Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

Upon hearing this, Zhou Shumin immediately put down his pen and paper and personally counted the money, industrial coupons, grain coupons, and cloth coupons on the ground.

The villagers, seeing the large stacks of banknotes, discussed it animatedly. Even from so far away, the smell of ink from the banknotes seemed to waft right up to them.

In everyone's eyes, Zhou Rui was the best candidate to be a son-in-law. They were all thinking about whether their daughters or nieces could arrange a marriage between them and Zhou Rui, making this golden boy into their own family.

Zhao Youzhi unfolded the receipt in his hand and walked around Zhou Rui's fence to make sure everyone could see its authenticity and prevent anyone from accusing him of being unfair.

Most people are actually illiterate; they only recognize the red official seal and know that it belongs to the government because the village seal looks the same.

Occasionally, a few literate people would gasp in shock upon seeing the unit price and total price.

"So much, over two thousand yuan? Zhou Rui can earn that much money?"

"Didn't he say he fought alongside his senior brother? Then it should be half and half each."

"That's incredible. Our whole family works hard in the fields for a year and we don't even make two hundred yuan. One trip up the mountain is enough for our family's income for several years."

Some were envious and shouted at Zhao Youzhi, "Village chief, Zhou Rui's hunting in the mountains behind our village is considered a collective activity, right? Shouldn't a portion be given to the village?"

"Yes, village chief. Also, Zhou Rui secretly bought meat for the forest farm. Doesn't that count as speculation and profiteering? Should we confiscate that money?" This man was even more ruthless; he wanted to convict Zhou Rui and also wanted to plunder all his money.

Zhou Rui turned to look at the speaker, and it turned out to be that bastard Chen Feiyue. He and Gu Dayong had saved Chen Feiyue's life last time, and he had repaid kindness with enmity. All he had done was tell Liu Qingguo about Chen Feiyue wetting his pants; why was he still so resentful?

"Zhou Rui is a purchasing agent for Xiangyang Forest Farm, and he is responsible for the farm's tasks. His income is reasonable and legal. Besides, which of you saw Zhou Rui hunt the sika deer in the mountains behind our village? Don't spread rumors without evidence."

Zhao Youzhi glared at the troublemakers. The theft by Zhou Chen and his group hadn't been resolved yet, and these people were already stirring up trouble again. Were they deliberately trying to make things difficult for Jiaolongxia Village?

"You're making things difficult for me, so I'll make things difficult for you. Next year during the busy farming season, I'll assign you the dirtiest and hardest jobs." Zhao Youzhi silently remembered these troublemakers, waiting to settle accounts after the harvest.

After waiting for about ten minutes, Zhou Shumin, the professional accountant, finally finished counting the money and notes, recorded them in his notebook, and then read them aloud from the notebook.

"The total amount is 1,035.63 yuan. There are 65 jin of grain coupons, 32 chi of cloth coupons, 18 jin of cotton coupons, and 43 industrial coupons..."

Zhao Youzhi's veins bulged as he listened. This sum of money, plus the rifle, watch, horse gear, and other miscellaneous items, amounted to several thousand yuan. Letting it go easily was no longer an option, especially since these educated youths were involved; suppression was impossible.

Zhao Youzhi glanced at Zhou Rui furtively. This was all part of your plan, wasn't it? To say it was all just a coincidence, Zhao Youzhi would never believe it, not even if you beat him to death.

Who would carry around receipts all the time, ready to plead their case if anyone had a question? Zhao Youzhi believed that if anyone still questioned him, Zhou Rui could pull out other things from his pocket, such as a gun license or a purchasing agent's certificate from the forest farm.

Zhao Youzhi looked around, his gaze lingering on the group of educated youth for a moment, before finally making a decision.

"Zhao Changshan".

"arrive."

"Send a few militiamen to escort the man to the brigade headquarters and keep him under guard. Report to the commune police first thing tomorrow morning and let the higher-ups decide what to do."

"This...?" Zhao Changshan hesitated.

"What, do you have a different opinion?" Zhao Youzhi looked at Zhao Changshan, not understanding what he meant.

Zhao Changshan leaned closer and whispered, "Uncle, village matters shouldn't be resolved within the village. There's no need to call the police. If this gets out of hand, it won't sound good to us villagers, and we'll be looked down upon when we want to get married."

"Do you think you can suppress Zhou Rui about this? He knows people at Xiangyang Forestry Farm. And these educated youths, they're young, educated, and in the prime of their youth. How are you going to shut them up? Hurry up, stop dawdling."

"Yes."

Zhao Changshan agreed, and loudly agreed. Then he waved to several militiamen, who picked up Zhou Chen and the others and were about to take them to the brigade headquarters for detention.

Zhou Chen and the others were immediately terrified. They hadn't expected the consequences to be so serious; they thought it would just be a punishment from the village.

It's always been like this. If they do something wrong, the worst they get is punished by cleaning the toilet or the cowshed, maybe this time for a longer period. I never expected the village to send them to the police station, which means jail time.

Last time they were locked up in the commune for a few days, which made them quite depressed for a while. If they were locked up for several years, they would collapse.

"No! Don't send us to the police! Dad, Mom, save me!"

"Father, save me, I don't want to cause trouble."

"Mom, it's not my fault. Zhou Chen made me do it. I didn't want to come, but he dragged me along."

"And Qian Fulai, that son of a bitch, he was supposed to keep watch outside, where did he go? He didn't even tell us when Zhou Rui came back."

Zhou Chen, Chen Dabiao, and Chen Erbiao struggled incessantly, crying loudly with snot and tears streaming down their faces.

"What? Qian Fulai is involved too?"

"Qian Fulai was involved in this too? Why wasn't he caught?"

"You're talking nonsense. My son Fulai was drinking with his dad at home at noon, and they were both drunk. He's lying at home now, how could he have come to Zhou Rui's house to steal anything? Don't try to drag my son Fulai into this."

Luo Sufeng was already in poor health, and she was shivering from the cold as she stood there, but for the sake of her only son, she had no choice but to endure it and watch the commotion. It wasn't until Chen Erbiao exposed her son that she finally spoke up to refute him.

Zhou Rui hadn't expected that Qian Fulai would come up with a plan so quickly after returning home. Moreover, with his parents' cooperation, as long as he kept quiet, no one could implicate Qian Fulai in this matter, because what Zhou Chen and the others said was unreliable.

"I'm not lying. This was Brother Chen's idea. We discussed it together. Qian Fulai is too scared to come in, so Brother Chen had him stay outside and keep watch for us..."

"Shut the fuck up, or I'll kill you!" Zhou Chen was furious when he saw Chen Erbiao acting like a bully and pushing all the blame onto himself. He didn't care that he was tied up and rammed into Chen Erbiao.

"You better behave yourself, kid. You dare to act recklessly in front of us militiamen." A militiaman holding the rope was caught off guard by Zhou Chen and stumbled. He immediately slapped Zhou Chen on the head.

"You said your Qian Fulai got drunk at home, who can prove that?" Zhao Youzhi was even more annoyed when he saw that another person had been dragged into this.

The Qian family are outsiders. Qian Dazhuang's family is weak and has no power. They can only live an honest life. His wife is in poor health and is either taking medicine or lying in bed all year round. If this only son is imprisoned, the family will probably fall apart.

"How can you prove that? It was just the family eating together, there were no outsiders. If you don't believe me, come to my house and see for yourselves. He drank so much, and he's sleeping like a log." Luo Sufen's face was pale, but she still gritted her teeth and argued for her son.