Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

"What 'soft rice' and 'soft man'?" Tong Lei was somewhat taken aback. These were terms he had never heard of before. Was his education level really that low?

"It's nothing, go on." Zhou Rui didn't have time to explain to him.

"Zhang Hongbo is a bit dishonest. He often sneaks home unused ingredients or leftovers from the kitchen."

"Nothing special, most cooks do it this way. Otherwise, why are factory cooks so sought after? They wouldn't trade them for a level 5 worker."

Zhou Rui nodded in understanding. This was a hidden perk for chefs, much like how salespeople at supply and marketing cooperatives could often buy defective goods at low prices without receipts. This couldn't be considered a handle against Zhang Hongbo.

"However, I heard that he and another person in the cafeteria often steal cooking oil from the kitchen to sell. But it's hard to find evidence, and unless you catch them in the act, the amount of oil is up to the cook."

"I'll think about it when I get back. Anything else?" Zhou Rui went through the problem in his mind but couldn't come up with a solution for the time being, so he decided to leave it for now, since he wasn't in a hurry.

"And then there's this woman he's having an affair with. She's a worker at the woodworking factory, almost forty years old. Her name is something like Yan Hong, and she's really beautiful. She's from that big granary, that back hill..."

As Tong Lei spoke, he revealed a lewd expression and kept gesturing to himself, practically drooling.

Zhou Rui couldn't help but feel a little disgusted when he saw it, and quickly moved two steps to the side. He never expected that Tong Lei, who wasn't even married yet, was so secretly passionate.

"Can you wipe your drool? How can you think like that about a woman who's almost forty? She's almost as old as your mother."

Upon hearing this, Tong Lei wiped his mouth with his sleeve, only then realizing he had been tricked by Zhou Rui.

"You wouldn't believe it. When I heard about this, I specifically followed Zhang Hongbo, and that's when I met this woman. Her figure, her face, her charm—she really doesn't look like someone almost forty."

"Let me tell you, Zhang Hongbo often lies to his wife for this woman. He says he's working overtime and has to cook for his boss until late, but actually he's just with this woman."

"You even managed to find out something so secretive?" Zhou Rui was quite impressed with Tong Lei, thinking that he was just as capable as Chen Datou from the village.

"Hey, it's just a matter of a few cigarettes. Just find a kitchen helper, give him a cigarette, and you can talk about anything."

"So what about this woman? She can't exactly tell her husband she's working overtime, can she? The kitchen staff can't just say the boss eats late and they have to be ready to cook for him anytime. Everyone knows whether the workers work overtime or not."

"Isn't this a coincidence? Her husband is a driver at the factory, often traveling long distances, sometimes not home for ten days or half a month. Do you think this woman can bear the loneliness of being alone at home?"

Zhang Hongbo took advantage of this, first by giving people extra good food at meals, and later by buying them hair ties and face cream at the supply and marketing cooperative, thus coaxing them onto the kang (heated brick bed).

Gifts, money, stealing oil from the kitchen to sell. These clues swirled in Zhou Rui's mind, then strung together into a coherent thread.

Zhang Hongbo must be very controlled by his wife and doesn't have much money. But he can't be without money in order to seduce women, so he set his sights on the kitchen supplies.

However, these are all petty thefts now, and they can't be found in the kitchen's accounts, so things have been peaceful.

Zhang Hongbo and the female worker named Yan Hong were not discovered because her husband was often away from home.

If these two things happen at the same time...

Seeing that Zhou Rui didn't speak and his eyes were just darting around, Tong Lei also kept quiet and waited for Zhou Rui to come to his senses.

"Brother Tong, can you find a few smooth-talking women? And someone who can get close to that Yan Hong. By the way, what's her last name?"

"I didn't find out his last name, but does it matter?"

"It's really not important. Can you find a few smooth-talking women?" Zhou Rui was also obsessed. She was just a tool, why did he need to know her last name?

"They can, but Rui-ge, what exactly do you want them to do?" Tong Lei was very curious, wondering what kind of dirty tricks Zhou Rui could come up with.

"Here's what I'll give you: a hundred yuan. You can spend a few dozen yuan to go to the county department store and buy me some face cream, scarves, hair clips, or other small things for women."

But it had to be fresh and expensive, at least more expensive than the bright red one Zhang Hongbo gave her. Then he kept whispering in her ear, saying things like, "Women should treat themselves well, and if a man loves her, he should buy her good, expensive things, otherwise he doesn't love her..."

Zhou Rui launched into a long, rambling explanation to Tong Lei of the toxic motivational platitudes that merchants in later generations used to feed women in order to make money.

Tong Lei was completely dumbfounded after hearing this. What kind of bizarre method was this, and why would he have to spend so much money on it? Was the price too high? Was it worth it?

"Brother Rui, what kind of move is this? What's it for?"

"I call this the 'poisonous chicken soup tactic.' It can poison women and make men lose money. Zhang Hongbo is stealing kitchen oil now, isn't he? I'll make him sell more, so much that he can't hide it anymore."

Furthermore, his affair with a fellow factory worker will also be exposed. And I'll make sure Zhang Hongbo's wife and the driver catch him in the act. Wouldn't I kill him then?

"Toxic chicken soup? Theft? Catching someone in the act? Rui, what's 'toxic chicken soup'?"

"That's not important. What's important is whether you can handle this," Zhou Rui interrupted, not in the mood to explain things to him.

"It's possible, but does it really have to cost so much? One hundred yuan is way too much." Tong Lei felt a pang of heartache; that was three months' wages for an ordinary worker.

"That's no big deal. That bastard offended me, I'll spend whatever it takes to get rid of him. Anyway, when you go to the county, get me some face cream, at least a few dollars' worth, and a nice-colored silk scarf too."

"I don't need to go every day, just pop around that woman every few days. I'll keep doing this until the end of the year, and before the New Year, I want him to explode, to add some festive atmosphere."

"Alright then." Tong Lei couldn't refuse, since it wasn't his money being spent anyway. Besides, he also wanted to see if Zhou Rui's unorthodox methods would actually work.

"Alright." Zhou Rui counted out ten ten-yuan bills and handed them to Tong Lei. "Use some of the money to buy things for women, and use the rest to treat them to meals or as a reward."

You should settle the bill yourself. If it's not enough, I'll make up the difference next time. If there's any extra, consider it a treat for drinks.

Tong Lei gripped the thick wad of cash in his hand, his palm clenching tightly. What deep-seated hatred and resentment could lead to such a huge sum of money being given away just to get back at that one person?

However, he also admired Zhou Rui's generosity. As expected of his brother Rui, he was very open and honest. He didn't have to worry about Zhou Rui running away with the money after giving him a hundred yuan.