Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

"No way! If you take the house, where are we supposed to live? Brother, please give us a few days' grace so we can think of something."

"Dear neighbors, brothers, and sisters-in-law, please help us out. Please give my wife and me a little face and lend us some money so we can settle our debts. I, Zhou Jiutian, will remember your kindness for the rest of my life."

Zhou Jiutian and his wife finally couldn't stay inside any longer and came outside, begging and pleading.

Big Bear watched coldly, wondering if the old man could borrow money. After all, cash was better than a house. Otherwise, he'd have to sell the house, which was too much trouble; not many people in the village could afford to buy a house.

But to Big Bear's surprise, no one around uttered a sound. A few old men tried to step forward, but were pulled back by the people behind them. Were the Zhou family really so incompetent that they didn't even have anyone to help them?

He was unaware of the Zhou family's reputation in the village; not a single good person came from that family. The only honest man, Zhou Rui, had lost his father, and Zhou Dashu, who was financially capable, would never bring the money back.

They don't have much money themselves; it's all saved up for their son's wedding. If they lend the money out, with Zhou Dashan's current situation, when will he ever be able to pay it back? And will their son even be able to get married?

"As you can see, no one has any money. Could you please give me some time? I'll go to the city and borrow from my third son. I promise I'll pay you back."

Zhou Jiutian feigned a pitiful appearance. He had already planned ahead; he still had some savings for his funeral and some treasured possessions. Once he had fooled Da Xiong and his gang away, he would immediately take his wife to find Lao San and never bother with the mess left by Lao Er's family again.

Unexpectedly, Da Xiong was not stupid; he was quite shrewd himself. He saw that Zhou Jiutian's eyes were darting around and he knew that Zhou Jiutian had ill intentions, so he simply ignored him.

"Old man, get out of my way. I'm not going to argue with you anymore. We need to settle the accounts today. Either you pay me, or we take back the house. If that's not enough, we'll have to write another IOU." Da Xiong shoved Zhou Jiutian aside.

"Zhou Dashan's family is poor, but Zhou Rui is rich. He's Zhou Dashan's nephew. If you ask him for the money, he can pay it off today. He's over there."

A voice unexpectedly rang out from outside. Zhou Rui looked in the direction of the sound and saw that it was Chen Xueqin pointing at him.

Zhou Rui narrowed his eyes and looked over. Chen Xueqin was about to glare back when a chill ran down his spine, as if he were being watched by some evil spirit.

In an instant, all the villagers looked at Zhou Rui, and Da Xiong and his gang also realized who Zhou Rui was, following the direction in which everyone's heads were turned.

Now that Chen Xueqin had pointed him out, he saw no need to hide. He walked slowly forward, and the villagers in front of him made way for him.

As for Chen Xueqin, he'll be kept cooped up in the mountains sooner or later. He thinks that the incident where he was shot in the back last time will be over with a beating, but he's dreaming.

If there weren't so many people around and they weren't more than ten meters away, Zhou Rui would have gone over and beaten him up right now.

Big Bear looked at Zhou Rui, a boy who was underage, as he walked out of the crowd. Yes, in Big Bear's eyes, he was just a kid.

However, judging from the two dolls on his chest, Zhou Rui's own clothes, and the watch on his wrist, he is a wealthy man.

"You're Zhou Dashan's nephew? You have enough money to help Zhou Dashan's family pay off their debts?"

Zhou Rui stood still, about five or six meters away from the bear.

"I have the money and the ability to pay off the debts. But we separated a long time ago, I don't owe them anything, I don't want to help them pay off their debts, and I have no obligation to do so."

"You son of a bitch, what are you babbling about if you're not going to pay me back?" Big Bear's henchmen got angry when they heard this, thinking that Zhou Rui was playing them for fools, and wanted to come up and make a move.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the man said this, several people stood up next to Zhou Rui. Among them were Liu Qingguo, Zhao Dazhu, Liu Jianguo, Zhao Changhai, Liu Kangri, and the Zhou Ping and Ping An brothers.

More people squeezed in after them. They were young people who had connections with Zhou Rui or admired him after the mahjong tournament.

The man was immediately frightened when he saw this. When they threatened and intimidated Zhou Dashan's family, no one stood up for them, which made him think that the people in this village were not united and that they could do whatever they wanted.

Unexpectedly, this time it was like stirring up a hornet's nest; before I could even do anything, a whole bunch of people came forward.

"Big dog, come back."

Big Bear's words immediately gave the man called Big Dog a way out, and he hurriedly retreated, even at a much faster pace.

Everyone in the casino was watching and thought the kid had a lot of influence; before he even said anything, a group of people came out to help.

In contrast, no matter how much Zhou Dashan's family pleaded, no one responded.

"Young man, aren't you Zhou Dashan's nephew? Then you and Zhou Chen are cousins."

Although you have no obligation to help him repay the debt, as blood relatives, it is only right that you help each other out.

You wouldn't let outsiders gossip about you and say you're cold-blooded, unwilling to even help your relatives, would you?

Zhou Rui scrutinized Da Xiong for a while. This guy was really clever; knowing he couldn't get close to him through connections, he resorted to moral blackmail.

"Ruiwa, I know we've wronged you. But your grandparents still live here, you can't let them have nowhere to live, can you?" Zhou Dashan immediately played the victim upon hearing Da Xiong's words.

"Yes, it's all your aunt's fault, no matter what. But your grandparents did nothing wrong. You can't be an unfilial grandson, can you?" As soon as Zhou Dashan spoke, Tian Xiuying knew what he was thinking and followed suit to frame Zhou Rui.

Zhou Rui didn't even glance at the two of them, but instead asked Da Xiong directly.

"Relatives? Do you have relatives who would sell their niece as soon as their younger brother dies?"

Do you have relatives who come to your nephew's family's house to steal their food as soon as your younger brother dies?

Do you have relatives who, after their younger brother's death, try to seize their nephew's house and job through debt?

Do you have relatives who steal money from your cousins ​​when they're not home?

"Of course, I'm not someone who doesn't care about family. When your house is gone, and Grandpa and Grandma have nowhere to live, I'll rent a small room in the village office for them to live in. I can still afford to provide them with 20 jin of cornmeal a month."

Big Bear was sweating profusely from Zhou Rui's barrage of questions. Who are these people? They're so ruthless, much more vicious than the thugs in my casino.

At most, I'm just setting up scams to cheat strangers out of their money. But these people are trying to drive their own brothers to their deaths and wipe out their entire family fortune.

"If you're not going to pay off their debts, then what are you doing out here?" Big Dog muttered under his breath, though he was startled by the villagers.

Big Dog didn't dare to yell at Zhou Rui anymore; if it happened again, he probably wouldn't be able to leave Jiaolongxia Village.

"You're doing business, aren't you going to take the house and furniture to settle the debt? I don't want the house, but as for the furniture, it depends. If there are any usable pieces that I don't already own, you can sell them to me."

Zhou Rui gave Da Xiong a way out. He wouldn't have anything to do with this kind of person in the future, but there was no need to offend him either.

"Alright, with your words, young man, we can still do business." Zhou Rui offered a way out, and Da Xiong immediately accepted.

"Big Dog, get the guys moving things, then get the house appraised."

Da Xiong didn't give Zhou Dashan's family any time to react; he immediately started ransacking their home. He felt that with people like Zhou Rui in the village, the longer they stayed, the more dangerous it would be.