Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

Lin Guoqiang pointed at Wang Shouye, clearly the person he valued most, and was considered the most capable.

The two old men didn't show much expression, but they nodded at Wang Shouye, clearly recognizing him.

The three young men behind him looked at Wang Shouye with some doubt in their eyes, and they were somewhat unconvinced by Lin Guoqiang's assessment of Wang Shouye as the most skilled gunner.

Qin Zhan walked over and shook hands with Gu Dayong and the others one by one, asking them for their help. The people opposite him showed no unusual reaction; it seemed Qin Zhan had done the same thing to them before.

Gu Jiacheng was a little shy. No one had ever treated him so seriously before, like an adult.

When it came to Zhou Rui, Qin Zhan held Zhou Rui's hand with some excitement.

"Young man, I've finally found you! Do you still recognize me?"

Zhou Rui frowned as he looked at Qin Zhan; it seemed this man had indeed seen him before. Qin Zhan's face was flushed, and he forced a smile onto his previously anxious face.

Seeing that Zhou Rui didn't remember him, Qin Zhan quickly added, "In Hongxing Town, you took your younger siblings to the market."

"Are you the father of that little baby?" Zhou Rui's eyebrows furrowed as he retrieved relevant images from his original memories.

He had rescued a baby in Hongxing Town and given it to a woman in her thirties. The big man in front of him was standing next to the woman.

"Qin Zhan, what's going on? You know Zhou Rui."

Lin Guoqiang walked over, feeling quite puzzled. His childhood friend's family were all high-ranking military officers, and he himself worked in a municipal government department. How could he have any connection with this kid, Zhou Rui?

Qin Zhan turned his face: "Guoqiang, I told you before, Qin Jue was kidnapped by human traffickers a few months ago. It was a young man who took down all the traffickers and rescued Qin Jue."

Afterwards, I sent people to search for him in Hongxing Town, but we couldn't find him. I never expected to run into him here.

"I never expected you to have done such a good deed. I've never heard you mention it before." Lin Guoqiang looked at Zhou Rui with admiration.

He knew Zhou Rui was quite skilled; he could even capture professional spies alive, let alone a few human traffickers. He was just a little surprised by Zhou Rui's attitude of doing good deeds anonymously.

His childhood friend had been searching for this brave young man in Hongxing Town for a long time.

Zhou Rui smiled but didn't say anything; he hadn't even thought about those things. Some things, once done, are done and there's no need to publicize them.

A smile spread across Wang Shouye's face, and he felt very proud. This was his apprentice, not only skilled in martial arts but also kind-hearted.

Gu Jiacheng stood behind Gu Dayong, looking at his younger brother from the village with admiration.

The Xie brothers, Zhihua and Zhijie, were somewhat envious. Zhou Rui had saved the son of a big shot; such a favor was truly remarkable.

The three apprentices of the Xie brothers were somewhat indignant, believing that Zhou Rui had just gotten lucky and happened to save a child, who happened to be the son of the city leader in front of them.

If they had been there when the accident happened, they could have done the same thing as Zhou Rui, no, they could have done even better.

"Alright, Qin Zhan. Now that you know Zhou Rui is the young man who saved your son, stop holding onto him. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future."

Lin Guoqiang interrupted Qin Zhan's excited emotions.

"Now let's talk about the search for people in the mountains."

"Yes, yes." Qin Zhan calmed his excited emotions, after all, there were more important things to do now.

He turned and walked to the conference table, taking a leather handbag from a young man wearing glasses who looked like his subordinate.

Qin Zhan took out several photos from his bag. They were five-inch black and white photos, one of which was a photo of two people, who looked like two brothers.

"These are the people we need to find: three men and two women, aged nineteen to twenty-three. They are Wu Jiajia, Qin Rui, Lü Zhijun, Lü Zhixue, and He Wu."

"We must find the girl, protect her, and bring her back. As for the boy, it doesn't matter if he's hurt or not. It's their own fault for courting death. If we find him safe and sound, I'll break his legs."

Qin Zhan treats boys and girls differently: he shows tenderness and affection to girls, but resentment towards boys for their perceived lack of progress.

"Alright, alright," Lin Guoqiang said, trying to smooth things over. "There's no point in saying all this now. Let's find the person first."

"Make sure everyone is found and brought back safely," Lin Guoqiang added, emphasizing that they couldn't let Qin Zhan's angry words mislead the hunters.

"I've brought all your supplies; they're in the car outside. Qin Zhan and I will take you to the closest point to the mountain. If you have any questions, ask Hu Dongmu on the way up."

Lin Guoqiang pointed at the dejected man as he spoke. "It was clearly a good job, ten yuan a day, but he messed it up, and the employer has disappeared."

Everyone was heading outside, and Director Xie was unusually attentive. Lin Guoqiang and Qin Zhan were people he rarely had the opportunity to meet, and this time, having finally managed to get his two uncles, who were hunters, to come over.

As usual, Zhou Rui and his group got into Lin Guoqiang's Jeep, instead of the obviously more upscale sedan.

Qin Zhan opened the car door, and the person who looked like a secretary was about to follow, but Qin Zhan stopped him.

"You don't need to go. There won't be enough seats for everyone. You and Director Xie can wait here for us."

"Okay, Chief, I understand." The refined-looking man with glasses took two steps back.

Qin Zhan looked up at the few timid hunters and gestured, "Get in the car, don't delay our journey up the mountain."

"This, this car is so clean, what about us...?" Xie Zhihua was over fifty years old and had seen a lot in the world, but he still couldn't quite let go of this obvious official class.

Upon hearing this, Qin Zhan glanced at the hunters' somewhat unkempt clothes and their slightly stained hunting dogs.

"It's alright, finding people is the priority. Bring the hunting dogs along too; we'll need their help in the mountains."

Seeing that Qin Zhan had spoken, the group had no choice but to obediently move into the car through the door opened by the secretary, but they were very careful, afraid of getting the seats dirty.

After the five men and three hunting dogs got into the car, Hu Dongmu, the mountain herder, was about to follow when Wang Xiaolong blocked the door.

"There's no room here, please sit over there."

Hu Dongmu looked somewhat embarrassed, and there was also a hint of resentment at being humiliated.

At this moment, Lin Guoqiang drove up to the side of the car, and Zhou Rui rolled down the window: "Brother Hu, get in, we'll drive ahead, we need you to lead the way."

Hu Dongmu's eyes lit up upon hearing this. He turned around, his eyes filled with gratitude. Zhou Rui had given him a way out when he was at his most embarrassed and humiliated, and he would remember this kindness for the rest of his life.

He walked over, squeezed into the car door Zhou Rui had opened, and the door slammed shut.

"Thank you, Brother Zhou." Hu Dongmu knew Zhou Rui's name because Zhou Rui had made a strong impression on him earlier in the conference room; he was the one who saved the son of that bureau chief.

"It's nothing. We're not familiar with this road, so we'll need Brother Hu to give us some directions." Zhou Rui patted Hu Dongmu's shoulder skillfully and called him "Brother Hu," appearing very natural.

"No problem, there's no place in Taiping Town that I don't know."

The jeep slowly accelerated, and the cars behind it quickly followed.

Wang Xiaolong looked at the jeep in front of him and whispered to his senior brother sitting in the back seat.

"Look how capable that kid surnamed Zhou is, showing off like that?"

His tone clearly betrayed his resentment.