antique transaction, and it wouldn't be appropriate for An'an and Zhou Ping to be there. Moreover, Zhou Rui was also afraid that the two of them would say the wrong thing and reveal their background to the old man, since he still didn't know the old man's name or address.

Upon entering the main hall, we found it to be small, containing a small, worn-out square table with an uncovered teapot and several chipped teacups on it.

Old Man Lang laid out several teacups one by one and poured water for the two of them. Old Man Lang's clothes were not too dirty, but they were not clean either, and the cotton wadding was showing through his tattered cotton-padded jacket.

Zhou Rui picked up the teacup, took a sip—plain boiled water, which had already cooled down.

"Take a look, what did you bring?" Old Man Lang's hoarse voice rang out.

The old man winked at Zhou Rui.

Zhou Rui put down his teacup, walked to the carrying pole, untied the ropes of the three burlap sacks one by one, folded the openings of the sacks, and exposed the contents.

Rice, wheat flour, a plucked pheasant, and a few pieces of cured meat. Old Man Lang's eyes finally brightened.

"How much is this?" Old Man Lang grabbed a handful of rice, and the white rice grains fell through his fingers.

"Fifty catties each of rice and wheat flour, fresh pheasant, and cured meat, totaling about eighty catties." Zhou Rui looked at Old Man Lang without showing any disdain. In these days, there are too many people who don't have enough to eat.

"Good, good, good. Young man, what do you want?" Old Man Lang couldn't wait any longer.

Do you have any yellow croaker, large or small?

"Wait here, I'll go get the things right away."

After a while, Old Man Lang finally came out of the inner room, his sleeves still covered in dust, probably because he hadn't noticed.

Old Man Lang sat down and placed what he was holding on the table. With a clatter, five small yellow croakers landed on the table in front of Zhou Rui.

Zhou Rui casually picked up one, about the thickness of a finger and a few centimeters long. He weighed it in his hand; it seemed to be a small yellow croaker weighing about an ounce. Five of them would be five ounces. Each small yellow croaker weighed a little over thirty-one grams, so five would weigh over one hundred and fifty grams. Based on the current gold price, he had made a profit.

Zhou Rui didn't rush into the transaction. Instead, he asked Old Man Lang directly, "Grandpa, may I inspect the goods?"

Old Man Lang didn't speak, but simply gestured to Zhou Rui.

Zhou Rui nodded, then took out a scalpel from his waist, placed the small yellow croaker on the table, and cut it open. The inside was golden in color, exactly the same as the outside.

"If it's genuine, then our deal is done." The old man interjected after seeing that Zhou Rui's cut was flawless.

"But Lao Lang, you've really gone all out this time. At the current gold price in banks, these five small gold bars should be worth at least four hundred."

Old Man Lang rolled his eyes. "Do you think I, with my identity, can go to a bank? They'd probably arrest me and parade me through the streets again."

"Then sell it to me! You can buy food on the black market with the money, right?"

"With your heartless and rotten nature, I'd be ripped off if I sold it to you. Then I'd go to the black market and get ripped off again. I'm not that stupid. This way is fine, simple and convenient."

Zhou Rui smiled and put the gold away, then took out a wad of banknotes from his pocket, counted out twenty yuan, and handed it to the old man. This was his commission; Zhou Rui gave the old man ten percent of the goods he brought in.

The old man stared at the large sum of money in Zhou Rui's hand, not even bothering to examine the money Zhou Rui handed him closely, until Zhou Rui put the money away, at which point he reluctantly looked away.

"Old man, you two chat for a bit, I'm going to the outhouse." The old man said and left. He wanted to count the money in his hand and think about what antiques he should sell to Zhou Rui, hoping to make all the money out of Zhou Rui.

The two men paid no attention to the old man's behavior, merely sipping the water in their teacups as if they were drinking the finest tea.

Once the old man's footsteps had faded into the distance, Zhou Rui spoke up: "Grandpa, do you have any more yellow goods? As you can see, I have quite a bit of money. If you're willing to sell, I'll give you the bank's price."

"You child, there's no need to test me like this." Perhaps it was because he had just bought a lot of grain and meat, or perhaps it was because Zhou Rui had brought several little children with him when he came to make the transaction, that made the old man surnamed Lang lower his guard a lot.

"I still have some inventory, but I won't sell it for money. I only need food, drink, and other necessities. Having money in hand is not necessarily a blessing; it might be a disaster."

"Even money and coupons together won't work? With these two, you can go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy them yourself." Zhou Rui was still trying to persuade him.

"Kid, you don't need to say anymore. Someone like me, without children or a job, where would I get the money to buy things at the supply and marketing cooperative? I'd just get arrested."

"By the way, could you come again before the Lunar New Year? Besides what I just mentioned, it would be best if you could bring me a cotton-padded coat and a quilt. It would be best if you came alone, don't bring that guy surnamed Fu, he's incredibly ruthless."

Zhou Rui stepped out of the room, where the sound of a gramophone could be heard, filled with decadent music from the 1930s and 40s.