Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

With no thugs blocking his way, Zhou Rui quickened his pace and soon arrived at Xiangyang Forest Farm.

"Brother Chen, are you on duty today?"

Zhou Rui greeted the guardhouse. Today, the guard wasn't Tao Guobing, but someone else named Chen Ye, the cousin of Deng Xiangrong, the canteen manager.

"Brother Zhou Rui, what brings you here so early today?"

Chen Ye had only been at the forest farm for a short time; Deng Xiangrong had pulled a lot of strings to get him in. He wasn't very familiar with Zhou Rui and wasn't very enthusiastic when speaking to him.

But Deng Xiangrong had already told him that Zhou Rui had a powerful background and he shouldn't offend him.

Zhou Rui didn't care that Chen Ye had a calm expression. He wasn't a hundred-yuan bill, and it was impossible for everyone to like him. As long as he wasn't made things difficult for himself, that was fine.

Zhou Rui passed a cigarette to the guardhouse window.

"Excuse me, are there any trucks available at the yard today?"

Chen Ye took the cigarette, but didn't light it. Instead, he held it horizontally and smelled it. Not bad, it's a good cigarette.

"There really is one. A long-distance truck that came back from Shanghai the day before yesterday was still parked at the factory for maintenance yesterday and hasn't gone out yet."

"Hehe...that's settled then. I need to hurry and get a note from Uncle Zhang, otherwise it'll be hard to borrow a car if I have a mission."

"What's this? You've caught some game again?" Chen Ye asked curiously. He had heard that Zhou Rui was a temporary purchasing agent for the farm, but he was actually a hunter. The farm would send a vehicle to pick up the game he caught, but he didn't expect it to be true.

"Hmm, just wait a couple of days and the cafeteria will be serving delicious food." Zhou Rui said cryptically, then casually walked into the forest.

Knock, knock, knock. Zhou Rui stood outside Zhang Zhenbei's office door and knocked three times gently. Only after receiving a response from inside did he push the door open and go in.

"Ruiwa, you're here. How many times have you come? Why are you knocking? Just come in."

Zhang Zhenbei didn't get up; they were too familiar with each other, there was no need to be polite.

"That won't do. You may be my uncle, but this is an office. What would it look like if I just barged in while your subordinates were reporting to you?"

Others might think you've mistreated your children, that the younger generation in your family has no manners. If I were to visit your house, I wouldn't be so polite; even if you and my aunt were busy with something, I'd still have to disturb you."

Zhou Rui spoke clearly and logically, and even made a sarcastic remark about Zhang Zhenbei at the end.

"You sure know how to talk! What, did I offend you, that you're making fun of my aunt?"

Zhang Zhenbei was satisfied, but he refused to admit defeat.

He thought highly of Zhou Rui, and even if Zhou Rui didn't knock and come in, he wouldn't say anything.

However, Zhou Rui was able to abide by certain rules despite having earned my deep trust, which is truly admirable, as he did not become arrogant because of my favor.

"Uncle Zhang, please issue a note. I need a truck for a mission."

"You can just go to the fleet and call a car. Why do you need a ticket?" Zhang Zhenbei said, somewhat puzzled.

The first two times, I just needed to say something; it was only a matter of a few hours, and I could just fill out a rental slip when I got back.

"This will take a bit longer, maybe two or three days. It's better to be more formal," Zhou Rui replied seriously.

"What's going on? Why is it taking so long? Did you go out of the province or something?" Zhang Zhenbei was increasingly confused. It was just a simple trip, so why was it taking so long?

So Zhou Rui had no choice but to explain everything to Zhang Zhenbei from beginning to end.

"So you've caught another leopard?" Zhang Zhenbei asked, somewhat surprised.

This summer, Zhou Rui sent over some bones of a Siberian leopard, and I bought some good liquor to soak them in a vat. A few months later, I tasted it and found it quite potent.

Then he took a few kilograms of it into the city to visit the leaders, and from then on, that jar of leopard bone wine no longer belonged to him.

Now Zhou Rui has taken down another leopard; there's no other way but to take them all down.

"Hmm. But that's not the point. The point is that the 10,000-plus catties of blue sheep."

Zhang Zhenbei stood up and grabbed Zhou Rui's hand: "Qingyang is important, but didn't you take it? You sent a car to pick it up."

"Is that leopard not reserved?"

"No, we did place an order with the fur dealer, but it's for top-grade mink. We haven't accepted it yet; we need to complete our tasks at the forest farm first."

"Okay, okay, it's good that no one has reserved it. Ruiwa, get me the whole leopard, I'll take it all."

Zhang Zhenbei was overjoyed; his mouth was grinning from ear to ear.

"Uncle Zhang, you've really paved the way, you've even gotten your hands dirty." Zhou Rui realized this after a moment's thought.

"Hehe... Thanks to you and your master, I have more and more good stuff here, and more people in the city are looking for me."

But it's also a hassle; these people are always pressuring me, which is giving me a headache.

Zhang Zhenbei has a Versailles-like expression that makes you want to punch him.

"Alright, Uncle Zhang. Let's get the approval slip done first; the people from Gujiatun are waiting."

"Yes, yes, approve it right away, approve it right away. We need to bring the leopard back as soon as possible." Zhang Zhenbei's mind was only on the leopard; he didn't even care about the tasks on the field anymore.

The dispatch order was approved quickly, and Zhou Rui arrived at the fleet with the document. There were three trucks parked in the fleet's garage, but the other two were assigned to haul timber, and only one truck, which smelled strongly of fish, was idle.

The order was given to the dispatcher, and the driver arrived quickly.

"Captain Wang, it's you? When did you get back?"

The visitor was Wang Jianping, the deputy captain of the convoy; they were old acquaintances.

"Don't call me Captain Wang, just call me brother. I just got back the day before yesterday, and I spent yesterday lying at home all day." Wang Jianping was very enthusiastic. Although he was a driver, he longed for the thrill of the mountains.

"Isn't this at work? Calling him Captain Wang would definitely sound more prestigious," Zhou Rui explained.

"By the way, what's this time? And it'll take two or three days."

"Mainly to haul sheep, and a few wolves. We hunted a bit too many this time, and we can't transport them all down in the mountains. This truck will also be going to Gujiatun to pick up more people and get the meat out of the mountains."

The hunting location was a bit far from the road, so it took a while.

"Then let's go. Everyone has tasks to complete, and I'm actually getting bored staying in the duty room."

Wang Jianping led Zhou Rui toward his truck, and the closer they got, the stronger the fishy smell became.

"Brother Wang, your car smells really strong. What did you bring back?" Zhou Rui asked casually.

"So, I made a trip to Penang. I couldn't come back empty-handed, so I brought back a truckload of seafood. The farm is planning to use this seafood as a perk, so you can pick up your share when it's ready."

"Me too? I'm just a temporary worker, do you think I get a share of such expensive seafood?"

"What's so expensive about it? Seafood is incredibly cheap by the sea, not as expensive as meat, it's just a bit more expensive in terms of fuel."

Wang Jianping travels extensively and knows that prices vary greatly from place to place. Many people think seafood is expensive, but that's simply because it's not available in inland areas.

"What are you afraid of? You're just a temporary worker. You've put in a lot of effort for the tasks at the site, and your uncle is the deputy site manager in charge of logistics. You're not worried about not getting a share."