Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

Xu Liying eventually forgave her brother-in-law, after all, he had raised the child himself for more than ten years.

Liu Chuang and Liu Yong were punished by Uncle Liu to clean cow dung and collect manure in the livestock shed for a month, without any work points. Liu Chuang and Liu Yong were dissatisfied, so Uncle Liu waited until Zhao Youzhi returned and told him about it. Zhao Youzhi was even more ruthless and tripled the punishment, making them work until the New Year.

"Zhou Rui is getting more and more impressive. Before, he only fought with his uncle's family, but now he's not afraid of anyone else in the village."

"He's mainly right. Have you ever seen Zhou Rui say something that wasn't reasonable?"

"You're right. Having more people is useless. You can't win an argument, you can't win a fight, and you're no match for Zhou Rui."

"Zhou Rui is getting more and more arrogant in the village! He dares to interfere in things like this and even got it all sorted out by him."

"What kind of arrogance is this? Arrogance is when you're unreasonable. What's it called when you're in the right? What's it again?"

"Reasonable and measured."

"You're quite the smooth talker. There's definitely some truth to the saying 'read more books,' isn't there?"

"Did you hear what Zhou Rui said loudly in the middle? My sister-in-law abandoned Xiao Nian Gao and ran away. I wish I had someone like Aunt Li Ying as my sister-in-law."

"Sigh... I only realized now that Ruiwa is still so young, not even sixteen years old, yet she's already supporting this family."

"Li Ying is also impeccable. All the men in her family are dead, and she hasn't remarried or committed any misconduct. She supports her brother-in-law and two children on her own. Although I've fought with her, I admire her."

"That's right. Everyone in the village speaks highly of Xu Liying. It's just that she has a bad temper; she gets angry easily and often argues with people."

"If you don't have a man to back you up at home and you don't have a strong temper, won't you be bullied to death? I think Xu Liying did the right thing."

On the kang (heated brick bed) in Zhao Dazhu's house, Zhou Rui was clinking wine glasses with Zhao Dazhu. There weren't many dishes: just a plate of pickled cabbage, a dish of fried peanuts, and a plate of dried meat.

"Tsk... Ruiwa, you were really impressive just now. Liu Yuanchao, who graduated from vocational school and was a technician in the factory, was completely subdued by you."

"He was wrong to begin with, and I'm not one to argue unnecessarily." Zhou Rui picked up a peanut, put it in his mouth, and chewed it, looking smug, clearly satisfied with his performance today.

"His two cousins ​​are really scoundrels, they're instigating Liu Yuanchao to kick Aunt Liying out," Wang Xinghua interjected from the side.

"One is vengeful, and the other wants to take advantage of someone who has no descendants. Neither of them are good people." Zhao Dazhu may look simple-minded, but he is quite shrewd.

"How can people be so wicked? They're driving people to their doom." Wang Xinghua's eyes reddened; women are just more emotional.

"Some people are born bad and can't be changed. I just hope Liu Yuanchao can come to his senses and stop being used as a pawn."

"Sister-in-law, eat your food. Don't let those people spoil your mood." Zhou Rui put a piece of meat on Wang Xinghua's plate and ended the conversation.

"Keep a close eye on this greyhound, Sister-in-law, and make sure it looks good. When I walk around the village with a pretty doll hanging on each side, everyone will be so envious."

"That's true. My Yan'er adores you; she clings to you the moment you arrive. Why don't you take her home?"

"It's not impossible. That way, we can make room for you and your older brother to have another baby at night."

"Get lost, you can't expect anything good to come out of a dog's mouth. I'm telling you, kid, if you're so keen on having a baby, go find a wife and have one yourself." Zhao Dazhu picked up his cup and gave him a toast.

"We'll see. My house isn't even repaired yet. I'll tear it down next year and build a bigger one."

"Wow, you've made a fortune! You're able to build a new house so quickly?"

"Not yet. But it'll be soon, it should be built by next year no matter what. Brother Dazhu, you should come and help me then."

Zhou Rui's hidden cellar is currently overflowing with cash, and even Zhou Ping doesn't know exactly how much he has. But he can't flaunt it everywhere; if the villagers knew how fast he'd made money, their jaws would drop. Sigh… It's true what they say, "Don't wear fine clothes in the dark." If this were in later generations, Zhou Rui would have been spending it all over the place.

After finishing his meal, Zhou Rui wanted to go back to rest, but to his surprise, no one wanted to go home with him. Zhou Ping and An'an decided to wander around the village, while Xiao Niangao held onto her baby, who was a few months younger than her, and wouldn't let go.

Zhou Rui tried to take her back, and she cried out as she tried to fight back.

"Just leave it here. I have to work this afternoon and won't have time to play with Xiaoyan. Let the two of them play by themselves. When it gets dark, I'll ask Pingwa to take her home." Wang Xinghua laughed until her stomach hurt at the sight of the little rice cake waving its claws.

"Okay, thank you for your trouble, sister-in-law. I'm going back to get some sleep." Zhou Rui had no choice but to go home by himself.

Zhou Rui was sleeping soundly in the afternoon when he heard knocking and shouting from outside.

"Zhou Rui, is Zhou Rui home? Zhou Rui..."

"I'm home. The door's unlocked. Come in." Zhou Rui recognized Lin Qiuyue's voice.

Lin Qiuyue pushed open the door and entered the room. She saw Zhou Rui sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed), his eyes glazed over, with a tuft of hair sticking up on his head. It seemed he had been sleeping in the room.

"Why are you sleeping alone at home? Where is everyone else?" Lin Qiuyue asked, puzzled. Zhou Rui usually brought Xiao Niangao with him whenever he wasn't going into the mountains.

"I had a few drinks at Brother Dazhu's house earlier and was thinking of resting for a while, but I ended up falling asleep. None of those wild kids wanted to go home. Even Xiaoniangao stayed at Brother Dazhu's house, clinging to Xiaoyan'er and refusing to let go. When I tried to hug her, she hit me."

As Lin Qiuyue listened to Zhou Rui's description, she pictured the chubby baby fighting against Zhou Rui and couldn't help but laugh. She had witnessed Xiao Niangao's domineering nature firsthand; she was incredibly powerful and no one could sway her.

"Don't laugh. You'll know how hard it is to raise kids when you have one. By the way, what did you call me for?" Zhou Rui finally came to his senses and looked up to ask Lin Qiuyue.

Lin Qiuyue blushed. What? I already have a baby? I'm still a virgin.

"My childhood friend is here, and I was thinking of buying some meat from you to cook something nice to welcome her back."

"Oh. Your childhood friend? How come I've never heard you mention him before? Which brigade are you in? Why haven't you come to visit you before?"

"No, he just arrived and he's in our brigade."

"Hmm," Zhou Rui turned his head. "They just arrived, and they've been assigned to their brigade? Two batches of educated youth have come to their area this year, and at this particular time."

However, Zhou Rui was only somewhat curious and didn't delve too deeply into it. Any major policies from above were irrelevant to him; at most, it just meant a few more unfamiliar faces in the village.

"The meat is hanging in the kitchen, go get it yourself. Smoked chicken is two yuan a piece, and cured pork is one yuan a slice."

Zhou Rui quoted a price directly, without mentioning giving Lin Qiuyue anything for free. After all, they were just friends, and there had to be boundaries. Inviting someone to dinner was different from offering charity.

Lin Qiuyue didn't waste any words and directly took out three yuan. At this price, you couldn't buy this much meat anywhere else.