Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

My younger cousins ​​were overjoyed. With so many adults watching, they didn't dare touch the food on the plates.

If you go to Zhou Ping's room, you can eat whatever you want without any worries.

"Ruiwa, where are your grandparents?"

Zhou Xiaolan's words suddenly poured cold water on the lively atmosphere.

Zhou Rui stopped smiling, but he didn't deliberately give Zhou Xiaolan a hard time; his expression was just somewhat indifferent.

"It's their first birthday, and they don't even want to call them."

Zhao Youzhi and Zhou Wuye knew how ruthless Zhou Rui was when they saw him recounting the matter in the most calm tone.

This shows that he treats his grandparents as strangers, showing no affection whatsoever.

Zhou Xiaolan frowned deeply, worried that he was too young to understand the power of gossip in the village.

"Ruiwa, there are many people in this village. If you really do this, I'm afraid the villagers will talk badly about you behind your back."

"They dare?" Old Master Zhou suddenly slammed his hand on the table.

"Many people in our Zhou family disapprove of what Lao Ba did, let alone the villagers. Everyone says Ruiwa is a good person."

Zhou Xiaolan was surprised that Zhou Wuye was so supportive of Zhou Rui; this was different from what she had expected.

"Fifth Grandfather, I'm doing this for Ruiwa's sake. After all, he's his own grandparents, and I'm afraid the villagers will say he's unfilial, which will affect his chances of getting married."

Zhao Youzhi took a sip of the teacup. This tea was fragrant, much better than the tea dust from the commune.

"Xiao Lan, don't get involved in this. Your father and mother live with your older brother's family. It's not appropriate for Ruiwa to go and invite them over. If he gets involved, it will probably damage Ruiwa's reputation even more."

Zhou Xiaolan and Gao Zhiqiang were surprised that even the village chief said such a thing. Was there something they didn't know?

Even Zhang Shitou was very curious, looking at all the people sitting on the kang (heated brick bed).

The village chief, accountant, and women's director were all seated so neatly, even at a typical brigade meeting.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing that Zhou Xiaolan was hesitant to speak up, Gao Zhiqiang had no choice but to ask himself, since he was Zhou's son-in-law and others shouldn't speak ill of him.

When Zhou Wuye saw Zhao Youzhi looking at him, he really didn't want to talk.

"Youzhi, you should talk to Xiaolan. It's all Zhou family's dirty laundry; I'm too ashamed to mention it."

Seeing the heavy atmosphere in the room, Liu Jianguo thought he should go out and hide for a while. He already knew what was going to be said, so there was no need to hear it again.

"I'll go out and see if there's anything I can help with."

Yang Guilan, following her husband's lead, said, "I'll go help Aunt Changchun and the others wash the vegetables."

Seeing that Liu Jianguo and his wife had left the house, and Zhou Xiaolan and Gao Zhiqiang were still staring at him expectantly, Zhao Youzhi had no choice but to tell the truth.

If I don't speak up now, I'll be even less able to bring myself to say it when more guests arrive.

"You know your older brother sells rice cakes and wants to take over Ruiwa's house and job."

"Ruiwa broke off contact with your older brother's family, as well as your grandparents, because of this incident."

"Later, your Zhiqiang was injured by a wild boar. You went back to the village to borrow money, and Ruiwa gave you a hundred. This revealed your wealth, and your older brother's family started eyeing you again..."

And so, Zhao Youzhi recounted how Zhou Chen had gambled away money and then led the two Chen brothers to raid Zhou Chen's house over the past few months.

He was later arrested, and casino officials even came to his door demanding repayment of debts.

Zhou Dashan, along with Zhou Ji, took advantage of Zhou Rui going hunting in the mountains to visit Zhou Ping at night and deceive him.

When Zhou Rui returned, he exposed the scam, and Zhou Ji was also caught cheating that same day, and he recounted everything.

Zhou Xiaolan was stunned after hearing this; she never expected that her elder brother's family would do something so absurd.

Furthermore, he used his parents' illness as an excuse to swindle money from Zhou Rui. His parents even played along, but their scheme was eventually exposed.

Gao Zhiqiang is more resilient. He almost died from lack of money last time, so he knows even better how heartless his parents-in-law, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law can be.

He only had a hundred yuan to pay for his medical treatment. How many hundreds did they contribute to pay off Zhou Chen's debts?

Only the nephew from the second brother's family remembered this kinship.

"I think Ruiwa did the right thing. Don't get involved with family members like that; it not only ruins your reputation but also makes you a target for thieves."

Gao Zhiqiang took sides with complete confidence. As for himself, since it was his in-laws, he still had to go and visit them.

From now on, we'll just meet occasionally, so it's impossible for me to be overly enthusiastic.

Zhou Xiaolan looked somewhat dejected. Her own brother and nephew had caused such a scene, and she didn't know how to handle herself standing in the middle.

"Ruiwa".

"Junior brother, we're here."

Zhang Shitou's eyes lit up: "Ruiwa, Master and Senior Brother are here."

The oppressive atmosphere in the room was broken, and Zhou Rui quickly got up to go outside to greet them.

Zhou Shumin held the little rice cake and placed it in Zhou Xiaolan's arms.

"Xiao Lan, let's leave it at that. Don't bring it up again. We have guests, so help Ruiwa take good care of them."

"Uncle Shumin, I understand."

Zhou Shumin was also her cousin, and although they were quite far apart, Zhou Xiaolan could still listen to what he said.

Moreover, the doll in her hand was so endearing and charming that it made her feel much better.

This is the only bloodline left by her son Fengwa.

Zhou Rui and Zhang Shitou opened the door and went out, and then they saw Wang Shouye and his wife, Gu Shaofeng and his wife, and Wang Zhen, who was alone, enter the courtyard together.

Gu Shaofeng and Wang Zhen were both carrying things in their hands, some cloth and cotton.

They've made a lot of money these past few months, so they're naturally willing to spend it.

"Here, this is what Master and the three of us brothers bought together. We'll make more clothes for your family."

Zhou Rui accepted it without hesitation.

"Hehe... The stuff is good, but I don't know how to make clothes."

"Master's wife, Junior Brother means he doesn't have a wife yet. Could you please help him find one?" Gu Shaofeng's mouth was faster than his brain, and his ability to seize any opportunity to speak was unparalleled.

"Sure. Your teacher's wife has a good eye. I'll pick one out for Ruiwa."

Zhou Rui couldn't help but glare at Gu Shaofeng before stepping forward to support Li Mei's arm.

"Master's wife, I'm not in a hurry. Let's choose one for my third senior brother first. He wants to get married."

Zhou Rui couldn't treat Li Mei the same way he treated Gu Shaofeng, so he had no choice but to shift the blame elsewhere.

"Sure, I have nothing to do at home anyway, it doesn't matter which of you finds me a job."

Li Mei was also nice to Zhang Shitou, this honest kid, but Zhou Rui was sweet-talking and more likable.

As the group was talking, Zhou Rui was about to lead his master and mistress into the house when they heard the sound of a car horn outside the courtyard.

Zhou Rui turned around, his brow furrowed slightly. Hadn't the matter in the mountains been resolved? Why was Lin Guoqiang still here?

At this moment, the people inside the house also heard the commotion and all came out.

Click, the car door opened, and Qin Zhan stepped out with a woman holding a child and a beautiful young woman.